Mid-Year Festival
For four or five days, He Yan did not go to the martial arts field to practice.
In fact, she herself did not take the pain on her leg to heart, but the doctor Shen Muxue of Liangzhou Wei came to give her medicine every day and repeatedly told her not to exercise vigorously. Hong Shan also yelled at the same time, “You need to listen to the doctor. If you get injured again, you wouldn’t be able to get first place on the day of the fight for flags and wouldn’t be able to enter the forward battalion. Don’t cry when the time comes .”
He Yan thought about it, then gave up. She was not in a hurry; it was just for one or two days.
But these days, as long as she was away from the martial arts field, her room would basically be full, as people visiting see her came in an endless stream. Today, Jiang Jiao sent a few sour plums, and the next day Huang Xiong brought a bunch of roasted quails. The most speechless thing was Wang Ba, who couldn’t help himself – when he came, asked the recruits in his room to send half of the gnawed dry buns, which at first glance were the spoils looted from the hands of others. He really regarded the barracks as his own hill.
Even Instructor Liang came twice, and both times he saw He Yan, who was surrounded by the crowd in the spring breeze[full of joy]. He took a look at her table full of food squeezed on like a mountain, and dropped a sentence sourly[in a jealous manner], “Oh, living a good life.” After that he left, He Yan was also helpless.
It was so noisy, from the time when He Yan’s elbows were scarred and scabbed and her legs couldn’t walk, seven or eight days had passed, and the day of fighting for the flag was getting closer and closer.
On this day, before the sun set, Hongshan, and the others returned. He Yan was surprised and asked, “Why did you leave early from the martial arts arena?”
“Today is July 14th, it’s the Zhongyuan Festival,[1]” Mak answered first. “The head Instructor asked us to get off from the martial arts field earlier and have dinner to set water lanterns by the river to worship our ancestors.”
“This Liangzhou Wei is not that bad, they are even giving people time to worship their ancestors and relatives.” Hong Shan sighed.
He Yan smiled as she knew that this is a tradition in the military camp. When she was in the Fuyue Army, the local government in the garrison would teach people to set up a memorial to pay homage to the soldiers who died in the war. Nowadays, Liangzhou Wei was backed by mountains and rivers, which made it very convenient for water lanterns.
“My eldest brother and I are going to set off the water lanterns for my parents,” Mak told them about their dead parents, but he was not sad, only a little melancholy. Maybe his parents left too early, and the memory was very frail. He asked Hong Shan, ” Brother Shan, are you going to worship?”
“Yes, my mother left early, I’ll put one for my mother.”
Several people looked at He Yan in unison, “Is Brother Ahe going or not?”
Here, He Yan’s identity was probably the most mysterious. She doesn’t like to talk to Mak and others about her family affairs. Hong Shan only knows that He Yan came to the army when he was desperate for the family, but when one looked at his confident appearance on the martial arts field, he felt that He Yan was not a child from an ordinary family.
“Me? I’ll go too.” He Yan lowered her eyes, her tone low, “I also have someone to worship.”
Mak and the others sensed that the atmosphere was not right, so they didn’t dare to ask, and they turned the conversation off and started talking about something lighter.
After dinner, the sun completely set, and the moonlight came out from the dark clouds, as almost all the recruits from Liangzhou Wei came out.
You had to fold the lantern yourself; and the paper was piled up in several big baskets in the martial arts field. He Yan also went to get one. She was not very good at doing these handicrafts, but Mak saw it and folded her a paper into the shape of a lotus lamp in three or five-folds, after that he dropped a short white candle on the center of the lotus lamp and handed it to He Yan, “It’s done!”
“Thank you.” He Yan praised, “You are good at handicrafts.”
Mak smiled embarrassedly, “I used to fold a lot of lanterns with my eldest brother to sell during the Mid-Year Festival. I am used to folding. If the paper was bigger, I could fold a more beautiful and bigger one!”
Shi knocked on his head and said in disapproval, “This is not the time for you to show off.”
Mak stuck out his tongue and ran to the Wulu River with the water lantern in his hand, “I’ll go light up the lantern first, Brother Ahe, hurry up!”
After the beginning of autumn, the weather in Liangzhou became cooler at night. In the morning, it rained, and the coolness was still there. The dense forest on the mountain gave birth to cool frost and dew, and the moon and stars were sparse, making the river water shine bright.
The riverside was already crowded with people who came to worship the ancestors, and the candle flames were twinkling, like ten thousands of silver flowers shining across the river, reflecting the dancing flames. The flaming red lotus floated far away with the thoughts of the worshippers, and turned into a bright spot where the water meets the sky, and gradually disappeared.
“It’s all right here, Brother Ahe…” Mak turned around and was taken aback, “Where is Brother Ahe?”
Hong Shan and Shi looked at each other, “I don’t know, he was here just now.”
He Yan was sitting on the rock in the innermost place by the river. This is not the most open place, so few people put lights on here. She silently looked at the lotus lantern in her hand, and her heart was sour beyond words.
Suddenly she remembered the moment when He Wanru drowned her in the water, and said to her, “You are pregnant.”
At that moment, she was actually more elated than bewildered.
But this joy did not last for a moment before she sank in the Xu family’s pond along with her unborn child.
He Yan always felt that in her previous life, she had never wronged anyone, in the He family, may it be He Rufei or Xu Zhiheng. She had done everything she could, but the only one she felt guilty for was the flesh and blood in her belly. She gave him life, but before bringing him into the world, she killed this possibility due to her own problems. Perhaps when she was a military commander, too many people died under her hands, causing countless sins, and God punished her like this. But God should have only just punished her, so why punish the innocent child? She didn’t even know whether it was a little girl or a little boy in her womb before she died.
He Yan took out the torch, and the sparks of the torch splashed a little on the candle, which instantly lit it. The water lantern slowly bloomed in her hand, and the light of the fire reflected in her eyes, and turned into a small flame. It seemed that tears were about to fall, as her eyes quickly blurred.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered and said sadly, “You and I, mother and child, have no fate in this life. If there is an afterlife, you must be reborn in a good family and enjoy a happy and worry-free life – never meeting me again.”
“I also…” She put the lantern into the river water, “I will avenge for you.”
The river water gurgled, gently wrapping the little water lantern, and went forward. He Yan stared at it, as it swayed until it converged with the countless light spots, and could no longer tell which lantern belonged to who, before she retracted her gaze as she rubbed her eyes.
“Brother He, I didn’t expect you to be here!” An excited voice sounded behind her, “What a coincidence, you are also here to set off the water lantern!”
He Yan turned around and saw a young man with red lips and white teeth holding a lamp in his arms and walking towards her happily. It was Cheng Lisu.
His clothes were neat and fresh. When he walked to He Yan, he carefully raised the corner of his robe, fearing that he would be splashed by the river, and gave He Yan a handful of lanterns he held in his arms.
He Yan asked, “…Are these the water lanterns you want to set off?”
“Yes!”
“Why so many?” He Yan was speechless.
“I didn’t have to set off so many, as I don’t know the ancestors of our Cheng family. But I don’t think my uncle will come today, so I will release it on behalf of him. This belongs to my uncle’s grandmother. This is for my uncle’s grandfather’s, this is my…”
He counted them one by one, but there was no trace of sadness, instead, he was so cheerful that people might mistakenly think that he was putting on the Lantern for the Lantern festival instead of the worshiping lantern.
“Wait,” He Yan interrupted him, “Why are you doing it in place of your uncle? Can’t he come by himself?”
“There are so many people, he won’t come.” Cheng Lisu sighed, with a broken heart, and shook his head, “I wouldn’t have come if he would come. Who made him my uncle?”
He Yan felt a little funny, and the pain that had just occurred due to the past faded. Although Cheng Lisu seemed to have two brain cells less than ordinary people, he was still very serious about the issue of water lanterns. He lit the water lanterns in his hand one by one, solemnly putting them into the river water, and prayed very nervously so that they do not get blown out by the wind, or get overturned by the waves. Fortunately, all went well. The water lanterns gradually drifted farther away.
After putting off the last lantern, Cheng Lisu breathed a sigh of relief. He took a coarse cloth out of his arms and placed it on the stone before sitting on it.
“Liangzhou Wei is quite cool at night,” he muttered, “It was so hot just a few days ago. Since the time I grew up, I have never experienced such a hot summer.”
He Yan burst into laughter. Cheng Lisu used to be in the capital, and Cheng family must have ice blocks to cool off the heat in summer. Staying in the house every day without the sun, of course, it wouldn’t have been as difficult as living in Liangzhou Wei. She asked, “If that’s the case, why did you come to Liangzhou Wei to suffer with your uncle?”
“I can’t help it,” Cheng Lisu spread his hands together, “If I didn’t come out with my uncle, I would have been engaged.”
He Yan was taken aback, “What?”
“Tell you a secret. I escaped from my marriage.” Cheng Lisu curled his lips. “I’m still young, how can I be betrothed? Besides, I didn’t like her, so I ran away.”
He Yan, “…” The child is really going back and forth, but to He Yan’s surprise, Xiao Jue actually promised to bring Cheng Lisu with him. He was not afraid that the Cheng’s family would be dissatisfied with him. After all, he once secretly abducted people. The young master also helped the other young master escape the marriage, even if he is a relative, she was afraid there would be a grievance in their heart.
“You and General Xiao have a very good relationship.” He Yan said carefully.
“It’s not bad,” Cheng Lisu was very proud, “I took the initiative to pester him.”
He Yan felt unbelievable, “Your uncle is so terrible, you can still take the initiative to go over?” It’s amazing, who said that Cheng Lisu was a “loser son”, this kind of tolerance was not something everyone can do. Not everyone could bear the burden of humiliation.
“My uncle is very powerful. If it wasn’t him, I might not be where I am now.”
Maybe the moonlight was very good tonight, and Cheng Lisu was also very excited when talking about the past.
Cheng Lisu’s mother, Mrs. Cheng, was actually just a few years older than Xiao Jue’s mother. Therefore, when Xiao Jue was born, Mrs. Cheng had already been married. So although Cheng Lisu and Xiao Jue were of different generations, the difference in age was not very large.
Although the Cheng family and the Xiao family did not get along very often, they were definitely not indifferent either. However, as a child, Cheng Lisu did not interact with Xiao Jue much. Most of the time, he had seen his uncle Xiao Jing more. Xiao Zhongwu has two sons. The eldest son, Xiao Jing, was weak since young, and was unfit for martial arts. After his body improved, he had already passed the best age to practice martial arts. And Mrs. Xiao didn’t want Xiao Jing to join the military, so Xiao Jing took the path of a civil official.
After Xiao Jue was born, Xiao Zhongwu paid special attention to this son.
Xiao Jue did not fail to live up to Xiao Zhongwu’s expectations and had already revealed his talents at an early age. Xiao Zhongwu took Xiao Jue to the mountains where he was personally taught by four senior scholars. As for what mountain it was, and who were the masters, Cheng Lisu was not clear. In the end, he would only see him once a year, and sometimes not even once.
After Xiao Jue was fourteen years old, he went down the mountain and returned to Su Zhou, entered Xianchang Hall, and studied arts and martial arts with Su Zhou’s noble children. Cheng Lisu was nine years old that year and was kidnapped by kidnappers when he went out to play with his friends at the Mid-Autumn Festival. At his age, it was reasonable to say that the kidnappers were old, but his life was delicate and precious, like a silver doll on a traditional painting, so the abductors took him out of the city. Cheng Lisu was told not to scream, so he could only shiver while being kept hidden in the carriage.
He cried when he woke up, ate with tears, and went to sleep. One time, he didn’t know how long it took him to wake up from his sleep. The sound of fighting came from outside the carriage. Cheng Lisu bumped his nose and was swollen when the carriage stopped…
He hurriedly opened the curtain of the carriage and climbed out, and saw the dead who fell to the ground, all with swords in their throats. There was not only one kidnapper who took him. There were dozens of them. The kidnapped children were all tied up and stuffed in a carriage. At this moment, some of them fell out, and some were still in the carriage. A group of people was crying. In the chaos, Cheng Lisu climbed out tremblingly, and then came across the corner of a snow-white robe.
He raised his head, looked up, and saw a handsome young man in a snow-white robe standing in front of him, holding a long sword which was like frost and snow, dripping blood. The blood was gorgeous, but not as bright as the young boy’s lips, the man’s expression was calm, as his eyes fell on him.
It looked like the scene of a fierce painting, but Cheng Lisu felt a little relieved inexplicably. He tremblingly hugged the leg of the young man, learning from his mother’s tone when talking with others, with some flattery, “Dare, dare to ask what is the hero’s last name and where he lives. I am the young master of Cheng’s mansion. You have saved me, our mansion will surely reward you.”
The corners of the boy’s mouth twitched, as he looked down at him condescendingly, his eyes were clear without any ripples, and he said coldly, “I am your uncle.”
“I only knew then that he was my little uncle whom I have never met.” Cheng Lisu looked at the moon, “I thought at the time, this little uncle is really amazing.”
Xiao Jue rescued him and the young children who were abducted by the kidnappers. Cheng Lisu felt that there was such an amazing uncle, so he wanted to stick to him. But Xiao Jue didn’t like this little nephew very much. After sending him back to Cheng’s house, he never visited him again. Cheng Lisu sent him an invitation to come to the mansion as a guest, but Xiao Jue never came once. Besides, Xiao Jue was also very busy. The times when Cheng Lisu saw Xiao Jue, were actually very few.
He Yan thought of the scene described by Cheng Lisu and wanted to laugh inexplicably. It was really helpless to think that Xiao Jue had such a nephew.
“Then how did you get close afterward?” He Yan asked.
If it was just a life-saving grace, as Cheng Lisu said, it did not greatly improve their relationship, then something must have happened later making the uncle and nephew be able to come to Liangzhou Wei together.
“In fact, our Cheng family, including my mother, relatives, and friends who know the Xiao family, don’t really like uncle.” Cheng Lisu said, “They like elder-uncle more.”
The two sons of the Xiao family were born to Wei Wanli. The eldest son Xiao Jing was also born with a good appearance. The son was like jade, humble and clear. From the perspective of temperament alone, it would be more comfortable to get along with Xiao Jing. But it shouldn’t make anyone dislike Xiao Jue.
“Why?” He Yan asked, “Didn’t General Xiao save your life. If he’s your savior, your mother definitely won’t dislike him, right?”
“That’s true, but the time for my uncle and our relatives to meet was really too short, and people didn’t know him well.”
Before Xiao Jue was fourteen, he rarely stayed in Su Zhou. After he turned fourteen, he entered the Xianchang Hall. Not to mention relatives and friends, even Mrs. Xiao was not very close to this son. Cheng Lisu knew that there were several times when Mrs. Xiao talked to her mother, as she was worried about how to get along with this little son.
Since they didn’t know how to get along, people would naturally have many prejudices. Xiao Jue was originally lazy and didn’t like to socialize with others. Compared with his warm and gentle brother, the contrast was more vivid. But as He Yan said, this is not enough to make anyone dislike a person, the actual dislike started when Xiao Zhongwu died after the battle of Mingshui.
Xiao Zhongwu’s death came suddenly, and it was a huge blow to the Xiao family. Mrs. Xiao had never experienced wind and rain. After Xiao Zhongwu’s death, Mrs. Xiao took advantage of the situation and committed suicide by hanging on a beam and followed her husband along, leaving behind her only two sons.
The two sons of the Xiao family, Xiao Jing and Xiao Jue – Xiao Jing was in grief, but Xiao Jue did not shed a single tear. After the general and his wife were buried, the first thing Xiao Jue did was to go to the Jinluan Temple to present his case, to hold the military power of the Nine Banner Battalion soldiers in his palms.
Mrs. Xiao’s death never even passed the first seven days when he took Nine banner battalion[Jiuqi] soldiers to Southern Barbarians Rebellion. Xiao Zhongwu died in the Battle of Southern Barbarians that day. Some people said he was avenging his father, while others said he was eager for quick success. Whether it was the death of his father or the love of his mother, Xiao Jue did not show excessive sadness. So the sign of indifference and a heart hard as iron was stamped on him.
The second young master Xiao Jue, who was noble and precious, went missing from the capital. Others could only learn about Xiao Jue’s current situation from the few words that came back from the battlefield. Rumor has it that he was a young killer, and countless people had died under his sword. He was labeled as even more harsh and unkind.
“Have you heard of Zhao Nuo?” Cheng Lisu asked.
He Yan faintly felt that the name was familiar, but she didn’t know where she had heard it before, so she shook her head and said, “I don’t know.”
“Zhao Nuo is the eldest son of the current Minister of revenue. He was once an envoy of Jing province.” Cheng Lisu said, with a sad expression. “In fact, the Cheng family, as well as the Xiao family’s and relative’s misunderstandings of Uncle, was because of this person.”
[1] Mid-year festival/Hungry Ghost Festival is the name of Taoism, folk called secular July and a half, July 14 OR 15 worship Festival, known as the Buddhist Obon. Holiday customs mainly worship, put lanterns, worship spirits of the dead, burning paper ingots, and sacrifice a land. It can be traced back to the worship of ancestor spirits and related sacrifices in ancient times.
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