Chapter 63 New Clothes for the New Year

As the year draws to a close, Mingde Academy is on holiday again.

Hao Ren and his family returned to the mountains to celebrate the New Year.

Su Zhizhi and Xue Che trotted up the mountain and saw the villagers decorating the village with lights and hanging many festive red lanterns.

When they came back this time, they found that the village had changed a lot.

Su Zhizhi's mouth opened like an egg:

“The village has grown so big!”

The villagers worked hard for two or three months and had expanded the village to a rough scale according to Hao Ren's drawings.

With the village gathering space as the center, there was originally only a circle of houses and a few cow sheds and chicken coops.

Now a larger circle of houses has been built outside, and divided into breeding areas, living areas, warehouses, martial arts training areas, workshop areas...

Many new belongings were added to the original courtyard.

Su Zhizhi and Xue Che each received a new set of small tables, chairs and cabinets, just the right size for their heights.

"Zhizhi and Ache are back!" Hua Erniang came over and hugged the two children.

"He's grown a little taller and is in good health." Doctor Yu took Xue Che's pulse.

Lu Chunniang took out the new clothes she made for Su Zhizhi and Xue Che:

"Come in and try it on. If there's anything that doesn't fit, I'll make some changes."

Su Zhizhi got a cotton-padded jacket embroidered with little tigers, a tiger-skin skirt, and a small red cape on the outside.

"Auntie Chun made this so beautiful!" Su Zhizhi couldn't wait to wear the new clothes and run around the village a few times.

Lu Chunniang pulled her back and said, "Don't worry, the waist area still needs to be fixed."

Xue Che also liked his new clothes: "Auntie Chun, you have worked hard."

Xue Che received a thick, round-necked robe that was soft and comfortable, with bamboo leaves embroidered on the lapels and cuffs.

The most special thing is that the buttons on the clothes are made of deer bones, and the texture and color are very textured.

Not only Su Zhizhi and Xue Che, everyone in the village got new clothes.

Due to time constraints, Lu Chunniang did not have time to spin cotton to make cotton cloth, so she used linen this time.

But the winter coat is stuffed with cotton, so it is comfortable, warm and light when worn during the coldest times.

And the cotton-filled lining is removable, which means that in spring, you can remove the lining and continue to wear it.

Grandma Qiu touched her clothes and laughed:

"Chun Niang's dress is really practical and fits me well. I haven't worn such comfortable clothes in years."

In the past, people wore makeshift clothes, just cutting some cloth, sewing it together, and wrapping it around their bodies.

Sometimes the left hand is longer and the right foot is shorter, and no one cares.

But now, wearing the clothes that Lu Chunniang tailored for each of them, they felt even more majestic and energetic.

The sleeve of Bai Xun's right arm was made shorter, just fitting half of his right arm. He also got an extra cloak, which he tied around his body, making him look majestic.

He said, "This cloak is useless," but the villagers saw him wearing the cloak every day and were reluctant to take it off.

The people in Black Bandit Mountain have no relatives, so there is no need to go outside to pay New Year's greetings.

We celebrated the New Year together on the hilltop throughout the New Year period.

The villagers slaughtered pigs and sheep and made sugar from brown rice.

Su Zhizhi, Xue Che and Kong Wu all had endless snacks.

Xue Che wrote a letter to his father who was far away in the northwest:

[Father, I respectfully report:

The end of the year is approaching. I wonder how my father is doing at the border. Is he in good health? I am doing well in Lingnan.

My child takes medicine regularly every month to maintain his health and feels better day by day. His appetite has also increased.

Moreover, I recently got a new dress, which was well-cut and fitted me perfectly. It was even better than the ones made by the tailor and embroiderer at home. I was very happy with it.

Zhizhi is an expert at catching sparrows. Yesterday, she and I went sparrow hunting. After a day's work, I finally caught one sparrow; but Zhizhi caught three in just a moment...

I hope my father takes care of his health and doesn't overwork himself.

Respectfully submitted by Er Yuzhi]

The letter Xue Che wrote became longer and longer. When he finished writing and put down his pen, there was a crackling sound outside.

Su Zhizhi rushed in, covering her ears, her face flushed with excitement:

"Ache, let's go play with firecrackers!"

Su Zhizhi pulled A Che out.

There was a blazing fire outside, and everyone gathered around it and threw bamboo into it.

The bamboo exploded in the fire, emitting golden red sparks.

"Ah, ah." Kong Wu smiled naively and threw a bunch of dry bamboo into the fire.

He was only in his teens, mentally matured late, looked tall and strong, but was still a child at heart.

Su Zhizhi and Xue Che ran to Kong Wu.

Kong Wu held one in each hand, carried them on his arms, and ran around the fire.

"Hahahaha...I'm flying!" Su Zhizhi giggled.

The blazing bonfire heated up the winter wind, so it didn't feel cold at all when it blew on my face.

Xue Che, wearing new clothes, opened his arms in the air and embraced the long wind.

He looked up at the bright night stars and said softly:

"Happy New Year."

…

Northwest Tingzhou.

As the long cold winter begins, the biting winter wind is like a pack of wolves from the north, fiercely biting all the exposed skin on people.

Bonfires were burning everywhere in the Xue family army's camp.

The soldiers on duty were wrapped tightly from head to toe, leaving only their eyes exposed, with white crystals dotted on their eyebrows and eyelashes.

Xue Yucheng sat on the couch in the tent with a majestic look, discussing matters with several of his trusted lieutenants.

"The soldiers guarding the western front need to be replaced promptly. It's freezing cold, and the brothers need to rest well so they can be more energetic on duty."

"When the imperial court's supplies arrive, we'll replace the soldiers guarding the eastern front with new weapons."

"How much food and grass are left now..."

The Hu people were busy grazing and breeding livestock in spring and summer, and often chose autumn and winter to invade the south.

Therefore, as soon as autumn and winter came, the northwest border defense entered a state of high alert.

Xue Yucheng and his deputy generals discussed everything one by one and tried their best to ensure the security of the border and the safety of the soldiers.

After finishing the important matters, Deputy General Yun Jin brought up one thing:

"General, how should we allocate the soldiers recently exiled from Chang'an? They are old, weak, sick, and disabled, and they are useless wherever they are placed."

Xue Yucheng fiddled with the sand table: "How many people are there in this group? What crimes have they committed?"

Almost every year there are officials and criminals exiled to the Northwest, but not many can survive to the Northwest, and even fewer can survive in the Northwest Army.

Most of those exiled were serious criminals from various places. They were scattered across the northwest and usually sent to the army to do logistical and miscellaneous work.

But this time the whole family came, old and young.

Yun Jin: "They are from the Chang'an Song family, descendants of Song Yan."

Xue Yucheng knew the Song family and asked in surprise:

"Song Yan is just a casual official. The Song family mainly does business and rarely gets involved in court disputes. How could the entire family be exiled here?"

Yun Jin was also surprised when he first heard it:

"The officers who escorted them here said that Song Yan spoke evil words at the palace banquet and committed high treason."

"What did he say?"

"It seems he made a few remarks about the Pei family case, saying that the Pei family is a loyal and honest family. He angrily denounced the emperor's wrongful conviction and even hit He Tingfang on the head with a wine jug."

Yun Jin was the lowest-ranking and youngest general present.

His father died in the war, and he came to the border at the age of twelve. During the years he followed Xue Yucheng, he experienced many wars, but he was not clear about the Pei family case.

Yun Jin developed a rough and bold personality at the border. He spoke without restraint in front of his own people. When he talked about hitting He Tingfang on the head, he couldn't help laughing.

But the other older generals present did not laugh.

Xue Yucheng's expression also stiffened a little.

Yun Jin laughed for a while, then realized the atmosphere was not right and stopped talking awkwardly:

"General, what's wrong?"

An old general looked at the sand table, his eyes reflecting the flames of battle, and said in a sad voice:

"Ah Jin, do you know that the Pei family case is related to the Northwest War thirteen years ago?"

"That battle was brutal, and the Xue family army lost 60,000 soldiers out of the 100,000. The former commander of the Xue family army also died in the battle."