Chinese New Year
Chapter 8 How do you repay me?
Chapter 8 How do you repay me?
The cold wind was howling and heavy snow was falling.
The servants made a second pot of tea and served some cakes.
The conversation among the Pei women continued.
"Sister, what is Sikong going to do?" Pei Wan asked after hesitating for a moment.
Concubine Pei smiled faintly, turned her gaze to the guards in the distance, looked behind for a long time and said: "He is quite courageous, but not strong enough. He will depend on whoever wins, the King of Qi or the King of Changsha. The winner also needs help. As long as he actively expresses his stance after the dust settles, he can always get some benefits."
Pei Wan's eyes also fell on the sergeant.
They were a group of young boys with childish faces. Although their morale was okay, could they really fight?
Xiao Pei raised his head and followed his aunt's gaze to see a warrior patrolling in the snow with a sword and a bow.
Concubine Pei glanced at her niece and said, "That was a team leader. Someone reported it to Mi Huang, saying that he was a young man with a shady past and seemed to have other intentions. Mi Huang is a person who doesn't care about things, so I have to ask him in the end."
Xiao Pei exclaimed "Ah" in surprise.
Pei Wan also took a few more glances with interest. He was taller and stronger than her husband, and her features were not very clear, but they should be quite handsome.
In the heavy snow, he stood tall and walked like a dragon or a tiger, checking the sentry post meticulously. Sometimes he even took the sentry's sword from his waist, unsheathed it and checked if it was frozen.
"Very attentive." Pei Wan praised: "In this situation, even refugee leaders are being recruited, let alone people from our own house. Sister, you don't know that there have been severe droughts in Bingzhou for many years, refugees have risen up, and the barbarians have been in chaos. I don't know how many officials and ladies have been abducted and disappeared. I heard that some of them were even used to feed their stomachs... This team leader looks tall and strong, and he has talent. It's better to raise him up and use him for your own use."
The trend of being gentle was prevalent among the scholars of the Jin Dynasty, and my husband was gentle and weak, and sometimes he even put on light makeup when going out.
In Pei Wan's world, there were many people like this, and she had long been tired of seeing them. But when she first saw the sturdy and heroic soldier, she felt that he was not so vulgar and ugly, and had a different flavor.
When a husband is in love, he always likes to take a break. Such a strong soldier should be able to do it all the way, right? Thinking of this, her face turned red, and she secretly complained that she was so empty and what she was thinking about.
Concubine Pei remained silent upon hearing this.
Does Shao Xun have ambitions? Of course he does.
Does he have the ability? It seems that he does.
Ten years ago, Concubine Pei felt that it was right to deal with such people severely. But now, she was a little hesitant. People's hearts are full of grass, and who is not an ambitious person?
After all, things were different from the past. She felt a little sad and even a little resentful. The conversation she had just had with her sister and niece had a big impact on her.
"Has Bingzhou come to this point?" she said quietly.
In fact, my sister didn't need to answer, she had already heard about it.
The begging army went to Hebei, and among the army were many Bingzhou officials, generals and nobles. A few years ago, during the Qi Wannian Rebellion, tens of thousands of people from Guanzhong went south to Shu through Hanzhong to beg for life. It has not been quelled yet, but has become more and more serious.
Many of the tragic situations during that period were described in family letters.
She can now drink tea and eat cakes leisurely in Pan Garden, but what about the future?
She was a little panicked. This feeling of not having control over her own destiny was really terrible.
"Sister, I haven't heard from some of my close friends for a long time." Pei Wan said.
Concubine Pei sighed and made a decision in her heart.
******
The guests had long since left and the tea was getting cold.
Concubine Pei stared at the last wisp of mist on the tea bowl, lost in thought.
The fragrance of tea really resembles the lingering royal aura of the Great Jin Dynasty.
"Greetings, Princess." Shao Xun came to the corridor and bowed.
Concubine Pei raised her head and looked at the soldier who was also a teenager.
He was indeed quite tall, with bright eyes, full of enthusiasm and ambition.
His hands hung down at his waist, with broad joints and rough palms, and thick calluses. Under the strong cold wind, his fingers were frozen and swollen, and even cracked in a few places.
These hands are naturally not comparable to those of the elegant gentlemen and scholars. Even my husband, who is already over thirty, has hands as white and tender as those of women, not to mention those twenty-year-old sons of noble families.
This is someone from another world.
In their world, there is no romance between infatuated men and resentful women, but only the struggle for survival of the lower-class people.
In their world, there are no grand speeches at garden parties, but only hard work. In their world, there is no elegant and unrestrained demeanor, but only facing the blood of the blade.
There used to be an unbreakable barrier between the two worlds, separating the upper and lower worlds. But now, there are more and more cracks in this barrier, and it is showing a trend of collapse as a whole.
The girl from the Pei family is about to choose the commander of the fortress as her husband.
Concubine Pei suddenly lost a lot of her momentum.
She was not an aggressive person. After a moment of silence, she asked, "I heard that you are teaching children?"
"Yes." Shao Xun replied.
This kind of thing can't be concealed, it's only a matter of time. But he was also a little panicked, it seemed that he was careless.
Since traveling across time, haven’t you integrated into this world yet?
Haven't you accepted the rules of this world as instinct yet?
Some things may seem commonplace in later generations, but this may not be the case at this moment.
He stood up straight and waited quietly for what was to come.
"Why do you do this?" asked Concubine Pei.
"Children and young men should have been enjoying the company of their parents, but they had to take up arms and march thousands of miles to this dangerous place." Shao Xun replied, "I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the crying. I felt very sad, so I thought of teaching them to read. Even if they have to retreat to the countryside in the future, they will have an additional skill."
"You are so kind." Concubine Pei's slightly frowned brows relaxed a little, and she continued to ask: "There are so many displaced children and teenagers in the world, how many can you save?"
"Save as many as you can."
Concubine Pei turned her gaze towards the empty courtyard. In the heavy snow, the young men on duty had their faces red from the cold, but they still stood still.
She remembered that when the flags on the city walls of Luoyang were changing a few years ago, the losers fled in panic, most of them abandoning their wives.
In the eyes of others, this might not be a big deal. A man of integrity will always have a wife. As long as he escapes, he will always have the opportunity to marry another woman and have children in the future.
But she is a woman and cannot think like "real men".
Last year, when Sima Lun was defeated, the kings fought for more than 60 days, and 100,000 people died. She couldn't bear to think about the miserable plight of the wives and daughters of the losers. Even if they did not participate in Sima Lun's rebellion, there were many families of scholars who were affected by the war and whose wives and daughters were sold into slavery during the escape.
She didn't want to end up like this.
"If I give you a favor, will you repay me in the future?" Concubine Pei retracted her gaze and looked at the young man in front of her.
His face was full of traces of sun and rain, his skin was not dark, but it was bronze. As a warrior, he was naturally not as good as the pampered scholars. But at this moment, she felt that this warrior with thick calloused hands, rough bronze skin, bright eyes, full of enthusiasm and ambition was much more reliable than those elegant sons of noble families.
"I will repay any favor I have received." Shao Xun's heart moved and he replied immediately.
His voice was not loud, but it was powerful.
Concubine Pei nodded slightly, and just as she was about to wave him away, she asked inexplicably, "Repay who?"
Shao Xun did not hesitate and replied: "Repay the princess."
Concubine Pei subconsciously clenched her hands and asked softly, "How do I repay you?"
"Repay it with death."
Concubine Pei turned her head to look at the courtyard. The dead trees were swaying in the wind. A layer of fine goose bumps had appeared on her slender white neck.
"A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. You team leaders must maintain harmony among each other. Please leave." Concubine Pei said, holding up the tea bowl.
"Yes." Shao Xun suddenly realized that someone had reported him.
He saluted and walked away quickly.
Concubine Pei put down the tea that had already gone cold and sighed slightly.
In this world, no one is free to act on their own and everyone subconsciously wants to grasp at straws.
But things are unpredictable, who is the lifeline for whom?
(End of this chapter)
