"PS: In the previous chapter, some book friends felt that the honorific title of "adult" in the book was not rigorous, in fact, "adult" can be used to address princes and nobles, as well as virtuous elders, not only limited to calling the elders in their own family, even Mencius also used adults to address others. There are too many examples of this, so if you are interested, you may wish to check it out for yourself."

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"Ah Zhong! Ah Zhong! ”

Around midnight the next day, when Zhuangzi was teaching Meng Zhong and Zhuzi to study, he heard Meng Hu's shouts from the courtyard, and the shouts were very anxious and urgent.

At this time, Meng Zhong was teaching to the "junior disciples" on behalf of Zhuangzi, and after hearing the voice, he was stunned for a moment, then turned to Zhuangzi and said: "Master, that is the student's companion Meng Hu, please allow the student to ask first to see what caused him to disturb this quiet place." ”

Zhuangzi nodded calmly.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong stood up and walked to the door of the house, but at this time, Meng Hu saw that there was no one in the courtyard, so he followed the sound to the main house where Zhuangzi lived, and saw that Zhuangzi and his disciples were sitting in the house as if they were teaching, Meng Hu was stunned for a moment, and under the gaze of those pairs of eyes, he also looked quite embarrassed and embarrassed.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong shook his head, pulled Meng Hu aside, and asked angrily, "Don't you know what kind of place this is, shouting here?" …… What happened? ”

Meng Hu scratched his head with a sneer, and immediately, he remembered the purpose of his visit, and said in a low voice: "Ah Zhong, something is wrong, the king is going to send troops to attack Teng State, and Shangqiu has ordered my Meng clan to send people to follow Wang Shi to fight...... The Elder has commanded me to come and inform you of this at once. ”

Most of the elders in his mouth refer to being recommended.

After all, the only clan elders who were close to their little ones were Meng Jian and Meng Jin, and the latter was Meng Hu's grandfather, and Meng Hu would definitely not use the term "elder".

Hearing this news, Meng Zhong's heart trembled, and his face became not very good-looking.

After thinking for a moment, he asked Meng Hu, "Ah Hu, how did you get here?" ”

"I came in my grandfather's carriage." Meng Hu explained: "I told my grandfather about it, and he allowed me to come by carriage. ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong nodded and said, "You wait for me outside for a while, take me back to the township with me, I want to know about the situation." ”

"Well, then I'll wait for you outside."

Meng Hu nodded and left.

Seeing Meng Hu walk away, Meng Zhong returned to the house and returned to his seat.

Seeing his solemn face, not only Zhuangzi was puzzled, but even the princes present were also curious, after all, with Zhuangzi present, although the princes were curious, they did not dare to leave their seats without permission to eavesdrop on the conversation between Meng Zhong and Meng Hu.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong bowed to Zhuangzi and said in a deep voice: "Master, I just got the news sent by my companion Meng Hu, and I learned that our monarch wants to raise an army to attack Teng State, and ordered my Meng clan to send ten times of troops......

Hearing that the king of Song wanted to raise an army to attack Teng, Zhuangzi immediately frowned, after all, he had always resisted war.

When the children in the house heard the news, they couldn't help but talk about it.

After all, such a major event as "King of the Song Dynasty and Teng Kingdom" must involve more than just the Mengshi family, such as the Xiang clan of Xiang Yu, the Le clan of the Le Jin and Le Xu brothers, the Wu clan of Wu Ying, the Hua clan of Huahu, etc., all of which will be affected by this war.

Glancing at the chaotic princes, Meng Zhong pleaded with Zhuangzi: "The student is worried that this matter may involve my brother, so I implore the master to allow the student to go back to the countryside first." If the master allows, Meng Hu will wait by the carriage outside, and the students will go back to their hometowns. ”

Zhuangzi, of course, would not have any opinions, and nodded calmly.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong exchanged glances with Meng Sui and left the house.

Originally, Meng Sui also wanted to go back to have a look, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it made no difference whether he could go back or not, after all, young people like them who were not yet minors had no say in this kind of clan affairs - including Meng Zhong, who was preparing to return to his hometown.

After receiving Zhuangzi's permission, Meng Zhong immediately returned to the countryside with Meng Hu in a carriage.

When he returned to his hometown, he went straight to his home.

It was close to noon, and as soon as Meng Zhong entered the courtyard gate, he saw his brother Meng Bo wielding a bronze sword in the courtyard - it was a weapon left by their father Meng Qu before his death.

"Brother." Meng Zhong shouted.

"Huh?" When his elder brother Meng Bo, who was trying his sword, heard this, he turned around and found that it was his younger brother Meng Zhong, so he asked in surprise: "Brother, aren't you by Master Zhuang's side, why are you coming back today?" ”

Meng Zhong didn't hide it, looked at the weapon in his brother's hand and said, "Ah Hu sent me news this morning, saying that the monarch wants to conquer Teng State, and asked me to send people from the Meng clan to follow the battle......

"That's the thing." Momber nodded, his expression was very complicated, some regret, some panic, but on the whole he was quite calm.

And at this moment, the voice of his mother Ge came from the direction of the main house: "Bo'er, your father's leather armor has been found for your mother...... Hey? Zhong'er? ”

Hearing the voice, Meng Zhong turned his head and saw Ge Shi standing at the door of the main house with a set of leather armor, and hurriedly approached and bowed: "Mother, the child is back." ”

"Okay." Ge Shi smiled lovingly, and then suddenly seemed to think of something, and asked a little nervously, "Zhong'er, you won't come back secretly, right?" Master Zhuang's side ......"

Of course, Meng Zhong understood his mother's worries, and hurriedly explained: "Mother, how could the child sneak away? The child came back with the Master's permission. ”

"Uh-oh." Ge Shi was relieved, and immediately saw Meng Hu also standing in the courtyard, and he had vaguely guessed a few points in his heart, and greeted with a smile: "Ah Hu, how can you stand there, come into the house and sit." ”

"Ah, Auntie." Meng Hu replied respectfully.

A moment later, Meng Zhong and Meng Hu sat in the house, watching Ge Shi help Meng Bo put on the leather armor of the brothers' father Meng Qu before his death, although Meng Bo was only fifteen years old this year, but because he was strong and burly, he looked quite imposing after putting his father's leather armor on the boat.

During this period, Meng Zhong looked at his mother and brother again and again, and couldn't help but say after half a sound: "Mother, you ...... Aren't you worried about Brother? ”

At this time, Ge was helping his eldest son Meng Bo take care of his hair, and after hearing the younger son's inquiry, his hands trembled, and a slightly complicated look appeared in his eyes.

Not worried?

How could she not be worried?!

Her father-in-law, Meng Shu, died on the battlefield; Her husband, the brothers' father, Meng Qu, also died on the battlefield.

Now that it was her eldest son's turn to go out for the country, how could she not be worried?

The problem was that she simply couldn't stop it.

All she could do was prepare everything for her eldest son before he set out for the battle, and then pray day and night for the latter's safe return.

That's all.

After glancing at Meng Zhong with deep meaning, Ge Shi looked at his eldest son Meng Bo, and comforted the latter as if he was smiling......

"Auntie Mo is not attracted by this, is she?" Meng Hu laughed beside him, making Ge's cheeks slightly red, and glared at Meng Hu angrily.

Afterwards, Ge Shi looked at his eldest son Meng Bo and said, "My mother has asked you Uncle Meng Qing, and your Uncle Meng Qing will take care of you." …… I don't have any other expectations for my mother, I just hope you ......"

She wanted to say, "Return safely," but when she thought about it, it was inappropriate, so she changed her words and said, "I only want you to be a fearless man like your father!" ”

"Remember, child." Momber said respectfully.

Seeing this scene, Meng Zhong could also feel his mother's helplessness in his heart.

But who is a mother, who wants to let her beloved son embark on a journey?

But unfortunately, the Ge clan could not resist the king's order, and the Mengshi clan could not resist either, under the royal order of the Song Wangyan's "Vateng", both families and individuals in the Song Dynasty must obey it, and sacrifice their lives for the king's desire.

"Mother, I'll go out for a walk with Ah Hu."

Dropping a sentence, Meng Zhong left with Meng Hu.

Behind him, Ge's inquiring voice came: "Will you come back for dinner in the evening?" ”

"Hmm." Meng Zhong stopped, turned to his mother and brother, who were dressed in military uniforms, and gave a forced smile.

After bidding farewell to their mother and brother, Meng Zhong and Meng Hu went to the residence recommended by the elders.

Similar to the situation in his own home, the elder's recommended residence, the servants in his home, one by one, were also testing the sharpness of their weapons.

In fact, not only the Meng's home, it is not an exaggeration to say that the entire Montessori township is no longer as peaceful as before, but full of a solemn and tense atmosphere.

Under the report of the family servant, Meng Zhong and Meng Hu met with the elder Meng Jian.

Meng Zhong was not surprised when he returned to the countryside from Zhuangziju, and he took Meng Zhong for a walk in the fields of the township.

During this period, Meng Jian asked Meng Zhongdao: "Zhong'er has returned home to visit your mother and brother?" ”

Meng Zhong nodded and said: "As soon as he arrived in the township, the boy returned home and saw that his brother was testing the sharpness of the weapon, and his mother also took out the leather armor of his father from the box...... Speaking of this, he raised his head and asked Meng Jian: "Elder, is this really unavoidable?" ”

"Difficult." Meng Jian shook his head.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong's face showed a look of struggle, and he hesitated for a long time and said, "If the kid pleads with the master, ......"

"No!"

Meng Jian interrupted Meng Zhong's words and said in a deep voice: "As far as the old man knows, Pengcheng requires all ethnic groups to gather in Pengcheng by the end of this year and use troops against Teng State in the spring of next year. Now that it is almost the middle of October, and winter is about to begin, not to mention whether Master Zhuang is willing to come forward, even if he looks at the face of your disciple, do you want Master Zhuang to brave the cold and travel thousands of miles to Pengcheng to persuade the monarch to stop attacking Teng? ”

Meng Zhong was silent, after all, what Meng Jian said was reasonable.

Seeing this, Meng Jian softened his tone and said, "What's more, the monarch may not be willing to listen to Master Zhuang's persuasion. You don't know, next to the monarch of the Song Dynasty, there is a courtier named "Hui An", this person is the nephew of Hui Zi, the best friend of Master Zhuang, not only close to the master, but also has a lot of friendship with the contemporary Confucian sage Mencius, but even so, Hui Ang was removed from the position by the monarch and replaced by a person called "Qiu He". It can be seen from this that this is already an inevitable thing. The only thing we can do now is to prepare for the conquest of Teng and reduce the casualties of our people as much as possible......"

Speaking of this, he glanced at Meng Zhong, relieved and instructed: "Don't worry, your brother is in the army, and he has "Meng Qing", "Meng Zhi", and the old man's son "Meng Xian" and other uncles to take care of, so there should be no danger. But...... Temporary separations are inevitable, and since you have your Master's permission, you might as well stay at home and spend the next few days with your mother and brother. ”

Meng Zhong nodded helplessly.

As Meng Jian said, even Hui Ang and other figures could not persuade Song Wangyan, what changes could he make at the age of ten?

At present, he can only pray secretly, hoping that his brother Jiren Tianxiang can return safely in this battle.