Chapter 885: How Many Days Left to Drink Heartily? The Lantern Festival – A Family Gathering

The Yangwu Bo’s residence had plenty of rooms, but the reason the brothers were outside in the cold was that their wives were in the main house with Lady Dongfang. Zhang Qi said that real men shouldn’t always stay in the warm rooms, so they went outside to talk. In the end, the others couldn’t persuade him and had no choice but to accompany him out into the cold wind. Although there were thick furs on the hard stone benches and the thatched pavilion was located by water to shield them from the wind, coming to such a summer retreat in winter brought a unique kind of chilly yet pleasant experience.

Zhang Qi personally heated wine using a charcoal stove, poured a cup for each brother, and finally handed one to Zhang Yue. With a smug smile, he said, “Third brother, I know others’ opinions don’t count, but please do me this favor.”

Zhang Yue glanced toward the main house. He remembered that when the three branches of the Zhang family still lived together, it was Lady Dongfang who was the most harsh, and even Du Wan often suffered from her subtle insults. But today, when he saw her, he found that this once competitive second aunt seemed like a completely different person—her tone was much kinder, and her demeanor even carried a hint of a nun’s grace. Yet she was clearly older now. After pondering for a moment, he turned and asked, “Have you discussed this with your second aunt?”

“My mother has already agreed,” Zhang Qi replied casually, then sighed bitterly. “Father brought back a letter some time ago. Though she didn’t show it to me, she spends more and more time in the Buddha hall. Before, she would occasionally pick on my wife and my sister-in-law, but now she ignores all household matters. Anyway, since I’m not here, nothing much can happen at home. My sister-in-law can take care of household chores, and if not, you guys can step in. Besides, judging by the situation in the southwest, Father and Eldest Brother will be back soon.”

Seeing Zhang Qi’s expression, Zhang Yue naturally understood what the letter sent from Yunnan by Zhang You contained. Sighing inwardly, he nodded gently. “If that’s the case, submit your request. The Ministry of War is under my control now, so I can’t help with anything else. If you go to a place like Liaodong, where everyone avoids it, no one will object. But I warn you—it’s no easy place. The former Marquis of the Meng family guarded it for years and returned with white hair. If you end up like that, I’m afraid both your second aunt and sister-in-law won’t spare me.”

“Never mind, don’t scare me!”

Zhang Qi was shocked. He punched Zhang Yue in the chest, then fetched some freshly heated wine and poured it for all his brothers. Only after that did he say satisfactorily, “We were born lucky, with wealth and honor in abundance. But staying here and relying on our family’s influence forever is really pointless. The third and fourth brothers have both passed the imperial examinations. Although the fifth and sixth brothers are still young, they’re both diligently practicing martial arts and studying. As for me and the eldest brother, we’ve mastered skills, yet now we can only sit idle in the capital, wasting our time. It’s really because of our own lack of ambition. So this time, I must give it a try!”
At this point, Zhang Qi paused, then looked at Zhang Yue with a grin and said, “Besides, if all the Zhang family members stay in the capital, some people will surely disapprove. And since we’re not military generals, I guess no one will say anything.”
At this moment, if Zhang Yue still didn’t realize that his second brother was asking for his help while actually trying to solve his own problems, he would truly be slow-witted. He drained his cup in one gulp, suddenly stood up, walked over to Zhang Qi, and pulled him up. Ignoring Zhang Qi’s confusion, he followed the usual habit between the Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi brothers—punching him on the shoulder before hugging him tightly. After separating, he smiled.
“I’m waiting to see you become a general!”
“Alright, I’ll earn a general title for you to see!”
Zhang Qi was initially stunned, but upon hearing this, he laughed heartily, hugged Zhang Yue tightly, then let go. He stepped forward and patted Zhang Jiu’s shoulder hard. Zhang Jiu, unable to withstand such a force, almost fell onto the table. Before he could protest, Zhang Jiu said with a smile, “Xiao Si, my father and eldest brother haven’t returned yet. Please help take care of things at home. The third brother is practically living in the yamen—can’t rely on him.”
Seeing Zhang Jiu glare at him angrily, Zhang Qi nodded and grinned before walking over to Zhang Bi and Zhang Fu. Both were illegitimate sons, often overlooked when counting the Zhang brothers. With their elder brothers each excelling in their own fields, they had devoted themselves wholeheartedly to studying or practicing martial arts without pause. Now, Zhang Qi pulled both of them up, examined them for a while, then cleared his throat.

“Xiao Wu loves reading. There’s nothing I can do to help with that. Xiao Liu is trained in martial arts. My third brother has found you a master who’s rare in the world—again, I can’t help. I don’t have much to give you. For Xiao Wu, it’s ten sets of books. As for Xiao Liu, I’ll give you two people. None of you should refuse them; those books are hard to find in the market, and they’re a gift from someone else. As for the people for Xiao Liu, it’s not me who says it, but my third brother is now a vice minister in the Ministry of War. Although his family has grown, they’re all in the inner courtyard. The outer courtyard consists of ordinary servants who can’t draw too much attention. When needed, they still have to borrow people from the Duke of Ying’s residence. These two have been training with me since they were young; they’re in their twenties now and perfect for training you. They both have families to support, so I don’t want to take them to Liaodong. It’s good that they can accompany you in training.”

Although Lady Sun thought Hongluan didn’t look right—her nose and eyes not quite normal—after all, Zhang Zhuo had been married to her for many years. Their own son had succeeded, and their daughter was grown up, so she never treated that mother and child harshly. Zhang Yue also took good care of this half-brother. His martial arts master was Peng Shisan, and all his food and other necessities were highly nourishing. By now, Zhang Fu was only ten years old, but he was already tall and extremely strong. Zhang Zi’s life had also improved. His father and legitimate mother had gone to Sichuan for official duties, and his elder brother began to support him openly, even introducing him to a scholar in the Hanlin Academy. They were just waiting for him to take the county, prefecture, and imperial exams next year to see if he could earn the title of xiucai.

Therefore, the two of them hurriedly thanked Zhang Qi for his kindness. After giving these instructions, Zhang Qi slapped the stone table hard with his palm, then personally poured all the remaining wine into a large wine jug and drank it all in one gulp. As he got drunk, he couldn’t help but gently tap the stone table while singing.

“This year, the late general truly rises again;
Dreams and poems hold a divine charm.
Burying oneself in horsehide is a trivial matter;
Who else but a tiger can feast on flesh?
Cold battle clouds press down on the miasmic reeds;
A feather fan is waved atop a white hemp cap.
How many more days can I drink heartily?
The moonlight in the western pavilion is fresh tonight.”

It was unknown where Zhang Qi learned that tune. He sang Su Shi’s poem “Hearing Qiao Taibo Promoted to Left Treasury Officer in Qinzhou and Inviting Me to a Drink” in a bold and heroic manner, combined with his drunken, hoarse voice, which deeply moved Zhang Yue. The other three brothers also fell silent. After Zhang Qi finished singing and muttered a few more nonsense words in his drunken state, Zhang Yue immediately stepped forward to help him up, gave Zhang Jiu a signal, and the two brothers carried him out of the thatched pavilion and back to his room.

On her way back to her own home, Du Wan couldn’t help but mention that her second sister-in-law, Zhao Fen, was pregnant. She then sighed softly and said, “One of them is extremely intolerant of restraint, while the other is competitive and won’t yield. Although Second Sister-in-law has been pregnant several times, only one daughter has survived. Just now, when we sisters were together, she, who is usually so outspoken, ended up crying. Even my eldest sister and younger sister-in-laws tried to comfort her without success. In the end, I helped her go to the dressing room at the back, but she told me she regretted things and wished she hadn’t gone to such extremes. I don’t know what she meant. Seeing her so sad, I didn’t dare ask. I should have paid more attention to what was going on with them before.”

“It’s okay. I think Second Brother has been practicing martial arts since he was young, so he harbors some resentment. My Eldest Brother has fought against pirates, but he hardly ever left home. Now that he has sons and daughters, he wants to go out and seek adventure. Second Sister-in-law has a bad temper; maybe things will improve after being apart for a few years. Just now, when Xiao Si and I helped Second Brother back to his room, I heard him muttering that he would never follow Second Uncle’s example and bring such a woman into the family… Anyway, they’re all adults now. They’ll surely handle their own family affairs. It’s not necessarily a good idea for us to interfere. And to be honest, we can’t control it either.”

Zhang Yue thought of Fang Shuixin who had committed suicide in Yunnan and also remembered Zhang Chao’s past heartbreaks. He thought that even if not all members of this family were overly sentimental, they had all suffered similar setbacks related to women, so he couldn’t help shaking his head. After all, they lacked their own good fortune. Could the most important trust between spouses really be established through a simple arranged marriage? Thinking that the Lantern Festival was the next day, he suddenly had an idea.

“Sister Wan, how about we take the kids and go see the lanterns tomorrow?”

Du Wan wasn’t expecting Zhang Yue to bring this up suddenly. She was momentarily stunned but somewhat tempted. Having grown up in the countryside and later traveled far, she naturally liked the sense of freedom outside. Although she was currently confined inside the large house, taking care of her husband and children as a good wife, she longed for such an opportunity to breathe fresh air. After thinking for a while, she asked, “What about our parents and Jing? Also, the lantern festival will be crowded, and with my current health…”

“You… well, I can just call Xiao Wu over. With her around, we won’t have to worry about anything. After all, she’s done this before…” At that point, Zhang Yue held back the words “third wheel” and looked up at the sky with a smile. “You don’t need to worry about our parents. Though they seem like an old couple, as long as I mention it, who knows—maybe Dad will even suggest taking Mom out to see the lanterns. As for Jing… call Xiao Fang and pick a few reliable people to go with them!”
Even though Du Wan knew Zhang Yue was bold, she never expected him to be this daring. If it weren’t for being in the courtyard of their home, she might have reached out to check if he had a fever. But as if sensing her disapproval, Zhang Yue turned to look at her with a smile. “Don’t worry. Since there are people like Liu Xia Hui in the world, Xiao Fang is trustworthy. Besides, I’m not sending my own sister out alone. There are others with her—it’s just adding Xiao Fang as well. Before we get married, we’ve already met more than once…”
Before he could finish, he felt a pain in his arm. Seeing Du Wan glaring at him, he quickly changed the subject. As he had expected, just mentioning it in front of their parents made Zhang Zhuo immediately ask Mrs. Sun if she wanted to go too. Soon, the couple started discussing it among themselves, responding with “Mm-hmm” no matter what Zhang Yue said. As for Zhang Jing, when Zhang Yue pulled her aside to explain, she almost popped out her eyes in shock.
“Bro, you’re not… joking, are you? He… he keeps blushing whenever he sees me!”
“What joking? You don’t spend much time with your brother Xiao Fang. This is a good chance—can’t you take it to talk more? He’s shy, but he can’t stay shy forever. If he blushes but you don’t, that’s fine, right?”
With that, Zhang Yue took Du Wan and left Zhang Jing behind, not even checking if his little sister’s face was red in the cold weather. When they returned to the house and explained everything, it sparked cheers from everyone. Jing Guan was purely happy, San San followed along to join in the fun, Qiu Hen Hu Bo was delighted to finally be able to go to the Lantern Festival after not leaving home for a long time. As for the others in the house, it was because Du Wan said that the maids in the courtyard would take turns off work over the next five days, allowing them to go together to see the lanterns, as long as they didn’t return late. Thus, the entire mansion was filled with joy.

The Zhang family was preparing to celebrate the Lantern Festival joyfully, but the Yang family in Xiao Shi Yong Fang was not so lively. Although they were granted the same leave, Yang Shiqi, preoccupied with countless affairs, did not return home until evening. The first thing he did upon returning was to call Yang Ji to his study, but he said not a word, merely staring at him coldly. It was not until his son knelt down and confessed everything about the previous incident that his tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

“Do you realize your mistake?”

Recalling the message sent by Zhang Yue earlier, Yang Ji clenched his fists tightly before nodding and saying, “I realize my mistake. I shouldn’t have thought that just because I didn’t flaunt my father’s status everywhere, people wouldn’t recognize me; nor should I have thought that I could succeed without relying on my father and still have people praise my abilities… I am part of the Yang family—our honor and shame are one. If this matter gets out, it will affect my father as well. Even if I don’t want to become an official through studying, I should at least read more books to understand right from wrong.”

Such words from anyone else would not be surprising, but they came from his own ignorant son! Yang Shiqi felt his anger diminish by seventy percent all at once, and his urge to impose family discipline wavered as well. After asking Yang Ji a few more questions and seeing that his responses were no longer carefree and indifferent, he finally sighed.

“For a month, you must stay at home and not go out. Serve your mother well. If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be sick like this! Reflect carefully. If this happens again, you won’t get away so easily as you did this time. It’s fortunate you have friends willing to help; otherwise… you would have truly committed a grave mistake!”