Chapter 69: Return
Because they wanted to return to their hometowns as soon as possible to reunite with their relatives, the soldiers of the Montessori clan unconsciously accelerated their trip, but even so, they still spent nearly three months waiting until early February of the following year to barely return to their hometowns.
Due to the urgent march, some family slaves and even members of the Montessori tribe were injured due to weather conditions. Fortunately, the chariot officials in the tribe, including Meng Zhong and other soldiers, gave up the position of the chariots early and carried these wounded people, which finally avoided the worst happening.
To put it in the words of the wounded, they survived the cruel Song Teng War. If they died on their way back to their hometown, it would be too unworthy.
Around the eighth day of the second month of the following year, the Mongolian clan soldiers returned to their hometowns.
Because all the tribe members wanted to surprise the tribe members in their hometown, neither Sima Mengzhi nor the young sect leader Mengwu sent anyone to inform the town in advance. So when more than a thousand soldiers and more than twenty chariots returned to the town in a mighty manner, no one knew about the town in Mengyi.
Only Mengwu's son "Mengao" went out to chop wood and saw his family's army. The boy, who was one year younger than Meng Zhong, was a little nervous at first. After seeing the flag of the "Bei Bo Mengshi" in the army, he immediately shouted happily.
"The clan members are back! The clan members are back!"
In addition to being happy, he ignored the firewood he was carrying and immediately ran back to his hometown, hoping to tell everyone in the clan this good news as soon as possible.
The news spread very quickly. When the Meng clan soldiers arrived in Mengyi, Meng Qi, the sect leader of the Meng clan, and Meng Qi, the elders of the clan, Meng Jian and others, led a group of people to greet him.
During this period, the sect leader Meng Qi blamed him: "Why don't you send someone to inform the town first? The town is ready to celebrate... Meng Qing? Where is Meng Qing?"
When he heard this, the Mongolian soldiers, who were originally happy, suddenly felt depressed.
At this time, Sima Mengzhi of the family stood up and said respectfully to Meng Qi: "Sect Master, under the witness of the young sect master, my brother recommended me to be the "Sima" before his death..."
Meng Qi opened his mouth slightly, subconsciously turned his head to look at the elder Meng Qi, but saw the latter's figure leaning on a crutch, trembling slightly at this moment.
After a long time, Meng Qi put his hand on Meng Zhi's shoulder, nodded heavily and said, "Meng Qing, I am a player of my Meng family, and the people of the tribe will not forget him..."
Meng Zhi nodded, then looked at the direction where his father Meng Yan was, and said loudly: "My brother is a warrior who even King Song praised. He killed Teng Hu, the monarch of Teng Kingdom, with his own hands on the battlefield!"
Hearing this, the people of the Meng clan who came to welcome him were all shocked and happy. Even the sect leader Meng Qi opened his eyes wide in surprise. After all, Teng Hu, the monarch of Teng Kingdom, was similar to the invincible terror in the minds of the Meng clan members.
As for the elder Meng Yun who lost his eldest son, he nodded with relief with his head on a crutch, his beard trembling and his tears flowed.
"We are back with victory!"
Sima Mengzhi shouted with his arms raised.
Upon hearing this, both the Mongolian soldiers, who were injured and not injured, raised their arms to cheer.
For a moment, the festive atmosphere diluted the sadness. The sect leader Meng Qi immediately decided to hold a celebration banquet within the clan, allowing the entire clan members to celebrate this hard-won victory for the soldiers who went to the war.
After Meng Qi said this, Sima Meng Zhi ordered the entire army to be disbanded so that the soldiers led by him could reunite with their relatives.
Seeing a famous brother throwing into his parents' arms, Meng Zhong looked around and did not see his mother Ge and his sister Meng Yan. It was obvious that both might not know about this.
So, after talking to Sima Mengzhi, he drove a chariot and headed towards his home.
Seeing this scene, the sect leader Meng Qi was a little puzzled. After all, according to the rules, when the tribesmen go on a war, the chariots should be settled by the family. Although Meng Zhong has a special identity, he cannot violate the rules.
Seeing this, his son Meng Wu explained: "Father, the chariot was brought to him by A Zhong's righteous brother Hui'an, so that he could bring the book that Mencius gave to him."
"Hui'an? Mencius?"
After hearing this, Meng Qi was shocked and his eyes widened, his face full of incredible expressions.
At this time, Meng Zhong had already driven the chariot he was riding on and headed towards his home.
As he expected, although there was such a big disturbance in the township, Ge and Meng Yan were not aware of this, so when Meng Zhong parked the chariot at his doorstep, he saw his sister Meng Yan sweeping the snow in the yard from the fence.
"A Yan."
Meng Zhong smiled narrowly and said, "There are some leaks there."
“Huh?”
Hearing a familiar voice to greet him, Meng Yan turned her head and saw a young man in armor standing at the fence looking at him.
If you look closely, isn’t that my brother Meng Zhong?
"Brother?"
She was so happy that she immediately threw away the broom in her hand, ran to open the yard in a few steps, and jumped into her brother's arms, holding her hands around her neck.
Such intimate behavior made Meng Zhongzhan on the spot.
However, Meng Yan did not have this awareness and choked with tears and laughter, "That's great, brother, you are back... Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo w
Meng Zhong didn't expect his sister to react so much. After being stunned for a while, he reached out and touched his sister's hair, and said docilely and gentlely: "Ah, I'm back..."
At this time, Ge seemed to have heard the movement in the yard and walked out of the house curiously. Then, she saw Meng Yan hugging the neck of a young soldier. After a moment of stunned, she showed a real smile on her face.
"A Zhong..." She called softly, then smiled and said to Meng Yan: "A Yan, such a big girl, she still hugged your brother like this. Are you not afraid that the tribe members will laugh at you when they see you?"
Meng Yan reacted at this time, quickly let go of her hands, and secretly glanced at her brother with a red face, ran to Ge's back and hid.
At this time, Meng Zhong walked to Ge several steps, bowed respectfully and said, "Mom, the child is back."
Ge nodded repeatedly, walked forward a few steps and hugged Meng Zhong in his arms, murmured: "It's good to come back...my son, it's good to come back..."
After a kind and warm consultation, Meng Zhong pulled the chariot he was riding on to the yard.
Seeing the two war horses pulling the cart, Meng Yan widened her eyes in surprise and watched the chariot.
Although she also has a donkey gifted by her brother Meng Zhong, how can the donkey be compared with a war horse? The difference between the two is too big.
"Brother, can I touch them?" she asked with some fear.
"Of course." Meng Zhong nodded with a smile. After all, the war horses were tamed and relatively docile.
Looking at Meng Yan stroking the mane of a war horse with joy, Ge asked curiously: "Zhong'er, why did you bring the chariot to our house?"
Montessori explained: "Mom, this is not a family chariot, it was given by a brother that the child met in Pengcheng, so that the child could transport some bamboo slips back to the tribe."
As he said that, he briefly explained Hui'an's matter to his mother, including Hui'an taking him to Zou Kingdom to visit Mencius, and the fact that Mencius gave him half of "Mencius".
All of these made Ge shockedly hear this. After all, Hui Ann was his adviser to govern the country in Song State, and Mencius was even more famous than Zhuangzi. As his son could meet these two, Ge naturally felt happy and relieved.
After that, Meng Yan, who felt fresh, fed the horses with the beans from his home, which seemed to have caused dissatisfaction with the donkey named Huihui in the house. He kept shouting "Ahhhh" in the shed, so Meng Yan took some beans and fed the donkey.
During this period, Meng Zhongze, under the instruction of his mother, worshiped the "corpse statue" of his grandfather Meng Shu, his father Meng Qu, and his brother Meng Bo. He then talked to his mother about his experience in Teng Kingdom, while listening to his sister Meng Yan giggling in the yard - it seemed that the donkey was very dissatisfied with the two extra giants fighting for food at home. He was shouting at the two horses, and kept shaking the hind hooves to kick them. It was not until Meng Yan reached out to touch it gently, and it gradually calmed down.
After a few simple conversations, Meng Zhong said to his mother: "Mom, I will go back to the Master's residence first and transport these bamboo slips over."
Hearing this, Ge nodded and said, "Since you have come back, you should pay a visit to the Master in person, so as not to worry about the Master."
But then that's it, her face showed a little reluctance.
Meng Zhong certainly understood what his mother was thinking and said with a smile: "Mom, I'll go back when I go, and I'll come back tonight... The child has been away from home for a long time, so he should stay at home for a while and accompany his mother."
When he heard this, Ge immediately smiled and urged his son to go back quickly.
Just then, the two horses had already been fed. After changing out, Meng Zhong drove the carriage to Zhuangziju and took his sister Meng Yan, who wanted to try to ride a chariot.
I have to say that the speed of the chariot is indeed not comparable to that of a donkey. In less than an hour, Meng Zhong came from the village to Zhuangziju.
Instructing her excited sister Meng Yan not to run around, Meng Zhong walked into Zhuangziju.
"A Zhong?"
"A Zhong?"
Zhuangzi lived inside, like Wu Ying, Xiang Liao, Hua Hu and other friends. When they saw Meng Zhong returning, they all came up to meet him. However, after learning about Meng Zhong's purpose, these people showed strange smiles, which made Meng Zhong a little confused.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Temporarily bid farewell to those friends who tried their best to urge him to greet Master, Meng Zhong went straight to the main house where Zhuangzi lived, and saw Zhuangzi sitting behind the familiar low table in the house with something written.
Seeing this, Meng Zhong quickly walked forward a few steps and knelt respectfully in front of Zhuangzi. Although Zhuangzi had never liked the Confucian etiquette, at this moment, Meng Zhong felt that only in this way could he express his gratitude to the mentor in front of him.
After all, if it were not for Zhuangzi's letter "This is Meng Zhong, a disciple of Zhuang Zhou", he would not have had the chance to meet Hui Ang, and would not have been able to receive special care from the army Sima Jingcheng, nor would he have the chance to meet Mencius.
"Master Zhuang, the unfilial disciple Meng Zhong is back."
At this time, Zhuangzi had already stopped writing, raised his head to look at the disciple who was kneeling in front of him, nodded and said simply and calmly: "Just come back."
When Meng Zhong heard that his mentor did not blame him, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, he felt something was wrong, so he suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhuangzi in a daze.
The mentor in front of him...had he spoke?
Meng Zhong was stunned and could not come back to his senses for a long time.
Chapter completed!