In June of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Mengcheng, who got the news that his eldest brother was not in the mud, brought his new wife to the top of Artemisia. In addition to congratulations this time, it also has the meaning of accompanying his wife back to her parents' home.

Father-in-law Cai Liyuan and other principals of Artemisia Peak warmly entertained Zhang Mengcheng and his wife. After a period of politeness, Cai Qixian pulled Zhang Mengcheng to a grave.

The person buried in this grave is Cai Qixian's grandmother, who she likes very much. Cai Qixian's maternal grandmother is a Huihui woman, and she is also a blue-eyed Huihui. Although Artemisia Peak also captured many of the surrounding Hui women, this blue-eyed Hui was not done by them.

The story in it is also relatively old-fashioned, that is, many years ago, the Cai family had a sworn horse thief brother. After the horse thief robbed a caravan in the Western Regions, he returned the blue-eyed woman he had robbed as his mother-in-law. Later, in order to escape the pursuit, the horse thief defected to Artemisia Peak's brother.

Later, the horse thief died in an accident, and the blue-eyed girl Hui Hui and Cai Qixian's mother depended on each other and lived in the thief's den. And because of the difference in appearance, especially the color of the eyes, the mother and daughter have been discriminated against by some superstitions in their daily lives.

Fortunately, Cai's family is still righteous, and takes care of his brother's wife and children very thoughtfully, and will send some meat and new clothes during the New Year's holidays. and also let the brother's daughter get engaged to his son Cai Liyuan.

Later, the older generation of principals died, and Cai Zhongming's father succeeded to the throne. The new head of the family still followed his father's legacy, took care of the hard-working mother and daughter on weekdays, and completed the marriage between his younger brother and each other.

The first half of the story, although it is not very romantic, and the supporting character horse thief can be said to be the hero's blood feud, but the second half of the story is more warm.

With the help of their son-in-law, their mother and daughter have a much better life. A year later, Cai Qixian was born. And for this daughter who also has blue eyes, Cai Liyuan doesn't care. On the contrary, if anyone dares to say bad things, he will directly raise the whip and whip it no matter who the other party is.

Although Cai Qixian's birthday looks terrible. But on the day Cai Qixian was born, the blue-eyed girl returned to have a dream that was auspicious in a religious sense. The idea is that there is more grain in the crops, and the number of cubs under the livestock has increased considerably.

Therefore, according to religious customs, Cai Qixian was given the nickname Mai Muna. Moreover, the blue-eyed girl also cherishes her granddaughter very much, and some of Cai Qixian's little temperament is also used to by this grandmother.

Maybe it's because of the environment of the thieves' den, or maybe it's because the blue-eyed woman has limited religious attainments when she returns to herself. Although Cai Qixian did develop some Muslim habits, she still failed to train Cai Qixian to become a devout believer.

However, this woman accompanied Cai Qixian through a happy childhood, and finally died of illness when Cai Qixian was twelve years old.

Zhang Mengcheng, who worshiped with his wife, did not prepare any sacrifices, nor did he kneel and bow according to the traditional customs of the Han people. Because these things were repeatedly told by my wife's grandmother before she died.

These things are contrary to the teachings of Islam, so Cai Qixian and his parents have never worshiped here according to the habits of the Cai clan at the top of Artemisia. Although this is the legacy of the ancestors, according to Zhang Mengcheng, it is still too quiet and empty.

"Maimuna, can't you burn paper money, then should we invite some imams to chant scriptures."

Zhang Mengcheng did not know much about the habits of Islam, but he had seen the local Hui in Shaanxi, and when paying tribute to their ancestors, they would ask the imam to recite the Qur'an, just like Buddhism and Taoism. However, it seems that no one burns paper money, and Zhang Mengcheng guesses that it is mostly religious customs.

"Grandma said that it is not allowed to burn paper money or ask people to read the scriptures, these are not things that devout believers should do. Rather, it is best to fulfill one's obligations and deeds, and to ask Allah to forgive one's ancestors when doing them. ”

At this time, Cai Qixian was extremely quiet, not at all like her usual lively and active appearance.

After listening to Cai Qixian's words, Zhang Mengcheng had a new understanding of what he had seen and heard before. It seems that after Islam was introduced to China, it still adhered to many of its original habits. However, under the penetration of traditional Chinese culture, it is inevitable to integrate some local characteristics. Only Muslims from other places will have purer Muslim customs.

Although he didn't know whether it was appropriate or not, Zhang Mengcheng still asked Cai Qixian for a few words of prayer to Allah. As a pagan, ask Allah in your heart to forgive your wife's grandmother. In this way, the couple spent a special time very quietly.

Cai Qixian and Zhang Mengcheng prayed quietly for a while, and then ended the worship. On the way back, Cai Qixian said to Zhang Mengcheng: "Actually, my grandmother doesn't allow me to worship often, she said that this is suspected of worship." But when my grandmother was alive, she treated me best, and I couldn't leave her alone. ”

Zhang Mengcheng looked at his somewhat sentimental wife, comforted him again and again, and presumptively said that her grandmother would not care.

However, in the view of Zhang Mengcheng, who advocates quietness and frugality, although Islam may sometimes have some radical behaviors, it is still worth learning from its habit of advocating thin burials, advocating frugal burials, not engaging in red tape, and not paying attention to any pomp and circumstance.

After ending the matter that his wife had been concerned about, Zhang Mengcheng and his wife returned to the residence of the leaders of Artemisia Peak. After a banquet, Zhang Mengcheng was left behind by the leaders of several principals at the top of Artemisia. And Cai Qixian followed her mother to a party with other women at the top of Artemisia.

"Nine, uh, ninth brother-in-law, I'm really not used to it, I'll still call you Xiucai the same." Cai Zhongde is still more accustomed to calling Zhang Mengcheng Xiucai the nickname and the ninth brother-in-law, he still thinks it's too troublesome.

"No matter what it's called, aren't I all the son-in-law of Artemisia Peak. So you can do whatever you want, as long as you get used to it. Xian'er, she still keeps calling me Xiucai, and she can't change her words. As for his title, as long as he doesn't deliberately find fault, Zhang Mengcheng won't care.

"Ninth sister, it's not that she can't change it, but she doesn't want to change it. She likes to call you Xiucai, hahaha. ”

Because Cai Xiaozi brought cavalry with him to the battle this time, the sixth Cai Zhongyuan did not follow. Instead, he temporarily returned to the top of Artemisia to deal with affairs, and now it is their fifth uncle Cai Lixian who is leading the infantry team in Ningsai.

The leader of Artemisia Peak, who was present, laughed at Zhang Mengcheng for a while. Cai Zhongde felt that it was time to talk about business, so he came forward to interrupt everyone's ridicule and said to Zhang Mengcheng: "A while ago, you passed the word that thieves from other places infiltrated our territory. During this time, we also tried to check carefully, and we did see some shadows of thieves and spies. Let's discuss this time and see how we should deal with this matter. ”