Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 753: Family Dinner at the Back House
On September 27th, the Huo Mansion held a grand banquet.

Because he was going to the war, Huo Jun held a family banquet at his home and invited his brother's family to the banquet. Except Huo Fan who was far away in Hebei, Huo Yi, Huo Chang, Huo Jie, Huo Wen and other married children all came to the banquet. Under the organization of Bu Lianshi, Huo Jun's favorite concubines also attended the banquet.

There were more than 30 people at the family dinner, including elderly people in their 60s and toddlers. Everyone drank and laughed happily, and the atmosphere was warm.

At the banquet, the children, led by Huo Yi, toasted Huo Jun and Huo Du one by one, most of which were words of congratulations to Huo Jun for a long life and victory in the expedition. Huo Jun accepted all the toasts and accepted the blessings of his children with his brother.

Looking at the harmonious and lively scene at the banquet, Huo Jun's smile was filled with happiness. He held Bu Lianshi's hand tightly, and his heart was filled with gratitude to his wife. Having a wife who manages the household well is indeed one of the greatest happiness in life.

Taking advantage of the lively interval at the banquet, Huo Jun whispered: "I have a good wife, and there is nothing to regret in my life."

Bu Lianshi glanced at Xiahou Hui and said with a smile: "I think Yuanrong is pretty good, so why should you worry about not having a good wife?"

"no the same!"

Huo Jun blinked his eyes and said, "There are many virtuous women in the world, but the only one who suits my taste is Madam. The others may be beautiful or virtuous, but in my heart, none of them is as good as Madam."

Master Bu Lian felt sweet in her heart and said, "Eat more food to avoid getting drunk!"

"I will obey Madam's orders!"

Huo Jun picked up the shrimp meat and put it into his wife's lacquered bowl, and then picked up the fish meat for himself.

"Hey!"

Suddenly, Xiahou Hui's voice and the crying of a child were heard at the banquet.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and saw the grandson Huo Qi and the child Huo Li fighting for a toy, and the two children were pushing and pulling each other. Huo Li got the toy, but Xia Hou Hui gave it to Huo Yi's son Huo Qi. Huo Li was dissatisfied with his mother giving his toy to someone else, and he started crying on the spot.

Seeing this, Xiao Zhang took the toy from Huo Qi's hand and prepared to return it to the crying Huo Li.

"It doesn't have to be this way!"

Xiahou Hui blushed, pushed Xiao Zhang's hand, and said, "Qi'er rarely comes to your house, Li'er should give way."

"You're welcome, Auntie!"

When Xiao Zhang first met his aunt who was younger than him, he was a little overwhelmed and said, "Brother Dong is older than me, and Qi'er is my nephew. How can I compete with Brother Dong?"

As she spoke, Xiao Zhang looked at her husband Huo Yi, hoping that Huo Yi could intervene.

Huo Yi gritted his teeth and said, "Aunt, Dong is young, and as his elder brother, I should take care of him."

Before he could finish his words, Huo Qiyin started crying because his toy was taken away by his mother.

"Don't cry!"

When Huo Yi saw his son crying, he started scolding him.

Xiahou Hui didn't know what to do, and looked up at her husband Huo Jun who was lying on the couch. Huo Jun didn't know how to deal with the conflict between his grandson and the woman.

For a while, the children at the banquet kept crying and both sides of the parents were a little embarrassed.

Master Xing Bu was fully prepared. She ordered the maid to take the two children away and said with a smile, "Children like to cry and make trouble, so there is no need to pay too much attention to them. It is better to let them go to the courtyard to play, and they will rest in a while."

Xiahou Hui watched the child leave reluctantly, but under Bu Lianshi's instructions, she did not dare to refuse.

As the crying child left, the atmosphere at the banquet became lively again, and the children talked to each other and asked how they were doing.

Xiahou Hui and Xiao Zhang stayed for a while because they were worried about their son, then left the hall and went to the courtyard.

Looking at the lively scene at the banquet, Huo Du said to Huo Jun with emotion: "It is a blessing for you and me to have so many children and grandchildren and be extremely wealthy."

Huo Jun smiled and said, "You should achieve great success soon, be awarded a title, establish a career, and become famous in the world. Brother should have no regrets!"

"Brother Zhong Miaosheng has made a lot of efforts. Do you still have regrets?" Huo Du asked back.

Huo Jun took a sip of wine and said with a smile: "The Xianbei are not yet pacified, so I dare not talk about peace."

Huo Duwei sighed and said, "In the past, the Han Dynasty was at its peak, and the army led an expedition to the desert to drive out the barbarians. Now, Zhongmiao and the others don't need to be so anxious. It's not the beginning of peace in the world, and it's time to mobilize the Chinese army to go on an expedition."

Hearing this, Huo Jun was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "Today's work should be done today. In the past, the Former Han Dynasty had no choice but to stop fighting because of the siege of Baideng. Now, if we can pacify the Xianbei as soon as possible and not burden future generations, wouldn't it be a pleasure?"

Compared with Liu Xiu's choice of peace with the Hu, Liu Bang had no choice but to marry the Xiongnu.

At the beginning of the Siege of Baideng, Liu Bang led the Han army to suppress the Huns. Taking the combat effectiveness of the Han army into consideration, Maodun chose the strategy of luring the enemy deep into his territory.

In order to quickly defeat the Xiongnu, Liu Bang led a light army to Pingcheng, but he fell into Maodun's trap and was surrounded. Even so, the Xiongnu still could not defeat the Han army, so Maodun had no choice but to negotiate peace with Liu Bang.

The fighting power of the nomadic peoples was not as strong as that of the warriors who had fought in the chaos of the Central Plains. After all, the fighting power of the Hu cavalry, who were both herders and soldiers, could not be compared with that of the warriors who had fought in the chaos of the Central Plains.

Huo Du hesitated for a moment and said worriedly, "Zhong Miao, the Hu cavalry are good at riding horses and can move as fast as the wind. Our army is used to fighting on foot. How can we defeat them now?"

Huo Jun thought for a moment and said briefly: "Although the Hu people come and go like the wind, the royal court can be traced. If we can find the location of the royal court and attack it with elite cavalry, it will be easy to defeat it!"

The strength of nomadic peoples lies in their mobility and their ability to migrate. Moreover, nomadic peoples are mainly composed of Chanyu tribes. If the Chanyu's army is defeated, even if there are many Hu people, they will not have to fear because they have no leader.

If the Han army could grasp the characteristics of the nomadic peoples and actively adapt their tactics, the nomadic peoples would definitely not be a match for the Central Plains dynasty.

When Wei and Huo attacked the Huns, Dou Xian destroyed the Northern Huns, Li Jing destroyed the Southern Turks, and Lan Yu won a great victory at the Battle of Yuhai, they all used cavalry raid tactics, directly attacking the royal court, and then dividing their troops to wipe out the remaining forces.

Seeing that Huo Jun had an idea, Huo Du said no more, and only reminded him: "Zhong Miao is much better at leading troops than me, but the geography and climate of the desert are different from those of the Central Plains. I hope you will be cautious in using troops."

"Good!" While the brothers were talking, Huo Yi stepped forward and said, "Father, I heard that Taoist Zhu Jianping is good at physiognomy. Now that you are going on an expedition soon, I would like to invite Jianping to come to my house to predict good or bad luck for you."

Huo Jun didn't want to play divination, but considering his son's sincerity, he smiled and said, "Please invite him into the mansion!"

"promise!"

After a while, Zhu Jianping, who was dressed simply, walked into the hall under the guidance of his attendants and took the initiative to pay his respects to Huo Jun.

Huo Jun had a gentle expression. He asked his attendants to take the seat and asked, "I would like to ask Mr. Zhu if he is good at face reading. Is this true?"

Zhu Jianping said calmly, "I am good at judging people's fortunes, but not at predicting good and bad luck."

"My father will go on an expedition soon. I wonder if you can tell him whether it will be good or bad." Huo Yi asked.

"You can be the right general first." Huo Jun said.

Zhu Jianping took a closer look at Huo Jun's face, and was slightly surprised at first. He cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, could you allow me to take a closer look?"

"Can!"

Zhu Jianping walked up to Huo Jun, looked at his face for a long time, then glanced at Huo Du a few times, and gradually he had the answer in his mind.

"Allow me to help the Right General first!"

Zhu Jianping weighed his words carefully and said, "The Right General should have lived to be seventy-six, but he suffered a great disaster at the age of twenty-three. Now that the disaster has passed, he can live to be seventy-six. If you want to live longer, I hope the General will drink less and stay away from disputes."

After a pause, Zhu Jianping looked at Huo Jun and said, "The Prime Minister should live to be eighty. At forty, he will have a minor disaster. At fifty-seven, he can achieve great feats. However, under the great feats, there will be a minor disaster. I hope you will protect him carefully."

"Fifty-seven?"

Bu Lianshi was surprised and said, "The Prime Minister is fifty-six years old now. Isn't it clear that there will be a small disaster this year?"

Zhu Jianping hesitated for a while and said, "Good fortunes are closely related to disasters, and disasters are closely related to good fortunes. It is difficult to describe both good fortunes and disasters. However, no matter what, the Prime Minister went on an expedition and made achievements, and he should gain something."

"Is there any way to resolve this disaster?" Huo Yi asked.

Zhu Jianping showed an awkward expression, shook his head and said: "Since the Prime Minister was able to overcome the disaster of forty years, he should be able to avoid the minor disaster next year."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhu, for your fortune-telling!"

Huo Jun looked natural and said with a smile: "It is inconvenient to keep Mr. Zhu for a long time at the family banquet today, so you can take some good luck back home."

"Thank you, Prime Minister!"

After Zhu Jianping left, Huo Yi looked worried and said, "I wonder what the 'little disaster' Zhu Jianping mentioned is?"

Huo Jun smiled and said to everyone, "The words of physiognomy are often ambiguous. Leading troops to war and deep into enemy territory, minor disasters are inevitable."

Then, Huo Jun was in a good mood and said, "If Zhu Jianping's words are true, we can defeat the Xianbei now, which is a great joy."

"Ok!"

Huo Du nodded and said, "There are often arrows and weapons on the battlefield. I have been hit several times since I led the troops to the battle. Now Zhongmiao is on a long expedition, so he should wear more armor and go to the battlefield less, so that he can avoid minor disasters."

Master Bu Lian hesitated for a moment and said, "My husband, remember to bring more guards with you."

"good!"

With the care of relatives, the family dinner ended.

With the help of the maid, Huo Jun washed up and came to Bu Lianshi's room.

Seeing Master Bu Lian changing into her pajamas, Huo Jun came over and covered the two pieces of white dough.

Bu Lianshi was used to it and said, "My husband is about to go on an expedition, why don't you go and see Yuanrong?"

Huo Jun sniffed the body fragrance of his wife and said, "I can't bear to leave my wife even more!"

"Stop it!"

Bu Lianshi broke free from Huo Jun's evil hands and joked, "Yuanrong is very young and at the age of enjoying love and affection. If your husband doesn't pamper her well, be careful that Yuanrong secretly has an affair with someone else."

"Madam, you are joking!"

Seeing Huo Jun didn't believe her, Bu Lianshi gave an example, saying, "Because the wife of the court judge Pan Jun was jealous, he didn't dare to favor his concubine for long. The concubine couldn't stand the loneliness, so she secretly had an affair with someone else, and was beaten to death by the court judge Pan."

"This~"

Huo Jun opened his mouth slightly. He never expected that Pan Jun, who always appeared to be serious and fair, was actually cheated on by his concubine.

Seeing Huo Jun so surprised, Bu Lianshi smiled and said, "In the first half of the year, Du Tinghou Chengji was obsessed with a singing girl. He went to her every day to show his support. I don't know how much money he spent. It was not until later that he found out that the singing girl had already been promised to someone else."

As they were talking, Bu Lianshi pushed Huo Jun out the door and said, "Let's go to Yuanrong Courtyard tonight. I can come here anytime."

Huo Jun was deeply moved. He hugged Master Bu Lian for a long time before slowly leaving.

As Huo Jun left the house, Bu Lianshi looked lonely and sighed quietly.

No woman is willing to share her husband's love with other women. The reason why Master Jin Bu Lian pushed Huo Jun out was because she saw how difficult it was for Xiahou Hui. For the harmony of the whole family, she had to make some sacrifices.

(End of this chapter)