Chapter 39 Fishing
As the sun rose, the people of Kucha, who had suffered from bad news, finally received some exciting good news.
First, the Western Fan army was defeated by the joint efforts of Qiuci, Anxi and Beiting, and is now in disarray. There is hope for long-term stability in Qiuci.
"I heard that this coalition was led by the granddaughter of Prince Changhua, the Princess of the Great Tang Dynasty. A small number of them were veterans from her grandfather's time. They were truly dedicated and made great contributions."
"Hey, why do I remember saying a few days ago that the county lady was the murderer of the Kucha royal family..."
"That's the second piece of good news. I heard the princess survived the fire in the mausoleum, and she witnessed the entire process of the murderer killing the royal family members and setting the fire! However, just as she was about to prove that the Princess of Datang County was not the murderer and expose the real culprit, she was beaten to the punch and fell unconscious. But I heard that after the imperial doctors' strenuous efforts to save her, her fingers have been able to move and her eyelashes can be lifted. Once she wakes up and tells the truth, the real culprit will be hard to hide!"
"Thank God, the ancestors of Kucha are indeed blessed and protecting our country!"
"That's true. At this critical juncture of life and death, we had Queen Guishan before us, Prince Changhua after us, and now the Princess of Datang has come thousands of miles to protect us. This is truly a blessing for Kucha!"
"Yes, this county lady is worthy of the Changhua King's ambition. Although she has just returned to the country, she is indeed a leader of the Bai royal family!"
In the bustling market, a cacophony of voices with accents from all over the East and West finally converged to praise the Princess of Lingling.
Qiandeng, wearing a blue diamond-patterned skirt and a light blue scarf, a common sight among Kucha women, felt increasingly ashamed as she listened to the story. She couldn't help but glance at Cui Fufeng beside her and whispered, "Isn't this propaganda you're creating a bit too exaggerated?"
Cui Fufeng smiled slightly: "This is all true. The county lady has indeed made great contributions. Why should she be so modest?"
"I just did what I could. In fact, I don't have any power to help Kucha..."
"But for the current Kucha, your power is already invaluable." Cui Fufeng said softly, "After all, there are no other people in the Kucha royal family now."
Qian Deng recalled his initial suggestion that she take over Kucha, and a heavy heart settled over him. He whispered, "No, even if the King of Kucha is seriously injured and unable to support himself, once Princess Zhaosu wakes up, the political power can be smoothly transferred."
Cui Fufeng smiled and said nothing.
Qiandeng looked up and saw a temple next to the market. Something suddenly occurred to him, and he said, "I remember when Xue Xiyang bought fish, he borrowed a basin from the temple to store the fish because he was afraid the fish would dry up and die on the road."
"Yes, there are many temples in the city of Kucha, but this temple is the one where fish are sold in the market." Cui Fufeng said, looking at this ordinary temple thoughtfully. "Why is the county lady interested in this?"
"I went to his place a while ago and saw his fish basin. It had paintings of fishing, hunting, and feasting on it, clearly not something used in a temple. I asked, and it turns out he had only temporarily borrowed the basin from the temple and immediately returned it," Qian Deng analyzed. "If I'm not mistaken, the basin he borrowed from the temple that day wasn't an ordinary basin—or, in other words, it wasn't a real basin."
"The basin that was borrowed to hold fish a few days ago?"
Upon hearing their question, the monks in the temple immediately remembered this incident: "Is it that handsome young man who speaks Kucha language well but with a Tang Dynasty accent?"
"Exactly. He borrowed the basin to put a flower-finned fish in it."
"I remember," a young monk nearby interjected. "That fish is indeed beautiful. Encased in the dark bronze chime, its color is also very bright!"
"A bronze chime?" Cui Fufeng glanced at Qiandeng and saw that she was confident. As expected, her previous words about it not being an ordinary basin had come true. "How could it be placed in a bronze chime? Which one is it?"
"That's the one by the door." He raised his hand and pointed to the bell and chime under the eaves at the entrance. "There are only a few of us in this small temple, so we do morning and evening prayers here. Just after we finished morning prayers that day, that donor Xue saw this bronze chime by the door. He was holding a live fish and said he was worried the road would dry up. This chime is just the right size, and the rim is high enough so the fish won't jump out, so he wanted to borrow it for emergency use."
When the old monk heard that it was a matter of saving lives, he asked the young monk to help take the bronze chime to the ditch at the door, scoop some water, and put the fish in it.
He pawned his jade pendant as collateral and took the bronze chime away. However, in the afternoon, someone came back with the bronze chime and returned it, and the jade pendant was naturally returned intact.
After listening to this, Qiandeng walked over to the bronze chime to examine it. He saw that it was not small in size, with a diameter similar to that of an ordinary wooden basin, but the edge of the chime was much higher than that of an ordinary basin, and the rim was slightly narrowed to help gather the echo and make the sound louder.
She raised her hand and tried to strike the chime, then picked it up to weigh it.
Although this chime looks large, brass is precious after all, and in order to produce a clear sound, the edge is struck very thin, so it is not heavy. No wonder Xue Xiyang could carry it away even if it was filled with water.
"I wonder if I can borrow this chime?" Qiandeng asked the monks in the temple while holding it.
The little monk asked curiously, "Did you buy fish too?"
Qiandeng smiled mysteriously at him: "Yes, I may catch a big fish soon."
In the Kucha Palace, the maids serving Bai Zhaosu were busy running around, but even though they were tired, they could not hide their joy when they saw the princess lying on the couch showing signs of waking up.
Although Bai Zhaosu had been neglected before and even regarded as an unlucky person, now that the King of Kucha was seriously injured and she was the only bloodline left, she had become the most important person in Kucha.
Because the princess was about to reveal the real culprit in the spirit hall when she got into trouble, Qian Deng was naturally more concerned about this little cousin. When she came to visit her, she asked the imperial physician in detail. The princess's injuries have recovered well now, and her breathing and pulse are gradually returning to normal. Logically, she should have woken up long ago, right?
The imperial physician was also troubled. While he was pondering, he heard an old palace maid beside him say, "The princess looks like she lost her soul in the fire and hasn't returned yet!"
"Lost her soul?" Everyone initially scoffed at this ignorant and superstitious theory, but the imperial physician said, "Perhaps there is truth to it. The princess was frightened and unconscious in the fire at the shrine, and she is no longer conscious. If we take her back there, in the same environment, perhaps we can stimulate her to wake up!"
In desperation, everyone tried every possible means. After discussing, they went to report to the king, prepared a bed, carefully lifted the princess up, covered her with a clean gauze, carried her out of the back door of the palace, and headed towards the mourning hall.
Qiandeng thought about it and ordered Daimao to go to the side courtyard of Anxi Protectorate to find the accompanying imperial physician of the Tang Dynasty.
Daimao hurried back, found the imperial physician's residence, and patted him vigorously: "Doctor Chen, Doctor Chen!"
She knocked for a long time but got no response, and she was getting anxious. Xue Xiyang, who lived in the same courtyard, was startled by her and came out to ask her, "Miss Daimao, is there something urgent that you need from Doctor Chen? He was called away last night and hasn't returned since."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed to the central courtyard of the Anxi Protectorate, indicating that he was called there by the prince.
Daimao uttered an "Ah" and frowned, "What should I do? The county lady is anxious to find him."
When Xue Xiyang heard about Qian Deng's incident, he immediately asked with concern, "What's going on? Is the county lady feeling unwell?"
"No, no, the palace wants to send the princess to the spirit hall to summon her soul. The county lady feels that it is not appropriate and wants to ask Doctor Chen to go and take a look. She is afraid that it will be too late to stop them."
Hearing that the county lady was safe, Xue Xiyang's expression relaxed and he smiled. "What do you mean by summoning spirits? Why are these ridiculous folk stories being perpetrated in the Kucha Palace?"
"That's right. And isn't it funny, Xue Lecheng? Even their imperial physician agrees, saying that returning the princess to the place where she was frightened might help her wake up. From what I see, the princess's fingers are moving. She'll wake up today or tomorrow. Why rush into this?"
Xue Xiyang asked slowly: "What you said, don't you want her to wake up soon?"
"That's true, Princess, please wake up! If she hadn't been murdered and unconscious last time, the county lady would have already found the real culprit based on the clues she saw. Would she have had to endure so much injustice for so long and go through so much trouble to risk her life?"
Daimao said this, realizing it was getting late and that he couldn't possibly go to the Crown Prince to call Doctor Chen away. He could only bow hastily to Xue Xiyang, saying, "I have to hurry and reply to the County Master. If Xue Lecheng sees Doctor Chen return, please tell him and ask him to diagnose the princess."
"Okay, sure."
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