Chapter 84 Yang Guifei (End) Postscript
In the "Old Teahouse" west of Chang'an City, the copper bells on the eaves rang softly in the wind.
On a spring day in the third year of the Yuanhe reign, the poet Chen Ci walked into the market with his bag on his back. He had just sat down when the shopkeeper came over with a chipped, rough porcelain bowl. He smiled and asked, "Sir, you look unfamiliar. Are you from out of town? What kind of tea would you like? We have the Rain-Previous Longjing tea here, roasted according to the method Empress Yang improved upon. It's incredibly fragrant."
Shen Ci's eyes lit up - he came from Jiangnan just to look into the old story of Emperor Wu of Tang and Empress Yang thirty years ago.
The new emperor has been on the throne for five years now, but in Chang'an City, the legend about the emperor and empress is still the most vivid topic of conversation among the people.
He quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "My name is Shen Ci. I have come from Jiangnan. I heard that the shopkeeper knew about the old story between Emperor Wu and the Empress, so I came to ask for your advice."
The old shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then smiled and waved his hand: "It's not that I'm asking for advice, I heard it all from my father. My father was the shopkeeper of this teahouse back then, and he witnessed Emperor Wu and the Empress visit the West Market with his own eyes!"
He brought a bamboo stool and sat across from Shen Ci, slowly pouring tea. "Speaking of Emperor Wu, it was truly not easy back then. After Empress Wu Huifei passed away, he was originally the Prince of Shou, but Li Linfu made him the Crown Prince. Everyone thought he was a softie, but who knew he secretly rallied the Yulin Army and brought down Li Linfu and his gang, becoming His Majesty within three years!"
"What about the Queen?" Shen Ci asked, the pen in his hand already spread out on the paper.
"Empress Yang," the old shopkeeper's eyes softened. "She was a beauty rarely seen in heaven. My father said that during the enthronement ceremony, Suzaku Street was packed. The Empress wore a red robe and a phoenix crown, and the pearls on her hairpins swayed, making even the sun seem to retreat. But she was not only beautiful, but also kind-hearted. It was she who proposed the establishment of Huiminfang, where she taught the people how to make paper and weave brocade. Even the tea-roasting method in our teahouse is a modified recipe that the Empress brought from Jiangnan. She said it was to 'provide the people with cheap and fragrant tea.'"
Shen Ci quickly wrote it down and asked, "Then do you know how Emperor Wu and the Empress reunited behind Taizhen Temple?"
"I know!" The old nanny at the next table came over, holding a handkerchief embroidered with bamboo patterns. "My sister-in-law worked at Taizhen Temple back then. She said that when the Empress was at the temple, she would always improve the rice paper in the firewood room, and Emperor Wu would secretly send people to deliver messages. The two of them used a piece of bluestone to pass on the messages.
Later, when Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he personally went to the academy to pick up the empress. The scene was magnificent. The imperial carriage stretched from the academy gate to Chang'an City. The people gathered around to watch, saying, "This is a match made in heaven!"
Shen Ci was fascinated by what he heard, and followed the old nanny to the Huiminfang of that year.
Although Huiminfang has changed its appearance today, it still retains the paper products shop of the past.
Li Bo, an old craftsman in the workshop, had once been instructed by Empress Yang to improve Xuan paper. Pointing at the paper on the table, he said to Shen Ci, "Look at this paper, it's so white and tough. It's made according to the Empress's method. She taught us step by step, mixing mulberry bark and bamboo fiber. This reduced the cost by 30%, making paper affordable for the people. Later, Emperor Wu issued an edict to spread this method throughout the country. Even students in Jiangnan wrote letters of gratitude to the Empress!"
"What did the Tang Dynasty look like back then?" Shen Ci asked softly, his tone full of yearning.
Uncle Li smiled, his eyes drifting off into the distance: "Back then, Chang'an didn't need to close its doors at night, and the streets of the West Market were packed with Hu merchants, selling everything from BMWs from the Western Regions to silk from the South.
The people have work to do and food to eat, and the children in school can afford paper and pens.
During every festival, the palace would invite the people to watch the dance choreographed by the Queen. The melody would warm people's hearts just by listening to it.
I still remember one winter when the Empress sent cotton-padded clothes to the elderly in the neighborhood. Each piece had the word "peace" sewn into it. I dream of those days again!
Shen Ci stayed in Chang'an for half a month and walked through all the places where Emperor Wu and the Empress left their traces.
The bamboo forest of Taizhen Temple is still swaying, and it is said that the queen often practiced the piano here.
The old palace at the foot of the mountain has been converted into a memorial hall, and the music scores copied by the queen in the past are still placed on the desk.
The stone pavement of West Market still seems to bear the footprints of the emperor and empress walking side by side.
The night before leaving Chang'an, Shen Ci sat by the window of the "Old Teahouse", looking out at the moonlight, and wrote a poem "Recalling the Empress of Emperor Wu in Chang'an":
The bamboo shadows once hid the Taizhen moon, and the red robe now remembers the bright phoenix crown.
A piece of paper for reform brings peace to the people, and half a lifetime of companionship will ensure the revival of the country.
The music of the West Market is still ringing in my ears, and the fragrance of the ink of the East Palace is still lingering.
If you ask what the prosperous Tang Dynasty looked like, the emperor and empress worked together to write history.
Later, this poem spread throughout the south of the Yangtze River and then back to Chang'an, becoming the most widely circulated historical poem.
When people read the poem, they will think of the peaceful and prosperous times thirty years ago.
There was an emperor who endured for many years just to win back his beloved.
There was a queen who was both beautiful and virtuous, and she worked for the welfare of the people.
There is a city called Chang'an, where there is music and revelry every night and every household is well-off.
Later, when the new emperor heard about this, he specially ordered that this poem be engraved on the pillar of the Taiji Hall, and a painting was placed next to it. In the painting, Emperor Wu of Tang was holding Empress Yang's hand, walking on the stone road of Chang'an, with the sun shining on them, and the people gathered on both sides, smiling with their eyes curved.
Time passes, years go by, but the legend about the emperor and empress, and the memory of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, remain forever in the hearts of the people, in the poem that has been passed down through the ages, and become a legend that future generations will always yearn for.
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