The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

"General Bai, I have something to tell you. It's not my place to say this, but..." Shen Tianjiao was still thinking about how to start the conversation so that she could save Bai Qishan's face and make it clear what she needed to say.

"Your Majesty, please speak frankly. Although I am a rough man, I can tell the difference between good words and bad words." Years of military life have made Bai Qishan a straightforward person. There is no need to be so roundabout when speaking in front of him, just be straightforward.

Shen Tianjiao took a deep breath and said, "Actually, what I want to talk about is General Bai's family affairs. General Bai, how should I put it?"

Shen Tianjiao is also a straightforward person. She is not good at dealing with people. What's more, she is talking about other people's family affairs. If she says the wrong thing by accident, she will offend people.

Seeing Shen Tianjiao's embarrassment, Bai Qishan laughed without any concern and said, "Your Majesty, you are talking about that unfilial son in my family, right?"

Although this was what she wanted to talk about, Shen Tianjiao still felt a little embarrassed when it was exposed in front of her.

"It is indeed my fault that I failed to discipline this unfilial son." Bai Qishan smiled helplessly. "I have been away from home fighting for many years and have been unable to take care of my family. At that time, I thought of letting my wife and the child stay in the capital. This way, not only will they be safe and secure, but we can also provide him with better conditions, so that he can study well and become a scholar in the future, unlike me, a mere warrior who knows nothing but fighting."

"But who would have thought that without my father's supervision, the child would become more and more naughty and disobedient day by day."

"I don't have many children. Besides this son, I only have a little daughter. So it's inevitable that my wife spoiled the child a little. As a woman in the inner chamber, she doesn't have much experience and doesn't know how to educate a child. So, the child got spoiled and became a rotten child."

"By the time I returned to Beijing to report on my work and stayed there, it was already too late to discipline him. Over the years, I've beaten him, scolded him, used violence, persuaded him earnestly, appealed to his emotions, and tried to reason with him. I've tried everything, but this kid just won't budge. I really don't have any way to deal with him. I don't know what sins I committed in my past life that I have a debt collector like him as my son in this life."

"As for the situation of General Yan's family, our two families are similar, but my wife is okay, she is just an ignorant woman, but his wife is powerful. She is the concubine's daughter of Taiyuan Governor Zhao Changyu. She has a fierce and unreasonable temper. In her early years in the army, she dared to fight with General Yan in front of everyone. So even if General Yan wants to discipline his son in his family, he may not have a chance."

Bai Qishan told all these things at once, not to shirk responsibility, but to let Shen Tianjiao have a general understanding and to prevent Shen Tianjiao from being confused by the cause and effect.

Shen Tianjiao nodded. She could understand what Bai Qishan said. Her father in her previous life was also a great general guarding a region. He had to go out to fight all the time, change guards, and handle various military affairs. He had no time to eat or sleep, so how could he have time to take care of his own children?

"General Bai, I'm not actually accusing you of not disciplining your son well today."

"What I want to say is that you should know the current situation in the capital better than I do. The situation will only get more serious in the future. I am also afraid that the regrettable incident like what happened to General Yan's family today will happen again, so I want to remind General Bai to discipline his son."

The situation in the capital will become more serious for a period of time in the future. Bai Qishan immediately caught the implication in Shen Tianjiao's words, which made him vaguely excited.

"Empress, what do you want?" Bai Qishan didn't dare to say it too bluntly and only dared to test it.

"Ah!" Shen Tianjiao didn't understand the meaning of Bai Qishan's words for a moment, but when she saw the look in Bai Qishan's eyes when he looked at her, she probably understood that General Bai had misunderstood her.

"General Bai, rest assured. I have no intention of overthrowing the Li family and taking their place. But you can see the current situation. The emperor is incompetent, arrogant, and extravagant. He has no ambition to make progress and no interest in state affairs. He only cares about hanging out in the harem."

"With an emperor like this, Yunli is in danger. Therefore, I will reshuffle the palace and the court. I want to hold power in my own hands and train a virtuous and wise ruler to replace Li Rui in governing Yunli."

"So, I need you and General Yan to be the knives in my hands, do you understand?"

"Your Majesty, I understand." Bai Qishan lowered his head, and the excitement in his heart instantly disappeared. He endured it again and again, and did not say his true thoughts. 'In fact, even if the Queen wants to take over, it is not impossible for me to become the Empress. Whoever is capable will be the boss. This is a matter of course.'

Shen Tianjiao looked up at Bai Qishan, thought for a moment and said, "General Bai, if you are willing, would you be willing to hand your son over to me?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Qishan actually grinned. He was truly lucky. He dropped to his knees with a thud, "On behalf of that unfilial son, Bai Yunchi, I kowtow to thank the Empress for her great kindness."

Looking at Bai Qishan kneeling on the ground, Shen Tianjiao felt so sorry for his knees. She felt sorry for the parents in the world. What kind of bastard is Bai Yunchi to force his old father to this point?

"General Bai, please stand up quickly." Shen Tianjiao gestured for Bai Qishan to get up quickly. "Should we go back and ask your son-in-law about this matter first to see if he agrees?"

"No need to ask him. His opinion is not important. It's enough that I agree." Bai Qishan stood up and waved his hand. This kind of good thing can't be found by chance. If you miss it, you won't even have a place to cry. There is no right for that little bastard to speak. It's enough for him, as a father, to agree.

Shen Tianjiao shook her head and smiled. "Okay, since General Bai has said so, then I'll be frank. Leave the young master to me. I will be responsible for having him trained to be a qualified general. However, until he changes, you and your wife must not meet with him privately, lest he give up halfway through the training because he can't bear the hardship."

"Also, no matter how I train him, you must not ask, let alone interfere. Please also comfort your wife."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I won't ask whether this brat lives or dies in your hands. I will also discipline the wife at home and will never let her interfere." The useless guy at home is finally going to become successful. Bai Qishan is grateful. He will not make trouble for the little bastard. How can it be so easy to become successful? Is there anything in the world that can be obtained without paying a price?

The Empress was a person who knew what was going on. She would never let that brat get into any danger. His request was simple: as long as he was alive and well, he wouldn't care about anything else. Without that brat around to annoy him, and someone willing to take care of him, he would wake up laughing even in his dreams.

"Okay, then it's settled." Shen Tianjiao thought of Yan Mingde and couldn't help but feel sad again. The pain of losing a son in old age is not something that ordinary people can bear. "After we find the youngest son of General Yan, if he is willing, bring him back and let him live with your son."

"Yes, I understand."

"Also, we must get to the bottom of Yan Jun'an's murder as soon as possible. General Yan is out there helping the country. We can't let him bleed and cry. We must give him an explanation." If the murder of Yan Jun'an is not investigated thoroughly, no one will have an easy life.

"I will find out the truth as soon as possible. No matter who the murderer is, I will find him out." Bai Qishan's expression suddenly changed, and he turned back into the decisive general.

Bai Qishan returned home early today, which was rare. When his wife Guo Jing saw him coming back so early, she thought something had happened.

"Master, why did you come back so early today?" Guo Jing looked at Bai Qishan's face and asked cautiously. She was really afraid that her disappointing son would cause trouble outside again and make her husband unhappy.

"Where is that brat?" Bai Qishan asked with a stern face.

"He has stayed at home these past few days and hasn't gone out. He hasn't gotten into any trouble." Seeing that her husband looked unhappy, Guo Jing quickly spoke up to defend her son.

"Hmph! Fortunately, he didn't go out these days. Otherwise, it would not be Yan Jun'an who was assassinated last night, but him." After calming down and thinking about it carefully, Bai Qishan was really scared. If Yan Jun'an's death was really manipulated by someone behind the scenes, then his son Bai Yunchi would probably not be able to escape this disaster.

"Master, what did you say?" Guo Jing turned pale with fear. "Who, who died?"

"Yan Jun'an was assassinated last night. I am investigating this matter. It's enough for you to know about it. Don't tell anyone else." Seeing that his wife's face turned pale, Bai Qishan relaxed his expression and lowered his voice.

Guo Jing came to her senses and reached out to support Bai Qishan, tears streaming down her face before she could say a word. Bai Qishan held Guo Jing in his arms and gently patted her back to comfort her. How could he not know what his wife was thinking? She was simply worried about their son.

"Don't cry, that brat will be fine. The Queen has granted him permission to serve in the palace today. As long as he's in the palace, those people won't dare to cause trouble for him even if they want to."

"Going to the palace to work?" Guo Jing raised her head from her husband's arms, looked at him in confusion and asked, "Why do you suddenly want Chi'er to go to the palace to work?"

"I've already told you, this is the Empress' grace. It's very unsafe outside now. Yan Jun'an is dead, and no one can say whether that brat will be next. Letting him serve in the palace is to protect his personal safety. Otherwise, he'd be useless as a deputy who can't lift a shoulder or carry a weight, and wouldn't be able to do anything at all. If he really met someone who wanted to kill him, would he have the strength to resist? Wouldn't that be sending him to die in vain?"

Bai Qishan deliberately made the matter sound more serious, only in this way his wife would not stop him and he could bring Bai Yunchi into the palace smoothly.

After hearing what her husband said, Guo Jing calmed down. As a mother, she knew her son very well. If he really encountered danger and he didn't even have the ability to protect himself, he would really die in vain. "Well, then, send him to the palace to serve."

Seeing that Guo Jing had agreed, Bai Qishan breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Serving in the palace is different from being anywhere else. You still have to abide by the rules. And I haven't caught the mastermind behind Yan Junan's murder yet, so for safety's sake, it's best not to meet that brat after he enters the palace."

"Can't meet? Why can't we meet?" Sending her son to the palace to work was fine, but not being able to meet was unbearable for Guo Jing. "How can he be sent to the palace to work, but not even allowed to meet? How can this be possible?"

"It's just that we can't meet for the time being. If the mastermind behind this is not found out, his safety will not be guaranteed. Meeting him will increase the danger of exposing him. Wouldn't that be a waste of the Queen's efforts?" Bai Qishan, the big liar, seized the weakness of his wife and continued his career of deceiving people.

Guo Jing calmed down and thought about it. Indeed, nothing was more important than her son's life right now. It wasn't like they would never see each other again. For the sake of her son's life, what did it matter? She could just bear it and it would pass.

"Okay, I'll do as you say. I won't see him then." As long as her son was safe and sound, she could endure anything.

Seeing that he had fooled his wife, Bai Qishan was finally relieved. He was not afraid of anything in his life except his wife's tears. If she cried endlessly, her tears could drown him.

"Go, call that boy over here. I have a lot of things to tell him."

Soon Guo Jing came with her son Bai Yunchi. Bai Yunchi had just woken up and was still dizzy. How could he know what fate was about to befall him?

Seeing Bai Yunchi's lazy look, Bai Qishan was furious, but thinking that this brat was about to go to the palace to suffer, he endured it and did not lose his temper.

Guo Jing tugged at Bai Yunchi's sleeve, and Bai Yunchi, who was yawning, finally reacted. He quickly stood up straight, saluted his father, and shouted, "Dad, your son is here."

"Yeah." Bai Qishan looked at his son standing in front of him, and rarely did he lose his temper and scold him.

Bai Yunchi, who had waited for a long time but didn't get scolded by his father, raised his head and looked at his father in horror. His heart was pounding and he had a very bad premonition.

Ever since he was little, Bai Yunchi hadn't been afraid of his father scolding him; he'd been afraid of his father being kind to him. After his father scolded him, nothing would happen. But if his father stopped scolding him, he'd be in big trouble. This meant his father was either gathering enough strength to beat him up, or had come up with some new trick to deal with him. The thought of this made Bai Yunchi's legs weaken.