One Lifetime Is Never Enough

1.17 Impending Parting

One spring morning, two full moons after the New Year(1), the Ji estate was shaken by a thunderous laughter that curiously belonged to General Ji.

It was so loud it shook some of the smaller trees, sending the immature leaves to fall off the branches. Some poor colorful birds, initially happily singing their spring love songs, had the shock of their lives and flew away in fright. All the fish in the pond, initially happily swimming and busy eating some floating moss, quickly scampered away to hide below the rocks... .

When the two Madames arrived at the training room with Meng-momo in tow, they saw their husband still laughing like a madman. Ji SongLi was standing at one corner while covering his ears with his two palms, slight mirth and helplessness on his expression. Ji SongLi's smaller bamboo sword that he used earlier for practice leaned against the wall. The two Madames knew how hard it usually was to draw just a tiny smile from their seemingly-always-sullen husband, so they were worried when they heard him laugh.

Ji LanBai and YuLan were curious, thus they also tagged along. Xiao Hui and Xiao Lin had followed as well. When thee four girls peeked inside the training room from the door, Ji SongLi noticed them and gave a small wry smile.

"What's wrong?" Hai FenChu hastily walked inside the room. She saw her son and was suddenly nervous he might have done, or not done, something that had annoyed Ji ChanFang. But from the way the her husband was still laughing so boisterously, it seemed to be a happy occasion?

Ji ChanFang's earthquake-inducing laughter finally slowed down. When he stopped to catch his breath, he looked at his two wives and daughter, then pointed at a spot on the floor. On it was a long bamboo sword, that had been broken in two.

"That's the bamboo sword I used," Ji ChanFang said, his eyes were still wide with delighted bewilderment. Yet, his voice contained pride.

Wu JianRui and Hai FenChu stared at it for a few seconds, then their pupils dilated in disbelief. Ji LanBai's eyes brightened, and Meng-momo smiled.

YuLan was still at a loss.

Then Ji ChanFang walked to where SongLi was standing and smacked the back of his head. The slap was not sufficent to hurt him, but hard enough for him to stumble a few steps forward,

"You brat!" Ji ChanFang hollered delightfully, "That was Ji's late intermediary sword art! Not only have you actually mastered the nine primary arts, you actually managed to execute the last stance of the mid-level sword art."

"Truly wonderful!" Wu JianRui also smiled. She walked towards Hai FenChu and patted the younger woman's hands softly.

Hai FenChu had tears in her eyes. She had never doubted her son's talent, but Ji SongLi had always put a distance between him and other people. As his mother herself, she could not open his heart or share his burden. Not to mention, being in a military household, the strict upbringing and expectation her husband placed on Ji SongLi was not for her to intervene or understand.

Ji LanBai ran straight into her brother's arms, wanting to hug him around his waist. However, her arms were still too short to fully encircle his body, thus she only ended up clinging onto his robe.

"Father, Li-ge is truly awesome, isn't he?" Ji LanBai grinned at her father as Ji SongLi ruffled her hair, "Didn't you say you only mastered the intermediary arts at fourteen years old when you were young?"

Hearing this, Ji ChanFang's eyes twitched a bit and his smile faltered somewhat. But then he chuckled again merrily, "Yes! Yes! That is correct!" He nodded, "Son, I am truly stumped. Just for a few months I haven't tested you in full strength. Truly, a worm that has grown into a dragon!"