Daughter of Jianghu (Part 1)
Bian Hongqiu was tossed about in a nightmare on the Xiliu Sea. Before the violent storms and bloodbaths of the outside world could disturb him, he was already awakened by the tormenting memories of decades past. Covered in a cold sweat, he rolled up from the couch, gritting his teeth against his convulsive body as he rushed to the table and overturned the incense burner from which curled white smoke.
This incense was the most popular "boudoir incense" in the capital before the chaos in Dayu broke out. It was also known as "delicate flower" and one strand was worth a thousand gold.
This was also the smell of his mother's room.
The scent of "delicate flowers" mingled with his memories, his clothes and jewelry, even his body, his first taste of breast milk as a child. His mother lived in the most luxurious attic of the palace. Behind a dark, silent door, the rich, sweet scent of "delicate flowers" reached him. He took a step inside, and the door, letting in fresh air from outside, closed.
——Mother would never open the window, and would only open the door when he came to pay his respects.
She said that the rising yellow sand had a disgusting smell that could only be covered up by "delicate flowers".
Thus, during the twelve years that Bian Hongqiu lived with her mother, Song Jingyan expended enormous resources each year to obtain "delicate flowers." If they were not offered, she would unleash unrest upon everyone in the palace. This incense became almost a soothing antidote to her, a witness to her escape from the place she hated most.
That night, a blaze erupted in the attic, its priceless "flowers" consumed as fuel for the self-immolation. The rising dust carried the stench of extravagance throughout the city, waking every household from their slumbers, searching for its source. The attic, unable to withstand the flames, like a kite on flaming wings, vanished into the night sky, visible to all who ascended, as it drifted into nothingness in a cloud of ash.
The woman who lit the fire began to regret it after feeling the burning and pain. The curses she uttered, louder than ever before, were forever engraved in Bian Hongqiu's bones.
Bian Hongqiu inherited his father's tenderness and his mother's cunning thoughts. He was weak—and because he was not stupid, he appeared particularly weak.
He always knew that his mother was not really crazy, she was too sane to be crazy.
She knew that she would have to stay in Shangyang for the rest of her life, and if she had the chance to return to Beijing, she would go to the guillotine.
So she tortured the people around her for so many years, and she wanted to demolish the grave of Bian Hongqiu's deceased father and whip the corpse. Finally, she occasionally encountered one or two such boring moments, and God was willing to obey her wishes and stop her from worrying about it.
As for Bian Hongqiu, as a child he longed for his mother's embrace. Perhaps out of pity or perhaps hoping to wait until he was older, Song Jingyan fabricated the illusion that his mother was insane and had no choice but to do what she did. Later, when he saw through clues the cracks tearing apart his peaceful life, he chose to ignore them, turning his back on them and filling them with his own body.
As long as he pretends to admire his mother, Song Jingyan will always be soft-hearted.
In this way, he doesn't have to face his real mother alone and doesn't have to fall into a dilemma.
Unfortunately, escape always comes at a price.
The scent of "delicate flowers" seemed to represent his mother's curse on him. Song Jingyan thought he missed her, so she continued to spend money like water despite her dissuasion. And he, knowing that the smell would give him nightmares, still allowed it to permeate him.
One day, perhaps he will really be "infected" and become a madman.
The incense burner scattered the delicate flower all over the floor, and the scent in the wing room instantly became extremely strong—so strong that it made one's head spin. Bian Hongqiu felt short of breath and was about to fall ill, but the pirates who descended from the sky acted even faster than his illness.
Before he could reach out and strangle himself, the pirates quickly tore a hole through the window, leaving a tattered hole. A bloody, icy sea breeze lashed at his face, chilling him to the bone. All the ailments he'd developed in the warm, spring-like room vanished. When he came to his senses, the icy sea breeze had become tangible, clinging to his fragile neck.
That was the pirate's knife that had just been stained with blood.
Bian Hongqiu watched the pirates coming in one after another from the broken window. After searching the whole house, they kicked the door open and held Bian Hongqiu's "command" in front of him. The guards outside the door drew their swords and knives, but were forced to retreat step by step. Qiuhe, who was holding food in the corner, smashed the bowls on the ground and ran to the deck in a panic to call for help.
The two sides faced off, the pirates, out of ammunition and food, clinging to their lifeline tightly. The guards were too cautious to make a move, and in the tussle, only Bian Hongqiu's neck was scratched by the knife. He stumbled onto the deck, his eyes covered with a hazy gray light.
The surrounding scenes flashed past his ears like a fleeting display. He didn't know whether it was because he was in the middle of a seizure or because he was so frightened that he had lost his soul, but his eyes were dull the whole time. The pirates wanted to ask him to shout a few times to drive away the guards, but even with the blade pressed into his neck, his face was dull and he didn't say a word.
The pirate said angrily as he walked onto the deck: "Isn't the owner of this house a fool?"
Bian Hongqiu was almost half-carried. In the distance, Song Jingyan was running towards him on the sinking boat. He finally reacted. His clear eyes trembled slightly and tears actually flowed down.
The world seemed to be collapsing. Some were willing to die, others were fleeing for their lives. The pirates on the ship had no sympathy for the hostages, and the people in the desperate Liang Palace had no time to pay attention to such a small detail. Besides, he looked simply terrified—only the clever yet weak princess herself knew that amidst his overwhelming fear, there was probably also a hint of sadness.
The guards retreated while using threats and inducements. He was held hostage on the opposite side and could clearly see everyone's expression: surprise, shock, and impatience. He could see General Feiyun's most trusted guards arriving late, watching from afar, and then retreating as if they had never appeared... He also saw Song Jingyan, who was extremely worried and came towards him desperately. Behind her were all the old members of the Liang Palace who had been in the same boat with him before, and were even now in the same boat with him, but they were no longer of the same mind.
At this moment, Bian Hongqiu clearly realized that the word "burden" had hit him right on the head.
He had been struggling all the way since leaving Shangyang, worrying about how to escape and how to stop being the master of the Prince Liang's Mansion. His old subordinates who had held him in their hands because of the kindness of their fathers were also struggling.
These pirates were like an opportunity, tearing him apart from the choices made by everyone else, both tacitly and publicly.
The subordinates who had stood shoulder to shoulder with Prince Liang's Mansion for half their lives chose to abandon him, so what about him?
Bian Hongqiu's fragile body swayed between the boat and the Xiliu Sea. Would it be better for him to die here and put an end to it all, allowing the remaining people in Prince Liang's Mansion to find another way out and giving Song Jingyan the opportunity to no longer suffer, or would he struggle to survive and continue to make things difficult for everyone?
His life was at stake, yet he was still running away.
Bian Hongqiu thought sadly: Let's just leave it to fate.
Just as he finished thinking this, the pirate who held him hostage suddenly gritted his teeth and groaned, then fell straight down.
Princess Liang, who always did whatever she wanted, had already lost all her strength the moment she decided to "leave it to fate." The person supporting her collapsed, and she swayed like a willow branch without support, tumbling into the sea.
The savior who had met him only a few times threw his sword to save him, but was shot by a sharp arrow with the emblem of Prince Liang's Mansion.
Bian Hongqiu's eyes widened as he looked at the general's guards holding bows at the other end of the deck.
The panic on the faces of the personal guards was no less than his. The hands holding the bow were shaking. It was unclear whether they were surprised that they had shot the arrow at the wrong time to save Bian Hongqiu, or surprised that they could give up on Bian Hongqiu to such an extent.
Bian Hongqiu didn't know what the truth was, and he fell into the sea due to inertia.
In his last glance, he saw Song Jingyan being pulled by people, the dark and heavy city gate of Minghunzhou fell firmly, and the shadow of the building ship disappeared on the Xiliu Sea. His distant vision blurred and finally fell on a freshly baked human head in front of him, and sank into the sea with the head.
Bian Hongqiu had only taken a few sips of the very "humane" water of Xiliuhai when he struggled wildly and found that his hands and feet were hooked up by a knife. The next moment, he flew into the air from Xiliuhai and slid into a small boat in a confused and awkward manner along the wide scabbard.
Bian Hongqiu flipped around in the narrow boat, and before he could figure out his situation, the boat suddenly spun at high speed, and the water droplets on his hair were thrown away. The gray sky in front of him was mixed with clouds, all of which became the same color, and turned into golden stars in his eyes one by one.
Bian Hongqiu couldn't vomit, so he used his hands and feet to dig at the bottom of the boat, not daring to make any other movements.
Regardless of whether he'd considered escaping the choice by committing suicide, he certainly didn't want to drink another sip of the "sea of human heads." The screams from the West Flow Sea became a blurry lullaby in his ears, practically shaking Bian Hongqiu's brain. Even on his tidied couch, he was still having nightmares, and now a deep sleepiness overtook him.
——Maybe he was dizzy.
In short, Bian Hongqiu himself couldn't tell the difference.
When the last trace of his clear thoughts fell, he felt that another person had been thrown into this frail boat.
This latecomer was more capable than him. Even though he was dizzy, he was still able to scream and cry at the top of his lungs, and seemed to be struggling to climb up the edge of the boat in this situation.
Bian Hongqiu’s last thought was: No one is more courageous than him.
His eyes flickered open and closed, and when he regained consciousness, the morning glow had already filled the sky, the blood-red sky piercing him awake. He slightly raised himself up, still on the Xiliu Sea, which was still a dark red, and the heads still floated up and down, but their number was gradually decreasing.
Bian Hongqiu took a few breaths and finally felt like he had survived a disaster.
Then he looked at the small boat that was in full view. An old woman was sleeping at the bow with her hands and feet curled up, while at the stern, an old man in a gray-haired coat was sitting cross-legged, touching a knife, motionless.
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