Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2581: Atonement for Sins 44.0
"Indeed." Shen Haolin nodded and looked at Xue Ruitian and Bai Meng. "Not to mention you, even the few of us must bring people with us before we go out. Otherwise, we can only stay in the house obediently."

"That's right." Bai Meng rolled his eyes. "You all know that my grandfather said that because of this incident, the entire Xijing City was under martial law. I didn't expect that they arrested people for several days in a row. Not only did they catch the assassin, but they also caught many guys with ulterior motives."

"Are you up to your own motives?" Shen Cha was stunned. "Are you a spy from a foreign tribe?"

"Indeed." Bai Meng nodded towards Shen Cha, "There were also kidnappers, petty thieves and so on. During that period, the cells of Jingzhao Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice were filled to the brim, which caused great dissatisfaction among the people of Jingzhao Prefecture and the Ministry of Justice."

"I've heard about that, too." Shen Haolin sneered, "The capital city in the first month of the year is a place where all kinds of people gather, it's very chaotic." He looked at Shen Cha who looked confused, and explained, "You remember that it was the New Year during that period, and there were a lot of people on the street. Many people from the counties, towns and villages near Xijing City came to Xijing City, and there were all kinds of people here, many of them kidnapped children, and many petty thieves wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune. As for the spies from other tribes, the entry and exit checks in the capital city at that time were not too strict, and if they had their own connections, they could easily sneak in, so..." He sighed again, "It was also the most nervous time for the commander-in-chief and his men."

"Yes, when I was a kid, I liked celebrating the New Year and other festivals, but when I grew up, I didn't like them anymore, and even felt a little disgusted with them."

Bai Meng finished her mutton soup, then served herself a bowl of diced meat fried rice. She symbolically picked up a piece of stewed vegetables next to it and put it on the fried rice. This plate of green stew was placed on the table. Except for Shen Cha who liked it and took a few more pieces with his chopsticks, no one else touched it.

He was about to say something when he saw Shen Cha waving at him and pointing at the plate of stew that almost no one was interested in. He put down the bowl in his hand, stood up, and brought the bowl of stew to Shen Cha.

"That's right!" Xue Ruitian clapped his hands with him and said, "When I think about the New Year, I feel tired."

"It's still good for you guys out there. After all, you don't have to interact with these people in Beijing in advance. That's the most tiring thing." Bai Meng rolled his eyes. "But after my grandfather passed away, I used the excuse of being busy and never interacted with them again. I accepted the New Year gifts from people as usual, and then gave back the same amount. As for those banquets, I avoided them if I could, and didn't go if I couldn't."

"Isn't this the same as us?" Shen Cha raised an eyebrow. "It's the same this time when we go back. We don't go if we can. We're not familiar with each other, and there's nothing to talk about."

"Who says it's not? But I didn't know it when I was a kid. I was quite happy when I was a kid."

"What did you know as a kid? You didn't know anything except playing. You thought adults were making a fuss, right?"

"Yes, not only that, but I also complain about why the adults are so busy and I don't see them every day. I have no idea what will happen in the month before and after the New Year, and why the adults are so on high alert. Since I took over the patrol camp and the imperial guards and took charge of the security of the entire Xijing City, I realized how naive and stupid I was back then." He walked back to his seat, stuffed the vegetables on the fried rice into his mouth and chewed them, and continued, "I remember one year in the first month of the year, we caught about eight kidnappers disguised as beggars, more than 20 thieves, and countless fights. Some people got drunk and fought over a disagreement, some fought over a bad mood, and... Well, in short, there are all kinds of reasons, all of which are trivial matters." As he spoke, he looked at Shen Cha who was eating stew, and said with a smile, "Xiao Cha, is it..."

"Hmm!" Shen Cha and Merlin looked at each other and sighed at the same time. "During the Chinese New Year, fights between neighbors are the most common. There are all kinds of reasons. The most outrageous one is..." She looked at Merlin, "What was it?" "This family said they stayed up too late the day before, so they wanted to sleep a little longer. But the neighbors started setting off firecrackers early in the morning and didn't stop for an hour. They couldn't stand it anymore, so they went out to argue with the neighbors. The neighbors were also unreasonable and threw the lit firecrackers into the yard. As a result..." Merlin shrugged helplessly and said, "then they started fighting."

"This is not outrageous at all. What is outrageous is that a family fought over whether to eat the head or the tail of a fish. The elder brother broke the younger brother's head, and the younger brother pinned the elder brother to the ground and beat him." Bai Meng sighed, "Later, I went to the palace to pay my respects and told His Majesty and the Queen what happened outside. The Queen said that this was not a matter of eating the head or the tail of the fish. It was just a deep-seated grudge that they used this as an excuse to fight."

"Too."

Merlin nodded, looked at Song Yaojia who was listening with great interest, and chuckled. Her laughter attracted Eagle Leopard, Eagle Falcon and Shao Bai who had been talking about martial arts.

"What are you talking about that makes you laugh like this? Tell us about it and let us have some fun."

Merlin spoke briefly, raised his eyebrows at Leopard Eagle and Falcon Eagle, and asked them to express their thoughts as well.

"Isn't this common? Not just in the first month of the year, but whenever there's a festival, there's chaos and disorder." Yingbao looked at Bai Meng and said cheerfully, "In the first two years after the commander-in-chief took office, His Majesty and the three princes of our family all came to me and asked me to help keep an eye on things to avoid a big mess. After all, when our prince and His Majesty were still the crown princes, they ran into trouble during the Lantern Festival, and those people in the family were quite worried. Even the Queen Mother specially summoned my eldest son to the palace and asked us to help with the patrol camp and the imperial guards."

"That's right." Bai Meng nodded, picked up his bowl of mutton soup, and toasted to Yingbao and Yingshuan. "In the first two years, we were really busy every year. If it weren't for the generals' help in secret, who knows how much trouble we would have caused and how big a mess we would have made." He drank a sip of hot mutton soup with Yingbao and Yingshuan, and continued, "Later, I said I would treat the generals to a meal to express my gratitude, but everyone was busy, and it was delayed until today that we had the opportunity to have a proper meal at the same table."

"Who said it wasn't!" Yingbao sighed, looked at Song Yaojia, and touched his chin. "My Lord, I suddenly understand why you followed me here. Are you still thinking about the beautiful girl we rescued last time, so you don't want to attend the Spring Banquet?"

"You're right!" Bai Meng winked at Yingbao and said with a smile, "You also remember the time when the hero saved the beauty?"

"I know. I am also one of the parties involved." Yingbao looked at Song Yaojia, who nodded. He cleared his throat and said, "Then let me tell you about that incident?"

"Tell me, tell me!" Xue Ruitian looked at him curiously, "Why did you save the beauty?"

"Because." Song Yaojia snorted coldly, "Some ignorant guy wanted to rob her."