Chapter 646 This is exactly what Father looks like!
"Mother, what happened next?"
"Later, life had to go on, so I took you and we made a living by washing and mending clothes for others."
But after just over a month, the city gates fell, the enemy entered the city, and the people in the city were in a state of panic. The scoundrels caused trouble, so I kept the doors closed and did not go out, hoping to wait for the Tang army to come out and maintain the situation.
And indeed, I did get to see it, but that was three days later.
I survived by hiding in the cellar that we had dug in the house beforehand.
When I came out of the cellar, less than one in ten people in the city remained.
At that time, the city was full of corpses, and it was impossible for anyone to live there.
The government gave the message that the remaining people could either follow the army returning to Chang'an to register their residence there, or they could choose to receive a pension and register their residence in a neighboring prefecture.
I chose to go to Chang'an.
On this point, everyone understood the choice made by Li's mother.
After all, Li's mother was an orphan and a widow at the time. If she had chosen to use the pension money to register her household in the neighboring prefecture, it would have been like a child carrying gold in the marketplace, a case of "a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."
Therefore, it was the right choice for Li's mother to take her eldest son, who was less than two years old at the time, on a long journey to Chang'an to register their household.
"Before I left, I thought about going to Hongniang's family to tell them what was going on. I went to ask the officials, but they said that the war had just ended and things were not yet peaceful. They advised me to wait patiently and go to Chang'an with the main group of people."
Unfortunately, I didn't leave a message and just left.
At this point, Li's mother looked up at Li Dalang and said seriously, "So, Tiger Head, if you go over there and someone comes looking for you, you can verify whether it was your aunt who came looking for you."
If so, write a letter home; if not, just accept that this is how the world is, and take good care of yourself while you're away.
Therefore, at this moment, after hearing Guo Tuanlianshi's explanation, Li Dalang was already seventy percent certain that Guo Tuanlianshi's wife must be his father's half-sister, nicknamed Hongniang, who was also his own aunt.
"Commander Guo, I have a question I would like to ask you."
"Speak freely, ask freely."
Li Dalang looked at the small portrait in Guo Tuanlianshi's hand, then looked up at Guo Tuanlianshi: "Could you tell me the name of Guo Tuanlianshi's wife?"
"May I see him/her?"
With two loud slaps, Commander Guo slapped Li Dalang on the shoulder. "Easy, easy!"
The army gives all soldiers three days off on New Year's Eve. Will you come home with me on New Year's Eve?
Li Dalang naturally did not refuse. Before leaving the tent, he made a point of asking for the portrait and examining it closely several times before returning it to Commander Guo.
So, tonight, when Li Dalang returned to his tent and lay down, he really couldn't fall asleep with his eyes closed.
This time, he couldn't sleep not because he was worried about the Li family in Chang'an, but because of the anxiety and unease he felt about going to the Guo Tuanlianshi's house to meet his relatives.
Time flies, and before Li Dalang could figure things out, it was New Year's Eve.
Li Dalang carried the four gifts he had asked someone to buy a few days ago as he left the military camp. As soon as he came out, he saw Commander Guo standing next to the carriage on his right.
Standing beside Commander Guo was a boy with a youthful face, about the same age as Li Sanlang. Li Dalang guessed that this must be Commander Guo's youngest son.
Upon approaching, Li Dalang bowed and then heard Commander Guo say, "I'll ride a horse; you, Vice Commander Wan, and my young master can ride in a carriage."
Li Dalang naturally agreed. The young man was very perceptive. He first bowed to Li Dalang, and before Li Dalang could return the bow, he reached out to take the gift from Li Dalang's hand, looking at Li Dalang with a smile and saying, "Cousin, let me do it."
Li Dalang was somewhat uncomfortable with this form of address, but since he was most likely really the other person's cousin, he couldn't very well refuse this kindness.
She could only give a vague reply and follow the young man into the carriage.
On the way to Commander Guo's house, Vice Commander Wan kindly explained the situation of Commander Guo's family to Li Dalang in detail.
Commander Guo and Hongniang were a young couple, with Hongniang being five years older than Commander Guo.
The deputy envoy didn't tell the whole story, but he briefly mentioned it to Li Dalang.
"My sister-in-law has four sons with the militia commander, and this is the youngest one."
The young man sitting to the side, unwilling to listen to this, quickly said to Li Dalang, "Cousin, I'm not that kind of person, my name is Guo Jiang."
Deputy Envoy Wan smiled and continued to Li Dalang: "Guo Dalang has long been married and has children. His family is not here, but in another border town."
Guo Erlang is a brigade commander in the border army outside our city.
Guo Sanlang is about your age, but because he is not skilled in martial arts, he has always lived with his maternal relatives in the neighboring prefecture. He is a scholar.
This is Guo Silang.
"Uncle Wan, my name is Guo Jiang!"
After a while, the carriage stopped, and Commander Guo called out to a few people outside.
When Li Dalang got off the carriage with the gifts, he saw that the carriage was parked outside a small shop.
"It's a shop owned by the family. Come on, let's go inside."
Li Dalang had only followed Guo Tuanlian for a few steps when a woman wearing a silver hairpin and an indigo blue dress ran out of the shop. There was a small vermilion mole between her eyebrows!
She's a matchmaker!
She is Li Dalang's aunt!
When Hongniang ran to the shop entrance, she saw Li Dalang. She stopped and stood there on the threshold looking at him. In just a few moments, tears streamed down her face, and she was filled with sorrow.
Li Dalang was stunned. At this moment, he really didn't know what to do, so he just stood there at the shop entrance, holding the gifts.
Before Commander Guo could offer any words of comfort, Hongniang rushed forward and embraced Li Dalang, exclaiming, "Child, good child, so alike, so very alike!"
"Father, Father, this is what he looks like, just like this..."
Of course, it makes sense that fathers and sons or grandfathers and grandsons look alike, and it's a common occurrence.
But the matchmaker's conviction was probably just a long-standing worry for her.
Li Dalang was stiff all over. He could sense that Hongniang was genuinely sad and happy to see him, but Li Dalang really didn't know what to say or do.
In short, the situation became somewhat awkward for a moment.
Finally, it was Commander Guo who stepped forward and pulled Hongniang away. At this moment, Li Dalang felt that the outer layer of his clothes on his shoulder had been soaked by Hongniang's tears.
"Don't cry. This is such a wonderful day. Why should we be crying?"
"Quickly, wipe away your tears and welcome my nephew inside."
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