Chapter 1105: Sober

Little Bear was so angry that he ignored everyone with a straight face. How could everyone hide such a big matter as his father’s injury from him?

Seeing that this child was also mad at him, Qi Xiuyuan hurriedly sent him all the fine items he had confiscated from Great Jin’s palace. He let him choose from those things while hiding from him, afraid that he would be scorched by those flames of fury. He even specially chose a different time to visit Qi Haoran.

Qi Haoran only woke up at night. After drinking some ginseng soup, he continued to sleep. In the wee hours of the morning, he started to feel hot. Mu Yangling was so anxious that she spun around in circles, but she could only lower his temperature physically. His body was very weak now and could not withstand taking any strong medicine at all.

Perhaps because he was strong, his fever gradually subsided not long after the sun came out. Mu Yangling heaved a sigh of relief and wiped his body with a dry towel while changing his undergarments to dry ones.

Qi Haoran was comfortable, but she was so tired that she was drenched in sweat. Little Bear wanted to help at the side, but because he was so clumsy, Mu Yangling could only chase him out and brew the medicine herself.

Little Bear brought in the medicine. Seeing that his mother’s expression was not good, he hurriedly said, “Mother, go and rest first. I’ll look after Father.”

“Since you haven’t slept all night either, you ought to get some rest. I’ll check on your father again.”

Little Bear put down the medicine and pulled his mother up. Then, he sat down on the stool beside the bed and said, “Mother, I can take care of Father. Really. You’re also injured and have tired yourself out for a few days. If you don’t rest soon, you’ll collapse before Daddy recovers.”

In order to show that he was capable of taking care of his father, Little Bear gestured to feed his father medicine on the spot.

When Mu Yangling saw that Qi Haoran had closed his eyes and subconsciously swallowed the medicine and that Little Bear’s movements were still considered gentle, she nodded in agreement. However, she did not leave and fell asleep on the soft couch outside.

When Qi Haoran opened his eyes and woke up, he saw his son leaning against the bed.

When Qi Haoran turned his gaze and did not see Mu Yangling, he was worried and wanted to sit up. The moment he moved, Little Bear woke up. Little Bear hurriedly reached out to support him. “Father, Mother is asleep on the couch outside. You mustn’t move around.”

Only then did Qi Haoran lie down again in relief.

Pouting, Little Bear said, “Why are you all like this? No one asked me.”

Qi Haoran closed his eyes and asked weakly, “What’s wrong?”

Little Bear immediately complained, “Royal Uncle and the others hid the fact that you were injured from me. If you hadn’t been saved, would they have continued to keep it from me?”

“Bullsh*t. If they didn’t manage to resuscitate me, why would they continue to hide it from you? They’d just let you attend my funeral.”

Little Bear looked at him sadly. “Then I wouldn’t even have been able to see you for the last time?”

Qi Haoran really wanted to stuff a pillow into his son’s mouth, but he was devoid of strength now and didn’t have the means to do it. Hence, he could only shout weakly, “Why are you so stupid? Isn’t your Father King fine now? Besides, you’re too stupid. Back when I was your age, no one could hide anything from me in the army. Even if they hid it from you, couldn’t you have discovered it yourself? Besides, if you weren’t immature, would your Royal Uncle and Uncle Fan have hidden it from you because they were worried that you would mess around?”

At this point, Qi Haoran looked very pleased with himself and said proudly, “Back then, even when I was only 12 years old, your Royal Uncle didn’t hide anything from me. Do you know why?”

Little Bear shook his head.

“Because I, your Father King, am reliable. Therefore, you should learn from me and act more steadily. Only then will others have faith in you. That way, when something happens, they naturally won’t hide it from you.”

Upon hearing that his brother had woken up, Qi Xiuyuan, who had rushed over to visit, bumped into Fan Zijin at the door. When they heard this conversation the moment they entered, the two of them could only twitch their lips and lift the curtain to enter.

When Qi Haoran saw the two of them enter, he still felt a little guilty. However, seeing that their expressions did not change, he thought that they did not hear the conversation with Little Bear. He heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly changed the topic.

Qi Xiuyuan found it funny, but he didn’t expose him. He played along and changed the topic. On the other hand, Fan Zijin glanced at Qi Haoran with a faint smile and barely gave him face.

However, Little Bear seemed to have been enlightened. The most direct effect was that he no longer laughed and joked with others. He kept a straight face all day and was just short of writing the words “I’m very steady” on his face.

Mu Yangling did not know what was going on and even asked Qi Haoran curiously, “What’s wrong with Little Bear these two days? It’s as if he won’t smile anymore. I made his favorite braised lion’s head, but he’s still expressionless. Even after finishing a plate, there wasn’t any smile on his face.”

Qi Haoran lowered his head and drank the medicine. How could he dare to tell her that it was because of his words? However, he felt kind of mad about it. All he did was tell Little Bear to be more steady. Did this kid think that being steady simply means to keep a straight face and not laugh and joke around?

Qi Xiuyuan and Fan Zijin, who knew the inside story, were amused. They picked up the tea on the table and took a sip to hide their smiles.

Qi Xiuyuan suppressed his smile and only put down his teacup after a while. “The Yuan army has already retreated to the north of Dading Prefecture. General Mu said that Ogedei has ordered people to set up a defense line there. If we continue to pursue, I’m afraid we’ll go deeper alone. Therefore, I think that in the future, Qi and Yuan will temporarily set the boundary at Dading Prefecture.”

Speaking of serious matters, Qi Haoran raised his head and finished the bitter medicine. He wiped his mouth and said, “Then who should guard the Dading Prefecture? Those stationed there have to face the Yuan Army directly, and there might be endless conflicts between the two sides in the future.”

“I vote for General Yuan. He’s loyal to Great Qi and knows the situation in Great Yuan. I think General Mu should guard Taiyuan Prefecture to guard against West Xia. What do you think?”

Qi Haoran nodded slightly. “It’s just that General Yuan is old. How many more years can he guard? Big Brother also has to appoint the garrison general of Dading Prefecture as soon as possible.”

Qi Xiuyuan nodded to show that he understood. He stood up and said, “I’ll handle these things. Rest well. Since we’re going back next month, you should focus on recovering from your injuries for now.”

Fan Zijin also nodded at him. He had just taken over Great Jin’s finances and still had to count the gold, silver, and jewelry in the coffers. Thus, he was also very busy.

After they left, only the couple were left in the room.

Qi Haoran grabbed Mu Yangling’s hand. He had just woken up four to five days ago, but his wound still hurt badly. During these few days, he had been unconscious for longer than when he was awake. In addition, when he was awake, he had to reapply new medicine and be given acupuncture treatment. Coupled with some miscellaneous matters, he hadn’t had the chance to spend quality time with Mu Yangling.

Qi Haoran pinched Mu Yangling’s hand and asked, “Have you recovered from your injuries?”

“More or less. My injury wasn’t severe, just a scratch from the arrow.”

Qi Haoran rolled up her sleeve and saw that the red wounds were about to heal. Yet, it was enough to make his heart ache.

In the three months of the expedition, Ah Ling had never been injured at all. In the end, when the war was about to end, she got injured.

Feeling guilty, Qi Haoran touched her hand and said in a low voice, “It’s my fault for being too arrogant.”

Mu Yangling shook her head and leaned slightly on his right shoulder. “It’s already very impressive that you could use 3,000 people to go against Ogedei’s 80,000 men. Moreover, not only you, but even Big Brother, Zijin and I didn’t expect Ogedei to set up this trap. However, he’s unlucky to have underestimated your ability.”

Qi Haoran chuckled. “It’s because he failed to include you in his calculations, right? If he knew that I had such a capable Princess Consort by my side, he wouldn’t have wasted so much time talking nonsense with me.”