Bound with slender string, the cured meat, some oil, and a bag of fine rice over my shoulder, I said, "Hmm, such gifts, as a junior meeting an elder, aren’t they a bit insufficient..."
Shaking Light replied with a calm voice, "If you were to meet Mr. Po Jun ."
"He would thoroughly air-dry the meat and store away the rice, so that when he’s old and near death, he could still point to the fish and say, ’This was given to me by my lord, who personally visited me back in the day.’"
Li Guanyi couldn’t help but laugh, shook his head, and said,
"Mr. Po Jun certainly wouldn’t do such a thing."
However, this thought calmed and quieted Li Guanyi’s heart considerably. He reached out, knocked on the door, and waited quite politely for a while, before someone came to tell him, "Young man, there’s nobody living here, what are you knocking for?"
Li Guanyi asked in confusion, "Isn’t this the Yuan Family’s place?"
The passerby answered, "That was long ago, this place has become Mr. Zhao’s courtyard, it’s a good location, so inside he stores wine." He glanced at the gifts in Li Guanyi’s hand and said, "Are these gifts to visit Mr. Zhao?"
"Oh my, they are too shabby."
Li Guanyi said, "Then, do you know where the people of the Yuan Family are living now?"
The passerby replied, "Oh, the Yuan Family? I know of them; their man died early, and that son of theirs is no good, with a terrible temper, always fighting with others. Later, he killed someone, tut, abandoned his mother and ran off."
"His mother’s brother, that Yuan kid’s uncle, used to work in the government office, but then there was war, and he was specially drafted into the army, fortunately didn’t die but ended up with a broken leg, and lost his position in the government office, living a miserable life."
"Nowadays, that woman washes clothes for a living, one coin per piece, barely scrapping by, supporting her brother and sister-in-law, you can find them downstream..."
"Eh, these days, it’s better to have a daughter than a son. "
The passerby carried his carrying pole and joked, "A daughter can be married off to someone in the neighboring village, and you can still see her during festivals. Sons? The capable ones go off to study far and wide, the worthless ones get bullied, the able ones kill someone and flee. What’s the use of having a son?"
"Even if they avoid everything, once war breaks out, they have to be conscripted to fight. Out of ten on the battlefield, hardly one survives. Yet the Yuan Family’s son, after killing Mr. Zhao’s brother, just ran away himself."
"Oh dear, what a useless, cowardly waste of space!"
"Hmph, hasn’t written a letter in ten years, hasn’t sent a penny back home, pah, what a piece of trash!"
Li Guanyi remained silent. Yuan Zhi often wrote letters home and would send money back, but he said he hadn’t received any letters from his mother, which made him worried and fearful, his mother probably didn’t believe he could make something of himself, the more timid he became.
It seemed that someone had intercepted it.
Qilin murmured something with its paw.
Yet the young man only thanked the passerby kindly and then looked towards Shaking Light, speaking softly,
"We will go find the teacher’s mother."
"Let General Ling and the others take care of it."
Li Guanyi said, "The teacher is not a coward who forgets his mother."
Shaking Light nodded, she used her mystical skills, and so, Ling Pingyang, who was encamped leisurely over a hundred miles away, received the message. The cavalry general looked up at the surrounding Heavy Cavalry and Qilin Army Light Cavalry, and said,
"We’ve found the teacher’s mother."
Ling Pingyang’s smile carried a hint of danger, "It seems, however, that she has been bullied."
"We should go make a show of support, gentlemen—"
Thus, the elite Fierce Soldiers of the Qilin Army, with solemn expressions, picked up their weapons. A surge of ominous energy swelled and rose to the sky: