Chapter 13, Light and Seven Years
It was a day in October of the seventh year of Guangxu's reign. The sun had just passed its zenith, and the thick fog that had been hanging over everything like a white mist was slowly beginning to clear.
In the northeastern suburbs of Xu Wuxian, Zu Zhao and thirty or forty of his brothers gathered on a slightly raised earth mound. Including Zu Zhao, all the brothers were dressed in white clothes and rode white horses, which were all nearly seven feet tall. The array was quite majestic and solemn. In fact, today Zu Zhao had been ordered by his grandfather to come here specifically to welcome the noble guests of the Gong Sun family from Xuan Tu County.
Gongsun's servant arrived in Xuwu County two days ago and first handed over the name card and informed the relevant reception matters, so that the ancestors' family could make arrangements in advance. Although Gongsun Wang, as the head of the family, was too busy to come together due to his duties, after all, he is a prefectural governor, and the ancestors' family must show more enthusiasm.
Zu Zhao, as the eldest son of the Zu family, naturally had to personally welcome the Gongsun family's visit, which was specifically for the marriage. For Zu Zhao, he was not very willing about this marriage on a personal level, but on one hand, there were orders from his elders, and on the other hand, he also had to consider the interests of the Xuan Tu County Magistrate's office. In short, he had to put up some appearances. Perhaps in the impending chaotic times, who knows, he might even be able to get help from this Gongsun Magistrate.
At this time, one of the followers, Zu Qi, looked far away with a somewhat restless expression and said: "Didn't we already arrive at Lingzhi County? From here to Xu Wu is only sixty miles, why can't we see anyone now."
Zu Zhao hadn't spoken yet, when Zu Zhan, the eldest son of his third uncle who was accompanying him, chuckled and said: "You're treating the governor's mansion like your own home, coming and going without any ceremony. With so many people, big and small, over 10 carriages, men and women, old and young, it's probably over 50 or 60 people, how can you just rush in like we do? Be a bit more patient."
Zu Qi let out a bored sigh.
Zu Zhao just smiled calmly and didn't say much. He now had to think carefully about how to face the visit of the Gong Sun family, many sages have said that "personal feelings are small, the overall situation is important", but it's not easy for a person to completely put aside personal feelings, otherwise, people would not be human.
Not long after, Zu Ji rode his horse over and asked Zu Zhao with a hint of hesitation: "Young Master, are you still going to West River Bridge this afternoon to practice horse riding with Zhang Wenyi and the others?"
Zu Zhao turned his head and glanced at Zu Ji, with almost no hesitation on his face, saying straightforwardly: "Practice is about persistence, how can there be a day without it? In order to wait for the guests of the Gong Sun family here, I have already abandoned my morning reading habits. Can't do nothing all day."
Zu Ji nodded repeatedly, excitedly saying: "That's really great. Yesterday I already made an appointment with Zhang, and this afternoon we'll have a good match again, just worried that if I don't go, that little brat will say I'm afraid of him."
"Let's just exchange a few moves and stop there. Don't let things get out of hand over one or two techniques, got it?"
Zu Ji promised to come down.
Since the last time at Xihewan Bridge, Zu Zhaoyong's reputation as a brave warrior has gradually spread among the city's knights. Zhang Yuan, although he was robbed of the limelight by Zu Zhao, is after all a person who understands reason and values etiquette, and did not stubbornly argue about winning or losing in this competition. Moreover, the next day, he specially set up a banquet to invite Zu Zhao and Zu Ji to show his goodwill, and after drinking, he took the initiative to discuss with Zu Zhao about the preparations for the thieves this year.
Although it's still early to prepare for the bandits, in previous years the county government would issue official documents around mid-November, and only then would they start organizing training and defense preparations in each village. However, organizing training ahead of time isn't a bad thing, especially for young masters like Zu Zhao from a wealthy family and Zhang Yuan, a carefree wandering knight, who don't need to work as farmers and can gather together to practice horse riding and martial arts, which is more proper than idling around.
In the past seven or eight days, Zu Zhao has been leading the idle young men of the village to practice horse riding with Zhang Yuan and Zhang Yu's group of young people at Xihua Bridge every afternoon. The number of young men from the Zu family is not fixed, sometimes more, sometimes less, and those who can persist in participating are basically rich young men like Zu Zhao. Zhang Yuan and Zhang Yu brought many people from the An Yang Ting Zhang clan, but there were even more wandering sons from nearby towns. Fortunately, these wandering sons all had their own horses, unlike those pure rascals, so the two groups of people could still guarantee a certain degree of harmony between them.
In name it was "horse training", but in reality these days were basically spent frolicking, competing in horse riding and archery, or wrestling, making it seem more like a picnic. Zu Zhao hardly mentioned words like "preparing for bandits" or "military training", instead encouraging the young men of the household to actively participate in the games, to the point where even Zhang Yuan couldn't guess what was on his mind.
All of this was within Zu Chao's calculations.
"Look, young master!"
In the distance, a young man from the village pointed east and shouted loudly.
Zu Zhao tightened the reins, pulled his horse forward two steps, and looked up to gaze into the distance. On the eastern horizon, a group of travelers gradually emerged, led by six or seven knights riding tall horses. Whether it was the knights' attire or the decorations on their horses, everything exuded luxury. As the group drew closer, it became clear that all the carriages were double-covered and even the coachmen looked dignified. Behind the carriage team followed more than thirty miscellaneous servants, most of whom were walking on foot, with a few responsible for guarding the horse-drawn carts loaded with goods.
The descendants of the Zong family were all energized, and they spontaneously formed a formation on the mound. Although they didn't often see such a grand lineup, after all, it was the Zong family's gate, and the necessary momentum was naturally indispensable.
After a while, the procession finally came to the front of the mound at a slow and leisurely pace. The leading knights rushed forward one after another, each with their heads held high and chests out, as if intentionally competing with the young masters of the ancestral home for superiority.
"Are you all under the command of General Xu Wucheng?" The leading knight, about thirty years old, was dressed slightly differently from the others, with an additional black satin cloak fluttering in the wind, revealing a hint of majesty. From his strong and crisp voice, it could be inferred that he should have come from a military background.
"In the lower ancestral temple, I was ordered by my family's ancestors to come and welcome the guests from Xuan Tu County. May I ask for your esteemed name?" Zu Zhao bowed with his fist on the horseback, his words and actions were elegant and natural.
"Oh? So it's the young master himself who has come to welcome us, how courteous. I am Chun Yushan, the deputy governor of Xuan Tu County, and I have been ordered by Governor Gong Sun to escort our family members to visit Xu Wu." The leading knight still maintained his haughty attitude, but also showed a hint of courtesy towards Zu Zhao.
"It's been a tough journey for you, sir." Zu Zhao said with a polite smile.
Before long, a commotion came from the carriage in the rear, which was first in line. A dignified old man with a pale yellow complexion and a few wisps of white hair walked out of the carriage with the support of two attendants. Despite his advanced age of over fifty, he still had a bit of spirit, but it couldn't hide the ravages of time.
The leader, Knight Jun Yu Pu, dismounted his horse and hurried over to assist the elderly man. Zu Chao saw this and knew that the elderly man must be a person of status in the Gong Sun family, and probably also the representative of this trip, so he too dismounted his horse immediately.
"Zugongzi, this is the uncle of Gong Sun Taishou. Due to official business, Gong Sun Taishou cannot attend in person, so his uncle has come as a representative with full authority." Chunyu Pei introduced him to Zu Zhao.
"Grandfather and grandson have shown respect, old ancestor's grandson is at your service." The old man spoke in a feeble voice, first paying his respects.
"I have seen Master Gongsun. Such a long and arduous journey must have caused you, sir, much fatigue." Zu Zhao said as he bowed to the old man with the respect due from a junior.
"Ah, ah. Yesterday in Lingzhou County, I heard about your recent feat of repelling the Hu bandits, a truly impressive achievement! 'If only the flying general were at Dragon City, no Huhorse would dare to cross Yin Mountain.' What vigor and spirit! It's truly uplifting for our great Han dynasty. I'm eager to see the young hero's face soon. Today, you've come to welcome me in person, old man is deeply honored."
"Sir, you're too kind. It's just past noon now, and I've already prepared a banquet at my humble abode. Please, sir, and all of you, take a few more steps and join me." Zu Zhao said with modesty. He felt a strong affection for this elderly Mr. Gong Sunzhi, but he didn't overstep his bounds, maintaining a sense of propriety and distance.
"Thank you, Master Zong, for showing us the way." Old Gong Sun nodded repeatedly.
Zu Zhao followed Chun Yu Pei to see off the old man of Gong Sun back to his carriage, and then they each mounted their horses, leading the Gong Sun family's traveling party towards the county town.
On the way back to the county town, the Zǔ family's children led the way in front, while Zǔ Zhāo followed alongside Gōngsūn Lǎorén's carriage as the host of the Eastern Way. Gōngsūn Lǎorén lifted up the curtain and occasionally chatted with Zǔ Zhāo through the window, sometimes discussing archery and horses, other times talking about scriptures. Although the topics changed frequently, Zǔ Zhāo still sensed that his counterpart was probing him for information regarding marriage. To these indirect inquiries, he made simple and truthful responses without embellishment.
Apart from that, another carriage following closely behind the old man's carriage also caught Zu Chao's attention. He saw with his peripheral vision that the curtain of the second carriage was often lifted, and a figure seemed to be peeking through the window. Although it wasn't anything major, since the Gong Sun family was an official noble household, their family members should all be proper and law-abiding, so this was somewhat strange.
When they arrived at the foot of the county town, he took advantage of the team turning to the official road and intentionally looked at the second horse carriage. Through the newly lifted car curtain, he saw a boy with a headscarf sitting in the car. The other side seemed to have discovered something and quickly put down the car curtain, so he couldn't see it too clearly. On the following road, the car curtain never opened again.
