Chapter 14

I think I ruined Ji Wenmu’s marriage prospects.

This wasn’t something a simple beating from him could solve.

For days, this matter kept me restless. I lost a significant amount of weight, and my face grew increasingly haggard.

The soldiers looked at me with inexplicable, teasing gazes. One of them even ran up to me with a cheeky grin and said, “General, for whom are you pining away?”

My brain hadn’t processed it yet. I gave him a look just as a familiar set of footsteps approached.

“Ji Wenmu.”

The soldier’s jaw dropped. “Young General Ji? Didn’t they say it was a departed…”

“A departed what?”

Ji Wenmu threw his arm over the soldier’s shoulders. The soldier shivered, backing away as he said, “Departing, I’m departing to drill.”

He fled as if chased by a flood or wild beasts. Ji Wenmu shot him a look, then turned to me. Feeling guilty, I didn’t dare meet his eyes.

“You’re this miserable just because he left?”

“What?”

“Are you that reluctant to part with Doctor Liang?”

“I am quite reluctant to part with him, yes.”

His face instantly turned extremely ugly. That made me even more terrified to tell him I’d ruined things between him and Huang Yue, so I could only beat around the bush.

“Ji Wenmu, if you were a bird, would you rather be a captive sparrow kept by someone, or would you fly everywhere?”

“What bird?” He lowered his brows, clearly not understanding my point. He was already very tall; with a stinking face, his aura became even more intimidating.

“Whatever bird you want to be.”

“My point is, why would I want to be a bird?”

That was a fair question. My guilt deepened. “Just making conversation. If you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”

With that, I turned to leave, but the moment I took a step, my wrist was grabbed.

Ji Wenmu looked down at me, then at the ground, then back at me.

I tugged my wrist, but couldn’t pull it free.

He looked at me, his expression serious and entirely focused. “That depends on who is raising the bird. If I favored her, giving up some things would be fine.”

Meeting his gaze, a wave of profound sorrow washed over me. So this was how he felt. The high-spirited Young General Ji actually didn’t mind being kept captive.

I would rather tear down ten temples than ruin one marriage.

Was my sin incredibly grave now?

“I-I couldn’t tell you were such a person of deep passion and true nature.”

He let go of my hand, his expression inexplicably dimming. The dazzling light in his eyes faded inch by inch. Not knowing what he was thinking of, his whole person was suddenly shrouded in shadows.

“Amin, do you want to remember the things you forgot?”

He looked so sad, it made me feel sad too. Did I forget something earth-shattering? But I didn’t feel like I had forgotten anything particularly important.

“Is what I forgot very important to you? Tell me; maybe I’ll remember.”

He suddenly let out a soft sigh, looking far too melancholic for the usually carefree Ji Wenmu.

“It’s nothing. Xiaoyue issued a decree for the Shenfeng Battalion to go eradicate the bandits at Mount Yan. Go prepare.”

I wasn’t wearing a helmet. He reached out to pat my head, and I braced myself to receive the usual heavy blow. But the force that landed on my head was incredibly gentle. It wasn’t careless like usual; instead, it was somewhat cautious and tender.

After he left, I touched the top of my head, deeply sensing that something was wrong with him. In the past, relying on his height advantage, he loved throwing an arm around my shoulder or smacking my head, never caring about the force. When had he ever been this gentle, as if he’d taken the wrong medicine?

What wrong medicine had he taken?