Chapter 575: Family
Qi Haoran had a lot of fresh handkerchiefs thrown at his head and body, making his countenance a little dark. The surrounding young ladies, however, cried out in surprise, thinking that he had become even more handsome.
Qi Haoran’s expression darkened even more. He quietly got the horse to speed up and only heaved a sigh of relief when they entered the Imperial City.
When Qi Haoran brought the assistant commanders into the palace, Qi Xiuyuan received them warmly and expressed his condolences. Then, they exchanged opinions about the situation in the country. It was not until the end of the meeting that Zhang Cheng tentatively asked about the Cui family that Qi Xiuyuan looked at Qi Haoran.
Qi Haoran waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “Although the Cui family’s rebellion is partially verified and we have physical evidence to support that, because of the entanglement of the influences, it’s very difficult to confirm if the verification is correct. In addition, the Cui family head was cooperative, so I plan to give them a chance. We’ll continue to observe the situation. If they really have the intention to rebel, we’ll send troops to surround them then.”
Qi Haoran paused for a moment before continuing, “Big Brother, Great Zhou’s Emperor Shizong once said that the act of hiding more than 50 hidden households is equivalent to rebelling. I think we should follow this law.”
Qi Xiuyuan said with a smile, “Since we haven’t decided upon the state title nor confirmed the new laws, we’ll refer to the ‘Great Zhou Code’ for the time being.”
The ministers below felt a chill in their hearts. Just as they were about to suggest something, Qi Xiuyuan stood up and said, “My brother is back today, so we won’t deal with political matters. All the ministers, go back and reunite with your families. We’ll discuss other matters tomorrow.”
Qi Xiuyuan brought Qi Haoran back to their residence.
Qi Haoran paused at the second door and turned to ask, “Big Brother, aren’t we going to the East Manor?” Qi Haoran was asking if he should pay his respects to Madam Wu. After all, that person was their mother in name.
Qi Xiuyuan glared at him and said, “I’ve never seen you so filial before. Now that you’re in a high position, you care about these things?”
Qi Haoran chuckled and said, “I just don’t want to cause trouble.”
“You don’t have to think about me.” Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes were a little cold. “I’ve never heard of a legitimate son who has to greet his concubine mother when he comes home. Let’s go back to Zhaode Hall.”
Stunned, Qi Haoran immediately shouted, “Big Brother, I haven’t seen Ah Ling and the child yet. I’ll go back to Zhaohua Courtyard to see them first. We’ll talk tonight.”
With that, he ran away.
Qi Xiuyuan gritted his teeth in annoyance and returned to Zhaode Hall.
Mu Yangling was spinning a windmill for her son to see. Her gaze would drift to the door from time to time. When her ears caught the sound of hurried but steady footsteps, Mu Yangling threw away the windmill in her hand and ran to the door like the wind. She lifted the curtain with a whoosh.
Qi Haoran had already raised his hand and was about to lift the curtain. Unexpectedly, the curtain suddenly opened with a swoosh and almost hit his eyes. Lowering his head, he met Mu Yangling’s eyes. He swallowed the words of beratement that were about to come out of his mouth.
He grinned foolishly and held Mu Yangling’s hand. “Ah Ling, I’m back.”
Mu Yangling also beamed as she threw herself into Qi Haoran’s arms.
Qi Haoran also hugged his wife tightly and looked around. Seeing that there was no one around, he tightened his arms around her and couldn’t help but kiss her bun.
Still holding a windmill in his small hand, Little Bear was completely stunned. He looked down at the windmill that his mother had thrown away, then turned to look at his parents who were hugging each other. Then, he was decisively angry.
He threw away the things in his hand and got off the bed. Then, he ran over and kicked Qi Haoran. With his tiny fists clenched, he punched him angrily as he made babyish noises.
Qi Haoran only felt a pain in his knee and could not help but bend it. Frowning slightly, he pushed his wife away to look down at his son. Then, he picked his son up and looked at him. With his head tilted, he asked, “Why is this kid so strong? I’m surprised his punch actually hurts.”
Mu Yangling’s eyebrows twitched. “That’s impossible. Our son wasn’t very energetic when he was playing with me.”
Seeing that she didn’t believe him, Qi Haoran placed his son on the couch and rolled up his pants angrily. He pointed at the bruise on it and said, “Look, your son caused this just a moment ago.”
Being of the size of a small fist, the bruise did look like it had been caused by his son’s punch.
Mu Yangling looked down at her son, who was still fuming, and then at her own hands. She then picked up her son’s wooden horse and broke it in front of her son.
Little Bear stared blankly for two seconds before bursting into tears. Qi Haoran immediately hugged him and complained, “Why did you break his wooden horse for no reason?”
Then, he went to coax him. “My good son, don’t cry. I’ll buy you a new one. A bigger one, okay?”
Little Bear closed its eyes and howled, but Mu Yangling picked up another wooden horse and placed it in his hand. “Son, try breaking this, too.”
Feeling the wooden horse in his hand, Little Bear stopped crying. He opened his eyes to look at his mother.
Mu Yangling encouraged him. “Son, try and see if you can break it.”
Little Bear looked at the wooden horse in his hand and then at the broken pieces in his mother’s hand. Using all his strength, he attempted to break the wooden horse. The first time, the wooden horse did not move at all. Little Bear was stunned for a moment before he clasped his hands and tried to break the wooden horse again.
Qi Haoran was dumbfounded. “Our son inherited your tremendous strength. Why haven’t we realized it before?”
Mu Yangling also frowned. “When I was young, I couldn’t control my strength. My mother said that when I was a few months old, I could already shatter a table with a stretch of my hand. It wasn’t until I was six years old that I gradually mastered my strength. Could it be that Little Bear is the opposite of me and has to subconsciously use his strength to exert such great strength?”
Qi Haoran pondered for a moment before laughing out loud. “As expected of my son. He’s already so powerful since he was born. Hahaha…”
Mu Yangling’s face darkened. “Our son inherited this from me, okay?”
“That’s because I gave birth to him with you.” Qi Haoran hugged his son and was about to kiss him. However, Little Bear didn’t recognize this smelly and dirty person with stubble all over his face, so he pushed his face away in disdain and made “Ah, ah” noises at his mother.
Qi Haoran received a huge blow. “Kid, you actually don’t recognize your father. I gave you so many things…”
Mu Yangling also hurriedly coaxed Little Bear to call Qi Haoran “Daddy”. Little Bear was stunned for a while before he realized that the person in front of him was “Daddy”.
Little Bear didn’t know how to speak yet, but his attitude softened significantly this time. Although he was still unwilling to stay in Qi Haoran’s arms, he was now willing to share his toys with him.
Little Bear stuffed several of his toys to him in a row before he had time to complain to his mother. Holding the windmill in his hand, he pointed at the windmill that had been thrown to the side, all the while loudly making “Ah, ah” noises at Mu Yangling.
Mu Yangling nodded in apology as she picked up the windmill and promised, “Mother knows her mistake. I won’t throw things around again.”
After repeatedly apologizing sincerely, she finally obtained Little Bear’s forgiveness. Little Bear snorted softly and continued to sit on the couch and play with his toys.
Frowning, Qi Haoran said, “Isn’t the child almost one year old? Why can’t he speak yet?”
“Boys start talking late.”
“But Little Treasure could already speak at eight months old.”
“But our son could stand up and walk when he was seven months old.” Mu Yangling said gently, “You can’t compare children. It’s fine as long as they’re happy. Anyway, our son is still young, and boys talk late. It’s no big deal even if he learns to talk after turning one year old. Besides, he’s called me ‘Mother’ before…” Though, it was a one-off occurrence and she hadn’t been able to make him do it again after that.