The Camping Site

The sight of the camping site came as a great relief to the Libaogong travelling party. Everyone was slightly grimy from travelling through dirt roads, horses were exhausted, and people were hungry.

They’d only had enough food to ration out throughout the day so most people hadn’t had a proper meal since breakfast.

The sight of so many tents and fires made everyone feel their exhaustion tenfold.

As they drew nearer they could see the gathered greeting party. A man in what seemed to be green and white robes stood flanked by guards on either side of him. He was tall, but he wasn’t as wide as Meng Guoyao. Even to Meng Mei’s tired eyes he was decently handsome.

“Shoushan!” Meng Guoyao called once they were within shouting distance. “How nice of you to greet us my friend!”

The man, Zhong Shoushan, laughed loudly. Meng Mei now understood what Zhu Huiqing had meant when he said that it was obvious why the two men were friends.

“Guoyao! Of course I would come to greet you!”

By now they were close enough for Meng Guoyao to hop off his horse and greet his friend with a hug.

“I’m so glad you and your family could join us! Jiayi hasn’t stopped talking about it since we received the news.” Zhong Shoushan chuckled, returning to the relaxed stance he’d held as they approached.

“It’s our honor. You always speak so highly of these annual hunting retreats, I must admit I’ve been curious for a while now.” Meng Guoyao responded as he helped Madam Meiron off of her horse.

Following his lead, Zhu Huiqing helped Meng Mei down as well so she could go join her family. Once she was on the ground he grabbed both his horse and Jin Feng’s reins.

“I’ll take care of Jin Feng. You should go join the sect leader and Madam.” Zhu Huiqing instructed quietly as Meng Mei lagged behind so she could give Jin Feng a few pats.

“Thank you, guard Zhu.” She whispered before reluctantly going over to stand next to Meng Yong.

“Jiayi is putting the kids to bed right now, she’ll be so upset she missed your arrival.” Zhong Shoushan laughed. “Enough of the pleasantries though! I bet you’re all starving!”

Just then Meng Yong’s stomach decided to make a loud grumble.

He looked down at the ground shyly as everyone turned to look at where the noise came from. Meng Guoyao and Zhong Shoushan found this incredibly amusing.

“Seems I was correct!” Shoushan grinned as he clapped Meng Guoyao on the shoulder, “I guess I’d better be a good host and show you to the dining tent!”

Meng Guoyao and Zhong Shoushan struck up friendly conversation as they were led to the dining tent. All three of the Meng children trailed a few steps behind the adults as they made the trip.

“Hey, what did Zhu Huiqing have to say to you?” Meng Weiyuan suddenly asked. It took Meng Mei a few moments to realize that he was asking her that. She looked up at him in confusion. They had a pretty good thing going these last few weeks, he stayed far away and Meng Mei didn’t have to wonder what she should say to him.

Why was he disturbing that peace now?

The longer she took to answer the more Meng Weiyuan’s face twisted. He was seemingly upset about something. But for the life of her, Meng Mei couldn’t figure out what it was he was upset about.

“Stop staring and answer me.” He demanded, his face twisted into an ugly scowl.

“Hey, A-yuan. Calm down, he was just making sure she was safe on her horse. He didn’t say anything.” Meng Yong cut in. He pulled Meng Mei away from Meng Weiyuan and shielded her with his body. Meng Mei grew increasingly curious the longer the two brothers stayed silent.

She couldn’t see what kind of expressions they had on their faces from where she stood.

“...Nevermind.” Meng Weiyuan finally grit out. He stomped ahead of them, nearly catching up with the adults.

Once he was far enough away Meng Yong let go of Meng Mei and his face turned sheepish.

“Sorry about that meimei. Da-ge is just on edge because he’ll have to see Zhong Qingling again.” Meng Yong apologized for his brother.

“How does he know Zhu Huiqing?” Meng Mei asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Meng Yong’s face paled and he looked faintly sick.

“That’s—”

“Meng Yong! Meng Xiāng! Stop lagging behind!” Madam Meirong’s yell saved Meng Yong from having to answer Meng Mei’s question. With an apologetic look Meng Yong rushed to catch up with the group, leaving Meng Mei no choice but to follow suit.

Even though Meng Mei was now extremely curious about what relationship Meng Weiyuan and Zhu Huiqing could possibly have, she knew she couldn’t get an answer when Meng Weiyuan was within earshot. So for now she shut her mouth and saved the question for a later date.

“Here we are!” Zhong Shoushan announced after a few more moments. They’d arrived at one of the largest tents on the camping site. Zhong Shoushan held back the tent flap so all of the Meng family could enter.

They were greeted by a large table that was covered in food. Floating lights brightened the interior and gave everything a pleasantly warm glow.

“Woah.” Meng Yong gasped, pointing towards one of the floating lights. “Those are so cool!”

“You like them?” Zhong Shoushan asked, “My daughter made them. It’s one of her current projects. She’s researching ways to create light without having to use fire.”

His face glowed with fatherly pride.

“That’s amazing.” Madam Meirong remarked appreciatively. “It seems QIngling is still quite exceptional.”

“Yes, she is. I can’t wait for your Xiāng to meet her, she always wanted a baby sister.” Zhong Shoushan gave Meng Mei a significant look.

“It’ll do Xiāng well to have another female influence in her life, especially one as brilliant as your Qingling.” Meng Guoyao agreed.

“You’re too kind!” Zhong Shoushan chuckled. “Ah I keep distracting you all. Please, go ahead and sit! Enjoy the dinner we’ve prepared.”

He didn’t have to tell them twice. They found seats that were similar to the ones they had back home and started filling up their plates with food. After Meng Guoyao inquired about their guards, Zhong Shoushan assured him that whatever the family didn’t eat would be given to them.

“We don’t let food go to waste around her.” He assured Meng Guoyao. That seemed to be a sufficient answer for Meng Guoyao because he didn’t ask anything after that.

Meng Mei had a large plate of sliced pork and dumplings. She even grabbed two side bowls so she could have some rice and some stir fried vegetables. She scared down the food with a vigor she’d never had at Libaogong. She’d gotten too used to the large meals at Libaogong, she’d missed them sorely for the past few meals.

There was very little conversation happening at the table as everyone just focused on stuffing their faces full of food.

They all ate quickly so that they could go wash themselves and go to bed. They’d missed out on the customary washing before meals since they’d been on the road so they were all long overdue.

Zhong Shoushan decided to send one of his guards to fetch the Libaogong ones as he showed the Mengs to their tents.

For the next month they’d be sleeping in three tents that were situated close together. On the right side was the largest tent where Meng Guoyao and Madam Meirong would be sleeping. In the middle was the smallest tent, that’s where Meng Mei would be sleeping alone. On the left was a mid-sized tent which Meng Weiyuan and Meng Yong would be sharing.

“I’ve already had some water basins drawn up for you all. I hope you all enjoy your stay here.” Zhong Shoushan said before wishing them a good night and departing.

“Xiāngxiāng, do you remember how I took your outer robes off yesterday?”

“Yes a-niang.” Meng Mei yawned.

“Good, I trust you will be able to figure out how to do so yourself tonight. Only call for me if you need assistance.” And with that Madam Meirong and Meng Guoyao disappeared into their tent. Meng Mei shrugged and walked into her own tent.