Chapter 14: He Was Innocent!
Guan Yue was a bit surprised that her bandit husband had personally handled the tying up of people, as this task was usually left to the younger members of the gang.
But she didn’t give it much thought. It was better this way. She could freely catch up with Jiang Lili without worry. After all, sisterhood was more important!
“Boss! You have to come see, we’ve hit the jackpot!!!”
The second-in-command of Guan Yue’s mountain bandits excitedly rushed into the temple. He waved his hands, signaling people to bring in the treasure boxes they had discovered from the cart outside.
“These are gold, silver, jade, and precious silks and cloth. All extraordinary items! And the accessories we stripped off Xu Youshan, roughly estimating their value to be no less than ten thousand taels of silver.”
The second-in-command opened the first box, revealing an array of gold, silver jewelry, and jade. Just picking any one item was enough to cover the expenses of an average household for an entire year.
Jiang Lili and Guan Yue were both stunned, their eyes wide. Every item in these boxes could rival the collections of a museum. For two modern people like them, the impact was overwhelming!
“We really owe it to Xu Youshan for being so ostentatious. He had to bring two big boxes of this stuff when he left, or if he had just brought silver bills, it would have been useless to us!”
The second-in-command cheerfully opened the second box. “Ginseng, He Shou Wu, deer antler, bird’s nest… this box is full of precious medicinal herbs and tonics. The ginseng is at least thirty years old.”
The scent of the medicinal herbs hit Jiang Lili’s nose, and she couldn’t help but feel overjoyed. It was worth her earlier struggle with dryness in her throat.
The third and fourth boxes were filled with food: dried beef, preserved meat jars, smoked lamb legs, and a cage of black chickens.
After the second-in-command had finished tallying their haul, Guan Yue instructed him to load all the boxes onto the cart they had brought for transport and take the small road back to the bandit stronghold.
Guan Yue sat down with Jiang Lili to catch up, while the exquisite dishes prepared by Xu Youshan’s accompanying chef remained untouched.
“Tsk tsk, using precious jade to serve the food, how extravagant! Xu Youshan really is the darling of the local emperor,” Guan Yue commented, holding her rice bowl carefully, afraid she might knock it over.
Jiang Lili, on the other hand, buried her head in her food, not saying a word. It had been so long since she had tasted such fragrant rice and vegetables cooked in generous amounts of oil.
Guan Yue watched Jiang Lili, who was eating like a starving ghost, and patted her on the head. The poor child had really suffered on the road. “Eat slowly. Once you’re done, I’ll take you back to the stronghold to have a hot bath and rest properly.”
“I have sent people to take care of the Marquis family. Once we get to the stronghold, the doctor will take care of Madam Yang.”
Thanks to Guan Yue’s prior arrangements, and her respect for the Marquis of Zhaoping and his son’s heroic deeds in battle, the younger members of the gang had been especially gentle when capturing the Marquis’s family. They had even allowed them to travel to the stronghold in a carriage.
“Thank you, Sister Yue!” Jiang Lili finally felt at ease.
Guan Yue waved her hand dismissively. “No need to thank me. You’re my lifesaver.”
After finishing their meal, Jiang Lili’s curiosity kicked in. She poured herself a cup of wine and asked, “That young man in white earlier, is he your bandit husband?”
Guan Yue eagerly leaned into the conversation. “Yes, he was picked up by the patrol of the mountain stronghold before I transmigrated here. He was badly injured and unconscious at the time.They nursed him back to health in the stronghold for two months.”
“The original owner saw that he had such a handsome face and forced him to be the bandit husband. But on their wedding night, the original owner might have been too excited and had a heart attack, then passed away. After that, I woke up in her place,” Guan Yue recalled.
She thought back to the moment she had entered this world with a bit of a teasing smile. “You have no idea, when I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on top of a handsome man with half his clothes off, and I almost had a nosebleed!”
The imagery was too vivid, and Jiang Lili slapped her leg in laughter. But then, she remembered the unfortunate situation she had found herself in when she arrived and couldn’t bring herself to laugh anymore.
“Your little husband is quite skilled. What’s his background?” she asked.
Guan Yue shrugged. “He had a head injury and lost his memory. The only thing he remembered was his name, Jiayu.”
“In these three days, I’ve found that he listens to me and even helped me come up with strategies when I said I was going to rob someone.”
Guan Yue spoke about Jiayu with satisfaction, her face breaking into a shy smile. “There’s been some troublemakers in the stronghold, and he helped me handle them. Otherwise, with my lack of martial skills, I’d have long been a corpse by now.”
Jiang Lili caught the shy expression on Guan Yue’s face and teased her with a mischievous “Oh ho ho!”
Guan Yue nudged Jiang Lili with her elbow. “Stop teasing me!”
“You didn’t see the look Xin Che gave me when I said I was going to take you, it was like he was going to tear me apart!”
Jiang Lili shook her head and replied confidently, “He was just being righteous, couldn’t stand the fact that you, the bandit leader, were trying to abd*ct a woman.”
“Alright, enough. This place is a bit too run-down. Let’s head back to the stronghold and talk more there,” Guan Yue said, standing up and pulling Jiang Lili with her. She signaled for the younger bandits to come in and clean up the dishes.
Guan Yue brought Jiang Lili to the luxurious carriage that Xu Youshan had arrived in. The carriage was spacious and comfortable, and Jiang Lili immediately stretched out like a lazy cat.
Seeing how tired Jiang Lili seemed, Guan Yue suggested, “You know, how about I arrange for you to fake your death? You could just stay here in the stronghold.”
But halfway through her suggestion, she changed her mind, “Oh, wait, no, you still have the important task of saving Xiaopang’s family business crisis.”
“Yeah, and it’s not that easy to just fake it. A lot of eyes are on the Marquis of Zhaoping’s household,” Jiang Lili replied, turning over. “If I stay here too long, it might cause trouble for you all.”
The carriage continued its way to Guan Village Stronghold, where Guan Yue’s bandit husband, Jiayu, had already arrived with Xin Che ahead of them.
Jiayu led Xin Che to the study of the main building. Afterward, he removed the sack from Xin Che’s head and untied his hands.
“Master, I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Please forgive me,” Jiayu said, kneeling on one knee and cupping his fists.
Xin Che looked at Jiayu’s fair, well-maintained face and couldn’t help but recall the image of Jiayu being patted on the head by the female bandit leader back at the ruined temple.
This was the same man who had once fought alone against hundreds of enemies at the border, a fierce commander of the light cavalry who had struck fear into the hearts of his enemies!
Xin Che’s usual icy expression faltered, and he wore an almost helpless look. “Although our Marquis family has fallen, one cannot… at least one shouldn’t…”
“Master, please let me explain!”
Seeing his master’s face shift to one of guilt and helplessness, Jiayu realized that his master had misunderstood him. He quickly reassured him, “I am innocent!”
Xin Che sighed, knowing that there was no need for further explanation. It was his own fault.
“Stand up. In the end, I’ve caused you trouble.”
“Let’s talk about something more important. How many of our people are left, and how did you end up at Guan Village Stronghold?”
Hearing this, Cheng Jiayu straightened up and replied seriously, “After you returned to the capital, there was a mutiny at the border. Some of our men betrayed us, and we had no choice but to cut off the rear and flee.”
“The situation was extremely chaotic at the time. We had to scatter in all directions—north, south, east, and west. Roughly, there are less than three hundred of us left.”
Xin Che frowned upon hearing this. The five elite troops he had personally trained were now reduced to less than a third of their original number.
Cheng Jiayu poured Xin Che a cup of hot tea. “Two months ago, I escaped from the northern border to this place. I traveled over three thousand miles, and two of my horses died from exhaustion before I managed to shake off the pursuers.”
“I was severely injured and unconscious when the leader of Guan Village Stronghold found me. The area here is quite isolated, and I only heard about the Marquis’ house being sentenced to exile ten days ago.”
“Guan Village Stronghold is very close to the route you were exiled on, so I decided to stay and see if there was any chance to rescue you.”
“To my surprise, not only did the stronghold leader keep a close eye on me, but she also forced me to marry and cons*mmate the marriage!”
Cheng Jiayu recalled that night of marriage with a strange expression. “But something very strange happened.”