Following the route given by Li Chanxiu, Xuanping and his group searched and soon encountered Commandant Qian and his men escorting prisoners. Yang Yuanyi and his group happened to be there as well.
From Commandant Qian, they learned that Pei Er had actually gone to raid the Hu people’s grain supplies. Xuanping couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: Miss Shen’s calculations were truly brilliant!
He quickly found an excuse, saying he roughly knew the direction, and led the uncertain Yang Yuanyi and his group straight toward the grain route Li Chanxiu had indicated.
Riding swiftly along the way, they actually found it!
From afar, Xuanping saw that Pei Er’s cavalry were being surrounded and attacked by a group of black-clad men. He immediately spurred his horse forward, rushing to relieve them.
Yang Yuanyi also sent over thirty Black Iron soldiers ahead to help, while he himself led the remaining dozen or so to anxiously search for Pei Er.
Only when he rode up a low hill did he see the scattered corpses below, and Pei Er standing among them, calmly wiping blood from his blade.
Only then did Yang Yuanyi finally relax.
He quickly rode over, reined in his horse, leaned down, and carefully examined the man.
Pei Er suddenly raised his head. His dark eyes revealed no emotion as he looked at him expressionlessly.
Yang Yuanyi: …uh.
Seeing that aside from some external injuries, he seemed largely unharmed, Yang Yuanyi finally let out a full sigh of relief. “Jianzhi, thank goodness you’re alright.”
Pei Er glanced at him and said calmly, “Yang Yuanyi, you came at just the right time.”
Hearing this, Yang Yuanyi laughed. “Right? I thought I came at just the perfect moment…”
Suddenly, his voice cut off. He stared at the other in disbelief.
“Y-you…” His voice trembled as he finally realized what was different. “What did you just call me?”
Has Jianzhi remembered?
Or had he told him his name before? It seemed that last night, while chasing him on horseback, he had said his name was “Yuanyi,” but had he mentioned his surname Yang?
Yang Yuanyi couldn’t recall. He was too shocked to think clearly.
“You don’t actually think I was praising you just now, do you?” Pei Er said flatly, then frowned. “Why aren’t you getting off your horse and getting to work?”
“Oh.” Yang Yuanyi immediately swung down from his horse, but halfway through, he froze. Suddenly excited, he said with certainty, “Y-you… you remembered! Didn’t you?”
That tone, so capable of driving friends mad, was unmistakably Pei Zhen, Pei Jianzhi!
Pei Er, or rather Pei Zhen, sheathed his blade, turned to look at him, and finally gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
“You’ve worked hard during this time.”
But immediately after, he asked, “When did you arrive?”
Yang Yuanyi didn’t have time to get excited again. Hearing this, he was taken aback and said, “Didn’t I just arrive?”
Pei Zhen glanced at him, his brows slightly furrowed. “I’m asking when you arrived at the border town.”
“…Oh.” Yang Yuanyi immediately understood and said, “I just arrived at Yongding Town yesterday.”
Pei Zhen suddenly turned his head to look at him. “Since you arrived yesterday, why didn’t you come to see me yesterday?”
Yang Yuanyi: “…??”
Pei Zhen frowned. “Why aren’t you speaking?”
Yang Yuanyi: “…” Is that even a human question?
“Why don’t you take a look at this first?” He directly pointed to his bruised and swollen left eye and his bluish-purple right cheek, his tone faint.
Pei Zhen’s gaze paused, and the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly. “What happened?”
Yang Yuanyi: “Huh?”
His face was full of confusion; he very much wanted to say, “I was beaten by a dog.”
But at that moment, Pei Zhen suddenly covered his head, his brows tightly knit, as if in pain.
Yang Yuanyi was startled and hurried forward, asking nervously, “Are you okay?”
Pei Zhen frowned and shook his head, but a fragment of memory flashed through his mind. It was from last night on the mountain path, the memory of him and Yang Yuanyi fighting each other… In an instant, his expression froze.
After a moment, he slowly lowered his hand, his tone somewhat unnatural. “I remember now.”
He was the one who did the beating.
Yang Yuanyi: “…Ah.”
But immediately after, Pei Zhen gave a light cough and said seriously in criticism, “It’s only been a month since I last saw you, and your skills have declined. You need more training.”
Yang Yuanyi thought gloomily: …I knew you’d say that.
Pei Zhen stood there in silence for a while longer, then finally patted his shoulder and said once again, “You’ve worked hard during this period.”
As he withdrew his hand, he suddenly noticed a streak of bright red on his palm. Only then did he realize that the spot on his head that had been struck by the shaft of a spear was actually bleeding.
He casually tore off a strip from the hem of his clothing and roughly wrapped the injured area, then skillfully picked up a broken helmet from the ground, dusted it off, and put it on.
Yang Yuanyi wanted to speak but stopped himself. Seeing him like this now, he thought helplessly: Forget it, I won’t argue with him.
Just as he finished thinking that, he heard Pei Zhen instruct, “We’ll talk about the rest later. First, help deal with this one on the ground.”
As he spoke, he pointed at Jiang He lying on the ground.
Yang Yuanyi: “…” Just keep being pitiful, no one will sympathize with you anymore!
At this time, more than a dozen Black Iron soldiers also arrived, dismounted one after another, and upon hearing Pei Zhen acknowledge his identity, they were about to kneel and call out “General.”
Pei Zhen raised a hand to stop them. “Don’t reveal my identity yet.”
Yang Yuanyi walked over and looked at Jiang He on the ground, involuntarily hissing. “How do we handle this? Is he still alive? Just bury him?”
Pei Zhen glanced at him, his tone indifferent. “Stop his bleeding first. If he lives, he lives. If he doesn’t, bury him.”
Yang Yuanyi couldn’t help but click his tongue. “Honestly, you, if you want to keep him alive, then keep him; if not, just kill him. Why make it so bloody?”
Just look at him, both legs had been severed from the knees, leaving a trail of blood, and a long spear was still stuck in his shoulder, as if pinning him firmly to the ground. Being alive was worse than being dead… maybe he was already dead.
At this moment, Pei Zhen had already mounted his horse and was about to go check on Zhang Hu and the others. Hearing this, he said flatly, “If you knew what this man had done, you wouldn’t show him any mercy either.”
Embezzling military pay, secretly selling government salt, stabbing his own side in the back while facing a great enemy, any one of these, in Pei Zhen’s eyes, was a capital offense. If it weren’t for the possibility of prying some information out of him or using him as a witness, he would have dealt with him just now.
But even if he died, it didn’t matter. Wasn’t there still Lu Gonggong in the camp?
A cold smile curved at the corner of Pei Zhen’s lips. Then he tightened the reins with his right hand and rode off ahead. Seven or eight Black Iron soldiers quickly mounted and followed, leaving three to five behind to assist Yang Yuanyi.
Yang Yuanyi couldn’t help but complain, “You’ve got me doing cleanup work again.”
After saying that, he led the men to start a fire. He drew his blade, heated it over the flames until it was red-hot, then directly pressed it against Jiang He’s severed limbs to cauterize the wounds and stop the bleeding.
Jiang He had already completely lost consciousness. At that moment, his body suddenly convulsed violently, his face twisting in agony, yet he still didn’t wake.
Yang Yuanyi let out a small exclamation, surprised. “He’s actually still alive?”
***
When Pei Zhen led his men back to where Zhang Hu and the others were, Xuanping and the others, along with more than thirty Black Iron soldiers, had just finished killing all the black-clad guards.
Zhang Hu had originally wanted to keep a few alive for questioning, but unexpectedly, upon seeing the mission fail, those men immediately took poison and killed themselves.
“They’re all death soldiers,” Xuanping said, frowning. Turning his head and seeing “Pei Er” riding over, he couldn’t help but feel relieved.
When the other party reached them, he cupped his hands and said happily, “Sir Pei, it’s fortunate you’re unharmed. That way, I can report back to your wife.”
At these words, Pei Zhen’s figure on horseback seemed to stiffen slightly, and his expression turned strange.
But very quickly, Zhang Hu clasped his fists and said, “Thousand-man Commander, our men have taken heavy casualties. Are we still going to burn the Hu people’s grain supplies?”
Pei Zhen immediately collected his thoughts, looked at the wounded soldiers, and frowned. “First, take stock of the casualties.”
Soon, Zhang Hu finished counting. Fewer than half the soldiers were still able to go burn the grain supplies.
Xuanping also hurriedly informed them of Yongfeng’s situation: “The Hu people’s second prince is leading twenty thousand troops in an attack on Yongfeng. Yongfeng is likely in danger.”
At this moment, Yang Yuanyi also arrived with the remaining Black Iron soldiers to join them.
Pei Zhen pondered for a moment, frowning, and finally decided to have Ding Zong, a subordinate under Yang Yuanyi, take most of the Black Iron soldiers to continue with the original plan of burning the Hu people’s grain supplies. The rest would follow him back to support Yongfeng.
When Yang Yuanyi came to Yongzhou, he had brought elites from among the Black Iron soldiers, and this Ding Zong was a Commandant, fully capable of leading troops. Meanwhile, Zhang Hu and the others had already gone through two consecutive battles and were exhausted, making them unfit to continue executing the grain-burning plan and rapid assault operations.
However, with this arrangement, only thirty Black Iron soldiers would be going to burn the grain supplies, somewhat too few in number.
Just as he was frowning in thought, Xuanping looked around at everyone and suddenly spoke: “Sir Pei, it seems there are too few people going to burn the grain. If manpower is insufficient, I can lead my men to help.”
Pei Zhen couldn’t help but look at him, his gaze deep, as if weighing him. After a long while, he finally nodded. “Alright, then I’ll have to trouble you, Hero Xuan.”
Xuanping laughed heartily upon hearing this and cupped his fists. “Sir Pei is too polite. Before this, you and your wife helped me and my elder brother, this is only right.”
Yang Yuanyi didn’t recognize this Xuanping. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but turn to glance at Pei Zhen. He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that when Pei Zhen heard the words “your wife,” his figure seemed to stiffen slightly.
With the decision made, the two groups quickly split up.
Pei Zhen switched to a fine horse brought by the Black Iron soldiers and rode at full speed toward Yongfeng.
Yang Yuanyi rode almost side by side with him, leaving the other Black Iron soldiers and Zhang Hu far behind.
As they neared the Yongfeng garrison, they happened to encounter troops from the Yongding and Yongsheng garrisons also coming to provide reinforcements. Leading them were Commandant Qian, who had previously ambushed the Hu forces together with Pei Er, and the Commandant from Yongsheng.
It turned out that when the two had been escorting prisoners, they ran into Xuanping and learned from him that Yongfeng was under siege. After returning, they both persuaded their respective commanders to send troops.
Originally, neither Yongding nor Yongsheng had dared to deploy troops lightly, but after learning that the Hu soldiers attacking them had already been successfully ambushed by Pei Er and his men, leaving no worries behind, they finally dared to send large-scale reinforcements.
“Brother Pei Er, Old Liang and I will listen to you, you say how we fight, and that’s how we’ll fight!” Commandant Qian was very pleased to see Pei Zhen and immediately rode forward to bump fists with him.
The corner of Pei Zhen’s mouth twitched slightly. He clenched his fist and bumped it with him, then promptly reorganized the two reinforcement forces. He planned to split them into two groups, each led by himself and Yang Yuanyi, to flank the Hu forces attacking the city walls from both sides.
Looking at the attack routes Pei Zhen casually sketched in the sand, Commandant Qian asked in confusion, “Why leave an opening? Why not surround them completely?”
Yang Yuanyi snorted with a laugh. Seeing this fellow reminded him of how he had deceived him earlier, so he draped an arm over his shoulder and said, “Commandant Qian, right? Let me ask you, how many men did our two garrisons bring altogether?”
Commandant Qian hesitated. “Less than five thousand in total.”
Although he didn’t know Yang Yuanyi’s exact identity, he knew the other party was an impressive figure from Bingzhou, and at the very least held a higher rank than himself, especially since he had deceived him before.
Yang Yuanyi nodded and continued, “Then let me ask you this, how many Hu troops are attacking the city?”
Commandant Qian: “…”
Yang Yuanyi answered his own question, “Reportedly twenty thousand. Let’s assume they’ve already lost five thousand, leaving fifteen thousand. Do you think with our numbers, we can surround them all?”
Commandant Qian: “…”
Finally, Yang Yuanyi patted his shoulder and said, “Leaving a gap is to give the enemy a direction to flee. That makes them easier to rout. Once they start to collapse, the remaining troops won’t have much morale. But if there’s no gap, those surrounded can’t escape and will fight like trapped beasts, which will instead boost their morale and make them fight us to the death. If we had enough troops, we could encircle and annihilate them. But with insufficient numbers, even if we can encircle them, can we really wipe them out?”
Pei Zhen glanced at the two of them, tossed aside the branch he had used to draw the routes, and mounted his horse. “Move out.”
Hearing this, Yang Yuanyi quickly threw away the branch as well and hurried to follow.
Commandant Qian wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking: Who exactly is this man? He actually listens to Brother Pei.
And he didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but after only half a day apart, Brother Pei seemed even more taciturn, and his presence even more intimidating.
After mounting his horse, Yang Yuanyi deliberately caught up to Pei Zhen and rode alongside him for a stretch, several times hesitating to speak.
Pei Zhen frowned. “If you have something to say, say it.”
Yang Yuanyi let out a breath of relief and probed, “We’re about to head back. Do you miss your wife?”
Pei Zhen suddenly turned his head to look at him.
“Haha, forget I said anything, forget I said anything!”
Yang Yuanyi gave a dry laugh and quickly spurred his horse to catch up with Commandant Liang of Yongsheng, leading his group to circle around the other side.
.
At the Yongfeng pass, the sounds of battle shook the heavens. Countless Hu soldiers were climbing desperately up the city walls using ladders and siege equipment.
The defending soldiers continuously shot arrows and hurled stones downward, knocking back the Hu soldiers who were about to climb up.
Not far below, the Hu forces were also using siege crossbows and catapults to fire arrows and stones at the walls.
From time to time, defending soldiers and conscripted militia were struck by arrows or smashed by stones and fell, but others quickly rushed to fill the gaps. The walls were covered in blood, and the battle was brutal.
Wounded soldiers and militia were carried down from the walls one after another. Li Chanxiu and Physician Hu had no time to treat everyone; they could only treat whoever they saw, or prioritize the most severely injured.
Another severely wounded man was hurriedly carried down. Li Chanxiu quickly stepped forward to help stop the bleeding. After stabilizing his condition, he saw that the man’s face was smeared with blood, making it impossible for him to open his eyes. He grabbed a cloth that looked as if it had just been pulled from a basin of blood, wrung it out, and roughly wiped the man’s face.
Once it was wiped clean, he realized that the man being carried down was actually Aunt Xu’s son, Ding Chenghai.
He hurriedly called Aunt Xu, who had been helping to trim arrow shafts, to come take care of him. Lowering his head, he saw that Ding Chenghai seemed to have regained some awareness, and urgently asked, “Why are your wounds from blades? Did the Hu break through?”
Seeing it was him, Ding Chenghai gasped, his voice strained. “They’ve… already… broken through the gap… we… we can’t hold it…”
What?!
Hearing this, not only Li Chanxiu, but even the wounded soldiers nearby who had been carried down earlier were thrown into panic. Physician Hu’s face turned deathly pale; he stood frozen, forgetting to stitch the wounds.
Li Chanxiu was stunned for only a moment. Regaining his senses, he suddenly threw down the cloth and turned, striding quickly toward the city wall.
“Hey, Shen… you, you can’t go up there!” Physician Hu hurriedly shouted.
Li Chanxiu seemed not to hear, his expression grave as he quickly climbed the steps to the wall.
Just as he reached halfway up, an excited shout suddenly came from above: “Reinforcements are here! Reinforcements have arrived!”
In an instant, it was like pouring boiling water into hot oil, the entire wall erupted in joy, and the soldiers who had been on the verge of despair were suddenly filled with renewed morale,
“Brothers, hold the line! Reinforcements are here!”
“Quick, block the breach! Push the Hu who’ve climbed up back down, everyone hold on!”
Li Chanxiu’s steps as he climbed the stairs paused, and he unconsciously let out a breath of relief. The tension in his mind eased slightly as well. He then raised a hand to wipe his forehead, only to find a layer of cold sweat.
He shook his head with a light laugh, then continued up the last few steps.
Upon reaching the city wall, even more excited shouts rang out,
“Reinforcements are here! It’s Thousand-man Commander Pei bringing reinforcements!”
“It looks like soldiers from Yongding and Yongsheng!”
“Thousand-man Commander Pei and his men have surrounded the Hu!”
“Quick! Shoot arrows, don’t hold back! Fire with all your might and coordinate with the reinforcements below to attack them from both sides!” This was General Chen, his face exhausted but still roaring as he waved his blade.
Li Chanxiu couldn’t help but look down. He saw Pei Er riding a brown-black steed, his figure like lightning, leading a cavalry charge straight into the Hu ranks. Two forces on the outer flanks closed in like wrapping dumplings, using the city wall to encircle the attacking Hu soldiers, yet deliberately leaving a gap at the rear.
The Hu soldiers who had been attacking the city, upon hearing reinforcements had arrived, were already uncertain. Then suddenly, as the charging cavalry cut them down, panic spread, they could neither advance nor retreat.
Before long, Hu soldiers at the gap began to rout.
Watching from above, Li Chanxiu saw Pei Er on horseback below, his figure cold and resolute as he led troops in sweeping charges. He unconsciously pressed his lips together, revealing a faint smile he himself didn’t notice.
“Hey, Jianzhi, look at the city wall.” Yang Yuanyi had just rejoined Pei Zhen. After swinging his long blade and cutting down several enemy soldiers, he suddenly spoke to him.
Pei Zhen subconsciously raised his head but didn’t see anything unusual, so he turned and cast him a cool look with dark eyes.
Yang Yuanyi: “…”
He coughed. “Well, I just saw your wife up there.”
Pei Zhen: “…”
After taking a look, Li Chanxiu saw that the situation had already turned around and that there was no need for him to come up with any plan. He turned back and went to continue treating the wounded.
Outside the city wall, Pei Zhen had just missed that moment. Expressionless, he said to Yang Yuanyi, “Now is not the time to be distracted.”
With that, he spurred his horse and wielded his spear, turning to engage a Hu commander. Within a few moves, he struck him down from his horse.
With their commanders falling one after another, the Hu forces collapsed even more rapidly.
Half an hour later, seeing the situation was beyond saving, the Hu second prince ground his teeth in hatred and had no choice but to lead his men in a breakout through the gap.
Seeing the enemy troops below fleeing in large numbers, thunderous cheers erupted from atop the city wall.
Pei Zhen and Yang Yuanyi led their troops in pursuit, chasing them for thirty li before returning. They slaughtered the remnants of the Hu army until they were scattered and broken, at one point nearly capturing the Hu second prince alive.
On the way back, Yang Yuanyi was visibly excited, unable to hide his joy. “What a pity we didn’t catch that second prince. But that battle was truly satisfying. Ever since you led Bing, cough, anyway, it’s been a long time since we fought so freely together on the battlefield.”
Especially since they had been leading a group of not-so-elite border troops, yet still managed to defeat a larger force and rout the second prince’s personally led army so thoroughly, it was truly rare.
Although this battle couldn’t compare to the major campaigns they had fought over the years, it was one of the few times that made Yang Yuanyi recall those spirited days when he and Pei Zhen had first taken command.
Yet Pei Zhen showed little reaction, only giving a casual “Mm” in response.
Although ever since the old Yan Wang passed away he had always been like this, silent and cold, Yang Yuanyi still keenly sensed that this silence was somewhat different from usual, as if… he had something on his mind.
As for what that might be, after thinking it over, Yang Yuanyi could only think of Miss Shen, who had briefly appeared on the city wall earlier. After all, they were about to return and meet her.
To be honest, it wasn’t that Yang Yuanyi wasn’t curious about how Pei Zhen viewed the fact that he had married a young lady during his amnesia, he was intensely curious.
But recalling how Pei Zhen had earlier had a headache and couldn’t remember that they had already met and even fought the previous night, he felt that something about his condition was off.
And thinking of how, during his amnesia, Pei Zhen had been so protective of Miss Shen, unable to tolerate anyone saying a single bad word about her, he truly couldn’t figure out what his current attitude was. For a moment, he fell silent as well, not daring to say more.
Unexpectedly, Pei Zhen suddenly spurred his horse to a faster pace and beckoned him to follow.
Yang Yuanyi had no choice but to urge his horse forward and keep up.
After putting some distance between themselves and the troops behind, Pei Zhen finally spoke. His tone was measured, and he unexpectedly took the initiative to ask, “What do you think of… my wife?”
Yang Yuanyi’s eyelid twitched. He thought to himself: Is he testing me? Or fishing for something?
He glanced at him and answered cautiously, “Miss Shen, your wife, is naturally as pure as ice and snow, intelligent and graceful, gentle and kind, healing the sick and saving people, with a heart devoted to righteousness. I didn’t understand before and spoke nonsense, you shouldn’t take it to heart, haha.”
He even gave an awkward laugh at the end.
Pei Zhen: “…”
“I remember you said before that her identity is questionable, that she is not actually the granddaughter of Imperial Physician Shen?” This time, Pei Zhen didn’t beat around the bush; his tone was steady.
Yang Yuanyi: “…” This time you said it yourself, I didn’t.
After a while with no response, Pei Zhen frowned. “Why aren’t you speaking?”
Yang Yuanyi: …I don’t dare speak.
But…
“Then… how do you view her now?” he hesitated, then asked tentatively instead.
Pei Zhen instantly fell into silence.
After recovering his memory and discovering that he had actually married a young lady during his amnesia, his first reaction had been confusion and disbelief.
Then, realizing that he not only had a family but had also shamelessly indulged in the comforts of beauty, he felt even more ashamed.
There was no doubt, his wife was extremely beautiful. Although at this moment he couldn’t recall her exact appearance, he still remembered the feeling of his mind being shaken when he first saw her upon waking in the wounded soldiers’ camp.
Every time he saw her afterward, he would become flustered and at a loss, yet try hard to appear calm. But when he couldn’t see her, he would feel restless, longing for her day after day.
At one point, Pei Zhen felt deeply ashamed of himself, had he really become a man who lusted after beauty?
Not only that, after recovering his memory, he realized that not only had his mind been filled with thoughts of beauty every day, as if he were lovesick and constantly thinking of her, but even his mind had become less sharp.
From Pei Zhen’s current perspective, that “Shen Xiu” had many suspicious points about her. Whether it was her medical skill, her understanding of military strategy, or even her knowledge of the Hu people, none of these were things a delicate young lady who had previously lived in seclusion in Luoyang could possess.
Moreover, she clearly harbored secrets, as if she were carrying out something with a purpose. Yet he himself had been like a blind man with open eyes, unable to see, completely led around by her.
For example, his arrow poison had long since been cured, yet when his little wife used that as an excuse to go to the county town, she merely poked his chest, and he became dazed and believed that his poison truly hadn’t been resolved.
Another example was recruiting Lu Zhi and the others, his little wife had only coaxed him with a few soft pleas, and he agreed to let Lu Zhi and the others leave.
Recruitment itself was nothing; even now, if he were to attack the mountain stronghold, he would choose to recruit Lu Zhi. But he would not easily let Lu Zhi and the others go. Yet his little wife seemed to know something, or rather, she seemed very familiar with Lu Zhi and his group, and was especially helping them.
And Lu Zhi’s group was clearly unusual. Especially today, when Xuanping was able to bring so many men, it further proved this point. Earlier, he had noticed at a glance that those so-called escorts under Xuanping who were riding horses had all been trained to military standards, their level likely not much worse than the defending army.
The stronghold had only been suppressed a few days ago, yet they already had such capability, and had quickly gathered so many people? What was their purpose?
Naturally, Xuanping had come to help him today, so for now he was unwilling to think of things in a negative direction.
But his little wife… did she know that Lu Zhi and these people were unusual?
And that day at the tavern, when his little wife wanted to speak privately with Lu Zhi, he had again been coaxed with a few words and completely lost his head, not only voluntarily standing outside to guard the door, but when leaving, just from being led by the hand, he had become so dazed that he didn’t even ask what she and Lu Zhi had been “plotting.”
Thinking of all this, Pei Zhen pressed his temple with a headache.
In the past, he had always disdained those who lost their wits over beauty, and never thought himself to be a shallow man swayed by appearances. But during this period of amnesia, he realized that he… indeed…
In any case, he truly had no way to defend himself.
He was greatly puzzled, utterly unable to understand, she was just a… somewhat good-looking young lady. How had she bewitched him to such a degree?
Seeing that he did not answer for a long time and suddenly raised a hand to press his head, Yang Yuanyi thought he was having another headache. Afraid that his question had caused some problem, he quickly said, “Well, I was just asking casually, don’t mind it.”
But Pei Zhen lowered his hand at this moment, his expression seeming to have recovered, his tone normal. “This woman’s identity is suspicious. Send people to Luoyang to investigate and verify.”
Yang Yuanyi: …Why did it suddenly become “this woman”? This morning she was still Miss Shen, pure as ice and snow.
He couldn’t help glancing at him, cautiously probing, “Then if it turns out… there’s a problem, what will you do?”
Pei Zhen suddenly fell silent.
Seeing this, Yang Yuanyi carefully added, “When you had amnesia, didn’t you like her very much?”
This time, Pei Zhen didn’t stay silent for long. He quickly said, “I am not someone who is swayed by personal feelings.”
With that, he lashed his whip and spurred his horse forward at full speed.
Yang Yuanyi: “…” This is bad.
He quickly urged his horse to chase after him.
***
At Yongfeng Pass, the setting sun spread across the land, illuminating broken weapons and bloodstains everywhere, a scene of bleak desolation.
Suddenly, someone on the city wall saw dust rising in the distance and shouted excitedly, “They’re back! Thousand-man Commander Pei and the others are back!”
In an instant, countless people surged forward to look down. The edge of the wall was crowded with heads, every face lit with excitement and joy.
Li Chanxiu was below the tower tending to wounded soldiers and soon heard the commotion.
Upon learning that Pei Er had returned, he suddenly raised his head, his expression momentarily blank.
With the tension and pressure gone, he abruptly remembered the matter he had deliberately ignored, Pei Er had said that after returning, he had something important to tell him.
What exactly was it? Could it be… that he would confess his feelings? If he really said it, how should he respond? More precisely, how should he refuse?
Li Chanxiu instantly fell into inner turmoil.
At this moment, Aunt Xu and Physician Hu were both overjoyed and hurriedly urged him, “Oh my, stop working already, quickly go greet your husband. He must be eager to see you now.”
Li Chanxiu’s expression stiffened slightly, but before he could react, Physician Hu snatched the work from his hands, and then Aunt Xu half-pulled and half-dragged him into the crowd waiting by the roadside.
General Chen was also among those welcoming them. Seeing him arrive, he quickly gestured for the soldiers beside him to make space, causing Li Chanxiu to stand in a suddenly conspicuous position.
Li Chanxiu felt somewhat unnatural and tried to squeeze back into the crowd, but not far away, the sound of footsteps was already approaching.
After entering through the city wall, Pei Zhen had already dismounted. At this moment, he was striding forward together with Yang Yuanyi.
Having just gone through a great battle, a cold and murderous aura surrounded him. His face was stern, and his figure was stretched long by the setting sun.
Suddenly, his steps halted. His gaze passed through the crowd and landed on a figure, a person who had repeatedly appeared in his mind today, yet whose face he had never clearly seen before.
The orange glow of the setting sun shone upon that refined and ethereal face, the features like an ink painting, the eyes clear and bright, carrying a faint smile.
It was as if something struck his heart, Pei Zhen froze, his gaze locking firmly onto “her.”
At that moment, a gust of cold wind blew, and Li Chanxiu shivered.
Miss Shen is sensitive to the cold. The thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
By the time Pei Zhen realized it, he had already hurriedly removed his cloak and swiftly wrapped it around the other, his movements careful and attentive. He even extended an arm, intending to draw the person into an embrace.
Pei Zhen: …
![After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth]](https://i1.wp.com/lazygirltranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20240810023906_300_420.jpg?resize=151,215 "After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth]")
