After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 47

Worried that the golden eagle had been injured, Li Chanxiu hurried over to check.

After examining it and finding nothing wrong, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “It’s probably just hungry.”

Before leaving, he had instructed Chen Qing to come help feed the eagle. But there hadn’t been much rabbit meat left at home, only enough for one day’s food.

That day, he had originally planned to go to the county town and return the same day. He hadn’t expected to be captured and taken to the bandits’ stronghold, only returning three days later.

Chen Qing had come to feed the eagle for one day. On the second day, with no meat left, he ended up getting pecked. In the end, he not only had to spend his own money to buy meat but was also miserably bullied by the eagle.

When Li Chanxiu returned yesterday and saw the note Chen Qing had left, he couldn’t help but laugh.

However, there had been no meat at home last night, so the eagle had to go hungry for another night. Only this morning, when he returned from the military camp, did he stop by the town to buy some meat.

“When you go back to the camp later, remember to return the money to Chen Qing. Also check how badly he was pecked, if it’s serious, give him some wound medicine as well,” Li Chanxiu said while feeding strips of cut meat to the eagle.

Having been fed by him so many times, the golden eagle had gradually grown closer to him. After swallowing a strip of meat, it immediately rubbed against his palm in a fawning manner, its round eyes fixed on the remaining meat by his hand.

Seeing it rub against Li Chanxiu, Pei Er’s dark eyes immediately glared coldly at it.

For some reason, the eagle seemed very afraid of him. It instantly cowered, as if it had been scolded many times before and was very familiar with that kind of look.

Li Chanxiu felt helpless. Stroking the eagle’s smooth feathers, he said to Pei Er, “Why are you so fierce to it? This eagle is very valuable, if that strike just now had injured it, it would’ve been such a pity.”

The golden eagle seemed to enjoy being stroked. It stepped lightly and edged closer to him again.

Pei Er stared at the eagle, his gaze faintly dark, and cleared his throat. “Is that so? Then it’s quite useless.”

Li Chanxiu: “……” Why did it still feel sarcastic?

Could he have been possessed by something?

***

In the military camp, how the case was investigated and how the bandits were dealt with were matters for General Chen to worry about. Pei Er didn’t need to rush back, so he simply stayed at home a while longer.

Breakfast was made together by him and Li Chanxiu, he was in charge of tending the fire, while Li Chanxiu cooked.

Since their marriage, this was the first time Pei Er had eaten food made by Li Chanxiu. He couldn’t help but want to praise it. Especially since Physician Hu had said he should coax his wife more.

Thinking of this, he cleared his throat and began, “Oh…”

“Don’t say ‘oh my,’ just hurry and eat,” Li Chanxiu, afraid he would start speaking sarcastically again, quickly picked up a piece of stir-fried dried bamboo shoots with meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

Pei Er froze instantly. His tongue brushed against the edge of the chopsticks, and thinking that just a moment ago, those chopsticks might also have touched Miss Shen’s… tongue, a sudden warmth spread to the tips of his ears.

He chewed slowly, reluctant to swallow, his peripheral gaze repeatedly drifting toward Li Chanxiu.

Li Chanxiu had already been sensitive to his gaze these past two days. Being watched like this made him extremely uncomfortable, so he quickly coughed lightly and casually started a topic: “Why are you speaking so strangely today?”

“…Strangely?” Pei Er came back to himself and asked in confusion, “Isn’t it interesting?”

Li Chanxiu: “……” What’s interesting about it?

If he spoke to people like this all the time, he’d probably get beaten every day.

Seeing his expression, Pei Er immediately realized he had overdone it.

Just then, the golden eagle wandered over to the kitchen doorway again, poking its head in and staring at the stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat on the table, the meat in the dish was what had been left after feeding the eagle earlier.

Pei Er grew annoyed the more he looked at it. He had bought a whole jin of meat, half of it had gone into its stomach, and it was still coming to look!

“This eagle just eats and doesn’t work. Since it’s idle all day anyway, might as well buy some chicks for it to raise,” he said darkly.

Li Chanxiu’s chopsticks paused, his expression incredulous: Let a golden eagle raise chicks? How is that any different from asking a cat to parent mice? Wouldn’t they just get eaten?

“That way, when the chickens grow up, not only will there be eggs, the eagle will also have chicken to eat,” Pei Er continued.

Li Chanxiu: “……” A parent eating its children, isn’t that a bit too cruel?

And the chicks definitely wouldn’t even make it to adulthood.

But considering that Pei Er had memory loss and might not understand these things, he quickly dismissed the idea to prevent him from wasting money.

Pei Er nodded and continued eating. He actually understood the reasoning, he just couldn’t stand the sight of this eagle that only ate and did nothing.

Raising it like this was too much of a loss, and he and Miss Shen weren’t exactly well-off.

“Let it recover first. Once it’s healed, it can help you hunt,” Li Chanxiu advised.

After breakfast, the two of them shut the golden eagle back into the room and returned to the military camp together.

The medicinal herbs they had previously bought in the county town hadn’t been stolen and had already been delivered to the camp. Over the next couple of days, Li Chanxiu would work with Physician Hu to process them into powders and ointments.

That way, if a battle broke out, the medicine could be used immediately without delaying treatment.

Pei Er went to the wounded soldiers’ camp, returned the money for the eagle’s meat to Chen Qing, and also gave him a bottle of medicine for external injuries, something he had secretly bought from Hu Yuan’er without telling Li Chanxiu.

As for the wound medicine that Li Chanxiu had specially prepared for him, he was reluctant to give it away.

However, what he didn’t know was that after Hu Yuan’er returned to the pharmacy, he ran to Li Chanxiu, who was grinding medicinal powder, and said in a crisp voice, “Sister Shen, Brother-in-law Pei just came to buy a bottle of bruise medicine from me.”

As she spoke, she handed the copper coins Pei Er had given to Li Chanxiu. The warmth from Pei Er probably hadn’t even faded from them yet.

All the medicine belonged to the military camp, so the money from selling it should naturally also go to the camp. Although Hu Yuan’er was young, he still remembered what Physician Hu had taught him.

Li Chanxiu was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then shook his head and laughed, putting the money into the cabinet.

He thought Pei Er was reluctant to give good medicine to Chen Qing, and couldn’t help but think that next time he went to the county town, he should buy more medicinal ingredients and make more wound medicine for him.

And while he was at it, he would go see Lu Zhi.

It was just that he still needed to think of an excuse to go.

***

Three days later, the follow-up handling of the bandit suppression in the army was basically completed.

The batch of official salt hidden by the bandits had already been found that same day, further confirming that Centurion Jiang Chong had colluded with the bandits, harmed the border troops, and robbed official salt.

General Chen and General Zhao of Yongding jointly wrote a report, fully informing Prefect Yan of the matter.

In addition, although there was no evidence proving that Commandant Jiang was also involved, his younger brother had committed numerous serious crimes. If he were still alive, he would inevitably have been executed. As his elder brother, he naturally could not avoid being implicated, at the very least, he could forget about keeping his commandant position.

General Chen also reported this in the letter to the prefect, requesting that Jiang He be removed from his position.

As for the money and grain seized during the bandit suppression, they had mostly been obtained by the bandits through robbing nearby commoners, merchants, and travelers. After discussion, General Chen and General Zhao decided to return as much as possible directly to the local people.

As for whether the prefect would agree, well, it had already been returned. It originally belonged to the people anyway; could the prefect really demand it back?

Only that batch of salt, General Chen had some private intentions and kept a portion for his own camp. The rest was prepared to be sent back to Qing County.

After all, when he had previously sent people to the county to buy salt, they hadn’t been able to buy any. Requests sent up the chain had also not yet been fulfilled. The army was currently short on salt; they couldn’t have the soldiers lacking strength to guard the borders.

Moreover, he had heard that several nearby counties were also short on salt recently. Sending this batch there would likely ease the people’s shortage somewhat.

Finally, there were the bandits. Regarding recruitment, Pei Er had already spoken with him. All bandits who accepted amnesty, except for women and those physically unfit, were incorporated into the border army.

As for those who surrendered in time and hadn’t committed major crimes, just as Lu Zhi had said, most would be sentenced to labor on the city walls.

For example, Third Boss, although he hadn’t committed major evils like murder or arson, he had followed the chief and committed some lesser wrongs, such as highway robbery, and previously taking Jiang Chong’s money to target Li Chanxiu.

However, after surrendering, he had rendered meritorious service, so he would likely be sentenced to about half a year of hard labor.

The remaining group consisted of those like the chief, truly heinous criminals. Many of them would likely be executed.

But the exact sentencing was not decided by General Chen. He was only responsible for border defense. Aside from those recruited into the army, the remaining bandits would all be escorted to the nearby Qing County, where the local authorities would conduct trials and issue judgments.

Coincidentally, the batch of official salt also needed to be sent to Qing County. Not trusting others, General Chen entrusted the escort to Pei Er.

Pei Er had also recently been promoted to commander of a thousand. Although the promotion was relatively fast, in this bandit suppression, the Yongfeng garrison had taken Wuding Mountain with almost zero casualties. Of the more than one thousand bandits in the mountain, they were either recruited or brought back to the camp.

Compared to the neighboring Yongding garrison, which had failed multiple times to eliminate these bandits and had suffered nearly half casualties even when joining this operation, Pei Er’s performance naturally stood out.

In short, General Chen felt that promoting him to commander of a thousand was not excessive.

When Li Chanxiu learned that Pei Er would be escorting the bandits and official salt to Qing County, he was slightly surprised.

This really was… just as one gets sleepy, a pillow arrives.

That evening, when Pei Er returned home and had dinner with him, he brought it up casually: “When Xuanping sent someone to deliver the evidence of Jiang Chong’s collusion with bandits earlier, I asked the messenger to pass along a message, requesting them to stay a few more days in Qing County, saying I might have a chance to meet them. Since you happen to be going there, why don’t I go with you?”

Hearing this, Pei Er paused with his chopsticks and looked at him steadily.

Last time, he had wanted to go to the county town with Li Chanxiu but hadn’t been able to. Now that there was another chance, he had been about to ask if Li Chanxiu wanted to go together, but hadn’t expected him to say it first.

How was this not a kind of tacit understanding, a meeting of minds?

As for Li Chanxiu mentioning Lu Zhi, Pei Er directly ignored it.

Seeing him stare so intently, Li Chanxiu instantly misunderstood. Thinking of how he had been acting strangely about Lu Zhi earlier, he couldn’t help but cough lightly and added, “Also, I had some clothes custom-made for you at a clothing shop in Qing County. I paid a deposit earlier, by now they should be ready, so I need to go pick them up.”

Hearing this, Pei Er’s dark eyes lit up, and he nodded almost immediately. “Alright.”

After saying that, even the speed at which he ate increased.

This wasn’t just mutual understanding, there was also… feeling, wasn’t there?

Miss Shen had made clothes for him…

The tips of Pei Er’s ears reddened slightly. For a while, he could only bury his head in eating, his face nearly dipping into the bowl, with only his chopsticks moving.

Li Chanxiu: “……”

After finishing the meal, Pei Er finally lifted his face from the bowl, his dark eyes bright. “Tonight… can I sleep on the bed?”

The military had been busy these past few days, and he had been sleeping in the camp.

Li Chanxiu’s eating motion stiffened. At last, he had to face this issue, ever since that night at the stronghold, they hadn’t had close contact again.

But there was only one bed at home, and it was so cold, he couldn’t exactly have Pei Er sleep on the floor.

His smile was a bit stiff as he tried to sound natural. “There’s only one bed. If you don’t sleep on it, where else could you sleep?”

After saying that, it was his turn to focus only on eating, his face nearly buried in the bowl.

Especially since he had just “asked” Pei Er to take him to the county town, and now had to agree to share a bed with him, it somehow felt… very strange.

Fortunately, after that night at the stronghold, Pei Er also seemed somewhat awkward and tried to avoid close contact with him. At night, they each used their own blanket, keeping a clear boundary between them.

The next day, early in the morning, Li Chanxiu went to the military camp and told Physician Hu about going to the county town.

After the incidents of salt being skimmed in the army and the bandit suppression at the stronghold, General Chen had come to trust Li Chanxiu more and more, allowing him to freely enter and leave the camp.

As for going to the county town, since he would be going together with Pei Er and the other soldiers, it was no problem.

Physician Hu didn’t even need to report it to General Chen first and could directly agree, even asking Li Chanxiu to help buy some things for him while in the county town.

Li Chanxiu nodded in agreement. He had originally wanted to go to the medical hut to ask Aunt Xu if she needed anything brought back. Last time he went to the county town, he had been preoccupied and hadn’t thought to ask her.

But thinking that Aunt Xu didn’t have much money, even if she needed something, she probably wouldn’t mention it to him. It would be better for him to just help her buy some things himself.

After this delay, by the time they set out, the sun had already risen.

This time, Pei Er was escorting prisoners and official salt to the county town, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to ride the same horse with Li Chanxiu, lest it invite gossip.

Fortunately, during the previous bandit suppression, they had “confiscated” a carriage from the stronghold. So Zhang Hu was arranged to drive the carriage, with Li Chanxiu sitting inside. This way, he wouldn’t be seen by people along the road, and it also blocked the wind, preventing him from getting too cold.

Li Chanxiu also felt that the carriage was much better than the flat cart from last time. At least this time, when they reached the county town, his legs weren’t frozen numb to the point of almost losing sensation.

After entering the city, Pei Er still needed to parade the captured bandits through the streets before handing them over to the authorities, so that the people would know the bandits who had plagued the area had been eliminated.

The county magistrate of Qing County had likely informed the townspeople in advance. As soon as Pei Er and the others entered the city, they were surrounded by crowds who had rushed over upon hearing the news. Many clapped in satisfaction and even threw small stones at the vicious bandits.

Where there were people cursing the bandits, there were naturally also those who couldn’t help but raise their thumbs to praise the border troops, especially Pei Er, who rode at the front, shoulders level, back straight, and bearing imposing.

“Finally wiped out that gang of bandits, it’s the border troops who are truly capable!”

“I heard it was the Yongfeng garrison this time.”

“The one riding at the front? He looks so young.”

“Tsk tsk, young and accomplished!”

“He might even become an extraordinary young general!”

Sitting inside the carriage, hearing the praise, Li Chanxiu couldn’t help but let a faint smile appear at the corner of his lips, whether for himself or for Pei Er, even he wasn’t sure.

He gently lowered the carriage curtain, suddenly recalling that someone had once told him that common people were actually very simple, whoever treated them well would win their hearts.

When he was young, his father had also taught him: water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it…

“Hmph, what general? Looking at that outfit, at most he’s just a commander of a thousand,” a richly dressed young man sitting in a teahouse by the street said with a scoff as he glanced downstairs.

A servant beside him quickly chimed in, “Exactly, these commoners have no insight. If we’re talking about a young general, it has to be…”

“Pfft, Pei Zhen?” The richly dressed young man suddenly spat out a mouthful of tea, staring wide-eyed at Pei Er, who happened to glance toward the teahouse as he passed below.

The servant beside him was splashed with tea, froze for a moment, then hurriedly wiped his face and said, “Pei Shizi is naturally also a young general, but Young Master, you…”

Aren’t you on bad terms with him?

“No!” The richly dressed young man suddenly stood up, leaning half his body out of the teahouse window, pointing at Pei Er’s retreating figure and saying in shock, “Th-that was Pei Zhen, wasn’t it?”

The servant: “?” What?

Half a quarter of an hour later, the richly dressed young man was squeezing through the crowd by the roadside, trying desperately to push forward.

His servant followed behind, sweating profusely, saying, “Young Master, you must have seen wrong. How could Pei Shizi appear in a small county in Yongzhou? And wearing the armor of a commander of a thousand?”

Unable to squeeze any further forward, the richly dressed young man finally stopped, slapped his forehead, and said, “That’s true. I haven’t seen him for years, I might have mistaken him.”

“Yes, Young Master. Now that the bandits have been eliminated and the stolen wealth will soon be recovered, we should hurry back to Chang’an,” the servant advised.

“But… it really looked like him,” the richly dressed young man muttered again.

***

After handing over the captured bandits and official salt to the magistrate of Qing County, Pei Er accompanied Li Chanxiu to meet Lu Zhi.

Li Chanxiu actually didn’t need him to accompany him, and even hoped he wouldn’t, but Pei Er insisted on following.

When they arrived at the agreed location, they found that Lu Zhi had actually booked a private room in a restaurant.

After entering, they saw that the room was elegantly arranged. Beside a screen stood lush potted plants, and thin white smoke curled in the air.

Pei Er, who was currently so short on money that he could barely afford to feed the golden eagle: “……”

Being a bandit was this profitable?

Li Chanxiu, however, knew that Lu Zhi’s money likely came from the assets he had brought with him when fleeing south from the northern lands. By now, there probably wasn’t much left.

Seeing them arrive, Lu Zhi smiled and poured each of them a cup of tea, then had Xuanping go downstairs to order dishes.

Li Chanxiu glanced around the room. Besides Xuanping, Tan Yun, the steward, and the rest of Lu Zhi’s close associates were also present.

They had likely caught up with Lu Zhi and refused to part ways, and in the end, Lu Zhi had no choice but to agree.

After all, they had fled south together from the north and supported each other until now. It was obvious they wouldn’t abandon him just because he said he didn’t want to burden them.

Seeing him look toward Tan Yun and the others, Lu Zhi smiled helplessly and said, “Please forgive the spectacle.”

Li Chanxiu shook his head.

After the dishes were served, everyone sat down to eat.

Lu Zhi took the initiative to bring up the matter of the salt, saying, “Actually, before accepting amnesty, I already knew about this.”

Li Chanxiu nodded, and could even guess that it was likely this matter that had finally made Lu Zhi decide to accept amnesty.

“But there’s another matter. Previously we didn’t meet in person, and it wasn’t suitable to explain clearly through Xuanping’s letter. Now that you’re here, it’s just right to tell you.” Lu Zhi’s expression suddenly turned serious.

Pei Er and Li Chanxiu both paused with their chopsticks and looked at him.

Lu Zhi gestured for Tan Yun to check whether anyone was passing outside. After confirming it was safe, he lowered his voice and said, “According to what Ah Fu overheard, that batch of official salt was deliberately allowed to be robbed by the bandits by those above. Centurion Jiang was only a subordinate carrying out the task. As for those above, Ah Fu heard them mention the Wang family, the prefect’s office, and Liang Wang.”

Li Chanxiu’s gaze sharpened slightly upon hearing this. Pei Er also frowned.

Lu Zhi paused for a moment before continuing, “It’s just unclear whether Centurion Jiang exaggerated, making wild claims to intimidate Song Wanqian. But regardless, it’s enough that you know about this. Don’t get involved. You can inform General Chen of Yongfeng privately.”

Li Chanxiu instantly understood his meaning. If things were truly as Centurion Jiang had said, involving those at higher levels, then this was not something he and Pei Er could meddle in, it was too dangerous.

But General Chen was different. He had been promoted by Prefect Zhang, the former prefect of Yongzhou, and could more or less speak to him. At the very least, sending a letter to request assistance was possible.

Although that Prefect Zhang had reportedly been promoted in name but demoted in reality. Still, he was a disciple of the old Yan Wang and had close ties with Pei Zhen of Bingzhou.

If Prefect Zhang could write a letter asking Pei Zhen of Bingzhou to intervene, the matter would be much easier to investigate.

However… Li Chanxiu lowered his gaze slightly. As far as he knew, Pei Zhen was currently seriously injured, recuperating in Wucheng of Bingzhou, and had been unconscious, never waking.

Thinking of Pei Zhen, he momentarily lost focus, only coming back to himself when he noticed Pei Er looking at him.

After smiling at him to indicate it was nothing, he continued to thank Lu Zhi.

In truth, even if Lu Zhi hadn’t said anything, he wouldn’t have gotten involved in those matters. The more one got entangled with things like the prefect’s office, the Wang family, and Liang Wang, the more exposed one would become, it would be no different from courting death.

However, while he couldn’t involve himself in matters above, he could make preparations below.

After finishing the important matter, Lu Zhi lifted his teacup, using tea in place of wine, and said with a smile, “I left in a hurry before. It’s rare that we can meet again, let this meal serve as a farewell.”

Li Chanxiu also smiled and, together with Pei Er, raised his teacup, though inwardly he was deep in thought.

After the meal, he pulled Pei Er aside and said softly, “I still have something to say to Lu Zhi. Could you wait outside for a moment?”

As he spoke, he looked at Pei Er with gentle, earnest eyes and said softly, “Alright?”

Then he looked at him without blinking, his eyes moist, carrying a hint of pleading.

He remembered that Pei Er was easy to coax. Back when he wanted to marry him, this was exactly how he had persuaded him to agree.

Hearing that he was being asked to leave, Pei Er felt a sudden drop in his mood and instinctively wanted to say, “Can’t I listen?” But when he looked up and met those moist, pleading eyes, and heard that soft “alright,” it was as if his soul softened too. His feet felt like they were stepping on cotton, and he nodded before thinking, “Alright.”

Only after nodding did he realize what he had said, and immediately felt regret.

He had actually wanted to stay.

But Li Chanxiu’s eyes instantly brightened. Taking his hand, he said, “Thank you, Pei Er. You’re really a good person.”

Meeting his clear, bright eyes, Pei Er’s breath caught, and suddenly… he didn’t regret it so much anymore.

He gave a firm nod and said, “Then I’ll go out first. If you need anything, call me.”

“Mm.” Li Chanxiu nodded at him as well.

He took a few steps, then turned back. Li Chanxiu stood where he was, smiling and waving at him. He walked a few more steps.

In that short distance to the door, he turned back three times.

Even Xuanping behind Lu Zhi couldn’t help wanting to laugh. When Lu Zhi noticed and glanced at him, he quickly held it in.

When Li Chanxiu returned, he sensed the slightly strange atmosphere and felt a bit embarrassed.

He quickly coughed lightly, regaining composure, and said, “Young Master Lu, I have something I’d like to discuss with you alone. Would that be alright?”

Lu Zhi had already guessed that he had something to say, and immediately waved for Xuanping and the others to leave as well.

Once only the two of them remained in the room, Lu Zhi poured him a cup of tea. After setting down the teapot, he said, “Miss Shen, please speak freely.”

Li Chanxiu rubbed the rim of the teacup with his fingertips. After weighing it over in his mind for who knew how many times, he finally spoke: “Young Master Lu, just now you said this meal counts as a farewell, does that mean you already have somewhere to go next?”

Lu Zhi was momentarily stunned, then shook his head. “Actually… I do not.”

After speaking, he couldn’t help but sigh again. “Though the world is vast, there is no place left for me.”

Li Chanxiu paused slightly at his words, then looked at him and said, “The day I first arrived at the stronghold, when I woke up, I heard you reprimanding Xuanping and the others. By chance, I learned that you all came from the northern lands and have always wanted to recover them. If so, why not continue striving toward that goal?”

After speaking, he added apologetically, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation that day.”

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