Chapter 91

When Xie Yuan entered the main room, the stern expression on Xie's grandfather's face had disappeared, and he now looked kind and gentle.

He first greeted Yong Ge warmly and then inquired about the details of today's events from Xie Yuan.

After learning from Xie Yuan that General Wei's troops had a powerful weapon provided by Cheng Duo, and that the uprising today was successful and relatively smooth, all of Xie's grandfather's complaints about Xie Yuan's recklessness vanished. He kept praising him for his boldness, attentiveness, and decisiveness. He truly deserved to be the heir of the Xie family.

Xie's father: "…"

Just now, you, old man, didn't show this attitude. It turns out you were on his side when he was being glared at?

In fact, Xie's grandfather, who had started from scratch in his early years, definitely had a keen eye for judging whether something was worth investing in. However, not knowing the details and being caught off guard by Xie Yuan and his son, he got angry, which could be understood.

On the other hand, Xie's father trusted Xie Yuan and allowed him to act boldly. This courage and love for his son were far beyond what Xie's grandfather and others could match.

Shen Anyue came out later and didn't see Xie Yuan being slapped, but he noticed that his husband's left cheek was slightly red, and there seemed to be finger marks on it. He guessed what had happened but didn't deliberately ask, so as not to embarrass Xie Yuan. Instead, he turned and went to the kitchen to ask Quan to boil some more eggs.

While Xie's grandfather was speaking, the other members of the Xie family stood awkwardly on the side. Although they didn't openly accuse Xie Yuan like Xie's mother and two aunts did, they had made many sarcastic complaints before Xie Yuan came back.

Originally, as the head of the family, Xie's father, they, as the branches or side branches, felt that they received less from the family. Now, Xie Yuan had risked their shared interests in his reckless actions, and they could hardly be happy about it.

Now that Xie's grandfather had changed his attitude, some with thicker skins immediately began to flatter Xie Yuan, especially Yong Ge. After all, if General Wei's troops really occupied the West Ridge Garrison, he would be the only son of the actual ruler of the West Capital. If they established a good relationship with him, they wouldn't have to worry about offending anyone when opening shops for business in the future.

Of course, there were a few who thought that the Wei family was committing treason, and even if they succeeded, the court would eventually deal with them.

But no one dared to express their dissatisfaction openly, only feeling that Xie's grandfather had become muddled. In order not to be implicated by the main family, they had already decided to move the entire family away after the situation calmed down a bit to avoid trouble.

Regardless of what they thought, Yong Ge received unprecedented preferential treatment in the Xie family. Because he got along well with Anyue, even the critical Xie's mother dared not trouble him. Instead, she became polite whenever they met, searching for topics to talk about.

After Xie's mother left, a self-mocking smile appeared on Anyue's face, "When I first moved here, I was afraid that living in the same courtyard would be difficult. I didn't expect that now, with the light of Yong Ge, the situation would actually be reversed…"

If it were another time, Xie's mother would only criticize him and try to sow discord between them, rather than giving him hints and speaking so nicely.

Yong Ge asked in a low voice, "Has Young Master Xie not reconciled with Madam Xie yet?"

Even an outsider like him could tell that the relationship between Xie Yuan and Xie's mother was extremely tense, and it was probably not just because of that slap; there might have been accumulated conflicts from the past. Xie Yuan often came home late, and the time he spent with his mother was already limited. Since Xie's mother was unwilling to admit her mistakes, Xie Yuan probably felt indifferent towards her.

Shen Anyue shook his head, "It's unlikely. My husband also doesn't want me to meddle too much."

In reality, even if Xie Yuan wanted to, he wouldn't try to improve his relationship with his mother. After all, it was his husband who had been wronged, and he didn't have the standing to forgive her on his behalf.

Moreover, Xie's mother was used to being arbitrary and had acted as such for a long time. Unless she gave birth to her husband's children as the legal wife, they would never be able to reach a consensus.

But Shen Anyue couldn't tell Yong Ge the truth, especially since Yong Ge and Cheng Duo had been married for three or four months, and there was still no news of a child. If he said such things, it would only make Yong Ge more anxious.

Yong Ge had been staying in the Xie family for over a month, and fortunately, the news from the outside had always been positive. First, the Wei family's troops quickly stormed the West Ridge Garrison, thanks to Cheng Duo's mighty generalship and the awe-inspiring sight of the heads of He Kuntai and Yuan Kui. They soon gained control of the situation.

Later, Wei Zhenyuan sent people to discover He Kuntai and Yuan Kui's secret stash of funds. He distributed the arrears of wages and allowances to the soldiers. The soldiers were overjoyed and didn't care who the appointed general of the court was. They fought for whoever paid them. Besides, He Kuntai clearly had so much money in his hands but still withheld their rations and military equipment. The lower-ranked soldiers resented him deeply and couldn't care less about any good deeds he might have done.

As for the surviving generals, in these times, anyone who dared to go to the battlefield risked their lives. General Wei had money and people, and when he exposed He Kuntai's collusion with the Rong people, any man with a bit of integrity would become indignant and turn against He Kuntai.

As for why it took so long, it was because, in addition to the main camp, many border outposts had been established, and it took time to subdue those people.

Fortunately, the transfer of power this time happened quickly, and most of those who died were He Kuntai's confidants. After Wei Zhenyuan took over, he promoted the deserving and used the competent. By the time the Rong people received the news, the best time to attack had already passed.

However, the Rong people were not so easily discouraged. According to reports from spies from Daxia, the leaders of the three largest tribes of the Rong people—Yu Hun, Wa Tan, and Bai Rong—had received the news and perhaps saw an opportunity for gain. They were constantly exchanging messages, seemingly planning to form an alliance and invade the south.

Fortunately, at this time, Meng Ji and Wei Li had already created the stone tablet heavenly script in accordance with Cheng Duo's plan at Hong'en Temple. Rumors spread throughout the capital, and spies from various fiefdoms also cooperated to create chaos. Empress Dowager Fu was at her wit's end, and even though she learned about the rebellion in the northwest, she couldn't spare any effort to do anything.

Due to the delayed transmission of information, Empress Dowager Fu still expected He Kuntai to suppress the rebellion and even lead the army back to the capital if necessary.

When she heard about He Kuntai's death and the change of power in the northwest army, it was too late. Various feudal lords and county officials successively issued declarations to attack the Empress Dowager directly, and the already decayed and collapsing Daxia was truly in chaos…

Originally, Cheng Duo had planned to help his cheap father-in-law seize military power and then live his own peaceful life. However, now that the Rong army was about to invade, he suggested leaving. But not only Wei Zhenyuan, even Wei Ling and all the other generals disagreed.

Cheng Duo also knew that this battle against the Rong army was of utmost importance. Whether he and Yong Ge could live peaceful lives depended on whether they could drive the Rong army back to their homeland.

After more than forty days of waiting, Yong Ge was nearly turning into a stone pillar of hope. When he heard Young Master Xie say that Cheng Duo had come to pick him up, he rushed to the front yard like the wind.

"Brother Cheng!" Yong Ge didn't pay attention to others and threw himself onto Cheng Duo.

Cheng Duo hugged him naturally, feeling the familiar weight in his arms, and much of the killing intent in his heart instantly dissipated.

"Yong Ge." Cheng Duo hooked his lips and wanted to lower his head to kiss him. However, he caught sight of the awkward expressions on the faces of the Xie family members in the yard. In the end, he only patted Yong Ge's back gently and cooed softly, "Be good, so many people are watching, come down first."

Only then did Yong Ge realize that everyone from the Xie family, including his little friend, Shen Anyue, was standing in the yard. Their eyes met, and Shen Anyue clenched his fist and cleared his throat, clearly trying to hold back a laugh.

Yong Ge's ears turned red, and belatedly, he disentangled himself from Cheng Duo's embrace. After living with the Xie family for so long and becoming familiar with each other, he suddenly acted this way, and he didn't know how he could face them in the future!

He glanced at Xie Yuan with a reproachful look: Why didn't you tell me earlier!

Xie Yuan rubbed his nose: You didn't give me a chance to say anything! You ran away like a gust of wind as soon as you heard your husband was here, he didn't even have time to react.

The Xie family smiled friendly at them, not feeling that Yong Ge had lost face. On the contrary, they thought he was quite brave.

Can we say that it's truly fitting for a general's child?

This husband of his looked so tall and formidable, his eyes cold and fierce, as if he had just come down from the battlefield, his killing intent had not yet completely dispersed, and Yong Ge disregarded everything and just threw himself at him.

The Xie family looked at Cheng Duo with a sense of awe and then at the dusty soldiers behind him. They thought that Xie Yuan had said Yong Ge's husband was just a hunter, but this man looked more like a general fresh off the battlefield!

In fact, even Xie Yuan felt that Cheng Duo had changed a lot. Although he used to be fierce, he never had such a strong killing aura.

"Uh, Brother Cheng…" Xie Yuan called out hesitantly.

Cheng Duo looked at him, "Xidu has already stabilized, you can go back home now. I have something to do recently, so I'll leave the hotpot restaurant to you."

If the first sentence was just a simple notification, the second sentence completely reassured Xie Yuan, "Brother Cheng, rest assured!"

Cheng Duo glanced at the hesitant Xie family members and pulled him aside, "The border will soon go to war. If you trust me, why don't you send your family to Yang Village?"

Xie Yuan hesitated for a moment and didn't immediately agree. Instead, he said he wanted to discuss it with Shen Anyue and his father-in-law's family.

Cheng Duo didn't force him and bid farewell to Yong Ge.

On the way back to the village, the two rode together on a horse, and Yong Ge sat in Cheng Duo's arms, asking him, "Brother Cheng, you don't want me to follow you to the army, right?"

Cheng Duo fell silent for a moment and whispered, "Hmm, going to war is too dangerous, and I can't guarantee that I can protect you."

He hoped that Yong Ge would grow, but not in this way.

Between the two of them, it seemed like Yong Ge relied on him, but in reality, it was he who needed Yong Ge. Yong Ge was the most important person in his heart, and if he lost him, Cheng Duo didn't know how he would go on living.

Yong Ge didn't say anything, and Cheng Duo slowly tightened his arms around him, then lowered his head to nuzzle Yong Ge's neck, saying softly, "Yong Ge, I'm sorry, it's only this one time. I promise I won't stop you from doing anything you want in the future. Don't be mad at me, okay?"

Yong Ge turned his head to lift Cheng Duo's head, trying hard to smile, "Brother Cheng, you don't need to apologize to me, and I'm not mad. I just feel a little uncomfortable thinking about being separated from you."

"But I'll listen to you. I'll study and learn in Yang Village, and manage our brick kiln. Then, I'll wait for you to come back."

"By the way, I want to learn some martial arts. Can you find someone to teach me?"

Before his words finished, Cheng Duo had already lowered his head and kissed his lips. "Thank you, Yong Ge."

There were three more words he didn't say out loud. With a warm breath, they gently fell between Yong Ge's lips.

Yong Ge's eyes suddenly lit up brightly, "I feel the same! Mm… I love you the most, Brother Cheng…"