Yu Huan’s eyes were red. With trembling hands, she gently pried open Xiao Chengqi’s blood-covered fingers, carefully picked up the jade pendant stained red with blood, and held it to her heart. Her voice shook.
“This is Azhu’s twin-fish jade pendant! Are you really Azhu’s child? But that year, I saw it with my own eyes. What the palace attendants carried out was clearly a stillborn baby. How could this be?”
Ying Changle froze. He had never seen Mother cry—not even once—and he had certainly never seen her this devastated.
This time he did not need the Gossip System to guess that Azhu was the Northern Di princess Yelü Zhenzhu, and that Mother and Azhu must have been very, very close.
Seeing Mother so heartbroken made him miserable too, and tears streamed down his face.
He flailed as he tried to crawl up and hug Mother, but he was dressed too thickly for winter. Father had even deliberately put him in a full-front padded jacket that morning, seriously hindering his performance. He wobbled without being able to stand and anxiously cried out incoherent little sounds.
The Marquis of Xuanping hurriedly sat on the edge of the bed and steadied his son, soothing him gently. “Ale, don’t be afraid. Your mother only hurts for your Brother Chengqi.”
Ying Changle wrapped his arms around Mother’s neck and used his chubby little hand to wipe her tears while crying in his milky toddler voice.
“Waaah, Mommy-Mother, d-don’t cry-cry. Brother will be okay…”
He was already over three, so he could say simple things, but he was still a small child. His vocal cords, tongue, and mouth were not yet fully developed, so his pronunciation remained inaccurate, and he could hardly speak without repeating syllables.
Yu Huan pulled her youngest son into her arms and choked out, “Mother is fine. Ale, don’t cry. It’s all Mother’s fault for frightening our Changle…”
She was terrified in retrospect. Without Changle’s inner voice, this child would certainly have died today. How would she ever have had the face to meet Azhu again?
Without Azhu, she herself would have died long ago.
Back then, Great Ning and Northern Di had joined forces against the Xiongnu, yet they had still been defeated. To preserve its strength, Northern Di had refused to send more troops.
To save her, Azhu had personally led a unit of fewer than a hundred men to pursue the main Xiongnu army, forcing Northern Di to send reinforcements. Even though those reinforcements had arrived in time, Azhu had already been gravely wounded and was hanging by a thread.
Ying Changle’s tears had not even dried when he looked up and saw that none of Mother’s previous grief remained visible on her face. Her gaze had become extraordinarily resolute and cold.
As expected, people who fought wars had first-class emotional control!
Before long, a rapid series of footsteps sounded outside. A maid lifted the curtain, and the imperial physicians filed in, forming a row as they greeted them. “Greetings to the Marquis of Xuanping and the Grand General Who Pacifies the Far Regions.”
Although Yu Huan was the descendant of a convicted minister, the Emperor had made an exception because of her outstanding military achievements and conferred on her the title Grand General Who Pacifies the Far Regions.
The Marquis of Xuanping hurriedly said, “No need for ceremony, no need. Please, gentlemen, treat my beloved son at once.”
Yu Huan said sternly, “Ale, let Father take you to the adjoining room to play.”
Ying Changle refused. He clung tightly to Mother’s neck and mumbled, “No, no. I wan’ Mommy-Mother.”
Yu Huan could only set her youngest son to one side and softly instruct him, “Brother is badly hurt. No matter what you see in a moment, you are not allowed to move around, cry, or make trouble.”
Ying Changle immediately nodded like a chicken pecking grain.
The imperial physicians could not remove the clothes and trousers that blood had stuck firmly to the wounds, so they had no choice but to cut everything away and carefully clean and disinfect the injuries with medicinal wine.
Ying Changle had prepared himself mentally, but seeing so many wounds from such close range still made his eyes widen in fright.
The boy’s back was covered in whip marks, some deep and some shallow. The deepest exposed bone; even the shallowest had split skin and bled. Beneath those fresh wounds were older whip scars. New injuries overlapped old ones, horrifying to behold!
His legs, chest, and abdomen were likewise covered in scars—from knives and swords, branding irons, clubs… Even both feet were full of chilblains.
Ying Changle could not imagine how a child could endure so much inhuman torture!
[Waaah, heavens! If I were beaten into this condition, I’d rather someone just kill me with one slash and get it over with. Oh God, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss.]
The imperial physicians concentrated on treating the wounds, but they still couldn’t help glancing at Ying Changle. So the rumors really were true. It was genuinely miraculous.
Tears flickered in Yu Huan’s eyes, but her face immediately became expressionless again. She merely gripped Xiao Chengqi’s hands even tighter.
When the imperial physician used a needle to stitch the deeper wounds, the pain fully woke Xiao Chengqi. Even then, he clenched his teeth and did not make a sound.
[Oh my God, h-he’s awake! He can endure this without screaming? That’s incredible! If it were me, I’d scream uglier than a slaughtered pig and probably lift the roof off! No—if it were me, I’d choose to ascend to heaven on the spot!]
Watching wounds like these treated from so close was an enormous visual shock. Ying Changle spent the entire time baring his teeth and clenching his little fists as if the pain were happening to him.
The Marquis of Xuanping, however, knew that this child had awakened long ago. The boy had undoubtedly heard everything they said earlier.
Xiao Chengqi had received death-sworn guard training since childhood, and the first thing a death-sworn guard learned was how to wake quickly from unconsciousness.
Once the imperial physicians had finished treating his injuries, they left behind a pile of medicines and explained how each should be used.
Before leaving, they also said there was no need to worry. The child had practiced martial arts for years and had a stronger constitution than ordinary people. These were all external wounds and posed no serious danger; a month of quiet recuperation would see him healed. Only after saying such things did they finally withdraw.
Ying Changle relaxed after hearing that. His adopted brother was now Mother’s precious treasure. Only when he recovered would Mother be happy.
As soon as the imperial physicians left, Yu Huan gently stroked Xiao Chengqi’s forehead and said through tears,
“Child, don’t be afraid. Your mother and I have been close friends for many years. From now on, I will be your mother too. You suffered far too much before. Mother will make it up to you little by little.”
Xiao Chengqi merely stared at the jade pendant in Yu Huan’s hand and said weakly, “Give… give it back.”
With trembling hands, Yu Huan put the jade pendant back around his neck, then accepted the warm sugar water the Marquis of Xuanping handed over and patiently fed him little by little.
He had sweated too much while his wounds were treated and had long been desperately thirsty; his lips were dry and peeling. After drinking the sugar water, he looked much more alert.
Ying Changle lay to one side watching while checking the Gossip System to see exactly how close Mother and the Northern Di princess had been.
[Lemme see. Aunt Zhenzhu saved Mother three times, and Mother saved Aunt Zhenzhu twice! This relationship is closer than real sisters!]
Marquis of Xuanping: Brat, don’t help your mother reminisce about the past right now. Has your father not suffered enough today?
[Oh my God, what am I seeing!!! Hahahahahaha, Aunt Zhenzhu is so passionate and uninhibited! As expected of the Wolf King of the grasslands! Aaaaah, no, no, no, you two actually even… Is this something I’m allowed to see??]
The Marquis of Xuanping unconsciously pricked up his ears and almost held his breath as he listened.
Xiao Chengqi became so absorbed in listening that even the wounds on his body seemed to stop hurting.
Marquis of Xuanping: Brat, hurry up and say it! Are you trying to kill your father with suspense?!
Yu Huan: …I have a bad feeling about this.
[At first Aunt Zhenzhu didn’t know Mother was a female general and pursued her like crazy… Ah, this is exciting. Do you grassland people only know how to go straight for the target? When you court someone, you just invite them to soak in a hot spring?!
Hahahahahaha, she only discovered the person she liked was a female general while soaking in the hot spring. She was even more heartbroken than ordinary people after a breakup. Hahaha, Aunt Zhenzhu is so cute.]
The Marquis of Xuanping looked at Yu Huan: …Wait, why did I never know there was a whole story between you and her?! I knew something was off. Back then, the way she looked at you was wrong!
Yu Huan glared at him: You’ll get jealous over anything. How many years ago was that? Give it a rest. Besides, you beat the child into this state today. I haven’t even settled that score with you yet.
[After Aunt Zhenzhu discovered Mother was a female general, she was miserable for months. Then she actually confessed anyway, but Mother rejected her without mercy… Ah, why does this gossip just keep getting juicier—Innocent Princess, Burning Passion: Where Can the Masked Female General Run?!]
Yu Huan instinctively covered Ying Changle’s mouth and said awkwardly, “Ale, it’s time for your afternoon nap. Let Father take you to sleep.”
Ying Changle immediately became unhappy and pouted. “No sleep. No sleep!”
The Marquis of Xuanping had not heard nearly enough yet, so he said nothing.
Xiao Chengqi stared at Ying Changle without blinking, his gaze extraordinarily complicated.
Just then, a maid announced from outside, “Lord Ling, the palace eunuch, has arrived and is waiting in the front hall.”
However much the Marquis of Xuanping wanted to know the rest, he did not dare neglect the Chief Eunuch at the Emperor’s side and quickly strode out.
Yu Huan did not leave immediately. She first carried both children to the heated couch at one side and had the maids replace the bedding soaked with blood and medicinal liquid, then burn incense.
Afterward, she carried both children back to the large bed and summoned two senior personal maids to watch them carefully.
“Ale, Brother is in a lot of pain. You are not allowed to be naughty, make noise, or touch him. Just play beside Brother. Get along properly and don’t be willful or troublesome…”
After instructing her youngest son, Yu Huan comforted Xiao Chengqi for quite some time before finally going out.
Seeing the other boy lying on his stomach, Ying Changle rolled over and lay on his stomach too, though he still did not quite dare meet the other’s eyes.
This adopted brother was very handsome, but his gaze was especially frightening.
To make Mother happy, Ying Changle decided he would still build a good relationship with his adopted brother!
Summoning his courage, he slowly wriggled closer and whispered, “Brother, blow-blow. Blow-blow makes it not hurt.”
Xiao Chengqi merely glanced at him.
[Waaah, why so fierce? Father is very, very bad and beat you into this state, but it wasn’t me who hit you. Fine, if I were you, I’d hate the son of the person who beat me too.]
Xiao Chengqi: …
He had no interest in frightening a child and did not know why Ying Changle thought he looked fierce.
In the outer hall, the Marquis of Xuanping had just seen off the Chief Eunuch. He no longer had the attention to question Yu Huan about Yelü Zhenzhu and said worriedly,
“Ah Huan, His Majesty made me bring that child home because he wanted me to kill him. I made a great show of summoning half the Imperial Medical Bureau to treat his wounds because I wanted to test how long His Majesty could tolerate him remaining alive. From what happened now, His Majesty truly cannot tolerate his existence.”
Yu Huan sneered. “Exactly. The imperial physicians leave with one foot and a palace eunuch arrives with the next! I’ll enter the palace with you. If we still can’t protect that child, I’ll throw my head onto the Emperor’s jade desk!”
The Marquis of Xuanping hurriedly soothed her. “Ah Huan, don’t be rash. If anyone throws a head down, it’ll be mine. There will always be a way.”
Yu Huan said, “Let’s enter the palace first.”
The Marquis of Xuanping took a deep breath. “His Majesty specifically instructed us to bring Ale along for the audience as well.”
Just then, Ying Changle’s Gossip System popped up an alert for major gossip.
He had been worrying because he didn’t dare play with his fierce adopted brother, so he hurried to look.
[What an explosive title—Dancing on a Grave Is Nothing Compared to Partying in the Funeral Hall! Additional content loading…
Only that kind of gossip takes this long to load. Doing what in a funeral hall? That’s way too—! Whose gossip is this? Stupid System, hurry up! I’m so impatient I’m like a badger jumping all over a melon field!
