Chapter 56: The Sun Brothers

After the Spring Festival, Xu Zaijing accompanied his parents to his maternal grandmother’s Sun family home.

As before, after paying New Year’s respects to the elderly grandmother, the children went out to play with their Sun cousins.

Sun Shi chatted with her sisters-in-law and nieces-in-law; the children who had received cotton-padded jackets had shown off proudly when their mothers visited.

Before the New Year, Pingmei had become engaged to the Marquis of Ningyuan, and suddenly many matchmakers came to the Sun family asking about their daughters.

She was no less than the daughters of civil officials.

Pingmei and Anmei, meanwhile, sat inside with their distant female cousins and nieces, cracking sunflower seeds and gossiping about Beijing.

Among this group of sisters, Pingmei might well be the one with the highest future status.

Naturally, she became the target of their teasing, though many also flattered her with sweet words.

This made Pingmei, who usually bullied her female cousins by virtue of her height, blush furiously.

Fortunately, the topic shifted to a gossip about Xu Zaijing’s beating of Rong Xian, thanks to one of the sisters.

Another sister asked if Pingmei had seen how grim Princess Pingning’s face had been during the incident.

Princess Pingning had deliberately kept her relatives’ daughters away from Qi Heng for years—it was no longer a major scandal.

The girls chattered excitedly, another burst of noise erupting over who in whose family had been approached by a matchmaker.

In the courtyard, the Sun family had a small training ground, for they had too many male descendants and Beijing’s land was priceless.

Their archery practice area was merely a long corridor, where three men shot at once, leaving others to watch.

In the courtyard,

six or seven married cousins served in the Western Army, some under the Cao family, others under their own uncle-by-marriage, chatting under the eaves with younger family members.

They watched the younger family members in the courtyard with clear delight.

They were accustomed to military life, some had seen blood and killed men, and young boys often gazed at them in awe, asking about their experiences.

The older brothers would share some of those stories with the younger ones, for they too had been raised under the same teachings from their uncles and elder brothers.

Xu Zaijing stood nearby, listening as his cousins explained the flag signals used between the lowest-ranking squad leaders (25–100 men).

They also spoke of higher-level command techniques for military officers (cavalry) and company commanders (infantry).

This early exposure meant Sun family youths entering the army started at least as squad leaders, for most were already familiar with flag signals,

saving considerable training costs.

“We were already sharpening our blades in the Western Army, ready to strike Bai Gao, but the old officials in court dragged their feet—by the time their internal fights ended, ours hadn’t even finished.”

“Once war breaks out, money flows like water! The civil officials won’t part with it. Hah!”

Xu Zaijing made no grand pronouncements, only asked curiously: “Cousin, how many men have you seen in battle?”

“Over five thousand—two entire armies were deployed. It was right when Bai Gao’s internal strife was fiercest; nobles and generals in fine robes or iron armor often came to surrender to our Great Zhou.”

“Uncle, was the scene huge?”

“Huge? You stood at the front line and saw nothing but spears like a forest—nothing but men. What’s so huge?”

“Cousin, were you afraid?”

“Of course I was afraid. But after enough beatings from my father, when I finally faced a Bai Gao bandit, I just swung my blade. Once you see blood, you get used to it.”

Seventeen-year-old and nineteen-year-old cousins, a few years older than Xu Zaijing, wore looks of pure longing.

“Hey, let Jing-ge take the next turn—who’ll fight him?”

“I won’t. I don’t want to spoil the fun.” Xu Zaijing waved his hand.

Then Xu Zaijing turned and handed his cousin a handful of sunflower seeds: “Brother, are civil officials in the army really stronger than us military men?”

“Of course they are. Their pens are sharper than our spears—only a few Cao family generals aren’t afraid of them.”

“Brother, how heavy are our Great Zhou armors?”

“Over fifty jin.”

Other cousins and nephews nearby, hearing this for the first time, looked astonished.

“That’s like carrying Ershiyi Lang into battle?”

“Brother, does the Western Army have units that fight to the death, terrifyingly fierce?”

“Of course. But they’re all under the Cao family—our second brother serves in one of their Hengsai regiments.”

Xu Zaijing chatted with his cousins until lunchtime; at the noon banquet, everyone drank until dizzy, and Xu Minghua, rarely drunk, was also intoxicated.

This family gathering, Xu Minghua held the highest rank, serving alongside his wife’s brothers and cousins in the Western Army—plenty to talk about.

Xu Zaijing also drank some wine with his cousins.

Only at dusk did they return to the Xu household.

Days turned, and before they knew it,

it was the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first month.

In the days before, while visiting relatives in Kaifeng, Xu Zaijing had seen giant lanterns being set up along the wide imperial avenue.

They were for the Emperor’s viewing.

Elsewhere in Kaifeng, noble and wealthy households also displayed lanterns, with the most splendid ones at the gates of the Duke of Qi and the Marquis of Xiangyang.

Remember, for five days after the Lantern Festival, there were no curfews or gate restrictions—Kaifeng became the only city in the world that never slept.

Previously, when Xu Minghua was away, Sun Shi had strictly kept to the house and rarely gone out to see the lanterns, content to climb a ladder onto the roof for a glance.

Now that Xu Minghua was in the capital and the household had grown many servants, they decided to go see Kaifeng’s lanterns on the Lantern Festival.

Xu Zaijing naturally joined eagerly.

But that night, Xu Zaijing was stunned by Kaifeng’s crushing, shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.

Though family retainers protected them, they could only form a tight circle around the Xu family, moving slowly forward.

No wonder the Lantern Festival always had accidents—such crowds were terrifying.

Along the way, he saw households so extravagant that their maids and servants wore lanterns atop their heads.

Yes, lanterns on their heads—highly eye-catching.

Thieves and pickpockets were caught in the act, dragged by city patrol soldiers to roadside stages, and immediately had one hand broken or one leg shattered.

Their screams served as warnings to potential thieves: don’t dare act—this is your fate.

Under the protection of retainers, Xu Zaijing held his eldest sister Pingmei’s hand; Anmei was held by his older brother Xu Zaiduan.

Around them were maids and old women, but the crowd pushed them all crookedly.

Xu Zaijing, unlike ordinary youths lost in the lanterns, kept glancing around—he had not forgotten Rong Feiyan’s story.

Though Rong Feiyan was still a little girl.

As he watched, Xu Zaijing felt something was off—his daily martial training had sharpened his alertness—he kept sensing several men staring at his eldest sister.

As he watched, Xu Zaijing felt something was off—it was the vigilance forged by his daily martial training at home; he kept sensing that the few people around were constantly staring at his eldest sister.

Pingmei’s maid scolded a man with a lewd gaze.

“You little whore, your eyes are on me—I can look at whatever I want.”

He then openly scanned the maid from head to toe.

Xu Zaijing’s mind raced:

Clothes make the man—how dare this thug provoke such a well-dressed group with retainers?

Something strange is afoot!

“Qingyun!”

Xu Zaijing called out.

Qingyun, beside him, punched the man straight in the stomach.

“Words bring disaster—clean up your mouth.”

“Help! Murder!”

Someone suddenly screamed in the crowd.

“Rats!”

As the cry went up, a dozen rats were thrown among the Xu family.

The maids and old women erupted in panic; the crowd around them stirred into chaos.

The flow of people surged violently!

And with deliberate pushing and shoving by hidden instigators,

Added to which, deliberate provocation and shoving by those with ill intent.

the Xu family was scattered.

Ahead, Xu Minghua, Xu Zaiduan, Sun Shi, and others were swept forward by the crowd.

Pingmei’s maid, unshaken, swatted away the rats and stood firm beside her.

Several large, muscular men pushed through toward the Xu family.

Instantly, only Xu Zaijing and Pingmei’s personal maid remained beside her.

“Just a ten-year-old brat—go!”

Someone whispered in the crowd.

Qingyun had moved closer, but the crowd flowed opposite his direction; his eyes caught a glint of metal.

“Master, watch out for the knife!”

“Sister, hold onto my clothes—they’re coming for you.”

“Pfft, they’re coming for little Wu, not you.” Saying this, Pingmei yanked the hairpin from her bun and gripped it in her hand.

Thank you to our esteemed readers for your generous tips.

Thank you.

Bowed again

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(End of chapter)