Chapter 1237: Rage

West Xia’s envoy team quickly arrived at Great Qi. The officials of Great Qi messed with them and bargained down the custodian fees again and again. In the end, Great Qi merely gave them some gold, silver, jewelry, and silk tea leaves as ransom.

The Minister of Revenue took out the money from the national treasury with a pained expression. In the end, he looked at the Emperor eagerly, hoping that he would subsidize it with his inner treasury. There were too many natural disasters all over the country this year.

Qi Xiuyuan also knew that the national treasury was tight. He was in a good mood, and his inner treasury had substantial gains last year. Hence, he generously said that half of the ransom—no, half of the land custodian fee would be paid by his inner treasury.

After West Xia received the money, they began to evacuate the territory. When the news was confirmed by The Great Qi Times, the Han people on those lands ran to the streets and cried and laughed, celebrating. The citizens of the capital also set off firecrackers, and all over the country, celebrations were held.

Mu Yangling also bought a cart full of firecrackers and went home. She put her hands on her waist and smiled at the brats at home. “Although setting off firecrackers pollutes the air, because I’m in a good mood today, you can set off however much you want!”

Even during the new year, the King’s Residence didn’t set off so many firecrackers. Overjoyed, the children rushed forward to split up the fireworks. After Little An, Tiger Head, and Little Lion snatched their share, they ran over and asked in a low voice, “Fourth Aunt, can we tell others about our contributions in recovering the lost territory?”

Mu Yangling stroked their heads and chuckled softly. “There are some contributions that don’t have to be announced to the world. It will be recorded in history and the later generations will remember your contributions.”

Tiger Head asked anxiously, “So can we tell our friends that we also participated in the plan to plot against West Xia?”

Mu Yangling continued to beam at Little An and Little Lion. “Come and explain to Tiger Head. Tomorrow, our families will have a picnic at the temporary imperial residence for a picnic with your royal uncle and there are a lot of things to be packed. I’ll go get busy.”

Little An and Little Lion grabbed Tiger Head and said to him, “Fourth Aunt has already made it very clear that this matter can only become history. We can’t tell others now.”

Tiger Head pouted in disappointment. “I thought I could show off my achievements to everyone.”

“Never mind, there will still be a chance next time. Now that West Xia has re-established an alliance with Great Qi, we can’t spread the news that we plotted to deceive them as soon as they left. That would be so unfriendly.” Little Lion comforted Tiger Head. “Should West Xia fall out with us again in the future, we’ll spread this matter to annoy them. Hmph, fancy a group of adults getting deceived by us children. How humiliating!”

The other two friends agreed. “Good idea!”

When Little Leopard saw his three brothers leaning against each other and chattering again, he pouted angrily and ran over. He grabbed Tiger Head’s hand and shouted, “You guys aren’t playing with us again. I’m going to tell Daddy!”

Hearing this, Tiger Head carried Little Leopard on his shoulder and ran around the firecrackers. As he ran, he raised his hand and spanked his butt. He asked, “Aren’t we playing with you now? Good kids don’t rat on others!”

Little Leopard shrieked excitedly, “Ah, ah, ah!” He shouted ecstatically, “I can fly! I can fly too!”

Extremely envious, Little Fu also ran up to pester his big brother. “Big Brother, I want to be piggybacked too!”

Little An looked vexed. Without Tiger Head’s strength and internal energy, how could he dare to put Little Fu on his neck?

Seeing this, Little Lion squatted down and said, “Let me do it. Your big brother can just stand at the side and watch.”

Little Fu quickly climbed up happily. When Tiger Head saw this, he used his qinggong to fly over as he shouted, “I’m coming after you…”

Little Lion carried Little Fu and ran away. In an instant, the only sounds that could be heard in the courtyard were Little Fu and Little Leopard’s laughter, as well as Little An and Baozhu’s clapping and cheering.

When Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin came in, they saw Tiger Head and Little Lion carrying a child each and leaping around the courtyard with qinggong. Fan Zijin felt a lump in his chest and almost fainted.

Qi Haoran was also so frightened that his heart rose to his throat. He didn’t dare to make a sound, afraid that he would startle the children. In a flash, he arrived beside Little Lion. He grabbed him with one hand and slipped Little Fu off his shoulder with the other and placed him on the ground…

These two movements were completed in less than a second. As Tiger Head was running ahead, he couldn’t see what was going on behind him. Just as he was enjoying himself, he was grabbed. Hence, Little Leopard and Tiger Head were also placed on the ground…

When Fan Zijin saw that Qi Haoran had dealt with the children in three to four breaths, the anxiety subsided and was replaced by fury.

Just as Qi Haoran was about to teach the children a lesson for causing trouble, a loud shout came from behind, rendering him dumbfounded!

A bellowing Fan Zijin ran towards Little An and pressed him onto his lap, then started smacking him. His face was red as he snapped at his son, “What kind of older brother are you? I told you to look after your younger brothers. Is this how you look after them? Let’s see if you still dare to fool around in the future. Let’s see if you still dare to be disobedient…”

Fan Zijin scolded a line each time he smacked the child. The four boys who had just been placed on the ground were all dumbfounded. Then, they rushed forward to hug Fan Zijin’s legs and arms. Between tears, they shouted, “Second Uncle (Daddy), this has nothing to do with Brother Little An. We were the ones who wanted to play.”

Little An’s butt had been spanked five times. As he was too stunned to react, he only came back to his senses when he heard Tiger Head and the others’ dry howls. When he snapped out of his dazed state, he burst into tears and shouted, “I’m innocent! I’m even more innocent than Dou’e! God, you have to seek justice for me!”

Fan Zijin had stopped spanking, but when he heard this, his blood boiled. He pushed away Little Fu, who was hugging his arm, and pressed Little An down to continue spanking him.

Little An immediately howled miserably.

Baozhu was so frightened that she hid in her father’s arms and did not dare to come out.

Qi Haoran hugged his daughter, feeling vexed and not knowing if he should go forward and persuade him. Speaking of which, this was the first time he had seen Zijin lose his composure. His disheveled appearance frightened him so much that he did not dare to move.

Seeing that he had spanked Little An, Qi Haoran knew at a glance that he wasn’t exerting strength in the right way. As a result, his arm would probably hurt even more than Little An’s butt after he stopped.

For the sake of his brother, Qi Haoran still took two steps forward. Just as he was about to persuade him, Fan Zijin abandoned his son and started to vent his anger on the people around him.

First, it was the accompanying manservant and maidservant. “Is this how you serve your master? How old is Little Leopard? How old is Little Fu? How dare you let them do such a dangerous thing? And this is out in the open where we can see what they’re doing. I really wonder how you take care of the children when we’re not watching!”

Next to suffer his wrath were the guards. “The King’s Residence hired you to protect the young masters, not to watch a show and be a freeloader. When you saw two ten-year-old children flying in the sky with two children on their shoulders, didn’t it occur to you to stop them? If something happens, can you afford the consequences?”

After teaching these people a lesson, Fan Zijin was exhausted. When he turned around, he saw Qi Haoran standing at the side with his head lowered, and his anger surged. Pointing at Qi Haoran’s nose, he berated, “And you, the children learned lawlessness from you and Ah Ling. I’ve long said that children can’t be pampered. If they make a mistake, you have to punish them by making them kneel in the ancestral hall and hit them. But you dote on the kids too much. Count how many times they’ve gotten into trouble since they were young. How many times have you truly beaten them up?”

Qi Haoran opened his mouth and whispered, “Ah Ling said that we have to reason with children and not resort to corporal punishment!”

“Bullsh*t.” Fan Zijin retorted agitatedly, “If you don’t beat them up, they’ll only go increasingly overboard and turn astray. Since you asked me to interfere in the children’s education, I’ll be the one to mete out the punishment this time. If any of you dare to interfere, you’ll be punished too.”

Qi Haoran immediately shrunk his neck and did not dare to speak.

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