200 – Come to a Conclusion

When Qin Mian and Lei Tie heard that Lei Ruilin had a wicked idea to teach Chen Bodong a lesson, Qin Ruiqi persuaded him with a sentence: “No need to lower yourself to a bereaved dog’s level”. Therefore, they didn’t intervene in the dialogue between the two brothers.

Snow was still falling – the snowflakes were like dandelions continuously falling but disappeared without a trace once nearing the bonfire.

“Wife, are you hungry?” Lei Tie raised his hand to flick away the snowflakes on his wife’s eyelashes.

“A little bit.”

Lei Tie looked at the four roasted pheasants, tore off one of the drumsticks, and handed it to his wife.

Qin Mian held out the drumstick to Lei Tie’s mouth to let him take a bite before he ate it. Qin Mian nodded approvingly as he chewed, “It’s delicious. It’ll be good if I can drink wine.”

His original plan was to have only the four of them go hunting on a snowy day. When they got any prey, they would deal with it together, drink wine, and have barbecue such as roasted meat, mushrooms, potatoes, fish, and so on – it would certainly be delightful. He didn’t expect that the plan was disrupted by Emperor Xiaohui. There were so many people around that he didn’t feel comfortable at all.

Lei Tie perfectly understood his wife’s thoughts and comforted him, “There’ll be opportunities in the future.”

“En.” Qin Mian chewed the drumstick clean. His man’s craft was great. The bone and meat easily separated, and the meat was tender and fragrant – none got stuck in between the teeth.

“Old Dad.” Upon seeing that his Dad had already eaten, Lei Ruilin came over with an eager look.

Lei Tie tore off two drumsticks and handed them to his two sons.

Eunuch Li came out of Emperor Xiaohui’s tent holding a tray with four bowls of steaming soup in his hands. He looked around and upon seeing Qin Mian and his family, he walked over with a smile on his face.

“State Defender Duke, Lady of the State Defender Duke, Young Heir, and Duke of Anping County; His Majesty asked this servant to bring you soup. This is the soup that the imperial chef has just made. It’s hot. His Majesty exempts all of you from expressing gratitude.”

Lei Tie cupped his hands in obeisance toward Emperor Xiaohui’s tent and said, “Many thanks, Your Majesty, for the reward.”

Qin Mian received the tray.

Lei Ruilin smilingly tore off a drumstick and handed it to Eunuch Li, “Eunuch Li, please eat this. My Old Dad roasted it. It’s delicious.”

Eunuch Li received it with a beaming smile, “Oh, thank you, Duke of Anping County!”

Qin Mian had a taste of the soup. It was delicious and nutritious. He told Lei Tie and his two sons to finish the soup.

Although they deliberately stayed in a secluded place, they still attracted the attention of many ministers, who could not describe their mood with the word “envy” alone.

“That’s what one’s called to live one’s life.”

An old minister uttered those words as he lamented. Many people around him agreed with him.

During the three days of hunting, Qin Mian’s family of four had a very happy time. Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin, as they promised, gave Emperor Xiaohui a share of the prey, which made Emperor Xiaohui laugh a peal of hearty laughter.

Many ministers did not understand why Emperor Xiaohui liked the twin boys so much. In terms of appearance, there were many more lovely children than Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin; in terms of intelligence, there were many smarter children than the young brothers. Or, the reason why Emperor Xiaohui preferred to be close to these two children was just to win over the State Defender Grand General? However, this matter was not so complicated. Emperor Xiaohui just liked Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin get along with him as the ordinary “Uncle”. Only in front of these two children could he be as relaxed as an ordinary person.

After returning from the hunting ground, Qin Mian began to work hard for the New Year. Although there were servants in the household, some New Year’s products still needed to be prepared in person, so that the New Year’s celebration would be more enjoyable. For example, he made various kinds of snacks for his family.

On the morning of the 29th day of the 12th month, Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli arrived in the Capital with their families.

Lei Xiangzhi sent a person to the State Defender Duke Establishment to inform them.

Qin Mian’s family tidied up and took the carriage to Lei Xiangzhi’s house.

Lei Xiangyi’s family included Lei Xiangyi, Qian Shi, their daughter Lei Xinxin, and son Niuniu. Lei Xiangli’s family included Lei Xiangli, Sun Shi, and their son Zhuantou. There were seven people in total and with luggage, they came with three carriages. When Qin Mian’s family arrived, they had neatly tidied up. The main hall was lively.

Lei Xiangzhi and Wei Shi had been guarding against Lei Daqiang saying some words without thinking again.

It was unknown whether Lei Daqiang was enlightened or had other plans, but his attitude toward Qin Mian’s family was unexpectedly normal – neither cold nor warm.

Qin Mian was very relieved.

They had lunch at Lei Xiangzhi’s home. No one caused any unpleasantness.

In the twinkling of an eye, the Lunar New Year ushered in. The Qin Mian family was as busy as before. Qin Mian had many strange ideas. The entertainment programs of the family were very rich and delightful.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the civil and military officials and the mandated ladies entered the palace to pay the New Year’s greeting. Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin got many good gifts.

Starting from the third day, people went to relatives’ and friends’ homes one by one to celebrate the New Year according to the close or distant relationship with the relatives and friends. One could not do without receiving and presenting gifts.

On this third day, the three Lei brothers and their families paid the New Year’s visit to Qin Mian’s home. Qin Mian generously gave all the young people a longevity lock worth 5 taels of silver and a red envelope sealed with 20 taels of silver. It was also considered as compensation for not being able to entertain Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli’s families to have a good time in the Capital.

On the fourth day, Qin Mian and Lei Tie visited Lei Xiangzhi’s home. They didn’t take Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin with them as they worried that something unpleasant would happen.

What happened later made Qin Mian admire his foresight.

As expected, Lei Daqiang couldn’t settle down. It turned out that when Lei Tie became the State Defender Duke, he had always worried about it. When Lei Tie and Qin Mian came back from the battlefield, even Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin both gained titles. In terms of rank and even status, they were higher than Lei Xiangzhi. How could Lei Daqiang be at ease?

At first, everyone sat around the table as they ate, drank, talked, and laughed. The atmosphere was very pleasant. Suddenly, Lei Daqiang demanded Lei Tie and Qin Mian to use their connections to upgrade Lei Xiangzhi’s rank. It was not difficult for Qin Mian and Lei Tie to do it with their status, but how could Lei Xiangzhi not be embarrassed by Lei Daqiang’s words? It was like Lei Xiangzhi couldn’t get promoted if he didn’t find connections. But the fact was, Lei Xiangzhi was a man with real talent and practical ability. Moreover, even if Lei Tie and Qin Mian didn’t take the initiative to find connections for Lei Xiangzhi, the other officials gave him fewer obstacles and more opportunities since he was the younger brother of the State Defender Duke – it was a matter of time before he got promoted.

As soon as Lei Daqiang’s words came out, Lei Xiangzhi’s face turned dreadfully pale. Anger, disgrace, shame, and indignant intricately brewed in his eyes, but he eventually hid them with rationality.

It was the first time Qin Mian saw his face looked so unsightly, which showed that this gentle and refined young man was really angry.

In order to avoid awkwardness and being affected, Qin Mian quickly found an excuse to drag Lei Tie and ran away.

Lei Ruilin, who competed with his Gege on the martial arts field, asked Qin Mian with a puzzled face, “Dad, what are you doing? Why are you lurking and sneaking around like a ghost?”

“Lei Ruilin, is that how to talk to your Dad?” Lei Tie had a wooden face.

Lei Ruilin quickly restrained his expression, clasped his hands in obeisance, and solemnly asked, “Dad, what are you doing? Why do you look like running for your life?”

Qin Mian raised his hand and flicked his son’s forehead, “Stinky boy! Your Dad, I, like walking like that – can’t I?”

Lei Ruilin pitifully covered his forehead, “Can~~”

……

On the fifth day, Qin Wencai paid a visit to the State Defender Duke Establishment and told Qin Mian and Lei Tie the inside story of Qin Mian’s disappearance and the fate of Qin Jian. Qin Jian was still locked up in the Sky Prison¹ – he couldn’t come out in this life. In order to give Qin Mian an account, Qin Wencai crossed out the name of Qin Jian in the family genealogy, namely drove him out of the Qin family.

Qin Wencai asked Qin Mian to acknowledge his ancestry and return to his clan, but Qin Mian declined. It was unknown what Qin Wen thought but he surprisingly didn’t insist on it. He just said that it was alright long as Qin Mian was happy. He left after chatting with Lei Tie for nearly an hour.

Qin Mian asked Lei Tie what they had talked about.

Lei Tie did not hide from him. It was simply Qin Wencai feeling sorry to Qin Mian and telling something about Qin Mian before he was 12 years old. Besides that, he warned Lei Tie that if he was not good to Qin Mian, the Qin family would take Qin Mian away.

It could be seen that Qin Wencai really loved his legitimate son. Qin Mian felt that it was the right choice not to acknowledge the family. At the worst, if the Qin family was in trouble, he and Lei Tie would help them – it could be regarded as repaying the favor of using the original owner’s body.

On the 6th day of the 1st month, the emperor began to write his first work and resumed to hold court. First, he dealt with First Prince Chen Chuang.

The case of the First Prince involved the honor of the imperial family. Hence, when he dealt with it, he only said that the First Prince had committed the crime of treason without mentioning the matter of collusion with the enemy. In the end, Chen Chuang was locked up in the First Prince Establishment and could only live under surveillance day and night, never leaving the house for life.

The second important thing was to discuss how to fight for the best interests of Great Xia in the negotiation with Tuluo. In the 4th month at the latest, when spring came and ice defrosted, Tuluo would send a delegation to Great Xia.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie had made up their mind to resign when the negotiation with Tuluo was settled. Though, it could be difficult.

Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli’s families returned home after spending the Lantern Festival in the Capital. Qin Mian prepared four carriages full of special local products for them. Besides giving them, it was also to give the villagers in the village who had a good relationship with his family.

Surprisingly, Lei Daqiang and Wei Shi also went back to Green Mountain Village with them.

Qin Mian was surprised and asked Lei Xiangli about that. He found out that Lei Xiangzhi and Lei Daqiang had a fight and completely fell out. Lei Xiangzhi made it clear to Lei Daqiang that if he was willing to stay in Green Mountain Village honestly, he would give him 100 taels of silver to support him every year. If Lei Daqiang still wanted to stay in the Capital, he would only give 2 taels of silver a month henceforth. Besides that, he shouldn’t think of getting a copper coin.

Neither of the two options Lei Daqiang wanted to choose. Lei Xiangzhi set up a situation to have Lei Daqiang made a mistake. He was arrested by the patrolling soldiers and thrown into prison.

Only then Lei Daqiang realized that he had already frozen his youngest son’s heart. With Wei Shi’s persuasion on the side, he had to choose the first option.

Wei Shi now regretted marrying Lei Daqiang. It was not a problem for Lei Daqiang to be contented or lazy. The problem was that he was too stupid that he pushed his two most promising sons farther and farther away. If Lei Daqiang knew how to win over his two sons, he would not come to this end.

In Qin Mian’s words, it was precise that a boneheaded teammate could do you more harm than the most formidable opponent.

Less than three days after they left, Lei Daqiang and his party came back in a messy appearance. Unexpectedly, they met robbers on the way. Lei Daqiang was petrified and stupefied. Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli had no other choice and could only send him and Wei Shi with their two children back.

Lei Xiangzhi found a famous doctor to treat Lei Daqiang. He learned that Lei Daqiang was really stupefied. The possibility of recovery in the future was only 50%. Lei Xiangzhi couldn’t convince himself. At that moment, there was no sense of relief. In the past four years in the Capital, he was more tired than the past ten years of staying up late to study hard. Now, he felt liberated.

Wei Shi also seemed to take off a heavy burden. Lei Daqiang’s stupefaction was the best result for her. As long as she maintained the relationship with Lei Xiangzhi and found a chance to mend the relationship with Lei Tie’s family in the future, her son and daughter would have a bright future.

Since then, Lei Daqiang could only live like an overgrown baby and wouldn’t give anyone any more unpleasantries.

Qin Mian didn’t feel a wee of sympathy for him at all. He only lamented with a sentence: “Sure enough, a scourge lasts for thousands of years².”

The End

Not really. There are 20 more chappies. The number of people bookmarked this is the same as the number of chapters if I’m not wrong la.

[collapse] Footnotes