After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 90

Li Chanxiu was held so tightly that his waist hurt. Leaning against Pei Zhen’s shoulder, he panted lightly, dazed.

Perhaps because his cold poison had just flared up and his body was still weak, his limbs were soft and powerless. He struggled to breathe, unable to even stand.

In the end, Pei Zhen lifted him by the waist and carried him back into the room. Li Chanxiu closed his eyes; his thin eyelids were slightly red, and his lashes still damp with moisture.

When Pei Zhen lowered his head and kissed his eyelids again, he kept his eyes closed, looking utterly exhausted, without the strength to push him away.

Pei Zhen sighed softly. His wife was truly too delicate, just one kiss had left him this tired. He didn’t know how it had been before in the bridal chamber… forget it, he couldn’t think about that.

If he kept thinking, he really wouldn’t be able to leave today.

He helped Li Chanxiu tidy his slightly disheveled clothes and hair, lowered his head to kiss his temples, gave a few more instructions, then stood up and, with reluctance, left again.

Only after he turned away did Li Chanxiu slowly open his eyes. His clear, moist gaze still seemed to hold a trace of mist. This time, he only watched him go, not stepping outside again.

Pei Zhen turned back every few steps. After leaving the courtyard, he turned back once more. Not seeing him, he couldn’t tell whether what he felt was disappointment or melancholy.

He swung himself onto his horse and, alone, rode away from Yongfeng Town through the frosty morning light.

When he reached the Bingzhou army camp, Yang Yuanyi quickly rode up to meet him, reined in his horse, and cupped his hands in salute. “General, everything is ready.”

Pei Zhen swept his gaze over the troops already assembled and ready to depart, and quickly gave the order: “Then set out.”

With that, he turned his horse, his cold and resolute figure taking the lead as he rode off.

Yang Yuanyi hurriedly followed.

The army set out in a grand procession. After circling a mountain, the border town was soon about to disappear from sight.

Pei Zhen suddenly pulled his reins, stopping on a high ground, looking far off in the direction of Yongfeng.

Yang Yuanyi rode up beside him, followed his gaze, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Pei Zhen’s expression revealed nothing. He soon shook his head, his tone almost like a sigh: “Nothing.”

With that, he left the high ground, cracked his whip, and rode on. “Let’s go.”

Yang Yuanyi glanced once more in Yongfeng’s direction, shook his head, and quickly followed.

Before long, the vast Bingzhou army had completely left this mountain path.

***

Inside the main room, only after Pei Zhen had been gone for a long time did Li Chanxiu finally come back to himself.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the mist in his eyes, until his breathing steadied again.

Just now, he had briefly suspected that Pei Er had fully recovered his memory, otherwise, why would he say something like remarrying? But judging from the expression when he left, it didn’t seem quite so.

Li Chanxiu shook his head, sat by the kang to rest for a while, and after his strength returned, he subconsciously raised a hand to touch his lips. He couldn’t help but hiss in pain, frowning.

Is Pei Er a wolfdog? Why was he biting him?

Fortunately, they had already parted, and he would be leaving soon as well. Otherwise, faced with today’s situation, he wouldn’t have known how to deal with it.

Li Chanxiu let out a deep sigh. After resting well, he ate breakfast alone, then went to the military camp.

He found General Chen and told him that there was no need to report his merits for now or request the removal of his criminal status, everything could wait until Pei Er returned.

Although he would be leaving soon and this matter would no longer affect him, Pei Er would still come back. If his identity were exposed after he left, and Pei Er had married him, he would surely be implicated.

As for after Pei Er returned… he would leave him a letter, telling him as much as he could, asking him not to try to clear his status anymore, nor to look for him.

After bidding farewell to General Chen, he went to the infirmary, delivering the medical cases and prescriptions he had organized in recent days to Physician Hu, hoping he could treat more wounded soldiers.

Physician Hu did not know that once Li Chanxiu left, he did not plan to return. After accepting the booklets, besides thanking him repeatedly, he also smiled and congratulated him: “I heard your maternal family has found you, and you’re going to see them tomorrow. What a happy occasion, after all the hardship, sweetness at last. Go reunite with them without worry, stay a few more days. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of things in the camp here.”

Li Chanxiu smiled faintly and nodded. After parting from him, he went to see Zhang Hu.

After leaving the military camp, he made one final trip to Aunt Xu’s home.

Aunt Xu’s family was also renting their place. When he arrived, Ding Chenghai was chopping firewood in the yard, while little Ah Yun stood nearby handing water to her older brother.

Seeing him come, Ding Chenghai quickly put down his work and greeted him awkwardly. Little Ah Yun also ran over, calling out shyly and delightedly, “Sister Shen.”

Li Chanxiu rubbed her head, then asked Ding Chenghai, “Is Aunt Xu home?”

Aunt Xu happened to come out carrying a winnowing basket of beans to pick through. Seeing him, she was delighted, saying she had been planning to visit him at noon, and what a coincidence that he had come first. Then she took his hand and chatted at length, saying their family’s reunion and ability to rent a house here were all thanks to Pei Er’s help.

Li Chanxiu smiled and accepted the thanks on Pei Er’s behalf. When he left, he gave Aunt Xu a letter, asking her to pass it to Pei Er when he returned.

Besides the letter, he also left some silver. Aunt Xu and Ding Chenghai both refused to accept it, until he said that a golden eagle at home might occasionally return and would need them to help feed it, only then did they reluctantly accept.

After returning home, he checked all his belongings again, locking up what could be locked. Finally, he left another letter in the chest where clothes were stored.

Then, looking at the familiar room and furnishings, he fell into a brief daze.

That night, lying alone on the warm kang, he stared at the ceiling in the darkness. In his heart were both anticipation and joy at going to reunite with his father, as well as complexity and reluctance at leaving.

Previously, when sleeping with Pei Er, he had always been on edge, not daring to fall asleep, yet often, in the other’s embrace, he would unknowingly drift into deep sleep. Now, alone, he tossed and turned, truly unable to sleep.

Could it be that during this time, he had developed the delicate habit of needing to be held in order to fall asleep?

Li Chanxiu shook his head with a soft laugh, then quickly closed his eyes, telling himself to sleep soon. After all, he would be setting out tomorrow and needed to conserve his energy.

He slept without dreams that night.

The next morning, just as dawn broke, Li Chanxiu picked up the bundle Pei Zhen had packed for him and stepped out of the small courtyard, walking over the frosty ground.

Zhang Hu and the people Pei Zhen had arranged earlier were already waiting outside. Seeing him come out, Zhang Hu quickly lifted the carriage curtain and invited him aboard.

Li Chanxiu nodded slightly to him, then got into the carriage.

Zhang Hu immediately drove the carriage. Together with more than a dozen soldiers assigned to escort them, they quietly left Yongfeng Town over the frozen morning earth.

To avoid Physician Hu, Aunt Xu, and the others coming to see him off, Li Chanxiu had deliberately set out very early, without alerting anyone.

However, when the convoy reached a mountain hollow, more than a hundred masked bandits suddenly rushed out from behind the rocks on both sides, brandishing blades and charging straight at the carriage.

Zhang Hu’s group had only a dozen men and were no match. But seeing they wore frontier army armor, the bandits did not dare kill them. They seized the carriage and galloped away, likely thinking there was something valuable inside.

Zhang Hu and the others were all knocked to the ground, covered in dust.

Only after the bandits had ridden far away, leaving behind a trail of dust, did Zhang Hu struggle to get up, spitting out dirt.

Beside him, Chen Qing, who had also come to escort, said anxiously, “Quick! Everyone, get on your horses and chase them!”

But Zhang Hu interrupted him: “Miss Shen has been taken by bandits. We’ll return and report to General Chen.”

Chen Qing immediately grew anxious. “Can’t we just send one person back to report? Those are bandits! Miss Shen has been taken, shouldn’t we hurry and chase them?”

But Zhang Hu insisted, “There are too many of them. We’re no match. Even if we catch up, it’s useless. We return first to report.”

Chen Qing froze for a moment, then angrily said, “What do you mean, Zhang Hu? Pei Er counts as your benefactor, right? He promoted you himself, trusted you, let you escort his wife. Now that something has happened to his wife, this is how you repay him?”

Zhang Hu gave him a heavy look but still insisted, “We return and report.”

With that, he mounted his horse and led the others away.

Of course he knew who his benefactor was, Captain Pei had promoted him. But Miss Shen… had saved his younger brother’s life, which was equivalent to saving him and his elderly mother as well.

Zhang Hu clenched his teeth as he thought this, while behind him, Chen Qing cursed angrily.

***

Inside the carriage, Li Chanxiu had already changed into men’s clothing. A dark brocade robe embroidered with silver threads outlined his tall, lean figure. His black hair was tied up again with a hairpin. His face was like jade, his eyes like cold stars. Lifting the curtain, he stepped down cleanly.

Beside the carriage, the masked men from before removed their face coverings one after another, knelt on one knee, and respectfully said, “Greetings, Little Highness.”

Li Chanxiu smiled faintly, raising a hand to have them rise. “No need for courtesy.”

Yi Xun was also among them. After standing, she stepped forward and pointed to the leader among the former subordinates, introducing him: “Your Highness, this is Zhou Kai, Commander Zhou.”

Li Chanxiu nodded slightly to him. In his dream, when he had gone to the southwest, he had not seen this man, so he must have either died early or left the old subordinates later.

…Most likely the former.

Zhou Kai immediately stepped forward, cupped his fists respectfully, and said again, “Greetings, Your Highness. On our way here we were swept up by refugee mobs and scattered troops, which delayed us by many days and caused Your Highness to suffer.”

Li Chanxiu waved his hand, indicating it was nothing, then asked, “Do you know how my father is doing?”

Zhou Kai quickly replied, “Reporting to Your Highness, we have just received news: a few days ago, Lord Zhao already managed to rescue master. Not long ago, he had just left Luoyang. At present, master should be in Qinzhou, waiting for Your Highness to go and reunite.”

Li Chanxiu immediately let out a breath of relief, then asked again, “Then do you know what happened with the uprising in Liangzhou?”

Zhou Kai hesitated slightly, but soon said, “Reporting to Your Highness, this matter has also been roughly clarified. The ones who rose up are indeed our people. However, before rescuing master, we had no such plan. We do not know what happened with Lord Cai of Liangzhou, suddenly stirring up this affair. We have also sent people to inquire.”

“Lord Cai?” Li Chanxiu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, “It is Cai Shu.”

Zhou Kai seemed surprised and asked, “Your Highness knows Cai Shu?”

“I’ve heard my father mention him,” Li Chanxiu nodded, a smile on his face, though it did not reach his eyes.

As for Cai Shu, it was not that he had heard of him from his father, but that he had impressions from a dream.

Naturally, he had not met this person in the dream either, but only later, after traveling to the southwest, heard the remnants of the old forces mention him.

His father’s former subordinates were mainly divided into two factions. One faction concealed their identities and operated in Luoyang as covert agents, including the Lord Zhao Zhou Kai had just mentioned, who was now an official in Luoyang and had just taken advantage of the chaos to rescue his father. The other faction consisted of military men in the southwest, secretly recruiting troops and building power, Yi Xun was one of them.

Originally, both the southwestern forces and those operating in Luoyang were led by Lord Zhao, because he held an official post in Luoyang and was the only one able to secretly make contact with his father. He was also his father’s most trusted confidant, with seniority and prestige.

But as the southwestern faction recruited more troops and gradually grew stronger, some began to feel their own contributions were greater.

Cai Shu was precisely such a person. As the number of soldiers under his command increased, and as refugee uprisings erupted everywhere, throwing the realm into chaos while great clans competed for territory, he could not help but develop ambitions.

Naturally, on the surface he dared not show disrespect to the Crown Prince, but he subtly relied on his troops for power. After all, Li Xuan had been imprisoned for eighteen years, and many newly recruited soldiers among the old forces did not know him, instead only knowing the so-called “Great General” Cai Shu.

This made Cai Shu feel that his merits were immense, and that his status ought to be higher, at the very least, second only to one person and above all others.

In the dream, it was precisely this Cai Shu’s stubbornness that ultimately caused the old forces to split. At that time, relying on his large number of troops, he repeatedly contended against the other old forces led by his father, dividing the army’s generals into two factions.

Later, taking advantage of his father’s grave illness, Cai Shu led away fifty thousand troops from the old forces, intending to compete for supremacy with other armies. However, as soon as they left the southwest, they were surrounded and attacked by the Great Zhou’s small court, already relocated to Jinling, together with several great clans’ forces. All fifty thousand troops were slaughtered, with catastrophic casualties, their blood staining the rivers.

Afterward, the court’s allied forces pressed their victory, and Liangzhou, which had been held by the remaining old forces, was also seized in one stroke by several armies and completely divided. The remnants of the old forces were forced to scatter into the deep mountains, and it was not until Li Chanxiu arrived that they were reorganized.

After recalling all this, Li Chanxiu could basically guess the truth behind the Liangzhou uprising. Most likely Cai Shu, relying on his troops, saw refugee uprisings breaking out everywhere, even nearly capturing Chang’an and Luoyang, and could not restrain himself. Wanting to contend for the realm, he raised troops in the Crown Prince’s name without consulting Lord Zhao in Luoyang.

At this thought, a chill surfaced in Li Chanxiu’s eyes.

If not for Luoyang being besieged and the emperor being trapped in Chang’an, would Cai Shu’s actions not have harmed his father, who had still been imprisoned in Luoyang at the time?