Chapter 9
Chen Yi listened to the chaotic footsteps outside the door getting closer and closer, concentrating on identifying the heaviest one inside. He put his sleeves in his hands, pointed his fingertips together, and bowed, "Grandpa."
Huo Yue took off his hat and looked at his grandson. He pretended to be unsuspecting and spoke in a loud voice, "How did you perform the ceremony? Do it again." Shen Yi first raised his head to take a look at the official robes draped on the old man. Compared with his muscular appearance, he felt that it was a bit out of place after not seeing him like this for a long time.
After hearing the other party's usual words, he knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and performed military etiquette, "General Huo," and stood up without waiting for Huo Yue to speak.
Huo Yue looked at his body and felt that he did not seem to be from the same lineage as himself. He wanted to continue scolding him, but he did not expect to meet his gaze.
Shen Yi was the first to laugh out loud, and Huo Yue just followed his grandson's gaze and glanced at the official robes on his body. He was not as accustomed to wearing armor as he was to begin with, so in the end he laughed along with Shen Yi.
After he finished laughing, he reached out and took off his outer robe, leaving only his inner clothes. He sat down by the pavilion, reached out and poured himself a cup of tea and drank two or three cups in a row. "You...you," he coughed a few times before holding back his laughter, his face still tense.
"Keep laughing if you haven't finished laughing yet. I want to see how many hours you can laugh today."
Shen Yi held his stomach and tried to suppress his laughter for a while before he could stop laughing. He kept saying "I dare not, I dare not" and stood up to fill Huo Yue's cup of tea.
"Grandfather, what is the purpose of going to the court today?"
Huo Yue stared at him for a long moment, not answering his question. He then grasped his wrist and felt his pulse, which was indeed weak. "If you don't practice well, do you still want to learn spearmanship next year?"
After Chen Yi straightened his robe, he said seriously, "I was negligent on weekdays. I will practice after I go back." He moved closer and said, "Besides, my grandfather promised us that we can't go against our will no matter what."
As if recalling the few times when the old man had lost his temper, he added, "Mother knows everything too. She said she'd come over to see Grandpa sometime."
"Your mother?" Huo Yue's expression quickly softened when he mentioned his biological daughter. "You should have come of age. The girl would have grown up long ago."
He sighed softly, feeling as if he was carrying his daughter on his back and playing in the sand of Longxi yesterday. In a blink of an eye, he looked at the person sitting opposite him and found that he was already his grandson.
“I’m your grandfather, and you can’t say which side your mother will stand on at that time,” he continued to reply to Shen Yi’s previous words, waving his hand for the servants to bring the smoked meat.
Seeing that he was no longer as tense as before, Shen Yi smiled and nodded in agreement as the old man said.
While waiting for the bacon to arrive, he took note of the unanswered words. Normally, the old man would have spoken directly, even if he'd just cursed behind closed doors, which was common practice.
But he didn't mention it this time... Shen Yi continued to add tea to Huo Yue's cup, stealing a glance at his face, which was as rosy as usual, with no trace of sadness between his strong brows.
He suppressed his doubts and accompanied the old man as he tore meat with his hands and drank tea. The salty and fishy smoked meat was not as good as the meat soup he had drunk in the Marquis' Mansion earlier. Shen Yi chewed the smoked meat hard, which was usually chewy, and had to drink several cups of tea to swallow it down.
"It's been so many years, and you're still not used to it?" Huo Yue reached out and patted Shen Yi on the back. The strength of years of martial arts training is not something that ordinary people can easily withstand. Shen Yi coughed a few times before swallowing the food in his mouth, and hurriedly poured a new cup of tea to calm himself down.
Huo Yue still felt it was not satisfying enough, so he broke his own rules and took out a jar of strong liquor hidden in his house and used a scimitar to pry open the seal.
Shen Yi smelled the faint aroma of wine and felt that it was much mellower than the wine he had tasted in the past few days. He gently pushed his empty teacup over and looked at the old man.
Unexpectedly, Huo Yue slapped him again, his eyes fixed on him as he filled his teacup. The old man became even more unruly and asked the old steward to take two empty bowls and fill them one by one.
Salted pork, strong liquor, Shen Yi adapted to this kind of diet, and listened quietly to the two old men talking about their old friends in Longxi.
The strong liquor poured into his throat and instantly caused a burning sensation, which went straight to his stomach. He tugged at his sleeves and wished the autumn wind would blow even harder.
The jar of wine was quickly shared among the three of them. Shen Yi felt that he was the first to feel tipsy, but he also thought that the wine was obviously too strong and he was still not used to it.
Huo Yue seemed to have just remembered that there was another person with him. His eyes turned to Shen Yi, and his voice became hoarse and muddy, "Remember to take good care of your mother for your grandfather."
The hand that still bore the old scars rested on his shoulder. Upon hearing these words, Shen Yi raised his head and met the old man's gaze.
The sigh before the laughter seemed like an illusion. He had that feeling, a vague feeling that could not be expressed in words, and also a familiar feeling.
"Wait patiently for Grandfather to return. I'll catch you the most ferocious eagle in Longxi and bring you the strongest wine in the north." Huo Yue clinked his bowls with the old steward. "It's time to go back and see my old brothers."
Shen Yi first averted his gaze, clutching his robe tightly under the stone table. He seemed to need no longer to ask the previous question. Longxi, the urgent imperial edict, plus the old man's rare enjoyment of drinking, his grandfather - was going back to the place that haunted him, the place he loved most in his life.
Huo Yue opened another jar of wine, filled two large bowls, and continued to drink and chat with the old steward.
Chen Yi felt that the two of them were gradually getting drunk, but he couldn't stop them, so he could only watch them drink. The heat in his body had no outlet, it could only burn his skin and ignite his chaotic thoughts.
As the two old men got excited, Huo Yue stood up and slammed the table, then, under the influence of alcohol, picked up the dusty silver spear on the shelf. Shen Yi looked at the damaged marks on it, and soon only the old man's movements could be seen.
The silver spear was held in Huo Yue's hand, and perhaps because of the light shining down on it, it seemed extremely sharp.
Even though wearing his undergarment was a little awkward, Huo Yue's spear movements were seamless. The drunken old steward didn't recognize the young marquis in front of him, so he simply patted him on the shoulder and said, "Watch carefully, young man. Our general's spearmanship is not something that anyone can learn."
The silver spear was like a snake, sometimes looking around and sweeping horizontally and then turning, sometimes stabbing and prodding up and down in a variety of ways. When Chen Yi looked at it again, he could no longer distinguish the moves. There was only a man and a spear standing in the vast sky and earth.
The old steward also stared at his general, his brothers, his elder brother, and saw the battlefield again. Turbid tears gathered in his eyes, but not a single drop fell.
Neither of them knew when Huo Yue had put away his gun and settled back into the pavilion; they simply poured wine for each other. Shen Yi continued to listen to stories about Longxi, a place he had never been to, a place that had driven Liu Qianshan to tears at the mere mention of it, a place that always brought a sigh to his grandfather's face whenever he mentioned it.
The second jar of wine was almost finished, and Shen Yixian felt that he was the first one to get completely drunk.
He knelt on one knee, then stood up straight and saluted Huo Yue. "Then I will wait for my grandfather to come back, teach me the spear skills, and give me the title of Guan."
Huo Yue clapped his hands and laughed. He was probably the happiest person in Chang'an City today. "Good! Good! Good!"
"Remember to ask your mother to get a new piece of red cloth for Grandpa to tie on the silver spear. When you come back next year, Grandpa will return a piece of red cloth to the Marquis' Mansion."
Chen Yi didn't bother to brush off the dust on his cloth pants. He stood still and poured the whole jar of wine for them before turning around and leaving.
The silver spear was leaning against the edge of the pavilion, and the sun was hanging high in the sky over Chang'an City. He led back the horse he had ridden to the general's mansion in the morning, and with great effort he finally managed to sit steadily on the horse's back, and slowly walked back from the Huo Mansion.
He felt that he had to remember many things, remember the eagle he would own, remember the spearmanship he would learn, remember that he would ask his grandfather to give him a name, and remember to ask his mother to send him a piece of red cloth. He had to remember every moment clearly, remember clearly that today's grandfather did not utter a single sigh when talking about Longxi.
He vaguely grasped this feeling. His maternal grandfather was his mother's father, an old man, an old general, the only cavalry general in Chang'an City and the whole country.
The feeling quickly vanished from his body like the wind. The warmth in his body dissipated into the air. The long street was bustling with people, and it seemed many of them were looking at him.
A light laugh escaped from Shen Yi's lips, not caring whether it would cause trouble or not, he clamped his legs tightly around the horse's belly and galloped through the busy city.
He should be happy for his grandfather, because there were so many things he missed in Longxi: the eagle he had brought with him, the brothers who had fought alongside him, and the harsher wind and snow and the rounder moon there.
It shouldn't be that dusty silver spear, it shouldn't be a courtyard where you can't stretch your arms and legs, it shouldn't be a bustling city where you can't ride horses freely.
Shen Yi did not pull the reins tight in his hands, but just held them loosely, letting himself bounce on the horse's back. Occasionally, when he could not maintain his balance, he would hug the horse's neck tightly, just like the first time he learned to ride a horse.
The horse carried him to the Marquis's residence, and the servants hurriedly rushed over to support the young Marquis, who was obviously about to pass out drunk. Shen Yi broke free from their support and staggered towards Huo's room step by step.
Through the closed door, he vaguely recognized a figure moving inside. He bent down and told his daughter, his own mother, what his grandfather had said, "Mother - Grandfather wants to ask for a piece of red cloth, and when he comes back next year, he will return one to the Marquis' Mansion."
It seemed like an eternity had passed before dusk began to bite one side of the sky, gradually covering the azure sky.
"Take it, one, two is fine," Mrs. Huo's voice was so soft, but Shen Yi could hear it clearly.
"Tell the general that the Marquis' Mansion doesn't want even a single horse, and when you return it, it will be a thousand, ten thousand horses."
The day passed quickly. There was no separation or sorrow in Chang'an City. Only extremely happy people and horses that were about to return home were left.
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