Chapter 47: Enmity (Part 2)

Chapter 47: Enmity (Part 2)

Le Qianzhang felt just as confused now as he did when he first met Le Wuya seventeen years ago.

Back then, Deputy General Yu had come all the way from the capital and had only recently joined his command.

Yu Cailiang was of noble birth, and everyone had to give him extra respect.

He was also an ambitious man, eager to make his mark, to prove worthy of his patron's favor and his own prime years.

He had a talent for stealth missions, often leading men on raids into Jing territory to gather intelligence.

Le Qianzhang knew he was of high status and had advised against it a few times, but seeing his persistence, he couldn't always stop him, lest it seem he had ulterior motives, as if he didn't want the prince's envoy to earn any merit.

Although Le Qianzhang was only twenty-three and not well-versed in letters, he knew this guy was a real hot potato.

That morning, with the dew still fresh, Le Qianzhang had just risen when he saw Deputy General Yu enter from outside carrying a wicker basket. He dismissed the guards at the entrance a little further away, then proudly pulled out a small baby wrapped in a blue swaddle.

Le Qianzhang thought he was dreaming.

When Yu Cailiang excitedly explained the whole story, Le Qianzhang couldn't help frowning deeply.

In short, the big hot potato had come back with a little one.

To Yu Cailiang's credit, he at least had the self-awareness.

In peacetime, what he did would be called shameful.

But with war on and soldiers dying daily, he couldn't worry about that.

Helian Haohao was the last living descendant of the Helian family's main line, and whether used to negotiate with the Jing tribe or dragged to the front to be killed as a sacrifice, he had a certain value.

Listening to Yu Cailiang's big talk, Le Qianzhang was at a loss for words.

To put it bluntly, this kid didn't have enough weight to stop a war, and bringing him back was utterly pointless.

The Helian family wasn't just Helian Haohao; among the younger generation of talents in the Da family, besides Da Yue, there was also Damuqi.

A swaddling infant who couldn't even talk—kill this one and they could just have another kid; what was there to pity?

Would the Da and Helian families, after losing their eldest son and having a baby stolen, just roll over and switch sides?

If they killed him publicly, it would just enrage the Helians and Das and create a blood feud that would never end.

No matter how he figured it, it was a bad deal all around.

Le Qianzhang laid out all the pros and cons for him.

But Yu Cailiang, young and headstrong, wouldn't listen to Le Qianzhang's patient reasoning: "General Le, now that I've already taken the kid, he can't be completely useless, right? Before coming, I sent a report to the Crown Prince's palace, asking him to decide. So you don't need to bother."

Le Qianzhang: "..."

He barely held back from slapping the man silly.

Le Qianzhang saw right through him—Yu Cailiang's "asking the crown prince" was just a way to take credit.

At this point, sending the kid back was pointless.

Would the Das and Helians really thank them for stealing a kid and then handing him back?

Le Qianzhang sighed and told a guard to go get some milk.

Helian Ya had been secretly carried in by Yu Cailiang in a wicker basket, not crying or fussing the whole way. His head was scraped badly, yet he managed to fall asleep in tears, carefree and clueless.

When the guards saw a sleeping infant in the tent, they were naturally puzzled.

Yu Cailiang, thinking he had done a great deed and saved face before the general, jumped in without waiting for Le Qianzhang to speak: "Keep it quiet. This is the general's personal business."

Le Qianzhang: "..."

He was sure he'd already given this guy enough face for one day.

The guard's eyes darted, and he instantly dreamed up a whole soap opera. He dared not ask further, only ventured: "My wife had a baby three months ago and still has plenty of milk. The general can rest assured..."

Le Qianzhang, annoyed, waved his hand, which everyone took as a yes.

While they waited for word from the capital, a lot of other news rolled in.

Helian Che, who had been stabbed, didn't die after all.

Damuqi, having heard some rumor, stormed Ranqiu Mountain and butchered every bandit on it.

The drooling baby in their hands—through a weird twist of fate—had been written off by the Jing tribe as dead at the hands of the mountain bandits.

Things changed so fast even Deputy General Yu was caught off guard.

And a secret letter from the capital pushed the situation into an unpredictable turn.

Orders from above: keep this quiet, raise the boy as a Le family son, and have the Le family nurture him for the future.

Le Qianzhang took the order and went to the rear tent.

The child was easy to raise—lazy all day long, only got fussy at dusk, and would cry for a bit, but as long as someone held him and patted him, he would calm down.

When Le Qianzhang walked in, he'd just finished crying and was about to doze off. Seeing someone arrive, he mustered his spirits and smiled at Le Qianzhang, dazed and innocent.

Time flew.

That innocent smile of his was exactly the smile Le Wuya had on his face right now.

Right then, two things were bugging Le Qianzhang.

First, how did Le Wuya find out about this?

Second, it was Le Wuya's reaction.

He wasn't angry or sad. Instead, he looked like a wronged kid—earnest and hurt, as if he wanted his father to make things right.

Le Qianzhang's expression did not change: "There is no such thing. Your birth mother's name was Wu Ruxue, a woman from the borderlands. What does she have to do with Da Yue?"

"Then Deputy General Yu is lying through his teeth," Le Wuya said indignantly. "Father, please call Deputy General Yu here. I want to confront him!"

Le Qianzhang narrowed his eyes.

Times had changed. The Deputy General Yu of today was nothing like the cocky kid who'd barged into his tent bossing everyone around.

He felt guilty as hell toward Le Wuya, and probably couldn't handle being grilled by him.

Le Qianzhang sighed softly and decided to pull rank as his "father." "Go back to your own tent! You are a child of the Le family. Stop thinking such nonsense!"

Le Wuya looked up at him steadily for a moment, then shifted his posture, kneeling before him and whispering, "Say it again, please."

"You are a child of the Le..." At this point, Le Qianzhang's voice caught in his throat.

He held back his swelling emotions and said harshly, "You are a child of my Le family. No one can change that, period!"

Le Wuya: "Is that what you really think, or is that what the emperor ordered you to think?"

Le Qianzhang was stunned and shot to his feet. "You—"

Le Wuya grabbed his sleeve, stopping his movement.

He stared at Le Qianzhang without blinking. "Father, Deputy General Yu can't keep his mouth shut. He's told me everything. So what do we do?"

Le Qianzhang realized that Le Wuya had an agenda.

"You..."

Le Wuya cut him off lightly. "Father, does Uncle Pei know about this?"

Le Qianzhang's throat tightened as he thought of his son's friendship with Little Phoenix.

Had he told Pei Mingqi about this?

"Look at you," Le Wuya said with a smile. "I say a little more, and your face goes pale."

His tone was gentle. "Now I believe that a man like you wouldn't fool around like that. I've always felt guilty toward Mother Ye, thinking that as a bastard son, I wronged her. But now it's fine. I can let that worry go."

Le Qianzhang: "..."

He had long known that this son he gained later in life was no ordinary man.

But that he could speak so plainly, leaving no room for negotiation, completely exceeded Le Qianzhang's expectations.

Their seventeen years of father-son bond would, from this day on, dissipate like smoke.

Le Qianzhang let out a heavy breath. "Wuya, what do you want to do?"

"It's not about what I want to do, but what you want to do," Le Wuya said. "Before I leave this military tent, you are still my father. You could kill me right here, secretly dispose of my body, and a few days later announce that I died suddenly of an illness. That would repay your kindness in raising me and fulfill our bond as father and son. At least we can have a proper ending, father and son."

Le Qianzhang smiled bitterly.

Seventeen years ago, when the Eastern Palace's order arrived and he came to Le Wuya's side, the same thought had crossed his mind.

Kill him then, report that the child died of a sudden illness, and perhaps spare him future suffering.

But back then, after only a few meetings, Le Qianzhang couldn't bring himself to do it.

Now that it came to this, how could he possibly do it?

As if seeing his hesitation, Le Wuya smiled. "If you won't kill me, then hand Deputy General Yu over to me. How about that?"

"What do you want him for?"

Le Wuya's eyes crinkled in a smile. "It's better if you don't know... Just think of him as dying in battle."

He was never a tame, docile A Li.

He was a crow feeding on carrion.

Le Qianzhang closed his eyes. It was only when his cheeks ached that he finally unclenched his jaw. "You should know who he answers to."

"I know. That's exactly why he must be killed."

Le Wuya: "He was deeply favored by the emperor. The emperor must have ordered him to keep the secret until I needed to know it, right? He failed in his duty and violated the imperial command. Why should his death be a pity?"

His eyes flickered, and he said with mock sincerity, "Otherwise, if I were to cause trouble with the Tianlang Camp, the emperor would probably also hold you responsible for failing to discipline me."

He wanted revenge.

Openly, without disguise.

Le Wuya knew his father could see through him.

But he also knew that his father doted on him and loved him.

Once others learned that Le Wuya was the son of the Helian family of the Jing tribe, Le Wuya would have only one path left: death.

His acting like this in front of Le Qianzhang was essentially him banking on love.

Even though he was the son of an enemy, even though he was a fake son, after seventeen years, Le Qianzhang still couldn't help loving him.

If it came down to choosing between Deputy General Yu and him, Le Qianzhang would definitely choose him.

Le Wuya was confident in that.

He even tilted his head playfully and gave Le Qianzhang a suggestion. "The fighting on the front is fierce, and Deputy General Yu is especially fond of scouting for intelligence. Send him out on another mission. I'll handle him."

Le Qianzhang's brow furrowed slightly. "He also saw you grow up."

Le Wuya: "I have a good memory. He bought me snacks, brought me local goods from the border, carried me to watch fireworks, let me ride on his shoulders, took me swimming in Nanting River and told me he had seen a very large water monkey."

After listing those fond memories, he asked again, "So, Dad, when will you send him out?"

Le Qianzhang looked at Le Wuya as if he never really knew him in all those seventeen years.

"If he dies suddenly, the capital will send people to investigate."

"It's war. People die." Le Wuya shrugged. "Besides, right now, only you and I know that my secret is out. If he dies at this moment, no one will suspect."

In a coaxing voice, he said, "Only if he dies can I continue to be a good son of the Le family."

Le Qianzhang lowered his eyes.

He was somewhat unable to cope with this strangely-minded youngest son and only said, "Let me think."

Le Wuya had a good attitude. "Then get some rest, Dad. A Li will leave now."

When he reached the tent entrance and was about to lift the curtain, it seemed he remembered something. He stopped, turned around, and asked, "Dad, why did you name me Wuya?"

Le Qianzhang looked like he didn't want to say.

But after a long pause, he still told him the truth. "Deputy General Yu said that when he snatched you from Helian Che, Helian Che... kept calling your childhood name."

Le Wuya: "'Yaya'?"

Le Qianzhang had stopped wondering how Le Wuya had learned so many details.

It seemed there was no other explanation besides Deputy General Yu's "loose lips after drinking."

Le Wuya nodded. "Yes. It's 'Yaya.'"

Le Wuya gave a brilliant smile, swallowing the faint bloody taste that welled up in his mouth.

Yaya.

Yaya returned to his tent to rest.

Unexpectedly, at the crack of dawn, the camp suddenly fell into an uproar.

Hearing the noise and commotion, Le Wuya rubbed his eyes and walked out of his tent, just in time to meet Pei Mingqi, who was approaching in his robes, damp with dew.

He immediately asked, "You didn't go to Deputy General Yu's tent last night, did you?"

Le Wuya yawned sleepily. "No, I didn't."

Pei Mingqi instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on?"

Seeing that Le Wuya was fine, Pei Mingqi chattered on about what had happened: "Last night, Deputy General Yu was cooking soup and drinking in his own tent, using wild mushrooms picked nearby. But there were a few highly toxic ones among them. He drank the soup and was poisoned, and couldn't even call for help. He wasn't found until this morning. Now he can't move. General Le has ordered that he be moved quickly to a nearby county town to find a doctor and get medicine!"

Pei Mingqi clutched his chest in lingering fear. "From what people say, even if he's cured, he'll be bedridden and paralyzed for life and never get up again!"

Seeing Le Wuya's thoughtful expression, Pei Mingqi warned him again, "From now on, don't you dare be greedy and eat recklessly!"

Le Wuya turned to look at the main tent.

Le Qianzhang stood alone in front of the tent, gazing at the source of the chaos.

Sensing Le Wuya's gaze, he just turned to exchange a glance with him, then withdrew his gaze and returned to the main tent.

After a moment of stunned silence, Le Wuya lowered his head and smiled softly.

Father had finished that man for him.

Now, it was time for the next one.