Chapter 27 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

Official Card

After the big battle, Truy Phong withdrew his army to the North to recuperate, leaving the Long Mon pass in a fragile silence that everyone knew would not last long. The barracks spent the next week cleaning up the battlefield, counting casualties, and most importantly for Tinh Yen, giving the military hospital time to review everything that happened that long night without enough lights.

Ky Ba Nghiem summoned all the medical staff on a cold morning, standing in front of a line of people lined up in two neat rows in the military hospital yard, holding a thick notebook in his hand - a summary of the number of successful treatments during the recent war.

"During the last war, the military hospital received more than eight hundred wounded soldiers and saved six hundred and seventy-two lives." He read, his voice echoing throughout the yard. "This is the highest survival rate in the recent three-year history of the military hospital at Long Mon pass, higher than the war times before the epidemic broke out."

He stopped, looked through the rows of medical doctors, then stopped at Tinh Yen. "Among them, many lives were saved thanks to the bold and accurate decisions of the doctors who were still on probation - something that should not have happened if the old rules of this military hospital were still as rigid as before."

The whole yard was silent, all eyes turned to Tinh Yen who was standing silently in the middle of the line of people, not daring to believe what she had just heard.

"Do Tinh Yen." Ky Ba Nghiem called his name, his voice was solemn and different from the day they first met. "Step up here."

Tinh Yen stepped out of the line, her heart beating rapidly, standing in front of the Captain who had coldly rejected her just a few months ago. He pulled out a small bronze card from his shirt, engraved her name and the symbol of the Long Mon military hospital, and placed it in her palm.

"From today, you are officially a staff physician at the Long Mon military hospital, no longer on probation." He announced, loud enough for the entire line to hear clearly. "I once said that tokens do not prove skill. But you have proven it yourself, with your own hands and sleepless nights. That is what I recognize."

Tinh Yen squeezed the card in her hand, tears suddenly welling up in the corners of her eyes even though she tried to suppress them. She bowed her head deeply, unable to say a word other than a choked "Thank you, Captain."

"Don't thank me." Ky Ba Nghiem shook his head slightly, his voice softened in a rare way. "Thank the teacher who taught you what you know. If he were still alive, he would be very proud to see his disciple standing in this position today."

The short ceremony ended in the applause of the entire military hospital. Nhuoc Lan hugged Tinh Yen and shouted with undisguised joy, while Vu Khac Tuan stood next to him, nodding his congratulations with a sincere smile that had completely replaced the suspicious eyes of the day before.

That evening, when the moonlight was high on the mountain top, Thanh Phong came to her tent, carrying a small bottle of wine and two simple ceramic cups.

"I heard the news." He said, a rare smile appeared on his normally serious face. "Congratulations, the official physician of the Long Mon military hospital."

"Thank you, sir." Tinh Yen replied, accepting the cup of wine he poured, her heart still filled with unrelenting joy. "I never expected this day to come."

The two sat side by side on a familiar stone near the stream, sharing a cup of light wine under the moonlight. The atmosphere was much more intimate than the previous hasty meetings amid busy work. Thanh Phong told her about the recent battle from the perspective of a commander, while Tinh Yen recounted the night without enough lights with details that only insiders could fully understand.

"You have come a long way, since the day I first met you on the battlefield." Thanh Phong said, his eyes looking at her under the moonlight carried an undisguised affection. "I'm proud of you, even though I have no right to say so."

"You always have the right to say what you think, to me." Tinh Yen replied softly, her heart beating faster than usual.

The atmosphere between the two suddenly calmed down, leaving only the sound of the gurgling stream and the chirping of insects in the night. Thanh Phong was about to say something more, but then stopped, just quietly raised his glass of wine, as if there was something he didn't have the courage to say out loud amidst the invisible distance that always existed between the two of them.

Tinh Yen looked at his face sideways under the moonlight, wondering what was holding him back, what made a person who was decisive on the battlefield become so reserved in rare private moments like this. She also had things she wanted to say but didn't dare to say them, afraid that once she said them, they would both have to face a truth that neither of them were ready for - that the road ahead, even with feelings guiding them, still had too many barriers of identity and duty that could not be overcome overnight.

At that moment, a messenger soldier rushed over and bowed to Thanh Phong. "Deputy General, there is a letter from Tran Bac Hau. The messenger said it needs to be delivered immediately without delay."

Thanh Phong received the envelope, his face changed slightly when he saw his father's familiar seal. He opened the letter and read it quickly under the moonlight, and Tinh Yen noticed that his expression gradually became serious, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"What's the matter, sir?" She asked, unable to hide her worry.

"Nothing serious." Thanh Phong replied, but his voice did not completely convince her. "It's just my father informing me that recently there have been some rumors in the court about the allocation of grain and herbs to the northern border. My father refused to sign a supply contract that he thought was problematic, making a few officials in the Ministry of Households unhappy."

Tinh Yen frowned slightly, a vague premonition arose in her heart when she heard the words "Ho Bo", although she did not clearly understand why. "Is it serious?"

"I don't know." Thanh Phong sighed, folded the letter, and put it in his armor. "My father is a resolute person, not easily yielding to pressure, but sometimes that very resoluteness causes him to have more enemies in the court without him knowing. I just hope this is just a small thing and will pass soon."

Tinh Yen looked at him, realizing that behind the inherent calmness was a worry he was trying to hide. She didn't ask further, just quietly placed her hand on his shoulder, a small gesture of comfort but enough to convey what words could not.

"No matter what happens, you're not alone." She spoke softly.

Thanh Phong turned to look at her, his eyes softened in that moment, as if all the burdens had just been somewhat lightened by just a simple sentence. "I know." He replied, his voice was warm. "And that's what makes me cherish you more than anything else in this world."

That night, after Thanh Phong left, Tinh Yen sat alone by the stream, looking at the newly received bronze card in her hand, her heart filled with the joy of a milestone she had just achieved, while also lingering with a vague worry about what was silently going on in the distant capital - a place where, soon, she knew she would also have to set foot on.

She turned the card over in her palm, studying every small engraving on the copper surface - her name, the military hospital symbol, and a line of small letters clearly stating "official, indefinite staff". Compared to the half piece of white talisman jade that was always kept carefully in a red cloth bag, this card was much smaller and more ordinary, carrying no secrets of the court or the past of a deceased Royal Physician. But for Tinh Yen, it had a different meaning - this was the first thing she had obtained entirely with her own strength and hands, not thanks to her grandmother's legacy or her master's tokens.

She remembered the first night she stepped into the military hospital mansion, when Ky Ba Nghiem coldly looked at her as if she had nothing but a piece of jade borrowed from her name. The road from that night until now, even though it was only a few months, was as long as a lifetime - the days of washing tools until my hands were numb, the nights of being teased by Vu Khac Tuan, the times of having to suppress my heart and watch the patient die without being allowed to intervene. All of these things are now crystallized into a small card that fits in the palm of your hand, light in weight but heavy in meaning.

The night wind blew past, carrying the remaining cold air of early winter, carrying a few dry leaves that scattered onto the stream surface. Tinh Yen stood up, carefully put the card in the same place as the half piece of jade talisman and the book Bach Thao Chan Sutra, then looked up at the starry sky, wondering if in the distant capital of Yen Phung, under the same moon, the plots that her master had mentioned were silently continuing, waiting for the day she arrived to face them.