Three days before the New Year, the entire Dayu Dynasty was ablaze with red.
Red lanterns were hung early on both sides of the road, and people coming and going were all dressed in new clothes. Children ran and laughed happily, celebrating the once-a-year extravagance and abundance.
The words "Spring Festival" mean far more to the poor than to the rich.
Those who usually live frugally, eating coarse grain buns instead of meat buns, have been saving up for this moment.
In the transition between past and future, they changed out of their simple clothes, put on their most energetic appearance, ate the sweetest fruits, and reunited with their beloved family.
But even in this joyful family atmosphere, three big fools were speeding recklessly down the road to officialdom.
"How many days will it take to reach Fengjing?" Zheng Ruqian, covered in dust and dirt, asked weakly, slumped over the carriage shaft.
Gao Yan sat opposite him, rubbing his buttocks, speechless.
Gao Dawang estimated in his mind, "It will take four or five days."
If it's four or five days later, then we'll only be able to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
Zheng Ruqian was shocked and, disregarding everything else, took the whip and urged the horse to go faster and faster.
Let's do the math.
In November, he left the capital with the Gao brothers, originally intending to transport some red dates to Henan County. However, he became fascinated by the abundance of local products and the local customs, and unknowingly crossed the entire Henan County and arrived in Hebei County.
With the thought of "since we're already here," Zheng Ruqian led the Gao brothers on a thorough search of Hebei County and indeed found many good things. Among them, there was one item that he was particularly confident about bringing back to the capital, just waiting to put it up for sale in Jiuzhenfang.
Unfortunately, fate is unpredictable. Halfway through the journey, the horse became so exhausted that it collapsed and could not get up.
If this were in a city, it wouldn't be so bad, but it happened to be on the road, in the middle of nowhere.
Zheng Ruqian had no choice but to walk to the nearest city, rent a new carriage, and bring a veterinarian to treat the horse. He also paid the difference in price to exchange the horse for another one.
This caused a delay of three days.
If I hadn't wasted those three days and had sped up a bit, I might have been able to get back and celebrate the New Year with my brothers and sisters.
Zheng Ruqian gripped the riding whip, his face full of frustration.
This year has been very special for the siblings.
This was their first New Year's celebration after arriving in Fengjing, and also their first reunion without Fang Laosan. His sister earnestly urged him to come back, and Zheng Ruqian patted his chest and agreed.
But now, he has to break his promise.
A cold wind gradually picked up, stinging Zheng Ruqian's face. His body, which had been without sleep for two days, could not take it anymore. To make matters worse, the carriage was full of goods purchased from Hebei County, and there was not even a place to lie down.
"Boss, you should take a break," Gao Dawang advised from behind. "Or let me do it; you haven't rested for two days."
Zheng Ruqian shook his head, regretting that the carriage was not fast enough to reach Fengjing before the New Year.
After an unknown amount of time, he crossed the boundless official road and arrived at the next city. Feeling the bustling atmosphere of the crowds, he became increasingly anxious.
Unfortunately, the city is crowded and congested, making it impossible to speed up.
Zheng Ruqian gritted his teeth and said, "How about we skip this meal and make do with some dry rations? Maybe we can make it back to Fengjing before the New Year."
After saying that, he felt it was inappropriate.
People need food to survive; they'll get hungry if they skip a meal, let alone the fact that they've already eaten four meals of dry rations on the train. They need some hot soup and rice to warm themselves up.
Even if they don't eat, the horses still need to eat and rest.
Zheng Ruqian didn't want to waste another three days, so he gritted his teeth and stopped in front of a small restaurant. He ordered three bowls of spicy soup and two pieces of fried dough, and swallowed them in big gulps.
The winter sun shone down from above as several locals basked in the sun, discussing the state of the country, occasionally exchanging a few words in heated debate, their faces flushed and their manner quite imposing.
Zheng Ruqian, with his sharp ears, vaguely heard the words "Northern Frontier," and immediately slowed down his soup-drinking pace to listen intently.
"Our Great Yu Dynasty has been fighting the Tartars for decades. They can't defeat us, and we can't destroy them. We've always been in a state of mutual suspicion, afraid to act against each other."
Zheng Ruqian had heard Fang Heng mention this before. The Tartars were skilled in riding and archery. If ten soldiers of the Dayu Dynasty were to face ten Tartars, it would almost certainly be a death sentence. It would take thirty to fifty men to fight against them.
Unfortunately, the Tartars were cunning. They would fight if you outnumbered them, but would run away if you outnumbered them, riding off on their horses and disappearing in a flash, leaving us no chance to catch up.
When General Fang was alive, he set traps for the Tartars and killed many people, which established his great reputation in the northern frontier and allowed the border people to live a few years of peace.
After his death, the Tartars became active again, and massacres of villages were committed more and more frequently.
"Who would have thought that a while ago, good news came from the northern frontier?" An old man shook his head. "It wasn't a large-scale battle, but rather that we, a few dozen soldiers, faced a few dozen Tartars. What we thought was a sure defeat turned out to be a victory."
"This is great news! The Tartars are skilled in archery and horsemanship. If one of our young talents can hold his own against the Tartar cavalry, does that mean we can wipe out the Tartars and never have another war?"
"What nonsense are you thinking? It's just a small battle. I heard that kid is only thirteen or fourteen years old, and his surname is also... Fang."
His surname is Fang.
My dear brother, it's been a year since I last saw you. I bet you just fought a battle. You won, but you must have paid a heavy price.
I wonder if you're in pain, feeling sad, or missing us right now.
Holding a bowl of spicy soup, Zheng Ruqian gazed northwards with slightly reddened eyes.
Something floated out of his body, flew north at an extremely fast speed, and finally landed beside the ear of the dashing young man.
"Third brother..."
Who is calling him?
Fang Heng turned his head sharply, but only saw nothingness.
"Captain, what's wrong?" Jiang Yi limped over.
Fang Heng shook his head, glanced at his legs, Jiang Er's arms, Jiang Wu's abdomen, Jiang Liu's chest, Jiang Qi's scalp, and Jiang Ba's fingers.
A battle is a confrontation, a fight to the death.
Although they won that small battle, and Fang Heng was promoted from squad leader of the 10th Detachment to captain of the 5th Squad, with the number of people under his command increasing from nine to over a hundred, the price they paid was much higher.
One of the nine men in the tenth squad was killed and eight were wounded. Jiang Wu's abdominal wound is still bleeding today, and Jiang Ba lost a finger.
Even Fang Heng himself was hit by a horse's hoof and is still unable to move around easily.
War is always cruel, scarred, and built with blood and bones.
Now only one person is dying, but in the future ten, a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand will die.
In the past, Fang Heng would have been soft-hearted, afraid, and cowardly. But not now, because he understands that war always requires someone to shed blood in order to prevent more innocent deaths and injuries.
Only then will there be no more girls with braids!
It's just a pity that he can't be with his family. The spirited young man used all his strength, but he could only wave to the southwest and show a faint smile.
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