Chapter 606 Some Seek Paradise, Some Laugh at the Frost [Requesting Monthly Tickets!]
hall.
Apart from the bubbling sound of the fish soup simmering at the table, there was complete silence.
"ridiculous."
Snow-covered, candle-red lips uttered the slightly stiff words of the Great Zhou Dynasty:
"Destroying the Donglin Buddha statue while forbidding the execution of the corrupt officials in charge of its construction—isn't this just treating the symptoms, not the root cause? Are we just going to keep them around for the New Year?"
Du Shuqing's expression was blank, almost like he had facial paralysis.
“Killing Lin Cheng, Wang Lengran, and the Wei family is only a temporary solution, not a cure.”
"When Lin Cheng, the Xia Guan Lingtai Lang, was parachuted in from the capital, he ostracized Ouyang Lianghan, causing the latter to be demoted and retired, and the Xunyang Grottoes were shelved. This was originally good news."
"Mr. Wei specifically wrote a letter, instructing Her Majesty the Great Empress and the other heroes to destroy the Buddha statues but not to kill Lin Cheng, Wang Lengran, and others, precisely because he was worried about the current situation where Ouyang Lianghan and the Xunyang Grottoes he spearheaded were reactivated by the false emperor..."
"But what you worry about most is what you end up with."
Xue Zhongzhu stared coldly at Du Shuqing, his face expressionless.
"You won't kill this, you won't kill that, just explain yourselves! All this nonsense, you should have just said it back then: execute this corrupt official named Ouyang Lianghan first. They are all corrupt officials who created the image of the false emperor and aided and abetted the tyrant. They should all be executed. Why show any mercy?"
“It’s different.” Du Shuqing shook her head firmly.
"Different? How are they different?"
The tall, blonde oriental woman held her chin high and spoke in a nonchalant tone:
"If this Ouyang Lianghan is really that capable, how could he have lost the battle for the location of the Buddha statue to a nobody like Lin Cheng who was parachuted in from outside?"
Du Shuqing looked straight ahead, his tone as usual:
"A virtuous person deceives others with principles, while a petty person lures them with profit. Therefore, a petty person often deceives a virtuous person to gain an advantage."
"Regardless of whether he has any methods or not, Ouyang Lianghan works under the false emperor and aids and abets evil. What kind of true gentleman can he be?"
She shook her head, chuckled softly, and said incisively:
"If we're talking about a solution that addresses both the symptoms and the root cause, it's actually quite simple, and there's only one..."
"That is your Southwest Restoration Army to prove yourselves, defeat Zhou Ting's army on the main battlefield, capture Qin Jingzhen alive, recapture Jiangzhou in one fell swoop, control Xunyang Prince's Mansion, and then march south to strike directly into the southeastern heartland."
"You directly seized half of the world and divided the country with the Great Zhou... If your Southwest Restoration Army really has such capabilities on the front lines, what if I persuade the Queen's Palace to lead the Yunmeng Sword Marsh to publicly declare our support for your Restoration Army in the Jianghu of Tiannan and even the Jianghu of the whole world?"
At this moment, Xue Zhongzhu is sitting cross-legged, with his hands resting lightly on his thighs and his upper body leaning slightly forward, giving people a very aggressive feeling.
The tone was also uncompromisingly firm:
"In the end, wasn't it because Qin Jingzhen blocked us from taking back Jiangzhou, and we could only let the Wei family's pseudo-emperor build statues at will? And now you're making sarcastic remarks to me afterward. Who gave you the audacity to speak to me like that?"
The candlelight blazed intensely in the snow.
Faced with the overwhelming aura opposite him, Du Shuqing remained seated without moving, quieted down for a moment, and gently shook his head.
Before he could speak again, Wei Shaoqi put down the soup bowl and made a light tap on Du Shuqing's face to stop him.
"What the Great Queen says makes sense, but unfortunately, matters of great importance in military affairs must be handled with caution. It's not as easy as the Great Queen thinks. This Qin Jingzhen is cunning and shrewd, and his military tactics are indeed formidable. He has temporarily halted our offensive..."
"Therefore, we have no choice but to ask Your Excellency and your clan to take action regarding the Donglin Buddha incident."
"This operation to build the Xingzi Lake Buddha shows that the Great Queen and many heroes have done their best. It's no use looking back now. The most important thing is to see what to do next. Let's look forward."
Wei Shaoqi smiled slightly:
"Moreover, after the last reconnaissance, we now have a general idea of the true strengths and weaknesses of the female officials of the Censorate and the Imperial Observatory in Xunyang City, which will be beneficial to our next plan..."
He changed the subject:
"By the way, how are things going with the Empress's side? The recent crackdown and manhunts by the Censorate and the Xuanwu Camp in the Jiangnan prefectures shouldn't have taken a toll, right? I heard quite a few people have been captured. Could it be..."
"You don't need to worry about Tiannan Jianghu. Now that Mr. Wei is here, his safety will be taken care of by me and my junior sisters. There's no need to fret."
Wei Shaoqi and Du Shuqing saw it.
Xue Zhongzhu had an unusual face, with deep-set eyes, a high nose, red lips and white teeth, and an exotic mixed-race look. His expression was indifferent.
"Mr. Wei...did you bring Mr. Li's painting with you this time?"
Wei Shaoqi calmed down, got up by himself, and ladled out another bowl of hot fish soup.
Du Shuqing rested one hand on the edge of the table and the other on a cylindrical cloth bag on his knee, his face expressionless.
Looking at them, Xuezhongzhu asked softly:
"According to my fifth junior sister who stayed in Yunmeng, Mr. Wei sneaked over here this time, and took a detour to Yunmeng Marsh. He left Yunmeng from the exit of Yue Nu Gorge upstream of Longcheng County, and then came here..."
"Hmm, is it the same as before the last Southwest Restoration Uprising, when you and Lord Li's group entered Yunmengze to find me, and you also took the opportunity to look for that legendary place along the way?"
Wei Shaoqi sighed:
"Why is the Great Queen so interested?"
There's no reason why.
A candle hangs low in the snow.
"What I'm trying to say is that you don't need to hide anything. You can talk to Jianze about that thing. The Queen Dowager knows more about it than you do. Perhaps... we can even have some cooperation."
"However, the Yunmeng Marsh is so vast, with countless lakes and endless treasures, and mythical creatures occasionally appear in its depths."
“There are some places deep within this great swamp that even our Queen’s Palace has not been able to fully explore over the past thousand years… In short, just tell us what you are looking for. This kind of guarding is really pointless.”
Du Shuqing said expressionlessly:
"The things the Great Lady mentioned, doesn't Yunmeng Sword Marsh have them too? This time, when they destroyed the Star Lake Buddha and beheaded Lin Cheng and his group, didn't they also mobilize that kind of force? I heard it was a reclusive lord from your sect..."
He was speaking when he suddenly stopped, because Xue Zhongzhu across from him cast a cold glance at him.
"I'll say it one last time: don't bring this up again, and don't spread any more rumors about the reclusive ruler of our sect."
"I am not an impolite person, and my sect will not be impolite either. We will do our best to fulfill the duties of a host. However, I would like to trouble you gentlemen not to neglect the etiquette of guests."
Du Shuqing pursed her lips and exchanged a glance with Wei Shaoqi.
Wei Shaoqi's expression turned thoughtful.
A silence fell over the table.
The three of them remained quiet and each finished a bowl of delicious white sturgeon soup.
Upon receiving Wei Shaoqi's gaze, Du Shuqing took out a file from his pocket, silently placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Xue Zhongzhu with two fingers.
Under Xue Zhongzhu's raised eyebrow, Wei Shaoqi spoke softly:
"A topographical map of Xunyang City, including the Shuangfengjian Xunyang Grottoes."
Xuezhongzhu opened the map, took a look, and after a while, a look of surprise and amazement flashed in her eyes.
"This painting was done by Shuqing, and it's quite detailed."
Wei Shaoqi's voice came from the side. He explained softly to Xue Zhongzhu, who was carefully examining the map of Xunyang City:
"Back then, when we were demoted by the Zhou court, we passed through Xunyang City and stayed for so long. We even asked Lord Li to find an opportunity to have Ouyang Lianghan lead us to visit the Xunyang Grottoes at Shuangfengjian. One of the purposes was to give Shuqing time to draw this picture."
At this point, the middle-aged scholar, dressed in a faded white scholar's robe, let out a long sigh:
"Hey, with such a detailed map... if it weren't for Junzhi's incident at the Xunyang Prince's Mansion, and Qin Jingzhen's subsequent obstruction... Hongzhou would have been captured as well. Once our army entered Jiangzhou, conquering Xunyang City would have been a piece of cake."
"Unfortunately, there are no 'what ifs' in military matters."
"nice one."
Xuezhongzhu, who was looking down at the map, quietly and carefully put it away, tucking it into his sleeve.
She glanced again at the dull, stubborn, and argumentative young man surnamed Du, then stood up, ready to leave.
"I can see that Mr. Wei and Young Master Du are a little tired. After you've had your meal, you should rest. You must be exhausted from traveling for so long. We can discuss anything else tomorrow. My second junior sister has already prepared guest rooms for you all."
"Alright, thank you for your concern, First Lady and Second Lady."
Wei Shaoqi and Du Shuqing stood up, bowed, and watched her tall figure leave.
Snow Candle walked to the door, suddenly stopped and asked:
"Does that Peach Blossom Spring really exist? Who or what lives there?"
The hall was completely quiet.
Xuezhongzhu glanced back and saw Du Shuqing, who was expressionless and calm, while Mr. Wei straightened his clothes and pondered.
She turned around, pushed open the wooden door, and faced the wind and rain.
...
night.
A full moon hangs high above the great river.
It is adorned with countless stars.
After several days of heavy rain, the storm quietly subsided late at night, revealing a night view filled with countless stars.
The weather should clear up soon.
A shop bearing the Taoshouzhai banner sails alone on the great river.
On the deck, under the moonlight, a tall Hu woman with a sword on her back stood, holding onto the railing. Her white Wu-style dress fluttered in the river breeze, revealing her slender, smooth hands with skin as smooth as jade beneath her sleeves.
Perhaps due to her mixed heritage, her skin was as delicate and white as milk. When the silvery moonlight fell on it, it became even more dazzlingly white, as if covered with a layer of white frost on an autumn morning.
Her bright, deep blue eyes reflected the full moon and the shimmering river.
If one ignores the sharp, sword-like aura of this tall, beautiful woman, then the first impression of her tall, delicate figure, outlined by the fabric of her Wu skirt fluttering in the wind, is undoubtedly one of graceful charm.
It's unknown whether this Queen of Yunmeng is skilled in the Hu Xuan dance, which is proficient in the Hu women of her own kind in Chang'an and Luoyang... I doubt anyone would dare to think about or ask that.
"Asleep?"
Xue Zhongzhu stared blankly into space. Hearing the faint footsteps on the deck behind her, she asked without turning her head.
"Um."
Yu Nianyuan, with a snow-white blanket wrapped around his two white arms, walked to Xue Zhongzhu's side and together they gazed at the rare calm of the river and moonlight after the rain.
The two ladies of Yunmeng had just soothed and coaxed their newly acquired disciple to sleep.
Just as night fell, before the sky had cleared and thunder rumbled from the clouds, a little girl with her hair in her hair was so frightened that she ran to her master's boudoir. However, in her confused state, she wandered into the wrong room and crawled into her eldest uncle's bed.
Of course, the little girl was dragged out by her uncle, who had a rather unpleasant expression, and left at the door. Then, her pale and bewildered face was taken back to the right room by her master, who arrived with a helpless expression...
"Wei Shaoqi and the others still haven't mentioned the painting?"
"Um."
The candlelight squinted in the snow.
"I looked it up and found that Tao Yuanming once wrote an essay about Peach Blossom Spring."
Yu Nianyuan took the initiative to speak.
The candle in the snow remained noncommittal, its gaze fixed ahead.
When Li Zhengyan and his entourage were demoted and exiled to the southwest by the imperial court, they made a special trip to Yunmengze after passing through Xunyang City in Jiangzhou.
Li Zhengyan informed Yunmeng Jianze of the specific secrets behind the Great Zhou Dynasty's upcoming construction of the Great Zhou Songde Tian Shu and the Four Directions Buddha.
Xue Zhongzhu, who had lived in Yunmeng for a long time and never came down the mountain, was initially too lazy to pay attention to them and didn't even see them. At that time, he asked his sixth junior sister, who had nothing to do in the palace, to send them away at will.
However, just a few months after this group left, a world-renowned righteous rebellion broke out in the southwest.
In fact, Xue Zhongzhu had vaguely known that Li Zhengyan, Wei Shaoqi and their group were not ordinary people and had some ability, but he did not expect them to have such great courage that they dared to directly challenge the Great Zhou Dynasty.
However, even so, Yunmeng Jianze will most likely just stand by and watch, just like he has done time and time again to watch the world's conflicts unfold.
This indifference and coldness continued until... Li Zhengyan sent someone to deliver the captured head of the Guizhou Buddha. Upon seeing this mysterious golden Buddha head made by the Imperial Observatory, Xue Zhongzhu could no longer sit still.
That very day, he persuaded the Queen Mother and led the Yue women down the mountain...
Xuezhongzhu still remembered something that Fifth Junior Sister had mentioned:
When Li Zhengyan and his group passed through Yunmengze, they carried a painting with them and followed an ancient text that recorded Peach Blossom Spring to find a place called "Peach Blossom Spring".
The fifth junior sister who accompanied the group to supervise had seen this picture and said it was a picture of a Peach Blossom Spring.
However, they ultimately failed to find the "Peach Blossom Spring" and left disappointed the first time.
It's not hard to understand, after all, Yunmeng Marsh is too big. Even though it has shrunk considerably compared to the Yunmeng Ancient Marsh of the pre-Qin period or even the ancient times, it is still vast. There are some wild and secluded islands in the marsh, which hide many strange and ancient things. In fact, a few years ago, a Yue woman from our sect accidentally entered a small island paradise and encountered a little fox with a crooked head that could speak human language...
In any case, there are many strange and wonderful stories about Yunmeng Ancient Marsh, and every year countless people go deep into Yunmeng to search for ancient sites.
Therefore, Xue Zhongzhu didn't care much about the "Peach Blossom Spring" that Li Zhengyan, Wei Shaoqi and his group were looking for.
But now, looking at what Li Zhengyan and others did, and looking back... the things they were thinking about on the eve of the rebellion must have been extraordinary. Every step they took before the uprising in Guizhou must have been an important move, such as their stay in Xunyang City.
Therefore, the "Peach Blossom Spring" depicted in poems and paintings might actually exist, as for what it holds...
After a moment of silence on the deck, Xue Zhongzhu took out a hand-drawn map of Xunyang City by Du Shuqing and handed it to Yu Nianyuan.
She said calmly:
"The guests are all here. Let's issue the Yunmeng Order tomorrow."
"good."
Upon hearing the words "Yunmeng Order," Yu Nianyuan nodded solemnly.
But then, Xue Zhongzhu's unusually deep voice rang out: "Any news about Seventh Junior Sister...?"
Yu Nianyuan hesitated for a moment, then gently shook his head:
"Not yet. I didn't want to make a big fuss and let too many people know, but now it seems we can't delay any longer. Making a big fuss isn't a bad idea. At least it will let our junior sister, who is hiding, hear the news and know that we are looking for her."
The candle in the snow remained silent for a moment, then waved its hand:
"Okay, go ahead."
"Senior Sister, get some rest."
Yu Nianyuan tightened the blanket around himself, just as he was about to turn around.
Suddenly, the clear, cold voice of Xuezhongzhu came from behind:
"Second Junior Sister, tell me, is the name 'Zhi Shuang'... funny?"
"Funny? Who laughed?"
Yu Nianyuan stopped in his tracks and turned around. He saw that his senior sister had drawn a snow-white longsword, held it horizontally in front of her, and was looking down at a certain spot on the sword. Her expression was not visible.
This time, she was genuinely curious:
"So, who dares to laugh at Senior Sister?"
Xuezhongzhu stood with his back turned and remained silent, seemingly engrossed in watching the swordplay.
Yu Nianyuan glanced at her lonely figure under the moonlight.
My senior sister has been a bit absent-minded lately.
Ever since that time when the eldest senior sister left Yunmeng in the middle of the night with the Crimson Lotus Sword Seal to investigate the [Craftsmanship] at Dagushan, and had her first encounter with the owner of the Butterfly Love Flower, only to return empty-handed, she has occasionally been lost in thought like this.
Tonight I even asked her a strange question.
Yu Nianyuan shook his head, turned and left the deck...
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(End of this chapter)
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