TGDS Chapter 87.3

The Good Dad System (Arc 12) Chapter 87.3: (Ancient Times) The People Around My Daughter Have All Been Reborn (12)

Wang Bu’er noticed her apprentice’s rare hesitation, and immediately raised his voice, shouting, “General, this humble general Wang Bu’er has successfully completed the mission!” He chuckled, pointed to the camp, and turned to go find his good brothers.

“Has Yu Zhu arrived?” Before seeing him, she heard his voice. Pei Yu Zhu first heard an unfamiliar male voice, then the curtain was lifted, and a man appeared before her. His beard seemed to have been recently shaved, with some stubble. He wore casual clothes, quite clean and neat, and looked at her with eyes full of surprise.

…? Wait, isn’t something wrong?

“Father?” Pei Yu Zhu called tentatively, and saw Pei Nao Chun wanting to approach but not daring to.

She was silent for a moment, then pulled out a piece of paper from the pouch Xiu Yu had sewn for her. It was a portrait of her father, which even her grandmother couldn’t recognize. She held it up, comparing it to the real man, and found that from head to toe, apart from both being men, there was almost no resemblance.

“Father, who… drew this?” She turned the portrait around and blurted out, her desire to know the answer immediately making her call out “Father.”

“Eh!” Pei Naochun was quite excited. If it weren’t for the certain customs surrounding relationships between men and women in this era, he probably would have rushed up and hugged the little girl. Overjoyed, he looked at the photo and casually replied, “I drew it.”

“You, you drew this?” Pei Yuzhu suddenly swallowed nervously, somewhat astonished. This was completely different from what she had imagined!

“Yes, it looks like me.” Pei Naochun snatched the paper. After arriving here, he had studied with the painter for a few days. The painter kept praising him for his talent, which pleased Pei Naochun greatly. It seemed that although his talent wasn’t in photography, it was in painting. In a way, he was an artist. He immediately began to explain, “Look at this nose, this mouth, this hairstyle, isn’t it just like me?”

“Yes… I guess.”

Pei Yuzhu remained expressionless. Her father’s once high and straight nose had become a straight line with two dots in the portrait, with the focus entirely on the nostrils; his long, narrow eyes had become two slits with a dot between them; the fine lines at the corners of his eyes, which only appeared when he smiled, were drawn as if they had been cut; his lips, neither thin nor thick, were drawn as if they were the aftereffects of eating chili peppers… If there was anything that resembled it, it might be the eyebrows, which were indeed very similar.

She could see that her father was genuinely sincere when he said he had finished the painting, but she just couldn’t understand this sincerity.

“Come in, Yuzhuo.” Pei Naochun led Pei Yuzhuo into the camp. As soon as they entered the house, they saw a scene that was cluttered but not chaotic. In the corner, a long rectangular flower bed had been planned, planted with something that was hard to tell if it was scallions, garlic, or chives. Even the table was covered with flowerpots, as if they had just been brought in, with only small seedlings, and it was hard to tell what they were. “We just took them out to sunbathe before bringing them back in.” He quickly found a wooden stool and asked his daughter to sit down. He sat opposite her, looking at her intently.

“How have you been all these years?” The father and daughter were separated by distance and had only seen each other once since birth, yet they spoke at the same time, as if by telepathy.

“I’m doing well, and Grandma is doing well too.” Even though they kept in touch by letter, when they finally met, all they wanted to ask and say were these few words—”I’m doing well, and you should be too.” This was perhaps the most beautiful expectation and wish between all separated families.

“You see, I’m doing well too,” Pei Naochun replied immediately, without the slightest hesitation.

How well? Pei Yuzhu didn’t answer, but she couldn’t bear to take her eyes off her father. She could see that his hands were covered in calluses, and on the back of his right hand was a long, deep scar, now gone, leaving only a gruesome wrinkled line. On his neck, she could also vaguely see thin lines of scars, faded considerably over the years… She remembered what her grandmother had described about her father—a man who, despite practicing martial arts since childhood, had fair skin and rosy lips.

If her grandmother saw her father now, she would surely be heartbroken.

“You’re a grown woman now.” Pei Naochun couldn’t help but stand up hesitantly, gently placing her hand on her daughter’s head. “I haven’t been able to stay by your side…”

“It’s alright.” Pei Yuzhuo immediately looked up and replied quickly. As the time they spent alone together passed, her father, who always cared for her in the letters, seemed to leap off the pages, vividly alive. “I understand.”

Her grandmother had told her since she was very young that the children of the Pei family had to learn to be patient. Her father wasn’t a good son, nor a good father, but he was also on the frontier, protecting countless homes. Her grandmother said, “You can resent your father for abandoning you, just as I resent him for not being by my side. But I also hope that you can understand and support him, even though it’s difficult. Let’s try together.”

She tried for a long time, but in the end, she still couldn’t fully understand—she longed to see her father. Later, she had an ambition: she wanted to continue her father’s ideal, to guard the frontier, like him. Of course, this dream didn’t last long before it was shattered. She realized that women shouldn’t have so many strange thoughts. But after that, her heart soared further and further, yearning for the outside world, yearning to become a hero, yearning to have her father come home…

“It’s related.” Pei Naochun’s voice was gentle; if a soldier were to come in now, he might be terrified and cry.

“Now, I’ve seen my father.” Pei Yuzhu simply looked up at her father’s face. This was her father; she would remember him and never forget him.

“Just as you and Mother are willing to support me, I will support you as well.” Pei Naochun’s voice wasn’t loud, but he made a promise he intended to keep for the rest of his life.

Hearing this, Pei Yuzhu was stunned, then lowered her head: “Even if… even if I don’t want to get married, is that okay? Even if I want to go to the battlefield, is that okay?” She blurted out, then realized her mistake and immediately lowered her head.

“Going to the battlefield is dangerous; swords have no eyes.”

“I know, but why can you go?” she insisted.

“It’s precisely because I’m going that I can’t bear to let you go. You must believe that your father can create a peaceful frontier for the Great Xia Dynasty.”

Pei Yuzhuo, who had been looking down, suddenly raised her head, her eyes bright. “But why can’t I create it together? If it’s dangerous, I want to face it with you.” She wanted to say that she wasn’t afraid of anything, but she couldn’t guarantee it, after all, she had never been on the battlefield. “I really can do it, I’m exceptionally capable.”

“I know.” Pei Naochun immediately replied, though he hesitated. In both his lives, Pei Yuzhuo had been on the battlefield with real swords and spears, but to be honest, what father would be willing to let his child take such a risk?

“But I can’t, right?” she replied casually. “Like Grandmother once said, I should find a good family of equal social standing to marry into, and after marriage, manage the household well, have several children, and then be surrounded by children and grandchildren, taking care of my parents-in-law and then my children. Every family does it that way.”

But she didn’t want to. Perhaps it was because of her rebellious nature, but she couldn’t understand what other children could accept.

Her aunt was once a renowned talented woman in the capital, sought after by many. After marrying uncle, she bore him three sons and two daughters over eight years. She thought having children would bring her all the troubles, but unexpectedly, many people fawned over my uncle, leading him to take a concubine. While raising her children, her aunt also had to continue suppressing the concubine. Even so, she managed to be meticulous in every aspect, ensuring that even her occasionally visited niece was not neglected.

Pei Yuzhu once playfully begged her aunt to compose a poem. Her aunt remained silent for a moment, then smiled and shook her head, saying she had neglected it for too many years and couldn’t do it anymore. At that moment, Pei Yuzhu could see the unhappiness in her aunt’s eyes.

She had seen loving couples before, but even the most loving couples were bound together, unable to move.

“It’s not like that.” Pei Naochun gently patted his daughter’s head. “If you really want to go to the battlefield, then go. In a couple of days, go and see the women’s barracks.”

The women on the frontier are fierce, and there’s a custom that when all the men die, the women take their place. As soon as he issued the conscription order, many women came, mostly widowed and childless. They were quite determined, saying only that they wanted to go to the battlefield to kill the Ning Dynasty people and avenge their husbands and children, and they were recruited.

“Can I?” Pei Yuzhuo was suddenly confused. She hadn’t expected her father to agree.

“Of course, you have to wait until you’re older. In my barracks, there’s no reason to send children to the battlefield.” Pei Naochun said earnestly, “I will teach you. Whether it’s leading troops or using troops, you can learn what I learned. My daughter is no worse than anyone else.” In fact, he was also a little dishonest. In fact, if he hadn’t been 90% sure and knew he could protect his daughter, he might still have been a domineering and tyrannical father, suppressing her for a few more years.

“Okay.”

“And one more thing,” Pei Naochun hesitated before speaking, “whether or not to get married is still up to fate. If one day… If you meet a man who treats you well and suits your taste, it’s perfectly fine to naturally get together. There’s no need to insist on not marrying.”

“If I meet someone I like, I’ll bring him into my family!” Once she became familiar with her father, she dared to say anything. Pei Yuzhu raised an eyebrow, displaying the same brilliance she had seen in the future female general Pei. “If he likes me, he can marry into our family!”

“Alright, whatever you say.” Pei Naochun smiled and patted his daughter’s head. As for the future, let’s talk about that later.

…

Chunzhi was the only daughter of Pei Yuzhu’s wet nurse. To ensure she had a good social status and could marry into a good family in the estate, the wet nurse had already mentioned to Old Madam Pei the matter of removing her daughter’s social status. Now that Pei Yuzhu had left, Old Madam Pei remembered this and gave the wet nurse her status.

“Chunzhi, look what your mother brought back!” The wet nurse entered the house beaming.

“What?” Chunzhi lazily raised her head, her mind preoccupied, and unwilling to put in any effort.

“Look at your status,” the wet nurse said, beaming. “From now on, you’re a free citizen!” She thought to herself that there were several scholars in the nearby village, handsome and with bright futures, a perfect match for Chunzhi.

“What!” Chunzhi immediately stood up, stunned. She stamped her feet. “Mother, what are you doing! I want to be a maid in the Pei household!”

“Your mother has been a maid her whole life, and you want to follow suit?” The wet nurse was speechless, poking Chunzhi with her finger.

“I… I want to be with the eldest young lady!” Chunzhi declared firmly, beginning to whine. “Mother, please talk to the old lady. I don’t need to be removed from the status; I just want to be the eldest young lady’s maid, to stay by her side.” “In this life, she will never marry that good-for-nothing scholar again. As long as she follows the eldest young lady, she will surely be able to marry a high-ranking official like Xiuyu!”

The wet nurse frowned and nudged the ignorant girl: “What are you making a fuss about? The eldest young lady has gone to the west city. She won’t be back for three to five years. Who are you going with? Even if you want to go to the west city, tell me how you’re going to get there?”

Chunzhi was stunned by the question. Her mind went blank, and all she could hear was her mother’s criticism. She had gone through all this trouble to return, and she had no other intention than to get close to the future empress. Why couldn’t she find him? Could it be that she had come back specifically to marry that scholar again?

Damn it!