Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Bang! A man fell from the sky
The fragrance of sandalwood rose to the sky, and the sound of Sanskrit shook the heavens. A grand water and land ceremony was taking place in Xiangguo Temple.
"Old man, may I ask which high-ranking official sponsored this Dharma assembly? I heard that even the great monk Huitong from Wuyue was invited to preach the Dharma?"
The old man who was queuing up to receive alms food saw the young man who was asking the question. He was wearing a scarf and a long robe, so he said, "Young man, are you a student who just arrived in Kyoto to prepare for the exam? Master Huitong was not invited to the Dharma Assembly, but to meet the emperor to offer his relics."
The young man didn't believe in Buddhism and didn't know about these things. He didn't feel embarrassed when he heard this. He just smiled and asked, "Then why is Master Huitong here at the Dharma Assembly again to give a lecture?"
"The master has been living in Xiangguo Temple. The Ji family wants to hold a ceremony, so they probably asked the abbot to come..."
"The Ji family? Is it the residence of General Ji, the Duke of Yingchuan, who has just been promoted to the position of Inspector-General of the Imperial Tutor and Co-Prime Minister?" the young man interrupted.
The team moved forward, and the old man moved forward with it. He turned his eyes to the monk who was giving alms in front of him and answered nonchalantly: "Isn't it..."
Behind the old man was a middle-aged man with a broken leg. He had been standing on crutches for half a day and was very tired. He interrupted the young man and asked, "You want to know about the Ji family? Come, I'll tell you. You hold a seat for me first, I'll sit for a while."
The young man came all the way from Fujian to Tokyo City just to fight for a future, but Fujian had just been annexed by the State of Chen not long ago, and he knew very little about the powerful people in the State of Chen. He wanted to take this opportunity to find out some information, so he agreed, helped the middle-aged man to sit next to him, and then returned to the team to hold the middle-aged man's seat.
"General Ji is still in the Zhangde Army in Xiangzhou. This ceremony was organized by Madam Ji. I don't know if you know Madam Ji's family background. Duke Deng—the last ruler of Former Shu—is Madam Ji's brother." The middle-aged man lowered his voice and said, "She was actually a princess."
The young man was truly unaware and asked in astonishment, "Really? But wasn't it General Ji who surrendered the city to the government because the Shu emperor was suspicious of him?"
The middle-aged man shook his head and sighed, "What's so strange about that? The world has been in chaos for seventy years. Sons killing fathers and brothers killing brothers are commonplace, let alone uncles?"
"Well, you're right. Did Madam Ji hold this ceremony to pray for General Ji and ward off disasters?"
"General Ji is one, and General Ji Liulang is another—have you heard of Ji Liulang's resurrection from the dead, little brother?"
"Resurrection from the dead?" The young man was greatly surprised. "Is there such a miracle in the world?"
The old man he had spoken to earlier seemed to be unable to listen anymore and turned around and said, "What do you mean by resurrected from the dead? He wasn't dead at all."
The middle-aged man was unconvinced: "You know now that he wasn't dead originally, but three years ago when Bai Jiang was defeated and Ji Liulang's whereabouts remained unknown, with no one seeing him alive or dead, who wouldn't say he was dead?"
The young man only knew that the State of Chen had marched south to attack Jiaozhi three years ago and suffered a crushing defeat at Baijiang, but he hadn't heard the details. Upon hearing this, he was very curious: "Is this young General Ji the son of General Ji? Did he also march on Jiaozhi three years ago?"
When the middle-aged man saw that he really didn't know, he immediately became excited and told him this strange story from the beginning.
It turned out that the young General Ji he was talking about was actually named Ji Yanlang, the sixth son of Ji Guangting, the governor of Zhangde Army whom they had just talked about. Three years ago, he followed the current emperor's younger brother, Prince Cai, in the southern expedition to Jiaozhi. During a naval battle on the river, they were ambushed by the enemy, their warship was destroyed, and Ji Yanlang fell into the river. His life or death is unknown.
At that time, many of the Chen army's warships were pierced and sunk by the enemy, and countless officers and soldiers fell into the water. Even King Cai was injured. He retreated in a hurry and did not care about much.
"When the initial news reached us, everyone thought Ji Liulang had either died in battle or been captured by the southern barbarians of Jiaozhi. But a year later, the southern barbarians submitted their surrender and sent back their captives, but Ji Liulang was not among them. Everyone was convinced he had been fed to the fish. Even the government wanted to order a pension and posthumously grant him an official position, but Madam Ji refused to accept it. She even invited Master Lu, an expert in divination, to come to the rescue. He calculated that although Ji Liulang had faced a great disaster, he still had a chance of survival. As long as he married a woman with a noble horoscope, he would surely return safely one day."
The young man listened with great interest and asked, "Master Lu? Is that the Master Lu who said, 'The Zhou family has three queens?'"
"Exactly. At that time, the Crown Prince hadn't passed away yet, and was about to marry the daughter of the Duke of Zhou. The tale of three queens in one family seemed to be coming true. How could Madam Ji not believe it? She quickly selected a wife for Ji Liulang and brought her home. And sure enough, a few days ago, at Baijiang, a great victory was won. Not only did Ji Liulang survive, he even captured that southern barbarian general alive, performing a great deed. He was about to return to the capital with the army."
"So it was General Ji who captured the enemy commander alive! True, like father, like son." The young man couldn't help but sigh. "Madam Ji is also a heroine, with such determination. I wonder which noble family General Ji married? Her horoscope is truly precious."
"It seems that a noble lady doesn't even count. At that time, only Madam Ji believed what Master Lu said. Who among the noble families would be willing to marry their daughter to him and become a widow? In the end, it seems that the one she married was the daughter of General Ji's subordinates."
Their lively conversation attracted the attention of several people in the queue behind them. At this point, a white-haired old woman intervened, saying, "Our neighbor's daughter is a maid in the Ji Mansion. They say the young lady who married in to bring good luck is surnamed Fang. She's an extremely filial and kind person. Amitabha, good people are rewarded. Doesn't this mean she's brought the young man back?"
Everyone agreed and said that Miss Fang was really lucky. Ji Liulang would definitely be promoted when he returned to Beijing. Her future life would definitely be rich, prosperous and smooth.
Everyone in the capital who knew of this strange story shared this sentiment, except for Fang Ying, the Lady herself, who sighed to her good friend Zhou Congshan, "The days ahead will be difficult."
"What are you afraid of? Does he dare to divorce you?"
The two of them were in a quiet Zen room inside Xiangguo Temple. Their personal maids had been sent outside to wait. Fang Ying had no qualms and said with a smile, "Don't tell me, he might actually dare. Back then, our wife tried her best but couldn't stop him from joining the army. Otherwise, why would these past three years have happened?"
"Why? Your mother-in-law doesn't want Ji Liulang to join the army?"
Fang Ying nodded: "After the eldest uncle died in battle, Madam no longer allowed him and the second uncle to practice martial arts."
Zhou Congshan had heard a bit about the Ji family's eldest son's death in battle and nodded, "I see. But divorcing a wife and joining the army are two different things. You were formally married to him with the three letters and six ceremonies, and you haven't violated any of the seven grounds for divorce. What right does he have to divorce you?"
Fang Ying was actually just joking. "Even if he wants to divorce me, he can't. It's not that I'm afraid of him, it's just that I finally have everything in place in the mansion, a loving mother-in-law, and close sisters-in-law. I can live a comfortable life, and then boom! A husband fell from the sky..."
Zhou Congshan burst out laughing. "What do you mean by a husband falling from the sky? And with a 'bang'? With a sound?"
"Well, others don't know, but you don't? When I first wanted to marry into his family, wasn't it because I wanted to live without a man, save a lot of energy, and just serve my parents-in-law well?"
Zhou Congshan not only knew Fang Ying's thoughts, but it was she who had sought out Master Lu Tian and facilitated this matter. However, since he had returned alive, there was no point in talking about it anymore. He advised his friend, "You don't have to think too badly of things. Even if there was some grudge between you two as children, Ji Liulang has survived a great disaster now. Would he still be brooding over a small matter from your childhood and making things difficult for you?"
As she spoke, she tilted her head to look at Fang Ying, and said with a smile, "If it were me, and I had escaped death and had a beautiful woman like you with bright eyes, white teeth, and graceful figure at home, and you were filial to my parents and friendly to my brother and sister-in-law, and everyone in the mansion praised you, I would only be overjoyed and worship you as a fairy from then on, and we would love each other until we grow old together and never let each other down."
"That's not right..." Fang Ying looked back at her like she did, and said jokingly, "Even if you put on men's clothes and we stood together, if we were to talk about the fairy, you would be the one."
She was speaking the truth. Zhou Congshan was recognized for her fairy-like appearance, with phoenix eyes, eyebrows like distant mountains, skin as white as cream, lips as red as rouge, and a slender waist. When she moved, she looked like a fairy in a painting.
As for herself, Fang Ying felt that she was worthy of being called "bright eyes and white teeth", but not "graceful and graceful" - her manners and behavior were learned slowly after she married into the Ji family. She could not be compared with Zhou Congshan, who grew up in a family of three generations of nobles.
Zhou Congshan glanced at her sideways: "I'm giving you no need to advise you. Seeing you like this, I think you're confident and have a plan in mind, right?"
"What countermeasures do I have?" Fang Ying smiled bitterly. "Right now, I can only take it one step at a time... But there is something I really want to ask you for advice on."
"you say."
"What if he really refuses to acknowledge this marriage no matter what? Why don't I just take a step back and become a monk?" Fang Ying asked seriously.
"..." Zhou Congshan rolled his eyes and said angrily, "I thought you had come up with some brilliant plan and wanted to ask me for advice... You're usually so smart, why are you so confused now? Becoming a nun? You really thought of that? Don't you know what will happen to a young woman like you who becomes a nun without anyone to protect her?"
Fang Ying said hurriedly, "Of course I know, but I thought that if I took a step back, Madam would definitely be more compassionate to me. With her protection..."
"Why don't you think about how old she is? Can she protect you forever? When Madam Ji is gone, who can you rely on? Ji Liulang's conscience? If he really has a conscience, why would you take that step back?"
Fang Ying actually understood the reasoning. She sighed in annoyance, "But whenever I think about having to act out a lifelong love story with him, I get really annoyed."
Zhou Congshan thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Why don't you just make this play real? Don't you always praise their family as a rare family of kindness and how Madam Ji is as resolute and courageous as any man? Ji Liulang is, after all, Madam Ji's biological son. Whether in character or appearance, he can't be much worse, right?"
"..." Fang Ying looked at her friend's eyes full of interest and laughed dryly. "Thank you very much. I suddenly feel that acting for a lifetime won't be that difficult."
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Ji Liulang: ???
--------
Quietly opening a new article, as the copy says, marriage first, love later, hehe
The dynasty is hollow, similar to the late Five Dynasties, with a lot of private establishments, don't take it seriously
By the way, in terms of address, Guanjia means the emperor, everyone should know this, right? Langjiu refers to brother-in-law or brother-in-law.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
