Section 12: Farewell and Visitors

Cheng Chumo was fully armored, and his dark armor was inconspicuous in comparison to the bright armor of the other generals. Who knew that every piece of armor on his body was made of tempered steel? Yun Ye specially dipped each piece of armor in fire to increase its hardness, and then cleaned it with sulfuric acid to make it dull, so that he didn’t have to worry about the armor rusting. The armor weighs only 30 catties, which is considered light armor for Cheng Chumo, but the protective ability has been improved by more than one level. Fish scale armor is the most suitable type of armor for Cheng Chumo.

Yun Ye also made a visor for his helmet. Two pieces of pure crystal were inlaid on the helmet to prevent him from being blinded by the wind and sand in battle. The sunglasses brought from the future are now the favorite of Old Cheng, and even Mrs. Cheng can’t touch them casually.

Cheng Chumo’s arrows were replaced with sharp three-edged arrows, also known as armor-piercing arrows. With the help of the three-dan bow, Yun Ye did not think that the Turkic leather armor could withstand it. The white silk underwear was doubled, and it was said that this thing could effectively block the arrow cluster, but I don’t know if it’s true.

Lao Cheng only received orders to protect the pass this time, and he was also frustrated that he would not be able to fight on the grasslands.

Cheng Chumo left with two horses and fifty attendants.

Yun Ye immediately went up to the mound and watched as Xiao Cheng gradually merged into the main body of the troops before riding home.

On the way, he met Old Cheng, who was accompanied by only two servants. He looked sad, sitting on the roots of an old tree by the side of the road, drinking from a flask.

“Come over.” Old Cheng had nothing else to say, but he just handed Yun Ye the wine flask in his hand. He silently took the flask and took a big sip. The spicy wine was like a knife cutting his throat.

“Back to the city or home?”

“Go home.”

“That’s fine. Tomorrow I’ll send Chu Liang and Chu Bi to Yushan.” Old Cheng made up his mind with a gritted teeth.

“This is not a good time. Auntie will be sad.”

“Sad? You have to be sad when you marry an old man. We risk our lives for a better future. Today it’s you, tomorrow it’s him. Someone is always risking their lives. A bird can’t always be kept in a cage. It will become a waste. The Cheng family dares not have any waste. If a disaster occurs, it will be fatal. You take good care of them. If something happens, I will hold you responsible.” After he finished speaking, he got on his horse, loosened the reins, and the war horse snorted lightly and galloped along the official road.

Zhuang San stopped far behind Yun Ye, watching him idly whip the roadside grass with a horse whip, occasionally singing a few words in a language he didn’t understand, and even drawing a bow and aiming at the eagle circling high in the sky. Old Zhuang knew that the marquis’s bow was a soft bow with only one stone, and it couldn’t even shoot the eagle in the sky, but he knew that the marquis was unhappy, and very unhappy.

After walking 50 miles, Yun Ye was exhausted. He didn’t want to ride a horse, but he wanted to drain his energy. He overestimated his physical strength and didn’t want to show weakness in front of Zhuang Santing, so he could only bite his teeth and walk forward step by step.

At first, he was distressed that Cheng Chumo had gone to the battlefield early, but later the pain in his feet overshadowed the discomfort in his mind. Later, he just walked for the sake of walking, and he had forgotten who Cheng Chumo was.

The iron body that had been trained to walk eighty miles a day was ruined by the rich life of the Tang Dynasty. Old Cheng was right. He was now a weak scholar. He had trained in Longyou for a few days, but he had never trained systematically in Chang’an for a day. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to train, but he had been completely discouraged.

You can play with a 50-jin stone weight and get a round of applause at the Yun family, but you will be despised at the Niu family, chased out of the Cheng family, and thought to be amusing at the Yuchi family. From time to time, a 200-jin stone weight will be thrown at you for you to catch, and then thrown back at you.

This is a world of inhumanity, not a place for noble people like me. Let’s not use our physical strength anymore, look at these white and tender arms, these thin thighs full of fat, how good!

When his aunt came in to give him a bath, Yun Ye hid in the wooden tub and desperately resisted, refusing to let his aunt bathe him. He was all grown up, but she still treated him like a child. His aunt was a little sad.

The feeling of being spoiled, especially being spoiled by others, is the most beautiful feeling in life. No wonder wives in later generations always make cat-like sounds, which is a kind of moan that is extremely comfortable.

Sometimes when I woke up in the morning, my underwear was sticky, so I would hide in the house and wash my underwear like a thief, which always attracted the teasing laughter of my aunts and uncles.

I can’t use a maid, especially a personal maid. Grandma arranged it for me and even bought a high-end one from a human baby. However, Yun Ye couldn’t even look at a 12 or 13-year-old girl like a beast, and having a relationship with an underage girl was something he rejected from the bottom of his heart.

Without paying attention to the aches and pains all over his body, he waited at the door early in the morning for Lao Cheng to send Chu Liang and Chu Bi to come over.

When the two brothers arrived, they couldn’t find Lao Cheng, and even Mrs. Cheng wasn’t there. It was only after asking that they learned that Lao Cheng didn’t want his family to send him off, saying that it would upset him to see people off, and that women crying and whining would be even more annoying.

The two boys had no sign of sadness, but were full of excitement, saying that they had run from home in an hour. There was no need to ask, just look at the two horses, all wet, to know how fast they had run.

You little brats, you’re excited, aren’t you? I’ll give you to Liu Er for preschool education, and I don’t believe you’ll be excited for long. Yun Ye was still upset about the two boys laughing at him in the Cheng family.

Today, a great scholar from the distant Shu came to Chang’an for academic exchanges and came to visit his old friend after everything was done.

Mr. Yushan had already arranged for the Yun family chef to be on standby, and he also sent an old servant to come to the house in a bullock cart to transport wine, saying that his old friend liked wine the most, and that it was natural to drink hard when they finally met.

It wasn’t just one person, but a delegation of ten people, young and old. The leader was named Yang Shou, and it was rumored that he was a descendant of the great scholar Yang Xiong. His ancestors wrote the monumental work “Fayan,” and he was also the owner of the famous short essay “Loushi Ming,” which mentioned the Xishu Ziyun Pavilion. His family’s pedigree was not to be underestimated.

The complicated etiquette almost made Yun Ye collapse. For a simple greeting, he repeated it ten times, with his hands in fists and thumbs up, bending down 90 degrees, not in a hurry, but slowly.

The four old gentlemen in the academy seemed to be enjoying themselves. They were meticulous in their bows, and they deliberately sat on the carpet with their knees bent, their hands on their thighs, and only moved their mouths, without moving their bodies, just like two Japanese people.

I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I apologized and said that I had arranged for you to eat, sleep, and travel, and I ran out. I told the butler, Qian Tong, who looked envious, to go in and serve, and I went to my dormitory and lay on the bed to relieve the aching lumbar spine.

When Yun Ye had slept for an hour, the butler came to wake him up to attend the banquet, and kept saying that he had benefited a lot.

I don’t know what kind of education he received, but he actually despised his master, who was ignorant and unlearned, and kept praising the famous scholars in Shu, saying that they were truly worthy of their reputation. Mr. Li Gang, Mr. Yushan, Mr. Yuan Zhang, and Mr. Lishi were arguing in the book pavilion, and there were many students cheering for their own masters.

Mr. Yang Shou from Shuzhong was not to be outdone, and he gave a lecture on the Analects that was so impressive that it really moved him.