Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

“Little Yu, Little Yu? Are you alright?”

Luo Yu struggled to open his eyes. The faces of his father and mother were close to the sickbed, filled with worry.

Hiss…

Although the wound on his left shoulder had been bandaged, waves of stinging pain still pulsed through it.

“The Qiang soldiers… what about the Qiang soldiers? Is everyone safe?”

The moment Luo Yu regained consciousness, he didn’t care about himself; instead, he was concerned for others.

Wu Chengliang’s nose soured with emotion. He comforted him softly, “Rest assured, everyone is okay. The bandits have been driven off.

“But you… Why did you risk your life like that? Fortunately, the blade missed your vital organs and only damaged flesh and muscle. You just need to rest well for a few days.”

“Yu’er, you scared Mother to death!”

Luo Yunshu’s eyes were red-rimmed.

“If something happened to you, what would Mother do?”

“Hehe, Mother, I’m fine.”

Luo Yu forced a grin. “As long as Mother is safe, your son is at peace.”

Wu Chengliang stood up and looked coldly at Madam Chang.

“Yu’er took a sword for you this time and nearly lost his life. If you still want to stop the two of them from entering the Manor, isn’t that biting the hand that feeds you?”

The atmosphere tensed up again. Wu Rubai quietly tugged at the corner of his mother’s clothes from behind.

“Hmph!”

Chang Rushuang let out a cold snort, but the look she gave Luo Yu finally held a trace of softness.

“I owe you a life for this. Letting you mother and son enter the Manor is not impossible.”

Luo Yu was delighted; he hadn’t taken that sword in vain.

“Don’t celebrate too early. Listen to me first.”

Madam Chang continued:

“Your father started as a lowly company commander. He campaigned for thirty years, hovering at the gates of hell countless times before becoming the Great General of the East he is today.

“I, Chang Rushuang, bore him four sons. All of them joined the army. My third and fourth sons… they died on the battlefield before they were even eighteen.”

Madam Chang paused here, her eyes reddening as the image of her fallen sons surfaced in her mind. Luo Yunshu and Luo Yu’s pupils contracted; they hadn’t known of such a past.

Luo Yunshu felt a stinging in her nose. As a mother herself, she knew what kind of bone-deep pain that must be.

The white-haired burying the black-haired, there was no tragedy greater than this.

Madam Chang inadvertently wiped the corner of her eye, and her tone turned cold once more.

“I say these things to tell you that the Wu family is full of loyal martyrs. Our men are indomitable heroes. Whether a legitimate son or a bastard, if you want to enter the Wu family’s gate, you must be worthy of the name Wu!

“Trash and cowards, even if they were my own flesh and blood, would be driven out of the house!

“Because you took a sword for me, I can allow your mother to enter the Manor. But you… not yet.

“Right now, the Western Qiang army is pressing on the border, and the fires of war fill the sky. The Longxi Border Pass is conscripting soldiers across the region. If you want to enter the Wu family’s gate, you must rely on your own ability to carve out a name for yourself in the frontier with real swords and spears.

“If you cannot do this, it proves you are not fit to be a member of the Wu family.”

After saying this, she turned to look at Luo Yunshu.

“Do not blame me for being cruel. The Wu family is a military lineage; our sons must be like this. My four sons were also sent to the border when they were teenagers to struggle and survive on their own.

“Although it pains a mother’s heart, only in this way can they be qualified to be the iron-blooded sons of the Wu Clan.”

Luo Yunshu was extremely reluctant to part with him, but since Madam Chang’s sons were treated the same way, what could she say?

“Luo Yu. It is a good name, but I wonder if you are ambitious enough to live up to it.”

Madam Chang spoke calmly, “I will take your mother to the capital and seek famous doctors to treat her. If she loses even half a hair, you can hold me accountable.

“Five years. I will give you only five years. As long as you can become a general of a city on the Longxi border, that is, a fifth-rank official, I will consider you qualified. At that time, I, Chang Rushuang, will not stop you from entering the Wu Residence, and your mother will naturally have her title.

“But if you cannot do it, then please take your mother far away from the Wu family. Your father cannot afford to lose that face.”

“Isn’t that a bit too harsh?”

Wu Chengliang frowned.

“He has no official rank and has never been on the battlefield. To become a fifth-rank general in five years… do you know how difficult that is?”

“If he fears difficulty, then don’t enter the Wu family’s gate!”

Madam Chang’s tone was resolute.

“Beacon fires burn across the Seven Nations; the mountains and rivers are shattered. Cowards do not deserve to live in this world! ‘Why should a man not wield the Wu hook to trample the beacon smoke and pacify the Nine Provinces.’ Those were his own words!”

“I accept!”

Luo Yu clenched his fists.

“Five years, it is. I ask Father and Madam Chang to treat my mother well!”

“Yu’er, the border is too dangerous!”

Luo Yunshu still couldn’t bear it. Having lived on the frontier for so many years, how could she not know the cruelty of the battlefield? Who could bear to throw the son they had raised from childhood into the meat grinder of war?

“It’s okay, Mother. Your son can do it.”

Luo Yu broke into a bright smile.

“The Five-Year Pact… It’s settled!”

A cavalry unit of fifty men stood amid the vast yellow sands. Their iron armor glinted with a cold light, and their sabers and spears were awe-inspiring. Today, Wu Chengliang would take Luo Yunshu and depart for the capital.

Luo Yu stood by the roadside, carrying a bundle on his back, his left shoulder still injured. Luo Yunshu was giving him a thousand instructions and ten thousand warnings, full of reluctance. They did not know when they would meet again after this parting.

Wu Chengliang spoke with earnest gravity, “Father has already told you everything that needs to be said last night. You must walk the road ahead on your own; the Wu family will not give you any assistance.”

Wu Rubai seemed to quite like this younger brother. He patted Luo Yu on the shoulder.

“The sons of the Wu family are no cowards.”

Last night, the father and two sons had talked through the night, discussing many things.

“I understand.”

Luo Yu cupped his fists gently.

“Father, Mother, Elder Brother, please rest assured. Yu’er will not disappoint you.”

“Yunshu, let’s go.”

Wu Chengliang gently took Luo Yunshu’s arm.

“A good man should have ambitions of a thousand miles. Since he wants to become a member of the Wu family, this is a path he must walk.”

Amid the sobs, Luo Yunshu was helped into the carriage. However, Luo Yu called out to stop Madam Chang.

“Madam Chang, may I borrow a moment for a few words?”

“Oh? You have something to say to me?”

Madam Chang was very curious. In Luo Yu’s eyes, she should be a wicked shrew who made things difficult for him at every turn. Was he going to bid her farewell?

“Madam Chang has good methods.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Qiang soldiers who ambushed the camp… You hired people to impersonate them, didn’t you?”

Luo Yu’s mouth curved up slightly.

“I have to admit, it was a good show. But since they were pretending to be Qiang soldiers, they should have at least changed their weapons. Why were they still equipped with the Wu family’s long swords?”

“You…”

A look of both shock and confusion appeared on Madam Chang’s face. Her gaze tightened.

“Since you saw through it, why did you still take that sword for me?”

Luo Yu spread his hands.

“I only noticed it when the long sword pierced my shoulder. If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have blocked it. I took a sword for nothing.

“You used a sleeping draft and called it poison to see if I had filial piety. You sent people to pose as assassins to see if I had a man’s courage and if I treated you, Madam, as family.

“Am I right?”

“Haha!”

Madam Chang suddenly laughed.

“You really are Wu Chengliang’s son. You have guts, vision, and courage. But more than that, you have a pure heart. I suddenly find myself liking you a little. Not bad.”

“Madam flatters me.”

Luo Yu smiled. “Father secretly told me in private that Madam Chang has a knife’s mouth but a tofu heart, and told me not to hold a grudge against you.”

“That Old Wu… he’s really rebelling against me!”

Madam Chang spoke with anger tinged with jealousy.

“It seems he truly loves you, mother and son. Oh well, one more mouth to feed in the family will make it livelier.”

The atmosphere instantly relaxed significantly.

Luo Yu bowed respectfully with deep sincerity.

“I entrust my mother to Madam’s care. Luo Yu is endlessly grateful.”

“Don’t worry!”

Madam Chang lifted the carriage curtain and looked back at Luo Yu.

“Don’t forget, if you fail to complete the pact, your mother will be swept out the door. A manly man should hold up the sky for his own mother! Do not rely on the charity of others.

“If you complete the pact, I, Chang Rushuang, will personally welcome you into the General’s Manor. If you die on the battlefield, I will bring your mother to collect your body! Your spirit tablet will be placed right next to my sons!”

“It’s a promise!”

Luo Yu shouted loudly toward the slowly departing convoy.

“Five years! The name Luo Yu will shake the world!”

NOTES

White-haired burying the black-haired: A tragic Chinese idiom describing parents outliving their children.

Knife’s mouth but a tofu heart: An idiom describing someone who speaks harshly or cruelly but is actually soft-hearted and kind underneath.

💝 Support the Team

possible odoabuchi

✍️ Translator

☕ Buy Me a Coffee