Chen Jiahao

Imperial Capital, Beijing.

Two men walked out of the palace, wearing official clothes and long swords on their bodies. One was very muscular with a height of 190cm, while the other was slightly thinner, still muscular, and the same height at 190cm. In ancient times, tall people are very few, especially when the average people's heights are between 170cm to 180cm among the average men.

Seeing these two strong, tall and fierce-looking men standing outside the entrance gate of the palace, one might feel scared and intimidated by their looks. Even the guards of the entrance gate can't help but sweat in front of these two. The two men got up on their horses and return to a mansion not far from the palace.

As both of them entered the door, there were no servants insight as if nobody has been living there. Both of them sat on a couch and relaxes. The stiff shoulders gradually lowered and the tense muscles loosen. Both of them looked at each other and smirked.

These two people are Chen Jiahao and Qin Shihuang. Chen Jiahao just received a title from the emperor as 'Great General Jiahao' and Qin Shihuang escorted the general to receive the title. Much to everyone's surprise, Chen Jiahao accepted the title and wealth but requested to leave the army to go back to his village, Chenjiagou.

The emperor was surprised by the request but accepted it on the condition that if the emperor calls him to lead the army, he will lead them on the battlefield. In the previous battle, Jiahao managed to capture the head of the barbarian general and the prince of the barbarian kingdom, Xiongnu. The barbarian king admits defeat as the prince is his only son and exchanges the life of his son with the barbarian general.

Thus making the barbarian general the only living hostage. His execution will be held two days from now. Jiahao and Shihuang didn't want to participate in the execution and thus decided to leave the capital and head towards Chen Village. Both of them rode on their horses at a fast speed, they are predicted to arrive at the Chen Village in half a month.

Both of them wore normal civilian clothes with swords behind their backs. "Boss, is your village beautiful? I'm an orphan, I've never been to other villages." Shihuang was an orphan since birth, he lived with his grandmother until he was 16 and decided to join the army. He was big since he was a kid and his grandmother was sickly, a few years after he joined the army, news came that his grandmother died. Leaving Shihuang completely homeless.

Now, going back to Jiahao's village, Shihuang wanted to integrate and live with his boss in his village. He had never heard Jiahao talk about the village, when Jiahao first came to the army, he was still short and people didn't know that he was 14 at that time. Shihuang, who was talkative, went up and talked to Jiahao and the two instantly became friends.

Shihuang knew about how Jiahao entered the army, but he was most amazed by how Jiahao worked his way up and finally received the title. He admired Jiahao and vowed to himself to follow Jiahao even until his death. He completely put his trust in and honestly followed Jiahao, which is why Jiahao didn't forbid him to follow him back.

Hearing Shihuang's question, Jiahao coldly said "Beautiful? It's beautiful on the outside but rotten on the inside. Just don't expect too much, especially from my family." Jiahao is also an orphan. Both parents were killed by bandits when they went to town to sell vegetables. Leaving only the 14-year-old Jiahao to his uncles and aunts to take advantage of.

He sneered when he remembered how heartless and selfish his relatives were. The only one who helped him was a ger who lived at the end of the village. The ger saw him being carried into the carriage and quickly slipped him a string of silver coins. That ger's name was Chen Yingyue.

He heard about Chen Yingyue, who got pregnant without a husband but still worked hard while raising his ger son. Both Chen Yingyue and his son worked together raising vegetables in their garden and often just mingled with themselves or with Aunt Bao who lived near them. Jiahao got the impression that Chen Yingyue was a nice person as he always smiled at him whenever they bumped into each other.

That is why, when he received the silvers, he was grateful to Chen Yingyue and decided to pay him back once he reach the village. He knew about the small ger of Yingyue and thought to himself that if that ger is not engaged or married he will marry him and live together with Aunt Yingyue and his son and protect them from malicious people.

They rode and stopped to eat then continued their journey. Along the way, they met bandits and robbers, subdued them and take their money along the way. It would be funny if people knew that a general army subdued and robbed bandits on his way back to his village.

They reached the Chen Village entrance by dawn, both covered in dust. The villagers were shocked to see the appearance of the two and quickly called the village head. Both of them, on their horses, squinting their eyes and looking down on the villagers who were making a scene. Jiahao found a familiar face, his aunt's beloved son, Chen Haoran.

Seeing Chen Haoran, Jiahao went down from his horse, and stand in front of him. Looked at his cousin up and down and sneered at him. The villagers were scared of his body and height, and with the addition of his sneer just now, the villagers did not even dare to move close to them.

Uncle Yichen arrived at the scene hurriedly and saw two tall, muscular men with swords on their bodies, standing beside their horses. He moved closer and asked, "May I know why these two gentlemen come to our humble village?" Once he met Jiahao's face, he seems to find that the young man in front of him looks familiar.

Jiahao looked at this distant relative of his and answered, "Uncle Yichen, it's me Jiahao. I came back from the army and decided to come back home. Is my house still standing? Or are there some unrelated people living in there?" Once the village head heard the name, he became in awe and a huge smile appeared on his face. Then a complicated expression appeared.

"Jiahao ah, I don't know what's wrong with your aunt and uncle. After you left they said you gave them the house to be taken care of but then they completely claimed the house as theirs when they didn't receive the news of your whereabouts. Luckily I saved your house deed and land deed with me. I knew they must be eyeing your things and decided to protect what's left of your parent." The village head explained with a guilty look.

When Jiahao was taken away, non of the elders or the village head knew about it. After they saw that Chen Haoran was still in the village but there was no Chen Jiahao that they realize the two selfish and heartless couple sold their nephew to the army. Uncle Yichen reprimanded the couple hard and didn't let them have Jiahao's parents' house and land deeds.

He kept them well and kept his eyes on the couple tightly. They were all in one family, the couple, Jiahao's parents and he are cousins. Jiahao's parents are kind-hearted people. They worked hard and never refuses to help others. He and Jiahao's dads are like brothers from the same mother. That is why he wanted to protect what was left and to compensate for not being able to save Jiahao.

Jiahao knew what was in his uncle's heart. He didn't blame his uncle. He knew when all of those things happened, his uncle was busy with his parent's burial and didn't get the chance to pay attention to him. "Uncle Yichen, you being here and protecting what's mine is already a blessing. You are the only relative that I have left. Now I am back, we will be able to help each other." Jiahao softened his voice.

"Uncle Yichen, may I know if Aunt Yingyue is still living at the end of the village? I wanted to visit him. He gave me some money when I was taken away." Jiahao asked his uncle. What he go was his uncle's shocked face. He seemed to be contemplating whether to tell JIahao or not and sighed.

"Chen Yingyue died a few months ago. Now his ger son lives alone there, gardening and doing his things. Not long after his Ama dies, the Chen family wanted to separate him. They agree and Li Wenmin wrote that the Chen family will not bother him and never ask for money from him. He's a literate person and smart too. It's a pity that his Ama left early." Uncle Yichen explained to him in detail.

Jiahao was shocked to hear that his benefactor died early but was also pleasantly surprised that the son of his benefactor was a literate, smart and brave ger. Not only will he put those conditions, but he also gained a few mu's of land and silver. He was interested in this little ger but he must solve his issues first.