My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 647: Amorous Gathering

On the last two days of September, scouts from the Sakpruit Empire traveled back and forth to the east of Nongma City and witnessed the Seris army coming from the south and east converging in the wilderness.

On the huge ancestral coffin carriage, Su Chen was dressed in military uniform, with his cloak and helmet tassels fluttering in the wind.

The Great Xia Dragon Bird was hanging at his waist, and the soldiers around him were moving around, raising a cloud of dust. Su Chen looked ahead and to the left and right, and saw a dark army extending from south to north as if there was no end. In the further direction, there were countless Mongolian cavalry rushing forward.

The knights on the grassland let out excited and fierce shouts.

“After nearly a year, the north and south finally merged.”

Su Chen seemed to be saying to Dian Wei and Xu Chu on his left and right, "I have dreamt of moments like this countless times while on the march."

"Did you have a dream?"

Dian Wei and Xu Chu shook their heads. They were the kind of people who fell asleep as soon as they lay down, so it was not possible for them to have so many dreams.

"It doesn't matter if I didn't have the dream. Now it's time to deal the final blow to the Sakprut Empire. Let's go and meet up with Wu Anjun, Li Shuai and the others. I'm sure they've been waiting for a long time."

The royal flags and ya flags of Xia, Su, Lu, Xiang, Han, etc., guarded the largest dragon flag and moved forward.

Excluding the troops left for Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei to guard the rear, as well as the wounded, Su Chen still had 80,000 troops under his command, spread out back and forth, with no end in sight.

Soon after.

Su Chen met the generals of the two armies.

A group of generals, led by Li Jing and Bai Qi, including Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huo Qubing, Zhao Yun, Yuchi Gong, Qin Qiong, Hou Junji and others, were already waiting here.

"Everyone, long time no see!"

Su Chen stepped down from the coffin carriage and greeted him with a smile. All the generals on the opposite side bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"No need to be so polite, just get up quickly."

Su Chen calmed down, walked forward and lifted up their hands one by one, and looked at each of them carefully.

When it came to Li Yuanba, Su Chen half-jokingly said, "Why does it seem like Yuanba has gained a lot of weight in just one year?"

"Ah? Is there any?"

Li Yuanba lowered his head to see that his belly was indeed slightly bulging. He pinched his arm, then raised his head and muttered, "He must have gained a lot of weight after hiding in the valley for half a year. But it doesn't matter. After killing him a few times, his belly will go down."

"It's good for people who are on the march and fighting to keep fat." Su Chen patted his arms, then pointed to the carriage behind him: "Your second brother has been waiting for a long time, go over and reminisce about the past."

Li Yuanba threw away his hammers and slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot about this."

After saying that, he rushed towards the ancestral coffin carriage and got into the carriage with a bang. Before anyone could react, Taoist Li was thrown out.

Then the carriage shook, and Li Yuanba was heard crying like a child: "Second brother, I miss you so much!"

"Are you cursing your brother?!" Li Shimin's angry shout could be heard faintly in the carriage.

Here, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei came out alone, saluted Su Chen again, and then went to the ancestral coffin carriage like Li Yuanba. Without waiting for Li Yuanba to finish speaking inside, the two of them worked together to drag him out.

"Brother!" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei turned their backs to the carriage door, respectfully faced the spirit tablet of Liu Bei on the altar, held incense and bowed three times.

Liu Bei emerged from the green smoke, excitedly pulling Guan and Zhang's wrists, with a constant smile on his face.

Next came Wei generals such as Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun, and later Wu'an Jun Bai Qi, Li Jing and others also surrounded them.

Su Chen simply ordered the soldiers to expand into a circle, fifty feet outward, leaving an open area for the generals of various dynasties to have a good talk with their own emperor.

The Xiahou brothers, Xu Huang, and Le Jin kowtowed respectfully to Cao Cao, who counted the people kneeling down. Unfortunately, there was no news from Zhang Liao at sea, so Zhang He, Niu Gai, and Li Dian stayed in Yanjing for garrison.

Not far away, there was also a large group of Tang soldiers, who saluted Li Shimin respectfully. Only Hou Junji looked at Li Shimin rather awkwardly. He didn't know whether to salute or not, and Li Shimin also glared at him, and the two of them were in a stalemate for a while.

Li Shimin sighed and went for a walk somewhere else with Hou Junji.

On the other side, An Lushan and Emperor Minghuang of Tang, Li Longji, stared at each other, one refused to bow, and the other was embarrassed and at a loss.

Li Cunxiao and Li Cunxu were sitting in the carriage, passing wine to each other. The latter told him what happened after Li Cunxiao's death as a casual chat.

"It's a pity that the Grand Master was defending against Caesar's Egyptian army in the south and didn't have time to come up, otherwise he would have paid homage to me." Liu Xie said with a sigh.

Liu Bang was squatting on the roof of the car with his hands in his sleeves. When Xiang Yu looked over, he quickly turned his face away and did not look at him. Han Xin also looked over.

Liu Bang simply covered his face.

Su Chen watched all these scenes and was naturally happy. Behind him, Meng Tuo of the Iron Spear Righteous Army and the generals of the Yuezhou Army also came over. Although they did not understand why the emperor's direct descendants were either kneeling on the ground crying and laughing, or walking and talking alone.

But this is the best time for them to meet Emperor Daxia.

"Well, you've worked hard this year, and I've seen it all."

Su Chen accepted their gift, raised his hand to call everyone to stand up, and looked to the west, "Look, the last land of the barbarians is right in front of us. Not long ago, you and I were enemies, but now you are standing together in front of the largest empire in the Western world."

The local generals, including Meng Tuo, felt more or less sad.
The more than one year of the Western Expedition brought them great changes. The heroic feat of conquering the foreign barbarians and expanding the territory went down in history, making the past wars between provinces and counties seem like a tiny speck of dust in comparison.

And those emperors of that time seemed as ridiculous as clowns at this moment.

After all, their perspectives have changed.

……

The three armies gathered one after another. In the setting sun, a military camp dozens of miles long had been set up by the soldiers and craftsmen.

The emperor's dragon flag was raised on the highest flagpole in the central army, and the general's tent was already in commotion.

After more than a year, the separated people got together again. Those who knew each other well had endless things to talk about, and those who had been apart couldn't help but say hello to each other.

For example, Zhang Fei glanced at Pang De and asked, "Did you not carry the coffin during this Western Expedition?"

Pang De was so angry that he cursed a few words, but Zhang Fei made him so angry that his face turned green. He simply changed seats with Ma Dai and did not sit behind Zhang Fei.

However, everyone just laughed at this kind of thing and didn't take it to heart. Today's banquet was extremely rare. Before the banquet started, Lu Bu drank two more bowls of wine: "Today is an exception. After this banquet, we will stop drinking!"

Inside the big tent, the Chinese generals who were familiar with Lu Bu's past all spoke up in unison: "How could wine and sex hurt me so much!"

"..." Lu Bu held the empty bowl and looked at everyone in silence. His mouth was almost crooked with anger. Like Pang De, he changed his seat.

Amidst a round of laughter, Su Chen stood up from behind the desk. He picked up the porcelain bowl, and wine stains spilled out.

The generals in the full seats below also stood up, and the emperor's voice was heard saying, "I originally wanted to pay my respects to you all, but... I changed my mind. I want to pay my respects to the soldiers who died on the way to the battle first—"

After saying that, Su Chen poured the wine in front of him.

There were sounds of laughter before, but now they all quieted down. Li Jing, Bai Qi, Qin Qiong, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and more than ten other generals in the tent looked solemn as they followed the emperor and slowly poured the wine in their hands onto the aisle.

After a while, the personal guards came in and refilled everyone's glasses.

Only then did Su Chen raise the porcelain bowl again.

The voice is clear and neutral.

"For a year, we fought our way here from Xizhou. Although we were divided into three groups, I missed you all the time. Now that you are all safe and sound and gathered together in the tent, my worries for more than a year have finally been put to rest."

Everyone started laughing as they held their drinks. They were all veterans of the battlefield and did not take love seriously. But after being reborn, they began to cherish such friendship.

Xiang Yu looked at the wine in his hand, smiling, "Then please drink a full bowl, Your Majesty!"

"Good!" The other generals cheered in unison, leaving Su Chen, who was brewing an impassioned speech, at a loss for words.

"Okay, then I'll drink it all!"

Su Chen raised his head and held up the bowl, then drank all the wine in the bowl in one gulp, and then showed the bottom of the bowl to everyone to see.

"Haha, how can we let Your Majesty drink alone!" Ma Chao came out at the right time, and he was the second one to drink up the wine.

During this year, the generals in the camp lived and died together, and their comradeship had long surpassed the rifts of the past.

Seeing that Ma Chao had drunk the wine, how could the others fall behind? They all toasted Su Chen, then raised their bowls and drank it all in big gulps.

"Great, but it's too little. It's time to get a bigger bowl!" Zhang Fei held up the porcelain bowl in his hand, "Your Majesty, don't be petty. I know you must have a lot of good wine in your collection. Why don't you take them out today?"

"Wide!"

Guan Yu turned his face slightly to suppress Zhang Fei's newly-awakened interest.

"Of course there is more wine. I have a lot in my hands." Su Chen did not want to spoil everyone's fun, so he immediately ordered Wu Zixun to send people to the back camp to move twenty jars. Most of these were looted from the palace and mansions after the city was captured. They were all poured into jars and sealed.

So that when we win in the future, we can have wine and drinks to entertain the generals.

Soon, a group of burly soldiers brought the wine jar. Zhang Fei hurried out and took it from a soldier's arms as if it were a treasure. After sending the soldier away, he anxiously opened the seal and took a deep sniff.

"Barbarian wine is still of the same nature, sour as expected!" Zhang Fei changed a jar and a look of joy suddenly appeared on his face. Thinking that there were many people who loved wine among the crowd, he quickly hugged the jar of wine in his arms and glared at those around him.

"I'll take this one. I've been feeling really depressed for the past year. Don't you dare snatch it from me!"

"Who wants to snatch it from you—" Lu Bu snorted.

In the lively atmosphere, Su Chen ordered people to distribute the wine and water, and at the same time, various meats, fruits and vegetables were placed on the small table in front of the generals.

While eating, Su Chen talked about the subsequent war.

"We have been on the Western Expedition for more than a year. Although we have conquered Ofeiro, the next battle will determine the survival of an empire. The enemy will surely defend themselves tightly, and it will definitely be a fierce battle!"

"Since ancient times, wars have been a fight to the death. In Xiang's eyes, there is no distinction between a good war and a bad war." Xiang Yu was a straightforward man. Although he had few soldiers under his command, he fought without restraint. He did not take these barbarians seriously at all.

Although the remaining generals were not as arrogant as Xiang Yu, they were not much different, especially Huo Qubing. He did not say a word, but the arrogance revealed between his brows was beyond the reach of others.

"When the enemy comes, we will fight them; when the water comes, we will block it with earth." Xiahou Yuan wiped the wine stains from his beard, and his eyes were quite scary.

"Since we have fought till now, how can we let the barbarians have a chance to turn the tables? Your Majesty, just watch and see how we, the Chinese generals, suppress these barbarians."

Guan Yu nodded and stroked his beard.

"You are just a bunch of insignificant people. If you want to turn this place into a wasteland, General Jia alone is enough."

Speaking of Jia Xu, Su Chen suddenly remembered that the other party seemed to have not appeared at the beginning.

He looked at Bai Qi, who put down his wine bowl and said with a smile, "The general is leading the troops in the back, and he said he wanted to make some arrangements to prevent the enemy army from attacking from behind. Previously, the people in the northern barbarian land went crazy and attacked our army, making it hard to defend against. Fortunately, the general came up with a plan to throw the rotten corpses into the wells of the barbarian people, and only then did he stop the madness of the enemy."

Just as Bai Qi was talking about how to get rid of the desperate attack of the Sakpruits, Zhang Fei was below and poked Xiahou Yuan in front of him with his hand.

He whispered to the other party: "Father-in-law, we are relatives after all. You must be more generous with the credit in the future, so that my second brother and I can also get some barbarians to kill."

It would have been better if he didn't mention it. As soon as he mentioned this relationship, Xiahou Yuan's face turned black.

"Zhang Yide, don't mention this in front of me. If you want to get credit, you have to rely on your ability!"

"You know my abilities. At worst, ask Lu Bu if he dares to fight me for three hundred rounds after I've drunk some wine."

On the opposite side, Lu Bu clenched his fists.

"Third... Lu Bu, I, Old Zhang, speak directly, so don't take it seriously. I used to call you that because we each served our own masters. No, you are the master... Haha!"

The half-crazy, half-true words seemed like a joke, and the generals in the tent couldn't help laughing. Pang De simply took the opportunity to join in the fun.

"General Zhang, are you trying to give in to Marquis Wen?"

"Bah, bah, I'm weak? All the wives in my house were robbed!"

Zhang Fei's words almost caused Xiahou Yuan next to him to start a fight, which made everyone laugh again. Guan Yu also spoke up and suppressed Zhang Fei again.

However, he still stretched his neck and shouted to the generals: "I am trying to please you and make you laugh."

Zhang Fei's loud voice was choked with sobs at this moment.

"As long as everyone is happy, you can make fun of me any way you want!"

Xiahou Yuan's face finally relaxed. He took a sip of the wine and muttered, "This is what a general looks like."

The atmosphere in the tent became increasingly tense with all the chatter and laughter.

That night, the people who had been separated for more than a year spoke freely and sang loudly in the tent. There was even An Lushan's signature Huxuan dance, which brought the banquet to a climax.

It was so lively with singing and dancing.

Even the soldiers outside the general's tent followed the rhythm, talking and laughing loudly in the light of the campfire.

……

In the distant city of Nongma, people had already known that the army of Seris had gathered and was stationed in the fields outside the city. The nerves of the soldiers and civilians in and outside the city were tense.

Suddenly, a faint noise was heard coming from outside, and the general guarding the city listened quietly for a while.

"They...seem to be having a party?"

The Sakpruit general cursed: "Asshole."

(End of this chapter)