allonlinenovel Chapter 333 This night was as lively as Chinese New Year.
Chapter 333 This night was as lively as Chinese New Year.
Jinyang City. Headquarters of the Heavenly Dao Alliance.
Hu Junfeng, who has now taken over as the leader of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, is sitting alone in his study.
In the flickering candlelight, his expression was solemn. He slowly put down the letter in his hand, stood up, and paced back and forth.
Time flies, Hu Junfeng frowned and thought deeply.
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, his eyes lit up, his brows relaxed, he stopped, quickly walked to his desk, picked up a piece of paper, and began to write a letter with a flourish.
He quickly wrote three letters, put them in envelopes, and stamped them with the Heavenly Alliance's unique wax seal.
"Somebody come!"
Hu Junfeng shouted loudly towards the door.
The door opened immediately, and a spirited young man strode up to Hu Junfeng, clasped his hands in a respectful greeting.
"Alliance Leader, what are your orders?"
Hu Junfeng handed the three letters to the energetic young man, then took out three Heavenly Alliance tokens from a hidden compartment in his desk and handed them to the young man as well, giving him solemn instructions.
"Hurry up and deliver these three letters to the Free and Unfettered Sect, the Ghost Valley Sect, and the Iron Sword Manor! Remember, you must be quick!"
The energetic young man carefully tucked the three letters into his pocket, gripped the token tightly, and immediately responded:
"Yes! I obey my orders!"
Having said that, he immediately turned around and strode away.
Hu Junfeng stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the flickering candlelight, and suddenly smiled.
"Your Highness, Your Highness's Wisdom, we'll be meeting again! I can't wait!"
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Under the blazing sun, even the cicadas seemed listless from the heat, emitting weak and uneven chirps.
Cicadas... cicadas...
Inside the bedroom of Prince Cheng's residence.
Gu Jiancheng was heading to Fengcheng early the next morning and was currently checking his luggage.
Strangely, Princess Ma Zhenzhen was not there; only Gu Jiancheng and the head guard Xu Hu were in the room.
Xu Hu frowned as he looked at the large bundle spread out on the table.
A large jar of pickled vegetables, a large pot of sauce, a large bag of beef jerky, a large bag of pork jerky, and two large bags of dried vegetables.
Xu Hu couldn't help but scratch his head.
"The princess has already collected so many things from her family home, what is she going back to get today?"
"Pancakes."
A smile appeared in Gu Jiancheng's eyes. He picked up a piece of beef jerky, put it in his mouth and chewed it, then handed one to Xu Hu.
"They said they'd have my mother-in-law make me some flatbreads. I'll eat the ones with fillings on the way, in case they spoil, but the ones without fillings can last for a few days. I'll roll them up with scallions and dip them in sauce when the time comes."
Xu Hu chewed on the fragrant beef jerky, still staring at the large pile of bottles and jars.
"There's so much, can we finish it all?"
"Won't you brothers help us eat? I'm just worried there won't be enough to go around!"
Gu Jiancheng smiled slightly and placed the bundle of dried meat into Xu Hu's arms.
"These jerky pieces were distributed among the brothers."
Xu Hu immediately grinned from ear to ear.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, and thank you, Princess!"
After saying that, Xu Hu happily grabbed his bundle and ran out.
Gu Jiancheng reached out and touched the pickle jar, letting out a soft sigh.
He had long sensed that something was wrong with Ma Zhenzhen. Every time she spoke, her eyes would well up with tears, and she would turn around and say she wanted to go back to her parents' home.
He even went so far as to ask his mother-in-law to prepare more food for him to eat on the road.
He was going to lead troops into battle, not to go sightseeing, so he couldn't possibly carry so much food with him. He had no choice but to share it with his brothers.
Thinking that after lunch he had only told Ma Zhenzhen a few words not to worry about her and to take good care of their son at home, Ma Zhenzhen's eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she turned and ran away without saying a word.
Gu Jiancheng wasn't stupid; he understood that Ma Zhenzhen didn't want to cry in front of him, which was why she made various excuses to go back to her parents' home.
He was also unwilling to be separated from the mother and son, but as a prince, he had an inescapable duty to be ordered by the emperor to lead troops to the front lines.
Gu Jiancheng shook his head with a wry smile, then turned and left the dormitory.
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Ma Baoguojia
In the kitchen, Li Cuihua was flipping pancakes over and over, and soon finished one, scooping it onto a plate with a spatula.
In the cradle behind him, Gu Huaien was taking a sweet afternoon nap.
Ma Zhenzhen and Ma Baoguo sat facing each other at the dinner table, their eyes brimming with tears.
"Father, I don't want to see him off tomorrow morning. Do you think he'll be upset with me?"
"You're pretending to be asleep? Why don't you just not go back tonight, have a couple of drinks with Dad, and get yourself completely drunk?"
Li Cuihua chuckled twice and placed a new pancake into the griddle.
"Look at the terrible idea you gave our daughter, it's so unreliable!"
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Ma Baoguo wiped away his tears and turned to look at Li Cuihua.
"My daughter will definitely cry her eyes out when she sees him off tomorrow. It would be so embarrassing if His Majesty and the others saw her like that!"
Then he wiped away another tear.
"I've already sent all four of my sons away, and now I have to send off my only son-in-law. I don't want to go tomorrow either."
"If you don't want to go, then you don't have to go. What's the big deal? So many important officials from the court will see you off, and His Majesty will be there too. No one will gossip if the two of you are not there."
Li Cuihua flipped the pancake over again. Smelling the aroma of the pancake, her listless mood improved considerably.
It is said that a son-in-law is like half a son, and her son-in-law was no different from her son. She was very worried, but seeing the father and daughter crying, Li Cuihua could only save her tears for the rest of the night.
“But I want to see him off…” Ma Zhenzhen began to hum.
Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Ma Baoguo's arm.
"Father, why do we have to fight a war? I can't bear to see my family's Jiancheng go!"
The family of three didn't notice that Gu Jiancheng had already pushed open the half-closed courtyard gate, quietly walked to the kitchen door, and hid by the door.
He heard Ma Zhenzhen's questioning, her unrestrained crying, Ma Baoguo's sighs, and Li Cuihua's soft words of comfort.
His eyes filled with tears, and in a moment, the tears fell silently. Only when Ma Zhenzhen's crying in the kitchen gradually subsided did Gu Jiancheng quietly leave.
He tiptoed back to the courtyard gate, wiped the tears from his face as if he had just arrived, gently knocked on the gate, and called out in a slightly cheerful voice.
"Dad! Mom! I've come to pick up Zhenzhen!"
He then pushed open the door and entered. The three people in the kitchen, hearing his voice, hurriedly came out of the kitchen, all with smiles on their faces, as if the tearful scene from just now had never happened.
Ma Zhenzhen asked with a shy smile.
"How did you come?"
They still looked the same as when they first met, and nothing had changed.
Gu Jiancheng suddenly changed his mind and decided he didn't want to take Ma Zhenzhen back to the mansion.
He took Ma Zhenzhen's hand and followed the two elders into the kitchen.
"Wow! It smells so good!"
Li Cuihua reacted quickly, breaking off a piece of cake and feeding it to Gu Jiancheng.
"Eat as much as you like!"
Chewing on the hot pancake, Gu Jiancheng felt warm inside. He first looked at Ma Zhenzhen with concern, then at Ma Baoguo.
"Father, I'm sorry to bother you. I'll have a couple of drinks with you later!"
"That's great!" Li Cuihua laughed heartily. "I'll make you two snacks to go with your drinks! Scrambled eggs! And there are braised pork ribs in the pot!"
Ma Zhenzhen quietly tugged at Gu Jiancheng's sleeve.
"We're setting off tomorrow, so drink less."
"It's alright, we won't go back to the manor tonight. We'll have a good get-together when everyone gets back! You can sleep in tomorrow morning, no need to see me off. I'm at ease with your parents by your side!"
Upon hearing this, tears welled up in Ma Zhenzhen's eyes again, but she quickly smiled.
"Okay, it's all up to you."
"Alright, alright! It's been a long time since we've had a drink together, so let's consider this a farewell toast! Wishing you great success in advance!"
After saying this, Ma Baoguo put his arm around Gu Jiancheng's shoulder, and like two good brothers, they walked out of the kitchen together.
"Come on, let's go to the study and cook a couple of dishes first. We'll come over after they've prepared some snacks to go with their drinks! We'll have a nice meal!"
"Your son-in-law obeys!"
Gu Jiancheng said with a smile.
On the night before the expedition, Ma Baoguo's country was as lively as if it were Chinese New Year, and the festivities lasted until very late.
The sisters-in-law surrounded Ma Zhenzhen, chatting amongst themselves, never mentioning Gu Jiancheng's expedition, but only talking about parenting, the soon-to-be-opened private school, and their usual interesting experiences.
There was constant laughter and laughter.
Meanwhile, Ma Baoguo and Ma Liu accompanied Gu Jiancheng, sharing a drink and a bite of food, discussing the increasingly prosperous Xia Kingdom, its politics, and the people's livelihood.
After the children had eaten their fill, they ran around and played wildly in the yard.
Gu Huaien kicked his little legs frantically in Li Cuihua's arms, babbling incoherently, trying to join his brothers.
Suddenly, some mischievous kid found a string of firecrackers and lit it with a tinderbox.
Crackling sounds! Crackling sounds!
Gu Jiancheng looked at the merrily playing children and thought that he would protect their carefree childhood.
Just like his fathers, he also fought bloody battles to protect the people of the world.