sbdcsierra Chapter 309 Family
Chapter 309 Family
Gong Yuanzheng turned over and sat up, wiping the tears from his eyes. His headband had fallen off, his hair was a mess, his dress was wrinkled, and he looked pitiful, as if he had been bullied.
He pouted and looked at Zhang Xueming: [Zhao Zhao~]
Zhang Xueming smiled and went over to help him tidy up his clothes. With his wide sleeves, he rolled up the headband and small bell that fell on the low couch, and led him behind the screen to take care of them: [I will beat them up to vent your anger someday? ]
【Good! 】Gong Yuanzheng smiled happily.
A group of young people were outside making faces and laughing slyly, completely unaware that after the Chinese New Year, none of them would be able to escape.
The two elders and Gong Shangjiao watched them making a fuss with gentle eyes. They glanced at Gong Ziyu and Lin Zhenzhen who were sitting aside without moving but just smiling, exchanged glances, and then turned their attention back to the group of lively young people.
Everyone was laughing and joking, and time seemed unbearable.
At midnight, everyone said "Happy New Year" to each other. The descendants of the Gong family stayed behind to wait for going to the back mountain to worship their ancestors, while the female family members were sent back by the guards.
Gong Yuanzheng is fine. He has a soul mark and can talk to Zhang Xueming at any time, so he can accept a short separation.
Gong Zishang held Zhang Xueming's hand, unwilling to let her go.
Women were not allowed to enter the ancestral hall for ancestral worship. Gong Zishang followed the team every year to walk for half a day on the mountain road, shivering in the cold wind, and the result was just a few kowtows outside the ancestral hall. She really didn't want to go at all.
Zhang Xueming pulled her over and whispered in her ear, "The effect of the medicine is almost gone. If you don't go back, I'll make a fool of myself... On the second day of the Lunar New Year, A Yuan and I will come to the Shang Palace to pay New Year's greetings. I have a gift for you."
Gong Zishang then reluctantly saw her off.
Zhang Xueming returned to Zheng Palace in the snowy wind. The palace lanterns hanging under the eaves had been replaced with big red lanterns.
She looked up at the gray sky and stood quietly in the red light and white snow.
Family members and clansmen far away in the northern border gathered at the ancestral hall before midnight.
They were divided into several columns, led by the old men of the direct lineage, kneeling and worshipping their ancestors. The sea of people stretched as far as the eye could see, and the noise they made when they stood up or worshipped was huge.
After the ancestor worship is completed, the troops will go to the Heroes Stele Forest in the center of the city to pay tribute to the soldiers who died on the battlefield.
At this time, people from all over the city will come from all directions, like streams, through the alleys and gather on the main road.
Looking at the time, they should arrive at the Heroes' Stele Forest.
The orderly and silent crowd stood in front of the tall stele forest. At the sound of the military bugle, they stood in awe, bowed their heads, raised their right fists, and struck their hearts, making a dull sound...
Zhang Xueming also lowered his head and closed his eyes. He clenched his right hand into a fist and tapped the atrium with the second joint of his thumb.
She stood there silently, as if she was among the crowd paying tribute. After a few minutes, she put down her hands, opened her eyes, raised her head, and walked towards Huachaoju.
"Almost there." Zhang Xueming murmured softly, slightly bending his right index finger and tapping the back of his left hand.
"It's almost there." In the carriage, the third old master of the Zhang family in the Northern Territory said with a smile, slightly bending his right index finger and tapping the back of his left hand.
The Sixth Old Master standing next to him suddenly felt reassured, and a happy smile appeared on his wrinkled old face.
The Sixth Old Master did not go home, but took his children and grandchildren to the third room.
The other seven old masters of the direct lineage who came from other cities made the same choice as him.
In the middle of the night, nine old men with snow-white hair and beards were in great spirits and sat cross-legged on the unusually large kang bed.
Across the kang table, the sixth old master took out a picture album with a red silk cover. The third old master waved his hand, and his children and grandchildren brought in boxes of picture albums one after another.
The nine old men were like children, flipping through the color and ink paintings in the album with great interest, and discussing a few words from time to time.
"My Zhao Zhao has grown up, and the wolf cub has also learned to catch lambs." The third old master laughed happily, his teeth were white and neat, completely unlike the teeth of an old man of his age.
"Of course, what a promising child! He picked up my Wenjin's child in his mouth. Look at his little appearance, with a chubby face, so cute." The Sixth Old Master grinned so hard that his teeth were visible, and he looked so proud.
I had a serious illness a few years ago and was lying in bed with difficulty breathing. When I received the news from Zhangqiu, I immediately got up and ate and took medicine.
In less than two days, the white-haired old man put on a full set of armor, a bronze ghost mask, and walked around the city three and a half times in high spirits. He also brought his beloved double maces to look for his third brother and said, "Do you want to fight? Push all the way and pave a smooth road for our children to go home."
"You want to be the emperor after the war?" The third old master raised his eyelids lazily, "The family motto of the Zhang family is that the swords of the Zhang family are not allowed to be pointed at the inside, and this inside does not only refer to our family members."
"Then we have to wait." The Sixth Old Master threw his double maces on the table in frustration. "Being an emperor means being removed from the family tree. I'm not crazy. Our family has been passed down for many generations. Anyone who wanted to be an emperor has already died. Not to mention the direct branch, even the side branches can't fool anyone."
"That means there are no fools in our family. The fortune of the Zhang family can bring prosperity to the country, but we must never fill it with ourselves. If the northern border is stable, the chaos in the three places will be limited."
The third old master was grinding his teeth on the dry roasted mutton, his teeth turning white as his lips moved.
"Be patient and trust Zhao Zhao. She has been the vanguard and has cleared the southern land for us. We old men must also keep the rear stable and not let her waste our attention."
As the smoke from the incense burner curled up, the Sixth Old Master recalled the conversation that day. He gently stroked the smiling faces of the couple in the painting and whispered, "Looks much better."
"Indeed." The old man pointed at the sleeves of the two people pressed together in the painting, "Zhao Zhao is willing to let people get close to him, which means he is getting better."
"It can be considered a marriage made in heaven." The second old master was filled with emotion. "At that time, I was really afraid that the child would be useless. Such a good child, our Zhang family has only produced one in hundreds of years..."
"Pah, pah, pah, it's New Year's Day, second brother, stop saying such depressing things." Seventh Old Master asked, "They're preparing for the wedding right after they come back? It's not a good idea to go on an expedition and leave directly from Sixth Brother's house. I'll ask the eldest brother to vacate the house in the south of the city..."
The fourth old master pointed at Gong Shangjiao in the painting and said, "Yuan Zheng has a brother in the Gong family who he is very close to. He was raised by the other party. An elder brother is like a father. When the time comes, ask for the other party's opinion and discuss it with each other before making any decision."
The Ninth Old Master was the youngest and had a bad temper. He laughed sarcastically and said, "Sixth and Seventh Brothers can prepare everything first. The Gong family, the Zheng family, the martial arts family... Haha, these days, the court doesn't intervene, so any family dares to call itself a family."
The Third Old Master recalled what Zhang Xueming had asked in the secret letter, and asked, "Did you find any unregistered underworld organizations during your last search across the territory?"
The eight old men all said “no”.
The five newly acquired cities at the junction of the north and the south were cannibalized and went through several screenings as soon as they were acquired.
Not to mention the unregistered underworld organizations, all those who make money through illegal means and those who cheat and defraud others have been caught in the net.
The third old master asked again: "How is the search around here going? Have you found anything?"
The Eighth Old Master said, "We have sent people to search the several snow-capped mountains adjacent to the Western Frontier, but have found nothing. And there are very few people who speak Mandarin over there."
The Seventh Old Master said, "We have explored the mountains around Changling and the other six cities, but found nothing."
The old masters of the other six families also said that they had sent people to search the surrounding areas of the remaining ten cities, but they did not find any place that met the description of "snow falling all year round" and "black houses stacked up with black tiles".
"It seems that Wufeng's lair is neither in the northern border nor in the western border." The third old master frowned.
"It's not in the East China Sea either." The eldest old man said firmly, "Several salt fields have reported back that the sea breeze carries salt, the air is humid, and the temperature is high, so it's impossible for there to be snow-capped mountains."
The Ninth Old Master frowned, "But where are the snow-capped mountains in the South? There is a mountain called Yulong in Nanyun, but the locals say that no one can go up there. If Wufeng built a nest there, the locals would definitely find it, and there are very few people who speak Mandarin there."
"Could it be that the light is dark?" Sixth Old Master suddenly had an idea, "The Wax Apple Mountain Range stretches for more than 3,000 miles, maybe there are one or two snow-capped mountains hidden in it?"
The Third Old Master pondered for a long time, then suddenly slammed the table and said, "That's it! We must notify Zhao Zhao immediately!"