The grand gathering will eventually come to an end. Lan Yu's cenotaph has been placed in the White Tower of the Heroes' Temple. The military lords, generals and others dispersed in twos and threes.
Li Jinglong, Duke of Cao State, Guo Ying, Marquis of Wuding, Cao Zhen, Marquis of Jingchuan and others walked together.
Guo Ying looked back at the towering white tower on horseback and sighed slightly.
"We warriors who have received this honor will be immortal for generations to come!" Guo Ying continued to whisper.
"Yes, yes, you are right, Fourth Master!" Li Jinglong agreed, but he didn't quite agree in his heart.
Everyone is dead, so what’s the use of saying this? Can dead people see it?
It’s the same for everyone after leaving this world. The sky is still the sky and the earth is still the earth, and the stars are still changing. How tiring is it to think about things after death while you are alive?
It's hard to be a hero, it's too lonely.
The world is too ruthless.
He thought faintly in his mind, turned his eyes to the side, and found that the martial arts students who were leaving and walking on the street had excited expressions on their faces. It must have been inspired by the heroic deeds, and he had made up his mind to do the following.
The ambition of serving the country.
"You are so young!" He thought secretly in his heart, but suddenly realized that when he was young, he was not so high-spirited and impassioned.
"Everyone lives forever, and sooner or later he dies." Guo Ying continued, "The passing geese leave their voices, and the passing people leave their names!"
These words suddenly made Li Jinglong a little surprised. He looked at Guo Ying.
The latter also looked at him and said with a smile, "Only if you don't live in vain can you be worthy of your life!"
"Why is this old guy suddenly talking like a scholar!" Li Jinglong thought to himself, "That makes sense!"
"So!" Cao Zhen, the Marquis of Jingchuan, suddenly said, "In this life, you have to live a good life. Eat, drink, have fun, drink, have money, and enjoy it until you die." He said, shaking his head, "Damn it, it can't be in vain.
Live!"
A blue vein suddenly appeared on Guo Ying's forehead, "Is that what I mean? I mean that a man should make some achievements while he is alive. What you are saying is that a man should eat, drink and have fun while he is alive..."
"I want to drink!" Cao Zhen suddenly lowered his head and said.
The old guy usually held his head high with arrogance, but today it was always hanging down with no energy at all. When he spoke now, he looked even more senile.
"I want to drink some too!" Guo Ying sighed.
Then, they both looked at Li Jinglong.
Li Jinglong was helpless, "I'll arrange it!" He said with a smile, "Fuxing Tower? There is a thirty-year-old Shaoxing Huang there, and we three have two drunk geese..."
"I'm not going outside!" Unexpectedly, Cao Zhen waved his hand and said, "Shaoxing Huang is boring, I want to burn knives with you!" Then he said to Guo Ying, "Fourth brother, let's go home!"
"Yeah!" Guo Ying nodded.
Cao Zhen said to Li Jinglong again, "Follow me, there's no point in drinking without you!"
~~
He said he was going home, but he didn't go to Jingchuan Hou Mansion.
It is a quiet, small and elegant three-entry courtyard in the four lanes behind Gulou Street.
This is Cao Zhen's foreign residence, which houses the young widow he adopted from the countryside and the young widow's son.
Cao Zhen really cared about the mother and son. Not only did he give him a house, he also gave him a shop to collect rent. He also shamelessly went to Yingtian Mansion to register the mother and son.
It is said... It is said that he even found a connection with the Ministry of Punishment and let his cheap son go to the jail of the Ministry of Punishment and become an apprentice with an old official.
Don't underestimate the prison supervisors. The so-called county officials are not as good as current supervisors. They have great power, and their annual income is only much more than that of a fourth-grade imperial official. They are not eye-catching at all, low-key and down-to-earth.
A smooth official, an iron-clad official, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid in this life, he will be a down-to-earth wealthy family.
The most important thing is that his arrangement is honorable both inside and outside. The cheaper son gets benefits and the sons at home don't make any noise.
Do you think Cao Zhen is stupid? Sometimes he is smarter than anyone else!
In addition to Liu's mother and son, Cao Zhen also asked someone to steal two families of simple servants from the market to serve them.
I heard... I heard that Cao Zhen is planning to help his son find a good marriage!
~~
"You didn't prepare anything in a hurry?"
Widow Liu was as cheerful and capable as ever. Not long after the three men sat down in the dining room, the food and drinks were served.
Scrambled eggs with green onions, golden and caramelized. Steamed white meat with minced garlic, more fat and less lean. Stir-fried young rooster with sweet sauce, braised pork head meat and smoked dried beans, and a plate of dried vegetables, dried radish and frozen cabbage with dipping sauce.
In addition, a pot of wine has been scalded and is steaming slightly.
"It's already very good!" Guo Ying said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, big girl!"
"What's so hard about this? While you are eating, I'll go check on the stove and add some hot dishes for you!" Widow Liu said with a smile and turned around to go out.
"Cut the pickled goose eggs into a plate." Cao Zhen ordered.
He turned back to pour wine for Guo Ying and Li Jinglong, and said with a smile, "Hey, country girl, she is good at getting by. She can't find any faults at home or outside. No matter how long I come back, I always have a hot meal. Hey, you give me foot-washing water every night.
My feet are hot and I don’t want to go home anymore!”
"Life is like this!" Guo Ying said with a smile, "Our Marquis' Mansion looks good, it's like a fucking palace. But the family doesn't have a family status. Our children and grandchildren, the eight generations of our fucking ancestors have been
Mudlegs, they are all ready to act like a young master! Drink!"
Li Jinglong listened silently and clinked glasses with them. The first sip made him grit his teeth.
"Not bad, right?" Cao Zhen said with a smile, "The shochu sent from Shanxi is very strong!"
"Old Marquis!" Li Jinglong wiped his mouth, "You'd better drink less shaju! In the previous dynasty, many princes, nobles and the emperor of Mengyuan all ascended to heaven without knowing anything after drinking too much of this stuff!"
Saying that, he quickly ate some vegetables and drank wine, "At your age, you should drink some rice wine. Boil it and add some shredded ginger and wolfberry. It will be delicious!"
"That thing has great stamina!" Cao Zhen said with a smile, "I woke up the next morning and my head hurt!" As he said that, he picked up a chopstick of frozen cabbage, dipped it in some yellow sauce, and put it into his mouth happily, "You have never eaten this thing before.
Come on, it tastes better than meat! Try it!"
The dried radishes and frozen cabbage were soaked in boiling water and clumped together, exuding an indescribable smell like a rag.
Li Jinglong couldn't resist the expectant look in his eyes, so he picked up a piece and dipped it in the sauce and put it in his mouth. As soon as he chewed it, his frown disappeared.
This dried vegetable doesn't look good and smells bad, but it tastes sweet and refreshing in your mouth, and has a unique taste.
"In the early years when we were marching and fighting, we couldn't do without this thing!" Guo Ying sighed from the side. "Especially when we went out to fight the Tatars, we couldn't see green leaves for three to five months, and our eyes would turn black at night."
As he spoke, he suddenly smiled, "What did Lan Xiaoer say back then?"
Cao Zhen lit the dried vegetables on the plate and said with a smile, "He said this stuff is for feeding pigs!"
"Hahaha!" the two old men grinned.
Li Jinglong was a little confused. The attitude of these two old men towards him was a bit wrong today.
It's better than ever, and his speech is not as domineering as before.
"I have something to ask you!" Suddenly, Cao Zhen looked at Li Jinglong with bright eyes.
"Say it!" Li Jinglong said hurriedly.
"Can we raise the flag after our two brothers die?" Cao Zhen asked seriously.
Guo Ying continued to explain, "Is it the sun and moon flag of the Ming Dynasty that the emperor put on Lan Xiaoer's coffin?"