Amnesiac General and Infatuated Brothel Keeper 11

Feng Jiuli went to Huaqi Pavilion, did absolutely nothing, drank a cup of tea, and returned.

His subordinates had thought their general would spend the night at Huaqi Pavilion. Who knew he would return to his temporary residence in the Zhuhua Kingdom by dusk.

"General, why have you returned so early?" the subordinate asked as he took the outer robe Feng Jiuli had just taken off.

Feng Jiuli coldly snorted, cast a sidelong glance at him, and walked toward his room, his voice tinged with impatience. "You talk too much."

"Ah, General—" The subordinate initially fell silent, then called out to Feng Jiuli with a bitter face, though he didn't know if the man heard him or not. "But the Jun Family's Fourth Miss is in the room waiting for you—"

Hearing this, Feng Jiuli's body abruptly stiffened just as he crossed the threshold. However, the beautifully featured woman inside had already caught sight of his figure and angrily marched over to question him: "Feng Jiuli! Where have you been?"

"To Huaqi Pavilion, to see Hua Wuyan." Seeing that he couldn't avoid it, Feng Jiuli directly entered the room.

Hearing this, the woman was so enraged that her chest heaved continuously. Raising her voice, she cursed shrilly, "You actually betrayed Brother Jinzhi to go to such a filthy and dirty place to see a brothel actor?!"

In the past, whenever she came looking for him, Feng Jiuli would try his best to show her some patience. But today, for some unknown reason, he couldn't be bothered to offer even a single perfunctory word. The anger in his heart blazed to its absolute peak upon hearing her hurl insults at Hua Wuyan, and he couldn't help but snap, "Yes, yes, yes, you are the noble and unparalleled Fourth Miss of the Jun Family, untainted by a speck of dust, who would never go to such a filthy place, while I, Feng Jiuli, am dirty and low enough to belong in a place like that. In that case, I must trouble the Fourth Miss to stop bothering me from now on, alright?"

Jun Changwu was startled by his yelling. Her voice weakened a little, but it still carried an unquestionable stubbornness: "Then you have to tell me where exactly you took Brother Jinzhi..."

"I don't fucking know any Jinzhi!" Feng Jiuli abruptly turned his head back, his eyes completely bloodshot. "How many times do I have to say it? I am Feng Jiuli, not the Jiang Lishan you are looking for!"

Ever since he defeated Beiyou, returned to the capital, and met Jun Changwu once at the celebration banquet held by the king, he had been pestered by her—she incessantly claimed that his name was Jiang Lishan and that he had abducted her older brother Jun Changle, constantly chasing after him to demand Jun Changle's whereabouts. It was utterly absurd.

Annoyed by her relentless pestering, Feng Jiuli had told her about his amnesia.

This was Jun Changwu's first time seeing him so angry. After having the man yell in her face, she stammered, "But you... but didn't you say you lost your memories? W-What if you forgot Brother Jinzhi..."

"The Jiang Clan was completely executed ten years ago," Feng Jiuli laughed coldly. "Even if what you say is true, that Jun Changle loves me deeply, and I forgot him and haven't gone looking for him, could it be that he also forgot me, which is why he hasn't shown any concern for me? Who knows if he abandoned Jiang Lishan, caught the eye of someone else, and felt too ashamed to return home, instead lingering somewhere indulging in pleasures."

"Don't you dare insult my brother!" Jun Changwu immediately raised her hand, wanting to slap Feng Jiuli across the face.

Feng Jiuli caught her wrist, gave her a harsh push, and said in a chilling voice, "Your Jun Family may be powerful and influential, but I, Feng Jiuli, am not someone to be trifled with either. Fourth Miss Jun, take care, I won't see you out."

Jun Changwu staggered a few steps before managing to steady herself. She stared dead at Feng Jiuli. It wasn't until the man impatiently turned his back to her that she could no longer hold back the tears in her eyes. Leaving behind a parting remark—"How could Brother Jinzhi be so blind as to fall for you"—she sobbed and ran out of the general's manor.

Feng Jiuli watched her departing figure, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. Finally, he flipped over the desk in the center of the room and smashed everything in sight to pieces. Yet, even after venting such a wild fit of rage, he still didn't know where the surge of anger in his heart had come from.

The subordinate, who had seen the Jun Family's Fourth Miss run away crying, was currently carrying dinner over. Hearing the crashing sounds of shattering porcelain from within the room, he shuddered all over and quickly waved at the pageboys following behind him. "Go, go, go, everyone leave. The general is in a bad mood. If you don't want to die, don't go near him."

A pageboy lowered his voice, as if afraid that speaking any louder would startle and enrage someone, "Boss, inside..."

"It's fine. It'll be alright once the general vents his anger. We'll come back to deliver the food later..."

After running out of the general's manor, Jun Changwu wept and ran blindly. The maids following her almost couldn't keep up and were on the verge of tears themselves.

"Wuwu... Brother Jinzhi... Brother Jinzhi... where are you..."

Jun Changwu slowed her steps and wiped her tears. Hit by the cold night wind of early spring, she suddenly shivered.

A fragrant breeze carrying peach blossom petals drifted past her tear-blurred eyes like a pink mist. When Jun Changwu looked up, she saw Huaqi Pavilion, with its green tiles and red eaves, standing not too far away.

The long street was littered with fallen peach blossoms, piling up into a thick layer. The lanterns hanging from the eaves of Huaqi Pavilion emitted a hazy halo in the night, swaying and casting scattered shadows over the beautiful actors at the entrance. They were smiling brightly, discussing the soon-to-begin night market together. As if driven by some inexplicable force, Jun Changwu stopped in her tracks right there.

"M-Miss..." the maids caught up, panting heavily. "Please stop running... Your servants can barely keep up..."

Jun Changwu tilted her head back, looking up at the plaque of Huaqi Pavilion, and asked, "This is Huaqi Pavilion? Does that Hua... Wuyan live inside?"

Hearing Hua Wuyan's name, the maids' faces flushed red as they said, "Yes, Miss... Let's hurry and go back..."

Jun Changwu clenched her fists. "I want to see for myself what this slut who hooked Jiang Lishan's soul away looks like! What right does he have to fight over him with Brother Jinzhi!" With that said, completely ignoring her maids' drastically changed expressions and attempts to stop her, she shoved past the actors gathering at the entrance and marched straight into the pavilion.

"Miss! Miss! You can't go in there—"

"Why can't I!" Jun Changwu cursed as she stepped into Huaqi Pavilion, causing the young male escorts downstairs to frequently cast sidelong glances at her. "Who is the manager here?"

Qiu Yi looked at her face, which bore some resemblance to the Pavilion Master's. He blanked for a moment before greeting her, "Miss..."

"Are you the manager here? I want to see Hua Wuyan!" Jun Changwu looked at Qiu Yi. Without waiting for him to finish speaking, she untied the brocade pouch at her waist and tossed it to him. Inside were red stones, jasper, and various colored glazed beads of considerable value.

Holding the bag of beads, Qiu Yi shook his head and offered it back, saying, "Miss, our Young Master is ill. These past few days, he—"

"Ill?" Jun Changwu paused for a moment. Her expression softening, she hesitated, "Then... then I'll come back tomorrow?"

"Tell him I am the Fourth Miss of the Chongluo Kingdom's Jun Family, and he is not allowed to refuse to see me!" With that said, she stormed off angrily without waiting for Qiu Yi's reaction, nor did she order anyone to take back the brocade pouch she had handed over.

"Eh?" Qiu Yi stared at the brocade pouch in a daze, raising his voice. "Miss, your belongings—"

Jun Changwu heard his shout but didn't even look back, gradually disappearing into the distance amidst the pink peach blossom mist.

Qiu Yi weighed the rather heavy brocade pouch in his hand and ultimately decided to go ask Su Jinzhi for his decision.

Inside the room, Su Jinzhi was already awake.

Xile was sitting on the edge of the bed, serving him his medicine.

"You're saying..." Su Jinzhi gently stroked the embroidered character 'Jun' on the bottom right corner of the brocade pouch, "...the owner of this pouch wants to see me?" To think there was actually a girl who wanted to see him? Judging from the character embroidered on this pouch, could it be a relative of the original owner of this body?

Qiu Yi nodded. "I told her that Young Master has been in poor health these past few days, but she insisted on seeing you. Young Master, what do you think..."

"I'll see her," Su Jinzhi said firmly, turning his head to avoid the spoonful of dark brown medicine Xile offered him. "Help me arrange the meeting for tomorrow."

Seeing that he refused to drink the medicine, Xile frowned and urged, "Young Master, you still have half of this medicine left."

Su Jinzhi lay down, pulled the quilt over his head to cover himself, and said in a muffled voice from beneath the covers, "It's too bitter, I don't want to drink it. Take it away." These ancient medicines were bitter enough to kill; he was starting to miss the era of capsule medications.

"Young Master—" Xile grew anxious and wanted to try persuading him again, but Qiu Yi tugged on his sleeve and shook his head, gesturing for him to stay quiet.

Xile could only swallow his words, gather the medicine bowl, and leave together with Ping'an.

Yun Mengchen was waiting outside the room. Seeing Xile come out holding a bowl still more than half full of medicine, he immediately frowned. "He didn't drink the medicine?"

Xile replied in a sullen voice, "Young Master complained that the medicine is bitter..."

Yun Mengchen snorted. A hint of anger mixed into his usually gentle tone as he deliberately raised his voice so the person inside the room could hear: "He isn't complaining that the medicine is bitter; he clearly just doesn't want to live anymore!"

With that said, Yun Mengchen ignored Qiu Yi's frantic hand gestures and pushed the door open, only to catch Su Jinzhi quickly stuffing something under his pillow and squeezing his eyes shut to pretend to be asleep.

Yun Mengchen walked over to the bed and rapped his knuckles against the bed frame. "Can you actually sleep resting your head on all those beads?"

Even without resting on them, it was hard enough to fall asleep; these ancient pillows were just too fucking hard.

Su Jinzhi opened his eyes, staring at him quietly with watery eyes.

Looking at his expression, Yun Mengchen felt both angry and amused. "You actually feel wronged? Get up and drink the medicine. You can sleep after you drink it."

Su Jinzhi rolled over to turn his back to him and whispered, "I don't want to drink it. The medicine is really too bitter."

Yun Mengchen said, "If you know the medicine is bitter, why don't you take better care of your body?"

Su Jinzhi let out a scoff and said in a hoarse voice, "Body? There's no point in keeping this broken, rotten skin sack anyway."

Hearing the young man's words, Qiu Yi, who had followed him inside, quickly tugged on Yun Mengchen's sleeve. Yun Mengchen also realized he had misspoken. He sighed and said, "Alright, I won't force you to take your medicine today. Just don't forget... why you invited me to Huaqi Pavilion in the first place. That will be enough."

The young man remained silent with his back turned to him.

Yun Mengchen stared at him steadily for a moment before leaving in disappointment.

After Yun Mengchen left, Su Jinzhi pulled out the brocade pouch containing several beautiful jades from under his pillow once more. Pressing it against his cheek, he said tearfully, "Changwu... I miss you so much... He doesn't remember me anymore... Why..."

"I clearly waited... for so long..."

He waited until the person outside the door, who had been listening to his low murmurs, hesitated and paced for a moment before finally lowering his head and walking away. Only then did Su Jinzhi wipe the tears from his face with the back of his hand and ask No. 0, "No. 0, has Yun Mengchen left?"

No. 0 scanned the biological heat sources around Su Jinzhi's room and confirmed, "Yes, Host, Divine Doctor Yun has left."

Su Jinzhi raised his eyebrows, stuffed Jun Changwu's brocade pouch back under his pillow, and rubbed his red, teary eyes. Lazily, he said, "Baby 0, pull up the Progress Value of the salvation target for me to take a look at."

No. 0 immediately replied, "Okay, Lord Host."