Chapter 22: Blood Splattered on the Jumping Flower Festival

  The azure sky is spotless, crystal clear. The rosy clouds are reflected in the limpid river water, with tiny waves like fish scales, and the emerald green river water adds color to the floating clouds.

  On the edge of the village, near the river water, the grass slope is flat and green, like a huge green carpet, giving people an urge to lie down and roll over. In the center of the grass slope, a newly planted tree with a height of about one zhang has been stripped of most of its branches and leaves, and a red silk banner and a small red cloth package are hung from the top of the tree, which is called "flower tree". Under the flower tree, a shiny wooden table is set up, on which are placed fine wine, fragrant tea, and other items.

  Siwei, dressed neatly and cleanly, walked to the front of the flower tree, filled his cup with wine, raised it with both hands towards the sky, gazed up at the vastness, murmured for a moment, then slightly bent his waist, slowly poured the beautiful wine around the arc onto the ground, and then raised the second cup of wine, the third cup of wine.

  The wine ceremony ended, and the lushengs all sounded together. A few middle-aged people took the lead, followed by several young people, playing joyful and lively lusheng dance music, dancing around the flower tree that symbolized unity, prosperity, and auspiciousness. The lusheng melody changed constantly, with some being passionate and fast-paced, with elegant dance moves, full of optimistic and uplifting passion, giving people a wonderful feeling; some were slow and gentle, like a gentle stream, bringing people a joyful and celebratory atmosphere.

  Not far from the flower tree, a shed was set up with tables and chairs, fragrant tea, fine wine, dishes, and fruits were all over the table, and the old man of Siwei Village sat on the chair, while in the middle sat the fat and pig-like Burmese chieftain Chuo Kan.

  In the midst of the lively music played by the lusheng, the Miao men stomped their feet in unison, waved their arms and danced around the flower tree with ease. However, Jiaolong was too distracted to appreciate the scene, his eyes, usually narrowed into a line by the flesh on his face, were now wide open like those of a starving dog, scanning the faces of the girls standing on the flower slope with an unquenchable thirst. His pores, filled with lust, seemed to have expanded, making him look even more hideous.

  Of course, for a young man, the most eye-catching thing on the flower slope is the young girls standing all over the flower slope. Every time they jump on the flower slope, the Miao girls of Maigou Mountain are dressed up, one more beautiful than the other, and from their embroidered or wax-printed clothes with various patterns, you can see the precision and dexterity of each girl's embroidery skills.

  These beautifully dressed young girls either stood under the oil-paper umbrella to watch, or gathered in threes and fives to chat and laugh, or walked into the crowd with a blush on their faces. Occasionally, they would open their mouths to smile, revealing a row of silver teeth, like suddenly blooming bright flowers, but soon closed them again.

  There are so many beauties, and my eyes aren't enough to take them all in. In my heart, I secretly resent Si Wei: This old fox, if he hadn't heard about the "matter", who knows when he would have hidden these beauties away? Hmph, now wanting to curry favor with me, it's probably too late. Mo Tu Guan Si Xian is also drooling at the prospect, eager to make it a reality!

  A few sighs of surprise shifted the attention of the soul-stirring cross temporarily, and it turned out that a young Miao descendant was blowing a sheng while trying to climb to the top of the flower pole, taking down the red silk and small package, but halfway through, he failed. This is a competition, whoever blows the sheng to climb to the top of the pole, takes down the prize, and blows the sheng back down, is considered the winner.

  "Ah, Master Siwei!" Chaxi suddenly thought of something and tilted his head, with a sly smile on his face, saying to Siwei: "I've heard that you have a daughter, as beautiful as a flower, but she's hidden away and not seen by anyone, I wonder if it's true or false?"

  "This is true." Si Wei said with a humble smile, "Although my daughter is still young and pretty, she is still very young, so she rarely sees people, not because she is hiding from the world."

  "You're still young? I wonder if you can let me take a look, outside they say it's like a fairy oh!" The thick and heavy eyelids moved slowly twice, and the greedy eyes showed a few beastly tendencies.

  Si Wei hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly helplessly and said: "Tusi lord, my daughter is resting in the bamboo building in the stockade. Why not wait until things are over here before going?"

  "Go now!" Chakkan said in an irrefutable tone: "Leave this place to the other village elders." As he spoke, he laboriously shifted his stout body, and the two Burmese soldiers behind him immediately stepped forward to support him.

  Si Wei slowly got up and led the way, secretly sneering in his heart: This is your own death wish, which saves me a lot of trouble. Not far away, Meng He's face turned cold as he watched the movement under the sedan chair, waving his hand to bring several strong men to follow quietly behind.

  For decades, the Yunnan governor's humility and obedience had paralyzed the thoughts of the tusi and mo officials, while Yongli and the small court's flight to Burma had further inflated their arrogance and dissipated their vigilance. Think about it, the great Ming dynasty has declined, even facing the danger of extinction, without external support, how could the Meng clan still harbor rebellious intentions, wouldn't they just be at the mercy of the Burmese?

  The bamboo building is elegant and simple, after entering, a refreshing fragrance can be smelled, which is refreshing. The spirit was lifted, and the fat and inconvenient body seemed to have gained a lot of strength, and climbed up along the stairs.

  "Tusi lord." Si Wei hastily reminded: "The young lady is inexperienced and easily shy, these two are armed with sharp objects, I'm afraid they are..."

  Chā Jiǎo flipped his thick eyelids, impatiently waving his hand at the two Burmese soldiers, and slowly climbed up the creaking stairs. He had heard that this woman was matchlessly beautiful, just like a fairy. Today... hmm, being close to the water tower gets you the moon first, if he acted late, then he would be taken advantage of by Si Xian. Chā Jiǎo thought this way, his face's fat meat trembling with excitement.

  Climbed up the bamboo building, suddenly a bright light flashed before his eyes, and he looked around in all directions.

  Si Wei had already taken a step ahead, blocking his line of sight, and came straight to the bedroom door, calling out softly: "A Zhu, A Zhu, Master Tu Si has arrived, aren't you going to get up and pay your respects?"

  She swallowed her saliva and looked at Si Wei's back with full of expectation.

  For quite some time, Si Wei's figure remained still, and there was no response from the woman's voice.

  "What's wrong?" He awkwardly moved his stout body, with an unpleasant expression on his face, and stepped forward.

  Suddenly, two mournful cries came from downstairs. Before he could ask what was wrong, Si Wei suddenly turned around and stabbed a dagger into Jia's abdomen, then slashed downwards with force, a pile of bloody fragments "gushing" out at Jia's feet.

  A shrill scream pierced the air, and in an instant, he fell to his knees, his eyes wide with incredulity as his strength rapidly ebbed away with the gushing blood and entrails.

  "Brute, remember this." Si Wei's face twisted in a scowl, gritting his teeth as he said: "I am the grandson of Meng Yangtu, an official of the great Ming dynasty, and I have come today to avenge my grievances."

  Not long after, with the sound of drums rising, the joyful and peaceful Jumping Flower Festival turned into a battlefield for revenge. In the midst of bloodshed and screams, the brave warriors of the Mangshan Ke ethnic group suddenly launched a surprise attack, killing off one by one the Burmese soldiers who were caught off guard, and fiercely venting out the humiliation and oppression they had suffered for decades.