Chapter 425 Using Kill to Stop Killing

After spending the entire afternoon in the countryside, the Li family, along with Wu Qiaolan and her daughter who had finished their ancestral worship, headed back to Chang'an City as evening approached.

For dinner, we ate cold food again, but we added some pastries and fried dough sticks that we had bought earlier.

Children don't care about the outside world's troubles. After dinner, Lu Zhu'er started yawning. After all, she had been running around outside for most of the day. Li San Niang took the opportunity to carry her back to the house.

Brother Li finally found the time to go to his parents' house and tell them why his eldest son, Li Dalang, had such a murderous aura.

"As soon as he entered, there was a competition. He had been training hard since he was a child, and his martial arts skills were taught to him by his uncles. He stood out in the competition and immediately caught the eye of his superior."

Afterwards, I went along to do two missions tracking down the Temple Gate. Those dangerous and desperate criminals must have seen blood.

Judging from what Dalang said, it seems he'll also be secretly assigned tasks on this trip to the Turkic battlefield.

Brother Li looked at his mother's clenched fist and understood that she was worried.

“Mother, this young man’s future is something he must strive for himself.”

He has practiced martial arts since he was a child, all for the sake of one day making a name for himself.

"How can you succeed without enduring hardship and weathering storms?"

Li's father had a more realistic view. He first looked back at his wife, then patted his mother's hand before saying to his eldest brother, "Then we'll ask Third Sister to prepare some medicine for Eldest Brother."

That's all we can do. Let's not worry about the future; we just want to stay safe and sound.

On the second day of Qingming Festival, as usual, the family first paid respects to their ancestors and then ate cold food together.

"I'm going back to the barracks tomorrow. I don't think I'll be able to go home again for at least another six months, so I thought I'd take the younger ones out for some fun."

I know there will be a lot of people on the streets today, so they will definitely be more careful.

The Li family wasn't the type to restrict their children's lives and insist on keeping them at home, so they naturally agreed.

Li's mother also gave Li Dalang a purse, asking him to take his younger siblings to buy some snacks.

Li San Niang was worried about Lu Zhu'er and naturally wanted to go with her. After thinking for a while, she also called Bao Ya and her eldest disciple Song Fu Ling. Since Song Fu Ling had been called, Shi Jiu and Qiu Xiang would definitely go along, so she also called Ling Lan, who lived on the back street.

This is also a good opportunity to let Song Fuling, Shijiu, and Linglan get to know each other formally, so that they all know they are disciples of Li Sanniang, and that they won't be strangers if something happens in the future.

Linglan entrusted Ping An to Sister-in-law Li, and then got into the carriage with Li San Niang and the others. Once in the carriage, she took a liking to Lu Zhu'er and kept teasing her while holding her.

But once the carriage left Changshoufang and got on the road, it noticed that many pedestrians and carriages were heading towards the outer city.

Li Erlang was clever, so he went to a teahouse by the roadside, spent a few copper coins, and asked a few questions.

"My aunt and elder brother said that today the Emperor will be offering sacrifices and incense at the Shrine of Loyal Martyrs outside the city, and they all want to go outside the city to witness this event."

Li San Niang suddenly remembered seeing Emperor Wu on Zhuque Street during the Emperor's birthday celebration. (Chapter 212)

With her right hand on her left chest, feeling her heart pounding, Li San Niang suddenly felt an urge: I must go see Emperor Wu!

"Can we go?" Li San Niang looked out the carriage window at Li Da Lang, Li Er Lang, and Wu Qiao Lan and Ling Lan, who were sitting with her in the carriage.

Seeing that no one objected, Li Dalang smiled and said, "I was just worried that going to the West Market wouldn't be anything new."

"Then let's go outside the city and take a look. I've never seen such a grand scene before."

When the carriage slowly arrived at the outskirts of the city, Li San Niang began to regret her decision.

Because there were so many people outside the city, the official road was full of carriages and horses. Some people who were reluctant to take a carriage could only walk on both sides of the road. The dense crowd was also heading towards the Martyrs' Shrine.

When we reached the main road leading to the Martyrs' Shrine, soldiers blocked our way at the entrance.

When Li Erlang went up to inquire, he learned that "too many people wanted to go see it, so they said they were afraid something might happen and they wouldn't let too many people go."

If you really want to go in, you need to have your household registration certificate and have your identity verified before you can enter.

Aside from the time when the Temple Gate caused trouble in the inner city, people would carry household registration stickers with them to enter and exit the ward gates and city gates. Who would remember that today?

Besides, Li Sanniang and her group only came to the Martyrs' Shrine on a whim, so it was even less likely that they would have brought their household registration certificates with them.

"Then forget it. Let's head back. Or we can skip the West Market and just wander around the neighborhood."

Just as Li San Niang and her companions were about to turn around and leave, a loud sound suddenly came from the direction of the Martyrs' Shrine.

"Anyone who dares to raise an army shall be executed! May you be victorious!"

"It must have been the commotion caused by the sage leading his soldiers to perform the sacrifice."

Li Erlang looked towards the Shrine of Loyal Martyrs, then turned back to Li Sanniang and the others and said this.

As Li Erlang watched, he noticed some ripples appearing where the soldiers were blocking people.

"Is this the Cui family? Sigh, this family is so pitiful."

"Brother, how is his family? How did they end up in such a terrible situation?"

"Hey, you live in the inner city, right?"

"Brother, you're right. I live in Anshanfang in the East City. My family sells cakes. Brother, why don't you try these cakes and see how they taste?"

As he spoke, the man handed over a pancake wrapped in oil paper.

The other man declined for a while before finally accepting it.

Having accepted the cakes, the man started talking: "Alas, the Cui family is truly in dire straits."

The Cui family is from a large mountain village near Shilipo. Cui's grandfather fought alongside Emperor Taizong during the reign of Emperor Taizong and later died in battle.

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the Gaochang Rebellion (present-day Turpan) broke out, and Cui Jia'aye went to the battlefield, where he also died.

So when the time came for the sage, two years ago, Cui Wu went to fight the Turks, but he never returned.

He also has a brother who is not yet an adult.

But life is unpredictable, and that brother caught a cold and passed away.

Thus, this large family is now reduced to only one young man who has not yet come of age, namely Cui Wu's son, a young master.

How can this not be tragic?

As the man spoke, sadness welled up in his heart. He stood up and glanced ahead. After the soldier saluted and spoke, he let the two women and a young boy pass before sitting down and continuing, "However, the court keeps its word. If someone dies in battle, there will be compensation."

Moreover, if Cui Wu's son wishes to do so in the future, he can directly join the army.

Those who just passed by were Granny Cui, Mrs. Cui, and their only son.

After a moment of sighing, the man slapped his thigh and said in a loud voice, "Now there's going to be another war. I knew those people from the Western Regions had no good intentions!"

"Thankfully, our Great Tang army is strong and well-equipped; we'll surely beat them to a pulp!"

Before the man delivering the cakes could respond, a burly man with a full beard among the obedient followers chimed in, "Brother, you're right!"

We have to beat them so badly they'll be crawling on the ground!

Only when they dare not bully our Great Tang again, and never wage war again, can our people finally live a good life!

Well said!

That's how it should be!

If it weren't for the age restrictions for this recruitment, I, Zhao Da, would definitely have gone along and slaughtered them!

"Zhao Da, you've even learned to use phrases like 'falling flowers and flowing water' now?"

You've listened to plenty of storytellers in teahouses, haven't you?

"But come on, just the other day I saw you being chased all over the village by the Zhou family's dog."

The atmosphere, which had been somewhat somber, became cheerful again after being asked this question.