Chapter 120 Coming Home

Chapter 120 – Coming Home

June 18th, 182 A.D.

Zhang Jiao and the officials were busying themselves with the management and the documents in the government hall.

Instead of standing in lines just like the usual morning assembly, they sat in rows. Each of the officials had a small wooden table in front of them and several rolls of document scrolls. All of them were either busy writing down their reports or carrying a bundle of papers and rushed toward the other buildings.

The domestic management was a tedious and mundane task that they had to handle every day or the citizens might face some difficulties, such as land allocation adjustment, housing construction, merchants opening stores, and other miscellaneous jobs.

Normally, these jobs should have been delegated to minor officials to handle. Luo Yang City and other cities' officials always shoved away these tasks to their subordinates as they were unimportant in their point of views.

However, Zhang Jiao wanted to be useful to the people. He volunteered to take responsibility in these trivial jobs as he did not want to drag Tong down. As a result, all high-rank officials had to follow Zhang Jiao's example, or they would have been insulted as selfish nobles.

Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were there as well. They were summoned back by Zhang Jiao, so they could learn the rope about domestic affairs. Once they moved to other cities, they could be entrusted with the government tasks in the future.

…

A blue gate opened in the middle of Julu government hall. Then, a young man walked out of it with a wheeled stretcher, which another young man was lying on top of it.

Tong and Li Feihong arrived. Ding Yuan and other elders with health troubles follow suit.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at them with wide eyes. Although many officials got used to Tong's miracle, they had never seen teleportation or anything similar yet.

Tong looked around and found his father, but he could not find Hua Shi.

"Father, where's Hua Shi?"

"Aiya, instead of greeting your father when you arrive, you asked for your wife first?"

All officials laughed from Zhang Jiao's remark. Sima Fang's face remained indifferent while Lu Zhi had a wry smile on his face.

"He's young and energetic. What did you expect?"

"Yup, you were like this 20 years ago, first brother."

Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang chimed in, which made the mood in the hall lighter.

Looking around the hall, Tong noticed that their gaze toward him was warm, yet weird. He felt that something was not right.

"Anyway, congratulations. Disciple."

Lu Zhi patted Tong on his shoulder.

"Congratulations, young master Zhang!"

"Good job!"

"Congratulations!"

"Well done!"

The officials also stood up and bowed toward Tong. A few of them even raised their thumbs up, which made Tong's frown deepened.

"What's going on?" Tong turned to look at Lu Zhi and his father, asking for an explanation.

"Well, it's obvious that you didn't know. You left too early."

Zhang Jiao smiled and started explaining the reason that Hua Shi was not here.

…

Hua Shi was exempted from all duties and was released from her job. The reason was simple.

She was three-month pregnant! Her pregnancy was found after Tong departed to Jinyang for 10 days.

That day when they found out the matter, Zhang Jiao celebrated that he would have a grandchild soon, but his complexion gloomed later after he recalled that Tong and Hua Shi had not wedded yet. They also had to invite Hua Tuo and his wife to give them an explanation.

…

"WHAT!?"

A lightning bolt struck Tong's mind. At the same time, all of his motion paused as if he turned into a statue. Thousands of flashback about the night activities came back and clouded his thought. Tong temporarily lost an ability to think.

"Welp! RIP Tong. Next time, wear a condom." Li Feihong laughed.

Tong glared at the injured man on the stretcher. The menacing air seeped out from his body and locked onto Li Feihong.

<add menacing="" sfx="" here="">

"Well, just in case you don't know. I usually take a role as an assistant surgeon when my wife has to cut up someone's belly. I'll be sure to apply enough anesthesia, so you won't feel any pain, alright? Oh, I almost forgot, for the sake of hygiene, I'll pour some alcohol into your testicles. So in the future when you want to have kids, you'll have healthy sperms. How is that sound?"

"Umm. That was a joke. Please forget it."

…

While they were welcoming Tong and the visitors, a messenger rushed in and reported to Sima Fang.

The messenger was one of Sima Fang's subordinate. He was in charge of relaying a message to him if there was any criminal or a crime that they could not handle or make a decision.

"There was a couple of unusual female criminals that we caught today. One of them referred herself as a daughter of Minister Zou from Luo Yang and the other one was a little child with surname Dong. We wish to request your assistant."

Sima Fang nodded and left the government hall with the messenger.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Far East inner district of the City. This zone was given to Sima Fang to establish his headquarter and settle his subordinates here.

Once they arrived, they saw two female prisoners in white clothes. One of them was a teenager with a bearing of a noble. The other one was a little girl. Both of them were cuffed by wooden boards which locked their head and both wrists together.

Their eyes did not show sign of despair or guilt like the other prisoners, though there were traces of tears on the face of the older girl.

"What was the charge?" Sima Fang asked the prosecutor who handled the case.

"Smuggling and entering the city without passing through the checkpoint. They also don't have a name plaque or the citizen token. We caught them when they were trying to buy groceries in the supermarket."

"And the problem?"

"Yes, she claims herself as Minister Zou's eldest daughter. The little girl also claims as a granddaughter of Tianshui Governor Dong Zhuo. Both of them said that they were kidnapped into the city and were abandoned here. We are not certain if they are imposters or not, so we have to request your help."

"Hmm, fair enough."

Sima Fang nodded and walked toward the two. He looked at the face of Zou Shi and frowned.

"Little girls. Look at me."

Zou Shi looked up and met the eyes of Sima Fang. She recognized this man. He was a friend of her father who worked in the same department. Her father always gossiped about him that he was too serious and was hard to talk to, but Sima Fang was reliable at work. She also met him many times as she used to serve as her father's maid in the palace.

"… Uncle Sima? Uncle Sima Fang! It's me, Zou Shi!"

Sima Fang's frown deepened. If she was an imposter, she would not have recognized him right away. She also looked familiar to him.

After he tried to recall his memories, he remembered that his superior, Minister Zou, always brought his daughter around with him. But she was sent away to marry a commander in the west a few years ago. He did not expect to see her here.

"Release the cuff! Both of them!" Ordered Sima Fang.

"Yes, sir!"

Guards at the side rushed in. Both Zou Shi and Dong Bai were released from the wooden board shackles. Zou Shi sighed in relief while Dong Bai remained indifferent from the start till the end.

'She didn't flinch or show any emotion at all. Did Dong Zhuo teach her this or her upbringing was harsh?'

Dong Bai's reaction was noticed by Sima Fang. He was impressed by the mentality of this little girl.

"So, how did you two get here? Wait! First, let's get you proper clothes and food. Have you two eaten well?"

The stomach of Zou Shi growled after she heard that she would get food, which bowed her head down with a reddened face.

"I see. For now, let's go to my residence. I'll have my maids prepare your new home, clothes, and your new servants."

Sima Fang invited the two to his Sima Manor. Dong Bai's eyes gleamed. She walked toward him and grabbed his robe.

"Uncle, can I see Zhang Tong?"

"Hmm? Do you know Zhang Tong?" Sima Fang was surprised.

"Yes. Can I?"

He pondered. Tong was busy inside the government hall at the moment. There was also a matter about Hua Shi being pregnant that Tong was not aware of yet. After a minute of reconsideration, he had to give Tong times to rest and adjust to the situation first. This little girl would have to wait.

"I'm sorry. Young master Zhang is busy at the moment. How about this? Today, you two rest in my manor, and tomorrow I'll take you two to him myself."

Dong Bai was delighted when she heard Tong was here, but she kept her poker face. She pretended innocence, tilted her head to the side, and asked.

"Eh? He's busy? What's he doing?"

"He has just returned from his trip, so he's busy welcoming new guests."

"Does he have a wife or a girlfriend with him?"

Sima Fang was taken aback by the sudden random question.

'This girl interested in Tong? No, she's too young for that. She probably admires him from the nonsense immortal rumors and stuff.'

He sighed and answered without hiding anything. He was not aware that he just dropped an atomic bomb on Tong.

"He has a wife, and she's pregnant at the moment. He doesn't know about this yet, so he'll need times for his family."

Listened to Sima Fang, the face of Dong Bai whitened. Her heart sunk into the bottom of her mind, and the sharp pain stung her chest.

'Tong has a wife? She's pregnant?'

'But he said he will return to me.'

She took a deep breath and calmed down. During her time in Hell, she had seen many sinners and their past. Dong Bai was also familiar with one of their sins, the sin of betrayal, which lovers betrayed each other for a new lover.

Unexpectedly, she also experienced the same pain of being betrayed here, but she kept her composure.

'Hmm. Regardless of the circumstances, he's still mine. His soul is going to Hell no matter what. The moment he mated with me that day, his future is sealed.'

'I'll punish him and that skank later. For now, I need a place to settle in.'

'For a second thought, a hundred years of repeating castration is probably not enough for Tong. Two hundred thousand years should be the right number.'

'But I can't mate with him if that thing is cut off. How about this? I mate with him. Once I'm done, I'll cut it off. Then regenerate it, mate him, and cut it again!'

'Yup, that's a good plan.'

Dong Bai did not realize. She had been leaking murderous intent, and the chilly air covered the entire eastern city areas.

"Little Bai, you're scary…"</add>