After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 45

The setting sun sank westward, and the sky gradually darkened.

Xuanping and the others had gone to chase Lu Zhi; no one knew how long it would take for them to return.

Pei Er gave the order for the group to set out, they had to return to the military camp tonight. Li Chanxiu also got into the carriage, traveling together with Physician Hu.

As Pei Er swung himself onto his horse, he couldn’t help but glance toward the carriage.

Li Chanxiu pretended not to notice. Having just gone through what happened last night, he was now instinctively avoiding Pei Er; he definitely didn’t want to ride the same horse with him.

Pei Er pressed his lips together and rode his jujube red steed, staying beside the carriage the entire time, returning to camp with the group under the fading glow of the sunset.

After returning to the garrison, Li Chanxiu didn’t need to go to the military camp, he could just go straight home.

As he got off the carriage, Pei Er couldn’t help but look at him again. Li Chanxiu paused slightly in his movement, then braced himself and still pretended not to notice.

Watching him leave the group and head back to his residence alone, Pei Er couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss.

The scene of their tight embrace last night was still vivid in his mind. Yet today, it suddenly felt as if distance had been drawn between them, like boiling water turning cold in an instant.

Physician Hu also got off the carriage and returned to the military camp together with Pei Er, who was leading his horse.

He glanced in the direction Li Chanxiu had left and noticed something off between the young couple. He couldn’t help asking Pei Er, “What’s going on between you and your wife? Having a spat?”

Pei Er shook his head and said in a muffled voice, “No. We’re fine.”

Physician Hu smiled. “Then why didn’t Shen Xiu say a word to you just now when they got off the carriage?”

Pei Er pressed his lips together, his expression growing even gloomier.

Physician Hu glanced at him and probed further, “Could it still be because of that Young Master Lu…”

“No.” Pei Er immediately denied it, his tone firm. “Miss Shen doesn’t like him.”

Physician Hu: “Oh? Still calling her ‘Miss Shen’?”

“…My wife doesn’t like him,” Pei Er immediately corrected himself.

Physician Hu shook his head and chuckled, thinking: so he does care about Shen Xiu after all.

At this point, he could already guess what was going on, nothing more than jealousy. Most likely because of what Young Master Lu had said that day, Pei Er had gotten overly jealous and said something too harsh, angering Miss Shen and leading to this cold war.

On top of that, Miss Shen had asked Pei Er to let Lu Zhi go. Earlier at the foot of the mountain, Pei Er even had to personally see off his romantic rival, he must have felt bad about it.

So along the way, the young couple had been awkward with each other.

Physician Hu believed he had guessed correctly. He had been young once, after all, and could understand that sour, restless, uncertain feeling of a young man. Smiling, he advised, “When it comes to jealousy, you can’t go too far. If, because of what happened that day, you said something excessive and made her angry, you should apologize sooner rather than later. As the saying goes, couples quarrel at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of it. When you’re living together, you can’t stay cold forever, you should coax her more.”

Pei Er glanced at him and thought gloomily: It’s because of what happened in bed that we argued… no.

Actually, it wasn’t really on the bed either, after all, they hadn’t even touched the bed, so it couldn’t be considered an argument, but it was indeed… probably because of that matter.

Clearly, during the day at the stronghold, everything had been fine. For some reason…

But what Physician Hu said was also right, they couldn’t go on like this forever. But if he were to coax him, how exactly should he do it?

***

After returning to the military camp, Pei Er went overnight to see General Chen and reported the situation of the bandit suppression to him in detail.

When General Chen heard that Centurion Jiang had colluded with the bandits and had already been killed by Pei Er, his expression changed instantly. He hurriedly asked, “Did you obtain solid evidence? Are there any witnesses?”

Pei Er fell silent. After a moment, he shook his head. “Only the third boss of the stronghold can testify.”

Hearing this, General Chen immediately sat back down and let out a disappointed sigh, saying regretfully, “Why didn’t you capture him alive?”

Pei Er said, “I originally intended to capture him alive, but at the time he dragged me and… my wife down toward the cliff together. The situation was urgent, so I could only kill him.”

“What?” Upon hearing that this had been the situation, General Chen couldn’t help but ask with concern, “Are you and your wife both unharmed?”

Pei Er shook his head.

After learning that neither of them had been injured, General Chen finally felt relieved.

He stood up and paced a few steps inside the tent, then suddenly said, “Keep Jiang Chong’s death hidden for now, don’t let Jiang He know. Right now, there’s only one bandit as a witness. Jiang He can completely deny it and instead claim the bandit is slandering him. When the time comes, if he knows you killed his younger brother, he’ll probably try to harm you in secret.”

After thinking for a moment, he added, “When we deal with these bandits in the next couple of days, I’ll have Old Zhao from Yongding and that Commandant Qian come as well. Then we’ll bring this matter up again. Commandant Qian suffered losses at Jiang Chong’s hands, he’ll definitely bite down hard on the issue of Jiang Chong colluding with the bandits.”

Pei Er nodded.

By the time he left the central command tent, it was already the third watch of the night. It wasn’t convenient to return to the small courtyard, so he went directly to the soldiers’ barracks.

Lying on the bed in the tent that night, he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what, and couldn’t help thinking again about what Physician Hu had said about coaxing.

Just how should he coax?

He turned over, frowning as he pondered hard.

The tent was filled with the sound of snoring, repeatedly interrupting his thoughts.

Pei Er: “…”

These people usually stayed up late, joking about this one missing his wife and that one missing his wife, but tonight they were all sleeping soundly.

Why don’t they talk about how to coax a wife?

Pei Er’s expression darkened. Listening to the rising waves of snoring, he could only pull the blanket over his head and go to sleep.

***

The next day.

Early in the morning, General Chen sent people to the Yongding garrison to invite General Zhao and Commandant Qian to discuss how to handle the bandits.

Commandant Jiang had learned the previous night that Pei Er had led the troops back to camp, and he already had a bad premonition. He had hardly slept all night, waiting for Jiang Chong to return so he could learn the situation immediately.

But Jiang Chong never came back, and his unease only grew stronger. It wasn’t until he arrived at the central command tent for discussion today that he learned Jiang Chong had actually died, and died at Pei Er’s hands.

Commandant Jiang’s eyes instantly split with rage. His bloodshot eyes from a sleepless night immediately fixed on Pei Er, barely concealing his killing intent.

But before he could make a move, General Chen said, “Jiang Chong colluded with the bandits and used a scheme to harm the garrison troops who went to suppress them. Commandant Jiang, were you aware of this?”

“That’s right!” Commandant Qian from the Yongding garrison immediately cut in, saying angrily, “Jiang Chong is your younger brother, are you his accomplice?”

Seeing the matter being directed toward himself, Commandant Jiang, no matter how much he hated Pei Er, could only suppress it for now and immediately said, “What collusion with bandits? Nonsense. What evidence do you have?”

“Hmph! The third boss of that stronghold has already confessed, it was that surnamed Jiang who gave advice to the western stronghold and burned hundreds of my soldiers!” Commandant Qian snorted coldly.

He had previously suffered a crushing defeat when attacking the mountain. Thanks to Pei Er giving him another chance to earn merit, he could return looking somewhat respectable, so he naturally sided with Pei Er. Moreover, before going to suppress the bandits, he had made a military pledge; having been defeated so badly at first, if it could be determined that he had been sabotaged by his own side, he could at least receive less punishment.

“Indeed,” General Zhao of Yongding also spoke. He was older and had a milder temperament, and only said, “Now that Jiang Chong is dead, no matter what, Jiang He, you must give us an explanation.”

Commandant Jiang clenched his teeth and denied it: “It’s just a bandit’s false accusation, can that be taken as truth? Do you have solid evidence?”

“How could we not? If he didn’t collude with bandits, what was he doing at Wuding Mountain?” Commandant Qian said.

“Does going to Wuding Mountain make someone a bandit?” Commandant Jiang said coldly.

“Then why did he run when he saw us? Isn’t that a guilty conscience?” Commandant Qian slammed the table and added.

“Perhaps he didn’t see clearly and thought you were bandits chasing him.”

“You…” Commandant Qian was furious.

Pei Er’s gaze turned cold and heavy. His hand rested on the black iron curved blade at his waist, his fingers slowly rubbing the hilt.

Jiang He was right, they had no solid evidence.

According to Third Boss’s account, Jiang Chong had been cautious while in the stronghold. He had only shown his face in front of Song Wanqian, two of his confidants, and Third Boss. At other times, he either stayed inside or went out with his face covered.

The ordinary bandits in the stronghold had never seen him. And those who had, Song Wanqian, along with the scholar and the martial man at his side, were all already dead. Only Third Boss could testify.

Although the truth was obvious, Jiang Chong couldn’t have appeared in the stronghold for no reason, especially since he immediately fled in guilt upon seeing them, 

With only one person identifying him, Jiang He could completely claim it was slander, unless there was more concrete evidence.

This was also why General Chen believed they couldn’t bring Jiang He down this time, and told Pei Er to be more cautious in the future.

As expected, Jiang He denied it as slander. After speaking, he even turned his bloodshot gaze toward Pei Er and said through clenched teeth, “On the contrary, I would like to ask this Centurion Pei, since you have no evidence proving Jiang Chong colluded with the bandits, why did you force him to the cliff and kill him?”

Pei Er replied coldly, “He was guilty and panicked, ran to the edge of the cliff in desperation, and attacked me as soon as he saw me. I merely defended myself.”

After a pause, he added, “I would also like to ask, if he didn’t collude with the bandits, why was he afraid upon seeing me, and rushed forward to try to kill me?”

“You, hmph! Just based on your speculation, you think you can conclude my brother colluded with bandits? If officials in this world all judged cases like this, who knows how many wrongful convictions there would be, not to mention…”

Before he could finish speaking, a soldier suddenly entered and reported, “General, Miss Shen requests an audience.”

Commandant Jiang was interrupted mid-sentence and immediately became displeased. Turning around, he scolded, “What is this place, some Magpie Bridge or marriage temple? Just anyone can come? Denied!”

Pei Er’s gaze suddenly shot toward him, a flash of coldness passing through his eyes.

General Chen’s expression also turned extremely displeased as he said, “This is the central command tent. Whether someone is received or not is for this general to decide.”

After speaking, he directly told the reporting soldier, “Go invite Miss Shen in.”

General Zhao of Yongding, seeing this scene, couldn’t help but show a subtle expression.

He had long heard that General Chen of Yongfeng and the Commandant Jiang under him were at odds, and that Commandant Jiang, because of his connections in the prefect’s office, could often suppress General Chen. Today, he had finally witnessed it.

Commandant Qian was also dumbfounded to see Jiang He dare to speak over General Chen directly.

After all, this was the central command tent, and the reporting soldier was one of General Chen’s own attendants. For Jiang He to scold that soldier like this was no different from slapping General Chen in the face.

They were both commandants, but he himself wouldn’t dare to show such disrespect to General Zhao.

The soldier, however, did not listen to Commandant Jiang. Only after hearing General Chen’s order did he withdraw.

Very soon, the tent flap was lifted again, and Li Chanxiu’s upright figure walked into the tent.

Today he was still wearing a light-colored old cotton robe, his black hair tied up. His delicate features seemed to carry an extra edge compared to usual. As he entered, his gaze seemed to casually glance at Pei Er.

Pei Er’s hand gripping the blade hilt suddenly tightened. From the moment Li Chanxiu entered, his gaze had fallen on him, following his every movement.

General Zhao did not recognize Li Chanxiu and felt somewhat curious as to why General Chen would summon a woman at this moment. Surely it wasn’t just to compete with Jiang He.

Commandant Qian, however, knew that he and Pei Er were husband and wife, but still felt that bringing a woman in at such a time, even to counter Jiang He, wouldn’t be of much use.

He couldn’t help but glance at Pei Er and thought: Pei Er has helped me before. If Jiang He makes things difficult for his wife later, I should still help.

At this moment, Li Chanxiu had already bowed to General Chen.

General Chen hurriedly told him to rise, his smile gentle. “Miss Shen, you wished to see me, is there something wrong in the wounded soldiers’ camp or the pharmacy?”

Though he had allowed Li Chanxiu to enter, he did not think the other party had anything urgent.

They were currently discussing the matter of the bandits; other non-urgent matters should really be set aside for now. He had directly called him in mainly because he had been angered by Jiang He’s earlier remark.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Li Chanxiu raised his head, his gaze calm as he looked at him and said, “General Chen, I have evidence that Jiang Chong colluded with bandits to rob official salt.”