Chapter 78: Ghost Festival
For four or five days in a row, He Yan had not gone to the Martial Arts Field to train.
She didn’t really take the injury on her leg seriously, but Shen Muxue, the female physician of Liang Province’s garrison, came without fail every day to deliver medicine and repeatedly warned her against strenuous activity. Hong Shan also chimed in, “Just listen to the physician. If you push yourself too hard and end up worse, you won’t be able to take first place during the Banner Competition or get into the Vanguard Camp. Don’t come crying to us then.”
After some thought, He Yan decided to let it be—there was no need to rush things in just a day or two.
However, during these days, as soon as training at the Martial Arts Field ended, her room was always packed with visitors. People came constantly to check on her. One day, Jiang Jiao brought a few sour, astringent plums; the next, Huang Xiong brought a string of charred roasted quails. The most baffling was Wang Ba—too proud to show up himself, he sent a new recruit from his room to deliver half a gnawed-on dry flatbread, clearly looted from someone else. He really treated the military camp like his own bandit stronghold.
Instructor Liang came twice, and both times he saw He Yan surrounded by a crowd, beaming with delight. Glancing at the mountain of food piled on her table, he sourly tossed out, “Well, aren’t you living the good life?” before leaving again. He Yan could only sigh helplessly.
Amid all this commotion, by the time the wound on He Yan’s elbow had mostly scabbed over and she could hop around on her leg, seven or eight days had already passed. The day of the Banner Competition was drawing closer.
On this particular day, Hong Shan and the others returned before sunset. He Yan was surprised and asked, “Training isn’t over yet—why did you all leave early?”
“Today is the fourteenth of July, the Ghost Festival,” Xiao Mai answered eagerly. “The head instructor let us finish early so we could eat and then go to the river to release water lanterns in honor of our ancestors.”
“This Liang Province garrison isn’t bad—they even give us time to honor our ancestors and loved ones,” Hong Shan remarked.
He Yan smiled faintly, thinking to herself that this was actually a long-standing military tradition. Back when she was in the Pacify Yue Army, the local authorities would arrange Taoist rituals every Ghost Festival specifically to honor soldiers who had died in battle. Now, with Liang Province’s garrison nestled between mountains and rivers, releasing water lanterns was especially convenient.
“Big Brother and I are going to release lanterns for our parents,” Xiao Mai said. Speaking of his deceased parents, he didn’t seem sorrowful, just a little wistful—perhaps their passing had been so long ago that his memories had faded. He turned to Hong Shan and asked, “Brother Shan, are you going to pay respects?”
“Yeah. My mother passed early—I’ll release a lantern for her.”
Almost in unison, the group looked at He Yan. “Brother He, are you going?”
Among them, He Yan’s background was probably the most mysterious. She rarely spoke to Xiao Mai and the others about her family, and Hong Shan only knew that she had joined the army after her family fell into ruin and she had nowhere else to turn. But judging by her confident, spirited demeanor on the Martial Arts Field, it was hard to believe she came from an ordinary household.
“Me? I’ll go too.” He Yan lowered her gaze, her voice softening. “There are people I need to honor too.”
Xiao Mai and the others sensed the shift in mood and didn’t dare press further, quickly steering the conversation toward lighter topics.
By the time they finished dinner and the sun had fully set, the moon began to emerge from behind the shrouding clouds. Nearly all the new recruits of Liang Province’s garrison had gathered outside.The water lanterns had to be folded by oneself, with the paper piled in large baskets at the Martial Arts Field. He Yan also took a sheet. She wasn’t particularly skilled at such handicrafts, but Xiao Mai noticed and swiftly folded it into the shape of a lotus lantern for her. He then dripped a short white candle into the center of the lantern and handed it to He Yan. “Done!”
“Thank you,” He Yan praised. “Your hands are so nimble.”
Xiao Mai smiled sheepishly. “During the Ghost Festival in the past, my elder brother and I folded many lanterns to sell. I got used to it. If the paper were bigger, I could make an even prettier and larger one!”
Shitou rapped him on the head disapprovingly. “This isn’t the time to show off.”
Xiao Mai stuck out his tongue and ran toward the Wulu River with his lantern. “I’ll go release mine first! Brother He, hurry up!”
After the start of autumn, the nights in Liang Province grew increasingly cool. A morning rain had left lingering chills, and the dense forests on the mountains were covered in dewy frost. Under the bright moon and sparse stars, the river shimmered silver.
The riverbank was already crowded with people paying respects to their ancestors. Flickering candlelight dotted the river like countless silver blossoms, reflecting dancing flames. Crimson lotus lanterns carried the mourners’ thoughts into the distance, turning into tiny, brilliant specks where the water met the sky before gradually vanishing.
“Right here is fine, Brother He…” Xiao Mai turned around and froze. “Where’s Brother He?”
Hong Shan and Shitou exchanged glances. “No idea. He was just here.”
At the innermost part of the riverbank, He Yan sat on a rock. It wasn’t the most open spot, so few people were releasing lanterns there. Silently, she gazed at the lotus lantern in her hands, her heart aching with unspeakable sorrow.
Suddenly, she recalled the moment before He Wanru drowned her in the water, saying, “You’re pregnant.”
At that moment, joy had outweighed confusion.
But that joy lasted only an instant before she—and her unborn child—sank into the Xu family’s pond.
He Yan had always believed that in her past life, she had never wronged anyone. For the He family, for He Rufei, for Xu Zhiheng—she had done all she could. The only guilt she carried was for the child in her womb. She had given it life, yet before she could bring it into the world, she had snuffed out that possibility because of her own circumstances. Perhaps it was retribution for the countless lives she had taken as a general, the blood on her hands. Heaven had punished her thus. But if punishment was deserved, why must it fall upon an innocent child? She didn’t even know whether the life inside her had been a little girl or a boy before it was lost.
He Yan pulled out a firestarter. A spark landed on the candle, instantly lighting the wick. The lantern slowly unfolded in her hands, the flame reflected in her eyes like a tiny flicker. Tears threatened to fall but were quickly blurred away.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered mournfully. “You and I, mother and child, were not fated in this life. If there is a next life, may you be reborn into a good family, free from sorrow, and never meet someone like me again.”
“And I…” She placed the lantern into the river. “Will avenge you.”
The river murmured softly, gently carrying the small lantern forward. He Yan watched until it drifted among countless other lights, indistinguishable from the rest, before she finally looked away and rubbed her eyes."Brother He, I didn’t expect to find you here!" an excited voice called out behind her. "What a coincidence, you’re here to release water lanterns too!"
He Yan turned around to see a fair-skinned, bright-eyed youth walking toward her with an armful of lanterns, his face beaming with joy. It was Cheng Li Su.
His clothes were neat and new, and as he approached, he carefully lifted the hem of his robe to avoid getting splashed by the river water. He handed He Yan a bundle of the lanterns he was carrying.
He Yan asked, "...Are these all the lanterns you’re releasing?"
"Yes!"
"Why so many?" He Yan was at a loss for words.
"Originally, I didn’t have this many to release—I don’t even know most of the Cheng family ancestors. But I figured my uncle wouldn’t come today, so I’ll release some on his behalf. This one’s for my great-aunt, this one’s for my great-uncle, this one’s for—"
He counted them off one by one, showing not a trace of sorrow. His cheerful demeanor made it seem as though he were releasing festive lanterns for the Lantern Festival rather than solemn water lanterns for the Ghost Festival.
"Wait," He Yan interrupted him. "Why are you releasing lanterns for your uncle? Can’t he come himself?"
"With so many people around, he’d never come." Cheng Li Su sighed, shaking his head with an expression of exaggerated concern. "Well, I’ll just have to do it for him. What can I say? He’s my uncle."
He Yan couldn’t help but smile. The pain stirred by her memories faded somewhat in the face of his antics. Though Cheng Li Su seemed to lack a few brain cells compared to the average person, he took the act of releasing water lanterns very seriously. One by one, he lit the lanterns in his hands and solemnly set them afloat on the river, nervously praying they wouldn’t be blown out by the wind or overturned by the waves. Fortunately, all went smoothly, and the lanterns gradually drifted into the distance.
After releasing the last lantern, Cheng Li Su exhaled in relief. He pulled out a coarse cloth from his sleeve, spread it over a rock, and finally sat down.
"The nights in Liang Province are quite cool," he muttered. "But the past few days were unbearably hot. I’ve never experienced such scorching weather in my life."
He Yan suppressed a laugh. Back in Shuojing, the Cheng family surely had ice to beat the summer heat, and Cheng Li Su would have stayed indoors, untouched by the sun. Of course, he wouldn’t have endured the same hardships as in Liang Province. She remarked, "If that’s the case, why did you follow your uncle here to suffer?"
"No choice," Cheng Li Su said, spreading his hands. "If I hadn’t left with my uncle, I would’ve been engaged by now."
He Yan blinked. "What?"
"Let me tell you a secret—I ran away to escape marriage." Cheng Li Su pouted. "I’m still young! How can I get engaged? Besides, I don’t even like her, so I just left."
He Yan: "..." This kid was truly straightforward. But what surprised her even more was that Xiao Jue had agreed to bring Cheng Li Su along. Didn’t he worry about causing discontent in the Cheng family? After all, secretly whisking away their young master and aiding his escape from marriage—even as a relative—was bound to create resentment.
"You and Commander Xiao must be very close," He Yan said carefully.
"More or less," Cheng Li Su replied smugly. "I was the one who insisted on sticking to him."
He Yan found this hard to believe. "Your uncle has such a terrible temper, yet you still willingly followed him?" Impressive, truly impressive. Whoever called Cheng Li Su the "Useless Young Master" clearly didn’t know the extent of his endurance—not everyone could tolerate such hardships."My uncle is really amazing. If it weren't for him when I was little, there might not be the me of today."
Perhaps because the moonlight was particularly beautiful tonight, Cheng Lisu became quite enthusiastic as he reminisced about the past.
Cheng Lisu's mother, Madame Cheng, was actually only a few years younger than Xiao Jue's mother. So by the time Xiao Jue was born, Madame Cheng had already married. Although Cheng Lisu and Xiao Jue were of different generations, their age difference wasn't that significant.
While the Cheng and Xiao families didn't interact frequently, their relationship was far from cold. However, as a child, Cheng Lisu rarely saw Xiao Jue. Most of the time, he spent more time with his eldest uncle, Xiao Jing. Xiao Zhongwu had two sons. The eldest, Xiao Jing, was frail in his youth and unsuitable for martial arts. By the time he recovered, he had already passed the optimal age for training. Moreover, Madame Xiao didn't want Xiao Jing to pursue a military career, so he took the path of a civil official.
After Xiao Jue was born, Xiao Zhongwu paid special attention to this son.
Xiao Jue didn't disappoint his father's expectations, showing extraordinary talent from a young age. Xiao Zhongwu took Xiao Jue to the mountains, where he was personally taught by four eminent masters. As for which mountain and who these masters were, Cheng Lisu wasn't entirely clear. In any case, he might see Xiao Jue once a year at most, and sometimes not even that.
After Xiao Jue turned fourteen, he came down from the mountains and returned to Shuojing, entering the Xianchang Academy to study both civil and military arts alongside the noble youths of the capital. That year, Cheng Lisu was nine. While out enjoying the Mid-Autumn Festival with friends, he was kidnapped by traffickers. At his age, traffickers would normally consider him too old, but he was so delicate and pretty, like a silver doll from a New Year's painting, that they took him out of the city. Cheng Lisu cried for help to no avail, trembling as he hid in the carriage.
He would wake up crying, eat a little through his tears, then fall back asleep. In this cycle of waking and sleeping, he lost track of time until the sound of fighting erupted outside the carriage. Battered and bruised from the jolting ride, Cheng Lisu was wailing when the carriage suddenly stopped.
He hastily lifted the carriage curtain and crawled out, only to see corpses strewn across the ground, each killed with a single sword stroke to the throat. The traffickers who had kidnapped him weren't alone—there were dozens of them. The abducted children, bound and stuffed into carriages, were now either spilled onto the ground or still inside, wailing uncontrollably. Amid the chaos, Cheng Lisu shakily crawled forward until he brushed against a corner of snow-white robes.
Looking up, he saw a handsome youth in silver headgear and white robes standing before him, holding a sword as cold as frost, its blade dripping with blood. The vivid crimson paled in comparison to the youth's strikingly red lips. His expression was calm as his gaze settled on Cheng Lisu.
It should have been a terrifying scene, yet Cheng Lisu inexplicably felt a sense of safety. Trembling, he clung to the youth's leg and, mimicking his mother's flattering tone when speaking to others, fawned, "M-may I ask the hero's name and where you live? I am the young master of the Vice Director of the Right's household. If you save me, our family will surely reward you handsomely."
The youth's lips twitched. Looking down at him with unreadable, cold eyes, he said flatly, "I'm your uncle."
"That's when I realized he was that little uncle I hardly ever saw," Cheng Lisu said, resting his chin on his hand as he gazed at the moon. "Right then, I thought—this little uncle is truly incredible."Xiao Jue had saved him and also rescued the children abducted by traffickers. Cheng Lisu felt immensely proud to have such an uncle and wanted to cling to him. However, Xiao Jue didn’t particularly like this little nephew. After sending him back to the Cheng family, he never visited again. Cheng Lisu sent invitations asking him to visit, but Xiao Jue never came. Moreover, Xiao Jue was very busy, so Cheng Lisu rarely saw him.
He Yan couldn’t help but smile at the scene Cheng Lisu described. She imagined Xiao Jue must have found such a nephew quite exasperating.
“Then how did the two of you grow closer later?” He Yan asked.
If it had only been a life-saving favor, as Cheng Lisu said, which didn’t significantly improve their relationship, something else must have happened afterward for this uncle and nephew to now come together to Liang Province.
“Actually, my Cheng family, including my mother and even friends acquainted with the Xiao family, didn’t particularly like my uncle,” Cheng Lisu said. “They preferred my eldest uncle.”
Both sons of the Xiao family were exceptionally outstanding in Wei. The eldest, Xiao Jing, was also blessed with striking looks—gentle as jade, modest and bright. In terms of temperament alone, interacting with Xiao Jing would undoubtedly be more pleasant. Yet, it wasn’t as if they disliked Xiao Jue.
“Why?” He Yan asked. “Commander Xiao saved your life. Even if just for that, your mother wouldn’t dislike him, would she?”
“That’s true, but the time my uncle spent with our relatives was far too little. No one really knew him well.”
Before the age of fourteen, Xiao Jue was rarely in Shuojing. After fourteen, he entered Xianchang Academy. Not only did relatives and friends seldom see him, even Lady Xiao wasn’t close to this younger son. Cheng Lisu knew of several instances where Lady Xiao, in conversations with his mother, expressed worry and helplessness over how to interact with this younger son.
Without much understanding, people naturally viewed him with many prejudices. Xiao Jue was inherently aloof and disinclined to socialize, making the contrast with his warm and refined elder brother even more pronounced. However, as He Yan noted, this didn’t quite amount to dislike. The real dislike began after Xiao Zhongwu died in the Battle of Mingshui.
Xiao Zhongwu’s death came suddenly, dealing a massive blow to the Xiao family. Lady Xiao, who had never weathered hardship and had always lived under her husband’s shadow, hanged herself unnoticed, following her husband in death, leaving behind their two sons.
Of the two Xiao brothers, Xiao Jing was overwhelmed with grief, while Xiao Jue didn’t shed a single tear. After the general and his wife were buried, the first thing Xiao Jue did was go to the imperial court to petition for control over the Southern Garrison Troops.
Before Lady Xiao’s first-week memorial had even passed, he led the Southern Garrison Troops to quell the southern barbarian rebellion. It was in the southern barbarian wars that Xiao Zhongwu had died. Some said Xiao Jue sought vengeance for his father, while others accused him of being overly ambitious. Whether it was his father’s death or his mother’s suicide, Xiao Jue never showed excessive sorrow. Thus, the labels of cold-heartedness and ruthlessness became firmly attached to him.
The capital lost its noble and esteemed Second Young Master Xiao. People could only learn snippets of Xiao Jue’s recent state from battlefield rumors. It was said he was a young killing general, with countless lives taken by his sword, and that he was severe and utterly unfeeling.
“Have you heard of Zhao Nuo?” Cheng Lisu asked.He Yan faintly felt that the name was familiar, but couldn't recall where she'd heard it before, so she shook her head and said, "I don't know."
"Zhao Nuo is the eldest legitimate son of the current Minister of Revenue and once served as the military governor of Jingzhou." Cheng Li Su's expression darkened as he continued, "In fact, the misunderstanding between the Cheng family, the Xiao family's relatives and friends towards my uncle all started because of this man."
There will be one more update.
(End of chapter)
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