Big Brother Returns to Beijing
The big event that Cheng Yayin was talking about was that her elder brother Cheng Qiwang was finally going back to Shengjing after a long absence since he had been stationed at the border for seven years.
It was just after Laba (Laba Festival), and the Cheng family had already begun preparing for this happy event, preparing to welcome the eldest son home. To add to the joy, the eldest son of the Cheng family had married the only daughter of General Qi, a border guard, earlier this year. His return was not only to celebrate the New Year, but also to bring his new bride to meet the elders of his family.
The Cheng family was overjoyed upon hearing the news. To welcome her eldest brother and his wife, Cheng Yayin had been returning to the Cheng residence daily for several days, supervising the servants as they cleaned, prepared New Year's goods, and tidied up her eldest brother's former residence. When Cheng Qiwang's letter mentioned his return date, the entire Cheng residence was completely renovated. Everyone eagerly awaited the return of Dalang, who had been away for many years, and the young mistress, whom they had never met.
Cheng Yayin had been on edge for nearly a month, but on the morning of her eldest brother's return, she was seduced by Pei Songsheng's beauty and nearly missed her business. On the carriage back to the Cheng residence, she kept pouting and refusing to pay attention to Pei Songsheng. Pei Songsheng listened to her and coaxed her with a bunch of sweet words, saying, "My eldest brother and his family won't be back until after noon. It's still early, so we won't be late."
Of course Cheng Yayin knew what was going on, but she was just pretending because she was spoiled by someone and had no bottom line. After hearing what he said, she leaned towards him with a smile, and the two of them stuck together like bones, and did not separate until they got off the carriage.
Upon arriving home, I found my father and second brother already waiting in the hall. The family had lunch first and then waited for a while longer. Cheng Qiwang's letter simply stated that he would be back today, which should have been in the afternoon. But despite waiting, there was no sign of him. Uncle Chen, who had been sent to wait at the city gate, also hadn't returned. Cheng Yayin helped her father to a nap, leaving Pei Songsheng and her second brother to wait in the hall.
In her father's room, all of her mother's old belongings were there, as if she had never left. Cheng Yayin felt sad that her mother was absent on such a rare day of reunion. After helping her father to sleep, she sat alone in the garden, thinking about her worries.
A few days ago, she had suggested to her father that they bring her mother back from Ganye Temple so that they could at least stay home for the New Year reunion, but he had refused. She wanted to ask why, but he changed the subject, as always, unwilling to discuss this matter with his daughter.
Cheng Yayin missed her mother deeply. She could see that her father missed her mother very much as well, but why did his face always look unnatural whenever his mother was mentioned?
Something must have happened between her parents, otherwise one wouldn't have imprisoned himself in a temple for three years, while the other clearly worried about him but avoided talking about it. Speaking of which, all these changes had happened since the sudden illness that nearly took her life four years ago. Cheng Yayin didn't know if there was a connection.
She had always remembered her father as a very affectionate person, so why he had become like this today was beyond her comprehension. She thought of her family being reunited, while her mother had to live in seclusion in an ancient temple, without her children by her side. She wondered how lonely she must be.
Cheng Yayin felt increasingly sad, until she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and heard a familiar and gentle voice: "Why are you sitting here in the wind? Be careful not to catch a cold."
Cheng Yayin turned her head to look at Pei Songsheng in a daze. The faint tears in her eyes were not wiped away in time, and her pair of red eyes were exposed in Pei Songsheng's eyes.
Pei Songsheng immediately panicked, brushed his fingers gently under her eyelids, and asked, "Why are you so sad?"
Cheng Yayin shook her head, pulled him to sit beside her, leaned on his shoulder, and told him everything she had just thought. His wife was frowning, and Pei Songsheng was naturally worried. He patted her shoulder and said softly, "It's a happy day today, don't think too much. No matter where your mother is, what she wants most in her heart must be that you are safe and happy. If she knew you were so sad, she would be sad too."
"But I just can't understand. Shouldn't husband and wife be honest with each other? What exactly happened between my father and mother that led to this situation today..." Cheng Yayin suddenly heard a voice calling from behind: "A Zheng!" She turned around in surprise and saw a heroic man striding into the garden, looking at her with a smile on his face.
"Big Brother!" Cheng Yayin's eyebrows lit up immediately, and she happily stood up to greet him. As soon as she got close to Big Brother, she was pinched under the armpits and picked up, with her feet suddenly hanging in the air. She felt a little itchy and a little embarrassed, and giggled and said, "Big Brother, put me down quickly. I'm not a child anymore, why are you still playing like this?"
Cheng Qiwang put his sister down, and couldn't help but touch her head, saying, "When I left home seven years ago, you were just a little girl who could only cry. In the blink of an eye, you have grown up so much."
"Not only that, big brother, I'm already married." Cheng Yayin turned around impatiently to look for Pei Songsheng, who had already walked over. He smiled and bowed to Cheng Qiwang, saying, "Big brother."
"Brother, this is my husband, Pei Songsheng." Cheng Yayin suddenly felt a little embarrassed and said with a blushing face, "You should remember him. He went to school at home when he was young, and my father always praised him highly."
Cheng Qiwang certainly had an impression of Pei Songsheng. He also knew the reason for his younger sister's marriage to him. That year, at the northwestern border, he received an urgent letter from his second brother, informing him that his younger sister was seriously ill and was being married to a man she didn't know well for the sake of the ridiculous so-called "lucky marriage." He was so anxious that he wanted to fly back from the border immediately. Unfortunately, soldiers guarding the border could not return to the capital without the emperor's order. In recent years, he had been worried about this matter, worried that his sister would suffer injustice after marrying into the Pei family.
Meeting him today, he felt a lot more relieved. He had a pair of sharp, battlefield-seasoned eyes, and he could tell at a glance that his brother-in-law had a straight demeanor and clear eyes, and was definitely not someone with a crooked mind. Standing side by side with his sister, they were a perfect match. Not to mention, when he walked in just now, he saw his sister leaning against her husband, talking incoherently, while his brother-in-law had a gentle expression and a patient demeanor, clearly loving his sister deeply.
It seemed that all his previous worries were unnecessary. Seeing the way his sister looked at Pei Songsheng, he was already deeply in love with him. Cheng Qiwang was even more satisfied with this brother-in-law. He smiled and patted his shoulder, saying, "I was not in Shengjing when you got married, so I missed your wedding. Now that I have finally come home, you have to make it up to me."
Pei Songsheng said: "That's natural."
Cheng Yayin was not happy about this. She said with a puffed face, "Brother, why are you blackmailing people as soon as you get home? You didn't get to drink at our wedding, and we didn't receive any gifts from you. Don't bully him just because you're my brother-in-law."
Cheng Qiwang raised his thick eyebrows and teased, "Oh, you're protecting me already? Big brother hasn't been home for a long time, and you can't bear to eat a meal with you guys?"
Pei Songsheng also smiled and said, "A Zheng, Yu Li, we should indeed treat Big Brother to a banquet."
Cheng Yayin's eyes narrowed: "Do you listen to him or me?"
Pei Songsheng immediately lowered his brows and said, "Of course I will listen to my wife."
Seeing the couple singing the same tune, Cheng Qiwang couldn't help laughing. Cheng Yayin said, "Brother, stop laughing at us. Didn't you say you were coming back with your sister-in-law? Where is she?"
She couldn't wait to see this unknown sister-in-law, and couldn't help but look behind her brother, but she didn't see anyone. Cheng Qiwang said, "Your sister-in-law is still on her way. I can't wait to go ahead. Your sister-in-law will arrive with the gifts later. She should have entered the city by now. Come on, follow me to greet her."
Her sister-in-law's name was Qi Sheng. As soon as Cheng Yayin saw her, she understood what it meant to be a daughter of a general, a heroine. She rode into the city, her eyes sparkling, her demeanor radiant. Cheng Yayin was immediately captivated by her grace, stunned, tongue-tied, and unable to even pronounce "sister-in-law."
It was when her sister-in-law saw her that she smiled and called out, "A Zheng," as if they were old friends.
Cheng Yayin felt that she got along very well with her sister-in-law, and lamented that her elder brother was so lucky to marry such a noble woman.
Qi Sheng looked bold and generous, but she was very polite. This time when she went to Beijing to visit her husband's elders, she not only prepared generous New Year gifts, but also prepared gifts for everyone in the Cheng family.
For Cheng's father, he received a wolf-fur cloak, its fur glossy, thick and warm, perfect for those who fear the cold. For Cheng Qigu, he received an inkstone; for Pei Songsheng, he received a paperweight; and for Cheng Yayin, he received a complete set of travelogues documenting the customs and landscapes of the borderlands. Each gift touched their hearts, clearly having been carefully prepared.
There is also a piece of cloth, the embroidery method is very different from that of the Central Plains but it is extremely exquisite, very suitable for making clothes. It is self-evident who it is prepared for.
Cheng Qiwang had apparently told his wife that his mother had been praying for the family home at the temple for the past few years, but he hadn't anticipated her devotion to the Buddha, even preventing her from leaving the temple. Qi Sheng, holding the cloth, looked around and asked in surprise, "The New Year is almost here, and Mother isn't coming home?"
The brothers and sisters all turned their gazes silently towards their father, but Cheng Hongyi simply asked the servants to put the cloth away and began to order preparations for the family dinner in the evening.
The Cheng family had not been so lively for a long time, and the meal was naturally full of joy. However, the topic that had been put aside before was brought up again by Cheng Qiwang.
He said he would go to Ganye Temple the next day to bring his mother home. Otherwise, it would be a shame to have a family reunion without his mother.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yayin and Cheng Qigu both put down their chopsticks and looked at Cheng Hongyi anxiously. Over the past few years, they had repeatedly mentioned this to their father, always met with evasive evasions or stern refusal. It had practically become a taboo in the Cheng family. The eldest brother hadn't seen their mother for longer than any of them, and since he was only staying in Beijing for a month or so, it made sense for him to want to see her. Let's see how their father would react.
Cheng Hongyi was silent for a moment, then said, "That's not necessary. I went to see your mother yesterday. She's feeling quite at ease in the temple. Why bother disturbing her?"
Did her father visit her mother? Cheng Yayin was a little surprised. Hadn't they said that, as a sign of sincerity, her mother couldn't leave the temple, and outsiders couldn't enter to see her? She'd been stopped outside the temple for this very reason countless times, so why was her father allowed to see her?
Cheng Qiwang said dissatisfiedly: "How can it be called a disturbance when a son wants to see his mother? I haven't seen my mother for seven years. I don't believe she doesn't miss her son. Even if she can't leave the temple, I still want to see her."
Cheng Hongyi naturally refused. Cheng Qiwang, a troublemaker who had always loved to contradict his father, couldn't help but retort, his voice rising in volume. Cheng Hongyi, driven to his limit, slammed the table and angrily declared, "You unfilial son, you're here to piss me off, aren't you? If you insist on not listening to me, go back to your Northwest tomorrow!"
Seeing their father angry, the younger generations naturally tried to persuade him with kind words. Qi Sheng stepped hard on her husband's foot under the table. Cheng Qiwang had no choice but to stop and apologize to his father in a nice tone, and never mentioned the matter again.
Everyone had their own thoughts, and by the end of the meal, they seemed to be parting on bad terms.
Perhaps he felt it was not good to let his daughter-in-law, who was entering the house for the first time, see such a scene. Before Cheng Yayin was about to return to Pei Mansion that night, Cheng Hongyi pulled his daughter aside and told her to come back more often when she had time and take her sister-in-law around Shengjing City.
Even if her father didn't say it, Cheng Yayin had the same idea.
As the year draws to a close, Shengjing City becomes more and more lively. Cheng Yayin invites Qi Sheng to go out for a stroll every day. Although the two sisters-in-law are one active and one quiet, their temperaments are very compatible. As they talk about everything, their relationship becomes closer.
Qi Sheng seems careless, but she is actually very meticulous. She has always been thinking about the dispute between father and son at the family dinner that day. She also secretly asked Cheng Yayin what kind of quarrel her parents-in-law had. Why didn't her mother-in-law go home for several years? Even when her son who had been guarding the border for seven years came back, she didn't go home to see him.
Cheng Yayin was also confused. When she heard her sister-in-law mention this, she felt sad again.
Qi Sheng felt regretful when he mentioned Cheng Yayin's sad story. Seeing her expression like a child missing her mother but unable to see her, he felt distressed and immediately decided to go with her to Ganye Temple to meet Madam Cheng.
Qi Sheng, a veteran of the battlefield, acted decisively and without hesitation. In a flash, she had prepared all the necessary food, clothing, and supplies, and was heading to Ganye Temple with Cheng Yayin.
Cheng Yayin felt a little nervous on the way and said, "I've thought about sending something to my mother before, but every time I was stopped at the door. The monks in the temple have strict rules and won't let me in or accept my things."
Qi Sheng said, "Didn't I hear father say that day that he could go into the temple to visit mother? Mother has been staying in the temple for so many years. Perhaps the Bodhisattva will show mercy and allow her to see her family."
After she said this, Cheng Yayin felt more confident and got off the carriage with hope, but as expected, she was stopped at the temple gate again.
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