Chapter 6

Caning was one of the punishments commonly used in the imperial army. It was mainly as a warning and supplemented by discipline but killing and maiming were also common.

If it’s a serious caning, twenty would be enough to kill, but if the caning was deliberately lenient, a hundred strikes would still only result in a flesh wound. It depended on whether the executioner understood the intention of the sentence giver, or whether the executed person’s silver could be balanced.

Anyone with discerning eyes could see that Feng Jianping did not really want to do anything to Yuan Mao, so he gave him a sloppy 20 strikes and got this matter over.

Yuan Mao's buttocks have blossomed into a flower*. Although his injuries were minor, they were in a critical position, and he had to lie on the bed with his stomach for some time.

Yuan Sikong knelt at his bedside and refused to get up. His eyes were red and swollen.

Yuan Shaoxu was so angry that he paced up and down the room repeatedly: "Who gave you the guts? Huh? Who gave you the guts! You got into this kind of big trouble. If it wasn't for King of Jingyuan's generosity, not to mention losing your life, father would have been implicated too!"

Yuan Sikong hung his head and didn’t say a word.

Yuan Mao waved his hand, "Shaoxu, let it pass. You go out." He glanced at Yue Qingshuang and Yuan Weiling, "All of you, get out."

"Father ..."

Yuan Shaoxu was about to say something else when Yuan Mao aggravated his tone, "Get out."

Yuan Shaoxu was so angry that he flung his sleeves and left.

In fact, Yuan Sikong knew that Yuan Shaoxu didn’t like him very much. Although Yuan Mao was ranked fifth in Qianhu, his annual salary was only one hundred and ninety shi*. He was an upright and outspoken man who had no extra "income". With a family to feed and several servants, daily expenses were not comfortably off, and feeding an extra mouth was no small burden.

Now that he had caused trouble, not only had Yuan Mao been caned, but he had also been fined three months' salary, which meant that they would not even be able to afford to buy charcoal for this coming winter.

So, Yuan Shaoxu had the rights to scold. It was all his fault.

Yuan Mao looked at Yuan Sikong and said helplessly, "Alright, get up."

Yuan Sikong shook his head and choked with sobs, "Father, punish me. Punish me for anything."

"The purpose of punishing you is to let you know your mistake. Don't you already know your mistake?" Yuan Mao said, "Get up."

Yuan Sikong still shook his head.

Yuan Mao simply stretched out his arms, squeezed his shoulders, lifted him up, and pulled him over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Yuan Sikong wiped his tears.

"Kong'er, remember when I first checked your background, you scored the child exam at the age of nine, which happened to be the year we met, right?"

"Yes."

"You also said something about your father not allowing you to take the exams for the next ten years."

Yuan Sikong nodded again.

"Do you know why?"

Yuan Sikong calmed himself down for a moment, "Even if my father hadn't said so, I wouldn't have gone. How could I transgress if my father didn't pass the civil examinations?"

Yuan Mao shook his head, "Do you think your father didn't let you take the exam for the sake of his face?"

Yuan Sikong blinked, not knowing what to say in reply. Indeed, he had always thought like this.

It was true that his father was hardworking and smart, but perhaps not hardworking or smart enough. There were thousands of scholars in the world. All of them were dreaming of "learning literature and martial arts, and then becoming a part of the emperor's family". Those who were able to join the imperial court were among the best of the best. But since young, he had always believed that one day, he would stand in the Hall of Preserving Harmony, face the Emperor's questions, quote the classics and answer fluently.

Yuan Mao stroked Yuan Sikong's hair and looked into his eyes quietly: "Kong'er, you are too clever, but your mind is still young, and you are not able to fully master such a heaven-given talent yet, so too much praise will destroy you. Your father was afraid that you would be arrogant and extravagant, got confused between right and wrong, enjoyed success at a young age and would not be able to observe and experience the suffering of common people. He was afraid you would think that you understood people's hearts but in fact you were blinded by a leaf*. Because you are still young, even if you have read a million books, you will not understand the human world until you have truly lived in it. If you were to score the imperial exam at a young age, you would indeed be in a great position, but the eunuch’s wings would tear you to pieces. Your father did this to protect you."

Yuan Sikong nodded in a daze and remembered his father's gentle and elegant appearance which was still so vivid after four years.

"This time, it was all thanks to King of Jingyuan's magnanimity. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. It's no big deal if you cut a dead horse, but you beat his son. That is the son of King of Jingyuan who controls 200,000 soldiers, do you understand?"

Yuan Sikong nodded again, "Father, I will never dare to be reckless again."

Yuan Mao sighed, "That Little Highness also had a promising future. Let's hope he's not someone who holds a grudge."

Yuan Sikong pursed his lips and hated that brat to death. If he hadn’t gone to the horse farm with nothing to do, wandered around and discovered him dissecting a horse carcass, there wouldn't have been so much trouble. He was indignant and muttered in a low voice, "Why did King of Jingyuan take him to war?"

"We also felt that it was inappropriate. We have inquired about it, and they said that Little Highness was raised by wolves and could understand wolf language, so King of Jingyuan took him with him for fear of getting lost."

Yuan Sikong was surprised: "Really?"

"It should be true. Fighting a war is not a joke. Otherwise, why would King of Jingyuan bring a small child to pursue the enemy?"

No wonder King of Jingyuan called him ‘Lang'er’ ...

"Alright, go keep Yu'er company. He must be bored out of his mind." Yuan Mao flopped back onto the pillow.

"I want to stay with father." Yuan Sikong moved closer to Yuan Mao and whispered, "Is father still in pain?"

"It's just a flesh wound. It’s alright. I’ll be fine after a few days of rest."

Yuan Sikong gently laid on Yuan Mao's broad back, "I want to stay with father." Although he usually never showed it, he was very dependent on Yuan Mao. That man who had held him in his arms four years ago, who had taken him away from hunger, cold and death, had held the sky above his head. When he was with Yuan Mao, he felt warm and at ease, as if the troubles in the world could not hurt him in the slightest.

Yuan Mao laughed lightly, "You always look like a young adult, but now you look like a child."

Yuan Sikong said softly, "Father, don't blame Kong'er. Kong'er will never make mistakes again."

"It's good that you know you're wrong. Father doesn't blame you anymore."

"When Kong'er grows up, I will definitely become a great official so that our family can live the best life."

Yuan Mao gave a "hmm", but there was some worry in his eyes.

"... Father."

"Yes?"

"It's going to be winter soon, and you've been fined three months' salary ...."

"This is not for you to worry about. You go and help Xu Hu finish the work. Each horse must be picked with care. You cannot be careless."

"I understand." Yuan Sikong blinked. His eyes were unusually bright in the dull light.

--

When Yuan Sikong came to the horse farm again, Xu Hu and Zhao Dayou both changed their attitude towards him and became more respectful. After all, he was the one who had beaten the King’s son and was given the right to dissect the horse’s corpse personally instead.

Zhao Dayou was glad and scared that he had escaped misfortune. He already thought that Yuan Sikong was someone who was going to achieve great things, and now he was even more convinced. As soon as he saw Yuan Sikong, he cottoned up to him, "Sikong, Uncle was really worried about you. Luckily, you turned calamities into blessings. If there’re any dead horses in the horse farm in the future, I’ll let you take care of them all.”

"Thank you, Uncle." Yuan Sikong said calmly, "Uncle, nephew still has a request."

"Go ahead, just say it."

"You also know that my father was fined three months' salary ..."

"No problem, it's a small matter, leave it to Uncle." Zhao Dayou said in a hurry.

"Uncle, you still don't know my father's temper. In all these years, has he ever taken a penny or a tael from you?"

"Then what you mean is ..."

"I follow Uncle Xu in raising horses, and Uncle also pays me monthly for my work. I want to advance some money from Uncle first to survive through this winter. In the future, Sikong will not take a penny when raising and healing horses."

"Sikong, you are very welcomed. I'll give you a hundred taels first. In future, I'll pay you for your work and consultation fees…Uh, no, I'll only pay half each time. Gradually, you would have paid back everything. Even if your father knew, it’s also reasonable and fair, am I right?”

"Thank you, Uncle. Sikong will only take twenty taels, so that I can explain to my father."

"Okay, I’ll listen to you."

Yuan Sikong bowed again with his hands folded in front, and Zhao Dayou hurriedly returned the greeting, feeling that this young man had a great mind and extraordinary temperament, and that one day he would soar above the sky sooner or later.

---

Yuan Sikong naturally didn’t give the silver directly to Yuan Mao, but to Yue Qingshuang, so that even if Yuan Mao knew about it, he would not be able to scold Yue Qingshuang, and these 20 taels would be enough to relieve the emergency of the depth of winter.

Although the matter had passed, Yuan Sikong did not dare to relax for a moment. King of Jingyuan had not left yet. That little brat Feng Ye obviously hated him and would not let him go just like this. As long as they did not leave, he would not be relieved.

Sure enough, three days later, Yuan Sikong was picking out his horse in the stables when he heard a particular sound of hooves behind him.

His heart tensed.

That was not the sound of the Liaodong horse’s hooves. Their horses’ horseshoes were all made of common iron, and the sound of knocking on the ground was crisp, but the sound of the hooves behind him was dull and heavy, which was the sound of sand iron. Xu Hu had said that there was only one army that could afford to use sand iron for their iron soles, and that was the Feng family army.

Yuan Sikong turned and laid prostrate on the ground. A bad feeling rose in his heart.

"Lift your head up." A childish and arrogant child's voice came from the top of his head, which sounded very unfriendly.

Yuan Sikong silently cursed, thinking that what had come would still come, so he slowly raised his head and called out respectfully and humbly, "Greetings to Young General."

Feng Ye was sitting on a strong, tall, and big horse. Although the bruises on his face had not yet cleared, he could still see the exquisite appearance and noble temperament. It’s just that the horse was too high for him that it had the comical appearance of a child wearing adult clothes, so he wondered how he could control it and whether he could get down.

Feng Ye frowned: "What do you mean by calling me Young General? Satirizing me?"

"I dare not." Yuan Sikong was just trying to flatter him. He could see that Feng Ye extremely admired his father.

"You are not allowed to call me Young General. I want to get the name of General by myself. It is not up to you to flatter me."

"I am aware of my sin." Yuan Sikong lowered his head, "I did not know that Little Highness was coming. Excuse me for not going out to meet you."

Feng Ye snorted coldly and looked at Yuan Sikong from above, "Don't give me that nonsense. Didn't you say that you dissected the horse to heal horses?"

"Yes."

"My horse is slightly ill today and has a low appetite, can you heal it?"

"I ... dare to give it a try."

Evil intentions flashed in Feng Ye's eyes: "Very well, there will be a reward for a good cure, but if not, I will punish you severely!"

 

----

PS: dare to punish your wife? You’ll feel heartbroken, tsk

 

buttocks have blossomed into a flower* [屁股开花] --- is a common phrase used when a person has been hurt from smacking buttocks

shi* [石] --- direct translation is 'stones'. 1 stone = 60kg, if we use the current rice market price (2.5 yuan = 0.5kg), so Yuan Mao’s salary, 190 stones = 57,000 yuan (USD 8744.07)

blinded by a leaf* [一叶障目]--- Confused by local phenomena and unable to see the big picture as a whole

 

Edited on 24 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

Edited on 29 Jun. 21 (Ari)

 

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