For four or five days in a row, He Yan did not go to the martial arts arena to practice.

She herself didn't really care about the injury on her leg, but the Liangzhou Guards' female doctor, Shen Muxue, came to bring her medicine every day without fail, and repeatedly told her not to do any strenuous activities. Hong Shan also said, "Just listen to the female doctor. If you mess up again, and don't get first place in the flag-winning competition and can't enter the vanguard camp, don't cry then."

He Yan thought about it and decided to give up, not wanting to rush for a day or two.

However, these days, as long as she was off the martial arts field, her house was basically full of people, and there was an endless stream of people coming to see her. People often came to visit her. Today Jiang Jiao brought a few sour plums, and tomorrow Huang Xiong brought a bunch of burnt roasted quails. The most speechless was Wang Ba. He couldn't bring himself to do it, so he asked the new recruit in his room to bring half a gnawed dry bun, which was obviously a trophy looted from others. He really treated the military camp as his own mountain.

Coach Liang came twice, and both times he saw He Yan surrounded by a crowd, beaming with joy. He glanced at the pile of food on her table, said sourly, "Hey, you're living a good life," and left again, leaving He Yan helpless.

After such a quarrel, by the time the wound on He Yan's elbow had scabbed over and his legs could hop on the ground, seven or eight days had passed, and the day of the flag-fighting competition was getting closer and closer.

On this day, before the sun set, Hong Shan and his group came back. He Yan was surprised and asked, "It's not even time to leave the martial arts arena yet, why are you guys leaving?"

"Today is July 14th, the Ghost Festival," Xiao Mai answered first. "The head coach asked us to leave the martial arts arena early and go to the river to release lanterns to worship our ancestors after dinner."

"The Liangzhou guards are pretty good. They even give people time to worship their ancestors and relatives." Hong Shan sighed.

He Yan smiled, thinking that this was a tradition in the military camp. When she was in the Vietnamese army, every year during the Ghost Festival, the local government would teach people to set up a Taoist temple to worship the soldiers who died in the war. Now Liangzhou is backed by mountains and close to the river, so it is very convenient to release water lanterns.

"My elder brother and I are going to light lanterns for our parents," Xiao Mai said of his deceased parents. He did not seem sad, but only a little disappointed. Perhaps his parents passed away too early, and his memory was already very vague. He asked Hong Shan, "Brother Shan, are we going to pay our respects?"

"Go, my mother passed away early, I will go and light a cup for her."

Several people looked at He Yan at the same time: "Brother He, are you going?"

Among them, He Yan's identity is probably the most mysterious. She doesn't like to talk about her family with Xiao Mai and the others. Hong Shan only knows that He Yan joined the army because her family fell into poverty and she had nowhere else to go. But seeing how confident she was in the martial arts arena before, he felt that He Yan was not a child from an ordinary family.

"Me? I'll go too." He Yan lowered his eyes and lowered his voice, "I also have people to worship."

Xiao Mai and the others sensed that the atmosphere was not right, but they did not dare to ask any further questions. They immediately changed the subject and talked about something lighter.

After dinner, when the sun had completely set and the moonlight began to emerge from the obscuring dark clouds, almost all of the new recruits of Liangzhou Guard had come out.

You have to fold the lanterns yourself, and the paper is piled in several large baskets in the martial arts arena. He Yan also went to get one. She was not very good at these handicrafts, but Xiao Mai saw it and folded it into the shape of a lotus lantern for her in three or five strokes. He then dripped a short white candle into the center of the lotus lantern and handed it to He Yan: "It's done!"

"Thank you." He Yan praised, "You are really skillful."

Xiao Mai smiled sheepishly: "During the Ghost Festival, my brother and I folded a lot of lanterns and sold them. We are used to it. If the paper is bigger, I can fold a more beautiful and bigger one!"

Shitou knocked his head and said disapprovingly: "This is not the time for you to show off."

Xiao Mai stuck out his tongue, took the water lantern in his hand and ran to the Wulu River: "I'll go light the lantern first, Ah He and the others should hurry up!"

After the beginning of autumn, the weather in Liangzhou became cooler at night. It had rained in the morning, but the cool air was still there. The dense forests on the mountains produced cool frost and dew, and the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, making the river water look white.

The riverside was already crowded with people who came to worship their ancestors. The flickering candles were like thousands of silver flowers illuminating the river, reflecting the dancing flames. The fiery red lotus carried the thoughts of the worshippers and floated far away, turning into a bright spot of light where the water and the sky met, and gradually disappeared.

"It's fine here, Brother Ahe..." Xiao Mai turned around and was stunned, "Where's Brother Ahe?"

Hongshan and Shitou looked at each other in bewilderment. "I don't know. It was here just now."

He Yan sat on a rock at the innermost part of the river. This was not the most open place, so few people lit lanterns here. He Yan silently looked at the lotus lantern in his hand, feeling indescribably sad.

Suddenly, she remembered that He Wanru had said to her just before he drowned her in the water: "You are pregnant."

At that moment, she was actually more happy than confused.

But this joy did not last for a moment, and she and her unborn child sank into the Xu family's pond.

He Yan always felt that she had never let anyone down in her life. She had done everything she could to the He family, He Rufei, and Xu Zhiheng. But the only thing she felt guilty about was the baby in her belly. She gave him life, but before she brought him into the world, she killed this possibility for her own reasons. Perhaps when she was a military commander, too many people died under her hands, causing countless murders, so God punished her like this. But she should punish herself, so why punish an innocent child? She didn't even know whether the baby in her belly was a girl or a boy, and it died just like that.

He Yan took out a tinderbox, and the sparks from the tinderbox splashed onto the candle, instantly lighting it. The water lamp slowly opened in her hand, and the flames reflected in her eyes, forming a small flame, as if tears were about to fall, but were quickly blurred.

"I'm sorry," she said in a low, sad voice, "You and I, mother and son, are not destined to be together in this life. If there is an afterlife, you must be born into a good family, live a happy and carefree life, and never meet me again."

"I will also..." She put the water lantern into the river, "I will avenge you."

The gurgling river gently carried the small water lantern forward. He Yan stared at it until it drifted together with countless points of light and he could no longer tell which was which. Only then did he look away and rub his eyes.

"Brother He, I didn't expect you to be here!" An excited voice sounded behind her, "What a coincidence, you are here to release the water lanterns too!"

He Yan turned around and saw a young man with red lips and white teeth holding a lantern in his arms, walking towards her happily. It was Cheng Lisu.

His clothes were neat and new. When he walked to He Yan's side, he carefully lifted the corner of his robe, fearing that it would be splashed by the river water, and gave He Yan a handful of water lanterns in his arms.

He Yan asked: "...are you going to set off a water lantern?"

"yes!"

"Why so many?" He Yan was speechless.

"I don't have so many to put out, and I don't even know the ancestors of our Cheng family. But I think my uncle won't come today, so I'll put out some on his behalf. This belongs to my great-aunt, this belongs to my great-uncle, and this is mine..."

He counted them one by one without showing any sadness at all. He was so excited that people mistakenly thought he was setting off Lantern Festival lanterns instead of Zhongyuan water lanterns.

"Wait," He Yan interrupted him, "Why are you putting it on behalf of your uncle? Can't he come himself?"

"With so many people here, he won't come." Cheng Lisu sighed, looking worried, and shook his head, saying, "I'll come if I want to. Who calls him my uncle?"

He Yan found it a little funny, and the pain from the past was washed away. Although Cheng Lisu seemed to be a little less intelligent than ordinary people, he was still very serious about releasing the water lanterns. He lit the water lanterns one by one, and solemnly put them into the river, praying nervously that they would not be blown out by the wind or overturned by the waves. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and the water lanterns gradually floated away.

After lighting the last lamp, Cheng Lisu breathed a sigh of relief, took out a piece of coarse cloth from his arms and placed it on the stone, then sat on it.

"It's still quite cool in Liangzhouwei at night," he muttered, "but it was really hot a few days ago. I've never experienced such a hot summer in my life."

He Yan laughed in her heart. Cheng Lisu used to live in Shuojing. The Cheng family must have ice cubes to cool off in the summer. She stayed in the mansion every day without being exposed to the sun. Of course, it was not as hard as the Liangzhou guards. She said, "If that's the case, why did you come to Liangzhou with your uncle to suffer?"

"There's no other way," Cheng Lisu spread his hands, "If I don't come out with my uncle, I'll be engaged."

He Yan was stunned: "What?"

"I'll tell you a secret. I ran away from my marriage." Cheng Lisu pouted. "I was still young, how could I get engaged? Besides, I didn't like her, so I ran away."

He Yan: “…” This kid is really straightforward. But what surprised He Yan even more was that Xiao Jue actually agreed to bring Cheng Lisu along. He wasn’t afraid that the Cheng family would be dissatisfied with him. After all, he secretly kidnapped someone else’s young master and helped him escape from marriage. Even if they were relatives, they would probably harbor resentment.

"You and Commander Xiao have a very good relationship." He Yan said carefully choosing his words.

"It's not bad," Cheng Lisu said proudly, "I was the one who took the initiative to pester him."

He Yan found it unbelievable, "Your uncle has such a bad temper, and you can actually take the initiative to get along with him?" This is amazing, who said that Cheng Lisu is a "useless son", not everyone can endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens like this.

"My uncle is very capable. If it weren't for him when I was a kid, I might not be who I am today."

Perhaps it was because the moonlight was so beautiful tonight, Cheng Lisu was surprisingly interested when talking about the past.

Cheng Lisu's mother, Madam Cheng, was actually only a few years older than Xiao Jue's mother. Therefore, when Xiao Jue was born, Madam Cheng had already married. Although Cheng Lisu and Xiao Jue were of different generations, the age difference was not that big.

Although the Cheng family and the Xiao family did not interact frequently, they were definitely not cold to each other. However, Cheng Lisu had not seen Xiao Jue much when he was young. Most of the time, he saw his uncle Xiao Jing more. Xiao Zhongwu had two sons. The eldest son Xiao Jing was weak when he was young and was not suitable for martial arts. When he recovered, he was already past the best age for martial arts. Mrs. Xiao did not want Xiao Jing to join the army, so Xiao Jing chose the path of a civil official.

After Xiao Jue was born, Xiao Zhongwu paid special attention to this son.

Xiao Jue lived up to Xiao Zhongwu's expectations and showed extraordinary talent at an early age. Xiao Zhongwu took Xiao Jue to the mountains, where four sages taught him personally. As for which mountain they were in and who the sages were, Cheng Lisu was not quite sure. In short, he might only see him once a year, and sometimes not at all.

When Xiao Jue turned fourteen, he went down the mountain and returned to Shuojing. He entered Xianchang Hall and studied the civil and military examinations with the sons of Shuojing's nobles. That year, Cheng Lisu was nine years old. He was kidnapped by a kidnapper when he went out to play with his friends during the Mid-Autumn Festival. At his age, the kidnapper should have thought he was too old, but he was so delicate and exquisite, like a silver doll in a New Year picture, so the kidnapper kidnapped him and took him out of the city. Cheng Lisu cried out to heaven and earth for help, but no one could help him. He hid in the carriage and trembled.

He cried when he woke up, ate something with tears in his eyes and went back to sleep. He didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up again and again. The sound of fighting came from outside the carriage. Cheng Lisu's face was bruised and swollen from the shaking. When he was screaming and crying, the carriage stopped.

He hurriedly opened the carriage curtain and climbed out, and saw dead people lying on the ground, all of them were killed by a sword. There were more than one kidnapper who took him away, dozens of them in total, and the children who were taken away were tied up and stuffed in the carriage. At this moment, some fell out, and some were still in the carriage. A group of people were crying. In the chaos, Cheng Lisu climbed out tremblingly, and touched a piece of snow-white robe.

He raised his head and looked up, and saw a handsome young man in a silver crown and white robe standing in front of him, holding a long sword, the sword was as red as frost and snow, and blood was dripping down. The blood was bright, but not as red as the young man's lips. He looked calm, and his eyes fell on him.

This was a very fierce painting, but Cheng Lisu inexplicably felt relieved. He trembled and hugged the boy's legs, imitating the tone of his mother when she talked to others, and said, "May I ask your name and where you live? I am the young master of Yousi Zhilang's mansion. You saved me, and our mansion will definitely reward you greatly."

The young man's mouth twitched, and he looked down at him from above, his clear eyes without any ripples, and said coldly: "I am your uncle."

"It was then that I realized that he was my uncle whom I never saw." Cheng Lisu rested his chin on his hand and looked at the moon. "I thought at the time, this uncle is really amazing."

Xiao Jue saved him, and also saved those children who were kidnapped by kidnappers. Cheng Lisu felt honored to have such an uncle, so he wanted to stick to him. But Xiao Jue didn't like this little nephew very much. After sending him back to the Cheng family, he never came to see him again. Cheng Lisu sent him an invitation to visit his house, but Xiao Jue never came once. Besides, Xiao Jue was also very busy, and Cheng Lisu actually saw Xiao Jue very rarely.

He Yan thought of the scene described by Cheng Lisu and felt like laughing. Xiao Jue must be helpless to have such a nephew.

"Then how did you two become close?" He Yan asked.

If it was just a life-saving favor, as Cheng Lisu said, and it did not bring much improvement to their relationship, then something must have happened later that allowed the uncle and nephew to come to Liangzhou Wei together now.

"In fact, our Cheng family, including my mother, and the relatives and friends who know the Xiao family, don't like my uncle very much." Cheng Lisu said: "They like my eldest uncle more."

Both sons of the Xiao family were born in the best of Wei. The eldest son, Xiao Jing, was also born with a good appearance. He was as beautiful as jade, humble and clear-headed. From the perspective of temperament alone, it would certainly be more comfortable to get along with Xiao Jing, but she would not dislike Xiao Jue to the extent of that.

"Why?" He Yan asked, "Didn't Governor Xiao save your life? Even if he is your lifesaver, your mother definitely wouldn't dislike him, right?"

"That's true, but my uncle has very little time to meet with us relatives, and we don't know him well."

Before Xiao Jue was fourteen, he rarely stayed in Shuojing. After that, he entered Xianchang Hall. Not to mention relatives and friends, even Mrs. Xiao was not very close to this son. Cheng Lisu knew that there were several times when Mrs. Xiao talked to her mother, and she was worried about how to get along with this little son.

Since they don't know each other well, they naturally have many prejudices against people. Xiao Jue is lazy and doesn't like to socialize with others. Compared with his gentle and bright brother, the contrast is even more obvious. But as He Yan said, this is not dislike. The real dislike started after Xiao Zhongwu died in the battle of Mingshui.

Xiao Zhongwu's death came suddenly, which was a great blow to the Xiao family. Mrs. Xiao had never experienced the hardships of life and had always regarded her husband as her heaven. After Xiao Zhongwu's death, Mrs. Xiao took advantage of the situation and hanged herself to follow her husband, leaving behind only two sons.

The two sons of the Xiao family, Xiao Jing and Xiao Jue, Xiao Jing was grief-stricken, but Xiao Jue did not shed a single tear. After the general and his wife were buried, the first thing Xiao Jue did was to go to the Jinluan Palace to explain his situation and take control of the military power of the Southern Army.

Before Mrs. Xiao's seventh day of death, he led the Southern Army to quell the Nanman Rebellion. Xiao Zhongwu died in the Nanman War. Some people said he was avenging his father, while others said he was eager for quick success. Xiao Jue did not show excessive sadness for his father's death or his mother's suicide. Thus, he was labeled as cold and heartless, with a hard heart.

Without the second son of the wealthy and powerful Xiao Jue in the capital, people could only learn about Xiao Jue's situation from the few words sent back from the battlefield. It was rumored that he was a young killer, and countless people died under his sword. He was also harsh and merciless.

"Have you heard of Zhao Nuo?" Cheng Lisu asked.

He Yan felt vaguely that this name was very familiar, but he didn't know where he had heard it before, so he shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"Zhao Nuo is the eldest son of the current Minister of Revenue, and he once served as the governor of Jingzhou." Cheng Lisu's expression darkened when he said this. "In fact, the misunderstanding of my uncle by the Cheng family and the relatives and friends of the Xiao family was caused by this man."

——Digression——

There is one more