As he remained silent, Lu Yan continued crying silently.
The more she tried to stop, the faster her tears fell. Only occasional light gasps escaped her. But in the quiet room, even these sounded too loud.
Suddenly, a hand gently patted her shoulder.
Lu Yan startled and burrowed further into herself, raising her knees, and almost curling up into a little ball.
"It's alright," he said.
He felt awkward, but it didn't show in his voice.
"Don't worry too much. Whatever the problem is, we can solve it."
He continued patting.
For a long time, the only sound was Lu Yan's occasional gasps.
Slowly, the wave of emotion passed.
Without looking up, Lu Yan produced a handkerchief from her sleeve, surreptitiously wiped her nose, and her face.
He withdrew his hand.
When Lu Yan finally dared to peek, he seemed absorbed in reading the scroll in front of him.
Without saying a word, he poured her a cup of tea, and handed it to her.
Lu Yan caught his gaze, and looked away hurriedly. Her cheeks, already red from crying, flushed further.
He continued looking closely at the boy, noting the red rimmed eyes, swollen eyelids, with dark circles underneath. Absently, he noticed a small red freckle at the corner of his left eye.
"Have you not been sleeping well?" he asked suddenly.
Lu Yan met his eyes again, a little startled at this question coming from nowhere.
Han gestured at his own face, "You look tired."
When Lu Yan remained silent, he continued, "The best learning only happens when you sleep well. It's just like physical exertion. You work hard, then rest and recover. If you skimp on sleep, you won't be able to hold on for long."
In the silent room, his voice was gentle and soothing. Lu Yan suddenly realized that she truly was tired, perhaps even exhausted.
Somehow the calligraphy practice sessions before bed had begun to grow longer. These days she usually followed them up with an hour's reading before she slept.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and a soldier poked his head in, "Platoon leader, they're waiting for you."
Han stood, rummaged in a box, took out a scroll from said, "Wait here for a bit. I'll be back soon."
Lu Yan nodded.
Han closed the door behind him, and the little room was engulfed in silence again.
Her head ached. Lu Yan closed her eyes, and rested her head on the table for a moment.
Outside, Han instructed Luizhu, "Wait here, don't go inside."
Luizhu thought he had important scrolls in his office and nodded without another word.
Time passed.
Lu Yan still didn't emerge from the door, and Luizhu felt increasingly impatient. But she didn't dare to open the door and go inside.
Lunch hour came and went.
Luizhu felt her stomach gurgling. What was Lu Yan doing inside?
Just as she gathered her courage to open the door, she heard footsteps behind her.
Han and young master Ji were walking together.
"I heard Ayan came to see you in the morning," the master was saying.
He caught sight of Luizhu at the door, and raised an eyebrow.
Luizhu gestured towards the room.
"Yes," Han said. Pausing at the door, he hesitated, "Don't make a sound."
He opened the door slightly, enough for all three of them to see Lu Yan slumped with her head and arms on the table. She was fast asleep, her breathing slow and deep.
Han closed the door with a light click.
"What happened?" young master Ji asked.
Han glanced at Luizhu before saying, "He seemed tired and overwhelmed. I had a meeting to attend, so I asked him to wait in the room."
Young master Ji frowned slightly before turning to Luizhu, "Go wait inside. When Ayan wakes up, tell him he has the rest of the day off."
Luizhu slipped quietly into the room.
To Han, he said, "I heard you've been taking care of your younger brothers for a long time."
Han smiled faintly. No one would be able to tell that this was young master Ji asking for advice.
"It's not so hard. Just feed and clothe them well, make sure they sleep enough, and keep them busy for the rest of the day."
Ji Jing hummed.
Han continued, "You're doing alright. You just need to fix his sleep schedule."
---
Lu Yan woke up close to dusk.
The light from the setting sun fell into the room, and bathed everything in warm gold tones.
For a moment, she didn't remember where she was.
When she recalled, she didn't feel much of anything. Even though her neck ached a little, she felt well-rested and satisfied.
She sat up slowly. Luizhu was asleep beside her, breathing slowly.
Basking in the quietness, and bathed in warm light, Lu Yan yawned contently.
She remained there, thinking of nothing for a long moment.
The light shifted quite quickly at this time of day. When the sun shining into the room disappeared, Lu Yan gently shook Luizhu awake.
Luizhu blinked sleepily.
When she awoke properly, she relayed master's words to Lu Yan.
The two of them left the room together, and walked slowly back to master's house.
---
Master was not home.
But one of the servants brought a simple meal for Lu Yan as soon as she entered.
Lu Yan, having missed lunch, ate with a great appetite.
Then, she returned to her room, changed her clothes, and began to look through the scrolls she was currently memorizing.
When master returned, he sent someone to fetch her.
Lu Yan felt a little nervous, but when she entered the room, she saw at once that master didn't seem angry.
Relaxing, she took the seat across from him on the go board, and they played for a while. These days, the games lasted longer.
After go, master had someone deliver tea with Lu Yan's favorite snacks- savory spinach pastry, honey walnut cake, and candied fruit.
Lu Yan ate happily, asking Luizhu to set a bit of each treat aside for Shan.
"At first, I thought Shan was using you to get close to me," master said unexpectedly.
Lu Yan paused with a pastry halfway to her mouth.
Before she could speak, he continued, "But then I saw you together with him. And Heng's attitude towards you. It seems he's sincere with you."
"Of course he is!" Lu Yan said loudly, "He helped me before he knew who I was. And I know several people approach me just to ask about you. But I can always tell, and I avoid them all."
"Yes," master said, taking a small sip of his tea, "But I want you to be careful. There's something wrong with those three. And, despite looking, I haven't found out what it is yet."
Lu Yan frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I've talked to the older trainers who've been here for years. Their martial arts are much more advanced than a normal soldiers."
He paused, and like everything else, turned this conversation into a lesson, "Do you know what this means?"
Lu Yan said slowly, "They've been trained better than normal soldier's."
"Yes, ordinary soldiers in the Ji family army start martial arts training at seven. And those are consistently beaten by these three, even if they have decades more experience."
He waited for Lu Yan to continue.
"Which means they started training before they were seven, and had very skilled teachers," Lu Yan deduced.
"Yes. Who can afford such skilled martial arts teachers?"
"Only powerful and wealthy families," Lu Yan whispered.
"Right. And yet they're here, pretending to be normal soldiers, and trying to climb through the ranks as quickly as possible."
Lu Yan felt cold, "Are they spies sent to infiltrate the Ji family camp?"
Master shook his head, "If they were spies, they wouldn't be so obvious."
"Then what are they trying to do?"
"I don't know. For now, they're trying to build very cohesive and powerful units. The soldiers under Han admire him immensely. Many go to watch Shan and Heng's weekly fighting sessions and place bets on who'll win."
In the silence, Lu Yan thought furiously, "They're trying to get military power. Then... are they planning to steal your soldiers?"
Master smiled, "Don't worry too much. I'm keeping an eye on them. They can try, but they won't be able to do much damage."
Lu Yan looked at the snacks she'd set aside for Shan.
Feeling forlorn, she opened her mouth to tell Luizhu not to bother.
Before she could, master interrupted, "Like I said, from what I've observed, Shan is sincerely friends with you. You don't need to change your behavior. But I just want you be slightly on guard against them."
He didn't want to find her missing and peacefully asleep in platoon leader Han's office again.
They continued playing, eating snacks and drinking tea. The somber atmosphere eventually lifted.
Before master dismissed her, he said lightly, "Becoming a physician is a long journey. I want you to enjoy it, not dread it."
Lu Yan looked at him. He was like he always was, not angry, not upset, just calm and straight-forward.
She smiled, her heart feeling light, "Alright."
---
A few days later, a new rule was spread all over camp.
If any soldier refused medical assistance or ignored their physician's advice, the whole squad would be punished together.
In the following weeks, not one person from the Thunder and Lightning squads dared to defy Lu Yan.
If they did, the rest of the squad would take care of them for her. Lu Yan began to save a lot of time and energy.
After their latest session, Shan said nothing, just sat obediently in bed, while she fixed him up.
Heng sneered at her, mumbling, "Skilled at borrowing others' power."
Lu Yan turned to him, "What's that? I didn't hear you."
Heng looked away, refusing to speak.
Lu Yan smiled victoriously and continued her work.