Chapter 577= State Title

Editor: Atlas Studios

Water and clothes were scattered all over the bathroom. Seeing that his wife was really shy, Qi Haoran reluctantly picked up the clothes and placed them aside before asking someone to come in to clean up the place.

The servant girls who came in to clean up looked straight ahead as they tidied up the bathroom. When they went out, their faces were a little flushed. With Mama Wang staring at them sharply outside, the servant girls’ faces instantly turned snow-white and they no longer dared to let their imaginations run wild.

Only then was Mama Wang satisfied. She asked Rain to guard the door and left.

Qi Haoran put on his undergarments and went to pour himself some water. After downing two cups, he returned with the teapot and asked, “Do you want some water?”

Mu Yangling lifted the blanket and glared at him. “No.

However, Qi Haoran’s thoughts were aroused by Mu Yangling’s glare. Looking at Mu Yangling, he gulped down another cup of water. Only then did he put down the teapot and teacup. He climbed onto the bed and hugged Mu Yangling, his hands moving around dishonestly.

Mu Yangling pushed his hand away and warned him in a low voice, “We still have to go to Zhaode Hall for dinner later. Don’t do anything rash.”

Qi Haoran retracted his hand regretfully and pressed Mu Yangling into his embrace. Only after leaning over and kissing her a few times did he lie down with her in his arms. “Sleep with me for a while. How long has it been since I slept peacefully…”

After saying that, Qi Haoran started snoring.

Mu Yangling couldn’t fall asleep, so she moved her body and faced him. After looking at him for a while, she used her hand to stroke his cheek. Seeing that his adorable baby fat had disappeared, her heart ached. She couldn’t help but raise her head and kiss his cheek.

Qi Haoran smacked his lips and tightened his grip on Mu Yangling.

As Mu Yangling watched him, she also fell asleep with her head on Qi Haoran’s chest. When she was woken up again, there was only the glow of the setting sun outside.

Mu Yangling quickly got up and shook Qi Haoran awake. The two of them packed up and went to Zhaode Hall.

Because of Qi Haoran’s triumphant return, Li Jinghua asked the kitchen to prepare a lot of delicious food. The two children had already been fed in advance and were now sitting on the couch playing together. They were each seated on Qi Xiuyuan’s left and right.

Qi Haoran stopped in his tracks when he entered the room. He looked at his son sadly, surprised that he was so close to Big Brother but despised him so much.

Qi Xiuyuan looked up at him, his thoughts written all over his face. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he hugged Little Bear tightly. Lowering his head, he asked gently, “Little Bear, will you still play with Uncle tomorrow?”

Little Bear nodded fiercely and even wrapped his arms around Qi Xiuyuan’s neck to kiss him. Clearly, he was very satisfied with the hand-printing game this afternoon.

Qi Haoran was even more devastated. After greeting Li Jinghua, he ran over and called out “Big Brother”. Then, he leaned over to coax Little Bear. “Son, look here. Do you still remember Daddy?”

Qi Xiuyuan said calmly, “The child wasn’t a month old when you left. How could he remember?”

Little Treasure looked up at Qi Haoran and shouted, “Fourth Uncle! “Aye,” Qi Haoran replied happily. Then, he looked at his son expectantly. Little Bear still didn’t know how to speak and was only talking to Little Treasure. When he turned his head, he saw that Qi Haoran was still looking at him eagerly. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he handed his favorite wooden sculpture to Qi Haoran with a pained expression.

Qi Haoran was very disappointed when he saw the wooden sculpture that Little Bear had given him. Mu Yangling, who had brought the fruits over, said in surprise, “Little Bear actually gave this to you? I asked him for a long time, but he couldn’t bear to give it to me.”

Qi Xiuyuan looked at the disappointed Qi Haoran and snorted. “You’re so lucky.”

However, Qi Haoran was instantly revived. He happily stuffed the wooden sculpture into his arms, then picked up Little Bear and placed him on his neck. He said with a grin, “Big Brother is jealous of me. We’re father and son, after all. Son, let’s go. Father will bring you to ride a horse.”

Although it was called ‘riding a horse’, it was actually ‘riding a father’, with Little Bear riding around the house on Qi Haoran’s neck. At first, Little Bear nervously grabbed Qi Haoran’s hair, but later on, he realized that it felt pretty awesome to be up there. Soon, he giggled and even reached out to pat Qi Haoran’s head while shaking his butt.

Qi Xiuyuan looked at his envious son and was so angry that his breath was stuck in his chest. He scolded, “You’re simply unbecoming. Who lets their son ride on their neck? Put him down quickly.”

“There are no outsiders in the house. Who would know if we don’t tell them?”

Qi Haoran said nonchalantly.

However, Mu Yangling said worriedly, “Put him down quickly. It’s late at night. Don’t scare the child.”

Feeling a little regretful, Qi Haoran put his son down. Obviously still wanting to play, Little Bear patted his father’s shoulder, grabbed his clothes, and stuck out his legs, wanting to climb up by himself. Seeing that Big Brother and Ah Ling were staring at him, Qi Haoran could only hug his son and whisper in his ear, “Good son, we’ll play when your mother isn’t around tomorrow.

After coaxing him a few times, Little Bear reluctantly agreed.

After dinner, Qi Xiuyuan said, “I’ve shortlisted a few state titles. You can take a look later and see which one is suitable. It’s best to finalize it as soon as possible.”

Qi Haoran thought for a moment and asked, “Is there any that contains the word ‘Qi’?”

“Yes.” Qi Xiuyuan frowned. “It’s just that the officials aren’t too fond of this„ word. Moreover, Qi is the state surname. If we adopt it as the state title too…

Throughout history, with a tendency to differ from the state surname, the state title was mostly chosen from words with auspicious meanings or directly from the Yi Jing. It was rare that the state title was the same as the state surname. In fact, if one looked carefully through history, only the country of Chen during the Southern and Northern Dynasties used the state surname as their state title. Qi Haoran sneered, “They only refuse to adopt the state surname because they want to suppress our Qi family. But what’s wrong with ‘Qi’? The dictionary explains that ’none are as uniformly excellent as grains of wheat and rice1 — food is the foundation of life. All we desire is for our people to live and work in peace and contentment, the most practical of goals.”

In the first place, Qi Xiuyuan was in favor of adopting ‘Qi’ as the state title and only hesitated due to the officials’ objections. Hearing his younger brother’s words, he said after a moment of silence, “Let’s name our country ‘Great Qi’ then. In the time of the Spring and Autumn period, Qi was merely one of the feudal states, but our Great Qi will surely unify the land, enduring through the ages!”

Qi Haoran grinned confidently. “Don’t worry, Big Brother. I’ll definitely help you recover your empire.”

Qi Xiuyuan laughed and patted his shoulder. “Alright, we brothers will work hard together.”

From then on, the state title of ‘Great Qi’ was decided.

The brothers carried the wine pot and quickly moved the battlefield to the study. The two of them left a message that they were going to share the same bed that night. When Mu Yangling heard this, she carried Little Bear back.

Li Jinghua also went to bed early with Little Treasure.

The West Manor quickly quietened down, but the people in the East Manor could not fall asleep.

Madam Wu and her sons and daughters-in-law had been sitting in the reception hall guarding a table of cold food. With a dark expression, she waved her hand and said, “You may leave. The reunion dinner isn’t happening tonight.”