Chapter 341: Past Events Under the Moon
The night is as dark as ink, dotted with stars, and a bright moon hangs in the sky, casting silver light.
After eating the grilled fish, Yuan Wanru picked up the osmanthus wine and drank it slowly.
The fragrance of lotus flowers drifted in the night breeze. Yuan Wanru gently shook the wine glass in her hand and turned her head to look at Lu Jiangnian beside her. The moonlight cast a soft silver edge on his angular profile.
"I have a question for you."
Lu Jiangnian turned his head to look at her, "Whatever my wife wants to know, I will tell her everything I know."
Yuan Wanru smiled and said, "You have been living in the mansion since you were a child, wearing fine clothes and eating delicious food, living a life of luxury. Why don't you follow the old master's arrangement and take the imperial examination to become an official?"
"It's bitterly cold at the border, and there are often wars. Just think about it and you will know how hard it is. I'm really curious about your thoughts."
Lu Jiangnian raised his head and drank a cup, then frowned. He always felt that the osmanthus wine was not tasty enough.
His eyes were filled with memories: "The capital city is full of carved beams and painted buildings, singing and dancing, and life is uneventful. What's the point?"
"A good man should go out and try his luck. You probably don't know where I learned all these martial arts skills, right?"
Yuan Wanru really didn't know.
Lu Jiangnian looked into the distance, his fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the wine glass, "It sounds like a story from a novel."
"My father is a military commander, and I am his legitimate son, so of course I have to learn martial arts."
"Master Wu taught me only ordinary moves, but I learned them quite well."
: "That year I was eight years old and went back to my hometown with my father to worship our ancestors. One day in the bamboo forest behind the ancestral hall, I met a ragged old man roasting a hare."
Yuan Wanru couldn't help but sit up straight, the moonlight casting tiny spots of light in her eyes.
"The old man jumped up when he saw me and started pinching my arm with his dirty hands."
Lu Jiangnian imitated the action at that time and suddenly grabbed Yuan Wanru's wrist. "Just like that, it hurt me so much that I thought I was a kidnapper, so I yelled and beat him up."
"What happened next?"
Yuan Wanru asked anxiously. She didn't expect that there was such an interesting thing about Lu Jiangnian.
Lu Jiangnian let go of his hand, a smile flashing in his eyes: "He pinned me down easily, and said, 'Boy, your strength is rare in a century, it's a pity to learn these mediocre skills'."
"I was not convinced at the time and retorted, 'What martial arts do you have? Show me how to do it.'"
The night wind suddenly grew stronger, making the leaves in the yard rustle, as if providing an accompaniment to this story.
"The old man didn't get angry and just broke off a bamboo branch."
Lu Jiangnian stood up and picked up the chopsticks on the table and gestured, "I just threw it casually, and the tit fell from the tree three meters away. I ran over to pick it up. The feathers were not damaged at all, and the tit was just knocked unconscious."
Yuan Wanru's mouth widened slightly. As expected, this old man was an expert.
"I fell to my knees right there, my forehead banging loudly."
Lu Jiangnian smiled and sat down again. "But the old man was annoyed by the noise and stuffed a piece of rabbit meat into my mouth, saying, 'If you want to become my disciple, be quiet.'"
"What happened next? What's the master's name?" Yuan Wanru took a sip of wine, her eyes full of curiosity.
Lu Jiangnian shook his head: "I've asked him countless times, but he never said anything."
"Every year around the time of the Waking of Insects, he would appear, his face covered in dust, teach me for a month, and then disappear without a trace."
"But, I have lived in the mansion for so many years, how come I never knew there was such a person?" Yuan Wanru couldn't help but ask.
"The old man is afraid that others will know of his existence. Only my father and grandfather know about it. Even my mother is not very clear about it."
Lu Jiangnian laughed, "Once I was almost caught by my mother, but Master grabbed me by the back of my collar and jumped onto the roof. The roof was three meters high, but he walked on it as if it were flat ground."
"When I was twelve, my master came for the last time."
Lu Jiangnian's voice suddenly became low. "That day, he wore clean clothes for the first time. He said that I had learned enough and he was going to venture further away. He didn't know when he would return. We'll see each other again if we're lucky."
Suddenly, there was a "gulp" sound in the lake not far away. Perhaps a frog jumped into the water, but neither of them paid attention to these details.
"I cried and wanted to go with him, but he slapped me on the forehead."
Lu Jiangnian touched his forehead, as if he could still feel the pain at that time. "Master said, 'I am not a human trafficker. If I kidnap you, what will your father do if he comes to me crying?'"
Yuan Wanru felt quite regretful and really wanted to meet this mysterious old man.
"Then you are going to the border to find your master?"
Lu Jiangnian shook his head: "I won't go looking for him. He's been running around everywhere, who knows where he's gone."
"I was filled with longing for the outside world because of what he kept saying."
"I thought that if I could be a ranger like my master, my life would be wonderful."
Yuan Wanru propped her chin with one hand and tilted her head to look at him: "Then why did you end up going to the border?"
Lu Jiangnian's eyes became more serious, and he asked, "My lady, do you know that twenty years ago, when the Mohe fought against our dynasty, Dajing City suffered heavy casualties and paid a huge price before they barely won?"
Yuan Wanru shook her head. She had no knowledge of this history.
The original owner was a little girl and didn't care about these things.
His tone became more serious: "One day, I read a book called "Northern War Chronicles."
His eyes suddenly became sharp, and he drew a line on the stone table with his finger: "It says that 20 years ago, 30,000 Mohe cavalry raided the northern border and massacred seven cities in a row."
"The soldiers of Dajing built the wall with their flesh and blood, and it took a month for reinforcements to arrive."
Yuan Wanru noticed his hands and unconsciously clenched them into fists.
Lu Jiangnian said in a hoarse voice, "It was this book that changed my mind."
Yuan Wanru looked at his resolute face and suddenly felt that Lu Jiangnian was very charming at this moment.
"Dad was afraid that I couldn't endure the hardship, and Mom was reluctant to let me leave the capital."
Lu Jiangnian turned and looked towards the north, his voice strangely gentle, "It's really hard there. It's very cold in the winter, and the wind and sand are like knives."
“But there are also touching parts there.”
"Especially, the soldiers at the border are passionate, strong-willed, and able to find joy in hardship. In fact, there are often many interesting things in their daily lives."
His tone became much lighter in the last sentence.
Yuan Wanru was a little tipsy.
While listening to him talk, she drank cup after cup of osmanthus wine. Perhaps because she hadn't drunk alcohol for a long time, or because the original owner had a low alcohol tolerance, she was actually a little tipsy.
When Lu Jiangnian saw this dizzy look, his heart softened.
"Do you want to hear more?"
"How about we go back to the room and rest?"
Yuan Wanru refused: "I want to hear more. Tell me about the interesting things that happened in the military camp."
Could it be that he was so interested today that she wanted to know more about his past?
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