Chapter 61 [V] Liu Erlang Awakens His Memories...

Liu Erlang had already become suspicious of his mother, but this time he remained still and did whatever she said.

“That’s fine,” Liu Erlang said. “It would show more sincerity if Mother went back to fetch her herself.” He added, “When does Mother plan to go back? I’ll have someone lasso a horse and escort Mother back.”

Anyway, as long as it's not him going back, it doesn't matter who goes back.

So Aunt Liu didn't care about this and just said, "You can arrange it however you like, it's fine with me."

Little did Aunt Liu know that her reactions to Liu Erlang's words were giving him a glimpse into his thoughts.

For example, she strongly objected when he previously said he would personally go back to his hometown to pick up people during his vacation. But now that he says he will send someone to accompany him back to pick them up, she has no reaction at all.

Ultimately, they were just being wary of him and didn't want him to return to his hometown.

But why are they unwilling to let him return to his hometown? He is now a fifth-rank official, commanding a thousand soldiers. Wouldn't returning bring honor to his ancestors?

Why wouldn't she allow this to bring glory to the Liu family?

There must be something fishy about this.

Even a fleeting thought crossed Liu Erlang's mind.

This idea is indeed bold, but if not, what would it be?

At this moment, he felt extremely grateful to the Xue family woman. If she hadn't suddenly come to visit, catching his mother off guard and revealing a major flaw, he wouldn't have suspected his mother at all.

Liu Erlang was intelligent and could already guess what had happened. It was nothing more than him losing his memory on the battlefield and being tricked into a substitution.

The reason they wouldn't let him return to his hometown must be because they were afraid his real relatives in Xishui Village would see him.

The Liu family wanted to keep this a secret. In fact, he sensed from his mother's words that she realized he had figured things out, and she was determined to get the Liu family some benefits before he found out the truth.

The next day, the carriage that Liu Erlang had prepared for his aunt departed from the Liu family mansion, and Liu Erlang also got on the horse that had been prepared in advance and headed towards Huating County.

The carriage moved slowly, having set off early in the morning. By the time it arrived at Xishui Village, which was under the jurisdiction of Huating County, from Jiangning Prefecture, it was already noon.

As the carriage entered the village, the villagers all looked on with envy when they saw Aunt Liu sitting outside the carriage.

"Sister-in-law Liu, you are so lucky. Now that your second son has made military achievements and become a commander of a thousand, you are also enjoying the good fortune."

"Yes, yes, if I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have spent money to grease palms for my Sanmao."

"Don't envy them. They risked their lives for that future. On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes; more die than survive. Take the Xue family, for example... both of their sons went to the battlefield, but how many have returned?"

When the Xue family was mentioned, everyone fell silent for a moment.

Aunt Liu, in particular, looked even more uncomfortable.

Some people tried to smooth things over, saying, "Why bring that up? Sister Xue is a lucky woman. It's just that she didn't enjoy her son's blessings, but she did enjoy her daughter-in-law's. I heard that her youngest daughter-in-law is doing very well in Huating County now, and she always has money to spend. Sister Xue is a wealthy woman now, and her life is much better than yours and mine."

Aunt Liu agreed and immediately added, "Yes, yes, Sister-in-law Xue is very fortunate. A while ago, when I passed through Huating County on my way to Jiangning Prefecture, I went to visit her. She's living a very comfortable and carefree life now. Her daughter-in-law has earned quite a bit of money; she makes a lot of money every day."

It was as if saying that the Xue family was doing well would lessen the guilt in her heart.

Immediately, the crowd began to discuss the matter. Some envied the Liu family, while others envied the Xue family.

Then, a voice rang out: "Aunt Liu, when is Brother Erzhuang coming back? He's all high and mighty now, but don't forget the bond we formed when we grew up together."

Aunt Liu avoided the question, saying hastily, "He's so busy these days, he's never idle at home." Then, as if unwilling to continue the conversation, she immediately opened her bundle, grabbed a handful of candy, and said, "I bought this in the city, you should all try some."

In this world, sugar is a rare commodity, and as soon as people saw it, they immediately started scrambling for it.

Liu Erlang, who was hiding in the shadows and observing all of this, revealed a complex light in his deep black eyes.

Aunt Liu's words and actions just now confirmed his suspicions.

But he has no memory of the past at all; occasionally, some scenes might pop into his mind, but they only flash by.

At this moment, he also wanted to know whose son he was in this village.

So, just when everyone was caught off guard, his figure suddenly appeared from the shadows into the light.

The villagers who had been scrambling for candy just moments before were all stunned and stood frozen in place when they saw him.

The world seemed to freeze for a moment, and even Aunt Liu herself was stunned.

After a while, someone suddenly realized what was happening and immediately ran up to "Liu Erlang," exclaiming joyfully, "Second Brother? Aren't you Second Brother Xue? You're not dead!" As they spoke, they reached out and began to pat Xue Yi all over. Then, overjoyed, they shouted, "It's true, it's true, it's really Second Brother Xue! Second Brother Xue is really not dead, he's really alive and well!"

The name "Xue family" has become quite familiar to people lately.

Hearing the young man from the village address him like that, he could pretty much guess who he was.

At this point, all the doubts in his heart were resolved.

It turns out he was the second son of the Xue family.

Xue Yi was deep in thought when he was suddenly attacked from behind. After feeling a burning pain in the back of his neck, Xue Yi lost consciousness.

Before I completely lost consciousness, I heard a cacophony of noises around me.

"How could you hit someone? Brother Xue finally made it home alive. Brother Dazhuang, how could you hit Brother Xue?"

"I... I saw him acting suspiciously just now, I thought he was a thief, how would I know who he was?" The voice was unfamiliar, but Xue Yi could roughly recognize that it was Liu's eldest brother, who was now in his current position. "Don't worry, we will take responsibility for this. My second brother is now a general in Jiangning Prefecture, we will hire the best doctor for him! Don't discuss this anymore, once he is healed, we will send him to Aunt Xue's place."

Xue Yi was still trying to hold on, wanting to listen a little longer. But the pain in the back of his head was too intense, and he couldn't hold on for long before losing consciousness.

But when I woke up, I felt clear-headed.

All at once, a flood of memories rushed into his mind.

Not only did he remember everything from this life, but there were also fragments of memories that didn't belong to this life. He forced himself to calm down, and those memories that didn't belong to this life flooded into his mind even more frantically.

Only then did he belatedly realize that perhaps it was a memory from another world.

In that lifetime, it was also because the old man of the Liu family saw that he had lost his memory that he took him as his son on the battlefield, calling him Liu Erlang (Liu the Second Son). Therefore, all the military achievements he made thereafter were recorded under the name of Liu Erlang.

In that previous life, he did not regain his memories as easily as he does in this one, and had to wait another two years. By the time he finally recovered his memories and rushed back to his hometown, his mother and nephew had already fallen on hard times and were begging on the streets.

Thinking of this, Xue Yi could no longer lie still and immediately sat up.

However, due to the head injury and the sudden absorption of so many memories, his head felt heavy again after he sat up.

Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, he simply didn't have the strength to leave so easily right now.

At that moment, they could faintly hear rustling conversations coming from outside.

"Doctor, how is he? Is he alright?"

"The person is fine, but the head injury might cause memory problems." The old doctor was specially invited by Liu Dazhuang from the city; his medical skills are very high.

At this moment, everyone in the Liu family's house was gathered together. Hearing that it could cause memory confusion, everyone was extremely nervous and afraid.

With his father gone, Liu Dazhuang became the head of the family. He asked, "He already lost his memory before, and now his memories are all messed up... what will happen? Won't he become stupid?"

"It's hard to say," the old doctor said calmly. "His condition might worsen, and he might become mentally impaired. But he might also regain his memory. He'll wake up soon, and you can ask him when he does." With that, the old doctor slung his medicine box over his shoulder. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now." It was getting late, and if he left any later, he'd have to travel through the night.

Liu Dazhuang immediately took out some money and handed it to the old doctor: "This is the consultation fee, and the extra is for your trouble. Take care."

After the old doctor left, the Liu family panicked. Hearing that being beaten like that might cause them to regain their memories, everyone's spirits sank to rock bottom.

"What can we do? What if he really remembers and takes our whole family to court?" Aunt Liu cried. "Old man, you've really lost all your virtue. Your own son is dead, and you've taken on someone else's son. You're too greedy... Now you've left us with this mess, how are we supposed to clean it up?"

Liu Dazhuang's eldest son, Da Niu, was only concerned about his own future: "Can I still find a job in the city's military camp?"

Liu Dazhuang's wife cried and said, "Why don't we admit our mistake? We're all from the same village, and we've watched Xue Erlang grow up. He's also a good friend of our Erlang... If we admit our mistake, he'll remember our past relationship and let us off the hook."

Seeing his mother and wife so panicked, Liu Dazhuang scolded them, "What's the panic? We don't even know what's going on yet. Let's test him a bit when he wakes up."

Liu Dazhuang's wife said, "What's there to test? He just appeared in front of the villagers today, and everyone already knows that Xue Erlang isn't dead. Do you think Aunt Xue was kept in the dark all along? And... Mother, why did he suddenly appear here? If you didn't call him back, then he must have been suspicious all along. Now, whether he's regained his memory or not, he already knows we lied to him. Quickly admit your mistake, at least be sincere, and our family can lessen our guilt. If this continues, then our family will truly be committing a sin."

Liu Dazhuang's wife, Wei, pointed out the key issue, making everyone even more uneasy.

"This wealth and glory that we've finally got, is it really going to just disappear like this?" Liu Dazhuang was unwilling to accept it. His father had planned all of this after risking his life on the battlefield, all so that the Liu family could turn their lives around. Was he really going to give up so easily after encountering a little difficulty?

No, that won't work.

"What do you know, you're just a woman? You're all talk and no action." Then she brought up her eldest son, Da Niu, "Da Niu is about to go to the city to make his fortune. Does he not want his future?"

Da Niu was also very concerned about whether he could go to Jiangning Prefecture and become an official. So, at this moment, he sided with his father and joined him in dealing with his mother: "Mother, are you really my mother? Why can't you stand to see me doing well?" He shouted again, "I want to go to the city! I want to go to the city!"

"Da Niu, that's not what Mom meant, Mom meant..."

"That's enough!" Aunt Liu shouted. "Stop arguing!"

As soon as she spoke, everyone shut up and fell silent.

Liu Dazhuang was blinded by greed at this moment, his eyes were bloodshot and filled with ruthlessness.

“Mother, didn’t you say you wanted to marry my cousin to Erlang? That it would show that you’ve liked Erlang since you were little and that you’ve waited for him all these years. Now that Erlang is back, her waiting and sacrifices have finally paid off.”

Aunt Liu certainly wanted to marry her niece off to the family, but...

"Given the current situation, would he still be willing?"

Liu Dazhuang narrowed his eyes, a ruthless glint in them, and said, "He refuses... he has no choice but to agree!" Then he looked at Aunt Liu and said almost in a commanding tone, "Mother, go and bring my cousin home. Just say... Erlang is back, and you're bringing her to see him. When the two of them are alone in a room, even if they have a hundred mouths, they won't be able to explain it. There's no need to force anything; the marriage will naturally be arranged."

But before Liu Dazhuang could finish speaking, Xue Yi's tall figure appeared at the bedroom door.

His face was dark and sinister as he coldly stared at the Liu family members who were plotting their evil scheme in the main room.

He was a little weak when he first woke up, but now, after resting for a while, he has regained his strength.

Dealing with the Liu family is more than enough.