As the two men fought with graceful, flowing movements, the spectacle left the three brothers utterly astonished. They knew that in terms of martial skill, the Prince of Huaiyang far surpassed their leader. Yet somehow, their leader had merely smiled at him, and the prince fell to the ground like a wooden log, his pressure points struck.
Now, as their leader taunted the prince by patting his face and the latter angrily called for help, the three brothers exchanged bewildered glances, at a loss for words.
Liu Mentang, however, was puzzled by how this handsome military officer knew Lu Zhong and his brothers. She turned to Lu Zhong and asked, “Who is this officer?”
Lu Zhong replied with some difficulty, “Boss, he’s the Prince of Huaiyang…”
At that moment, those words seemed to seal the prince’s fate.
Mentang’s heart skipped a beat, and the tip of her blade unconsciously moved forward, grazing the prince’s neck and drawing a few drops of blood.
As Mentang’s sword was about to plunge deeper, Lu Zhong hurriedly shouted, “Boss, the man you married… it’s him.”
Hearing this bizarre exchange, Cui Xingzhou finally understood that Mentang had regained her memories of Yangshan but had forgotten the three years they had spent together.
Truthfully, when Lu Zhong shouted those words, Mentang was so shocked that she nearly drove her blade through Cui Xingzhou’s throat. Once she realized Lu Zhong wasn’t joking, she ordered him to fetch some rope and tie up the Prince of Huaiyang, then drag him to a nearby cave.
Mentang found it hard to believe she had married her sworn enemy, the Prince of Huaiyang. Her first thought was that the prince must be using some kind of trick.
Since waking up on Bandit Island, Mentang had felt like she was living in a different world, but she never imagined something this absurd was waiting for her.
She had married Cui Xingzhou! The sudden appearance of this husband from the sky left her incredulous…
Cui Xingzhou was both shocked and angry. He was surprised that Mentang’s head injury from falling into the water had caused such a drastic change, erasing all memories of their three wonderful years together. He was furious that Lu Zhong and his dimwitted brothers were meticulously following Mentang’s orders, tying him up tightly with an oil-soaked hemp rope. Lu Yi, in particular, had pulled the bindings extra tight.
In the cave, Cui Xingzhou sat on the ground while Mentang crouched before him, sword in hand, staring intently.
If he could, Cui Xingzhou would have loved to get a good night’s sleep. He hadn’t closed his eyes for days, and now that he had finally found her, she turned out to be the “unmarried maiden” Chief Lu.
For a moment, he truly wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep, hoping that when he woke up, this nightmare might have an end.
It had to be said, this Cui scoundrel was truly handsome. Whether glaring in anger or pretending to doze with eyes half-closed, he maintained an air of composure. Those eyelashes of his were especially long…
“Had enough of looking? I’m not going anywhere, so untie me already!” As Mentang stared, transfixed, the seemingly dozing immortal suddenly spoke. His deep eyes seemed to pierce straight into her heart, causing it to flutter.
Mentang remembered herself and stood up, her face stern as she asked Lu Zhong, “Tell me, how did I end up marrying the Prince of Huaiyang… Did he coerce me somehow… or did I fall into some kind of trap?”
Lu Zhong, being honest, didn’t embellish the story even though he felt the Prince of Huaiyang wasn’t worthy of their leader. He said, “Boss after we were separated at Yangshan, we searched everywhere for you. When we finally saw you again, you were already the Prince of Huaiyang’s wife. According to what you’ve told us, the prince didn’t coerce you, and you didn’t fall into any trap. You married him of your own free will. We didn’t approve of this youngster at first, and you… you even punished us for it…”
Hearing this, Mentang frowned. She didn’t consider herself someone who would forget her principles for a pretty face. How could she have reprimanded her brothers for the sake of a former enemy? She looked at Cui Xingzhou disbelievingly and said, “Tell me… how did we first meet, and how did we end up married?”
If asked about anything else, Cui Xingzhou could have answered easily. But when it came to how they met, he found himself unusually flustered and at a loss for words.
He certainly couldn’t tell her that she had also lost her memory back then and that he had tricked her into becoming his wife to use her as bait to lure out Lu Wen.
Given how uncompromising she was acting now, if he told her the truth, she’d likely run him through with her sword before he could finish the story.
So he could only give a vague answer: “You were gravely injured at the time, with your limbs severed. I saved you, and after we spent a year together, you married me…”
He paused, softening his voice, “Mentang, can we talk about this when we get home? Our son has been crying for his mother these past two days, his voice hoarse from weeping…”
Mentang felt disoriented upon hearing this. For some reason, at the mention of “son,” she seemed to hear the cries of an infant in her ears, like the nightmares that had been keeping her awake these past few days…
She bit her lip slightly, conflicted. Had she married Cui Xingzhou and borne him a son?
Cui Xingzhou was also growing anxious. He had rushed to chase after Mentang with only two sailors, leaving the main force on the ship. By now, they should have come ashore. Why hadn’t he seen them yet? Those unreliable brothers were letting the little dog run wild…
Just then, a thunderous cannon roar came from the sea. Mentang, Lu Zhong, and the other brothers hurried to the cave entrance to look out.
In the distance, several large ships formed a semicircle, slowly closing in on the small Zhenzhou warship. The warship, refusing to back down, had mounted its cannons and was returning fire. As the large ships drew closer, they too began to fire, sending up columns of water all around the small warship.
Lu Zhong took a look and said, “Boss, those are Japanese warships! They’ve pursued us here!”
Meanwhile, on one of the Japanese warships, Takashi-ji was observing the Zhenzhou gunboat through a Western telescope.
It turned out that after discovering Liu Mentang’s escape and encountering the Da Yan warship, Takashi-ji realized he stood no chance of victory. He immediately launched several small boats to return to Bandit Island, then gathered manpower and re-armed several warships to search for her.
After all, capturing Liu Mentang meant holding the Prince of Huaiyang’s Achilles’ heel. Takashi-ji didn’t want to fail at the last moment and let her return safely to the prince’s side.
Cui Xingzhou’s two warships had split up, and one of them happened to be spotted here by Takashi-ji, who then surrounded it.
Although still in the cave, Cui Xingzhou could guess what was happening from the sound of cannon fire. He said, “Mentang, quickly untie me. You and Lu Zhong stay here while I go drive away the Japanese and then come back for you.”
The Japanese approach was fierce, with absolute numerical superiority and familiarity with the terrain. No matter how one looked at it, the North Sea warship was doomed to defeat.
They were safe in the cave, yet he was willing to return to danger and face the enemy alongside his subordinates. This was truly admirable. Mentang, having once been a military leader herself, knew well the saying “Love your soldiers like sons, share their hatred of the enemy.” It was easy to say but hard to do. Throughout history, among countless military leaders, few could achieve this. At least among her former subordinates in Yangshan and the Da Yan generals she had encountered, none except the Prince of Huaiyang could do it.
Regardless, this Cui Xingzhou was undoubtedly a man of integrity. She had fought with him for so long and been defeated by him several times, which made her grudgingly respect him…
Seeing that she still showed no intention of untying him, Cui Xingzhou grew impatient with her antics. Hidden in his wristguard was a small but exceptionally sharp dagger. With a slight twist of his wrist behind his back, he swiftly cut through the hemp rope and stood up.
Mentang hadn’t expected him to free himself. As she moved to block him, he had already grabbed the surprised Mentang and pulled her into his arms. His other hand gently cradled the back of her head as he kissed her deeply.
He couldn’t wait any longer to take Mentang home. It didn’t matter if she had forgotten him; he had all the time in the world to help her recall their passionate past, bit by bit, inch by inch.
After the heated kiss, he said, “Be good and wait for me here. I’ll be back soon.” With that, he turned and left.
Mentang hadn’t anticipated his hidden move and couldn’t react in time when he pulled her into his embrace. As she tried to resist, he restrained her hands, leaving her no choice but to passively accept the kiss.
When their bodies touched, that familiar masculine scent and passionate response, though she had no memory of it, felt incredibly familiar, as if it had appeared countless times in her dreams.
By the time she came to her senses, Cui Xingzhou had already left the cave and was running swiftly towards the small boat.
Some soldiers and officers who had been pursuing the Prince of Huaiyang had also come ashore. Seeing the prince, they hurried to meet him. The lead commander said, “Your Highness, when the Japanese ships appeared, we fired signal cannons to notify the other ship to come and join us.”
The Prince of Huaiyang nodded and said, “The enemy ships are numerous and more experienced in naval warfare. We don’t need to engage them head-on at sea. Send someone to signal the ship to abandon it and come ashore. Have them set up the warship as a trap to lure the Japanese on board. Once they board, blow up the ship. At sea, they have superior numbers and strength, but on land, they’re nothing but a disorganized rabble.”
Following these instructions, the warship piled all remaining ammunition together, placing several barrels of oil nearby, deliberately appearing as if they were running out of ammunition. Takashi-ji had initially intended to sink the Zhenzhou warship in one fell swoop, but seeing it seemingly defenseless and fleeing aimlessly at sea, greed got the better of him. He ordered his men to cease fire and move in to capture the enemy vessel.
Things progressed smoothly for them. Two ships docked alongside the Zhenzhou warship, and the Japanese eagerly jumped aboard. However, the deck was deserted, with only distant small boats carrying people visible, about to reach the shore.
As the Japanese were inspecting the warship, a tremendous explosion rocked the vessel. Flames erupted from the deck, and the ship broke in half, quickly sinking into the sea. Some of the Japanese on board were consumed by the flames, while those who jumped into the water were sucked into the whirlpool created by the sinking ship. One of the Japanese ships that had been alongside the explosion had its bow blown open by the blast and was visibly sinking into the sea.