Chapter 30: Father

Chapter 30: Father

In his youth, Cheng Jimo was the cream of the crop among the capital's young elites.

He had a face like polished jade, extraordinary bearing, a tall and imposing stature, and his mastery of the spear was unrivaled among his peers.

Born into the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion, he was exceptionally gifted, absorbing military classics from a young age. As a youth, he followed Cheng Pohu to the northern border to hone his skills, with an air of extraordinary grace and distinction.

At the time, the capital's noble ladies all pined for him, secretly nursing crushes, while the sons of aristocratic families privately envied and resented him. He was the undisputed golden boy.

Rumor had it that at three, he could dash off poetry; at five, he could take down opponents with his bare hands in martial arts practice; and at nine, he followed his father to the northern frontier.

By just past ten, he could deftly deploy tactics and lay traps, luring the enemy in deep before wiping out thousands of troops. His strategic savvy rivaled that of battle-hardened veterans, earning him a rep as a born commander.

At twelve, the late emperor, recognizing his extraordinary military achievements and strategic brilliance, made an exception and appointed him Zhaowu Mobile Corps Commander, making him the youngest officer to hold that rank since Great Yao was founded.

By sixteen, Cheng Jimo could independently lead armies against enemies, never losing a battle, big or small. That earned him the nickname "Little War God of the Northern Frontier."

The late emperor issued another decree, promoting him to Dingyuan Vanguard General.

At that time, Cheng Jimo was a true little war god. Every time he returned to the capital, the whole city would go wild, streets emptying as crowds swarmed to see him.

Everyone fought to catch a glimpse of this young general in all his glory.

At seventeen, at the height of his glory, Cheng Jimo kept the marriage pact between their two families and wed Wen Wanning, the eldest granddaughter of the former Grand Tutor.

The couple was blissfully in sync, and that same year, their eldest son was born.

Over the next five years, he held down the northern frontier, expanding territory and guarding the borders with ruthless efficiency, racking up one major victory after another. The northern kingdoms quaked at the mere mention of his name.

At twenty-two, he already commanded most of the Northern Defense Army and had become the youngest Grand General of the State in Great Yao's history.

The entire court was sure that, given time, he'd take command of the entire Northern Defense Army and carry on the legend of a generation's war god.

But no one could have guessed that his towering glory would come crashing down at twenty-two.

The golden boy fell from the clouds into the mud in a single day, never to get back up.

At that time, the late emperor had passed, and a new emperor ascended the throne. With power changing hands, the court was rife with undercurrents and the capital was in chaos. As luck would have it, the northern frontier had been quiet for years, and the borders were stable. Thus, an imperial decree called Cheng Jimo back from the northern frontier to the capital.

Not only that, the new emperor used it as an excuse to keep Cheng Jimo—who should've been commanding hundreds of thousands of Northern Defense Army troops—in the capital, instead appointing him Commander of the Imperial Guard, in charge of the palace's elite guards and the emperor's personal protection.

That same year, the new emperor left the city for a sacrificial ceremony but was ambushed on the way back by over a hundred suicide assassins.

In that critical moment, Cheng Jimo led dozens of his personal guards in a desperate last stand, fighting tooth and nail until they fought their way out.

Every single guard with him was killed, not one left standing—and those were brothers who'd bled alongside Cheng Jimo through thick and thin.

Only Cheng Jimo was left, barely hanging on. He was covered in dozens of sword wounds and had several arrows sticking out of him, yet driven by sheer loyalty, he dragged himself and the new emperor back to the capital in one piece.

It later came out that the arrows had been coated with a potent poison, and Cheng Jimo was just about beyond saving.

The new emperor flew into a rage and ordered the entire Imperial Medical Academy to work in shifts, throwing every rare herb in the palace at him in a desperate bid to save his life.

Finally, after dozens of days and nights of treatment, the imperial physicians barely managed to keep him alive.

But the poison had already seeped deep into his meridians and bone marrow. His decades of martial arts skill were completely destroyed, and his legs were permanently crippled when the poison ate away at his bones and tendons.

For the rest of his life, he'd be dependent on herbal medicine just to survive.

The once-glorious young war god was knocked off his pedestal, reduced to a cripple.

The new emperor, touched by his life-saving loyalty, exceptionally conferred upon him the title of Marquis Zhongyong.

That was exactly why the Cheng family could boast both a duke and a marquis.

On top of that, rewards kept pouring into the marquis's residence—fertile fields, mansions, rare treasures, silver, and priceless medicinal herbs.

But no amount of imperial favor could bring back the bold Grand General of the State.

To this day, most people have long forgotten the young prodigy Cheng Jimo who once shook the capital and terrorized the northern frontier.

When people bring him up now, all they know is that Marquis Zhongyong is a cripple who never leaves his house, just wasting away inside.

Cheng Yi was born the year after Cheng Jimo's downfall.

It was precisely for this reason that his origins were questioned, with many privately gossiping that he was not Cheng Jimo's biological son.

As a father, Cheng Jimo was entirely absent from Cheng Yi's life.

Since he could remember, he rarely saw his father.

In his early childhood, he would occasionally visit Jingyuan Hall with his mother or elder brother, but as his father grew increasingly reclusive, their meetings became fewer and fewer, until even Wen Wanning stopped going.

And as Cheng Yi grew older, his expectations for his father turned into resentment.

Perhaps the greater the expectation, the greater the resentment—which was why his feelings toward his father had always been profoundly complicated in his previous life.

It wasn't until his elder brother's tragedy and his mother's descent into madness that Cheng Yi's disappointment and resentment toward his father reached their peak.

From then on, the relationship between him and his father was beyond repair.

Seeing his father again now, Cheng Yi felt dazed. He couldn't even remember how many years it had been since he last saw him, or what his father had looked like on that occasion.

At the very least, he shouldn't have looked so weathered and frail.

Cheng Yi stood there silently, saying nothing for a long time.

And Cheng Jimo remained as motionless as a withered tree in the courtyard.

No one knew how long he had held that position—perhaps every day he sat from dawn to dusk, day after day.

"Father."

After a long silence, it was Cheng Yi who finally broke the deathly stillness of Jingyuan Hall.

When he spoke, he realized his voice was hoarse.

He distinctly noticed his father's back stiffen slightly, yet the man before him remained utterly still. Cheng Yi couldn't help but call out again.

"Father."

This time, Cheng Jimo finally reacted, slowly turning his wheelchair around.

What came into view was a face so gaunt it seemed almost skeletal, yet even so, his strikingly handsome features were still evident.

The moment he turned, Cheng Yi clearly caught an emotion in his eyes that he shouldn't have seen.

Hesitation—and even surprise.

Cheng Yi's whole body gave an uncontrollable tremor.

But why the joy?

Right—it had been way too long since he'd visited his father. Ever since he'd started resenting him, he couldn't even stand hearing anyone bring his father up.

But his big brother came through rain or shine, whether their father cursed him out, yelled at him, or chucked stuff at him telling him to get lost. His brother never gave up on visiting their father.

Whether their father wanted him there or not, he'd just stand off to the side, keeping him company, or ramble about stuff going on in the house—how their mom was always crying, how their little brother was such a handful...

Cheng Yi sometimes really admired his big brother. Whether it was their dad, their mom, him, or the whole marquis household, his brother gave it his all.

Maybe that's why his father didn't seem like a total stranger to him.

But the reaction was gone in a flash—his eyes went blank, and he seemed completely lifeless.

Then Cheng Yi spoke up again.

"Father, I'm getting married tomorrow."

Cheng Jimo looked surprised again.

His eldest son had been gone for a while, and nobody in the whole household had thought to tell him.

"Getting married?"

First surprise, then confusion.

He probably couldn't figure out why the oldest son hadn't tied the knot yet, but the second one was doing it first.

Then, as if something bad hit him, his face changed all of a sudden, and his voice got urgent.

"Where's your big brother? Why haven't I seen him lately? Is he... *cough cough cough*..."

Cheng Jimo seemed worked up. He was already frail, and with the autumn wind picking up and the cold biting harder, that sudden burst of talking made him suck in a mouthful of cold air. He broke into a violent coughing fit he couldn't stop.

In a blink, his face, already pale, went a scary shade of white. His skinny frame heaved hard, like he might stop breathing any second.

Cheng Yi didn't think twice and dashed over in a few quick strides.

But the second he was about to touch Cheng Jimo, his father's face, which had been fairly calm, suddenly twisted into a grimace. He grabbed his head in agony, his voice turning vicious.

"Get off me! All of you, get off—!"

"Don't come near... Get out! *Sob*... It hurts... damn it... I hope you all die—!"

Cheng Yi stood there frozen, stunned.

He watched his father slam his head against the wheelchair armrest without holding back, then go crazy pounding his own legs.

Punch after punch, like he was trying to smash his legs to bits.

Just then, a young servant came running in. His face went pale at the sight, and without even bowing to Cheng Yi, he spun around and ran back out.

Yelling as he ran:

"Second Young Master, don't go near the Marquis! I'll go get Steward Wu!"

Cheng Yi's face went dark as hell. He stood stiff, watching his father's pain, watching him lose it completely—hurting himself, raging, going crazy...

"Father?"

"Get off! I told you to get off—!"

He was shocked to find that every time he got close to his father, the man would completely fall apart. But if he backed off, his father would calm down a bit.

Seemed like the farther he stayed, the less his father suffered.

Cheng Yi's heart sank to the bottom. A mess of emotions left him torn between rage, heartbreak, and total helplessness.

Finally, Steward Wu came sprinting up.

Cheng Yi watched him rush straight to his father and grab hold of his hands to stop him from hurting himself.

The steward was practically in tears.

"Marquis, my Marquis, please stop hurting yourself. It's the Second Young Master here to see you. Take a look—it's the Second Young Master..."

"Marquis, please calm down... It's okay, Marquis. Everything'll pass..."

"Marquis..."

Under Steward Wu's endless soothing, the frantic Cheng Jimo slowly settled down.

While calming the Marquis, Steward Wu subtly waved behind his back, signaling Cheng Yi to leave.

Cheng Yi gritted his teeth and finally dragged himself out of Jingyuan Hall, his steps heavy.

*Thud*—he slammed his fist into a tree.

Withered yellow leaves scattered everywhere, and blood left a stark red smear on the dry bark.

The sting in his hand finally brought Cheng Yi a bit of composure.

"Wu—An—!"

He spat the name out through gritted teeth.

He'd seen it clear as day—Wu An had slipped something into his father's mouth when his back was turned.

Right after that, his father had calmed down.

But ever since the day Cheng Yi came back to life and first noticed something off about Nanny Hu, he'd quietly had people keep an eye on Jingyuan Hall.

And once he found out Wu An was dirty, Cheng Yi went straight to the Old Duke and asked for a few men to watch every move the household made.

His mother, his big brother, even his father's food, clothes, living arrangements, and daily routine—all of it got looked into on the down low.

Food and drink got top priority, mainly because Cheng Yi was scared Wu An might mess with the meals.

But surprisingly, nobody's food had any problems, and no toxins showed up in anyone's system.

His father's included.

Add that to the hatred and disappointment he'd felt toward his father in his past life, and he'd always figured his father's behavior was just him being weak, giving up on himself, being a deadbeat...

In short, Cheng Yi had never even thought about any other possibility.

Only now did Cheng Yi realize how terribly wrong he'd been.

Why had his father suddenly become so agitated whenever he drew near? What exactly had Wu An fed his father?

An antidote? Or... something else entirely?

What was Wu An's purpose, and who was backing him?

The emperor?

A prince?

Or someone else entirely.

At this moment, Cheng Yi felt an uncontrollable rage surging and roaring in his chest, throwing his entire mind into chaos as countless thoughts raced through it.

A horrifying, murderous suspicion sprang to mind and grew instantly, making every fiber of his being scream for blood.

But he knew full well that what he needed most right now was to stay calm.

He had to calm down and think things through, and his immediate priority was to bring his young husband home.

==========Author's Note:==========

Finally wrestled the chaotic update schedule back on track.