Chapter Thirty-Four: Becoming Family

  Ye Xuan and Xu Yan got married today.

  Xiū dé zhèn lù biān chù chù zhāng dēng jié cǎi, chōng jiàng zhe yī fù xǐ qì yáng yáng de jǐng xiàng. Xiū dé zhèn shàng suǒ yǒu de bǎi xìng dōu shì fàng xià shǒu zhòng zhī shì, qián lái máng huó Yè Xuán de hūn lǐ.

  There were many guests today, and apart from Ye's relatives and friends, most of them were generals of the Ye family army.

  Ye Xuan was dressed in a brand new groom's attire, looking very spirited, busily greeting guests. His mother, Meng Shi, was also dressed up and looked refreshed, beaming with joy, but was busy running around everywhere. Her son had finally gotten married, and as his mother, she had finally put one of her worries to rest.

  But at this time, although Ye Xuan is now smiling all over his face, he still has a little bit of depression in his heart. After finishing the work in his hands and entertaining the guests, he can finally put down his hands and take a break to catch his breath. Ye Xuan thought of the scene that morning again, and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

  It turned out that on the morning of that day, Ye Xuan proposed to take his mother and Xu Yan to live with him, which not only improved their living conditions but also had someone to care for them, making Ye Xuan a filial son. The most important thing was that in this chaotic world, having the protection of the Ye family army would at least guarantee safety.

  Meng heard Ye Xuan's words and readily agreed, but before Ye Xuan could even feel happy, Meng brought up a condition - that he must first witness the marriage of Ye Xuan and Xu Yan before he would be willing to leave, otherwise he wouldn't go.

  After hearing this, Ye Xuan was stunned for half a day. With Sun Yu and Chen Fei teasing him on the side, he finally couldn't help but nod his head in agreement, looking at Xu Yan's sincere expression.

  Later, Ye Xuan changed his mind and thought that although he didn't have any emotional foundation with Xu Yan, Xu Yan was gentle and virtuous, and marrying her would definitely make her a model of a good wife and mother. After all, emotions could be cultivated slowly, right?

  ……

  Wang Dou welcomed the guests one by one into the hall, and this time there were indeed many guests. Su Zhong came, Zhao Jie came, in addition to these old subordinates, the owners of the nearby villages, Zhou Zhuang, Hu Zhuang, Yang Zhuang, etc., also came in person, each with a smiling face, respectful and affectionate, one by one calling out "General".

  Ye Xuan also didn't put on airs, smiling and greeting everyone one by one, which made everyone very satisfied.

  At this time, someone beside him called out "brother-in-law", Ye Xuan turned his head to look and exclaimed in surprise: "Xu Yuan, how come you just arrived? Hurry up and come help!"

  Xu Yuan is Xu Yan's younger brother. Unexpectedly, most of the Xu family still lived in Henan and other places at that time, and didn't think about how Xu Yuan came over here.

  Later, Ye Xuan finally understood that the Ye family army was not only famous in Hebei at this time, but also had a great reputation in Henan. After all, Ma Teng was also a first-class leader, and even the government soldiers were helpless against him, especially his cavalry, which could be considered the strongest iron knight corps among the stick armies. Who would have thought that Ye's army would be easily defeated by Ye's family army, which greatly increased the reputation of Ye's family army.

  In addition, the actions of Ye Jiajun's troops were also in line with the principles of benevolence and righteousness, without oppressing the common people. The most important point is that the impression left by Generals Ye Long and Ye Wei on the people was extremely profound, which further enhanced the reputation of Ye Jiajun's army.

  As Xu Yuan, as a young man with ambition and also Ye Xuan's younger brother-in-law, he naturally came to join Ye Xuan...

  Xu Yuan is sixteen years old this year, with a clear and handsome face, but his body is sturdy. At this time, he is the only male in the Xu family. The Xu family has seven brothers and sisters. Ten years ago, due to the Ye family's military affairs, the Xu family was also implicated. In addition, in the past three years, natural disasters have occurred, and Xu Yan's brothers and sisters were killed or starved to death. Now, only Xu Yuan is left as the sole male heir of the Xu family.

  Xu Yuan is also a smooth talker, having just arrived in Xiudetown for a day, he has already become fast friends with everyone, and Ye Xuan also likes him very much.

  Seeing Xu Yuan still standing there, Ye Xuan also glared at him with a bad temper and urged: "You stinky brat, you only know how to run around everywhere, not even following me to greet the guests."

  "Alright," shouted Xu Yuan, "whatever brother-in-law says, we'll do."

  ……

  Outside is noisy, inside is quiet.

  This is Ye Xuan and Xu Yan's bridal chamber, with red candles burning brightly inside, a large red wedding bed laid out.

  At this time, Xu Yan was sitting on the wedding bed, dressed as a new bride. She was surrounded by several clever maidservants from the town, who were whispering to her and reporting the situation outside.

  There were two little girls clapping their hands and singing a northern folk song around Xu Yan: "Dumb Jiong, my brother, let's knead two mud dolls. One for you, one for me. Kneaded into a pair of living Buddhas, sleeping together on the same bed. Smash the mud dolls, re-mix with water. Knead another one for you, knead another one for me. Brother has sister on his body, sister has brother on her body..."

  This was a popular folk song in the northern regions of the Xining Empire at that time, with lyrics and tunes that were quite bold. As she sang, Xu Yan's face turned red with embarrassment, her head lowered in shyness.

  At this time, Xu Yan didn't say a word. The longing and feelings she had for Ye Xuan couldn't be expressed in words. She remembered a little ditty she heard before that sang directly to her heart.

  "To part, unless heaven and earth are parted. To part, unless east and west are parted... When you want to part, you cannot part with me. When I want to leave, I cannot leave you. Even in death, we will not be parted spirits!"

  Xu Yan felt that there was something stuck in her heart, and her emotions were surging violently. She had an urge to cry, but she didn't dare to do so in front of everyone.

  Suddenly from outside came another loud cry: "Ah, it's all big shots that have come!"

  Everyone in the room rushed out at once, wanting to go out and take a look at the excitement. Xu Yan also stood up subconsciously, then sat back down again. She sat there dazedly, unaware of when her tears had started flowing. Perhaps this was what Ye Xuan often called happiness by her ear.

  ……

  The wedding was finally held with great fanfare, and for Ye Xuan, it was an unforgettable memory. By the time everyone returned to Tianlong Village, three days had already passed.

  They arrived at Tianlong Village, Ye Xuan also let all the soldiers and officials greet Mengshi and Xu Yan, which made both of them feel very proud. Xu Yan had admired Ye Xuan for a long time.

  However, when Ye Xuan came to see Zhuge Yu, looking at Zhuge Yu's resentful eyes, Ye Xuan smiled awkwardly. After all, he had run out alone and had a good time, but had exhausted Zhuge Yu with work, not only was he busy with civil affairs, but also some basic things that Ye Xuan usually handled were all piled on Zhuge Yu's head. This had been depressing Zhuge Yu for a long time. But what made Zhuge Yu even more angry was that Ye Xuan had actually gotten married without inviting him to the wedding banquet.

  But think about it, it's also understandable, after all, when our Ye Dashi is hugging his wife in bed, our Zhuge Yu comrade is still working hard to deal with affairs overnight, anyone would be unhappy.

  Fortunately, Zhuge Yu was not a petty person. After Ye Xuan comforted him for two hours, Zhuge Yu also let bygones be bygones and didn't hold it against Ye Xuan anymore...

  General, according to intelligence, I judge that in a short period of time, our Ye family army will likely engage with the Southern Barbarians.