After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 40

Time flew, and two months passed in a flash.

The bandit suppression went smoothly, thanks in part to the Silver Snake Escort Agency. Not long after the three Nie siblings returned safely, they sent someone with a letter.

The letter detailed the situation of several other strongholds within Fenghe Commandery. It truly showed why they were considered one of the top private intelligence organizations in the north; much of the information was more accurate than what the government provided.

Anyu accepted this favor. When she returned to the capital, she wouldn’t forget to request commendations for the three siblings.

Anyu tore off a strip of cloth from her sleeve, using her hands and teeth to quickly bandage the arm she had just cut during the melee.

Then she pulled out the knife stuck in front of her and shouted, “This is the last mountain peak! After taking this one, we can return to the capital!”

She was young, and initially, when leading these bandit suppression soldiers, she relied entirely on Sister Zhou Ning to maintain control.

But now…

“Yes! Let’s charge with the Official!” the crowd shouted in unison.

“Finish the fight and go home!” Anyu grinned and charged out first.

And the soldiers followed closely behind her.

Anyu’s words seemed to possess a strange power, like the heart-stirring drums of wartime, pounding in their chests.

That’s right! Finish the fight and go home!

“Doctor, is it serious?” Zhou Ning looked at Xie Anyu, who was being bandaged by the army doctor.

The doctor shook his head, “No major problem. Little Official Xie is in good health; this wound will heal in half a month. However… the cut isn’t shallow, nor deep, but I’m afraid it will leave a scar.”

“Leave a scar…” Zhou Ning frowned slightly.

“Who in the army doesn’t have scars? Don’t worry about it, Sister Zhou Ning,” Xie Anyu dismissed the injury, even comforting Zhou Ning.

Getting injured in a melee was normal. Although this knife wound looked serious, it was just a flesh wound.

Seeing her smile, Zhou Ning felt helpless.

She heard from her soldiers that Anyu injured her arm because she couldn’t dodge in time while saving a soldier, getting grazed by the enemy’s blade.

If not for her martial arts skills, that blow might have severed her arm.

Such a close call, this girl… It was truly remarkable she could still smile.

She finally understood why the Xie brothers doted on this younger sister; straightforward, lively, with upright conduct, she was truly likable.

“The bandaging is done, Officials. Please ensure the wound doesn’t get wet these next few days,” the doctor packed his medicine box and reminded them.

Anyu nodded, “Thank you, Doctor!”

The doctor left the tent with his medicine box. Zhou Ning also said, “It’s getting late, I’ll head back too. We’ll break camp tomorrow morning and return to Fenghe Commandery. By the way, I heard Her Majesty issued a decree promoting the magistrate of Jinhe County to be the new Commandery Governor of Fenghe. We’ll need to handle some handover procedures with the new Governor when we return.”

Anyu: “Alright.”

Their bandit suppression campaign had already eliminated several major strongholds. The confiscated treasures and surrendered bandits all needed proper arrangements.

As for the remaining smaller strongholds, they would naturally be handed over to the local government soldiers for cleanup.

After Zhou Ning left, the tent became quiet.

Anyu blew out the lamp, lay on the bed, and closed her eyes to rest.

Hehe.

Anyu lay on her side, touching the brocade pouch by her pillow, the corners of her mouth turned up. Sister Zhou Ning was right. She was eager to return home.

Unknowingly, she had been in Lingbei for so long. Missing home was natural, but there was also some anger.

During the bandit suppression, quite a few letters came from the capital, but not a single one was written to her by that person.

Thinking of this, Anyu felt a bit overly sentimental again.

Before leaving, she had clearly given her so many brocade pouches, each character personally written by her.

Yet she was still not satisfied…

Xie Anyu, you are truly greedy. Silently scolding herself, Anyu closed her eyes again.

The night gradually deepened.

The sounds of movement outside the tent slowly faded.

Except for the soldiers on night watch, everyone, weary, drifted into dreamland.

Zhou Ning had also packed her belongings and was about to lie down on the cot when her gaze fell upon the family letter on the table.

Remembering its contents, Zhou Ning felt a headache coming on.

Compared to Anyu’s eagerness to return, she felt somewhat resistant at this moment.

Anyway, going home meant following her mother’s arrangements to meet those complete strangers.

Get married?

Zhou Ning shook her head.

It wasn’t that Zhou Ning disliked scholars. She was different from Anyu; although she also came from a military family, her father was a bona fide civil official.

Her parents were one civil and one military, yet their relationship had been strong for many years.

Perhaps… it was because she had seen too much of their affection that she didn’t want to settle like this.

Initially, she had thought that if things worked out with the second son of Marquis Pingyang, she would definitely respect him like a guest in the future, but in the end…

Never mind.

What was the point of thinking about that now?

Zhou Ning dismissed the extraneous thoughts and slept in her clothes.

But not long after falling asleep, she heard faint sounds outside. Not the footsteps of soldiers getting up in the night, such light steps seemed somewhat deliberate…

Just then, a corner of her tent was suddenly lifted.

Through the gap, a small tube emerged, and a wisp of smoke drifted into her tent through the thin tube.

Zhou Ning grabbed the dagger beside her pillow.

Fast, accurate, and ruthless, she stabbed towards the smoke tube!

A scream was heard outside the tent, and bl00d even splattered onto the tent flap.

“Attack directly!”

Instantly, the tent flap was thrown open, and several black-clothed figures rushed in!

Zhou Ning performed a carp jump, got up, grabbed the long saber beside the bed, and charged forward! She quickly engaged in battle with these few people!

But clearly, this group was no match for her.

This time, Zhou Ning’s strikes were unlike her sparring with Anyu; almost every blow was fatal, decisive, and ruthless.

The sounds of fighting quickly alerted the night watch soldiers.

Soldiers in the surrounding tents heard the commotion and quickly got up to rush over.

In an instant, the camp was brightly lit.

But by the time they arrived, Zhou Ning had already dealt with all the assassins.

She held her saber, the tip still dripping with the assassins’ bl00d.

And on the ground lay the bodies of several people.

The arriving soldiers paused, looking at the bloody scene before them, “Official, are you alright!”

Zhou Ning shook her head, “I’m fine.”

These assassins were all death warriors; after being injured by her, they decisively took poison to commit suicide.

Who sent death warriors to kill her…

Wait, perhaps it wasn’t just aimed at her.

Remembering Anyu’s injured arm from today, Zhou Ning said gravely: “Immediately go to Official Xie’s tent!”

“Yes!”

Zhou Ning led the soldiers to Anyu’s tent, and sure enough, there was also a patch of bl00d.

Zhou Ning lifted the tent flap and met Anyu’s eyes.

The sharpness in that instant momentarily stunned Zhou Ning.

That kind of gaze…

“Sister Zhou Ning, I killed several assassins!” Anyu relaxed upon seeing it was Zhou Ning. “They wanted to kill me and even used sleeping incense on me. Luckily, I wasn’t asleep, otherwise, I really would have been injured.”

Zhou Ning sighed and turned back, “Go fetch the doctor.”

Anyu: ?

“The wound on your arm has opened up.” Bl00d had already stained her whole arm red.

Anyu smiled: “Minor injury.” Then, Anyu looked at the corpses on the ground, “These people are death warriors, completely dead.”

Anyu kicked the corpses on the ground.

So the question was, who wanted to kill her?

Imperial envoys being assassinated while out suppressing bandits, although nothing happened, was not a trivial matter that could be laughed off.

News quickly spread from Fenghe Commandery back to the Imperial City.

Naturally, the court and the public were shocked.

Someone actually dared to assassinate imperial envoys, and these two envoys were not ordinary people. One was Her Majesty’s favored consort, the legitimate daughter of Great General Xie; the other was the legitimate daughter of the Minister of War, the only maternal granddaughter of Old General Ye.

Her Majesty was even more furious, immediately issuing a decree ordering a thorough investigation to surely apprehend the mastermind behind the assassins.

“Prime Minister Xu, who do you think disapproves so much of Us sending two imperial envoys to suppress bandits?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Xu Ping quickly stepped forward and replied: “Your Majesty, this servant does not know. But this servant believes this matter is of great importance and needs to be rigorously investigated!”

He answered thus, but Xie Wan seemed dissatisfied, saying with a grim face: “We will find the mastermind. We want to see who dares to kill Our imperial envoys!”

No one dared to respond.

The atmosphere in the court was heavy. After the court session ended, everyone dispersed.

The Minister of Rites was particularly uneasy. Turning his head to look at Prime Minister Xu, who was still standing there, he quickly walked over—

“Prime Minister, this matter…”

Clearly, he was asking if this assassination was related to the Xu family.

Xu Ping lifted his eyelids slightly, “Even you think it was this official.”

The Minister of Rites quickly said he wouldn’t dare, “It’s best if it wasn’t the Prime Minister. But Prime Minister, at this juncture… the assassination of the imperial envoys is definitely not a good thing for you.”

Xu Ping naturally understood his meaning.

Her Majesty was determined to suppress the Lingbei bandits, even sending out Zhou Ning and Xie Anyu, showing the level of importance. No one dared to provoke Her Majesty on this matter.

Xu Ping also felt that Xie Anyu and Zhou Ning couldn’t be left alive. But if they were to be killed, it was definitely not the right time. Assassinating Xie Anyu at this juncture was suicidal; any court official could be killed, except for those two sent to suppress bandits.

But the current situation was, even if he didn’t do it, someone would inevitably blame him.

The Xu and Xie families were already at odds. With the Xie family currently favored, if Xie Anyu died during the bandit suppression, who would benefit the most?

Even the Minister of Rites suspected him, so what would Her Majesty think?

Xu Ping suddenly felt somewhat powerless.

The bit of imperial favor he had painstakingly regained, was it all going to be wasted again?

“Prime Minister, could it be that the Xie family staged this themselves? Just to frame you? That Xie Anyu is far away in Lingbei; the news came back like this, but we don’t know if it’s true…” the Minister of Rites speculated.

“I don’t know. But if it wasn’t the Xie family… no matter who this person is, this official must find them out. Mobilize all connections, investigate for me!” Xu Ping said coldly.

He wanted to see who was trying to frame him unjustly.

Only by finding the mastermind could he prove his innocence before Her Majesty.