After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 35

Outside Yongding Town, Pei Er and Thousand-man Commander Li had already led their troops there and had been waiting for nearly two hours.

Pei Er sat on horseback, his face expressionless, gazing at the undulating mountain range and the Great Wall in the distance, as if lost in thought.

Beside him, Thousand-man Commander Li had grown impatient after waiting so long. Seeing that the sun had already reached overhead, he couldn’t help saying to a soldier next to him, “Go urge them again and see what’s going on, are they coming or not?”

The little soldier received the order. With a small flag stuck to his back, he quickly rode toward the Yongding garrison not far away.

Watching him ride off into the distance, Thousand-man Commander Li sighed and turned to look at Pei Er. Seeing that the other man was still calm and unruffled, at this moment he had even closed his eyes, as if an old monk in meditation, extraordinarily composed.

“Hey, I say, you’re not anxious at all,” Thousand-man Commander Li said.

Pei Er slowly opened his eyes. The depths of his pitch-black gaze were calm. “The prefect ordered a joint bandit suppression. They won’t not come.”

“That may be so, but we can’t just keep waiting like this. What on earth is the Yongding garrison up to?” Thousand-man Commander Li couldn’t help muttering.

Just as he finished speaking, a troop finally emerged from the camp in the distance. The person at the front rode on horseback, while those behind carried flags, figures streaming out one after another.

Thousand-man Commander Li immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “Finally out. I thought they were getting married and would only head out in the afternoon.”

Then he couldn’t help complaining again, “And those people above us too, if we’re suppressing bandits, then just suppress bandits. Why insist that the two garrisons each send part of their troops? Isn’t that just making trouble for nothing?

“Before, the Yongding garrison failed in their bandit suppression and got scolded. Now they’re making us suppress bandits together with them, do you think they’ll be happy about it? That bunch of hotheads are probably annoyed with us right now. Otherwise would they drag their feet this long before coming?

“Earlier General Chen said those mountain bandits weren’t united, not twisted into one rope. But if you ask me, we’re not much better ourselves. It’d be better if they just let the troops from Yongfeng Town handle the bandits alone.”

After all, they had agreed to suppress the bandits together. The people from the Yongfeng garrison had arrived early, while the Yongding garrison hadn’t shown any movement for a long time. If that wasn’t deliberate troublemaking, what was it? It couldn’t be that Prefect Yan hadn’t sent Yongding Town the official document.

While he was speaking, the troops from Yongding Town quickly arrived.

The one leading the soldiers was a commandant surnamed Qian. He had thick brows and big eyes, with a very rough appearance. As soon as he approached, he cupped his hands in greeting and said, “My apologies, brothers. Before setting out we were carefully studying military strategy in the army. We got so absorbed that we delayed the time, which is why we came late.”

Then he added, “But there was no helping it. Those mountain bandits are truly cunning. If we don’t study strategy more and prepare properly, and only rush over there shouting in a hurry, eager to make merit, we’ll suffer heavy losses because we weren’t prepared. As the saying goes, sharpening the blade does not delay the chopping of firewood, don’t you all agree?”

Though he spoke of apology, there was little real regret in his words; in fact, there was even a hint of mockery.

Thousand-man Commander Li hadn’t guessed wrong. This group was indeed harboring resentment and feeling quite displeased.

But if they were angry, they should vent it at the prefect or the mountain bandits, why take it out on the people from Yongfeng Town?

Thousand-man Commander Li was also unhappy. He thought to himself: with that rough appearance of yours, you study military strategy? Studying swordsmanship would be more like it.

Although the other man was a commandant, he wasn’t the commandant of their Yongfeng camp. So Thousand-man Commander Li cupped his hands and said with a cheerful smile on the spot, “Ah, no wonder, no wonder. I’ve heard that Yongding garrison achieved considerable results in their previous bandit suppression efforts. It must be thanks to studying military strategy. Admirable, admirable. We truly were too impatient. We’ll have to learn more from you.”

The tone of these words was unmistakably sarcastic, because everyone knew that the Yongding garrison had just been beaten badly by those mountain bandits and had also been reprimanded by Prefect Yan.

Commandant Qian was “praised” until his face lost its luster. Seeing that Yongfeng’s side was led only by a centurion and that they hadn’t brought many men, he said again, “What’s this? Is the Yongfeng garrison out of men? Didn’t you recruit a batch not long ago? Could it be that during that grain-transport mission, you really lost quite a few?”

“Oh come on, what are you saying? It’s just that guarding the border is more important for us. Mere mountain bandits are nothing but a rabble. General Chen said sending five hundred men would be enough,” Thousand-man Commander Li replied with a fake smile.

After speaking, he craned his neck to glance at the opposing formation and said in surprise, “Oh? Your side brought more than a thousand men? Truly powerful troops and imposing momentum. It seems this bandit suppression will depend heavily on you.”

Commandant Qian found the exchange increasingly unpleasant. With a cold snort, he said, “Then you’d better be careful. There are still capable people among those mountain bandits.”

After saying this, he tugged his horse’s reins and turned back to his own formation.

The two forces quickly merged into one and headed toward Wuding Mountain.

Pei Er had not spoken the entire time earlier, quietly watching the two men trade barbs.

After Commandant Qian returned to his own formation, he no longer paid attention to the people from the Yongfeng garrison, only occasionally speaking with the subordinates beside him.

After Thousand-man Commander Li’s round of sarcasm, he felt satisfied in the moment, but once he returned to the ranks he began to regret it a little.

He and Pei Er rode side by side in the middle of the column. Seeing the situation, he let out a long sigh and said, “I shouldn’t have acted on impulse just now. In the end, we still have to suppress bandits together. What if they’re petty, and I’ve offended them, what if they make things difficult for us later?”

After a pause, still feeling indignant, he added, “But they made us wait so long, and the moment they arrived they mocked us for coming early, saying we wanted to snatch the credit. I really couldn’t swallow that.”

Pei Er didn’t reply. His gaze looked far ahead toward the very front of the formation, Commandant Qian, who was quite some distance away from them.

After a moment, he slowly spoke. “Even if you hadn’t said those things, they had no intention of properly working with us to suppress the bandits.”

Thousand-man Commander Li could naturally see this as well, but still asked out of habit, “What makes you say that?”

Pei Er slightly lifted his chin, his eyes indicating the front. “They’ve previously gone to Wuding Mountain many times to suppress bandits, so they must know the situation there better than we do. They might even have a topographical map of the mountain. And after fighting them so many times, they should know at least some information about the stronghold or its approximate location. But they haven’t mentioned a single word about it, only discussing things among their own people. Most likely they’re afraid we’ll steal the credit.”

Thousand-man Commander Li followed his line of sight and looked ahead. Sure enough, at the very front of the formation, Commandant Qian seemed to be holding a topographical map and discussing something with the people beside him.

Thousand-man Commander Li immediately became displeased and said, “That old fox really wants to keep everything for himself. I’ll go catch him red-handed. The prefect ordered us to suppress bandits together, I refuse to believe he’d dare openly refuse to let me look at the map.”

With that, he spurred his horse toward the front.

Pei Er withdrew his gaze, not expecting him to actually obtain the map.

Sure enough, before long Thousand-man Commander Li rode back on horseback, his face full of anger.

He held it in for a while, but seeing that Pei Er didn’t ask him anything, he finally couldn’t help but say, “Why didn’t you ask whether I got the map?”

Pei Er gave an “oh,” not even turning his head as he asked, “Did you get it?”

His tone was as perfunctory as it could possibly be.

Thousand-man Commander Li choked for a moment and thought to himself: what kind of karma did I accumulate to end up suppressing bandits with these grandfathers.

After thinking that, he said irritably, “I didn’t get it. That old fox insisted he was looking at a border defense map, not a mountain map. But I saw it from far away, can’t I tell the difference between a mountain map and a border defense map?”

Not only that, Commandant Qian had also denied knowing anything about the situation in Wuding Mountain.

When Thousand-man Commander Li asked, the man widened his copper-bell-like eyes and pretended to be surprised. “Know something? Thousand-man Commander Li, you mustn’t misunderstand. If I really knew the situation of that mountain stronghold, would I have been driven back three or four times by those bandits?”

“Besides, I already told you before, those mountain bandits are extremely cunning. Each one appears and disappears without a trace. Especially among them there’s a Second Boss, supposedly a demonic Daoist who cultivates. He’s full of tricks, calculates everything without fail, and can even summon wind and clouds, using demon magic. Last time when we had just entered the mountain, we were trapped by the clouds and fog he summoned and couldn’t even find the road. How could we possibly know where their stronghold is located?”

Thousand-man Commander Li had been dismissed with this explanation. After returning he said angrily, “That old fox refused to admit anything and even tried to play the victim with me.”

After a pause, he added, “But there is one thing he didn’t say wrong. The bandits of Wuding Mountain really weren’t much before. After being suppressed several times, they were almost completely wiped out. But half a year ago, a new group of formidable people came into the mountain. One of them is the demonic Daoist that Commandant Qian mentioned.”

“No one knows where this person came from, but he truly has some ability. He’s skilled at using stratagems, and can borrow wind and clouds. The nearby villagers all call him Immortal Lu. The previous few times when the Yongding garrison sent troops to suppress the bandits, they were all defeated by him. Especially since it’s said he can summon wind and clouds, either blowing winds so strong people can’t open their eyes, or trapping people with clouds, then letting those lying in ambush rush out and kill them off guard.”

This was also the main reason why the Yongding troops had repeatedly failed in their bandit suppression.

“Hey, tell me, this Immortal Lu… no, I mean that demonic Daoist. Could it be he really knows demon magic?” Thousand-man Commander Li asked doubtfully.

Pei Er glanced at him and said calmly, “What demon magic could there be? At most he knows how to observe celestial phenomena and understands the climate in the mountains, and is skilled at using the weather and terrain. ‘Military force has no constant configuration, just as water has no constant shape.’ This is the way of warfare. That person is simply good at using troops.”

Hearing this, Thousand-man Commander Li felt it made some sense and couldn’t help becoming curious again. “You used to be just an ordinary soldier, how do you know all this? Did you study it before?”

Pei Er was startled when he heard that. Yes, why did he know these things?

He immediately frowned, then shook his head and made up an excuse. “General Chen previously gave me a few military books and told me to read more. It’s all written in those books.”

Thousand-man Commander Li suddenly understood, then slapped his forehead. “Right, I almost forgot, you once lost your memory. Even if you studied it before, you probably wouldn’t remember.”

Hearing this, Pei Er fell into thought.

The army marched quickly along the road, passing several villages along the way.

Each time they passed a place, Pei Er ordered people to inquire about the situation in the village, while he himself carefully observed the surroundings along the road.

By the afternoon, the troops finally reached the area around Wuding Mountain.

Commandant Qian and the others walking at the very front suddenly stopped. Pei Er glanced at the surrounding situation and turned to suggest to Thousand-man Commander Li, “Let’s set up camp here.”

“Alright.” Thousand-man Commander Li nodded.

After giving the order, Thousand-man Commander Li looked up at the great mountain before them and began to worry again.

Mountains connected to mountains, stretching endlessly. They only knew the enemy’s general direction, not the specific situation. The allied troops beside them were also uncooperative, how were they supposed to suppress the bandits?

“I’ll go see what Commandant Qian and the others are saying,” Thousand-man Commander Li said, and rode his horse toward the very front of the column again.

Pei Er lifted his eyes and looked toward Wuding Mountain. After a moment, he called Zhang Hu, who was following with the army, over to ask about some matters.

Before long Thousand-man Commander Li returned, his expression somewhat serious. He called Pei Er aside and lowered his voice. “That group is still hiding things, but I vaguely heard a few phrases, something about a cliff and a small path. It sounds like they might already have a way to attack the mountain.”

Pei Er lifted his eyes and glanced at Commandant Qian and the others.

At this moment Thousand-man Commander Li took a map from his robe and said, “They won’t give us theirs, but fortunately we have one as well.”

However, their map had been given by General Chen just before they set out. It was a standard map and certainly not as detailed as the one Commandant Qian’s group must have re-marked according to the actual conditions after attacking the mountain several times, but it was still good enough to look at.

“Let me see… If it’s a cliff, could it be they want to attack the mountain from here?” Thousand-man Commander Li said, pointing to a spot on the map.

Seeing that Pei Er only stared at the map in thought without speaking, he added, “I think they want to seize the credit and don’t plan to bring us along. What should we do?”

Pei Er had already looked at this map earlier. Now he took it again and examined it carefully, saying casually, “We’ve just arrived and don’t understand the situation yet. There’s no need to rush into attacking the mountain. If they won’t take us, then so be it.”

Thousand-man Commander Li said, “Huh?”

Pei Er finally put away the map and looked up at him. “First send people to lie in ambush near the various mountain paths. If anyone comes down the mountain, capture them and see whether we can extract the exact location of the stronghold. Then send troops to surround each exit. Remember, surround but do not attack. The stronghold lacks food and medicine. When they can’t hold out any longer, we’ll attack.”

Thousand-man Commander Li was stunned when he heard this. “How do you know they lack food and medicine?”

Pei Er replied calmly, “Just now we inquired in the nearby villages. Not long ago the bandits came to the villages nearby to loot. They didn’t seize people, only food and medicinal herbs. But according to what we previously learned, the Second Boss in the stronghold still had some sense of chivalry. Normally he used the banner of robbing the rich to help the poor and forbade robbing ordinary villagers.”

But now the bandits had gone directly into villages to seize the food of common people. This suggested that the stronghold was very likely short of grain.

“Especially since they’ve been expanding continuously since three months ago, from about two hundred people left after being suppressed before, to more than a thousand now. With so many additional mouths to feed all at once, the possibility of lacking food is even greater,” Pei Er said.

Thousand-man Commander Li nodded, thoughtful. “So that’s how it is.”

Zhang Hu, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but feel admiration after hearing this. He had been wondering why Centurion Pei kept having them inquire in the villages along the road, so that was the reason.

“Additionally, if my guess is correct, that Second Boss probably hasn’t been able to fully take charge lately,” Pei Er added.

“And what makes you say that?” Thousand-man Commander Li asked.

Pei Er said, “The Second Boss’s principles are robbing the rich to help the poor and not harming the innocent, which doesn’t align with this group that robs anything and everything. Previously he could suppress the others, probably because he had won several battles and had prestige. But now that these people can directly enter villages to rob ordinary peasants, either the Second Boss doesn’t know about it, or he’s compromising.”

“Whatever the reason, it shows that the leading figures among the bandits are not in harmony. Even if the stronghold weren’t lacking food, if we continue surrounding them like this, their internal conflicts would be stirred up and they would split apart first.”

“Besides, even considering all this, understanding the situation clearly before going up the mountain is safer than attacking it directly.”

“That makes sense,” Thousand-man Commander Li said, nodding repeatedly after hearing his explanation. “Then right now we…”

Pei Er lowered his head to look at the map again and said, “First set up camp and cook food.”

“Alright.” Thousand-man Commander Li quickly went to give the order.

Not long afterward, as the sky was about to grow dark, a fast horse suddenly arrived.

The rider had the banner of the Yongfeng Town garrison tied to his body. As soon as he reached the troops, he immediately dismounted.

The man hurried to Thousand-man Commander Li, knelt on one knee, and cupped his hands. “Thousand-man Commander, an urgent letter from General Chen.”

Upon hearing this, Thousand-man Commander Li quickly said, “Bring it here.”

The soldier hurriedly untied the letter from his waist and handed it over.

Perhaps because the commotion here was noticeable, Commandant Qian and the others all turned their attention to it. Pei Er also moved his gaze away from the map.

Thousand-man Commander Li took the letter and, using the light of a torch, quickly read through it. His expression suddenly changed.

Pei Er walked a few steps closer and asked, “What is it?”

Thousand-man Commander Li looked up at him. His expression suddenly showed a hint of hesitation. He handed the letter over and said carefully, “You… should prepare yourself mentally.”

Pei Er looked at him strangely, took the letter, and had barely read a few lines when his expression abruptly changed. His face suddenly became frighteningly cold, and killing intent even rose in his dark eyes.

“When did this happen?” he said through clenched teeth, crumpling the letter tightly in his hand.

“Just before evening. As soon as General Chen received the news, he ordered me to deliver it immediately,” the messenger soldier replied.

Thousand-man Commander Li had not expected something like this either. He tried to comfort Pei Er, choosing his words carefully. “Sigh, don’t worry too much yet. Your wife was only taken not long ago, perhaps she’s still safe.”

But even as he said this, he himself did not quite believe it. Those mountain bandits were mostly vicious criminals. If someone as beautiful as Miss Shen had been captured and taken away, then most likely…

Sigh, unless the one who took her was that Second Boss in the mountains. It was said that although that man had turned bandit, his conscience had not yet been extinguished. But if his conscience was not extinguished, how could he do something like abducting someone? It was far more likely that Miss Shen had fallen into the hands of other bandits.

The more Thousand-man Commander Li tried to comfort him, the drier his voice became, until he finally could not continue at all.

Zhang Hu still did not know what had happened. From Thousand-man Commander Li’s words he caught a hint of it and asked nervously, “Has something happened to Miss Shen?”

Pei Er clenched the letter tightly in his hand and said through gritted teeth, word by word, “Make preparations. Tonight we attack the mountain.”

Thousand-man Commander Li said, “Huh?”

Hadn’t he just said earlier that they would “surround but not attack,” trapping them for several days first?

He understood that Pei Er was anxious at this moment, but he was also worried that the man was acting out of anger and disregarding the bigger situation, so he hurriedly wanted to remind him.

But just then Commandant Qian and the others came over, staring at the letter in Pei Er’s hand. “A letter sent to you by General Chen? Is there some important news? Since everyone has come together to suppress bandits, if there’s news like that you can’t keep it to yourselves and hide it from each other.”

As he spoke, Commandant Qian stretched out his hand, intending to take the letter from Pei Er.

Pei Er gave him a cold glance. Suddenly he crumpled the letter into a ball and turned away.

“Hey, what does he mean by that?” Commandant Qian said unhappily, turning to ask Thousand-man Commander Li.

Thousand-man Commander Li had not yet spoken when Pei Er, who had walked ahead, suddenly stopped again. He turned around and, under the dim flicker of the torchlight, looked at Commandant Qian expressionlessly and said: “If you intend to attack the mountain tonight from the small path beside the cliff at the back of the mountain, I advise you not to. That path is narrow and hidden. Although it allows for a surprise attack, if it’s actually bait deliberately set by the enemy, and people above use the wind to launch a fire attack, you’ll be trapped on that path, unable to advance and unable to retreat.”

After saying that, he turned and left again.

Commandant Qian was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly pointed at his back and said angrily, “Look at that, what kind of attitude is that? Just a mere centurion… Wait, what small path? Who said we were going to take a small path to attack the mountain? Did you send someone to spy on our conversation…”

Although he was a commandant, Thousand-man Commander Li didn’t feel like dealing with him anymore at this moment. He quickly went around him and chased after Pei Er.

He hesitated as if wanting to speak but not knowing how to begin. Before he could say anything, Pei Er suddenly spoke first: “I know what you want to say, but don’t worry. I’m not acting on impulse in anger.”

When Thousand-man Commander Li heard this, he immediately felt relieved and asked cautiously, “Then you mean to…”

Pei Er looked at the dark mountain silhouette ahead and said in a deep voice, “You and the others stay here and set up camp. I’ll take some men up the mountain first to scout the situation. Then wait for my message, we may attack the mountain tonight or tomorrow, at the latest the day after tomorrow.”

Seeing that Pei Er was not acting rashly and that his reasoning made sense, Thousand-man Commander Li nodded. “Alright, we’ll do as you say.”

Times had changed. Although the plan Pei Er suggested earlier had been more cautious, now someone from their side had been captured by those mountain bandits.

Although it was only two people, those two happened to be the only physicians in their camp. Not to mention that one of them was Miss Shen, who specialized in stitching wounds and treating external injuries, even people whose intestines had been cut could be saved by her.

So even without Pei Er, he would have had to find a way to rescue them.

If they failed to rescue them, their camp would have no physicians left. Even if the prefectural city later transferred another one to them, the medical skill would certainly not be as good as Miss Shen’s.

This was also the reason General Chen had urgently sent the letter, instructing them to rescue the people at all costs.

Seeing that Thousand-man Commander Li agreed, Pei Er nodded slightly.

Although along the way many of the orders had been his suggestions, Thousand-man Commander Li was still the true commander. If the other party disagreed, there was actually nothing he could do, he would only have been able to find his own way to rescue them.

Fortunately, the more Thousand-man Commander Li spoke with him along the journey, the more respect he had for him, and he basically followed his suggestions.

After finishing speaking with Thousand-man Commander Li, Pei Er looked toward Zhang Hu.

The moment Zhang Hu saw him look over, he immediately clasped his fists and said, “If the Centurion has any orders, just say the word. I, Zhang Hu, will certainly obey.”

Not to mention that they were in a superior–subordinate relationship, even if they weren’t, the one they were rescuing was Miss Shen, and Zhang Hu would not hesitate.

Pei Er nodded heavily. “Good.”

Afterward he selected a dozen or so men, had them change into plain clothes, and, taking advantage of the night, headed straight up the mountain.

***

Li Chanxiu slowly regained consciousness amid a wave of headache and groggy discomfort. His hands and feet seemed to be tied, and the poor circulation had made them numb.

The dagger hidden in the pocket inside his sleeve was still there, it just wasn’t easy to take out.

He vaguely smelled again the bitter scent of medicine and the smell of charcoal fire, and he could also hear a muffled coughing sound.

Realizing that there were other people in the room, he remained motionless, keeping his eyes closed and pretending he had not awakened.

After a short while, the coughing stopped, and the voice of a young man sounded, suppressed with anger but unable to hide its weakness.

“Besides this, what else have you done? Confess everything honestly!”

As soon as the words fell, a somewhat cautious voice replied, “Big Brother, don’t be angry. We really only captured these two physicians. We didn’t do anything else.”

It was the black-clothed man with the coarse voice. Li Chanxiu remembered that it was this man who had knocked him unconscious, slung him around the waist and hung him from the side of a horse, bumping along the whole way. And if he remembered correctly, someone had called him “Fourth Boss” at the time.

“That’s right, Second Boss. Fourth Boss really only took us to grab two physicians. Didn’t we hear that these two physicians from Yongfeng Town are very capable? And your injury…”

Before the sentence could finish, the young man shouted to interrupt him, “You really didn’t rob military supplies? And you didn’t do anything evil?” After saying this, he coughed again.

Someone seemed to hurry over, patting his back and soothing him. “Young Master, please don’t be angry, be careful of your health. Xuanping only did this because he was worried about you and had no other choice.”

“Yes, Young Master. We’ve already fallen to this point, why still insist on those ideas of benevolence and righteousness, ”

Before the sentence could finish, it suddenly stopped, and the room fell into a heavy silence.

Li Chanxiu guessed that the person who had just spoken had likely been glared at by that “Young Master.”

However, Xuanping… that name sounded somewhat familiar.

After a long while, the Young Master spoke again, his voice hoarse. “It is my fault. I dragged you all down to this state. It would have been one thing if I, Lu Zhi, alone had fallen into banditry, but I also brought you onto this crooked path. In the future when we go to the underworld, how will we face Father and Mother, and the ancestors of the Lu family? Since it is because of my injury that you acted like this, then this injury might as well go untreated.”

As soon as the words fell, there was suddenly a thump, as if the Fourth Boss called Xuanping had abruptly knelt down.

His rough voice choked with emotion. “Big Brother, it’s my fault. I alone will bear it. Please let Physician Hu come treat your injury quickly. Once your wound is healed, I will personally escort him back to Yongfeng Camp and repay my crime with death.”

Another person hurriedly said in panic, “Second Boss, it’s not that serious! We truly didn’t touch the military supplies, we didn’t dare take even a bit, and we didn’t harm anyone.”

“Young Master, please let Physician Hu treat your injury.”

“Yes, Young Master!”

“Young Master!”

“Didn’t you say before that you would lead everyone to recover the northern lands and return to Youzhou?”

“….”

It seemed that several people had gathered around him together, pleading with the Young Master called Lu Zhi.

However, Northern Lands, Youzhou, Xuanping, Lu Zhi…

Li Chanxiu frowned. At last he knew who this person was.

Just then, someone beside him suddenly moved, and a somewhat trembling, hesitant voice sounded, “Well, uh… heroes, I really don’t mean to interrupt, but… actually… I really can’t treat your Young Master’s injury.”

Physician Hu’s tone was shaky with fear, as if he were afraid of angering this band of outlaws.

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