Azure Heaven Saber
Chapter 1128 - 1128 44 The Couple in Chaotic Times Two in

Chapter 1128: Chapter 44: The Couple in Chaotic Times [Two in One]_4 Chapter 1128: Chapter 44: The Couple in Chaotic Times [Two in One]_4 The elder seemed somewhat displeased with Meng Fang’s evasions and asked again, “Then, do you have any meat?”

Meng Fang was stunned, “That I truly do not have.”

The elder curled his lips, coldly saying, “Poor fuck.”

With that, he took the rice and oil, turned around, and left.

Meng Fang couldn’t help but gasp in anger, “What kind of person is this!”

He returned to his room, still seething with resentment.

However, when he mentioned this to his wife, Yu Rou’s brows betrayed a hint of worry.

She had a premonition that the calm days they were currently enjoying might not last much longer.

After a few days, it was time to deliver the grain tax.

Meng Fang was tidying up at home when suddenly he heard two officials arriving at his doorstep, saying, “Routine inspection.”

“Inspection?”

Meng Fang was stunned.

“Somebody reported that you’re hiding military weapons and harboring treasonous intentions.”

The officials declared, “Please cooperate with our inspection.”

“Hiding military weapons?”

Meng Fang was shocked and dismayed, “Your Honor, I’ve been wronged! I am a law-abiding citizen; I wouldn’t dare be involved in such heinous matters.”

“Whether you’ve been wronged or not will be proven by the facts.”

Without waiting for a response, the officials entered his home and, after a thorough search, found a bow under a pile of firewood.

Despite appearing decayed, the bow could still be drawn and was evidently still functional.

“What is this?”

The officials asked sternly.

“Your Honor, this isn’t mine, someone is framing me!” A dumbfounded Meng Fang exclaimed.

“Having concealed military weapons is a violation of the law, take him away!”

The official waved his hand.

Yu Rou, sustaining her sick body, rushed out from the house, “Your Honor, please listen, my husband has truly been framed, these aren’t our belongings.”

“Whether he’s been framed or not is not for you to say, the courthouse will make the ruling.”

The officials completely disregarded Yu Rou’s plea and forcibly took Meng Fang away.

Let alone the fact that Yu Rou was burning up with fever and weak, even in her best health, she couldn’t have withstood the officers, fierce as tigers and wolves.

Two days later, the verdict was delivered.

Meng Fang was found guilty of harboring military weapons. However, considering his usual good behavior and no previous crimes, the sentence was to join the military at the remote western frontier, departing with the grain transport in three days.

In other words, Meng Fang was conscripted.

To the ailing Yu Rou, this news was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

That evening, Meng Fang was released to go home and pack his belongings, and he and his wife wept together.

He might not survive the journey, let alone return.

It was very likely a farewell forever.

“How pitiful that we don’t even have children…”

Yu Rou was even more saddened.

“I will definitely come back,” Meng Fang said, “The official expressly said that because it’s wartime, there’s a strict control on weapons. On ordinary days, privately storing a bow and arrows wouldn’t even be considered a crime; even now, serving in the army can redeem it. If I manage to earn merit at the front, I might even get a promotion. Perhaps by then, I’ll be granted an official title and bring glory to you and our future children, and you’ll be a general’s wife.”

“I don’t want to be a general’s wife, I just want you to stay alive and be here with me.”

“…” Meng Fang was speechless.

He wished nothing more than to live peacefully at home.

But things had progressed to this point; it was impossible to stay.

He couldn’t understand, for the life of him, who was framing him.

He had always been kind to others and had never offended anyone.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.

“Could it be the doing of the old man next door?”

“But how could it be? He borrowed grain and oil from me, he ought to remember my kindness, why would he frame me right after?”

Meng Fang was perplexed, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

During the next three days, Meng Fang tirelessly finished all the household chores, filling the large vat with water, tending and watering the fields, and carefully tending to the vegetable garden.

He even chopped enough firewood to fill the shed and piled up a large stack in the corner of the yard.

He gathered all the scattered money at home and gave it to his wife.

“Wait for me to come back!”

“If I go, I’ll do my best, aiming to become a general!”

“Wait for me!”

Next door.

The old man watched his neighbors with a malicious smile, satisfaction on his lips.

“Old Mo, why did you frame them?”

“You need someone to serve in the military as well; by giving this conscription spot to Meng Fang, your own child won’t have to go, will they?”

“That’s true, but I still can’t understand why you would do this, Old Mo.”

“Having lived a solitary life, alone and forlorn in my old age, in quiet misery; why should this idiot enjoy the warmth of a wife and child?”

Old Mo spoke bitterly, “I can’t stand to see them together, I’m uncomfortable. More than that, we’re neighbors, and seeing their love every day, it annoys me!”

“Old Mo, you really are despicable!”

“It takes one to know one.”

The village chief sighed and walked away.

What he had done was driven by self-interest, but seeing Meng Fang conscripted and faced with an uncertain fate, he felt a twinge of guilt.

But toward Old Mo, who allegedly lost his entire family to the chaos of war, he felt more fear.

This was clearly someone who ‘couldn’t stand to see others happy.’

There’s no enmity between us, but your happiness, against my loneliness, feels like an injury to me. So I will find ways to tear you apart, stopping at nothing until I am satisfied.

I might not dare provoke other families.

But yours, I dare.

After all, aren’t you known for your timidity?

…

[It’s time to go home for the Little New Year.]