Chapter Six Home

  "A short time away from home, a long time back; the local accent remains unchanged, but the hair has turned white." This is a famous poem by Tang Dynasty poet He Zhizhang. Lu Qi had been away from home for five years and still hadn't gone gray, but his feelings after being away for so long were the same. Standing in front of his family gate, his eyes became blurry with tears.

  Lu Qi's home is located in the west district of Shijie County, a large mansion covering nearly half an acre. This mansion was the most important property of the Lu family when Lu Qi left for the army. The shop had been sold to buy horses, swords, and armor. In the Tang Dynasty, soldiers were required to bring their own weapons to join the army, and those who could be recruited into the regular army would receive military honors and benefits. However, if they were recruited into the irregular militia, there would be no chance of advancement. When Lu Qi's older brother, Lu Er, was drafted into the army, it was actually Lu Qi who volunteered to take his place.

  Pushing open the old gate, I stepped inside. The scene before my eyes was still the same, but it felt even more desolate and quiet than before. The stone locks used for training back then had been thrown into a corner, and many bamboo racks had been set up in the courtyard, with many silk clothes hanging from them.

  "Why is it so quiet? Where's Mother and Auntie? Where's Big Brother and Sister-in-law? And Little Sister?" Lu Qi's heart was churning with unease.

  Lu Qi's father was a military officer and, following the customs of officialdom, had married two wives and taken two concubines. After Lu Qi's father passed away, his first wife remarried soon after. Lu Qi and his younger sister were born to the first wife, while his older brother and younger sister were born to one of the concubines. According to custom, Lu Qi was qualified to be the head of the household and inherit most of the family property because he was a legitimate son.

  "Daughter, Xiaoyan." Lu Qi shouted in fear, he suddenly didn't dare to walk towards the main house.

  Creak! The sound of the door echoed, and the left room door opened quickly. A half-length woman poked out, looking closely at her, she was a 25 or 26-year-old woman wearing a patched dress, with a slightly pale but beautiful face, staring at Lu Qi in shock.

  "Aunt Li, where's my mother? Where are Xiaoyan and big brother?" Lu Qi rushed forward a few steps, asking urgently as if grabbing onto a lifeline.

  "Little Seven? It's really Little Seven." The beautiful woman suddenly stepped out of the door and rushed towards Lu Qi, excitedly stretching out her hand to grab his clothes, sizing him up from head to toe.

  "Aunt Li, where's my mother?" Lu Qi asked anxiously again.

  "Don't worry, Mistress is fine, she's inside." Li Yiniang said with a smile, and then pulled Lu Qi towards the central door.

  Lu Qi's heart was put at ease, and he strode forward, overtaking Li Niang to rush to the front of the house and push open the door. Inside the door was a spacious and simple outer hall living room, with two doors on either side leading to the inner hall bedroom. This was the largest house in the mansion.

  At the moment Lu Qi entered the house, a woman with gray hair and a pale face walked out of the left door of the outer hall. Her eyes were dull, but when she saw Lu Qi, her lifeless eyes suddenly brightened.

  "Mother, Lu Qi is back!" Lu Qi excitedly called out, rushing forward a few steps and kneeling down in front of the woman. The woman was startled for a moment, then suddenly knelt down and hugged Lu Qi's head tightly.

  "Xiao Qi, Xiao Qi has really come back, my son!" The woman's trembling voice said excitedly, and she suddenly hugged Lu Qi's head and burst into tears. The beautiful woman who came in later also had tears streaming down her face.

  "Mother, how did your hair become so white?" After embracing and crying for a while, Lu Qi finally raised his head and said with tears in his voice. His mother was only 45 years old, but five years ago when they were separated, she still had a full head of black hair. Now, she looked like an old woman in her sixties.

  "Foolish child, your mother has been crying day and night thinking of you. The ground is cold, get up quickly." The beautiful woman said with a sorrowful and joyful soft voice beside him.

  Lu Qi hastily got up and helped his mother to her feet. His mother looked at him with joy, her eyes scanning him from head to toe. Lu Qi's heart felt both happy and bitter, as he thought that his mother had aged too much while missing him.

  "Mother, our son has achieved great merit in the army and is now a military officer." Lu Qi hastily took out the official document.

  Mother took it over, opened and looked at it, and Li Yiniang also came to take a look. After looking at it, she exclaimed: "It's the seventh-grade upper-ranking official of Zhi Guo Jiao Wei, Master, the highest position of the old master when he was alive is also this official position, Xiao Qi is really impressive!"

  His mother was not delighted, but instead looked solemn and said: "The official document shows that Xiao Qi is the Zhigua Jiao Wei of the Anhua Military Region. He will have to go to war in the future."

  "Mother, in the future I will be an officer, and when I go to the army, I will also command battles, which is much safer than being a small soldier charging forward. Originally, I was going to ask for a reward and return home as a meritorious official, but since I am not sick or disabled, I am not allowed to leave the army. Against my will, I have been appointed as the commander of the Zhuo Fruit Garrison. In fact, this position is not very useful, and in the future when I return to the army, I will only be a military officer guarding the main general."

  "Commander of the guards is a very safe job, better than directly leading troops," said Li Yiniang softly. "Don't underestimate this position, Xiaogui. In today's world, ordinary people's lives are as cheap as grass and wood. As a military officer, those corrupt officials in local government won't dare to bully you. With you holding this official position, our family will no longer be oppressed."

  Lu Qi nodded, he had a deep understanding of this aspect. He had originally planned not to join the army again, but now he knew that if he publicly stated that he would not return to the military, it would inevitably lead to more trouble. In this world, being an ordinary citizen was really difficult.

  "Mother, Aunt Li, my brother and sister-in-law, and little Xian, where are they? And what about Aunt Cheng?" Lu Qi's heart was at ease now that he had seen his mother safe and sound, and he asked anxiously about the others.

  Mother and Li Yiniang exchanged a glance, their expressions very gloomy. Lu Qi felt uneasy and said: "Mother, are they all right?"

  "Seventh, since you left, many things have happened at home. After you left, your brother borrowed money to do business and lost a lot of money. Because the family was really struggling, your brother sent his wife back to her parents' home. To help your brother pay off the debt, your aunt insisted on selling Little Yan to a wealthy family as a servant girl. She herself also sold herself into servitude as a concubine. Even your Aunt Li is no longer a member of the Lu family now and will soon go to Old Master Du's house as a concubine."

  "What?" Lu Qi was shocked and looked at his mother and Li Shiniang in disbelief, Li Shiniang's face turned pale and she lowered her head.

  "Xiao Qi, your mother didn't want to sell you or your aunts Xiaoyan and Xiaoyu either. She thought that even if it's hard, she should give them the freedom to remarry. It was your two aunts who were kind-hearted and volunteered to be sold as concubines in order to protect this mansion. They are good people." Mother said tearfully, her tone full of helpless sorrow.

  Lu Qi's expression turned heavy, he knew what a concubine was, in fact, it was just a housemaid, many wealthy households bought and raised concubines, the status of concubines was that of slaves, they had to obey their masters' every whim, belonging to neither here nor there without any guarantee of status, sometimes not even as good as a female servant, very much looked down upon.

  The law of the Tang Dynasty did not allow ordinary people to take concubines without reason, and the wives of wealthy families were also unwilling for their husbands to take concubines. This led to the trend of rich people privately keeping concubines, like Li Niang who was young and beautiful but had no children, fully meeting the conditions for remarriage as a concubine. Voluntarily asking to be sold as a concubine slave would naturally sacrifice her own happiness, allowing Lü Qi's mother to get several times more money from selling herself.

  "What about my elder brother?" Lu Qi was furious, he had taken his brother's place in the army and left home, entrusting the family to him, but as a man, he had actually made the family fall apart.

  "Xiao Qi, don't blame your brother. Your brother is suffering more than anyone now. Mother wants to sell the house to pay off debts. It was your brother who told the creditors that he and his siblings had already divided their inheritance, and the house belongs to you, his younger brother. He would rather agree to let mother and sister be sold into slavery than touch this house. Your brother is a good older brother." Mother tearfully defended Lu Qi's older brother.

  Lu Qiyan's daze dissipated, and tears welled up in his eyes. He no longer blamed his elder brother, but could only resent the cruelty of this world.

  "Mother, where is my brother now?" Lu Qi asked in a low voice.

  "Your brother works at the quarry in Qili Township and can send back two taels of silver every month. Sometimes he also does some guard work to catch bandits, which earns him some extra money." Mother said quietly, the money earned is naturally for her support.

  Lu Qi took a deep breath and asked in a soft voice: "Mother, how much foreign debt have we incurred?"

  Mother hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "The official debt is 213 taels, and the private debt may be over 400 taels."

  Lu Qi heard this and felt a weight lift off his shoulders, smiling as he said: "Mother, I've brought back some savings from the army, so Aunt Li won't have to sell herself. I'll go immediately to redeem Little Yan and Madame Cheng."

  "Mother was surprised: 'Do you have savings?'"

  Lu Qi smiled, reached out to untie his clothes, and from the inside of his garment took out a long thin cloth bag. He opened it with a smile and said: "Mother, Aunt Li, catch the gold." Under the shocked gaze of his mother and Aunt Li, Lu Qi's hands were now holding five gold ingots.

  "Mother, this is the fifty taels of gold awarded to me in the army, which can be exchanged for two thousand five hundred taels of silver at market price, enough for us to repay our debts and redeem ourselves." Lu Qiuhuan said with a smile.