Shen Jiahao fell silent, his eyes drooping.
After a long pause, Shen Jiahao said in a low voice, "I still remember when Lili was three years old, I took her to buy candied hawthorns on the street..."
Shen Jiahao slowly recounted what happened back then: "At that time, I swore that I would protect my sister and my family. But later, many things still happened, and I felt powerless. Even now, I feel like I have all the skills I need, but I still feel powerless..."
People always say he is incredibly strong and was born to practice martial arts.
After learning martial arts, his master said he had a high level of comprehension.
Shen Ye and Shen Zhongzheng studied martial arts together, but Shen Ye was not even half as good as him.
Shen Jiahao was very happy until a few days ago when he witnessed the horror of power struggles firsthand. People in high positions could easily summon many people, and if they wanted to, others could only be subjected to slow slicing.
That night, Lili went to sleep, while Shen Jiahao lay alone on her rooftop, still shaken and afraid to leave.
Shen Jiahao knew of An Qi's existence, and he asked An Qi, "There are too many powerful people in this world, aren't there?"
Dark Seven neither answered nor appeared.
Shen Jiahao answered himself.
yes.
He's impressive in every aspect.
Despite his exceptional martial arts skills, Shen Jiahao was as insignificant as a mayfly when facing those at the pinnacle of power.
Shen Zhongzheng listened quietly to him, being a good listener.
From the first day he took him as his disciple, he knew that Shen Jiahao had a deep-seated obsession—he couldn't wait to become stronger.
Shen Jiahao spoke softly, as if asking a question, yet with great determination: "Master, I want to join the army."
Shen Zhongzheng turned his head to look at him.
Shen Jiahao stood up. The strong and handsome young man stood in the moonlight, the moonlight seeming to cast a thin layer of mist over him, making him shine brightly.
"I want to join the army, earn military merits, and become a general."
He once watched helplessly as his sister was taken away.
He wants to become stronger, for himself and for his family.
Shen Zhongzheng remained silent, standing behind him with satisfaction, as they both looked up at the night sky.
Shen Jiahao is extremely talented, has excellent comprehension, and possesses exceptional physical constitution. With proper guidance, learning martial arts is as simple as eating and drinking for him.
Over the past few years, Shen Jiahao has already learned about 70-80% of what he knows. The remaining few percent are something that Shen Jiahao needs to hone and understand on his own.
Shen Zhongzheng had long since run out of things to teach, and Shen Jiahao learned this last lesson as well.
"You've already mastered the craft," Shen Zhongzheng encouraged, telling him the same thing he had done when Shen Jiahao first lacked confidence in learning martial arts. "Go for it, be bold."
Shen Jiahao looked into the distance and nodded firmly.
In the southern sky, a star shone brighter than ever before.
The next day, the academy teacher came in with his lecture notes, glanced around, and noticed an empty seat in the last row. He frowned and asked, "Where did Shen Jiahao go?"
The brothers were of different ages, so naturally they did not study under the same teacher.
When the neighbor's teacher came to ask them after school that day, the brothers learned that Shen Jiahao had not come to school that day.
Although Shen Jiahao did not like reading, he was respectful to his teacher. Although he did not like attending classes, he was never late or absent.
Shen Jialu sensed something was wrong and immediately asked for leave to return to the county magistrate's office to find Lili.
Lili looked equally confused: "Didn't our big brother go back to the academy with you a few days ago?"
Shen Jialu was also confused: "Yes, we had lunch together yesterday, but my brother said he didn't have an appetite for dinner and didn't join us."
Lili's heart was pounding; she had a feeling something was wrong.
Lili immediately pulled Shen Jialu to Shen Jiahao's room in the county magistrate's mansion. The two rushed into the room without even having time to say anything, as Yang Shi, who had hurriedly made him a midnight snack upon hearing that Shen Jialu had returned.
"Hey, the noodles are ready, have some first!" Yang called from behind, extremely puzzled. "What's going on?"
The door was pushed open, and the interior remained exactly as it was, with nothing missing.
There was an extra letter on the table opposite the main entrance.
Lili and Shen Jialu exchanged a glance and opened the letter.
The letter contained a lot of information, and one look at the handwriting revealed that it was written by Shen Jiahao himself—the calligraphy was bold and elegant.
Lili read through the letter line by line. It was a long, rambling letter, first boasting about herself, saying that she was a master of martial arts and a genius.
Then she reminisced about her childhood, saying she missed her chubby little face when she was a child, and how nice it felt to pinch her cheeks.
Lili smiled, and Shen Jialu's uneasy voice came from beside her: "This guy, his handwriting is so ugly, yet he still writes so many words. Doesn't he know how to take care of our eyes?"
Despite saying that, he couldn't wait to flip it over.
Lili quietly placed the third sheet of paper on top. Compared to the first two sheets, which were full of paper, the third sheet was exceptionally simple.
[The bow's back shines brightly with the glow of the sunset, the sword gleams in the frost; the autumn wind blows as the horse gallops out of Xianyang.]
Don't worry.
Shen Jialu stared blankly at the letter, turning the pages over and over again, but couldn't find a single word.
"With bowed back and radiant sword, I ride forth from Xianyang in the autumn wind..."
This is Linghu Chu's "Four Poems on the Journey of a Young Man, No. 3".
Shen Jiahao went to join the army.
Shen Jialu's eyes reddened. Even though it was an answer he already knew, he was still caught off guard and broke down when it suddenly came.
Shen Jialu sobbed, slammed the letter on the table without looking at it, and turned his head away in a huff: "I've called him brother my whole life, and he didn't even say goodbye to my face."
His red eyes betrayed him. As if that wasn't enough, Shen Jialu continued to scold, "What's with all this talk of literary talent? 'A bowed back, rosy clouds, a sword gleaming in the frost; an autumn wind, a galloping horse, leaving Xianyang'? You've used up all your time studying on this one line!"
Lili chuckled and took Shen Jialu's hand to comfort him, "Second brother, eldest brother will be safe."
Shen Jialu stared intently at Lili for a long time, as if trying to confirm whether what she said was true.
Lili looked back at him intently. After a long while, Shen Jialu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and his lips moved slightly: "When we were little, we used to catch frogs. I could never beat him. My older brother could catch a whole bucketful and he would swagger around, saying that when he grew up he would catch ten bucketfuls. I said, what kind of skill is catching frogs? A man should be strong. If you can protect your country, that's a real skill."
Little Shen Jiahao picked up the bucket and paused for a moment, then thought seriously for a while: "Then I want to be the great general, the most capable one!"
At the time, Shen Jialu thought it was just childish enthusiasm, but in the blink of an eye, Shen Jiahao was really going to join the army.
Lili looked up at the sky; the white clouds remained, and the sun blazed overhead.
At this moment, Lili was extremely grateful. Fortunately, she had given her older brother a handmade amulet earlier.
At that time, she was restless and anxious. She learned needlework from Yang to calm her mind. The first peace charm she sewed was crooked and uneven, but Shen Jiahao still treasured it and carried it with him.
After that, Granny Shen and the others frequently went to various temples to burn incense and pray for peace, but none of them could replace the one that Lili made herself.
Because it was blessed, blessed by Lili, and made by Lili herself, Shen Jiahao liked it.
Because of this, Shen Jialuo had a falling out with her for a while.
Through this letter, Lili seemed to be able to see him writing it.
Lili's eyes stung a little, and the image of the older brother who had promised to protect her years ago overlapped with that of Shen Jiahao, the one who wrote the letter.
Lili chuckled softly, a few tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
My brother has gone to his own battlefield.
Lili personally took Shen Jiahao's letter back to Xinghua Village. After Lili finished reading the letter, no one in the family said a word.
After a long while, Liu was the first to burst into tears, punching Shen the eldest son hard: "I told you we should have gone to Liucheng with them, so you could keep an eye on our son and it would be easier for you to take care of the shop. Look, look, our son has run away!"
Even though Mr. Shen was middle-aged, his eyes reddened slightly. He didn't say anything in the face of his wife's breakdown, but simply silently pulled her into his arms.
"Jiahao, why did you leave without saying a word? You didn't even say goodbye to your mother!"
Old Man Shen sighed deeply, left the table without a word, took some incense and paper money, and then went out with a jar of wine.
Old Mrs. Shen was illiterate and couldn't understand what Shen Jiahao had written. She just recalled what Lili had read aloud, rubbing her fingers against the dried writing on the paper, and smiled with relief: "He can write now, he can write now... and he can even recite poetry now."
Today, Shen Laosan and Yang Shi also returned to Xinghua Village. Shen Laosan comforted them, saying, "The world is still relatively peaceful now, so there shouldn't be any major battles. Jiahao has been practicing martial arts with the general for many years, so we should trust him."
Liu was crying so hard she almost passed out. As a mother herself, Yang naturally understood that feeling.
If it were Lili or Shen Jialuo, and they went to a place where they could lose their lives at any moment, they would also break down.
Knowing that comforting her was useless, Yang said, "Sister-in-law, do you remember when we told the children stories about the Japanese pirates burning, killing, and looting? Jiahao was only four years old, and he said that he would be a great general when he grew up and would fight the Japanese pirates so badly that they would never find their way back?"
Liu's crying stopped abruptly.
Madam Yang continued, "Jiahao is eighteen now. A young man should have lofty ambitions. It's a good thing that Jiahao has this awareness. This is what he has always wanted to do, isn't it? We should be proud of him."
Madam Chen added, "Yes, sister-in-law, things have come to this. All we can do is continue to protect this family and wait for the children to come back. If Jiahao knew you were like this, he would be heartbroken. How could he fight the war with peace of mind?"
After thinking for a long time, Liu finally understood and wiped away her tears: "Yes, he has studied martial arts for so long. A real man should make his mark on the battlefield!"
“Yes, it is an unparalleled honor for men to fight the enemy and defend their country. We should be proud! If, if… this is his own choice, then it is his fate!” Boss Shen closed his eyes.
The atmosphere became heavy again.
Lili's eyes welled up with tears, infected by the atmosphere, and she grasped Liu's hand: "Auntie, don't worry, my brother will be fine."
"Really?" Liu asked anxiously, as if grasping at a floating duckweed. "Lili, don't comfort your aunt. Is your brother really going to come home safely?"
“Good.” Lili nodded solemnly.
"Okay, okay, okay..."
What Lili didn't mention is that auspicious signs are also divided into very auspicious, moderately auspicious, and slightly auspicious.
"Great fortune" indicates very good luck or outcome, "medium fortune" is next best, and "minor fortune" is relatively weaker but still has some auspicious signs.
Shen Jiahao is Xiao Ji.
The path to becoming a general is never smooth, and Shen Jiahao's path will not be a wish-fulfillment story.
But Lili believed him.
Trust your brother.
Old Mrs. Shen didn't speak, she just silently looked at the letter, a letter she couldn't understand.
At the back of the mountain, Old Man Shen sat beside the Shen family ancestral graves, burning incense and paper money one by one, pouring out a cup of wine from the jar, and giving the rest to the ancestors.
Old Man Shen downed the wine in his cup in one gulp, then kowtowed: "Ancestors, the Shen family has made something of itself now, and all the children are outstanding. The eldest son of the Shen family's main branch, named Shen Jiahao, has gone to defend the country. I hope our ancestors will bless him, not asking for any fame, but only that he return home safely."
A gust of wind blew by, and a green leaf swayed and drifted down from the locust tree.
*
September arrived in the blink of an eye, and Lili brought Gu Ziqi to the border.
The city at the border is called Anding City, which, as the name suggests, expresses the hope that there will never be war on the border and that the world will be at peace.
Gu Ziqi was quite happy in Liucheng, but this happiness was based on Lili being there.
Lili predicted the Great Cold this year and reminded Gu Ziyi at the beginning of the year, but she was still worried and came to the border herself.
After all, there are 200,000 Red Eagle Army soldiers guarding the border, 100,000 of whom are in Anding City, and the other 100,000 are scattered in towns and cities of all sizes along the border.
In addition, there are countless people in the border city, and the border is a national fortress. Lili was very worried and had to come and see for herself.
There are many things she can't control, but she has to take care of what she can.
Not to mention the Red Eagle Army, which has helped her so many times.
And...where Gu Ziyi is.
Lili sat inside the carriage, pulling her thin cloak tighter around her.
It's only September, but the weather is already a bit chilly.
Lili seemed a little distracted.
The goal of feeding everyone in the world may have been ingrained in her bones, but she couldn't understand why she had other thoughts inexplicably in her heart.
She thought, Gu Ziyi has been at the border for so many years, and this is the border that his grandfather spent his whole life guarding. That's why she's worried.
Lili doesn't consider herself a kind person; most of the things she does are driven by some ulterior motive.
For example, she initially helped Gu Ziyi because she thought he was a good person, a good person with high position and power, and she needed his protection.
But now, she feels like there's something more to it.
Could it be because she had previously speculated that His Highness might be her cousin?
But Lili had thought about it a few times. Gu Ziqi's maternal grandfather and the current emperor were uncle and nephew, which meant that Gu Ziqi's father was the emperor's cousin. Gu Ziqi called Gu Ziyi his cousin, which was fine.
But she should be Gu Ziqi's cousin?
I don’t know how close they are. Lili guesses they shouldn’t be too far apart, otherwise why would she have such a strong empathy for Gu Ziqi?
But at least we can be sure they weren't born of the same mother.
So if you think about it that way, if she really were to call His Highness "cousin," it doesn't seem like they're very close, or even that they're completely unrelated. It's just a matter of seniority.
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