Chapter 50: Xie Lu's original plan for revenge turned into a roadside sacrifice...
The day of promulgation has finally arrived.
At dawn after the night's vigil, Dou's sons used new brooms to sweep away the so-called loose soil from the coffin, placed copper coins at the corners of the coffin to "lift the coffin," and then performed the farewell ceremony.
The coffin was carried away from the west steps of the main hall. The Duke of Tang, his wife, and sons walked forward holding paper banners. Li Yuan and the Honglu Cheng, who was in charge of supervising the funeral in place of the Honglu Qing, led the way. The daughters-in-law, daughters, younger relatives, and friends of the Tang family followed in single file, and for a moment, their cries shook the heavens.
When the coffin was placed on the hearse with its oil-painted curtains and red netting, and two boxes decorated with dragons, Lady Dou's cousin, Lady Yuwen, suddenly bypassed the Dou family members who were closer by blood, pushed aside the Dou family's children, and blocked the hearse's path.
Lady Dou and Lady Yuwen grew up together in the Zhou Palace and were as close as sisters. Now that Lady Dou has left this former princess who has spent half her life in fear and trembling, Lady Yuwen cannot help but feel a sense of sorrow for the passing of her former kin.
She wept bitterly and nearly collapsed to the ground. The Yan brothers exhausted all their strength to help their mother up, and she stumbled back into the entourage.
"The dew on the leek, how easily it dries. The dew dries and falls again tomorrow, but when a person dies, he is gone and when will he return?" The singers invited from the funeral parlor began to sing this elegy, "The Dew on the Leek," by an anonymous author from the Han Dynasty.
Her dance was slow and graceful, her voice delicate and plaintive, echoing through the woods.
The four brothers, including Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng, still recalled the chanting of scriptures throughout the night.
Two tones, one residing in the mind, the other emanating from the body, echoing and resonating, circling back and forth, causing a tremor and emptiness in the heart.
They led fifty mourners, who took up the ropes and pulled the hearse slowly toward the cemetery.
The six tassels at the foot of the hearse's banner trembled slightly, seemingly frozen in the cold air.
The white-clad procession reluctantly escorted the newly deceased noblewoman to the underworld.
Human life is fleeting, vanishing in an instant.
The six-year-old advisor, the most beloved adopted daughter of Emperor Wu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the girl who vowed to avenge her maternal uncle after being banished back to her biological parents by the new emperor, the talented and beautiful noblewoman pursued by noble young men, and the wife of the Duke of Tang, the most beloved nephew of the new empress, has now passed away, like dew on a white leek, easily dried and never to fall again.
Changsun Qingjing and Dugu Cui supported each other as they walked slowly to one side of the coffin. The two choked back tears as they hummed an off-key elegy to the tune of "The Song of the Wild Leeks."
Lady Gao and Changsun Wuji, also dressed in mourning clothes, walked silently at the back of the funeral procession to show their respect for the deceased.
Madam Gao's tears were genuine. To Madam Dou's surprise, she agreed to a marriage made on impulse, accepting that her son marry her adopted daughter when the Gao family was at odds with each other, and genuinely liking this girl personally chosen by her beloved son. All of this far exceeded Madam Gao's expectations.
Changsun Wuji's tears were also genuine. Lady Dou was not only a mother revered by her close friend, but also a wise and discerning person who entrusted her beloved son to him and regarded him as a confidant.
According to local custom, the funeral parlor also prepared various performances for the roadside rituals according to the needs of the host.
Actors generally wouldn't deliberately perform a revenge story at a funeral, and they were even less willing to arbitrarily alter the plot to please their masters. However, the second daughter-in-law of the Duke of Tang gave too much gold and silver and personally wrote a new script, instead of being condescending and bossy towards people of low social status like them.
This script brings out all the talents of the actors, so when rehearsing, one can't help but praise the newly written script, saying that Lady Tang must have had the ambition of a man, her daughter-in-law is filial and talented, and the Li family cherishes talent.
The actors and actresses were eager to showcase all their musical talents, singing skills, and dancing abilities to the guests at the funeral.
While performing songs and dances during the funeral procession might not have conformed to the Zhou Dynasty's rites, it did fulfill the contemporary people's wish for their beloved relatives to enjoy their final worldly happiness.
The relatives had no intention of watching a well-known musical along the way. However, the performance of "Pulling the Head" in front of them made them somewhat lose their focus.
This is originally a story from the Western Regions or India. A man was killed by a tiger, and his son went to great lengths to find the ferocious beast and kill it to avenge his father.
The foreigner who created this story never imagined that it would resonate so deeply with the tastes of Chinese men, women, and children, emphasizing righteousness, loyalty, and filial piety, thus becoming a enduring favorite between the two capitals.
The song and dance performance at the Li Family Road Memorial Ceremony was different from the one everyone was familiar with. It must have been deliberately altered.
This change was understandable to everyone attending the funeral. Everything was reasonable and required no further comment.
Li Shimin, who was wearing a mourning robe, sensed his father's unusual behavior. When the actor playing the alligator dragon turned his entire mask towards the funeral procession, the Duke of Tang unusually flinched, bumping his back against his second son's shoulder.
"Father, be careful!" Li Shimin pulled out a hand to steady his father's trembling back. "You're overworking! I'll go call a carriage!"
How did it intimidate the well-informed Li Yuan?
The procession, dressed in mourning clothes and wailing, continued forward, with the mournful tunes of "Xie Lu" and "Shan Zhe Gu" being sung alternately, and the plot of "Bo Tou," which had been deliberately "altered," continued to unfold.
In the play, a traveler heading into the mountains struggled before being bitten to death by a crocodile. The onlookers assumed the performance was over with the actor lying down. However, this actor, having secretly learned Zoroastrian illusion magic, displayed the crocodile's devoured heart, liver, and lungs during the roadside ritual, a gruesome sight too painful to bear. Some even covered their eyes and screamed in terror, fleeing the crowd in panic. The braver ones silently chanted, "It's all an illusion," awaiting the appearance of the vengeful son.
A seventeen or eighteen-year-old female performer, dressed in plain clothes and with her hair styled like a little girl, wept mournfully beside her father who died in the play.
The funeral procession watched the unfolding of the "Head-Pulling" drama with indifference, showing little interest; while the onlookers were completely engrossed, and at that moment they all exclaimed "Ah!"
The son who was supposed to seek revenge in the musical has turned into a daughter!
Those who love it call it refreshing, while those who hate it condemn it as heretical.
Regardless of whether it's intentional or unintentional, everyone must share this revenge song and dance drama, which may be spectacular or controversial, with the spirit of Lady Tang.
The plays performed during the roadside memorial service are usually the deceased's favorites in life. No one can express dissatisfaction with the deceased's special hobbies or minor whims.
As the little girl in the play was crying her heart out and died, a gasp came from the white funeral procession.
"Oh no, Lady Yuwen has fainted."
"Is there a doctor nearby?"
"Mother, Mother!"
"Young Master Yan, please do not worry. Madam is just overwhelmed with grief. She will be fine after a short rest."
Amidst the chaos, Dugu Cui, holding Changsun Qingjing's hand, looked at the Yuwen Clan. This stubborn former dynasty princess had just regained consciousness from fainting, but immediately refused the suggestion from several younger relatives to let her stay and rest, insisting on seeing her cousin off on her final journey.
Yuwen Shi almost dug her fingernails into the folds of her two sons' clothes and into their skin before she could barely drag herself up from the ground. She gritted her teeth and looked at the crying little girl in the play, saying, "This play, 'Pu Tou,' is very good. I want to watch it with my elder sister."
After a bout of wailing, the little girl takes the sword from her father's corpse and places it beside her. After bowing three times, she ties her long hair into a boyish topknot, then, clutching her father's sword, begins her search for the alligator dragon to avenge her father.
The performers used dance moves and acrobatic skills to simulate the situation of traversing mountains and rivers.
The landscape unfolds in eight sections, and the song and dance follow in eight layers. Eight similar musical pieces build upon each other, and eight similar dances advance step by step.
In the cyclical and dramatic performance of the roadside ritual, the coffins of the actors and Lady Dou arrived at the cemetery on the plains of Gaoyang at the same time.
The heavy coffin was pushed into the sloping tomb passage, and relatives wept bitterly, bidding a final farewell to this once fiery, spirited, and vibrant soul.
"The dew on the leek, how easily it dries. The dew dries and falls again tomorrow, but when a person dies, when will they return?" The elegy changed its tune in the cold wind, desolate and mournful, lamenting the brilliance and transience of life.
Paper money floated, swirled, and scattered in the air above the cemetery, just like the chaotic and sorrowful emotions of the relatives.
Changsun Qingjing struggled to help her husband, who was lying on the ground, to his feet. She felt that he was like a withered yet upright tree.
The play "Pu Tou" had long since ended, and the actress who played the vengeful and filial daughter also took her bow along with the other actors in the brothel, paying tribute to the deceased Madam Dou in the mourning crowd.
Perhaps she was too engrossed in the performance of the eighth act, and when she was locked in a stalemate with the alligator dragon, the large white robe she was wearing slipped off. Before she could pick it up, the swirling wind carried the mourning clothes from the play high up in the pine forest.
The red dress beneath the actress's plain clothes stood out starkly against the white backdrop. She held a knife in one hand and a dragon mask in the other, without brushing the paper money from her hair or shoulders.
The actress was still immersed in the vibrant and interesting role, her face showing the innocent satisfaction of revenge.
This wild, untamed, and fierce character left Li Shimin momentarily dazed. He recalled the old clothes he wore to summon his mother's spirit, the lion-shaped crimson clouds, and even the unusual blush on Changsun Qingjing's cheeks. Memories surged forth in his mind. Overwhelmed with grief, he once again covered his face and sighed.
"Only if you live well can your mother be at peace." Changsun Qingjing, with tears in her eyes, helped the stubborn young man up and tidied his disheveled hair. "Let her go in peace."
The two simply watched as the red-clad actor in the distance respectfully bowed to one of the Li family's servants, then nervously presented the alligator mask to the servant.
Li Yuan summoned his distraught children to his side.
“I will go to the Eastern Capital to take up my post immediately without further delay. The Vitiha couple will accompany me, and they will observe mourning in the Eastern Capital. Vaishravana, I entrust all matters of the household to you.”
Seeing that the Minister of Ceremonies, the Minister of Rites, and the Dou family uncles were chatting happily and had not noticed the unusual performance of the roadside sacrificial dance, Li Yuan quietly asked his two older sons, "Whose idea was this 'Bo Tou' performance?"
“It’s me, Father,” Li Shimin said first. Fearing his father would ask about the trivial matter of altering the plot, he simply took the blame for Changsun Qingjing’s arrangement to adapt the song and dance.
“I did recall some past events just now, but they are all in the past.” Li Yuan gazed thoughtfully at the flames licking at the paper money in the mourning basin. “I think your mother would really enjoy this extraordinary ‘Bo Tou’ performance.”
But when the girl wasn't in the play, she seemed very reserved and at a loss, completely unlike the bright and carefree demeanor of his wife in his memory. So he didn't bother to explain to his son his momentary fear and strangeness.
Changsun Qingjing picked up the alligator mask, which combined ferocity and absurdity, and handed it to Li Yuan, feeling uneasy.
"Ah Cui, reward the actors handsomely with gold and silver. Tell them they are not allowed to perform the song and dance play about a young girl killing a dragon elsewhere. Only the Lady of Tang is qualified to watch this play," Li Yuan solemnly instructed his eldest daughter-in-law, Dugu Cui.
He then took the alligator mask and solemnly threw it into the funeral basin.
The embers in the basin, which were about to burn out, were suddenly nourished and began to rise abruptly. The alligator dragon's face flashed with a ferocious and terrifying light, then dimmed, turning into a pile of ashes that vanished with the wind.
Author's note: Yes, you read that right, the tradition of dancing on grave mounds already existed in the Sui and Tang dynasties.
Performing the last play he loved for the deceased
You should all know who Tuolong is now, right?
The grudges and feuds in Chang'an have come to an end; the grand stage in Luoyang begins tomorrow.
Yang Guang's probing, the tragic plight of the starving people on Mangban Road, the Lantern Festival, Jing Nong's prophecy, the young couple farming, raising silkworms, and running a school in Beiman...
Qingjing is going to be the strategist again, and this time Erfeng might be a little uncooperative at first.
Of course, the author will force the issue!
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