Chapter Twenty-Eight: Where Has My Husband Gone?

It was always the bandits who descended from the mountains to plunder the common folk—stealing grain, abducting women, and beating anyone who dared to resist half to death.

Yet today, Chen Xuan had stormed into their stronghold, showing no interest in their gold, their food, or their women. He had come merely to ask a few questions and, incidentally, to give their men a sound thrashing.

And once the beating was done, he had simply left.

What was he playing at?

"Shut up, all of you!"

Hearing the grumbling around him, Liu Jinyu felt an overwhelming wave of irritation. He swept a cold gaze across the room, silencing his men instantly. Though their mouths were shut, their faces betrayed their dissatisfaction; they were clearly unhappy that Chen Xuan had been allowed to leave so easily.

"If any of you feels wronged, then go ahead and do something about it! Go after him! Whoever can kill him can take my place as the leader!"

Liu Jinyu cursed, his eyes raking over his lackeys. Whenever his gaze landed on someone, that person would immediately lower their head, keeping their lips sealed.

*Are you joking? Even you, our leader, were nearly killed by him, and you want us to step up? We wouldn’t have enough heads to pay for that mistake!*

Seeing his men talk a big game only to play dead when called upon, Liu Jinyu snorted in disdain. "Bring me pen and paper. I must notify Lord Qin of this at once!"

He was, in fact, a man under the command of that very Lord Qin in the capital. It was thanks to that lord’s secret intervention that he had managed to escape when he was being escorted to the execution grounds. In a sense, he owed his life to him. Lord Qin had tasked him with investigating the slaughter at the Golden Peak Stronghold and reporting back via carrier pigeon immediately. Now that he knew it was Chen Xuan who had wiped them out, he had to send word.

***

Meanwhile, at the inn.

"Where on earth has our husband gone?"
"Could it be that he sees us as a burden and has abandoned us?"
"His money is held by the First Wife. Why don't we just split it and go our separate ways?"

After waking from a long sleep to find Chen Xuan missing, the women were thrown into a state of panic. They began to speculate wildly about his whereabouts.

Had he left of his own volition? Or had he been captured?

Li Xiuning felt a sense of agitation; she didn't know why, but with Chen Xuan gone, she felt an inexplicable sense of emptiness. An Ruxue stood to the side, expressionless, clutching her long sword. She maintained her icy detachment from beginning to end, as if the world and everything in it were of no concern to her.

"First Wife, stop staring into space. Let’s just divide the money. Our husband is surely not coming back; let’s take the coin and live our own lives," Xu Ruolan muttered. She was a woman obsessed with wealth and had been eyeing the money Chen Xuan had obtained from selling his assets.

Li Xiuning was already frazzled, and the constant badgering only deepened her irritation. She shot a cold, displeased look at her. "If you want to leave, you may go right now—no one is stopping you! As for Chen Xuan's money, don't even think about getting a single coin!"

She did not address Chen Xuan as "husband" like the others, using only his name. After all, she was a princess of the Great Tang; although the Chen family had betrothed her to him, it was not a marriage of proper standing. Furthermore, Li Xiuning possessed a deep sense of pride and did not believe Chen Xuan was worthy of her. Even the most talented young man of the Chen clan could not hold a candle to her.

Stung by this rebuke, Xu Ruolan lost her nerve, her tone dropping significantly. She grumbled to herself, "Fine, we won't split it, no need to be so fierce. If you weren't the First Wife, I would have had a real argument with you." She felt quite aggrieved by the exchange.

"What do you think he went off to do? Will he come back?"

Lu Qiqi was a young lady from Jiangnan, well-versed in the arts, but her family had been implicated in a treasonous plot. By rights, they should have been executed, but Chen Xuan had secured her as a concubine. The fact that the Chen family could pluck even a girl from a traitorous clan out of prison for Chen Xuan to choose from showed the sheer extent of their influence. From the highest ministers to the most powerful lords, everyone had to show the Chen family respect.

"He will definitely return!"

As everyone speculated, a crisp voice cut through the air. They all turned to see that the speaker was none other than Yang Ying'er.

By now, she had washed away the grime, dressed in a beautiful horse-face skirt, and wore a horse-chopping saber at her waist. Unlike the coldness of An Ruxue, Yang Ying'er exuded a sense of bold, refreshing spirit.

"How can you be so sure?" An Ruxue, who had been silent until now, glanced at her and asked coolly.

"It's simple: I believe he is a man who keeps his word!" Yang Ying'er said with conviction. "He promised my father he would look after me, and he even avenged me. Therefore, I believe he will definitely come back!"

*Creak.*

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

"Hm? Why are you all in my room?"

Chen Xuan had returned. Seeing all the women gathered in his quarters, he couldn't help but pause in surprise.

"You went missing, and everyone thought you had run off and abandoned us," Li Xiuning said. She was startled; she hadn't expected Chen Xuan to arrive the very moment Yang Ying'er finished speaking. For some reason, the moment she saw him, the heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart suddenly vanished.

"Oh, husband! You're finally back, you frightened me to death! Where on earth did you go? Why didn't you tell us beforehand or leave a note? You had us all so worried for nothing," Xu Ruolan said, immediately acting coquettish and moving to embrace him, feigning the deep distress she supposedly felt.

"Where did you go?" Yang Ying'er asked as well.

Except for An Ruxue, all the women stared at Chen Xuan, waiting for an answer. Even An Ruxue, though she deliberately averted her gaze, was listening with bated breath.

"Er..."

With so many eyes fixed upon him, Chen Xuan felt as if he were a prisoner undergoing an interrogation. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond. Should he be honest and say he had just gone to a bandit lair to beat up some outlaws? What if they asked for details? Would he have to explain everything? Or should he just brush it off?

Seeing Chen Xuan's hesitation, Li Xiuning’s demeanor turned cold once more. Expressionless, she remarked, "It was a simple question—where did you go? Is it so difficult to answer? Or did you go off to do something shameful that you're too embarrassed to admit?"