Chapter 47 The Stinky Qi An
Lin Changning looked at his uncle who kept sighing and comforted him: "Uncle, there's nothing wrong with being a military household. Look at me now, I have enough to eat and wear, and I'm even a minor official. It's better than being coveted by people every day at home."
Lin Changxing nodded, forced a smile, and then fell silent. Lin Changsi, on the other hand, clutched his stomach and bent over on the bed, soon breaking out in a cold sweat.
Lin Changning asked anxiously, "Second Brother? What's wrong?"
With trembling lips, Lin Changsi clutched his stomach and shook his head: "It's nothing, my stomach hurts a little, it's an old problem, it'll be fine after a while."
Seeing Lin Changsi's condition, Lin Changxing limped over to pick up the teapot from the table and handed it to Lin Changsi: "Erlang, this is a problem caused by not eating enough. Drinking some water will make you feel better."
Lin Changning lowered his eyes and didn't say much. He turned and left the room, saying, "Wait for me. I'll be back soon."
Shilang went to get the medicine, which would take about several tens of minutes. She went to check if Hu's sister-in-law's porridge was ready. Shilang said that the two of them were not in good health and could not eat well, so she took some porridge over, hoping it would relieve her second brother's pain.
It was also her fault. On the way back, she gave the dry food biscuits she had brought to her second brother. The dry food biscuits didn't taste good; they were dry and hard. If her second brother hadn't eaten the dry food biscuits, he wouldn't have had a stomachache.
After bringing back the rice porridge, the two of them wolfed down bowl after bowl. When they were about to eat their third bowl, Lin Changning stopped them.
Having been starving for so long, the two were oblivious to hunger. Afraid of bursting their bellies, she stubbornly removed the porridge from their stomachs, despite their predatory gazes.
Having apparently eaten his fill, the uncle soon began to feel sleepy.
After settling the person in the west room, Lin Changning was pulled to the east room by his second brother. Looking at his serious-looking second brother, Lin Changning knew that he was the original owner's brother and had probably already been recognized.
"Fifth Sister, what exactly is going on?"
Lin Changning sighed. He hadn't managed to hide it after all. Thinking this, Lin Changning helped the other person sit down, then sat down beside the bed and began to recount his story:
"Second Brother, Liu Lang is registered under Uncle's household register. He's probably at the academy now. Lin Erniu sabotaged him back then. Liu Lang went into the icy river to save me, and his health hasn't been good since. After news of your deaths reached us, our family refused to sell the land. Lin Erniu, I don't know what he did, put Liu Lang back on the list of those eligible for military service."
Liu Lang was too weak to serve, while I had recovered from an illness and become unusually strong. So I asked my uncle to transfer our family to military household status, which would prevent Lin Erniu from harming our family again. If I died, my third cousin would be the next to take my place, and I doubt Lin Erniu would dare risk his son's future. My mother and sisters-in-law all knew about this.
"Mother is confused!! Fifth Sister, what are you going to do? How will you ever get married like this?"
Lin Changning looked at his elder brother with clear and firm eyes: "Second brother, from the moment I chose this path, marriage has become none of my business. Now, I feel great."
Lin Changsi hesitated, wanting to offer some words of advice, but seeing his sister's eyes, he didn't know what to say.
After a long silence, he sighed and said, "It's the family's fault for letting you down... and it's also my fault for being useless."
Lin Changning smiled and said, "Second brother, what's there to say about being a good family member? Things are fine now. As for the future, I still want to achieve great things and become a high-ranking official."
Lin Changsi felt a pang of sadness in his heart. He patted his sister's arm, his eyes welling up with tears: "Ah, good, Ning'er will surely be ennobled and appointed prime minister in the future."
The two talked for a long time. Lin Changsi cried and laughed, while Lin Changning kept comforting him. After drinking the medicine that Shilang brought, he finally fell into a deep sleep.
Unlike the tranquility and warmth here, Qi Rong was now in a complete mess.
The three lords' sons came here to gain experience, and not only that, they also brought their youngest brother along.
The thought of my dirty little brother sitting at the table, his cheeks bulging as he eats, and then rushing towards him when he gets home fills me with dread.
After traveling for half a month, Qi An, who hadn't rested much at the post stations, was covered in dirt. The noblemen's sons weren't exactly good at taking care of people, and the group encountered bandits and refugees twice along the way. Fortunately, the escorting soldiers were capable, and no one was seriously injured.
Qi An watched as his older brother tumbled to the ground and pounced on him with his short legs. Qi Rong picked Qi An up with disgust and covered his nose: "Wen Zhi! Throw him in the bathtub and scrub him clean. Zhi Qi, go borrow two sets of clean clothes for him. He stinks!"
Qi An looked at his elder brother, who was still covered in blood from the battlefield, and felt a little uneasy. He shook his little black paw at his brother, revealing a set of tiny teeth, and smiled ingratiatingly: "Big brother, I missed you~"
Qi Rong almost gagged from the stench: "Yue~ Qi An! Were you fished out of a cesspool?! Go, go, go take a shower first, and come back to me after you're done!!!"
Hearing this, he picked up Qi An with two fingers, quite disgusted, and said, "Good heavens, how can the young master smell so bad!"
Three young noblemen, their clothes also filthy, entered the tent.
Su Qingyan's white robe had turned into a dirty yellowish-gray robe, Gu Jia's brocade robe had several tears, and Li Jingzhou was in the worst condition, with half of his sleeve missing, and he entered the door with his bare white arms.
The three men who entered awkwardly bowed, and Su Qingyan rubbed his nose, saying, "Brother Qi, my apologies. On the way to transport grain, we encountered several groups of famine victims robbing us. We didn't dare to use our weapons and were pushed into a swampy pit, which is why..."
Qi Rong stepped back a few steps and pointed at the three people: "Stop, just stand there. This is not a good place to talk business. Go wash up and tidy your clothes before you come over."
After saying that, he called out to the door, "Someone, take the young master and the others downstairs to wash up."
The three men looked at each other in bewilderment. After the guards entered, Su Qingyan took the lead and bowed again, saying, "Thank you, Brother Qi. We will come over and explain to you in detail after we have tidied up."
Qi Rong nodded in response, and only breathed a sigh of relief after watching the three of them leave, not to mention Qi An, who was just a little kid.
The three large ones also stank, almost suffocating him. It was like everyone had fallen into a cesspool; the stench was so strong you could smell it from three meters away.
After seeing the person off, Qi Rong casually took off his armor, preparing to wipe the bloodstains off his body.
There are many rough men in the army. Many of them don't bathe for ten days, half a month, or even a year. The commanders in the garrison are also not very clean.
Every time he went back, there was a strong smell of stinky feet or sweat, which was torture for him, given his sensitive nose.
If you ask me, Liu Lang is better. Every time I see him, he looks neat and tidy, his hair is combed, his clothes are washed clean, and you can smell a fresh scent of grass and trees if you get close.
This accumulation of military merits should be enough for Liu Lang to be promoted to centurion, a sixth-rank official. Perhaps we can wait for Liu Lang's elder brother to recover from his injuries and then grant him leave to go home and visit.
Liu Lang still has the heart of a young boy; he hasn't been back for so long, he must miss home...
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