A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 386: Zheng Yunqi pays tribute to his parents and drives away the pursuers with a silver spea

"Father, Yunqi is gone!"

Early in the morning, in the Xiao Mansion in the southern border of Jingsong State, Xiao Hongzhong was practicing stick techniques in the yard. His son Xiao Pengyue ran out from the backyard and shouted to him anxiously.

"Don't worry, let someone look for her. Maybe she has gone out to relax." Upon hearing the voice, Xiao Hongzhong hurriedly put away his stick and comforted his son.

"But she rode away my Liefeng!" Xiao Pengyue was still anxious.

"Is there any letter left in her room?" Xiao Hongzhong also became nervous when he heard it.

"I just came out of her room and didn't see any letter." Xiao Pengyue shook his head, worried and complaining: "This girl is really something, she didn't even tell me where she was going!"

"She didn't say hello to us, probably because we might stop her..." Xiao Hongzhong couldn't help but frowned before he finished speaking, and immediately asked with an uneasy look on his face: "Could she have gone to the Liunan border to pay homage to her parents?"

He remembered that on the seventh day after the death of his good friend Zheng Yu and his wife, Zheng Yunqi blamed himself for not being able to kowtow to his parents to show filial piety, and advised her that since Liu Nan had just died and the Xiyue Army was arresting those who refused to surrender, it was not the time to go back yet.

"It's terrible. Now that place has become Anning County of Xiyue Kingdom. If she goes there alone and is recognized, wouldn't she be walking into a trap?" Xiao Pengyue's face turned pale when he heard this. He patted his thigh and was about to leave the house but was stopped by his father.

"Are you going to go find her just like that?" Xiao Hongzhong sighed helplessly. They were both impulsive at their age and acted without considering the consequences.

Anning County, the border of Xuancheng in Xiyue State, was also the border city of the former Liunan State. On the mountain ridge ten miles away from Anning County, Zheng Yu and his wife were buried by the Xiyue Army. Although it was not a grand funeral, it was ordered by the prince himself, so they did not perfunctorily build a tomb and erect a monument.

Zheng Yunqi climbed the mountain in plain clothes, carrying a bamboo basket full of offerings. She couldn't help crying when she saw her parents' graves from afar. She quickly came to the tombstone and knelt down crying, "Father, mother, I am an unfilial daughter. I came to see you only today!"

Mountain flowers are in full bloom on the peaks and the late spring breeze is warm. Although more than half a month has passed, it is obvious that someone has taken care of the graves of Zheng Yu and his wife. There is not a single weed and even the tombstone has been wiped clean.

An old man with a cane and plain clothes also followed Zheng Yunqi up the mountain. He was a veteran who had followed General Zheng Yu for many years, Wei Shan. He was injured in the previous battle to defend the border city and had a limp since then. Liunan Kingdom was gone, and the remaining soldiers of Liunan naturally followed their king to submit to Xiyue Kingdom. Wei Shan followed General Zheng Yu's ambition and was unwilling to submit to Xiyue Kingdom, so he came to the foot of the mountain to guard the general's tomb.

Zheng Yunqi came to Anning County alone and secretly inquired for a long time before he found the mountain. He also unexpectedly met Wei Shan. After the two recognized each other and cried sadly, they hurried up the mountain.

"Yunqi, the dead are gone, and the living are like this. The general and his wife have been laid to rest, and you must take care of yourself. Since they want you to live, then don't let them down, and live well!" Wei Shan walked over, knelt in front of the grave and kowtowed three times, then slowly stood up and wiped the tears from Zheng Yunqi, who was still crying in front of the tombstone, and advised him.

After hearing Wei Shan's words, Zheng Yunqi finally woke up from her grief. She stood up, slowly placed the offerings in the basket beside her, burned incense and paper to worship, and then knelt in front of her parents' grave again in silence for a long time.

In less than a month, this once high-spirited, cheerful and heroic young female general has become haggard and depressed because of the demise of her country, but the determination in her eyes has not changed at all. She quietly looked at the tombstone in front of her and said to herself: Father, mother, please don't worry about your daughter. In the future, your daughter will listen to Uncle Xiao more and live well with your expectations!

Zheng Yunqi knelt silently in front of the grave of Zheng Yu and his wife for nearly two hours, until a drizzle suddenly began to fall. After Wei Shan's persuasion, she stood up and left reluctantly.

"You have a special identity, so you must be careful on the way back. It will be troublesome if someone recognizes you." The two men walked down the mountain and came to a thatched hut. Wei Shan put a bamboo hat on Zheng Yunqi's head and gave him careful instructions.

"Uncle Wei Shan, your legs and feet are not convenient now, why don't you come with me?" At the time of parting, Zheng Yunqi still looked at the old man in front of him with red eyes, frowned and advised.

"Silly child, why should I follow you? Am I not happy and free here at the foot of the mountains? Occasionally I can go up and talk to your parents. They won't find me annoying anyway." Wei Shan laughed and waved at Zheng Yunqi.

Wei Shan never married in his life. General Zheng Yu treated him like a brother, so he loved Zheng Yunqi like his own daughter. Although he was reluctant to part with her, she was still young and was living under someone else's roof, and he was old and had a limp in one leg. Wouldn't it be a burden if he followed her?

"I only brought this much silver this time. I'll bring more next time..." Zheng Yunqi understood that Uncle Wei Shan did not want to drag her down, and she really did not have the ability to provide him with a stable place to live, so she did not force him. She just took out the only half bag of silver she had and handed it to Wei Shan.

"How can I, an elder, accept money from a junior like you? You have come all the way here and I haven't treated you properly, but now I want you to give me money?" Without waiting for Zheng Yunqi to finish her words, Wei Shan immediately frowned and deliberately glared at her with the attitude of an elder.

"I'm not a child anymore. I'm grateful that you've been guarding my parents' tombs for me. You can regard this as your filial piety. If Uncle Wei Shan refuses to accept it, it means he looks down on your filial piety!" Uncle Wei Shan is a man of steel. Even though he is now unable to move and has a hard time making a living, he is unwilling to accept charity from others. Zheng Yunqi couldn't bear to say it out loud, so he pretended to be sad and was about to wipe away his tears.

"Okay, okay, Uncle Wei Shan, can't you accept it? Don't cry anymore, or you might hurt your eyes." Seeing this, Wei Shan hurriedly accepted the half bag of silver and spoke to comfort him.

Afterwards, the two of them warned each other a few more times, and Zheng Yunqi rode away in the rain holding her silver spear. In order to avoid the soldiers, she did not enter Anning City but chose to take a side road. However, she did not expect to meet a group of Xiyue soldiers heading to the border on the side road. It was too late to dodge, so Zheng Yunqi had to lower her hat, dismount and continue forward.

"Zheng Yunqi, she is Zheng Yu's daughter, Madam Yun Zheng Yunqi!"

No matter how careful Zheng Yunqi was, a soldier in the team still recognized her by the silver spear in his hand.

"Capture Zheng Yunqi!"

The general at the front of the team immediately gave an order, and the soldiers raised their spears and surrounded Zheng Yunqi.

Zheng Yunqi glanced at the soldiers around her and sneered contemptuously, then jumped onto the black horse beside her, holding her silver spear slightly raised to fight. She was dressed in plain clothes and a bamboo hat, and of course she was not as majestic as she was in armor in the past, but the look on her face was as murderous as the silver spear in her hand that was wet by the drizzle, and the soldiers around her couldn't help but take two steps back when they saw this.

“Madam Yun, the prince has always admired you. In the past, the prince was kind enough to order people to bury the remains of my late father and mother. Now that you are already in Xuan’an City, why don’t you go and express your gratitude to the prince in person?” The Xiyue general then stepped forward slightly and bowed to Zheng Yunqi, hoping to use this favor to persuade the other party to surrender.

"Let's put things one way and one way. I, Zheng Yunqi, will naturally be grateful for the prince's kindness, but the feud between my family and my country is irreconcilable. I would never surrender to the Xiyue Kingdom even if I die!" Zheng Yunqi snorted coldly and continued to speak to the Xiyue general with a cold eye. She suddenly swung the silver spear, and the soldiers blocking her way were swept to both sides before they could react. Then she jumped out of the encirclement on her black horse.

"Stop her!" General Xiyue ordered with his eyes wide open.

The soldiers turned around and attacked forward, but were soon shot down by Zheng Yunqi with a few shots.

"I won't kill any of your soldiers today, just as a way of repaying the favor of the prince. If we meet again in the future, I will not let you live!" Zheng Yunqi was very proud of the angry face of Xiyue general. She sneered again, said this generously, then turned her horse around and left with her gun.

"Cloud Flag!"

When Zheng Yunqi rode away from Anning County, he met Xiao Pengyue face to face at an intersection. When he saw her, a smile finally appeared on his worried face.

Under the arrangement of his father Xiao Hongzhong, he disguised himself and sneaked into the territory of Xiyue Kingdom with two followers, and rode straight to Anning County to find her.

"Why did you come here again?" When he saw Xiao Pengyue, a gentle smile inadvertently appeared in Zheng Yunqi's eyes.

"Are you okay?" Zheng Yunqi's knowing question made Xiao Peng more helpless. He glared at her and then asked with concern.

"What can I do? Let's go back!" Zheng Yunqi smiled and then rode his horse forward.

"You girl, why aren't you waiting for me again!" Seeing this, Xiao Pengyue whipped his whip and chased after her.

"I'm sorry for riding your Fierce Wind without your permission today."

"That's all?"

"Of course not only that, I will also go back and apologize to Uncle Xiao!"

"Zheng Yunqi, I've been worried about you for so long? I even came to look for you in person, but you didn't even say thank you!"

"..."

"Why don't you speak?"

"Thank you, Brother Yue!"

After a moment's silence, Zheng Yunqi suddenly turned around and smiled at Xiao Pengyue, who was half a step behind him while riding his horse.

Suddenly, Xiao Pengyue saw the heroic and high-spirited Zheng Yunqi again, and he breathed a sigh of relief with joy.