Chapter 48 Boiling Beans and Burning Bean Stalks
After washing up and changing into coarse linen clothes, Qi An sat opposite Qi Rong, his back straight, his little hands gripping the table, his delicately sculpted face full of expectation.
"Big brother, please let me stay! I won't cause you any trouble, please, big brother~"
Qi Rong's forehead veins throbbed: "Qi An, why did you run off to the frontier for no reason? What, isn't the capital enough for you to cause trouble?"
I don't know what got into this brat. Why did he have to give up being a proper young master of the Duke's mansion and come to the border to suffer?
Qi An's face showed disappointment. He lay on the table, his little hands fiddling with the rough porcelain teapot. "I don't like home. Father and Mother only care about my second and third brothers. I burned tea all night, but Father didn't come to see me even once. Mother was the same; she only looked at me once during the night and then left. They don't care about me at all. I'm so sad. Only my eldest brother cares about me a little. If I don't come to him for help, what else can I do?"
Seeing his dejected younger brother, Qi Rong's expression softened slightly, and he snorted softly, "You shouldn't have run off to the border without a word. Don't you know how dangerous the road is?"
Qi An was used to acting cute and silly. Seeing that his elder brother's tone was not as stern as before, he climbed off the table and ran over to Qi Rong, massaging his shoulders and legs: "Brother, I bribed Brother Jingzhou's coachman and followed the grain transport team all the way here. The soldiers in the grain transport team are all skilled. I don't think there are many fools who would rob the grain. Hehe, just leave me here."
Qi Rong had no choice but to grab the brat's ear and give him a good scolding, but then he was at a loss for what to do.
He usually lives in the garrison area, but his mansion here is dilapidated. He didn't want to spend money to repair it. The thousand-household garrison does have a room, but the conditions are very poor. Qi An'an was raised in luxury by the Duke's family, and it's unknown whether she can endure this hardship.
Women are generally not allowed to enter or leave the garrison. He didn't have any maids or servants by his side, only a group of rough men. Qi An'an was only eight years old, and without anyone to take care of her, she would probably suffer.
"Qi An'an, this is a military camp. There are no delicacies here. We'll eat whatever everyone else eats, and we'll stay here too. If you can't take the hardship, just tell me, and I'll find someone to send you back."
Qi An's eyes lit up and he squeezed even harder, saying in a cheerful tone, "Thank you, big brother! I'm not afraid of hardship. I'm going to become a real man in the future."
Qi Rong patted his younger brother's head and sighed, thinking that in ten days or half a month, Qi An would leave because he couldn't stand the hardships of the frontier.
"Know it~"
Upon hearing Qi Rong call his name, Zhiqi lifted the tent flap and cupped his hands in greeting: "Commander?"
Qi Rong patted Qi An's little head helplessly and said, "Go find an old woman, or find a servant boy to buy two maids and servants to take care of Qi An's daily life. In the future, let Qi An live in the Thousand Household Office."
Just as he was about to leave, he turned back and said, "Commander, it might be difficult to find maids and servants with respectable backgrounds here..."
Qi Rong pondered for a moment and nodded. The border region was desolate, and the people the local servants dealt with were mostly criminals. Their questionable backgrounds were secondary; it might not be safe to keep such people by Qi An's side.
Zhiqi then said, "Why don't you come with us?"
As Qi Rong was pondering, Lin Changning lifted the curtain and walked in. Seeing the young child who bore a slight resemblance to Qi Rong, she widened her eyes and blurted out...
"Commander, your child is already so big???"
Upon hearing this, Qi Rong covered his face and laughed so hard his body was shaking. Qi Rong looked at Lin Changning with a black line on his face: "He's my younger brother!!"
Lin Changning rubbed his nose and cupped his hands in greeting: "Greetings, Commander, young master."
"Qi An, you should stay with Zhi Qi and the others for now."
Qi An turned her little face away unwillingly and said, "I'm not going with him! He's the one who threw me into the pond!!"
Zhiqi: ...He's quite vengeful.
Qi Rong rubbed his temples, just remembering how he had sent someone to trick the Duke of Qi a while ago. He said helplessly, "There are no maids or servants to serve you here. If you don't want to go with them, who do you want to go with?"
Qi An clung to his older brother's leg, acting spoiled: "I don't need anyone to take care of me. I brought Qing Shu with me, so I'll just stay with you, brother."
Qi Rong grabbed his younger brother and slammed him onto a stool: "Behave yourself."
After saying that, he looked at Lin Changning and asked, "What brings you here? Is everything settled at home?"
Lin Changning nodded: "It's all settled. If anything happens, you need to report to the commander."
Qi Rong nodded, signaling Zhi Qi to lead Qi An out first. Seeing that his brother had things to do, Qi An obediently let Zhi Qi lead him out the door.
"Speak," Qi Rong said, sitting down and pouring himself a cup of tea.
Lin Changning cupped his hands in greeting: "When my elder brother was kidnapped, he witnessed the Qingshui constable being silenced. I suspect there is a traitor within the army..."
Qi Rong took a sip of tea without replying, and after a long while nodded: "I know about this. The few people on duty that day all sacrificed their lives."
Lin Changning nodded: "There's one more thing. I'd like to ask for leave to go home, send my elder brother and uncle back, and also check the identities of the two yamen runners at the county office to see if there are any clues."
"Yes, tomorrow go to the Bureau of Records to change the plaque and collect the official robes of a centurion. This is my token; if there is any obstruction, you may proceed as you see fit."
"Thank you for your command."
Lin Changning had just lifted the curtain to leave when he saw Qi An and Zhi Qi squatting in a corner of the tent, with seven or eight guards playing with the child.
Zhiqi said, "Come on, young master, carry me on your back~"
Qi An: "What are you carrying?"
Hearing this, I said, "Recite the poem. When you get back, you can recite it to your father or your mother."
Zhi Qi smiled and said, "Come on, young master, memorize this and I'll buy you candied hawthorns."
Qi An asked, puzzled, "Would my brother be happy if I recited it?"
Hearing this, he rubbed his hands together, his mischievous thoughts impossible to suppress: "Of course, if you learn it and can recite it to your father, your second brother, and your third brother in the future, our commander will definitely be very happy."
"Beans are boiled with beanstalks as fuel, the beans weep in the pot. We are born of the same root, why must we be so cruel to each other!"
Zhi patted Qi An on the back with a sly grin: "Have you learned it, young master? Be sure to recite it to your father when you get home!"
Qi An asked in confusion, "Oh, 'Beans are boiled with beanstalks as fuel, the beans weep in the pot. We are born of the same root, why are we so eager to harm each other?' Is that what it means?"
Lin Changning rolled his eyes at Zhiqi: "This poem says, 'Boiling beans and cooking bean stalks, the beans in the pot are crying out, we all have the same father, why are you only killing me?'"
Zhiqi repeated it several times, exclaiming, "Wow~ Xiao Liu's explanation is brilliant!"
A group of guards burst into laughter.
Qi An instantly understood what the guards meant, and his mood immediately plummeted. He knew that there had been rumors circulating in the capital about his parents and older brother.
Lin Changning naturally knew that these guards were bullying the person who was standing up for the commander. However, the child didn't seem to have any bad intentions. On the contrary, the guards were all being incredibly sarcastic. If the little one dared to go back and tell the Duke about it, he would definitely get a beating.
Lin Changning stepped forward and patted the child on the back: "Want some candied hawthorn? I'll take you to buy some."
Qi An obediently took Lin Changning's hand, looking at him with bright eyes like a well-behaved cat: "Thank you, brother."
Lin Changning rubbed the child's head, then took the child's hand and started to leave.
Knowing they just liked teasing the children and didn't actually mean any harm to Qi An, upon hearing Lin Changning say he was going to take people out for candied hawthorns, he scratched his head and said, "I'll treat you..."
Lin Changning led Qi An outside, waving his hand: "No need, we'll bring it back after we buy it. You guys are busy, I've already asked the commander for leave."
Qi Ming said loudly, "Then come back and bring us some of Granny Wang's steamed buns, the meat kind."
"knew!"
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