Passed down to future generations
Upon hearing her words, Mo Yi Bi Shuang's eyes suddenly lit up as she looked up at the empty space above her head, as if she could truly see the scene of the former teachers, students, and fellow disciples of Shuang Hua Tang gathered together.
Mu Huaying heard her weak voice softly recite:
"Having endured frost, one should not aspire to soar to the clouds, but rather remain a flower that grovels and flatters others."
That was the oath that every disciple of the Criminal Law sect had to swear before entering the Frostflower Hall. And her life seemed to be the irony of it all.
Mu Huaying's arm suddenly felt heavy.
Mo Yi Bi Shuang had closed her eyes peacefully, her expression serene as if she had fallen into a long sleep.
After a life of wandering and displacement, she finally returned to the Shuanghua Hall of the Mo Yi Clan in Luoyang City in her sleep.
Mu Huaying murmured as if in a dream, "After this incident, I disregarded His Majesty's attempts to persuade me to stay, resigned from my position as Minister of Justice, married into the Pei family, and resolved never to touch such matters again for the rest of my life."
She looked up at A Qiu and said, "I am very grateful to Master Pei; he gave me a home."
While Mu Huaying was immersed in the past, A Qiu heard something else entirely.
The Imperial Preceptor's Residence. Tuoba Han.
Her heart felt as if a stone had been thrown into a calm lake, and she could no longer control her trembling.
The second senior brother, Mo Yimingyue, after a long journey of thousands of miles to the Central Plains as an orphan, finally joined the Northern Qiang State Preceptor's Mansion and became a disciple of the State Preceptor Tuoba Han.
As far as she knew, her second senior brother, like herself, had always been just a disciple of Wan Qiqing, the master of Lanling Hall.
Suddenly, she heard her master's last warning on Jinling Terrace.
"Three months from now, the Northern Qiang delegation will bring a military music piece called 'Breaking the Formation Music,' which I personally composed. I hope that your Southern Dynasty will be able to receive it."
At that moment, she also sensed something was wrong and immediately asked:
"Master, are you a Northern Qiang person?"
Lanling Hall considers the whole world as its territory. Within the hall, there is no distinction between Han and non-Han peoples. They engage in philosophical discussions, sparring, and swordplay without any ethnic barriers.
Master Wanqiqing's appearance bore no resemblance to that of a northern nomadic people, even less than that of Moyi Mingyue. If there was any resemblance, it was in his tall stature and sharply defined nose. However, these were merely common features among those with outstanding appearances; such features were not uncommon among Han Chinese.
Therefore, A Qiu never considered that Wan Qiqing was not of the same race as herself.
In the past, this wouldn't have been a big deal within the Lanling Hall. Heroes are not judged by their origins, and good or bad is not determined by ethnicity.
However, with the Northern Qiang and the Southern Dynasty about to go to war, this would become a huge burden on A Qiu's heart.
In particular, the master is very likely the Northern Qiang National Preceptor mentioned by Mu Huaying, the mysterious Tuoba Han who rarely appears in the world.
Ah Qiu tried his best to recall how his master had answered that question back then.
The memory gradually became clearer.
His style remains consistent.
He didn't answer the question directly, but simply said calmly, "What country I'm from is not important to you. What's important is whether I'm useful to you."
But by this point, A Qiu was at least 90% certain that his master was the Northern Qiang National Preceptor.
Therefore, the massacres and plundering of cities by the Northern Qiang people in Han territory, and the continuous flames of war in Luoyang, the central capital, must have been orchestrated by the master.
She wasn't naive enough to believe that her master was truly uninvolved in these matters and lived a life of seclusion.
This is because whenever the government discusses the policies of the Northern Qiang, someone will point out that the Northern Qiang's Sinicization policies and the promotion of Confucianism in recent years are actually guided by a wise person.
Moreover, he was a highly accomplished person who was well-versed in the Han dynasty tradition.
The Northern Qiang royal family would not truly trust the Han people to govern the country. Therefore, the most likely person behind the unification of the north and the subsequent push towards the Southern Dynasty was Wan Qiqing, the master of Lanling Hall, who had infiltrated the Southern Dynasty court for many years as the musician Shi Changqing.
Her master was her true rival.
The world before my eyes seemed to have sunk into a bottomless abyss.
It was Gongye Fusu's voice that pulled her back from the void she had wandered into to the reality before her.
"In that case, since Madam Huachi had already given you all the information she knew before her death, why would you say that she lied to you?"
Mu Huaying's face turned cold as she looked at the winding frost vines on the wall and said indifferently, "Because of this."
Before the three of them could react, Mu Huaying said, "She knew that the Court of Justice would definitely search this place thoroughly after she left, and would not let go of anything suspicious. Therefore, she specially buried these Frost Vine which will not sprout for three years. Because this place is a temporary prison, after three years, it will be an abandoned place, and no one will come to check or search it."
Gongye Fusu said, "Even if someone comes and sees two or three tiny grasses less than an inch long in the corner of the wall, unless it is the lady herself or an expert in plants like me, they would never recognize that this is the Frostflower Vine and would easily let it go as a naturally growing weed."
Mu Huaying said fiercely, "She deceived me, and she left other last words for future generations."
Ah Qiu finally regained her composure and said, "But she could never have foreseen that we would imprison Hulü Guang here. This was completely an accident. There were a million possibilities. We could have imprisoned Hulü Guang in another prison, or we might not have imprisoned him at all if he hadn't caused any trouble."
Mu Huaying glanced at her, a hint of admiration flashing across her face, and then said lightly, "So she didn't leave this message for Hulü Guang. It just happened to fall into Hulü Guang's hands by accident, but it still largely fulfilled her wish."
Lie Changkong said, "Then who did she leave it for? And how could she be so sure that this prison would be reopened many years later, and that it would definitely be the person she wanted to pass on a message to?"
Mu Huaying shook her head and said, "To this day, only His Majesty and we Feifeng sisters know the ending of Senior Sister Bishuang in the entire Southern Dynasty. Even the Junior Tutor does not know, of course, because he never intended to interfere in state secrets. Think about who is most likely to still not give up on finding her after many years. In the end, that person will come here."
A Qiu and the other two all changed color in unison and exclaimed, "That child from back then!"
A huge wave of emotions surged within A Qiu's heart.
Hulü Guang had asked A Qiu and Xie Tiao to search for Mo Yi Bi Shuang because he didn't know her whereabouts. So, was the Second Senior Brother Mo Yi Ming Yue's infiltration of the palace under the identity of Xiao Yue from the Northern Qiang also an attempt to find out the final fate of their mother?
Gongye Fusu said, "Even if he finds the Frost Vine, at most he can only confirm with his own eyes that Mo Yi Bishuang was once imprisoned here. What else can he do?"
Mu Huaying said blankly, "Do you know that we disciples of the Criminal Law have all sworn an oath that no matter where we are scattered in the future, we must obey the orders of the Mo Yi family patriarch?"
Gongye Fusu understood and said, "Presumably, the token of this family head is the Frost Vine, and this young master of the Mo Yi family should be the current head of the Mo Yi family."
Mu Huaying said, "It wasn't until I saw this that I realized that my senior sister had ultimately held back a trick in front of me." She sighed, "The Gongye family head recognizes this Frost Vine. Have you ever wondered why this Frost Vine, apart from its extremely slow growth, lack of flowering, and unremarkable fragrance, is a common sight in famous gardens and mansions in Luoyang?"
By this point, Gongye Fusu had guessed most of the answer and replied fluently, "This must be a token of a disciple of Mo Yi. In the past, everyone valued the opportunity to study under Mo Yi, so they cherished this Frost Vine."
Recalling the past, Mu Huaying once again showed a bewildered expression on her face and said, "That's right. The Frost Vine originated from Frost Vine Hall. There is an old vine in their hall that is nearly a hundred years old. It is said that when the ancestors of the Mo Yi family were studying with Laozi, they brought it down from Green Ox Peak. Legend has it that over time, it became a symbol of the Mo Yi family."
She continued, "The sons of the powerful and wealthy in the capital city certainly considered it an honor to study under Mo Yi. Even those who only attended once or twice would invariably request a sprig of Frostflower Vine to take home and propagate, as a symbol of their family's honor. Over time, almost every household had Frostflower Vine. However, not everyone necessarily cherished or respected it. Nevertheless, the cultivation of Frostflower Vine spread widely and became a unique feature of aristocratic gardens."
She sighed and said, "Of course, this is an old story from before the Central Plains were destroyed. Now, even in Luoyang, I'm afraid all the Frost Vine has been burned to the ground."
Since the old residence in Luoyang was still being looked after by family members, Gongye Fusu, who was somewhat familiar with the situation in the old capital, nodded in agreement and said, "That is indeed the case. Even in my old residence in the Gongye family, there is a half-grown Frost Vine that I saw when I was young. At that time, I was curious why this Frost Vine, as a plant, was planted here, since the garden of my Gongye family is filled with rare and exotic plants, and it seems to have nothing special about it except that it grows a little slower. After hearing what Fourth Sister said, I finally understood, and that left a deep impression on me, which is why I can recognize it today."
Lie Changkong said in a deep voice, "Since the Frost Vine has become nothing more than a decorative plant for noble families, the order from the Mo Yi family head probably doesn't have much practical effect."
Mu Huaying was not offended and said, "That should be how it should be. But looking at the current situation, I'm afraid," she said with a helpless smile, "the Northern Qiang intelligence network that my senior sister gave me has indeed been completely destroyed by me, but now that I think about it, I overlooked one thing, that is, almost all the people on this list are Hu people, and there is not a single Han person."
She looked at A-Qiu and said, "You can imagine that at that time, she wove such a huge invisible net, from the central government to the local areas. How could there not be a single Han Chinese? But at that time, I was in a hurry to act and was also saddened by her passing, so I did not investigate further."
A Qiu said, "Is it possible that Lady Huachi let these Southern Dynasty people go because of their shared beliefs? Since all the key points have been broken, these people can no longer do anything."
Mu Huaying shook her head and said, "No. These people are her trump cards, which she keeps in her hands for her future successors to inherit."
A Qiu analyzed, "This dungeon has long been abandoned, and as Madam said, only His Majesty and Fei Feng and the other three truly know where Madam Hua Chi went last. Is she so sure that her successor will come here again?"
Exhausted, Mu Huaying closed her eyes and said, "So, she must have left Frost Vine in more than one place as a mark for her future comeback. It just so happens that we discovered this place."
Lie Changkong said in a deep voice, "Moreover, Huli Guang also recognizes this Frost Vine, so it must be that Mo Yi Bi Shuang once told him something."
Aqiu said, "According to Hulü Guang, Lady Huachi was his calligraphy teacher in the Northern Qiang Palace. It's normal for her to have told him things. By the way," she suddenly remembered something and said, "Hulü Guang once said that one of his purposes in coming to Jianzhang was to pay homage to Lady Huachi. Is his real purpose the intelligence network left behind by Mo Yi Bishuang, which uses the Frost Vine as a token?"
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