The next day, Tao Yuan once again walked into the room where King Shan Jia was locked up. King Shan Jia was thrown in the corner with his hands and feet tied up.
Hearing a sound, King Shan Jia opened his eyes with some difficulty. When he saw Tao Yuan, his heart sank, because he didn't know what he had said yesterday.
Tao Yuan looked at this strong man pitifully curled up in the corner. It's really hard to imagine that he is the famous bandit leader, the King of Shan Jia.
"I'm here to inform you that at this time, your mother, your wife and son, and those bandits in the city, should have all been arrested."
"It's my choice to be a bandit! It has nothing to do with them, they are innocent. Now the law no longer connects family, and you can't punish innocent people!" King Shan Jia said excitedly.
"You still know the law?" Tao Yuan wanted to laugh out loud. "You, a bandit leader, are telling me about the law? This is really the funniest joke I have ever heard. Sure enough, this is human nature. A bandit who regards disregards human life will even preach the law when their relatives need protection."
The smile on Tao Yuan's face suddenly disappeared, and he looked at Shan Jia with a cold expression, "Your relatives are humans, and those who were brutally murdered by you are not humans? Besides, are they innocent? You made it clear yesterday. Your mother was a bandit when she was young. I'm afraid that she killed no less people than you, right? Why can she have peace of mind in her old age? Your son can kill at the age of twelve or thirteen. Weren't you quite proud? Now he's innocent?"
King Shan Jia closed his eyes, feeling unprecedented despair in his heart. He was born a bandit, and he started killing at a few years old, knowing that he would not have a good ending. But he just wanted to let his wife and son lead a normal life, so he was willing to endure anything. Having known this long ago, he shouldn't have let his wife and son participate.
Tao Yuan came closer and looked down at him, "Those who were killed by you asked me to avenge them. You bandits can't have a better life. Your mother, your wife, and your son, none of them will have a good end. I have prepared some good things for them. At that time, people will serve them secretly, so that they can't survive and die. This way you can understand the pain you gave to others."
"You... I really didn't know you were so vicious!" King Shan Jia didn't even have the strength to grit his teeth. For the first time in his life, he felt the pain of powerlessness and being slaughtered. He was not afraid of death, even if the sword falls, he will not blink. He would rather die a thousand times or even ten thousand times for his wife and son, just so they can have a good life.
"My favorite method is using violence to control violence and evil to control evil. If I don't let you feel it personally, how could you understand the pain of others?"
Tao Yuan turned and strode out. He told the soldiers guarding outside, "Hang him on the tree under the mountain and see how many bandits will come. If they come one by one you won't have to work so hard looking for them in the mountains."
"Yes!" The soldiers walked into the house and dragged King Shan Jia out.
Tao Yuan left the temple to look for He Liyuan, just as Ning Haobo walked in. Tao Yuan, as usual, ignored his existence and prepared to walk away.
"Ruqing." Ning Haobo called out suddenly.
Tao Yuan looked at him in surprise. What's wrong with his medicine to make Ning Haobo call him?
"I..." Ning Haobo didn't know what he wanted to say. He just called his name on an impulse. He didn't know if it was because of that dream, but in the past two days he couldn't help thinking about Ruqing. He still loved Wen Han, and now there were two people in his heart at the same time. This made him feel very pained and confused.
Tao Yuan saw him hesitating and saying nothing. He was too impatient to wait for him and left directly.
Ning Haobo turned around and watched his back, wondering what it was. He couldn't tell whether he was too envious of He Liyuan or really wanted to live with Tao Yuan.
He Liyuan was writing a report in the camp. Tao Yuan walked over to him, sat down, and leaned his head on He Liyuan's shoulder, "When all the bandits are caught and the archaeologists enter the mountain, can we go back?"
"Why, are you homesick?" He Liyuan rested his forehead on Tao Yuans's face.
"First of all, grandma and mother must miss us too. We are deep in the mountain, and we can't call them or anything."
"We will go back soon. The military area telegraphed that the archaeologists are already on their way. Let us catch all the bandits as soon as possible and kill those who are strongly resisting so not to waste time. Other troops will come to escort the cultural relics down the mountain. After the other troops come our mission will be over."
Tao Yuan nodded, "I'm going to gather some herbs to bring home. I must hurry up to gather them before the other troops come."
Tao Yuan grabbed herbs as well as some poisonous weeds to take home. The ingredients in some poisons can be used for antibodies if used well.
Before Tao Yuan came, he had already talked to the dean about planting herbs. Wild ones were good, but there are not enough of the rare medicinal materials to meet demand. In order to make medicine for more people you need more raw materials.
The dean supported his idea very much, saying that he would discuss with the Pharmaceutical Bureau in detail and discuss a plan for planting the herbs.
Tao Yuan had the soldiers set a few traps for the bandits, and they caught a few who took the initiative to die. The bandits probably thought that they were masters of traps, and Tao Yuan wouldn't be able to catch them, so they did not take it seriously. As a result, all those who came were caught, and then there was no one who dared to come again.
They succeeded in finding the cultural relics according to King Shan Jia's confession and eliminated the danger. Now they were just waiting for the archaeologists to come and transport the cultural relics away.
The mission of the two squadrons has ended. After handing over the cultural relics to the other troops they are ready to go home.
The soldiers were already marching in the front, and He Liyuan helped Tao Yuan slowly descend the mountain. When they reached the bottom of the mountain, He Liyuan wanted to carry him. Tao Yuan didn't refuse this time, so He Liyuan immediately squatted and let Tao Yuan climb on his back.
Tao Yuan slept in the car all the way back to the Capital Military Reigion. He Liyuan thought he was just tired from picking medicine, and carefully held him in his arms, trying to make him comfortable.
After returning to the military area, Tao Yuan went home first while He Liyuan had to go give a report. Those cultural relics are very important. They successfully wiped out all the bandits and caught the bandits who were mixing in with the common people pretended to be innocent. They are owed a great amount of credit.
Old Mrs. He and Su Lan were waiting in the yard. When they heard the sound of a car parking, Su Lan immediately helped old Mrs. He walk towards the gate.
"Ruqing!" Seeing Tao Yuan get out of the car, Su Lan asked her helper to help the old lady, walked towards Tao Yuan quickly, and hugged him, "You're back. Did you suffer a lot in the mountains?"
"Mom, grandma, I'm back." Tao Yuan looked at them with a smile.
"You came back safely." Mrs. He nodded and said, "Hurry up and rest in the house. You must be exhausted after taking the car the entire way."
"I slept the entire way, and Brother Liyuan kept holding me so I'm not very tired." Tao Yuan slowly followed them into the room.
"How can you sleep well when the car was constantly moving? You child, you know how to comfort us." Su Lan took Tao Yuan's hand and said, "I had the kitchen prepare meals for you knowing that you were coming back today. Take a rest, and then go back to the room to sleep well. There is no good food and no good place to sleep on that mountain. I can tell that your face has gotten thinner."
"Is it thinner?" Old Mrs. He said distressedly. "Now that you're back can make up for it and get some meat on you."
Tao Yuan touched his stomach and said, "I want to fix it."
Tao Yuan sat down at the dining table, with Mrs. He and Su Lan sitting on either side watching him eat.
"It's not convenient to send something into the deep mountains. Those soldiers eat military rations, and you must not be used to it. Even if you can cook some noodles and rice, there is no good food to eat. The clear soup was too watery. You must have been really hungry, right?" Su Lan looked at him and asked.
"The food was okay. At first, the militia gave us a few goats, but the soldiers didn't know how to cook them. The smell was too strong, and I couldn't get used to it. Later, I simply made roasted whole lamb by myself, and the soldiers loved it. I bought it myself and made it for them to eat. Every other day or two I had a meal of roast lamb and lamb soup, and occasionally chicken and pork. There are also a lot of game in the mountains, such as pheasant and wild boar. I made two meals using snake meat. I also brought back a lot of matsutake and Ganoderma lucidum. The matsutake was grilled over charcoal fire and sprinkled with a little seasoning. It was fragrant and delicious. I will make it for you tomorrow."
Su Lan and Mrs. He glanced at each other, patted Tao Yuan's hand and said, "We can eat anytime. You should rest for the next few days first, so that you can recuperate."
Tao Yuan nodded, "I want to take a good rest. Originally, I was thinking that I would go to the hospital to work more after I came back, but that won't work for the time being. I might have to tell the dean that I'll be going to the hospital a little less for the next few months. I should prepare him."
"A few months?" Su Lan was confused at first, and then asked worriedly "Are you not feeling well?"
"I'm not unwell." Tao Yuan shook his head and said, "I'm pregnant, and my belly is going to get bigger, so I must rest more."
"You...what did you say?!" Su Lan's eyes widened, fearing that she had misheard.
"I said I was pregnant." Tao Yuan said calmly, "I checked myself. I am in good health and my baby is healthy. I just need to rest more."
"You're pregnant?!" Su Lan looked at Mrs. He and to confirm, "Mom, is Ruqing saying he is pregnant? Am I dreaming?!"
"Well, it seems like it." The old lady He was also wondering if she was dreaming.
"Grandma, Mom, I'm really pregnant. You are not dreaming." Tao Yuan said.
"I'm going to be a grandmother? I'm going to be a grandmother! I'll call Huaimin and tell him the good news!" Su Lan ran to the living room excitedly.
"Blessed Buddha. I can actually see my great-grandson, Amitabha, Blessed Buddha!" Old lady He put her hands together and kept chanting Buddha.
"Lao He, this time your family's He Liyuan has made another great achievement!" The Brigade Commander said to He Huaimin. "He found the cultural relics so smoothly and caught all the bandits among the common people. Your daughter-in-law has also done a great job!"
"This is a good example of a husband and wife working together."
"Isn't it? We didn't expect that they could complete the task so quickly."
"It's not a big deal. The point is that no soldiers died! I was thinking, if the soldiers could survive every battle and mission, it would be the greatest blessing!"
"Yes..." The Brigade Commander nodded, feeling very emotional.
He Huaimin was very happy when he heard them praise his son and daughter-in-law, although his face remained calm.
"Report!" A soldier walked to the door and said, "Commander He, you have a call from home."
"Did they say what is was about?" He Huaimin asked.
"No, they just said you to answer the phone as soon as possible. They sounded anxious." The soldier replied.
"Could something be wrong? Go pick it up," the Brigade Commander said.
He Huaimin strode out.
"Hey, it's me." He Huaimin picked up the phone and said.
"What, really?!" He Huaimin widened his eyes and said, "Great! Okay, okay, I know. You just tell them. I'll talk about it when I get back. I'm in a meeting here, okay."
"Is everything ok? Nothing happened at home, right?" The Brigade Commander looked at He Huaimin's face. It looked as if he was quite happy, not as if something major had happened.
"My daughter-in-law is pregnant." He Huaimin had a smile that couldn't be hidden on his face. As he sat down he said, "My wife couldn't wait for me to go back to tell me about it and called specifically. I'm really sorry to take everyone's time.
"You old boy! Doesn't your heart feel wonderful? You're still pretending to be so serious!" The person next to him clapped his back.
"Congratulations, Lao He! We are all grandpas now, but we can't keep up with you."
"You, when my father is ahead of me, and my grandfather is ahead of me, why are you so lucky?"
"This is a happy event, so you have to invite us to drink!"
"Don't worry, wine is indispensable for you, and I promise to let you drink enough." He Huaimin said proudly.
When He Liyuan got home in the evening, it was quite late. He saw the entire family, except for Tao Yuan, chatting excitedly. He was quite puzzled, wondering what had happened today to keep them up so late. They can't be so happy just because they returned home today, right?
"You're back?" Su Lan said with a smile. "We were discussing how to help you hold a wedding with Ruqing. When Ruqing entered the family you were still unconscious, so we didn't hold a wedding. Now we have to prepare it well to make up for you."
"Oh, okay." He Liyuan nodded and said, "You be responsible for preparing it, and Ruqing and I will be responsible for participating."
"Isn't that what we're going to do? Could we still count on you to prepare?" Su Lanbai said with a glance, "You go to sleep. We're going to be up for a while discussing the wedding. We can talk tomorrow."
"Then I'll go back to my room and sleep." He Liyuan had just sat down and was standing up again. He also just wanted to go back to the room to rest soon.
"Ruqing is pregnant and needs more rest. Be quit, so you don't wake him up." Su Lan asked.
"What?" He Liyuan looked at his mother. The feet that were about to step out immediately stopped moving.
"Be quite, so you don't wake up Ruqing." Su Lan said again.
"No, what did you say about Ruqing in the previous sentence?"
"I said he's pregnant." Su Lan looked at him. She saw his stunned look and asked puzzled, "Don't you know? Didn't Ruqing tell you?"
He Liyuan didn't answer, and strode to his room.
Su Lan loudly said to him, "You let him sleep well. Don't wake him up."
Being in the mountains is naturally not as comfortable as being at home. Although Tao Yuan didn't feel too tired at first, he quickly fell asleep when he lay on the bed and smelled the freshly washed quilt.
He Liyuan cautiously entered the room, went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Then he put on his pajamas lifted the quilt and got into bed. He gently hugged Tao Yuan from behind, being careful not to wake him up, and then placed his large palm on Tao Yuan's lower abdomen.
He Liyuan thought to himself, it is amazing that their child was already nestled here. Did this little thing in his stomach already have a shape? It will definitely be difficult for his stomach to grow bigger day by day.
He Liyuan kissed Tao Yuan and thought that he would only give birth to this one time, and not get pregnant again.
The whole family knew that Tao Yuan was pregnant, only He Liyuan was the last to know. Even his uncles who were assigned to other locations knew earlier than him. It was the day before Tao Yuan came back that he found out that he was pregnant. He didn't want He Liyuan to worry about him all the way home, so Tao Yuan didn't tell him. He planned to tell He Liyuan as soon as they came back anyway. Su Lan thought he must have already known, and she had notified all the people who should be notified, except that the expectant father had not been notified.
When Tao Yuan woke up, it was almost noon. He Liyuan had gone to the army early in the morning. He was going to discuss vacation arrangements with the captain because he and Tao Yuan were about to hold a wedding.
Su Lan was making a guest list in the living room of who to send wedding invitations to first. Seeing Tao Yuan coming out, she smiled and said, "Are you awake? Are you hungry?"
"A little bit." Tao Yuan touched his stomach.
"First have something to eat, then call your grandpa and dad to tell them. I will visit them tomorrow to discuss the wedding." Su Lan said.
"Okay." Tao Yuan nodded, and then asked, "Brother Liyuan came back last night?"
"He came back." Su Lan said, "He didn't know you were pregnant?"
"I didn't have time to tell him." Tao Yuan said with a smile.
"No wonder. I guessed you hadn't told him yet when I saw his reaction." Su Lan shook her head. He Liyuan's reaction was a bit funny.
After eating breakfast, Tao Yuan was about to call his father. Then after thinking about it again, he realized that he hadn't gone back for a long time, so he should go visit and tell them.
"Mom, I will go and sleep at my old house tonight. I will come back with you and Dad after you visit tomorrow." Tao Yuan said.
"That sounds good." Su Lan nodded and said, "You haven't gone back for a long time. It's time to go back and see your grandfather and your dad. Let the driver take you there. Give your grandfather and dad the things you brought back from the mountains. After all, you picked it with your own hands."
"Okay, then I'll go and get ready." Tao Yuan got up and went to prepare gifts to bring back to his family.
Grandfather Yue and father already knew about Tao Yuan's pregnancy. After Su Lan called He Huaimin, she called them and told them about Tao Yuan's pregnancy. They just don't know yet that Tao Yuan and He Liyuan are going to have a wedding. Su Lan and the others were up all night chatting and decided to have a make up wedding.
Tao Yuan wanted to give them a surprise, so he went straight there without telling them in advance.
Grandfather Yue and father were naturally very happy to see him coming back, and immediately ordered the kitchen to cook his favorite dishes. Then they took him to sit down and asked about his condition and whether he was uncomfortable due to the pregnancy.
Tao Yuan answered them one by one, and then told them about life in the mountains and about the bandits.
Grandpa Yue and father were really relieved. They originally had a Chongxi and agreed that it would be a fake marriage. But later Tao Yuan cured He Liyuan, and neither intended to divorce. In their hearts, they were actually a little worried.
Tao Yuan had come back several times before, and told them that He Liyuan was very kind to him to reassure them. But they couldn't help but worry that He Liyuan would miss his ex-fiancee and could not live with Tao Yuan. Now that Tao Yuan is pregnant, and hearing him talk about it, He Liyuan has no ex-fiancée in his heart, so they are truly relieved.
"Whatever you want to eat or need, just call home, no matter how hard it is for you to find something, dad will definitely find a way to get it for you," said his father.
"I know Dad. If I need it, I will definitely tell you." Tao Yuan said, "By the way, I will sleep here tonight, and my parents-in-law will come over tomorrow and talk to you about the wedding."
"A wedding ceremony?" Father and Grandpa Yue looked at each other, then looked at Tao Yuan, "Is the He family helping you make up the wedding with He Liyuan?"
"Yes." Tao Yuan nodded. "My mother-in-law said that the two families should do it together, so she contacted the largest restaurant in the capital and invited everyone from the two families."
"That's not bad." Father said to Grandpa Yue, "We have always regretted that we didn't have a banquet and married Ruqing in a hurry. There must be some gossip about it. We should take this opportunity. Our family and He's family will work together to host a big event. We can invite all our friends and family to have a good meal, and it'll be a lively occasion."
Grandpa Yue naturally agrees very much, "Send a telegram to Rufeng and ask him to come back quickly to attend Ruqing's wedding."
"Okay, I'm going now."
Both the Yue family and the He family were wealthy. The Yue family was originally a big merchant family, the last thing they lacked was money, and the supplement formulas Tao Yuan gave them earned them even more. He's family was a big family long ago, whose ancestral wealth was enough to squander for several generations. Old Mrs. He and Su Lan are also big family ladies. Their dowry alone is enough to support two or three generations.
Both families are not short of money, and no one can treat their children badly, not to mention that Tao Yuan is still pregnant with a little one in his belly. So they are planning to hold a grand wedding, letting relatives and friends know that their children will have good days in the future.