Longevity by Picking up Attributes in the Battlefield

Chapter 361: Chapter 163: Father and Daughter Reunited! Mrs. Zhao’s Hardships!

"Mother, do you know Doctor Xia?" Zhao Feng turned and asked his mother.

"I do." Mrs. Zhao nodded, a surge of emotion visible in her eyes.

"Doctor Xia, the foremost among physicians... Mother can also be considered his disciple," Mrs. Zhao said, trying to suppress the panic in her heart and feigning calm.

"No wonder your medical skills are so exceptional, having been taught by Doctor Xia."

"Then Doctor Xia really did come to the right place this time," Zhao Feng said with a smile.

Just then, a figure came hastening over. "Feng, my boy," he called out with a laugh upon seeing Zhao Feng.

Joy filled Zhao Feng’s eyes. "Mr. Wu."

"It’s been four years."

"I’ve only just returned and haven’t had the chance to visit you yet."

Zhao Feng held Wu Lizheng in the highest regard. His family had always been under Wu Lizheng’s care; without him, they would have had no land to farm, and his mother could never have raised him and his sister alone.

"As long as you’re back," Wu Lizheng said with a smile. "Honestly, when you went to war, I was truly worried something might happen to you. But now you’re back, and you’ve even become a Great General. I’m so happy for you."

He had always regarded Zhao Feng and his sister as his own grandchildren.

"Mr. Wu, I will never forget your great kindness to our family," Zhao Feng declared firmly.

Seeing Zhao Feng like this, Wu Lizheng smiled with satisfaction. "I heard you’ve come back. Many folks from outside the mansion want to see you, to express their gratitude."

"Gratitude for what?" Zhao Feng asked, looking puzzled.

"Brother," Zhao Ying said with a smile. "We distributed those titles and lands you were awarded to the villagers to farm. We only collected a symbolic rent, and because of you, the villagers have all started to prosper."

Hearing this, Zhao Feng smiled and nodded. "These are trifles. There’s no need for such a fuss."

"It may be a trifle to you, but it’s a great kindness to the villagers," Wu Lizheng suggested. "Go and meet them."

"Alright." Zhao Feng nodded, then turned to Xia Wuqie and said, "Mother, please make arrangements for Doctor Xia. I will go see the villagers first."

Mrs. Zhao nodded lightly.

"Ying’er, let’s go back to our rooms first," Wang Yan said with a smile, holding the hands of the two little ones as she spoke to Zhao Ying. "It seems Mother has something to discuss with Doctor Xia."

Even though she had left the military, Wang Yan still possessed keen observational skills. She had noticed her mother-in-law’s strange expression the moment she saw Xia Wuqie.

It seems as though there’s some secret between them.

To give the two some privacy, Wang Yan decisively steered Zhao Ying away as well. Wang Yan could also sense that her mother-in-law and Xia Wuqie truly knew each other.

Considering Mother-in-law’s medical skills, she could very well be a disciple of Doctor Xia. Even if not, there must be some connection.

"Sister-in-law," Zhao Ying said happily, "come with me," leading her sister-in-law into the mansion.

Now, only Mrs. Zhao and Xia Wuqie were left, facing each other.

After a long silence, Mrs. Zhao sighed. "Come with me."

Xia Wuqie didn’t speak, quietly following her.

Soon, the father and daughter arrived at the original thatched cottage and small courtyard of the Zhao Mansion. Even though a grander mansion had been built, Mrs. Zhao had always lived in this humble cottage.

Once they were alone, Mrs. Zhao knelt directly before Xia Wuqie.

"Father," she said, her eyes brimming with tears. "Your daughter has been unfilial."

Seeing this, Xia Wuqie hurriedly stepped forward to help her up.

"Dong’er," he said gently, "what are you talking about? You haven’t been unfilial; it’s Father who failed to protect you. Everything is my fault. If I had been able to protect you back then, none of this would have happened.

"You have suffered all these years.

"Father is so sorry."

Xia Wuqie, too, was overcome with tears as he looked at his daughter, immediately holding her tightly.

"Father," she sobbed, "for twenty-one years I haven’t been by your side to serve you. Your daughter has been unfilial.

"Even knowing you were in Xianyang, I dared not visit, which is even more unfilial.

"Your daughter..."

At this, Mrs. Zhao could hold back no longer, and tears streamed down her face.

The father and daughter had a thousand words to say to each other, but Xia Wuqie already understood the reasons behind it all. He had witnessed it all firsthand—the darkness that festered beneath the powerful. He knew all too well that if his daughter hadn’t hidden here, she would not have survived, nor would his grandson have been able to grow to this age.

"Zhao Feng and Zhao Ying are the Great King’s children, aren’t they?" Xia Wuqie ventured to ask.

So many years had passed, and Xia Wuqie still wanted to confirm it. Although the timing fit and the ages matched, he knew that when Zhao Feng became a general, the Heibing Plarform had dug up everything about him and found no issues. His father was recorded as an old soldier from Changping who had died for the country, while Zhao Feng’s mother was just an ordinary woman from Sha Village.

"Yes." Mrs. Zhao nodded. "When I fled to Shaqiu, I was already pregnant."

"Then why is there no trace of you in Zhao Feng’s records? Wasn’t his father killed at Handan?"

"The Great King knows all this, and he had no suspicion. Even if the slightest thing in the information didn’t match up, the Great King would have noticed," Xia Wuqie said, surprised.

"It’s all thanks to Wu Lizheng from Sha Village. When I fled there, it was he who took me in."

"The man recorded as having died in battle in Handan was the son of one of his disciples," Mrs. Zhao explained.

"But didn’t the people in the village find it strange?"