Shen Yuning pondered for a while but couldn't figure it out. The only thing that could delay a marriage was the passing of an elder, and the children had to observe mourning. Chen Wenwei's letter didn't mention anything about Grandma Xue's situation, so it was probably related to the Crown Prince Tang.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She was just an ordinary person. Her grandma had raised her until she was fifteen. Even after her niece Xiaorou came back, her grandma's love for her remained unchanged. Naturally, she hoped that her grandma would live a long and peaceful life.
She continued to read the letter, which later described the emperor's actions in the past few months. Shen Yuning couldn't help but laugh. That day when the emperor came in person, she had been too impulsive. As an ordinary merchant's daughter, what right did she have to ask the current emperor to change a centuries - old code?
But at that time, she thought that the opportunity to meet the emperor was rare, so she had to voice all her concerns.
Fortunately, the emperor was willing to listen to her. As long as the court intervened in the investigation of gambling dens, even if the cancer that harmed the people couldn't be completely eradicated, new laws could surely be formulated. In the future, when local governments governed, they would have rules to follow and wouldn't be as restricted as Chen Wenwei.
At the end of the letter, it described what Chen Wenwei was currently dealing with. Due to natural disasters in various places in previous years, the court had reduced taxes in many areas, and a large amount of money had been allocated for disaster relief. Now the national treasury was terribly empty, and the accounts in the Ministry of Revenue couldn't even be balanced.
Chen Wenwei self - deprecatingly said that when he was in the local area before, he only thought that it was difficult for the common people and wished he could exempt the people from taxes every year. Now that he was back in the capital and working in the Ministry of Revenue, he realized that the court also had its difficulties. On one hand, it had to find ways to raise money, and on the other hand, it had to consider various expenses. It was really tough.
When Shen Yuning read the words in Chen Wenwei's letter, where he vowed to work hard and share the emperor's and the Great Zhou's burdens, she couldn't help but curl her lips. She thought that this childhood sworn brother was truly an outstanding young man.
However, this shy smile on her face was quite an eyesore to the young man beside her. He reached out to take the letter and said with a straight face, urging his sister that she had been using her eyes all day and it was time for a good rest.
Shen Yuning didn't say anything. She followed Xuanzhi out of the study and sighed, "I don't know how many of us still hold onto our original aspirations among those grand ambitions we had when we were kids. Counting it up, they are all moving towards their goals, while I've fallen far behind."
This kind of melancholy was just like when childhood playmates made promises to each other, but some couldn't keep them when they grew up.
Xuanzhi's tense mouth never relaxed. Seeing that Shen Yuning was about to go to the back yard and he couldn't follow, he stopped and called out, "Yuning."
These days, Xuanzhi sometimes called her sister, but often called her by her name.
Shen Yuning didn't really care. She looked back at him and asked, "What's up?"
Xuanzhi pursed his lips and said, "In recent years, the Yunfan tribe has been invading. I'm afraid there will be a tough battle for the Great Zhou next year. I want to join the army."
This news was quite unexpected. Shen Yuning had always focused on the internal affairs of the Great Zhou and had never thought about external threats.
Subconsciously, she asked, "How do you know the Yunfan tribe is invading?"
Xuanzhi didn't answer. He walked to a tree beside. The bright moonlight shone down, highlighting the lines of his face. He had thick eyebrows and a straight nose, and the childishness on his face had almost completely faded. In this light, one could even see the Adam's apple on his neck.
Suddenly, Shen Yuning realized again that this young man had grown up.
Xuanzhi slowly said, "I heard the news a long time ago, but I've been hesitating. I heard what you said during the day and thought it over carefully. If I want to pursue something, the best way is to join the army."
Shen Yuning opened her mouth, wanting to say that the battlefield was dangerous and unpredictable, but facing the grown - up young man, she couldn't say a single word.
Xuanzhi continued, "I had a hard time when I was a kid, drifting from place to place. Even in such a situation, my adoptive father never gave up on my upbringing. He said... he said that since I'm from a noble family, I should shoulder my responsibilities. The country and the family are both my responsibilities."
Shen Yuning knew that Xuanzhi was from the Jiang family, but she never expected that his adoptive father had taught him like this. As descendants of a noble family, the country and the family were their responsibilities. Even though the Jiang family had been ransacked and executed for a crime many years ago, and even though the Jiang family no longer existed, in the hearts of the Jiang family's descendants, the country and the family were still their responsibilities.
She was extremely shocked. What kind of patriotism was this that made the Jiang family members still contribute themselves until their deaths?
For no reason, a sense of guilt welled up in her heart. The case of the Jiang family had caused quite a stir. Even her grandfather said that there was a miscarriage of justice in it. However, the Xue family, whose head was the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review in charge of major criminal cases, hadn't been able to overturn the case for the Jiang family.
Whose responsibility was the country and the family after all? Wasn't it the responsibility of all the common people?
Shen Yuning didn't say anything to stop him. She just looked at him with a bit of reluctance and asked, "Have you made up your mind?"
The young man nodded seriously and said, "I've made up my mind."
"Then you go to sign up tomorrow. I'll go to the Baoen Temple."
Xuanzhi knew what she was going to do in the temple. Before going to the battlefield, family members would go to the temple to worship Buddha, get a safety amulet, and hang it on their loved ones as a token, praying for their safe return.
Xuanzhi smiled slightly and said, "If you're free, just rest at home. Why go to the temple? Besides, I don't believe in those things. On the battlefield, it's all about strength and luck."
Seeing that he was about to talk nonsense, Shen Yuning quickly shouted and said angrily, "Don't talk nonsense. Who can tell about luck? I can't stop you from defending the country, but you're my younger brother. All I can do is rely on the Buddha to bless you to be safe."
The smile on Xuanzhi's face suddenly disappeared, and he resumed his previous expression of keeping his mouth tense and not saying a word.
Shen Yuning didn't notice. She still rambled on, "Just remember that you're going to defend the Great Zhou. Although you're smart and have studied military strategies since childhood, you're still just a rookie. Don't try to be a hero, and don't think about seeking a bright future. Do you understand?"
Seeing that Xuanzhi seemed to be in a daze, she angrily slapped him on the arm and said, "Did you hear me? Now I'm a rural princess. Even if you have no merits or official positions, I can support you. I don't expect you to achieve great things. I just hope you'll be safe and sound and come back to see us in the future."
Xuanzhi came to his senses after being slapped by her. Hearing her nagging words, there was a bit of a smile in his eyes. He said, "I know. Don't worry. I've grown up. I'm no longer a kid."
Shen Yuning rolled her eyes and said, "I've watched you grow up. No matter how old you are, you're still my younger brother."
A sense of loss welled up in Xuanzhi's heart. Just as he was about to speak, there was a noise beside them.
It was Uncle Zhang. He was covering his waist and limping over. He asked, "It's so late. Why aren't you sleeping? What are you doing?"
Xuanzhi quickly stepped forward to support him and asked, "Where did you go? How did this happen?"
Uncle Zhang pouted and muttered, "I went to the street today. The fortune - teller there said there would be trouble at home. I thought it meant it was going to rain in a few days. I remembered that there was a missing tile on the tile - roofed house and it needed to be repaired, or it would leak later. Who would have thought that I sprained my back while doing this."
Shen Yuning asked with concern, "You sprained your back? Is it serious? You could have waited for my brother to do this during the day. You're at this age. Why aren't you more careful? The tile - roofed house is so high. What if something happened?"
Uncle Zhang felt that he couldn't live this way anymore. Clearly, he was the eldest elder in the family and clearly he was still strong and healthy, but everyone in the family treated him like an old sick man and was afraid that he would get hurt.
He raised his eyebrows and wanted to scold them angrily as usual. But when he met Shen Yuning's concerned eyes, he couldn't say a single scolding word.
It seemed that she was right. One couldn't defy old age. He was really not as good as before when it came to such heavy and strenuous work.
So Uncle Zhang laughed and said, "It won't happen. Your uncle is still very strong."
The strong - bodied Uncle Zhang couldn't get out of bed the next day and was moaning on the bed. This scared Zhang Rong so much that she quickly ran to find a doctor.
The doctor in the medical clinic frowned and said, "The doctor in our clinic who treats injuries from falls and blows has gone back to his hometown on business and will come back tomorrow."
Zhang Rong asked anxiously, "My father's back hurts so much that he can't get out of bed. How can we wait until tomorrow? Isn't there any other doctor?"
The young doctor thought for a while and replied, "There's an old man named Hu in Zhuangkou Village in the western suburbs. He has a family - inherited acupuncture and massage technique. You might as well go and ask him."
The western suburbs were a bit far from here, but Zhang Rong didn't mind at all. She quickly rented a bull - cart and rushed there. The old Hu was at home drinking wine.
When old Hu followed Zhang Rong back and saw Uncle Zhang lying on the bed, he took out some medicinal liquor, rolled up his sleeves, and started massaging. At first, Uncle Zhang howled like a pig being slaughtered, but soon his howls turned into moans of comfort.
Seeing this, Shen Fugui finally felt relieved and said, "He's just like this. He won't feel comfortable if he doesn't cause some trouble one day. Hey, Yuning, didn't you say you were going out? Why haven't you gone yet?"
Shen Yuning shook her head and said, "I originally wanted to go to the temple to get a safety amulet for Xuanzhi. But this kind of thing requires sincerity. I've delayed for so long, so I'm not sincere anymore. I can only go another day."
Hearing this, old Hu wiped the sweat off his head and asked, "Xuanzhi? Are you the owners of Shen's Embroidery Workshop?"
Uncle Zhang relaxed and asked, "Do you know Xuanzhi in my family?"
Old Hu pushed Uncle Zhang impatiently, went to wash his hands, and asked impatiently, "Your Xuanzhi comes to my house every day, buys good wine and meat, and tricks me into teaching him my family - inherited craft. Although he hasn't fully learned it yet, it's easy for him to deal with your sprain. Why did you still come to call me to massage you?"
Shen Yuning and Shen Fugui looked at each other in surprise and quickly asked, "Doctor Hu, do you mean that Xuanzhi in my family has been missing for half a month because he went to learn from you secretly?"
Old Hu laughed and waved his hand, saying, "It's not really learning secretly. My father said that this craft is just for making a living. It mainly depends on strength. There's no such thing as learning secretly or not. That kid Xuanzhi is smart. As soon as I explain, he understands. I originally wanted to take him as my apprentice, but he didn't want to. By the way, he said there was someone in the family who sat at a desk for a long time and had a sore neck and shoulders. Who was he talking about?"