After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 10

Pei Er froze, as if not expecting Li Chanxiu to suddenly return, or perhaps wondering what matter she wanted to speak to him about.

But no matter what it was, a trace of secret joy couldn’t help rising from the bottom of his heart.

His dark eyes flickered slightly. He quickly nodded and rose, gripping the blade hilt tightly in his right hand.

Li Chanxiu let out a slight sigh of relief, stepped aside to make some room, and seeing that he walked with difficulty, hesitated about helping him.

But Pei Er let him go first, then limped after him.

Though his leg was injured and his gait somewhat unnatural, his back and waist were straight, carrying a solitary and cold aura. As he passed by Chen Qing’s bed, he casually took the wooden crutch again.

Seeing him leave together with Li Chanxiu, Chen Qing had just been about to ask where they were going. When he saw him naturally take the crutch again, he was instantly dumbfounded and only managed to say, “Wait, wasn’t that crutch carved for me?”

…

To the southeast outside the wounded soldiers’ tent was an open patch of ground. The wind blowing from the northern lands was blocked by the tent cloth; wind and sand stopped here. The winter sun also scattered broken gold here, bringing a rare trace of warmth.

Li Chanxiu walked to a place where no one could see them and finally stopped, turning back.

Pei Er also halted at once, propping himself steadily with the crutch, lifting his head to look at him fixedly.

A gust of wind that had shifted direction suddenly blew from behind on the right, not strong, yet enough to stir the hems of their clothes.

A few loose strands of Li Chanxiu’s hair were blown across his vision. He naturally brushed them behind his ear. Sunlight fell on the side of his face; his skin was thin, pale to the point of near transparency, his features delicate yet faintly sharp.

Pei Er’s hand holding the blade suddenly tightened slightly. Somewhat unnaturally, he shifted his gaze away. No one noticed the faint flush creeping behind his ears.

Seeing him standing a little far from himself, Li Chanxiu took the initiative to step closer.

Pei Er had been momentarily distracted. Caught off guard when he walked right in front of him, he subconsciously stepped back. After coming to his senses, he hurriedly stopped himself, his breathing unconsciously much lighter, as if afraid of startling something.

Seeing his reaction, Li Chanxiu couldn’t help but smile. “Am I that frightening?”

Pei Er felt somewhat unnatural; his gaze flickered. After a long moment, he gently shook his head.

Li Chanxiu had matters on his mind and did not ask further.

He suddenly fell silent. After a long while, he finally looked elsewhere and said in a tone that sounded ordinary, “In the tent, you should have heard about my situation, right?”

Pei Er was taken aback, quickly understanding what matter he meant.

He hesitated and nodded. After a pause, somewhat awkwardly, he explained in a hoarse voice, “Chen Qing mentioned it.”

It wasn’t that he had inquired on his own. He lowered his eyes, thinking silently.

Li Chanxiu nodded, not surprised. After all, there was currently no fighting; the wounded soldiers in the tent were idle and discussed everything every day.

But that was good too, saved him from having to explain.

The tip of his shoe lightly ground the gravel on the ground. After a moment, he took a deep breath and raised his head to continue: “Then you should also know about the court’s marriage order, and that Centurion Jiang wants to marry me… no, to be precise, to take me as a concubine.”

At this point, his tone unconsciously carried disgust. In front of him, Pei Er’s expression gradually grew cold as well.

“His elder brother is a military commandant in the army, second only to General Chen in status within the camp. Now that he’s spread word forbidding others from marrying me, the soldiers in camp fear his brother’s position. There should truly be no one who dares.”

Li Chanxiu’s long lashes suddenly trembled lightly; his voice became low and sorrowful.

He did not know whether Pei Er would agree, but he seemed to have only this one method left. So showing weakness a little, arousing a bit of sympathy, would make success easier.

He knew this wasn’t good. Even as he did it, he couldn’t help feeling ashamed and embarrassed, and he didn’t know whether the other party would fall for it.

But if it were himself, he thought, he certainly wouldn’t believe such clumsy acting.

Thinking of this, his face couldn’t help but grow a little warm, and his head lowered even further.

Hearing this, however, Pei Er gripped the blade hilt tightly in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Before him, the “young lady” lowered her head, exposing her slender neck trembling in the cold wind, lonely and helpless, her voice seeming to tremble with fear.

“If we can drag things past the deadline of the court’s marriage order, and I’m still not married by then, he can use his brother’s power to forcibly intervene in the assignment…”

Li Chanxiu endured the heat rising to the rims of his ears, clenched his fingertips, and continued to speak.

But before he could finish, a fierce voice suddenly rang out beside his ear, “I’ll help you kill him!”

Pei Er’s knuckles gripping the blade were especially tight. His handsome, cold face carried a chilling severity, his tone without the slightest hesitation.

Li Chanxiu looked up in astonishment, instantly stunned, even forgetting to continue speaking, clearly not expecting him to say “kill” outright.

Seeing shock appear in his eyes, Pei Er thought he had frightened him. He couldn’t help softening his voice slightly, though it remained hoarse: “Don’t be afraid. I won’t implicate you.”

Li Chanxiu: “……”

This wasn’t a question of whether he would be implicated. If Centurion Jiang died at this time, anyone would suspect him. Even if he wasn’t present, even if he didn’t have the ability to do it, he would inevitably be called in for questioning.

Perhaps Pei Er’s thinking was that at most he would be questioned a few times, and if nothing came of it, it would be fine; everything else the other party would shoulder.

But Military Commandant Jiang would certainly be eager to avenge his younger brother and would not let go of any possibility. If torture were used during interrogation, his cross-dressing as a woman would very likely be exposed. Then the matter of him being exiled under a substitute identity would also be revealed. If they investigated further upward, it would implicate his father’s old subordinates and even his father, who was still in the capital…

More importantly, this matter had not reached the point of needing to kill anyone. Killing someone would only make things increasingly troublesome.

“You can’t do that.” Li Chanxiu hurriedly stopped him, subconsciously grabbing Pei Er’s arm. Realizing his tone was a bit urgent, he slowed his voice and said, “What I mean is, things haven’t reached that stage yet. And staking your own life for someone like Centurion Jiang isn’t worth it.”

After a pause, he suddenly lowered his voice and slowly said, “Actually, I called you out to ask…”

He lowered his eyes and spoke softly, finally stating his purpose: “Would you be willing to marry me?”

Pei Er, hearing this, froze at once.

When his arm had been grabbed by Li Chanxiu, all his attention had shifted to that right arm. Through the fabric, the skin in that spot seemed to burn.

Now, hearing the words “marry” so abruptly, his mind went blank, like the day he first woke up, forgetting all reactions, his figure stiff as if carved from stone.

The cold wind of the northern lands made the camp’s great banners flap noisily, but the wailing wind did not reach this small, quiet corner.

After speaking, Li Chanxiu looked at Pei Er somewhat nervously.

Pei Er’s expression remained frozen. After a long while, as if finally retrieving his soul, he asked in a dry, hoarse voice, hardly believing it: “You… just now said…”

“I said, do you dare to marry me?” Li Chanxiu took a deep breath and repeated.

Pei Er froze again. His chest seemed to go numb in an instant. Blood rushed to his limbs and the top of his head; in his ears was the violent pounding of his heartbeat, striking against his eardrums.

The fingers holding the blade trembled slightly, yet light couldn’t help but appear in his dark eyes. He didn’t dare believe what he had heard, nor dare believe he could truly be fortunate enough to receive such favor.

With almost no hesitation, he heard himself quickly say, “All right!”

After saying it, as if feeling it too eager and abrupt, he steadied the excitement in his tone somewhat and outwardly composed himself. “What is there to dare?”

Li Chanxiu hadn’t expected him to agree so readily. His expression showed surprise.

Perhaps because he felt relieved, he hesitated, deciding to clarify a few things first. Choosing his words carefully, he said, “You should be able to guess that I’m doing this because of the marriage order and Centurion Jiang…”

“I know. I understand.” Pei Er interrupted, saying again, “I’m willing.”

After calming down, he had indeed quickly figured out why he was fortunate enough, Miss Shen needed to marry to deal with the marriage order and Centurion Jiang, so she had chosen him.

He did not feel disappointed or sad because of this. Miss Shen had previously only treated him as an ordinary wounded soldier. It was obvious she couldn’t suddenly have fallen for him.

In fact, if not for the marriage order and Centurion Jiang, there would have been no possibility between him and her to begin with.

Although he still did not know why Miss Shen had chosen him, the opportunity would only come once and would vanish in an instant. If he missed it, he might never again have the chance to stand before her.

With this opportunity, he would have more chances to get close to her, gradually becoming the special one. Perhaps after marriage, they would slowly develop; perhaps Miss Shen would come to like him little by little?

Pei Er lowered his eyes, thinking with anticipation and a touch of lucky hope.

He knew this was somewhat taking advantage of someone’s vulnerability. Miss Shen had merely encountered difficulty and had no choice but to seek his help. Yet he harbored selfish motives, agreeing with not entirely honorable intentions, using it to approach her, and even gaining goodwill and gratitude.

He knew it was wrong, but his desire to have her ultimately outweighed everything.

Perhaps because Li Chanxiu had fallen silent and hadn’t responded for a long time, he lifted his head, looked into her eyes, and once again said softly yet firmly, “I’m willing to do anything.”

Hearing this, Li Chanxiu completely relaxed, gratitude appearing in his eyes.

He hadn’t expected that even knowing his purpose, Pei Er would still agree. Presumably, because of his memory loss and lack of experience, he had been moved by his earlier clumsy acting and felt sympathy.

As for not sharing a bed after marriage, at present he was in a woman’s identity, so it truly… was not appropriate to say here. However, since the other party knew he was seeking help and that the marriage would be in name only, he should understand his meaning, right?

The roots of Li Chanxiu’s ears burned. He steadied himself before looking at Pei Er again.

Pei Er was also looking at him. Seeing him suddenly look over, he hurriedly shifted his gaze away unnaturally, the back of his ears flushing red again.

Li Chanxiu couldn’t see behind his ears. Moreover, he himself felt embarrassed. After saying all this, he felt as though a heavy stone had been lifted from his heart. He quickly composed his expression and gave a light cough. “Then it’s settled for now. However…”

He paused before continuing, “You should know that marrying me will offend Centurion Jiang.”

After deciding whom to marry, it would need to be reported as soon as possible to the military official managing the exiled families, so that when the marriage order reached its deadline, he would be exempt from assignment.

Centurion Jiang was familiar with that military official and must have already spoken to him. Once he reported it, the other party would learn in advance and come to obstruct.

Moreover, a matter like marriage could not possibly remain secret.

Hearing this, Pei Er turned his gaze back. His expression returned to cold composure, and he frowned. “I’m not afraid of him.”

“I know you’re not afraid,” Li Chanxiu echoed gently. “But their status is there for all to see. If he and his brother want to make things difficult for us, it would be effortless.”

Pei Er’s expression grew colder, and the hand gripping the blade tightened further.

Suddenly, a cool, soft touch fell on the back of his hand. Pei Er abruptly lifted his eyes.

Li Chanxiu pressed down on his hand, as if soothing him, and continued, “Don’t worry. I’ve already thought of a way to deal with it.”

He lightly pressed the back of Pei Er’s hand, like in the dream when he later led troops and spoke heart-to-heart with his subordinates. After offering reassurance, he quickly withdrew.

At the moment his hand was pulled away, a wave of loss rose in Pei Er’s heart. Only when he continued speaking did Pei Er hurriedly focus and listen seriously.

“I heard those wounded soldiers say before that every winter the camp holds a grand competition. This year it’s in the next few days. Once Centurion Jiang learns we’re going to marry, he will certainly come personally to trouble you.”

“Though his character isn’t good, in terms of skill he ranks in the top three in the camp. It’s just that he enlisted late and is only a centurion now. In some time, he’ll probably become a commander of a thousand…”

“When he comes to trouble you, don’t confront him head-on. You only need to provoke him, ask whether he only dares rely on numbers to act, and whether he dares compete with you at the grand competition.”

“He cares greatly about face and is arrogant. At that time, he will surely agree.”

Li Chanxiu’s expression grew slightly solemn as he spoke slowly.

Pei Er frowned, just about to say, “There’s no need for so much trouble. He may not be my opponent,” but meeting Li Chanxiu’s gaze, he forcibly swallowed the words and reluctantly nodded.

Seeing him agree, Li Chanxiu continued, “When the day of the competition comes, I’ll think of another way. I’ll definitely make sure you win against him.”

“No need. Perhaps he isn’t my opponent at all.” Pei Er couldn’t hold back this time and finally said it.

Li Chanxiu gave a light cough. “If that’s the case, naturally that would be best. But we have another objective. You know the camp’s defending general, General Chen, right? He doesn’t get along with Centurion Jiang’s elder brother.”

“I heard Physician Hu say yesterday that Military Commandant Jiang has some connection with the newly appointed prefect. But General Chen was placed here by the former prefect. Now that the new prefect has come, the Jiang brothers will inevitably gain power. General Chen has never liked the two of them and wants to promote others to check and balance them. Unfortunately, the two brothers do have some ability; those he previously promoted were no match for them.”

“If you can defeat Centurion Jiang and cause Military Commandant Jiang to lose face, General Chen will surely appreciate you and may even promote you. And given how much he dislikes the Jiang brothers, once he knows you’re going to marry me, just for the sake of making those two uncomfortable, he will also help bring this about.

“Then even if Centurion Jiang refuses to accept defeat and flies into a rage, with General Chen present, he won’t dare easily do anything further, nor will he be able to obstruct our marriage.”

Li Chanxiu laid out his plan sentence by sentence, his expression focused and earnest.

Pei Er’s gaze remained quietly fixed on him, the corners of his lips unconsciously softening.

Only after finishing did Li Chanxiu notice he had been looking at him the whole time. He asked curiously, “What are you looking at?”

Pei Er replied without thinking, “When you speak seriously, you look very good.”

Only after saying it did he realize the words were frivolous. Annoyance flashed instantly in his eyes.

Li Chanxiu: “……”

He gave a light cough and said, “Did you hear everything I just said?”