As usual, the lady prepared a lot of gifts and stuffed them directly into his luggage, which Chu Qing only discovered on the way back.
Xiaxia was still practicing horse stance in the yard that day because he had suddenly fallen while practicing martial arts that morning and hadn't stopped since.
She would occasionally glance at her father with pitiful eyes, hoping that he would soften his heart a little.
It was only because of Xiaxia that they dared to occasionally slack off. Da Niu and Er Hu were always afraid of this hunter. Even though the tasks the hunter assigned them were always difficult, they would still grit their teeth and persevere.
Ignoring a friend's enthusiastic invitation to slack off together, they then saw the friend who was slacking off being caught and punished after completing the task.
When Xiaxia saw her father appear at the gate of the courtyard, she ignored the fact that her father had not yet finished punishing her and ran towards him, bursting into tears as soon as she opened her mouth.
"Father, now that you're back, please don't leave again, okay? I suspect I'm not your child. Please take me to find my real father."
He was sniffling as he spoke, and the little guy looked extremely pitiful and aggrieved, but unfortunately, what he said wasn't very pleasant to hear.
Chu Qing reached out and hugged him, coaxing him skillfully. Before she could even speak, she saw a tall man standing at the gate of the courtyard, coldly glancing at the little guy in her arms.
Xiaxia was completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation, her little mouth kept chattering and complaining.
She was afraid that she might not say enough and that her father wouldn't love her enough.
He only noticed out of the corner of his eye that his father's face was somewhat dark as he stood there, and his body instantly stiffened.
Chapter 121
Before anyone could react, Xiaxia, with her strong will to survive, huffed and puffed as she ran back, stood on the stake where she had been punished, and continued practicing with her eyes half-closed.
If it weren't for the fact that Chu Qing had just returned and that he still had some things he wanted to ask, this little guy would definitely have received an even more severe punishment today.
When Xiaxia saw his father being taken away by his father, he breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, his father was there, otherwise his bottom would definitely be in big trouble today.
Da Niu and Er Hu noticed that their friend seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other and then shook their heads helplessly.
This is only temporary. After Mr. and Xiaxia's father finished talking about that matter, they will still come back to deal with him.
Xia Xia was probably frightened by what had just happened, so even though he had been standing for so long before being punished, he would have already started slacking off under normal circumstances.
My posture remained perfectly correct throughout the day, and I didn't climb down from there until lunchtime.
Because Chu Qing had been gone for so long, even though he had been living quite well at the lady's house in the prefectural city, Wei Yutang still felt that he had been wronged outside, so he had the housekeeper prepare a very lavish lunch for him.
After Xiaxia finished eating and drinking, she wanted to get closer to her father, but she saw his warning look and shrank back, feeling a little unhappy.
This is clearly his father. They haven't seen each other for so long, and he just wanted to get close to his father, but his father wasn't happy. It's simply too much.
Since his father was now his teacher, the little guy had to force himself to suppress his anger, even though he was very unhappy. He angrily took his two friends to play nearby.
After the child left, Wei Yutang closed the door and briefly explained why he didn't want Xiaxia to stay: he had some things related to Xiaxia that he wanted to discuss with Chu Qing.
He had no intention of returning to the capital, which is why he felt that his former identity was not important at all.
But now that they have plans to go back, they certainly can't keep this from Chu Qing forever.
“The situation in the capital was complicated at the time, and there was a group of people who supported my usurpation of the throne, which is why I left the capital in a hurry and came here.”
Before this, Chu Qing had vaguely guessed that his identity must be extraordinary.
No matter how much he guessed, he never imagined that the person sharing his bed was actually the Great General who was known to almost everyone in the entire dynasty.
Seeing that Chu Qing didn't answer him, Wei Yutang panicked a little, fearing that he was angry because of his previous concealment, so he hurriedly explained:
“At the time, I did think I would never return to the capital, so I felt there was no need to tell you this. It wasn’t that I was deliberately hiding it from you.”
"It's alright. I was just thinking about you. Are you telling me this because you're planning to go back?"
Having concealed the previous matter from Chu Qing, Wei Yutang was now unwilling to deceive him in any way, so he nodded slightly.
Now that His Majesty has basically taken firm control of the entire court, there is no problem in returning now.
Unlike before, when some people even hoped that he could make His Majesty a puppet emperor for life, now that he has gone back, he might be able to help His Majesty accomplish some things.
Chu Qing had thought they would stay in this small mountain village for the rest of their lives, but she never expected to have to go to the capital. Sitting there, she felt somewhat complicated.
Wei Yutang. Looking at his current appearance, one might think he was unwilling to go to the capital with him. He reached out and put his arm around Chu Qing's shoulder, letting Chu Qing lean against him.
He is indeed taciturn and not good at speaking, and he doesn't know how to communicate with people in a proper way.
But internally, he reserved all the patience he had in his life for Chu Qing, fearing that if he didn't say enough, Chu Qing would misunderstand his meaning.
“If you don’t want to go, we can stay here. After all, His Majesty has already taken control of the court and doesn’t need me to be by his side all the time.”
Wei Yutang admitted that he was a little selfish in this matter. Even though he had raised the young emperor to his current state, Chu Qing and Xia Xia were still the most important people in his heart.
If it were to wrong myself for His Majesty's sake, and have my two closest loved ones suffer along with me, then it would truly not be worth it.
His Majesty will have many loyal ministers who are devoted to him, but Chu Qing and Xia Xia only have him as their partner.
Based on the way this person had acted in front of him before, Chu Qing had no doubt that as long as he nodded in agreement, the person would definitely agree not to go to the capital.
"It's not that I don't want to go, it's just that the news came as a surprise to me."
"We've been here for so long, and I'm a little reluctant to leave now."
His words were tantamount to agreeing to go to the capital with him, but Wei Yutang seriously considered Chu Qing's casual remark.
The old woman who cooks in their house is a slave. Her status was bought back by Wei Yutang. If they go to the capital, he plans to leave her behind to manage this small courtyard.
If they have the opportunity to return to this place in the future, it would be most appropriate for them to continue living in this courtyard.
Not only was Chu Qing reluctant to part with it, but Wei Yutang also felt a special connection to this courtyard, as if it were their home together.
"If we want to come back in the future, this courtyard will still be taken care of, and we can continue to live like this."
Wei Yutang was exactly the same as before. After arranging everything properly, he just waited for Chu Qing to nod in agreement.
When should we leave?
Now that they have just settled down here, Chu Qing is really reluctant to leave, so he hopes to have a definite time so that he can prepare in advance.
The reason Wei Yutang chose to tell him this news today was that he didn't want to hide his identity from him for too long, because he would be unhappy when Wei found out later.
"We won't be able to leave for a while longer, at least until Xiaxia's two friends are a bit older."
Even if they were from the same village, Da Niu and Er Hu were too young, and their parents couldn't feel at ease letting these two children go to the capital with them.
Wei Yutang's initial only wish was to find Xiaxia a partner to grow with.
It's quite a coincidence that, although these two children's talent in martial arts is not as good as Xiaxia's, they are still considered quite outstanding among ordinary people.
If they are properly nurtured, they could very well become Xiaxia's right-hand men when they grow up.
Wei Yutang was very clear that if he could have such a childhood friend as his son on the path he had planned for his son's future, it would definitely be twice as effective with half the effort.
If one were to actually have to go to the battlefield someday, the trust and loyalty of childhood friends like these would be their greatest guarantee.
"I thought you were leaving soon. Does this mean it will be a long time before you leave?"
Chu Qing asked the question with an unusually light tone. If he were to wait until the future to leave, he would feel no emotion at all.
He had originally planned to take Xiaxia to see the outside world when he was a little older.
The man's current arrangement perfectly aligns with his own thoughts, and they share the same goal.
"There are still many things that haven't been completely arranged yet, and it will take some more time."
"I still have quite a few patients I haven't finished seeing, and I was wondering who I should entrust them to, but now that you've said that, I feel relieved."
Chu Qing was genuinely happy. However, things didn't go as he had expected, and he had ample time to prepare and slowly say goodbye to this place.
Seeing his happy expression, Wei Yutang reached out and rubbed his temples with a hint of helplessness, then reminded him:
“For something this big, I definitely need to discuss it with you before making a decision. Even if we agree on something, we can’t do it immediately, so there’s no need to worry about that.”
They stayed in this place for another three years. Spring came and autumn went, and more and more people lived in the courtyard.
When Wei Yutang's former subordinates heard that the general had settled here, they all rushed over to see for themselves. They found the place to be quite nice and decided to stay there as well.
They were all comrades-in-arms who had fought side by side. No one expected that they would reunite in this way after leaving the border.
Chu Qing's medical skills improved very quickly. At first, the villagers were not very willing to accept that he would treat people.
Later on, even the nobles of the prefecture would personally come to inquire about his condition.
This made the villagers realize that Chu Qing was no longer the pitiful little girl who knew nothing.
For Chu Qing herself, nothing had changed.
He knew very well that his success today was entirely due to the companionship of those around him, and he also knew that their praise and those empty titles were nothing but illusions.
To his surprise, just as they were packing up to leave, the original owner's older brother came to their house again, his expression arrogant, and he spoke in a commanding tone:
"How could an ordinary hunter like you be worthy of my brother?"
"Back then, I blamed my older brother for not being capable enough, but things are different now. Little brother, come with me."
Chapter 122
Brother Chu only recently learned that his younger brother, whom he had never thought much of before, had somehow acquired such remarkable medical skills.
He was lazy and unwilling to do many things around the house. His wife only cared about the children and didn't want to look at him anymore.
Brother Chu was too lazy to reflect on whether he had done something wrong. He still thought that his wife was just throwing a tantrum because of what had happened before, and that all he needed to do was send his sister away.
But for some reason, his sister seemed a bit strange to him. As his desire to send her away grew stronger, many strange things happened to her, making Brother Chu's heart tremble.
His wife doesn't seem to care much about his sister anymore; in most cases, she completely ignores her.
His wife ignored him, his children were not close to him, and his only sister was usually quiet and reserved, occasionally glancing at him with resentment, as if she were looking at an enemy.
Brother Chu isn't her parents, and he doesn't want to spoil her forever. Occasionally, when he's unhappy, he'll complain about her, thinking that if it weren't for her existence, her parents wouldn't have left, and now this burden is staying in his home.
Sometimes when he drank too much, he would take his anger out on this younger sister, beating her so badly that her arms were covered in scars.
Some people in the village disapproved of his behavior and tried to offer some advice, but each time they were told not to meddle.
After all, it wasn't Yu Xi's own business, so as time went on, others just stopped caring.
On the contrary, Brother Chu's wife, after initially loathing her younger sister to the extreme, felt sorry for her and would occasionally take care of her to keep her from going out of business.
Because of his family environment, Brother Chu gradually developed a somewhat stubborn personality and was not very willing to see other people's families doing well.