After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 8

A thought suddenly flashed through Li Chanxiu’s mind.

He had taken care of quite a few wounded soldiers in the wounded camp, but most of the time, that had simply been part of his duties.

And the kind of person who could agree to his conditions, ordinary gratitude likely wouldn’t be enough. It would have to be a life-saving favor. And the person couldn’t be too clever, with a simple family background…

Counting them up, that left only the Zhang brothers… and that Pei Er.

At Zhang Hu’s age, he must already have a wife at home. As for Zhang He, he was injured so severely that if Centurion Jiang came looking for trouble in anger, he might be beaten to death with a single punch.

That left only Pei Er. Pei Er…

Li Chanxiu silently repeated the name. Sleepiness gradually overtook him, and he slowly drifted into dreams.

***

The next day.

Li Chanxiu finished his morning meal with little energy. Halfway through, he yawned, and a mist of moisture quickly gathered in his eyes.

His eyelashes fluttered. When his vision cleared, he picked up his medical box and headed to the wounded camp.

Perhaps because he had stayed up too late thinking last night and hadn’t slept well, he felt somewhat drained today. After waking, he only felt a headache, and what he had thought about the previous night was all muddled.

On the way, he paid no attention to his surroundings. Just as he reached the entrance of the wounded camp, someone suddenly stopped him.

“Miss Shen.”

It was actually the two subordinates of Centurion Jiang.

Li Chanxiu’s thoughts returned, and he raised his eyes to glance at them, suppressing the faint annoyance in his heart.

He did not wish to deal with the two and moved to walk around them, but he was stopped again.

“What is it?” he asked calmly. Only toward Centurion Jiang and his subordinates did he not show his usual smile.

“Miss Shen.” One of the soldiers smiled and spoke again. His attitude was somewhat better than a few days ago, but what he said…

“Centurion Jiang used the medicine you gave him the day before yesterday, but his injury hasn’t improved. I’m afraid you still need to personally go take a look.”

Li Chanxiu frowned. “I am working in the pharmacy now and am only assisting Physician Hu. I don’t treat injuries. If he needs treatment, you can invite Physician Hu.”

After speaking, he moved to walk around them again.

“Listen to what you’re saying,” the other soldier also blocked him. “Who doesn’t know your medical skills are superb? You even saved someone whose intestines were severed and someone on the verge of death. And if you don’t treat injuries, why are you carrying a medical box to the wounded camp?”

Naturally, it was to give Pei Er acupuncture and check his injuries.

Li Chanxiu frowned and did not want to respond. He also hadn’t expected that even after bringing up Physician Hu, the two still refused to move aside. It seemed Centurion Jiang wasn’t afraid of offending the military physician?

The people inside the wounded camp heard the commotion outside, and several lifted the tent curtain to look.

Inside the tent it was dim and noisy, and the air was foul.

In the innermost corner, Pei Er sat at the edge of his bed with his long legs bent.

In one hand he held a food bowl; in the other he pinched two licorice slices, lowering his eyes to stare at them. A curved blade lay slanted across his lap. His back was straight, yet his posture carried a hint of unrestrained ease. He didn’t look like an injured soldier, rather, like a wandering blade-wielding drifter of jianghu.

Since waking, aside from the two sentences he had spoken to Li Chanxiu yesterday, he had not uttered another word in the wounded camp. And his entire demeanor was cold, as though everything around him meant nothing; no one dared disturb him.

However, the previously mentioned wounded soldier with the broken leg saw that he was again staring at the two licorice slices. Suddenly lying back on his bed, he sighed “Ai,” and remarked to himself, “Why hasn’t Miss Shen come yet? At this time normally, she would already be here…”

As if speaking someone’s thoughts, he talked while tilting his head and glancing sideways to observe Pei Er’s reaction.

Pei Er suddenly lifted his eyes to look at him. His eyes were black like a deep pool, not a trace of emotion to be found, yet for no reason it made one’s heart feel chilled.

The wounded soldier’s voice abruptly caught. After a moment, he seemed to feel that being like this was too cowardly. He was just an ordinary soldier like himself, what was there to be afraid of?

“What are you looking…” He suddenly sat up, but when his gaze met those black eyes, his momentum dropped by three parts, and his voice instantly lowered. “…at?”

Then he muttered, “…Wasn’t what I said the truth?”

Pei Er withdrew his gaze and continued lowering his head to look at the two licorice slices. The food in his hand remained untouched.

The wounded soldier felt that those two small herbal slices were about to be polished smooth by him. He had heard that wealthy masters liked to rub two walnuts like this…

Just as he was thinking, noise suddenly came from the tent entrance.

The wounded soldier with the broken leg quickly stretched his neck to look outside. After watching for a moment, he said, “Looks like someone came to cause trouble.”

After a while, he added, “Looks like it’s Miss Shen. Wait, she’s being stopped by Centurion Jiang’s men!”

“Centurion Jiang?” another person responded upon hearing this. “I heard he had already been pestering Miss Shen before.”

“I’ll go take a look,” the wounded soldier with the broken leg suddenly said. “With so many of us here, we can’t let Miss Shen be bullied right at our tent entrance.”

As he spoke, he was about to get up, but saw a figure limping past his bed first and, along the way, take the crutch by his bedside, though calling it a crutch was generous; it was actually a somewhat thick and long wooden stick.

Pei Er also had an injury on his left leg, and limped when walking. After using the crutch, he clearly walked much faster.

The broken-legged wounded soldier: “……”

“Wait, that’s my crutch.” He hurriedly reached out, but the person had already gone far.

“What kind of person is this?” he couldn’t help saying to the person beside him. “Could he really be some young master?”

The person beside him: “……”

***

At the tent entrance, several wounded soldiers had already blocked Centurion Jiang’s subordinates.

Zhang He anxiously urged the person beside him, “Go call my brother, quick, go call my brother!”

The person beside him hurriedly responded “Ah!” and rushed outside, but inwardly worried.

Although Zhang Hu had brute strength and strong combat skills, the people who had come were Centurion Jiang’s men; this matter likely wouldn’t be easily resolved.

A higher rank crushed those below. Not to mention that Centurion Jiang also had an elder brother who was a military commandant, a rank only below General Chen. The man surnamed Jiang was usually arrogant, and it was said he had long been pestering Miss Shen. This time his intention was obvious, likely even Zhang Hu coming would be useless.

While he worried here, over there the two wounded soldiers blocking the way had already been shoved repeatedly by Centurion Jiang’s men.

“What are you doing? Centurion Jiang is inviting someone, and you dare block us? What, Miss Shen can only treat your injuries?” the two subordinates said arrogantly.

The wounded soldiers who were blocking were pushed but didn’t dare fight back, their expressions full of grievance. They were all from poor military households and couldn’t afford to offend a centurion, and besides…

“Besides, Centurion Jiang’s elder brother is Commandant Jiang of the army. What, do you even dare offend Commandant Jiang?”

Seeing that they didn’t dare retaliate, the two became even more arrogant and brought up Commandant Jiang again.

Li Chanxiu frowned and raised his hand to stop their continued pushing, saying in a low voice, “Don’t make things difficult for them. I’ll go with you.”

“Miss Shen!” The two wounded soldiers looked anxious and urged, “You don’t need to go with them, wait until Zhang Hu returns…”

Zhang He, lying on the wooden plank bed, was also struggling to get up. His face flushed red as he said, “Miss Shen, don’t go. When my big brother comes, he’ll definitely beat them until their teeth are scattered all over the ground…”

“Oh? Your big brother?” The two laughed mockingly. “What, does your big brother dare offend Commandant Jiang? Why don’t I beat you until your teeth are scattered first and see what your big brother can do to me?”

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

Li Chanxiu raised his hand to stop Zhang He from speaking further and looked coldly at the two men, saying icily, “Are we going or not?”

The two paused, then stepped back, though they still cast slanted glances at the two wounded soldiers and Zhang He, speaking in a strange tone, “Miss Shen is the smart one. If you had said that from the start, none of this would’ve happened, right? We’re just errand runners, why make things difficult for us?”

As he spoke, one of them stepped in front of him and, pretending to be polite, made a gesture of invitation.

Li Chanxiu’s expression turned cold, anger already suppressed beneath the surface.

Suddenly, a curved blade sheath stained with dried black blood stretched between them, pressing down on that person’s arm.

Li Chanxiu was startled. The sheath looked familiar, and he immediately turned his head, it was indeed Pei Er.

Pei Er was coldly staring at the two subordinates. When he stood up, he was very tall. Though wearing worn cotton clothing, he still stood upright like a green pine in the snow.

Aside from holding the blade, his other hand leaned on the crutch. His face was cold and sharp.

Centurion Jiang’s subordinates froze. After carefully looking him over, one suddenly laughed and sneered, “A cripple trying to play the hero saving the beauty? What, do you really think that just holding a fierce-looking blade makes you a general?”

After laughing loudly, he raised his hand to push away the sheath, but the blade did not move at all.

Instead, the man who raised his hand suddenly felt as if his arm were pressed down by a thousand-jin weight. His expression instantly turned ugly. He struggled and tried to lift upward, but the pressure only grew heavier, and his arm was forced lower and lower.

Cold sweat appeared on his forehead. Then he heard the other man coldly spit out a single word: “Scram.”

At the same time, the sheath turned and struck heavily against his chest. It was like being hit by a military rod, causing him to grunt and stumble backward several steps.

He couldn’t help feeling shocked, but for the sake of face he still endured the sharp pain in his chest and bluffed, “What’s your name? Do you know who you’ve offended? It’s, ”

“Why waste so many words with him? Just beat him away.” The other man didn’t understand the situation and, used to acting arrogantly, stepped forward and threw a punch.

A fierce punch cut through the air, heading straight for Pei Er’s face.

“Careful!” Zhang He and the two wounded soldiers shouted urgently.

They were all soldiers, who didn’t know a few fighting techniques? But Pei Er was leaning on a crutch; it was obvious his movement should be inconvenient.

Li Chanxiu was also slightly startled, knowing Pei Er’s injuries hadn’t healed. He hurriedly tried to pull him back, but saw the person in front of him tilt his head, narrowly avoiding the punch in an instant. Then his figure moved suddenly.

No one saw how he moved; they only saw that he was already standing behind the attacker. With a single elbow strike to the man’s back, he directly knocked him to his knees retching. At the same time, a cold blade left its sheath and pressed straight against the man’s neck, drawing a thin line of blood.

The blade pressed against his throat, icy cold to the bone.

The man broke out in a cold sweat, instantly losing the imposing manner he had before. His hands and feet went weak, and he stammered as he picked up where his companion had left off: “Y-you know who you’ve offended? It’s Centurion Jiang. His elder brother is a military commandant, you’re just a small soldier…”

“Never heard of him. Don’t know him. Don’t recognize him.” Pei Er cut him off before he could finish, expressionless, his voice hoarse and rough.

After speaking, he withdrew the blade; with a clang it slid back into the scabbard, and he struck the man back with the sheathed sword.

“Scram.” He spat the word coldly again.

The subordinate, his face pale from the blow, felt as though he had survived a disaster. Clutching his chest, he hurriedly scrambled up and staggered backward.

The other man quickly supported him, and the two retreated together, not forgetting to throw out a harsh line as they left: “Just you wait!”

But that voice sounded unmistakably shaky.

Silence fell all around. Even after the two had gone far away, Zhang He and the two wounded soldiers still seemed to have forgotten how to react.

Pei Er tightened his grip on the sword, leaned on his crutch, and slowly turned around to look at Li Chanxiu, who had been watching him all along.

After a moment, he limped a few steps closer and stopped in front of him; the chill around him had already completely faded.

“Are you… alright?” He pressed his thin lips together and spoke in his rough voice, suddenly seeming like an inexperienced young man.

Li Chanxiu finally came back to his senses. His gaze slowly shifted away from Pei Er’s face, and he gave a light cough. “I’m fine.”

Pei Er nodded. Then neither of them spoke again, and for a moment they simply looked at each other in silence.

Li Chanxiu couldn’t help glancing at him again. Suddenly, the things he had analyzed last night came to mind, along with Aunt Xu’s words: Better to marry a formidable military officer…

Formidable… His gaze fell on Pei Er’s face, then quickly moved away. With a natural expression, as if just making conversation, he said, “Did your wound reopen again…”

“You came later than usual today…”

Pei Er spoke almost at the same time.

Both of them froze. Then Li Chanxiu let out a light laugh and said, “Let’s go back to the tent first. I’ll help you rebandage it.”

A faint flicker passed through Pei Er’s dark eyes, and he nodded lightly.

Li Chanxiu picked up the medicine box, smiled at him again, and walked toward the tent first, deep in thought along the way.

Pei Er followed behind him on his crutch, limping step by step, his lips pressed into a straight line. After walking a few steps, however, as if unable to restrain himself, a faint, barely noticeable curve appeared.

The two wounded soldiers finally came back to their senses and hurried after them.

Zhang He was equally excited, but he couldn’t get out of bed.

As for the wounded soldier with the broken leg from earlier, he had at least made it to the tent entrance. Now he said excitedly to Pei Er, “Impressive, brother! Didn’t expect you to have such skills. Sooner or later you’ll become a centurion.”

As he spoke, he reached out to pat Pei Er on the shoulder. But when their eyes met, he stiffened and awkwardly withdrew his hand, thinking to himself: Still has a young master’s temper.

But he quickly followed up again and kindly reminded, “But you’re still just a small soldier. Now that you’ve offended Centurion Jiang, life probably won’t be easy from here on.”

Everyone immediately felt he was “bringing up the wrong thing at the wrong time.” Though it was the truth, everyone was excited right now, couldn’t he let them be happy a little longer?

“Chen Qing, Chen Erleng, just talk less. Every time you open your mouth it’s nothing good.” Zhang He, lying in bed and unable to get up, stretched his neck and shouted toward him.

Chen Qing immediately turned back, dragging his broken leg to argue with him. “Who are you calling Erleng? How am I foolish?”

The crowd instantly burst into laughter, all watching the two of them for amusement.

Pei Er’s tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. Feeling that no one beside him was making noise anymore, his gaze unconsciously followed the figure ahead.

Li Chanxiu had already stopped in front of his bed, his eyes resting on the bowl of food he had left by the bedside before.

Pei Er quickly walked over and picked up the food.

Li Chanxiu was surprised. “You haven’t eaten yet?”

The next moment, however, he saw Pei Er hand the food to him.

As if noticing his confusion, Pei Er pressed his lips together and spoke hoarsely: “…I haven’t touched it.”

Meaning he hadn’t moved the chopsticks.

Li Chanxiu was startled, and suddenly understood, Pei Er seemed to have deliberately saved the meal for him.

Was it because yesterday he saw Zhang Hu stuff a bowl into his hands, so he was expressing thanks in the same way?

Li Chanxiu could only guess so. He couldn’t help smiling and said, “I’ve already eaten. I’m not hungry. You eat it yourself.”

When Zhang Hu gave him the food, he could still go back and eat from the camp’s big pot afterward. But if Pei Er did this, he would have to go hungry himself.

Perhaps because of his amnesia, he didn’t understand anything. Seeing Zhang Hu do it, he blindly copied… hmm? Didn’t understand anything?

Li Chanxiu’s thoughts shifted slightly, and he once again recalled last night’s idea. Suddenly, he looked straight at Pei Er.

Because of the rejection just now, a flash of disappointment had passed through Pei Er’s dark eyes. But when he saw Li Chanxiu look over, they brightened again.

Li Chanxiu looked at him; his gaze suddenly became gentler than ever before, and his voice also softened considerably. “Eat first, alright? After you finish, I’ll change your medicine.”

Pei Er looked into his eyes, as though looking into a river of shattered stars.

He quickly nodded, sat at the bedside, and began eating in big mouthfuls. Normally he ate neither fast nor slow, but today he ate quickly. Occasionally he would glance up at Li Chanxiu. Seeing Li Chanxiu watching him with a faint smile, he unconsciously slowed down again, trying to eat more politely.

Like a tamed lone wolf feeding, occasionally glancing at the tamer’s attitude.

And also very easy to coax.

Li Chanxiu watched him, his eyes flickering slightly as he thought.

Honest, easy to coax, and with amnesia, didn’t understand anything and wouldn’t discover his secret.

No family, never married, and highly skilled… not afraid of Centurion Jiang.

In the short term, there seemed to be no one more suitable than him.

Li Chanxiu pondered inwardly. Although he had already made up his mind yesterday, now that he had truly found a suitable person, he suddenly hesitated again.

Was he really going to do this? Really going to marry a man in order to avoid the marriage order and Centurion Jiang?

With heavy thoughts on his mind, Li Chanxiu occasionally drifted off while inserting the needles.

Pei Er seemed to notice. In the gaps between the needles, he looked up at him, his eyes questioning.

Li Chanxiu paused, smiled at him, and quickly put away the needles. “We’ll stop here for today.”

Pei Er looked at him fixedly and, in the gap while he was packing up, suddenly spoke: “You have something on your mind.”

It wasn’t a question, but a calm statement.

Li Chanxiu’s movements stiffened. He raised his head, frowned as if wanting to say something, but after weighing it for a moment, he still didn’t speak.

He shook his head, picked up the medicine box, and left without saying a word.

Pei Er watched his somewhat hurried retreating figure, gradually lowered his head, and looked at his palm.

Two licorice slices lay there.

Miss Shen had said she would bring him more today, but it seemed she had forgotten.

And she hadn’t noticed that his throat hadn’t improved either…

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