Chapter 18 Chapter Sixteen

the next day.Xuande and the other three suddenly left Liu Hui's mansion at the foot of Wutai Mountain. Parting, the host Liu Hui held a farewell banquet for the down-and-out hero Xuande and others, saying: "Please look forward to returning to this place at the right time. The twenty soldiers and servants you brought will stay in my house first. Wait until next time." Come back and prepare for a comeback. Although the Yellow Turban Rebellion has subsided, the capital Luoyang has shown signs of collapse. Please respect yourself and do your best for the country." "Thank you!"

The four stood up and toasted. According to what Liu Hui said, the twenty or so colleagues he brought here were all entrusted to the Liu family. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Xuande said goodbye, and each went into hiding for the time being. But... when they left the gate of Liu's house, there were three people walking together.There were so many people, so Liu Hui deliberately didn't come to see him off.But on the balcony of the mansion, there was a beauty watching the three of them go away alone.Needless to say, it was Miss Furong. Zhang Fei knew, but deliberately kept quiet.Xuande walked silently.

The shadow of Wutai Mountain has been left behind, and it is blurred from a distance.Zhang Fei said to Xuande: "After listening to what you said yesterday, I no longer have any doubts about your thoughts. And I understand your sentimental and hateful manly heart. Just like I love wine. " He thought wine and love were the same thing. To this extent, rather than sympathizing with Xuande's heart, Mo Ruo said it was far from Xuande's sentimentality. "...but big brother," Zhang Fei looked at Xuande's face again and said, "There is no reason for a hero to be unfriendly. You will not be single all your life. If you really like Miss Furong, I, Zhang Fei, will be your matchmaker." , Guaranteed success. In my opinion, since she is the daughter of the old master and has no one to rely on, she might as well entrust you to take care of her for the rest of her life. But it’s not right now. It’s not the time. Let’s talk about it later.”

"I know." Xuande nodded. When he came to the road sign in Zhouzhou, Xuande said: "Okay, I'll stay here and go back to my hometown Zhuo County alone. Anyway, I have to go back to the foot of Mount Wutai." Zhang Fei and Guan Yu also bid farewell here, planning to go their separate ways.The three brothers who have always been inseparable now feel lonely. "When will we meet here next time?" "This autumn." Xuande said. The two nodded. "Then you plan to go to Zhuo County's mother." "Well. As soon as I see my mother and know that she is healthy, I will come back immediately. The times wait for no one. Cool autumn and August, the three of you will enjoy the moon on Mount Wutai again."

"goodbye!" "Be careful on the road!" "Everyone is precious!" The three of them went in three directions, and looked back at the Prime Minister's parting figure. After bidding farewell to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Xuande changed his attire, dressed up like a villager, and quietly went back to his hometown, Lousang Village, Zhuo County. "Ah, the mulberry tree is still..." After several years, Xuande saw his house again.Standing at the door of his house, he first raised his head and looked at the huge mulberry tree with nostalgia. bang click

bang click ... At this time, the sound of looms weaving straw mats came from the house.Xuande's heart was suddenly moved.In the past two or three years, I have been riding a horse and holding a gun. I have forgotten the loom that I used to get food and clothing for my livelihood since I was a child. Now I am still working in my hometown without rest. Who is still operating this loom for ten years? Don't ask, it's Xuande's mother.It must be the mother who stayed behind after her son left for the war. "How lonely! And so many inconveniences..." Before entering the house, Xuande's eyes were full of tears.Thinking about it, the South and the North fought several times in the Spring and Autumn Period, and I didn't even send money for food and clothing to my mother in my hometown.There are only a handful of letters that have been written.

"Sorry……" Facing the dilapidated house in his hometown, he first apologized sincerely, and then ran quickly to the place where the sound of the loom came from behind. what!There was a white-haired old man weaving straw mats silently... As soon as Xuande saw it, he ran to her feet from behind. "Mother……" He got down on his knees. "Mother! . . . It's me. I'm back!" "..." Surprised, the old mother stopped operating the loom, looked at Xuande intently, and said, "It's Abei..." "For such a long time, I haven't even been able to write you a proper letter. You must be inconvenient. You can't do everything you want on the battlefield. There are wars all day long."

The mother interrupted her son and said, "A Bei...why did you come back?" "Uh..." Xuande said, prostrated himself on the ground, "the ambition is unrewarded, it's not the time to visit my mother in a happy mood. However, I just abandoned my official position and ran away, sneaking into the mountains, trying to avoid the eyes and ears of the officials, and quietly came back to meet my mother." On the one hand. Is mother okay?" The old mother's eyes were obviously moistened.His thinning hair was as white as pear blossoms in full bloom, and the corners of his eyes looked old... The hands on the loom were worn rough by straw residue.

However, the way the mother looked at her son was the same as before, unchanged, stern, firm, and full of love.The old mother suppressed the tears she was about to shed, and said quietly: "A Bei..." "Hey." "Is that why you came back?" "Uh... yes." "Just for this?" "Mother……" The old mother pushed Xuande to hold her hand, brushed off the straw from her clothes, and scolded severely: "What are you talking about! Like a child... just like that, are you still a man who cares about the country and the people?! Since You have already returned, so there is nothing you can do. But you can’t stay here for a long time. You can leave home after a rest tonight.”

The mother's face was unexpectedly displeased.But Liu Xuande felt that it was to motivate himself, and he cried into tears under the inspiration of the great mother's love. The mother looked at her son who was lying on the ground, and continued to reprimand, "You have only been away from home for two or three years! I think that when you recruited rural soldiers, you took up simple weapons and went to the vast world to quell the chaos in the world before you could train them. After three years, you just want to make a name for yourself and return to your hometown... Mother doesn't think so! What mother is looking forward to is not such a dream at all!... How can it be so simple in the world!"

"Mother... Xuande was wrong! My son wants to uphold justice, but he hits a wall everywhere. Recently, he has been too frustrated, and he suddenly became suspicious. The more he fought, the more he couldn't figure out why he was fighting..." "The powerful will win the battle. But if you can't overcome the obstacles on the right path and the cowardly heart that often attacks yourself, it will be difficult to achieve great things." "yes……" "It's very clear...you are also a man in his thirties, this matter..." "yes." "The heroes who conquered a state and a county in troubled times have short ambitions. But you are different. You are a descendant of the Han clan, a descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan. For the sake of the people, you must draw your sword!" "yes!" "Mother is old, how many days can she live? Think about the happiness of hundreds of millions of people, what is a mother?! Your heart - the great ambition that has been raised, if it is frustrated because of my mother, then mother would rather work for hundreds of millions of people. I will shorten my life for the people, to inspire you." "Ah! Mother!" It's not like my mother won't make up her mind.Xuande was shocked, grabbed his mother's sleeve, and said: "It's all about the son's fault! The son will never have the heart of a weak person. The son will leave before dawn tomorrow morning. Let the son stay by your side overnight." "..." The old mother also knelt down on her knees and sat slumped on the ground.She gently hugged Xuande's body, with white hair at the temples, trembling, and said: "A Bei... Mother said this on behalf of your dead father. That was your father's voice just now. It was him I'm scolding you... Let's go in the dark tomorrow morning, avoiding the folks in the neighborhood, ah." After finishing speaking, the old mother walked quickly to the main room. Soon, there was smoke from cooking dinner in the kitchen.It was the mother who wanted to cook a hot meal for her frustrated son. At this time Xuande approached the loom and finished weaving the few straw mats left by his mother just now. It's getting darker and darker.White stars climbed into the sky. After leaving the loom, he went to the peach forest behind the house to relax.It's late spring, the peach blossoms are all gone, and only black stamens can be seen on the treetops. "Ah, the hometown is still..." Xuande sighed. Peach blossoms will bloom again in spring, but my mother's white hair will never turn black again.Spring and autumn are so short for life, and one's own wishes are so lofty.When will the day when mother will be happy from the bottom of her heart come? ?Thinking of this, Xuande couldn't help sighing heavily. "A Bei—A Bei——" It was dark in the main room, and my mother was calling Xuande, telling him that dinner was ready.Xuande recalled his carefree childhood, he promised from afar like a child, and ran back home.