Chapter 250

The once noble youths of the Bai Gao Kingdom's royal clan

had experienced a massive change in their family and country within just a few months.

On the way home, they were prisoners for a day and encountered a life-and-death ordeal.

Actually, they hadn't felt much during the few days they fled to the Great Zhou fortress,

but as the specific situation of their families in the Bai Gao Kingdom was delivered to them, they realized that the Liang family had already seized control of the state affairs.

The status of these few had become that of traitors, and their families and friends had been slaughtered by the Liang family, completely cutting off their retreat.

This experience

caused these two youths, who were not much older than Xu Zaijing, to lose their youthful spirit and mature instantly.

It seemed that someone had instructed them when they came to Bianjing, as the two youths were very respectful in front of Xu Zaijing.

"Want to walk?"

Hearing Xu Zaijing's words, the Li brothers were stunned and nodded.

The three walked on the Xu family's horse racing track.

"Regarding your status, the imperial court should bestow a residence upon you to show favor; why did you come to the Marquis's manor?"

"In reply to the Young Master, our family feud is not yet avenged, and my brother and I cannot settle down in that residence; in the Marquis's manor, we can still look after the families of our brothers."

After Li Taotie finished speaking, his younger brother added:

"We two are no longer members of the Bai Gao royal clan, but personal guards of the Marquis's manor who have joined the army, and officers of the Great Zhou."

Xu Zaijing looked back and said: "Do you two not hold a grudge against me, along with Mi Mu Tuoxia and the others?"

The brothers looked at each other and shook their heads:

"The Empress Liang was assassinated, and the Li and Liang families were already in a situation where one had to die."

"Actually, before we even returned to the Bai Gao Kingdom, our families had already..."

Xu Zaijing nodded and said:

"My condolences."

"We two heard from the Marquis's personal guards that you practice martial arts every day, Young Master; we also want to come here every day, I wonder..."

Hearing this, Xu Zaijing's eyes lit up:

"It just so happens that no one has been accompanying me these few days, and it's been boring practicing alone."

Qingyun, accompanying them to the side, revealed joy on his face; in the future, the Young Master shouldn't just be aiming at him.

The few chatted about the situation in the north again.

After walking a circle, Xu Zaijing beckoned to Alan, and after the two gathered around, he said:

"From now on, these two will join me for morning exercise; prepare some things for them."

"Yes, Young Master."

"When you have nothing to do, you can learn wrestling from them; you two shouldn't just be pecking at each other."

"Yes."

Mao hour (after 5:00 AM).

On the streets of Bianjing,

"Broomcorn millet! Melia leaves! Grain stalks!"

"Broomcorn millet! Melia leaves! Grain stalks!"

Amidst the hawking of the vendors,

Xu Zaijing entered the Sheng family school with Huaxiang.

Arriving early today, there was no one in the lecture hall yet.

After putting away the things in the book box, Huaxiang sat with great poise on the wooden platform at the back covered with a mat.

Soon,

Changbai entered the lecture hall with his manservant Han Niu, and after being busy at the desk for a while, Han Niu also walked to the back:

"Sister Yunxiang, good morning."

"Greetings, Brother Han Niu; my name is Huaxiang, the one who came yesterday was my sister."

Han Niu looked at Huaxiang's face and said: "Sister Yunxiang, you really... stop teasing me."

Hearing this, Changbai also turned his head to look.

Zaihang's manservant covered his mouth and laughed.

Han Niu looked at the familiar Xu family manservant laughing like this in confusion, and looked at Huaxiang again with doubt:

"It's clearly Sister Yunxiang."

"Han Niu, they are twins."

Soon, the three Lans also came to the lecture hall with their respective maidservants.

Because of the Huaxiang matter,

naturally, there was another round of disbelief and exclamation.

Xiaotao and Xique had been surrounding Huaxiang since the start of class,

and Xiaotao kept leaning toward Huaxiang.

Facing Huaxiang's confused gaze, Xiaotao said in a low voice:

"Sister, you smell so good!"

Hearing this, Xique also leaned in to sniff, and her eyes lit up.

"It's true."

"Sister, what incense are you wearing?"

After Xique asked, Huaxiang sniffed her own clothes in confusion and shook her head: "I'm not wearing any incense."

Seeing Mo Lan's maidservants, Luzhong and Yuncai, looked at the three with confusion,

and when the scholar announced a short break, the two curiously gathered around and looked at Huaxiang with surprise.

Huaxiang looked at the appearance of the few young maidservants and went to Xu Zaijing's side:

"Young Master, do I really have a fragrance on me?"

Xu Zaijing, writing, didn't even lift his head and said:

"How many of the flowers Uncle Deng planted have you two picked and put in the room?"

"Oh..."

In the spacious courtyard of the Marquis Yongyi's manor, the flowers and plants tended by the farmer's son, Uncle Deng, were exceptionally lush. The Huaxiang sisters had been taught since childhood and were at an age where they loved beauty,

so they often moved flowers into the room with Qingcao.

When the three girls had nothing to do, they would soak flower petals in water, being incredibly vain.

In the lecture hall,

Changfeng and Gu Tingye exchanged looks again.

Gu Tingye was fine, as he had seen the Huaxiang and Yunxiang sisters before,

but Changfeng had previously felt that the maidservants in his own room were good-looking; however, after seeing Yunxiang, he found them somewhat lacking.

As a result, today he learned that Xu Zaijing had another maidservant like Yunxiang!

Qi Heng, standing to the side, took a sip of the tea cup handed over by Buwei and sighed with emotion, feeling for the first time that his maternal grandfather didn't seem to love him anymore.

Scholar Zhuang, sitting on the Arhat bed and fanning himself, also took a sip of tea, looked at Zaihang, Changbai, and Xu Zaijing, who were concentrating on writing, and nodded in appreciation.

Looking at Changfeng and Gu Tingye, who were exchanging looks, and Qi Heng, who was feeling emotional while holding his tea cup, Scholar Zhuang snorted.

Minglan, sitting at the very back, glanced at the maidservants behind them before continuing to practice her writing, occasionally recalling what she had said to her grandmother before.

In fact, when Minglan was in Yang Zhou, she had already cleverly grasped the general situation of the Sheng family, but she lacked an elder like the Old Madam to help her analyze the twists and turns of the people and events.

After some conversation, Minglan had grown a bit more.

After finishing her writing, Minglan looked back again; were these maidservants really not the same person?

The next day.

The seventh month.

The Ghost Festival.

Early morning, Chai residence.

Miss Yun Mu got up from the couch and went to the entrance. After speaking a few words with the maidservant at the door, Miss Yun Mu walked into Chai Zhengzheng's bedroom.

Glancing at the armor puppet by the bed, Miss Yun Mu pulled the neck guard of the armor up, restoring the majestic appearance of the armor.

Chai Zhengzheng on the bed opened her eyes.

"Young Lady, the Madam says the things are already prepared; we will set off in a moment."

Chai Zhengzheng agreed with a "mm" and got up.

A quarter of an hour later,

dressed up, Chai Zhengzheng, wearing plain clothes, left the courtyard with her maidservant, got into the Chai family carriage with her mother, and left the residence.

On the streets of Bianjing in the early morning,

sitting in the carriage,

Chai Zhengzheng heard the hawking of "Broomcorn millet! Melia leaves! Grain stalks!"

Through the light gauze on the carriage window, one could see

that the flow of people on the road was beginning to slowly become dense.

When they arrived outside the Daxiangguo Temple, it was already bustling with noise and excitement.

The Chai family carriage was guided by monks into the temple.

Lady Chai's personal servant carried boxes of paper money and paper clothes into a courtyard.

In a room within the courtyard, over a dozen spirit tablets were enshrined, and bhikshunis were chanting scriptures.

Chai Zhengzheng and Lady Chai, as the hosts, stood to one side in the room,

while the maidservant Miss Yun Mu and the Chai family mamas knelt on prayer mats and began burning the paper money and paper clothes.

Those spirit tablets were for the Chai family servants who had lost their lives due to the robbery.

Those who could accompany Chai Zhengzheng were all her wet nurses, maidservants who grew up with her, or family-born servants being trained as stewards.

Having accompanied her for many years, there were feelings involved.

As the paper products burned and danced in the fire basin, Chai Zhengzheng, accompanied by her mother, muttered words to the spirit tablets:

"Mama, I was saved by someone..."

"Qingxue, don't worry, I'm fine..."

"I actually met your fellow villager..."

"Her age seems to be about the same as yours..."

Amidst the chanting, Chai Zhengzheng's eyes gradually blurred, and the bits and pieces of these ten-plus years appeared before her eyes.

Lady Chai's personal mama, who was also familiar with the mama from Chai Zhengzheng's courtyard, was also deeply moved by this scene and spoke like casual conversation about the Chai family's arrangements for the families of those who had passed away.

Finally, Miss Yun Mu and the mamas kowtowed, and Lady Chai and Chai Zhengzheng also bowed.

After giving incense money, the Chai family finally came out of the Xiangguo Temple,

and afterward, the carriage drove toward the Daoist temple in the city.

On the same day,

because their father and elder brother were not in the capital,

Xu Zaijing and his elder brother remained in Quyuanjie, unlike last year when they went to the school.

Before dawn,

the two brothers were both wearing solemn clothes, sitting on a flat carriage loaded with offerings and paper money,

and gathered with the families of the Marquis's manor's former personal guards and old acquaintances on the street, rushing toward the Daoist temple together.

Chu Zhan sat in the carriage behind with Uncle Shu, having lost his usual liveliness and looking solemn like a little adult.

Uncle Shu looked at Chu Zhan's appearance, patted his head, and gave up some of the quilt he was sitting on, which wasn't hard on the buttocks, to him.

Entering the Daoist temple,

a huge rack three or four zhang high had already been set up in the courtyard,

and strings of paper money were being placed into the rack by Daoist priests and acolytes along the wooden ladders inside.

These were the "money mountains" prepared by the Ancestral Temple Department under the Ministry of Rites.

Along the walls around the Daoist temple, there were quite a few large water vats for fire prevention.

After the Marquis Yongyi's manor group arrived near the rack, they also took bamboo poles from the flat carriage and began threading paper money and various paper shoes, boots, clothes, belts, and so on onto them.

There were also paper-crafted armor, weapons, cattle, horses, etc., that were unloaded.

These things were surrounded and placed to one side of the huge rack, where there was a much smaller "Xu" character flag.

On the small paper figure holding the flag, there were also a few paper strips with the surnames of the former personal guard leaders of the Marquis Yongyi's manor, including characters like "Shu" and "Chu."

There was nothing left on the flat carriage,

so Chu Zhan held Uncle Shu's quilt with a straight face and placed it beside the offerings, preparing to burn it for the ancestors.

Seeing this, Uncle Shu snatched it away and gave Chu Zhan a flick on the head.

Xu Zaijing, seeing this scene, shook his head; Chu Zhan, this spendthrift,

that quilt of Uncle Shu's couldn't be bought for less than four or five guan of money.

While the Marquis Yongyi's manor group was busy,

Xu Zaijing looked up and saw Gu Tingye following behind Gu Tingyu not far away, also moving offerings around the "Gu" character flag with the help of Zhi Que, You Qing, and others.

Further away were the noble families like the Zhang family of the Duke of England and the Zheng family of the Marquis Zhongjing,

with few civil officials.

Occasionally, commoners would also come in holding offerings and place them in the rack.

There were also elderly people, either aged or somewhat disabled, who brought people to the Xu family group.

Xu Zaihang and Xu Zaijing had to be introduced by old people from the manor like Uncle Shu to know

that those visiting were the descendants of soldiers who had served under which Marquis Yongyi.

The young ones moved things,

while the old ones loved to tell stories, talking about how their fathers and brothers were in that battle,

and some talked about what official positions their descendants were currently holding under the Marquis Yongyi.

Half an hour later,

"Dong!"

"Dong!"

The sound of drums rang out.

The surrounding nobles and commoners began to withdraw from beside the huge rack that was already full.

The group from the Marquis Yongyi's manor, like the other families, knelt down in unison amidst the shouting and kowtowed.

When the drum sound stopped,

the huge rack in the Daoist temple had already been piled into a mountain by the paper money and offerings, and there was no one around.

After everyone retreated to the windward side,

the Daoist priests held torches and lit the huge money mountain in several places.

All around,

whether they were Bianjing commoners or nobles, many knelt down again, muttering words in their mouths.

The huge Daoist temple began to become noisy.

Xu Zaijing knelt behind Zaihang, listening to his elder brother's muttering.

Behind Xu Zaijing, not knowing what they were thinking, some of the elderly people like Uncle Shu were already weeping uncontrollably.

One-third of the entire money mountain had already burned, and tongues of fire began to lick and ignite the main part of the rack.

Xu Zaijing looked up at the rising blue smoke, praying that if there were truly heroic spirits, he hoped they could protect his father, brother, and comrades in peace.

Suddenly,

his arm was nudged. Xu Zaijing looked and found it was Qingyun:

"Young Master, am I seeing things? Why does it look like there's a figure in the rack?"

"Your eyesight is good, you take a look."

Hearing this, Chu Zhan, with tear-blurred eyes, was scared into a shiver and then looked toward the money mountain.

Xu Zaijing was stunned and asked: "Where?"

Qingyun pointed in the direction. Xu Zaijing looked intently, then involuntarily pointed at that spot and shouted a "Holy crap!!!"

Because in the corner of the rack under the huge money mountain,

amidst the smoke and fire,

a young child wearing silk and a gold lock was standing in front of a wooden post as thick as a calf, crying.

The crying had long been drowned out by the prayers of the people around.

That wooden post, which looked like a dense fence, was on the bottom layer of the rack, supporting a space half a person high, originally intended to ventilate and help burn the money mountain piled with offerings and paper money.

But at this moment, a young child had somehow crawled behind those wooden posts.

Qingyun's speaking and Xu Zaijing's shouting instantly attracted the attention of the surrounding crowd.

Zaihang hurriedly stood up and shouted while running forward:

"There's someone!"

"There's someone!"

"Save him!"

As he spoke, he wanted to rush over,

but at this time, the money mountain was already being ignited, and taking advantage of the wind, the tongues of fire were spitting, making it impossible for anyone to run over easily.

There were others around who were as anxious as Zaihang; some even ran further than Zaihang, but were still forced back by the temperature of the baking heat.

Xu Zaijing stood up before Zaihang rushed out. Feeling the hot wind blowing on his face, he didn't run forward but looked around.

"Uncle Shu, where is your quilt?"

Uncle Shu: "Huh?"

"Cotton quilt!"

"Oh! It's in the carriage, in the carriage!"

Hearing this, Xu Zaijing immediately squeezed out, looked at the flat carriage guarded by the Xu family servants,

and without a second word, grabbed Uncle Shu's cotton quilt and threw it into the large water vat by the wall.

At this moment, a tragic howl came from the crowd:

"That's my brother! My brother!"

"Come save him!"

"My brother!"

Xu Zaijing heard this voice and turned to look. There were too many people, and he didn't see the person howling.

Instead, he saw Chu Zhan, who had followed him.

Xu Zaijing looked at the quilt in the water vat and reached out his hand directly toward Chu Zhan: "Grab it!"

Chu Zhan: "Huh?"

Although he had questions, Chu Zhan still grabbed Xu Zaijing's hand,

and then he was put into the water vat by Xu Zaijing.

After tossing Chu Zhan in the water vat a few times, Uncle Shu's cotton quilt was soaked through.

Chu Zhan: "You... Young Master!"

Before he could finish speaking, he was lifted out of the water vat by Xu Zaijing, soaking wet.

Afterward, Xu Zaijing also jumped in, soaked his whole body, and jumped out holding the cotton quilt.

"Move aside!"

After Xu Zaijing came out of the crowd, he draped the soaked cotton quilt over himself and then rushed toward the huge money mountain.

The person in the crowd who was howling that it was his brother really saw someone rush over, and the sound of painful howling stopped,

then started howling again.

Approaching the burning paper money mountain,

white steam began to rise from Xu Zaijing's body and the soaked cotton quilt on his back; that was the moisture on his clothes being evaporated by the high temperature.

The tongues of fire blown by the wind spat around Xu Zaijing, as if they didn't want him to get close.

Xu Zaijing, feeling the baking heat, frowned.

Arriving in front,

in just this short while, the young child who was crying just now had already fainted, not knowing if it was from the heat or from being choked by the smoke.

Xu Zaijing, draped in the cotton quilt, aimed at the wooden post and kicked it a few times.

The surrounding Bianjing commoners exclaimed, because those few kicks made the rack above shake,

and the rack several zhang high and the things burning on it were tottering.

Zaihang and Qingyun behind him were roaring loudly:

"Young Master! Hurry! Come back! It's going to collapse!"

"Xiao Wu! Come back!"

"It's going to fall on you!"

"Young Master!!"

After kicking two wooden posts until they broke,

Xu Zaijing covered himself with the cotton quilt with one hand, and with quick eyes and fast hands, pulled the young child out and held him in his arms.

Just as he turned around and prepared to run toward the crowd,

the surrounding Bianjing commoners exclaimed again.

Xu Zaijing hadn't figured out what was going on when he felt a weight on the cotton quilt on his back and head, followed by a wave of scorching heat rushing toward his face.

Xu Zaijing didn't pay attention to this and continued to run forward, but the surroundings turned into a sea of fire.

Pain came from several places on his body.

The scorching feeling around him became more intense,

but Xu Zaijing knew he couldn't stop. After holding the child in his arms, he exerted force with his legs, ran a few big steps forward, and then leaped forward.

"Whoosh!"

A coolness surrounded him.

Before Xu Zaijing could react to what was happening,

Splash!

Water was splashed toward him,

followed by several more times. Xu Zaijing felt that it was still water.

Feeling the steam rising around him and the scorching heat dissipating, Xu Zaijing then threw away the cotton quilt that had been burned through in several places,

and looking out, there was a mess behind him, and the collapsed offerings and paper money were burning fiercely a few zhang behind him.

Stimulated by the cool water,

the young child in Xu Zaijing's arms coughed and woke up, then started howling.

In the crowd, the young man who had just been crying that it was his brother walked over, and just as he was about to take the child from Xu Zaijing's hands,

a mama flew over and pounced on this person, scratching with her hands while biting the person's cheek with her teeth.

Before everyone could react to what was happening, the young man was already covering his face and howling.

That mama got off the person,

spat out the piece of flesh in her mouth with disdain, and then this mama sharply rebuked:

"How could you harm someone like this!!!"

Afterward, this mama didn't look at the young man who was truly howling,

wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, tidied her clothes and hair a little, and knelt straight in front of Xu Zaijing.

"Dong!"

The mama's forehead hit the ground heavily.

"Thank you, benefactor!"

When she raised her head, her forehead was already beginning to bleed.

"Dong!"

"Thank you, benefactor!"

(End of chapter)