Chapter 1270: Heartache
Chapter 1270: Heartache
Qi Haoran helplessly removed the two children off him and placed them aside. He said with a straight face, “I have something urgent to talk about with your mother. Can you guys go to the side and play first?”
“No!” Baozhu shouted. “Our matters are also very important. You guys always get carried away while playing and forget about us.”
Little Leopard also rushed up to hug his father aggrievedly. He pouted and said, “I haven’t seen you for so long.”
As he spoke, he gestured a big circle.
Being hugged pitifully by the two children, Qi Haoran could not move for a moment. Having already removed the two children from himself twice, he could not very well do it a third time.
Qi Haoran also looked at Mu Yangling pitifully.
Mu Yangling picked up the two children and stuffed them into his arms, then said with a smile, “Since you’re back, stay with them for a while longer. I’ll get someone to prepare hot water, a bath, and food for you.”
Having said that, Mu Yangling left the three of them behind and quickly left.
Baozhu hugged her father’s neck in satisfaction. After a while, she wrinkled her little nose and sniffed his body, then immediately pushed her father away in disdain and jumped down, calling out, “Daddy, you stink.”
Little Leopard, too, immediately climbed down from his father’s body and sniffed around him. He immediately said in disdain, “Daddy is a big lazy worm. You actually don’t bathe!”
Qi Haoran threatened them with a fierce expression. “Didn’t you want Daddy to carry you? Come, Daddy will carry you!”
The two children immediately screamed and ran away. Qi Haoran chased after them. So after occupying his time, these two brats wanted to abandon him?
Absolutely no way!
For a moment, only the screams and laughter of the two children and Qi Haoran’s strange cries were heard in the garden.
Qi Haoran only stopped when Baozhu and Little Leopard were covered in sweat. He carried the two children and placed them on his shoulders before walking towards the main courtyard.
Seeing the two children sweating profusely, Mu Yangling only glared at Qi Haoran reproachfully. He really needed to be reminded all the time.
Mu Yangling carried the two children down and fed them some warm water before stuffing them into the nannies’ arms. “Hurry up and bring them down to shower and change them into clean clothes.”
The nannies responded and hurriedly carried the two young masters away.
Qi Haoran had already entered the bathroom to take a shower.
Mu Yangling carried his clothes in.
Qi Haoran turned around and glanced at her, then immediately waved his hand and said, “Come and help me scrub my back.”
Mu Yangling sniffed his body and said in disdain, “How many days have you not showered?”
“It’s only been a few days. Three or four days.”
“…” Mu Yangling said faintly, “It’s early autumn now, and the weather is still hot.”
Qi Haoran leaned against the bathtub and let her rub his back. He muttered, “Well, I only rushed back because I heard that you were bullied in the capital? How would I have the time to shower?”
Not long after he received Ah Ling’s letter and the newspaper, he received another urgent letter. It said that Mu Yangling had been called into the palace by the Emperor for questioning, and Ah Ling had quarreled with the courtiers in the Imperial Court.
He knew that even though Mu Yangling was quite eloquent compared to him, she was still far inferior to the civil servants in the court who were good at arguing.
Qi Haoran was so worried that he didn’t sleep the entire night.
At that time, they had just taken down the mountain stronghold and were counting the bandits inside. He had originally planned to leave the matter to his subordinates and return first.
No matter what, he had to go home and support Ah Ling.
Unexpectedly, before he set off, he received a secret decree. The Emperor asked him to interrogate those bandits on the spot and capture everyone connected to them, as well as seize the assets left behind by Qin Fang.
Qi Haoran could only patiently stay on.
Because he was worried about Ah Ling, he had efficiently investigated Qin Fang’s men and assets. Then, he gave detailed instructions to his subordinates. After capturing all of them, he ran back without even interrogating or counting how many there were.
For the past two days, he had not even closed his eyes, let alone taken a shower.
Qi Haoran thought that it was already good enough that he had not taken a shower for only four days. If not for the fact that there was a small waterfall on the mountain where they stayed, he would have to just take a quick rinse at the next stop and would probably smell even worse.
Qi Haoran complained silently. Because he felt comfortable being rubbed, he leaned against the bathtub and fell asleep.
Mu Yangling was explaining to him about what had happened in the Imperial Court, saying that no one had bullied her. Even though someone did bully Little Bear, she had already avenged him. Now that every official in the Imperial Court was in a terrible fix, there was no need for them to pursue the matter.
Realizing that Qi Haoran’s breathing was getting longer and longer, she immediately walked around him from behind and saw that he had fallen asleep in the bathtub. She couldn’t help but sigh softly.
Mu Yangling reached out and smoothed the creases on his brows. With a chuckle, she muttered, “With your reputation, who’d dare to bully me?”
Mu Yangling rolled up her sleeves and gave him a simple wash. Then, she took a large towel and was about to wrap him up when Qi Haoran opened his eyes. He narrowed his eyes and wiped himself with the towel in her hand before leaving the bathtub.
Just as he was about to walk out, Mu Yangling quickly draped a piece of clothing over him and said, “Don’t catch a cold.”
Qi Haoran had already narrowed his eyes and walked around the two screens to enter the inner room. When he found the bed, he lifted the blanket and lay down.
Mu Yangling looked helplessly at her snoring husband and could only cover him with the blanket.
Just as Mu Yangling was looking at Qi Haoran with heartache and peace, Qi Xiuyuan also received the news that his brother had entered the capital.
Qi Xiuyuan’s first thought was that it was over!
His second thought was that tomorrow’s court meeting would probably become even more chaotic. He wondered if he could call in sick tomorrow.
Only after that did it occur to Qi Xiuyuan to pursue the matter. He called the Qi Haoran’s guard captain into the palace and said angrily, “Didn’t I ask you to remove the connections and assets Qin Fang planted in Great Qi? Why did you enter the capital?”
The guard captain immediately replied happily, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the people left behind by Qin Fang have all been captured and all the hidden assets have been found. The prisoners will be escorted back to the capital in a few days, and the assets are being counted and protected by soldiers. They would likely enter the capital in ten days.”
“In that case, why didn’t King Rong wait outside for the assets to be counted before returning to the capital?” Qi Xiuyuan expressed that he wasn’t pleased at all.
The guard captain finally realized that something was wrong with the Emperor. After some hesitation, he flattered him. “The soldiers can handle such trivial matters. King Rong must have been in a hurry to come back because he misses Your Majesty and wants to return to the capital to share your burden.”
Qi Xiuyuan sneered. He really wanted to smash the memorial in his hand, but because it wasn’t appropriate to hit a subordinate, he could only suppress the urge to do so and snort coldly. “I think he misses his wife, right? How useless!”
Seeing that the flattering backfired, the guard captain could only lower his head and kneel obediently, not daring to say anything else.
Qi Xiuyuan rubbed his forehead with a headache and said, “I’ll leave this matter to you. Return to the King’s Residence immediately and don’t allow him to enter the palace. Yes, it’s best to forbid him from leaving his residence. Let him stay at home and play with his wife and children.”