Someone was looking around at the entrance of Nancheng Alley and was startled when a child jumped out.
"What are you doing!" the child shouted.
The boy stared and waved his hands.
"Go away." He shouted pretending to be ferocious.
But in the past, the children who didn't even dare to say a word after seeing them actually picked up stones on the ground and threw them at them. The boy had no choice but to curse and run away.
"A funeral?" Mr. Cheng asked in surprise.
"Yes, we have bought a lot of things. The peach charms in the house have been covered, and the servants have also girded their waists." said the housekeeper.
Doctor Cheng put down the tea bowl angrily.
"Who are you cursing?" she shouted. "It's not enough that the noisy family is separated. Are you going to curse us to death again?"
Mr. Cheng glared at her.
"Don't yell." He said angrily, "You just rush to make trouble without asking anything clearly. Haven't you suffered enough?"
"You mean those losses are all my fault?" Mrs. Cheng shouted immediately.
Women's thinking is so flexible...
Mr. Cheng reached out and pressed his forehead.
"Let Shiro ask." He said, ignoring Mrs. Cheng's words.
The housekeeper hurriedly responded and left. When he walked to the courtyard door, he heard an argument coming from the house.
"…. Please tell me clearly why this is my fault. It is obviously your fault and the fault of Lao Er’s family..."
"...No one says you are wrong, what are you guilty of..."
"...You're not saying I'm wrong! I can't stay here anymore, I'm leaving..."
"...You leave? Where are you going? As for your brother and sister-in-law, can you still go home?"
The crying suddenly started loudly.
The housekeeper ran away as if he was running away.
Cheng Silang almost trotted all the way to Cheng Jiao's parents' house. As expected, the yard was filled with brightly colored furnishings, while Banqin was sitting on the porch, wiping tears while tearing Bai Xiao off and replacing it on her own head.
"What happened?" he asked.
"My dear brothers..." Banqin cried.
"Are they the gentlemen that Banqin mentioned?" Cheng Silang asked.
The new clothes he wore during the New Year's Eve last year were made for these gentlemen and were not used, and he also knew something about them from Ban Qin in the capital.
"Those are the brothers that I rely on the most. They are closer than my own. We have killed wolves together..."
They even killed people together...
Upon hearing this, Banqin raised his hands to wipe away his tears again.
No more, really no more...
No matter how you say it's gone, it's gone. She still feels like she's in a dream, and she wakes up soon.
"I have nothing to do with the king..." Cheng Silang sighed after hearing this.
Military injuries are inevitable and cannot be helped.
"Why did you have to leave when you were doing well in the first place? Isn't it good to stay in the capital?" Cheng Silang asked.
Banqin's heart suddenly tightened.
"Fourth Young Master, my wife didn't force them to leave. My wife didn't..." she said anxiously.
Before she finished speaking, she was stunned, and so was Cheng Silang.
Therefore, the lady will feel more guilty and sad? If she stays in the capital...
Banqin's tears suddenly fell like rain.
"No, no, that's not what I meant." She leaned over and cried.
Cheng Silang had no choice but to comfort her.
"No, it's really not the case. Is my sister that kind of person? She must do things only when people ask her to do things. These people...will only leave if they want to...Besides, you can't talk about the things in the world.
If." Cheng Silang said.
Banqin choked up and stopped to express her thanks.
There was no movement for a while while talking...
"Madam, Madam has gone to see Cheng Ping." Banqin wiped her tears and said, "I am preparing the funeral at home to send to the northwest, and Manager Cao is following me."
Who is Cheng Ping?
Cheng Silang thought in his heart that his sister seemed to be from two different worlds...
Manager Cao stood outside the door and looked inside. Cheng Ping and Cheng Jiaoniang were sitting opposite each other in the corridor.
"My wife always loses her composure when she sees this guy... It's not worse to see him now..." a follower said in a low voice.
"Maybe it's better to fight fire with poison." Manager Cao said, looking inside the door again.
"There's nothing to feel bad about not having anything to do with the king." Cheng Ping said, yawning.
This woman is so powerful that she can tear the Cheng family apart by herself, but sometimes she acts like a child who doesn't understand anything and comes asking ridiculous questions.
"I'm not sad." Cheng Jiaoniang shook her head and said, reaching out to touch her eyes.
Until now, she hasn't even shed a single tear. Battles on the battlefield are uncertain of life and death. Moreover, to her, all the people here are... dead.
She just felt a little bored, strangely bored, and had an indescribable feeling, so she wanted to find someone to talk to.
"That's right. Since you are loyal to the king and fulfill your duties, there is nothing to be sad about." Cheng Ping said, "Since I joined the army in the first place, I knew this would be the result."
"But no one joins the army just to die." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
Just like the Cheng family did not support the new emperor in order to be exterminated! No one's death is deserved, it is natural, and it can be passed away easily by saying that it is destined to be so.
"Then you are wrong again when you say that." Cheng Ping said, "We must know why we start, not care about why we end."
Cheng Jiaoniang looked at him.
She was once the smartest one in the family, with a photographic memory and a clear grasp of a single point. She could learn in a month what others took a year to learn, but she always looked like a fool in front of her ancestors.
Is her nose sore because she is seeing relatives? Even though they are relatives separated by three hundred years.
"They know why they want to be soldiers, and they are willing to work hard for it. This is enough." Cheng Ping continued, "In other words, if you die well, you are worthy."
A well-deserved death, yes, she also understood, a well-deserved death can be regarded as a worthy death. The brothers died, fought bravely, did not have anything to do with the king, gained fame and merit, and received rewards and commendations, which can be regarded as a life well spent.
But where is the father, where are the relatives and friends, and where are the tribesmen, they are dead, everyone is dead. They struggled and worked hard, but they died in the hands of such people. Those who fought for it did not get it.
If you don't find your place, your life will be in vain.
"What did you say?" Cheng Ping listened to her muttering to herself, and vaguely heard a few words, "You said you didn't gain anything through hard work, so that means you didn't die well-deserved? Did you live in vain?"
Cheng Jiaoniang looked at him.
"Isn't it?" she asked.
"Of course not." Cheng Ping said, frowning, "Little lady, what do you mean by your place?"
"Whatever he wishes, he will do." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
"Yes, that's what I just said, you have to know why you started." Cheng Ping said, "Those people you mentioned... don't know what they are doing?"
"Of course we know." Cheng Jiaoniang said.
We are here to support the new emperor and achieve great success.
Us? Cheng Ping raised his brows, but there's nothing to worry about. Just let her say it.
"Do you have to work hard for this?" he asked.
"No matter what." Cheng Jiaoniang said firmly.
They observed the heaven and earth and planned, and led the troops to fight and fight bloody battles. None of them ever flinched.
"Then it's over." Cheng Ping spread his hands and said, "Why isn't this inappropriate? Why isn't this enough?"
"How is this enough?" Cheng Jiaoniang said in a loud voice.
Manager Cao outside the door hurriedly looked in and made a threatening gesture to Cheng Ping.
Cheng Ping pouted.
"Just because you didn't get what you wanted?" he said, "Who said you can get whatever you want? Who said you should be successful and famous just because you work hard? Who said you can get whatever you want?
How about it? Who can’t say it? If just talking is enough, wouldn’t the world be chaotic?”
But..
"But you have worked hard, haven't you? But what about others? What about others? Others have not worked hard? Why should you succeed and others should fail? You are for you and he is for him. How can there be any difference?
What should it be?" Cheng Ping said.
What?
Cheng Jiaoniang looked at him in a daze.
"...As long as you know why you started and work hard for it, you have something to do and you have achieved your place. Pei Gong became the emperor and got his place. The overlord of Western Chu ended up in Wujiang. He also got his place. A beggar who begged for a meal also got his place.
, An ant can only get its place by climbing up the shore but not drowning. Heaven and earth are unkind and regard all things as stupid dogs. Where do you get the confidence to judge your place based on success or failure? Where do you get the rules to determine the place for heaven and earth? That is your place.
The place is not the way of heaven."
Cheng Ping continued, his voice exciting, his expression bright, and his spirit sparkling.
Manager Cao outside the door was dumbfounded and stared blankly at the ragged boy.
Seeing Cheng Jiaoniang walking away quickly, Manager Cao turned around again and grabbed Cheng Ping.
"It hurts..." Cheng Ping shouted.
"My wife is in a bad mood, what are you nagging her about?" Manager Cao shouted in a low voice, holding on to him.
"I'm just trying to enlighten her." Cheng Ping shouted with an innocent look on his face, "Let her be happy and know why she started, not why she ends. Only by not losing her original intention can she be happy."
Manager Cao shook him hard.
"Speak humanly!" he shouted.
"Do your best, obey destiny, and be normal."
"You guy, you can say a lot in just nine words, you are nothing but a liar!"
When night fell, Manager Cao came to the inner courtyard feeling a little uneasy, and Banqin waved her hand at him.
"It's okay. I've washed up and am going to bed." She whispered.
"Is everything okay?" Manager Cao asked in a low voice.
Banqin shook his head.
This lady is really elusive, or she might not have kissed her in the first place. How can she be so sentimental? Manager Cao shook his head.
"Call me if you need anything. I'll be on duty today," he said.
Banqin nodded and watched Manager Cao go out. He walked to the corridor and looked into Cheng Jiaoniang's house. One light was still on, and a sitting figure was dimly reflected in the window.
She has been sitting here for a long time since she washed up. Cheng Ping talked too much today, which made her brain a little confused.
I don’t want to think about it anymore. I don’t want to think about it anymore.
She shook her head, and her loosely held hair fell down, accompanied by the sound of something falling to the ground.
Cheng Jiaoniang turned her head and looked around. There was a small silver comb lying on the edge of her skirt, glowing dullly under the light.
"Madam, we seven brothers are all from the same hometown and come from Maoyuan Mountain. There is no need to remember my nickname, Madam. I just want to ask for the name of my benefactor, Madam, so that I can remember my kindness."
"Yes, yes, my wife saved my brother and gave him money."
"No doubt they are reborn parents..."
"I want to set up a memorial tablet for my wife to live forever..."
Noisy and chaotic sounds filled the empty room.
The corners of Cheng Jiaoniang's mouth couldn't help but curve. In fact, what kind of kindness was there? It was just a simple effort.
I didn't expect to see a familiar person die again so soon. This feeling seems strange. The sadness is mixed with the sadness of losing a relative, sometimes far and sometimes near, seeming real and illusory.
She reached out and picked up the silver comb.
Therefore, this person and these people no longer exist in the world...
"Quiet, quiet, my third brother is going to sing!"
"Brotherhood, two sides to the sword, life and death, friendship is as high as the sky, sweet lady, smile for me..."
"...Eternal romance is carried on one's shoulders. For the sake of a close friend, everything can be thrown away. In a moment of anger, one violates the rules of heaven."
"Beautiful beauty...grey hair...infatuated but not old..."
Banqin, who was lying down undressed in the ear room and couldn't sleep, suddenly sat up and listened.
It was not an illusion, there was the sound of fou beating and low singing in the night wind.
She couldn't help but get up and open the door. The sound matched the night wind and hit her face.
"Ask the hero...what's...difficult..."
Madam, are you singing?
Such a sad song, Banqin couldn't help but shed tears.
That is to say, how can I not be sad, how can I not be sad, the lady just doesn’t know how to say it.
What song is this?
Banqin didn't know, but Guanshi Cao was a little startled when he heard it.
"Do you still remember?" he said blankly.
The two attendants next to him looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Oh, you don't remember, you don't know, you weren't there at that time." Manager Cao smiled again and said, although he smiled, his eyes were still a little dull.
He stretched out his hand and opened the door, letting the sound of singing and playing the fou come in more clearly. The firelight danced in front of his eyes, as if he had returned to the valley that day.
"Smile, life is fleeting, it is still empty!"
A man's rough voice rang in his ears.
The unshaven and miserable-looking man showed a big smile under the firelight.
"In a moment of great change, I advise you not to worry... Thousands of gold are gone... Dreams never end..."
The woman wrapped in a cloak sitting on the floor lowered her head and hit the wine jar to make peace.
The laughter and figures of several men beside him swayed.
No more, no more.
Manager Cao couldn't help but raise his head.
"Master Cao, are you crying?" a follower asked in surprise, blinking.
"I'm crying. Isn't that crying?" Manager Cao raised his head, sniffed, and said dullly, "I just said, Cheng Ping, this kid, fights fire with fire, must make peace with others. Look, this is not crying.
Are you done? Just cry and it will be fine. It will be normal."
How can you not cry, how can you not be sad? No matter how clear and rational you are, you still have feelings, so you are a human being.
The followers looked at each other, who was poisoned? Your wife didn't cry, why did you start crying?
The slow and flat sound of singing and fou-beating echoed over the house over and over again, swirling and spreading in all directions as the night wind blew, sobbing in the night.
************************
Do you still remember the song I mentioned before? I have been playing it on loop these days. If you are interested, please listen to it again.
