Home is where my heart finds peace.
Cheng Mansion.
Cheng Junshi was playing the zither in the courtyard. The continuous snowfall was bothersome, and the zither music mixed with the falling snow could not calm the turmoil in his heart. Cheng Junshi's heart was unusually uneasy.
The snow continued to fall, little by little. He lowered his head and remained silent. The occasional noises outside the mansion were unusually loud today, somewhat jarring, coming in waves. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it seemed like someone was crying.
And it seems there was more than one person.
He didn't stop working, but instead called someone to check at the door.
A moment later, the servants rushed in through the snow and ran into the pavilion to tell Cheng Junshi, "Young master, the Wolf Strategy Army has lost its commander, and Young Marquis Tang has returned from Jingzhou escorting the coffin."
The string broke and the sound ceased.
Cheng Junshi stepped out through the snow, his servants rushing behind him with umbrellas to keep up with him. He pushed open the door abruptly, only to see a figure from behind.
The figure on horseback was lonely and resolute.
He had just taken a step when Cheng Du's voice rang out behind him.
"Junshi, play a game of chess with me."
Cheng Du spoke up behind him, but Cheng Junshi merely glanced at him indifferently.
He remained silent and continued walking out. Cheng Du spoke again: "What does the Jianbei Marquis's residence need now—"
He stared at Cheng Junshi's retreating figure: "You should know."
Cheng Junshi stopped in his tracks, his brows furrowing for a moment; he was indeed aware of the situation.
He needed some quiet time, a quiet time without being disturbed by outsiders. That was the case at the Cheng residence when his mother passed away.
He looked outside again, but the figure was already far away.
Tang Qi sat high on his horse, staring blankly ahead. He was like a bewildered child, letting the horse drive him along. He didn't know where he was or how far Luocheng was.
All he knew was that with more crying, they would arrive in Los Angeles.
Tang Qi was led back to the Jianbei Marquis's residence by the weeping of the people kneeling on the long street.
The coffin was placed in front of the mansion. He dismounted, and his warhorse, Bai, which had been with him for five years, pressed against his face, as if to comfort him or to express his grief.
Tang Qi lowered her head, not daring to look at Qin Jianzhi's face.
Tang Yan stood frozen at the doorway, staring blankly.
How strange. Everyone says that her brother brought her father back from Jingzhou, but she didn't see her father.
She only saw her brother, and a coffin following behind him.
That's strange, how could it be Daddy?
Father should have stopped abruptly at the door with a "whoosh" as he rode his big horse. Father's horse was so big that she couldn't even touch its back with her outstretched hand.
She remembered that her father should have carried her to the horse; the horse's back was so hard, just like her father's stubble.
Father should hold her and spin her around, telling her how much he misses Mother and them.
Tang Yan couldn't understand why her mother was crying, her brother was crying, and everyone was crying.
Tang Qi stepped over a few steps and squatted down in front of Tang Yan, pressing her head down to her shoulder. Tang Yan was being held by her brother and couldn't see anything, but she seemed to understand something.
Father will probably never be able to hold her again.
Tang Yan's nose tingled, and she burst into tears without trying to hide it.
Qin Jianzhi looked at the person lying in the coffin. No one changed his blood-stained clothes or cleaned his face.
"Fetch water and a towel."
She sent Tang Mian off to war in triumph, and she also wanted to... welcome him back in a clean and tidy manner.
Qin Jianzhi wiped gently and slowly, but his hands trembled more and more.
Tang Mian had many wounds on her body, some she had seen before and some she hadn't. The deepest one even went across her abdomen, and the scar hadn't even healed properly.
But his letters clearly stated that everything was fine and the war was going well. The horrifying scar was so clearly visible on his body; she didn't understand how this could be considered "everything was fine."
This person is truly wicked.
Qin Jianzhi's hand touched Tang Mian's face; it was cold, and she couldn't warm it up.
"You won't feel pain anymore."
Qin Jianzhi smiled and helped him fix his hair.
"I... don't need to worry anymore."
Tang Mian lay in the new coffin, dressed in clean clothes.
After the coffin was placed inside and the spirit was kept vigil, dressed in mourning clothes, Tang Qi knelt in front of the hall without saying a word.
Tang Yan was carried to the inner room by Qin Jianzhi. Now, only Tang Qi and the few pairs of eyes that had followed him all the way back from Jingzhou remained in the mourning hall.
"When the Marquis was alive, people would have worn down the gates of his mansion, but now that he is dead, not a single person has come to pay their respects all morning."
The servants in the mansion were whispering among themselves.
"Shh! Keep quiet. Who would dare come to the Marquis of Jianbei's residence now?"
"Why?"
Cheng Junshi, who was sitting opposite Cheng Du, also asked the same question.
"Why can't we go to the Marquis of Jianbei's residence to offer our condolences?"
Cheng Du looked at him and asked, "Don't you know how he got back from Jingzhou?"
"What's the meaning?"
“The Tang family of Jingzhou didn’t send anyone here. Those who came back with Tang Qi were all people from the palace. This trip was clearly the Emperor’s doing. Those people are his eyes and ears. Don’t get involved in this mess.”
"But General Tang died in battle! He died for his country, yet no one mourned him. How disheartening!"
"It's not your heart that's feeling cold!"
Cheng Du slammed his hand on the table, looked at the silent eyes opposite him, and continued, "Anyway, the Tang family's affairs have nothing to do with you, so don't worry about them! Remember, your surname is Cheng."
Cheng Junshi stared at him coldly for a while before letting out a self-deprecating laugh, his words striking Cheng Du's deepest sore spot with unbiased precision:
"So back then, you weighed the pros and cons and chose to abandon my mother?"
The air was thick with tension, but Cheng Junshi ignored it and continued, "My mother died right here."
Cheng Du's eyes trembled slightly.
"Do you remember? They broke into the yard and killed her."
Those closest to us know best how to reopen old wounds.
"The investigators said they were after money, and that killing my mother was just an accident."
Cheng Junshi's eyes were red, but he still stubbornly questioned him: "Have you ever regretted it? Regretted choosing to accept this result back then, regretted not finding out the truth for my mother!"
Cheng Du met his gaze, his expression shifting for a few moments before he finally spoke: "I don't regret it. I only hate that I wasn't there to protect your mother when she was murdered. But the outcome back then is the truth! Your mother's death was indeed an accident. Wang'er, twelve years have passed, don't dwell on this matter anymore!"
“I don’t believe it was an accident. You weren’t here back then, but I was! I saw it clearly; their target was my mother from the very beginning! You’re afraid to investigate further, but I’m not! Even if it takes another twelve years, I will find out who truly murdered my mother back then!”
Cheng Junshi practically shouted these words.
They remained silent and confronted each other once again.
"Will you regret not going to the Marquis of Jianbei's residence?" Cheng Du asked after looking at him for a long time.
Cheng Junshi was taken aback. He hadn't expected that Cheng Du's first words after he had yelled would be this.
"Yes," he answered decisively.
"Then let's go."
Cheng Du poured him a cup of tea, his voice fading.
Cheng Junshi was stunned for a moment, but Cheng Du smiled at him and said, "Didn't you say you'd regret it if you didn't go?"
"Then let's go."
He pushed the tea over, and Cheng Junshi stared at it for a few seconds before finally tilting his head back and drinking it all in one gulp.
"Thank you... Dad."
"Thank your mother; she'll want me to let you go."
The Marquis of Jianbei's residence.
Tang Qi knelt in the middle of the mourning hall with his back straight. For half a day, he just stared blankly at a certain part of the coffin.
"stupid."
This was the first thing he said today.
Cheng Junshi, who knelt beside him, solemnly kowtowed three times towards Tang Mian's coffin before speaking: "What stupidity?"
"Everyone else is avoiding it, and you're not? Isn't that stupid?"
Tang Qi did not turn his head; he continued to look straight ahead.
"Avoid what? Why should we avoid it?"
Cheng Junshi stood ramrod straight, with four pairs of eyes staring at him from behind.
"You shouldn't have come. I thought you were a smart person."
Tang Qi took the yellow paper and threw it into the brazier.
Cheng Junshi held the burning yellow paper in his hand and said calmly, "You can still think that way now."
Tang Qi finally couldn't help but look at him, her tone urgent: "Why did you have to be so stubborn at a time like this?"
“Since we’re already here,” Cheng Junshi picked up a few more sheets of yellow paper, “we might as well see the Marquis off on behalf of those who couldn’t make it.”
Tang Qi shook his head again, bowing his head and muttering, "Why come? It's not good for you or the Cheng family."
"I just felt that I should come."
—I just don't want you to be alone.
The fire in the basin grew a little stronger.
"If you want to do something, then you do it, didn't you say that? What, are you the only one in this world allowed to live as you please?"
Tang Qi remained silent.
"Half a lifetime of military service, a lifetime of glory, such a person deserves my admiration. Whether it's for General Tang, or..." He paused in time, looked away and continued, "In any case, someone should kneel here and offer incense."
Tang Qi looked up at him upon hearing this, but Cheng Junshi merely smiled and gazed towards the gate of the mansion: "I am not the first, nor will I be the last."
Tang Qi, as if possessed, glanced back.
The steps at the entrance of the Marquis of Jianbei's mansion were not covered with snow, and there were messy footprints on the snow below the steps. Various vegetables, eggs, and even... candied hawthorns were piled up in front of the door.
Tang Qi suddenly felt a lump in his throat, looked away and lowered his head. Cheng Junshi, who was beside him, continued, "The road to Jingzhou may be blocked, but no one can stop the hearts of the people of Luocheng."
Tang Qi suddenly grabbed his hand, glanced at the people around them without making a sound, and stopped Cheng Junshi from saying anything more.
Tang Qi's action was sudden, and Cheng Junshi's heart skipped a beat. However, he quickly regained his composure, grabbed Tang Qi's hand, and quietly tapped the back of Tang Qi's hand with his finger, whispering, "My father is behind the Cheng family. He has some tricks up his sleeve. Besides, I'm not stupid. Don't worry."
Perhaps because Cheng Junshi's words were always convincing, Tang Qi actually felt a sense of relief, a feeling of being able to breathe freely under heavy pressure.
He came from Jingzhou, but it seemed he had lost himself on the road.
He had witnessed too many cries along the way, but now he couldn't cry anymore. He just let his mind be filled with all sorts of things, sealing away all the bitterness and sorrow, as if that would stop him from being sad.
But just because he doesn't cry doesn't mean he's not in pain.
Human life is filled with so much joy and sorrow, and the departed are like silver needles, piercing the hearts of those who loved them, tormenting them day and night.
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