In his previous life, he had been a soldier, then a police officer, and later an undercover agent, honing excellent skills. In this life, although he was born into a farming family, he was naturally strong. Later, he received comprehensive instruction in military strategy and martial arts from Kou Shijun and became proficient in all eighteen military weapons. Tempered by years on the battlefield, he had hardly ever met his match.
This Bei Di commander was also quite strong, his moves exceptionally fierce and ruthless. But while he had strength in excess, he lacked agility. Jiang Chenghan held back some strength to probe his moves for a few rounds, gauging the man's depth. Then he feigned defeat, slowly luring the commander away from the encircling Bei Di soldiers and towards his own men. To make the Bei Di commander believe he was losing, he even intentionally exposed a vital point, allowing the commander to slash him on the chest.
Although he had lost quite a bit of blood, Jiang Chenghan knew it was only a superficial wound and not serious. However, he still pretended to be severely injured, stumbling and falling down in a wretched manner.
Seeing this, the Bei Di commander thought Jiang Chenghan no longer had the strength to fight back, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. He raised his sword and stepped forward, intending to cut off Jiang Chenghan's head.
It was at this moment that Jiang Chenghan suddenly sprang up, thrusting the spear in his hand towards the Bei Di commander's unprotected chest. The Bei Di commander was greatly alarmed, but it was too late to withdraw his weapon to block. He could only twist his body forcefully, trying to avoid the spear.
However, Jiang Chenghan had planned this for a long time and would not allow him to dodge. With a slight movement of his wrist, the spear tip changed direction accordingly. There was a 'thud' sound—the sound of a sharp object piercing flesh—and the spearhead of Jiang Chenghan's weapon was entirely buried in the Bei Di commander's chest.
From the moment Jiang Chenghan was slashed by the Bei Di commander to him piercing the commander's chest, everything happened in just a few seconds. The Bei Di soldiers had not yet reacted. In contrast, the Da Qi soldiers following Jiang Chenghan had already known about this plan and were not surprised. Seizing the opportunity, they cut down the Bei Di soldiers around them, then seized war horses from the Bei Di cavalry, mounted them, and headed towards Ningcheng.
Jiang Chenghan, fearing his horse might be injured during the fight with the Bei Di, had sent it away with the escort team from the start. Now, he also seized a horse from the Bei Di, quickly mounted it, and galloped away from the place with his subordinates.
The Bei Di soldiers finally reacted, but they were in complete chaos. Some mounted horses to chase after Jiang Chenghan and the others, some rushed towards the Bei Di commander in an attempt to save him, but even more stood frozen on the spot, unsure what to do.
After shaking off the pursuing Bei Di soldiers, Jiang Chenghan did not immediately go after the escort team. Instead, he laid an ambush along the way to guard against further Bei Di pursuit. Only when he estimated that the escort team had already entered Da Qi territory did he feel completely at ease and returned to Da Qi with his subordinates.
The envoy and Princess Chanya had arrived in Ningcheng one step ahead of Jiang Chenghan. Although they were unharmed, the events that occurred after Jiang Chenghan separated from them on the road needed to be reported to Kou Shijun by Jiang Chenghan himself.
Having been constantly on the move for many days without any time to clean up, by the time Jiang Chenghan entered the Governor's residence, he was unshaven, with disheveled hair and covered in bloodstains. However, this disheveled and bloodied state was a common sight for a soldier returning from a military campaign, and everyone in the Governor's residence, including Kou Shijun, was used to seeing him and others in such a condition.
"...You did well this time, and you've worked hard. Take a few days off after this, go back and rest, and spend some time with your family." After listening to Jiang Chenghan's account, Kou Shijun smiled and nodded, knowing that sending Jiang Chenghan had been the right decision. In terms of both martial prowess and wit, Jiang Chenghan was the most outstanding among his subordinates.
"Then I take my leave." While on missions outside, Jiang Chenghan suppressed his longing for Yan Jingshu and his family to avoid affecting himself. Now that the mission was successfully completed, the pent-up emotions made him wish he had wings to fly to Yan Jingshu's side immediately.
After bowing and taking his leave from Kou Shijun, Jiang Chenghan turned and strode quickly towards the main gate of the Governor's residence, his steps more urgent than usual. But just as he reached the entrance, he saw a familiar figure. He blinked hard several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"Jingshu, why are you here?" Jiang Chenghan was very happy to see Yan Jingshu here, a big smile spreading across his face as he walked towards him.
Hearing Jiang Chenghan's voice, Yan Jingshu's eyes instantly lit up with joy. However, upon seeing Jiang Chenghan covered in bloodstains, his face immediately changed dramatically. He hurried to Jiang Chenghan's side, his eyes turning red, and said, "What happened? Are you injured? Why is there so much blood? Hasn't Tianming Pass been free of battles? What on earth is going on?"
Jiang Chenghan was stationed at Tianming Pass. Although Yan Jingshu couldn't be there with him, he always kept an eye on news from Tianming Pass. He knew very well that although Tianming Pass was the closest fortress to Bei Di, there had been no battles with them, which had allowed him to feel somewhat at ease while at home.
Later, estimating that Jiang Chenghan's term of service should have ended, he waited for several days but still didn't see him return. So he came to the Governor's residence to inquire. He didn't expect to see Jiang Chenghan in such a shocking state.
Seeing Yan Jingshu terrified, Jiang Chenghan quickly said, "It's nothing, don't be afraid. This is all someone else's blood. I'm perfectly fine, really."
Yan Jingshu didn't believe him. The front of Jiang Chenghan's robe had been torn open by something, suggesting how large the wound on his body must be.
But at the bustling entrance of the Governor's residence, he couldn't just rip open Jiang Chenghan's clothes to check. Without a word, he dragged Jiang Chenghan onto the carriage he had arrived in.
Once the coachman lowered the carriage curtain, he had no more reservations. He tore open the front of Jiang Chenghan's robe and saw that Jiang Chenghan's chest was wrapped in white bandages, with traces of bright red seeping through from beneath the gauze.
The sight of the glaring red blood was a sharp shock to Yan Jingshu's eyes, causing his tears to fall instantly.
Jiang Chenghan didn't like seeing others cry. If any of his soldiers dared to cry in front of him, he wouldn't comfort them but would instead kick them and double their training. But Yan Jingshu was different from those soldiers.
This was the one person he was so careful with, afraid of harming him in any way. He was the only one placed on the softest part of his heart. Usually, he did not even dare to raise his voice around him. Now, seeing that he had made Yan Jingshu cry, he felt both heartache and frustration, utterly at a loss for what to do.
"Don't, don't cry. I'm really fine. This is just a flesh wound, really. If you don't believe me, I'll take off the bandage and show you—" Jiang Chenghan explained in a fluster, raising his hand to remove the bandage on his chest.
Yan Jingshu didn't want Jiang Chenghan to do this and immediately stopped crying. He hurriedly stopped Jiang Chenghan's actions and said, "Don't move recklessly. Be careful not to reopen the wound."
Scolded by Yan Jingshu's tearful eyes, Jiang Chenghan immediately dared not move.
"Tell me, what exactly happened? How did you get this injury?" After carefully checking to ensure that the wound on Jiang Chenghan's chest hadn't worsened, Yan Jingshu rearranged Jiang Chenghan's robe, wiped his own tears, calmed his emotions, and then asked Jiang Chenghan.
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