Chapter 72 Farewell

They couldn't find anyone at Xie's house. All the other soldiers had left. Before leaving, the soldier who knew Zhu Mingyue had a private chat with the village chief and Zhu Mingyue in the backyard. Just as he was about to say goodbye, he heard a faint noise from the fence around the corner of the backyard.

Zhu Mingyue wasn't deaf, so of course she heard it too. She couldn't help but feel annoyed. "No way, it can't be such a coincidence!"

The soldiers immediately fell silent, stared intently at Zhu Mingyue for a moment, and then cast a suspicious glance at her.

Zhu Mingyue: ...It wasn't me, I didn't! I'm innocent! Who would be so bored as to harbor a complete stranger?!

The officers and soldiers didn't suspect him; they simply nodded in that direction, said "Farewell," and turned to leave.

Zhu Mingyue understood immediately, and pretended to be relaxed, "Phew, Xie Pei, the soldiers are finally gone. That scene scared me to death."

Xie Pei leaned against the wall in the shadows, carefully wiping the bloodstains off the dart. He slightly raised his eyes, seemingly already knowing what had happened. He simply nodded, took a few steps, and moved to a wall closer to Zhu Mingyue, without making any other moves.

Then they heard another rustling sound, much louder than before, indicating that the other party had relaxed their guard.

The village chief rubbed his palms together secretly, slowly wading over to the fence. He held his breath, then suddenly opened the bamboo fence, revealing a man huddled in a corner.

"Liu Lao Er!" the village chief called out, and sure enough, it was him.

The man called Liu Lao Er, having heard people talking outside, assumed that the soldiers who had come to search for him had left and that he was safe. He began to lower his guard and moved his body, causing the pile of straw that had been forgotten years ago on the ground to make a sound.

He didn't take it seriously, and was even basking in his smug satisfaction at having managed to escape military service, when the village chief shattered his dream with a blow to the head.

The Xie family has a chicken coop, which was specially made for raising chickens in the past. It is conveniently enclosed in a fence, making it easy for the chickens to come in and out.

Liu Lao Er had been hiding behind the Xie family's house. He could have stayed there after they finished searching the Xie family's house, but he was naive. These soldiers were not to be trifled with. After searching the house, they continued to search outside. He dared not linger outside, so he used this hole to sneak into the Xie family's house.

Little did he know that he would be discovered by the village chief as soon as he entered. His first instinct was to try to escape through the chicken coop again, but before he could even crawl out, the village chief grabbed him. He kicked backward with all his might, almost kicking the village chief in the face.

After all, he was a strong young man, and he was struggling desperately. The village chief was exhausted and red-faced but could not catch him and could only let him crawl out.

Zhu Mingyue then grinned and went forward to help the village chief, who had been kicked to the ground, up, while looking at Liu Er, who was struggling to get out of the way with his butt stuck.

"He's really stupid," Zhu Mingyue aptly commented.

village head:……

Liu Er was delighted to realize that no one was holding him back.

He finally managed to free his buttocks and was about to lie down and catch his breath before running away when he saw a pair of black boots in front of him. He strained to look up at the boots and, upon seeing who it was, his vision went black and he nearly fainted.

The young soldier who had just been chatting with Zhu Mingyue in the Xie family's backyard slowly squatted down, his tone tinged with sarcasm: "Don't bother, come with me."

Liu Er went through a lot of trouble but still had to serve in the military. However, this time it wasn't just military service; he also ended up with a criminal record at the yamen, which was both ridiculous and absurd.

Fortunately, the soldiers, probably out of respect for Zhu Mingyue, didn't reveal the specifics of the person hiding in the Xie family's residence. After all, the Xie family was innocent victims. When asked, they only mentioned that the person was caught outside. No one questioned further; as long as the person was caught, that was enough.

Before leaving, the officials said that if anyone escaped, they would take someone else from their family; if there were no young people, they would take an old person; if there were no men, they would take a woman.

This single move was enough to intimidate those with ulterior motives, and those who had originally harbored the same thoughts as Liu Er also gave up.

It's said that Liu Er deserved it. Not only did he beat and scold his own wife, but he was also unreasonable and domineering towards his parents and brothers. His family was heartbroken by him. When the soldiers came, they saw that Liu Er had fed his family so well that they chose him at first glance.

Liu Er was taken to the county government office for detention, and his wife chased after him, carrying their child, crying uncontrollably until they reached the village entrance. The onlookers dispersed, but some who witnessed the scene felt sorry for her; they were newlyweds, and the infant in her swaddling clothes was crying for milk. Someone lamented, "Although Liu Er often beat and scolded her, having a man is better than having no man. Liu Er is at least strong; if he hadn't been conscripted, he wouldn't have let his child go hungry."

Liu Er's wife wiped away her tears and walked straight to the Xie family's house. Zhu Mingyue couldn't open the door, so she assumed that Liu Er was blaming Xie for her husband's arrest and asked her through the crack in the door what was wrong.

To her surprise, she choked back tears and apologized to him, saying, "I know he's hiding here. He told me not to tell anyone and to call you a jinx so the officials won't search your place. I didn't dare, but he threatened to beat me if I didn't. I was scared, so I had no choice but to do it. I'm sorry for causing trouble for your family."

Zhu Mingyue knew what was going on when she discovered Liu Er hiding at Xie's house. He was a "jinx," so using his name to hide at Xie's house was the safest option. The person who started the trouble outside the door was Liu Er's wife.

Looking at her now, she seemed to be quite reasonable. Zhu Mingyue peeked at her through the crack in the door and found that she was about the same age as him, but her face was already covered with the marks of hard work and toil, and her eyes were still dark circles. Thinking of Liu Er's behavior, which was just like Chao Xiong's, she cursed him as a beast in her heart.

He opened the door a crack and handed the oil lamp to the ground outside: "Take the child and go back quickly, be careful."

After saying that, he closed the door. It was getting late, and he was already sleepy after all that commotion.

Xie Pei has a fiery temper; his body is like a giant furnace, and he's keeping himself warm under the covers.

Zhu Mingyue exhaled a cold breath and climbed into bed. His hands and feet were ice-cold. He chuckled and shamelessly squeezed closer to Xie Pei.

Xie Pei let him fool around, swapped his own blanket with his, and obediently moved to the side so that when Zhu Mingyue lay down, not only was the blanket warm, but the mattress was also warm, making it very comfortable to sleep on.

If only Xie Pei were his bed warmer, he thought, nuzzling his nose against the blanket and falling asleep, enjoying the constant warmth.

The next day, Zhu Mingyue made some more pancakes at home, this time with meat in them. Since they had a short shelf life, he planned to eat the meat-filled pancakes first, and then eat the plain white flour pancakes after that. The dried meat was almost done drying, so he divided it into several portions and wrapped them in oil paper.

Another day passed, and the date specified in the recruitment notice arrived. At the beginning of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), they were to gather outside the county government office.

At times like this, no one dares to be late, otherwise their families will be severely punished.

Zhu Mingyue couldn't sleep all night and ended up seeing Xie Pei off with dark circles under her eyes.

More than 20 villagers were conscripted this time, and they all gathered at the village entrance to see them off.

"Mother, don't cry. I promise I'll come back safe and sound."

"It's different when you're away from home than when you're at home. Don't be as naive as you used to be. Be more wary of people."

"You must hide the jerky I made for you well. Don't give it to others. Eat a couple of pieces every now and then to nourish your body."

"Try to eat your own food sparingly. If the government provides you with meals, eat them no matter how they taste. Eat as much as you can; it's a waste not to eat them."

Parents' hearts are always full of love and concern. Even though Li Zhengyang's parents don't treat him very well on a daily basis, they still held his hands with tears in their eyes and gave him careful instructions at this moment.

Even the village chief, who usually had a stern face and never smiled, looked somewhat like a kind father at this moment.

"Father and Mother, I've told you so many times, I remember it all!" Li Zhengyang still acted carefree, grinning foolishly.

"Hmph, I can't say it too many times, you're stupid and don't learn your lesson." The village chief sneered.

Li Zhengyang held the package containing dried meat in his arms, as his mother had repeatedly told him to. When he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye, he immediately waved to Zhu Mingyue and Xie Pei.

Li Zhengyang's mother wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes and forced a smile: "You've come too! What a coincidence."

There was no coincidence; almost everyone had arrived, but they all lingered at the village entrance to bid a reluctant farewell to their families.

"How about we have Zhengyang and Xie Pei go together? It'll be safer for them to go together."

Zhu Mingyue nodded: "I also have some business to attend to in the county, so I'll see them off while I'm at it."

What? We can deliver it? Li Zhengyang's mother tugged at her husband's sleeve: "It's not safe for Mingyue to come back alone. Why don't we go deliver it together?"

Zhu Mingyue was just an excuse; she simply wanted to see her son a little longer. After this parting, she didn't know when they would meet again.

The group arrived at the county town together. The county government office was not far ahead, and a large crowd had already gathered outside. Zhu Mingyue said, "You guys go ahead first. I'll go get something and come find you."

He jogged to the blacksmith's shop, only to find the door locked. Sweat beaded on Zhu Mingyue's forehead as he panted and surveyed his surroundings, drawing curious glances from passersby.

Never mind, it's almost too late. He bit his lip and pounded on the wooden door: "Master, I've come to get my things! Are you home?"

After calling for a while, the small window in the attic on the second floor opened. "Wait a moment," said the master craftsman's apprentice.

A short while later, the man hurriedly came down to open the door for him, explaining, "The work was finished last night, but my master is sick this morning, so I told him to rest a bit more."

Zhu Mingyue asked with concern, "How is he now? Is he alright?"

"It's nothing serious," he shook his head, took a cloth bundle from the cabinet, and handed it to him: "I was just afraid of passing on my illness to you, so I didn't want to come down and asked you to give this to me. See if it's done well?"

Zhu Mingyue opened the cloth bag, and a brand-new, shiny dart head came into view. Unlike the previous ones, this one clearly contained the old man's own ingenuity. An extra edge had been added to the original, and it had been polished to be even sharper. Xie Pei's name was engraved on the dart body as Zhu Mingyue had instructed beforehand.

At Zhu Mingyue's request, the construction period was greatly shortened, and it's already very good that we were able to achieve this level of success.

"Thanks!" Zhu Mingyue smiled with satisfaction and handed three taels of silver to the person opposite her.

"You gave me too much," Zhu Mingyue said, her back already disappearing before the man could even react with the money. "You gave me too much; I don't need that much!" He took off after her.

Zhu Mingyue waved her hand without turning her head: "Use the rest to buy some tonics for your master."

After finally reaching the government office, there were even more people gathered there than before, many of whom were family members who had come to see him off. Li Zhengyang's parents were squeezed to a distance of several meters.

Fortunately, Xie Pei and Li Zhengyang were standing together, and both of them were unusually tall, making them stand out in the crowd. Zhu Mingtian spotted them immediately.

However, figuring out how to get past so many people was a challenge. Just as he was struggling with this, someone suddenly pushed him from behind, sending him straight into the crowd.

"Make way, everyone make way."

"Don't push!"

Zhu Mingyue blended into the crowd, surrounded by a cacophony of complaints. He wasn't very tall and couldn't see the direction clearly, so he could only crouch down and squeeze in.

"Excuse me, please make way, my son is in there too." Later on, he also learned to talk nonsense. Anyway, with everyone so crowded, who could tell who was talking?

He was caught off guard and squeezed into the arms of a tall man dressed in dark, tight-fitting clothes. He tried to push him away, but couldn't. So, shamelessly, he used his hands and head to push him, while pretending to apologize and repeating, "Excuse me, please move aside, my son is inside."

A muffled laugh came from above, followed by Li Zhengyang's familiar and irritating mocking voice: "Mingyue, how come I didn't know you had a son? Where's your nephew? I'll take you to find him." As he spoke, he started acting, looking around.

Zhu Mingyue was furious and tried to pinch his arm: "Go away, you are my son." As soon as she finished speaking, he was pushed forward and staggered.

Xie Pei reached out and pulled him into his arms. His arms were like iron bars, firmly fixed and unmoved by any external force.

The gates of the government office slowly opened, and a group of officials came out.

Knowing that time was almost up, Zhu Mingyue quickly stuffed the dart into Xie Pei's arms, saying, "I've seen you use that dart often, so it's bound to get damaged. I had a blacksmith in the county make another one for you a few days ago. Keep it safe."

Zhu Mingyue's head only reached Xie Pei's chin. Xie Pei lowered his head slightly, and perhaps because the people behind him were too crowded, his chin brushed against Zhu Mingyue's forehead several times.

From Zhu Mingyue's perspective, Xie Pei's Adam's apple bobbed a few times before he finally uttered a soft "thank you" and put the dart into his pocket.

The officials had already begun to reprimand unrelated personnel and drive away the crowd. Some people who were holding hands with their children and talking were dispersed to a place further away from the government office.

Knowing it was time, Zhu Mingyue pushed Xie Pei away, her eyes slightly moist: "You guys should go now!"

The crowd was less than when they had come in. He waved to the two of them and walked toward Li Zhengyang's parents.

After about fifteen minutes, the three of them stood together behind the tree, watching the faces, some young, some old, some familiar, some unfamiliar, as they slowly walked towards the city gate.

Li Zhengyang's mother covered her mouth and looked at the back of her silly son's head, sobbing: "He's heartless, he doesn't even look back at his parents."

"Alright, stop crying. It's not like we'll never see each other again," the village chief said with a stern face, though his gaze was fixed on a certain spot.

That's what they said, but deep down they weren't sure if they'd come back alive from the battlefield. Nobody knew. It wasn't like the village hadn't been forcibly conscripted before. There was one instance more than ten years ago, and of those who were called up, less than one in ten came back. Li Zhengyang's uncle died on the battlefield.

After many years, a group of young people from the village were once again forced to be sent away.

As they were about to leave the city gate, Li Zhengyang's mother couldn't hold back her heart-wrenching cries and immediately chased after the group without a second thought.

"Son, follow the Xie family's boy closely; he's smarter than you."

Zhu Mingyue, who followed behind him and helped him up: ...

His eyes were fixed on Xie Pei's position. As they were about to leave the city gate, Xie Pei seemed to sense something and turned his head.

Zhu Mingyue immediately waved vigorously at him and shouted, "Xie Pei, you must come back!"

Xie Pei heard his message from afar and nodded with a tight smile.

"Wait for me to come back," Xie Pei murmured, but his whisper was drowned out by the noise, and no one could hear him except himself.

The city gate slowly closed, and Li Zhengyang walked at the back of the procession, sobbing softly. He hadn't turned around earlier not because he didn't want to see his parents one last time before leaving, but because he was afraid to. His carefree attitude was often a facade; he was also reluctant to leave his parents, and he was afraid that if his mother saw him turn around, her heart would ache even more.

He blew his nose, glanced at Xie Pei walking beside him, his face still expressionless, as if he had no feelings. "Aren't you feeling unwell?"

"Hmm." Xie Pei stared straight ahead, not even bothering to look at him, his hands constantly rubbing something together.

Li Zhengyang's curiosity was piqued again, and he forgot his sadness: "What are you holding in your hand?"

Xie Pei ignored him and kept working.

Li Zhengyang scoffed, feeling utterly embarrassed. He had completely realized that without Zhu Mingyue, Xie Pei wouldn't even give him a glance. This guy was like a human block of ice; he wondered how Zhu Mingyue managed to get along with him peacefully.

They were heading to a port on the Jizhou River. The speed of traveling by boat and on foot was completely different. If they were lucky and had a favorable wind, they could travel a thousand miles a day by boat and reach Jizhou in just a few days.

on deck,

"That ship is huge!"

"How can such a big wooden thing float on water? That's really amazing."

“It’s a cargo ship, how could it be small? My uncle used to work here unloading cargo, he’s seen plenty of ships this big.”

"So what if it's bigger? We'll still have to squeeze together when we get up there."

"Just bear with it, it's at least more comfortable than going south."

"Are you stupid? Why are you going south so fast? Are you rushing to your death?"

"Li Ding, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Did I say something wrong? Sending us south in such a hurry is just making us scapegoats. Do you have any weapons? Do you know how to fight? You're just a hoe-wielder, what are you going to use to fight someone who's practicing with knives?"

Everyone was speechless; clearly, what Li Ding said made perfect sense.

“Those soldiers won’t care whether we live or die after they send us there. We should stick together and work as one from now on.”

Li Ding, still not satisfied with what he had said, glared hatefully at Xie Pei, who had already found a seat and was sitting down, and Li Zhengyang, who had been following Xie Pei around for the sake of security.

So everyone looked at the two of them. Li Zhengyang felt extremely uncomfortable being stared at by such a large group of people, while Xie Pei remained unmoved.

Li Ding spat on the ground, "What are you pretending for? Just because you have a little money at home doesn't mean you can show off. Who knows how long you'll survive on the battlefield."

Li Ding is petty and likes everyone to revolve around him and treat him as their leader. His words just now stirred up the emotions of most people present, but these two people never took him seriously.

Li Zhengyang is such a big guy, it's obvious he's not a coward. He definitely wouldn't tolerate someone provoking him to his face.

"I think he's just putting on an act. He's only just joined the army, and he's already eager to form cliques and get a taste of officialdom!" He looked Li Ding up and down, his eyes full of contempt: "He has no official rank whatsoever, but he's got quite the airs."

"You son of a bitch!" Li Ding, his little scheme exposed in public, immediately lost his temper and was about to punch him.

Li Zhengyang was no pushover either, and he raised his fist, as big as a bowl, to fight back.

Both of them had only ever fought with their peers in the village, using a chaotic and disorderly set of wild moves. It was all about who was more agile and had the harder punches. After one round, Li Ding was utterly defeated, and his nose was bleeding.

Li Ding refused to accept defeat and initiated a second round of combat, only to suffer another crushing defeat, his left eye swelling up from the blows.

Still not convinced, they started a third round.

Before they could subdue the man, the soldiers arrived and shouted, "What are you doing!"

Fighting, what else could they be doing? Didn't you see that the short guy's face is almost completely mangled?

Those who had been watching and cheering earlier made way, keeping a safe distance for fear of being caught in the crossfire with the soldiers.

"Well done, that's great! You've already turned your fists on your comrades before even stepping onto the battlefield."