Chapter 1477: Whose Funeral is it? (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

"What kind of distinguished guest is someone who comes uninvited?"

Shen Tang put down the brush in her hand.

Work makes her tired, but the mention of fighting energizes her.

"Logically speaking, they should be unwelcome guests, but since they came all the way here to pay their respects, they've put in some effort." Chu Yao's tongue was truly sharp when he wanted to be, and he managed to tease his enemy in just a few words.

"Mourning? Whose funeral?"

Shen Tang couldn't bear to hear that word.

Chu Yao smiled but remained silent.

Shen Tang said unhappily, "Mourning your funeral? That's really bad luck!"

Chu Yao was perfectly healthy and alive, but first his own brothers wanted to put him in a coffin, and then a bunch of tactless enemies wanted to travel a thousand miles to give him a proper funeral. Even if it wasn't bad luck, it made him feel unlucky.

Chu Yao said, "It is the Lord's."

Shen Tang was almost dumbfounded: "...Who spread rumors about me?"

Although it wasn't meant to spread rumors about Chu Yao, giving it to her wouldn't work either. Wouldn't she be afraid of encountering real demons and monsters while walking through the night on her way to a funeral?

Chu Yao's smile was so deep that he couldn't help but give Shen Tang a key piece of information as a reminder: "Does Your Majesty remember the Huangchang Ticou?"

Shen Tang: "..."

As intelligent as she was, she immediately understood where the misunderstanding came from.

As is well known, the Huangchang Ticou (黄肠题凑) is a structure used in the outer coffin chamber of imperial tombs, and a few meritorious officials and nobles can also use it under special circumstances—the Kang royal family only has Shen Tang, so there is no possibility that any other member of the royal family would use it, and none of the Kang officials are dead yet.

And so—

"So the enemy concludes that I'm dead?"

No, isn't this judgment a bit too hasty?

Chu Yao couldn't help but chuckle and asked a question that had been overlooked: "I'm afraid Your Majesty didn't ask what Yuanyuan and the others have been doing these past few days?"

Shen Tang said, "I didn't ask. Asking would be troublesome."

She pretended not to hear about the incident, wanting to turn the page quickly.

Only if she, as the ruler, remains firm in her stance will those who harbor resentment towards Wei Shou and the others truly cease their actions. Once Shen Tang shows even the slightest sign of concern, this matter will be difficult to let go of, and may even become one of the pretexts used to attack Chu Yao. Even though Shen Tang is confident that she will not be easily swayed by a few words, she does not want this matter to be brought up again to disgust Chu Yao many years later.

In her view, managing the imperial court and managing the harem are similar in many ways; a relationship is only troubled when a scumbag/scumbag woman cannot provide enough security. In this respect, she should emulate Duan Zhengchun, who fell in love with every woman he met and yet never had a failed relationship.

Providing a sense of security to one's subjects is also an essential lesson for any monarch.

In this respect, Shen Tang considers himself to be competent.

Chu Yao knew she hadn't asked: "Before Yuanyuan arrived, she ordered people to urgently purchase more high-quality cypress wood from the southwest, regardless of price."

Shen Tang: "..."

"My lord is not quite aware that many rulers' lifelong wish is to use a huangchang ticou (a type of wooden coffin). If the outer coffin could be built with golden nanmu wood, that would be best. However, golden nanmu wood is not easy to obtain, and ordinary nanmu wood is unstable. Therefore, we can only settle for cypress wood as a second choice. Cypress wood mostly grows in the southwestern continent. Although it is not as precious as golden nanmu wood, the high cost of manpower and transportation also makes the cost of huangchang ticou very high."

"...In other words, in principle, meritorious officials and nobles can use 'yellow lacquer' to make 'paper offerings' under special privileges, but the purse doesn't support this principle?"

Chu Yao: "Neither money nor time will support it."

The Huangchangticou (黄肠题凑) style hasn't appeared for over a hundred years.

It wasn't that those countries lacked the financial resources, but rather that constructing a royal tomb with elaborate latticework required considerable time. In times of chaos and frequent changes of small states, royal tombs were often only in their infancy before the country was destroyed. A prime example is Wu Xian, whose royal tomb wasn't even a half-finished project.

"As far as I know, the last Huangchang Ticou (a type of ancient Chinese mausoleum) that we could find was that of the ruler of the Wu Kingdom. His royal tomb was not completed until seven or eight years after the fall of the Wu Kingdom." This can be verified with Wei Lou; it is absolutely true.

"...This thing is so valuable?" She suddenly understood what those people who were trying to sabotage Wei Shou and Chu Jie were thinking. It wasn't purely aimed at Wei Shou and the others, but rather that the specifications of the Huangchang Ticou (a type of ancient Chinese furniture) were indeed outrageous in their eyes, and they couldn't help but say something about it.

Chu Yao said, "Hmm."

Shen Tang: "Then I'm willing to give it to you too."

A good ruler is one who is willing to spend money on his subjects.

Chu Yao was somewhat amused and exasperated by her sudden remark: "It is precisely because of these reasons that the Central Allied Forces began to suspect that the Lord had passed away. In addition, Yuan Yuan rushed here despite everything, which they saw as a subject attending a funeral. The Lord has entered the Completion Ceremony these past few days, which is equivalent to stepping into the world beyond the mortal realm. Naturally, the Allied Forces' diviners and scholars could not find out whether Kangguo's Ziwei Star was alive or dead."

The secrets of the Ziwei star have been obscured.

These coincidences combined to create a huge misunderstanding.

"...If I weren't the person involved, I would have been fooled too. It's about the ancient Huangchang Ticou that hasn't been seen in a century, the general with military power rushing to the funeral, and the Ziwei star being obscured... Put them all together, and it's like I'm the one who died."

_(:з」∠)_

What's this called?

Was the deceased the last person to know he was dead?

Chu Yao said, "May he live as long as heaven and earth, for a thousand autumns and ten thousand years."

"Wu Hui's words are nice to hear."

"No, I saw it." Chu Yao's voice was soft yet firm, as if it could pierce through the thick fog and point straight to the void. "When I first woke up, Yao even thought it was a punishment."

Shen Tang realized that Chu Yao's tone was off: "Punishment?"

"A future that can be seen from the beginning is utterly uninteresting."

Having witnessed the most beautiful ending and experienced that ultimate pleasure beforehand, his threshold was raised infinitely high. After the brief joy came a long emptiness. Chu Yao had to admit that the sounds during the completion ceremony were correct; the human race was indeed strange.

When the future is uncertain, one feels anxious and lost.

When you can see the end from the beginning, life becomes dull again.

So contradictory, and so foolish.

[If you choose any flower and go out now, even if you go mad and can't distinguish truth from falsehood, at least you won't suffer. But if you insist on going out according to your own will, Chu Wuhui, that will be the beginning of your misfortune.]

I didn't understand its meaning then, but I do now.

Shen Tang shook her head: "That's not right."

Chu Yao looked down at her quietly.

Shen Tang recalled several cross-stitch and jigsaw puzzle paintings she had bought sometime in the past, which remained unopened until the end of the world. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed and said, "It's like a jigsaw puzzle. What good is it if you already know what it will look like when it's pieced together? As long as you don't put in the effort to piece it together bit by bit, it will remain in fragments and will never become a picture. Seeing doesn't mean you own it, and knowing the answer doesn't mean you can get a perfect score. What if the answer sheet is broken? Until the very last moment, no one's future is certain."

The moment you glimpse the future, that future ceases to exist.

It contains countless secrets and variables, which even gods cannot fathom, let alone mortals who can only glimpse a corner of it.

Chu Yao exhaled a breath of stale air: "It's Yao who's become obsessed."

He seemed to have a heavy burden lifted off his shoulders, looking much more relaxed.

Coming to his senses and recalling his earlier dejected state of mind, Chu Yao belatedly broke out in a cold sweat—a deception that he would never normally fall for had now driven him into a state of obsession. If his master hadn't reminded him, he didn't know how long he would have remained immersed in it.

"Once you become too obsessed, the consequences are unimaginable."

Shen Tang: "...I'll take care of everything."

How can this not be considered an aggravation of a mental illness?

I unintentionally became a psychologist this time.

After the psychotherapy session ended, she asked people to prepare to open the door to welcome guests: "They came out of kindness to attend the funeral, so we should also do our part as hosts."

Because Shen Tang was skilled in night raids, she was very strict in preventing them, and the entire army was constantly on guard against the enemy launching a surprise attack in the middle of the night. Chu Yao had given advance notice, so the patrol arrangements didn't need to be changed.

Everything remains the same; just be prepared.

"Attending a funeral?"

Gu Chi and the others, however, complained a bit after being pulled awake.

"Is something wrong with the people in central Taiwan?"

Putting aside the fact that our lord is perfectly fine, even if something were to happen, what kind of decent person would launch a sneak attack during a national mourning period? Even assuming the Central Allied forces are morally bankrupt and inhumane, enjoying taking advantage of national mourning, they still shouldn't have chosen to attack when guests were gathered. Why did they have to choose a time when the bereaved family was present? Bloodshed in the mourning hall is just as outrageous as bloodshed at a wedding banquet.

Even thugs know to kick a widow's door at night. Nobody would choose to kick it when their parents, brothers, sisters, spouse, and children are all around.

Shen Tang: "The words may be rough, but the principle is sound. This is just too rough."

Who is the widow in this yin-yang divination?

Gu Chi's morning grumpiness transformed into a chilling resentment: "I am a widow, and the Lord is the husband who can't wake up."

Shen Tang: "..."

The enemy came to mourn her death, but the widow was indeed someone else.

The white banners that had been torn down from the camp were hung up again, and Shen Tang lay down on the coffin with great interest—it was common knowledge that military generals had a penchant for collecting coffins, and this coffin was contributed by Wei Shou, a second-hand coffin made of golden nanmu wood: "Damn, second-hand?"

What's wrong with secondhand?

Wei Shou, who was wiping his weapons, retorted in displeasure.

He emphasized, "This is made of Phoebe zhennan wood."

Wei Shou emptied his private savings and bought it from tomb raiders, using the original wood plus some he scraped together to forge this new hole. He took it with him when he went to war, and if he unfortunately died in battle, he could simply lie down in it.

If Chu Yao weren't his brother, he wouldn't have been willing to part with him.

“What’s wrong with golden nanmu? I have one too.” Shen Tang leaned against the side of the coffin, remembering that as a sacred object, she also had a coffin made of precious wood. Although it was old, it was still a coffin she had used, much better than Wei Shou’s.

Wei Shou: "..."

Gongyang Yongye tapped the coffin lid in an annoyed manner.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he said, "What's the point of arguing about this?"

The old folks have seen people flaunting their wealth, but they've never seen anyone competing with each other over coffins!

"Be a good corpse. Who has ever seen a corpse open its mouth?"

Shen Tang pouted unhappily and rolled over inside the coffin. To be fair, military generals' coffins were spacious; the smallest size was 1.5 meters by 2.8 meters, enough to fit two of her.

Near the main tent where the body lies.

The white banners that had been taken down were quickly put back up, while those in areas far from the main camp remained untouched—after all, the funeral was to be kept secret, and a small-scale display of mourning was normal; if it were done in every region, it would arouse suspicion from the enemy—so, several military officers dressed in mourning clothes and burned paper money. Fortunately, Wei Shou and his companion were so eager to use some kind of "yellow cypress woodblock print" that everyone was able to quickly find usable mourning clothes.

After lying down for a while, Shen Tang felt something was missing.

He suddenly stood up and said, "Go ahead and cry, why don't you wail a little?"

Without a mournful atmosphere, this feels very fake.

Everyone: "..."

They are very familiar with the procedures for national mourning.

However, this doesn't mean they can perform without any psychological barriers.

Gu Chi was silent for two seconds, recalling the several tragic rural widow novels he had written. He pinched his thigh hard, muttered "You bastard, you died so tragically," and his eyes instantly reddened.

Within seconds, tears streamed down her face.

Novelists are so rich in emotion.

Shen Tang: "..."

Everyone: "..."

One of the young soldiers, whether genuinely dim-witted or overly nervous, went completely blank upon hearing Gu Chikai's howl, and instinctively crawled two steps on his knees, whimpering, "You rascal—hiccup—"

Shen Tang: "..."

She covered her forehead with her hand and closed her eyes in despair.

When will these people stop turning themselves into widows/widowers?

Gongyang Yongye said disdainfully, "You guys are really sick."

The superiors set an example for the subordinates, and serious illnesses spread from top to bottom.

"Pfft—Waaah—"

Some chuckled, but fearing retaliation from Gu Chi's petty nature, they quickly changed their tune to sobbing. Others, unable to cry, simply lowered their heads, wiped their eyes with their sleeves, and wailed, emphasizing participation above all else.

Shen Tang said, "Speak louder."

She was anxiously watching the coffin, wishing everyone had a loudspeaker.

He might as well climb out and keep vigil for himself.

"Burn the paper money like this, cry like this..." He personally demonstrated, for example, genuinely hugging the coffin and wailing like a ghost, while instructing others, "Don't just watch, stop me for a second."

Others: "Oh? Oh."

Gu Chi was almost driven crazy by her.

(_)

This chapter is rather short. I'll be taking a break at the end of the month (I don't know why, or maybe it's because I've been eating too much preserved egg and tofu lately, but I've had a headache for three days in a row... Even coughing feels like a tight band is being put on my head. But wait, I've only eaten it twice.)