Eastward Flow

Chapter 27

On the 22nd of the first lunar month, outside Yuanzhou City, on the shore of Liangshui.Colorful flags were planted all over the river bank, and fresh peach blossoms were spread on the coffins of the dead.Shao Si ordered Xiang Sinian to walk in front with a bright lantern in his hand, and step by step guided Tai Yidao, who was carrying the coffin behind, to the woodpile set up by the river bank.

The funerals on both sides of the Liangshui River in Chu State are all cremated by the river, and the ashes are scattered into the river.Chu people firmly believe that along the water flowing eastward, the souls of the ancestors will reach the place of return.Or ride a ladder in the raging fire to ascend to the Kingdom of God.

The funeral procession was mighty and mighty, headed by the empress, who personally led all civil and military officials to fulfill the order of the chief minister.After the hundred officials, there is a team sent by the people spontaneously.

After a short sacrificial speech, Shao Siming handed the arrow feathers stained with divine fire to Xuan Jingchen's hand.The divine fire roared violently in the wind, the queen held the arrow feathers, put on the bowstring, aimed at the divine tree that was holding the coffin, and shot an arrow.The fire light fell on the sacred tree, and immediately burned a large area, covering the coffin in just a moment.

Everyone stared at the twisted coffin in the firelight, mourning silently in their hearts.

Shao Siming looked at Da Siming who was engulfed by the divine fire, and waved his hand towards the Taiyimen to the east, and a low-pitched song "Like the Wind" resounded leisurely by the river.On the bank of the cool water where the cold wind was blowing, the sacrificial words of Taoist Taiyi sounded very bleak.

Dissipate like the wind, or go to the kingdom of God, or flow to the ruins, this is the song of saying goodbye to the old.

Suddenly, a shakuhachi sound floated over from the boundless river amidst low-pitched singing.

This Shakuhachi sounds cool and vast, as if seeing a deer in the forest, clear and powerful, ethereal and natural.The officials who were attracted by the shakuhachi couldn't help looking at the river, but saw a small boat floating on the misty river, and a man wearing a cloak was standing on the river and playing the shakuhachi.

Her face was hidden in the mist, no matter how she looked at it, she couldn't see it clearly.

Xuan Jingchen looked at the people on the river, and heard the wailing of the fire that was torn apart by the wind, vaguely felt that this Shakuhachi was somewhat familiar.Shao Si Ming, who was standing beside the queen, explained in a timely and considerate manner: "It's the master's old friend who came to see him off."

Xuan Jingchen nodded in understanding, and let the sacrificial words of Shakuhachi and Taiyi people floating on the river form a desolate song for the soul.

The shakuhachi is vast and ethereal, as if the coldness of early spring was blown into the heart, and it seemed to plant a warmth in the cold that urges everything to come back to life.

It must be extremely cold to set foot on the way home alone.But there are relatives and friends to send them off, and the warmth of the previous life is preserved.Everyone in this first shakuhachi seemed to see Da Si Ming wearing a green shirt and climbing up the ladder of the Kingdom of God with his hands behind his back.The Kingdom of God is high and cold, but a ray of light falls on the ladder, guiding the soul to a warm destination.

Unknowingly, many people wet their eye sockets and raised their hands to wipe the corners of their tear-stained eyes.

"His Royal Highness..."

Some of the officials couldn't help saying that, and that person was Cheng Wen who was standing in the row of the Hongwen Hall.He is Yuezheng of the Music Department of the Ministry of Rites. Because of his superb piano sound and high attainments in quyi, he was selected by Emperor Zhao as the Lezheng of the Music Bureau.

The high pitch of this song "Like the Wind" is the same as the high pitch that Prince Zhaoming is best at playing.Cheng Wen has listened to many people's music, but in Shakuhachi, he feels that no one in this world can match His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Desolate and vast, the tune played by His Highness is magnificent but also graceful and affectionate.Prince Zhaoming, who has been immersed in this way for many years, poured his soul into the shakuhachi he played in his hand.

Therefore, it is possible to move people with sound.

When he heard the second part, he felt more and more like the song played by Prince Zhaoming, and Cheng Wen couldn't help but blurted out the title.

As soon as his words fell, the colleagues beside him asked him: "What is your highness?"

Cheng Wen shut his mouth, and was startled to realize that he had called a name that shouldn't be called, but he didn't know that among the officials, those who had heard the Prince's song, when they heard his words, His Royal Highness, suddenly realized: "It's Your Highness. "

They were all thinking, who is the style of this song similar to, and whose shakuhachi is so impressive, except Prince Akira's shakuhachi.

The older generation of Chu people who believed in the Eastern Emperor thought of the special status of the Chief Commander at this time, and a strange idea came to mind.Could it be that the soul of Emperor Zhao came from Guixu in a flat boat, and fulfilled the order of the chief minister?

One must know that in those days, Da Si Ming Qinglan was full of praise for Prince Zhaoming's Shakuhachi.The Da Chu official, who respected and loved the gods very much, cast his peripheral vision on the faint outline on the river, and looked at the person standing on the water with respect and awe.

The people who came back from Guixu all had a gloomy and cold color, and the world avoided them.What's more, Emperor Zhao died in the fire, and in the end he failed to sprinkle it in the water to wash away his grievances, and he might become some kind of evil spirit.

The world always has many bad guesses about the subjugated monarch.

The whispers of the officials spread to the top, and Xu Renqing, the servant of the household department, frowned slightly when he heard the words, thinking that if the people below inferred Emperor Zhao in this way, if His Majesty knew about it, he would not know how he would feel.

Xuan Jingchen, who led the officials, was fascinated by the familiar shakuhachi. She was not a professional folk art master like Cheng Wen, but she still thought of a familiar person in this song.Prince Zhaoming's voice and appearance floated in her mind, and she couldn't help but cast her eyes on the river.She looked at the figure, the mist gradually dispersed, and a young man with a thin body and pale complexion stood alive in the boat.

Just one glance made her heart tremble.

That face is still fresh in her memory, and she will never forget it in her life.

That was Prince Zhaoming, her wife, a deceased person.

The heart seemed to be hit hard, and the queen felt short of breath and dizzy for a while.Another blink, the queen could no longer see the figures of the people in the boat.The sound of the shakuhachi echoed desolately on the banks of the Liangshui River.

This extremely familiar voice rang in her ears and fell into the Queen's heart. The Queen turned her head and whispered to Commander Su Yanqing who was waiting by the side: "Seal the river bank and see who is on board. , don't be alarmed."

Su Yanqing, who also had the same thoughts, nodded, and quickly ordered the golden robed guards according to the will.

Noticing all this, Shao Si Ming sighed lowly, and set his eyes on the place where the Taiyi Taoist was sitting.

There was a young man there, wearing Taoist robes and a white headscarf, blowing the shakuhachi horizontally, and dedicated himself to seeing off his deceased.The player who plays is among the Taoists, not on the boat on the river.

That flat boat and the people on it are just phantoms played by the shakuhachi presented by the chief minister.

No one can find the trace of that person and boat on the shore.

Da Si Ming spent a lot of trouble and consumed a lot of spiritual power, all he wanted was for this young man to play a song for her with peace of mind.Although he didn't know the reason, but when he understood that the master was so protective of the young man called Le Zhengsu, Shao Si ordered Xiang Sinian to make a decision to protect the young man's life no matter what.

Da Si Ming's funeral was completed in the cold wind, and the wind blew her ashes into the Liangshui River, and the rest was picked up by the Taiyimen, smashed into the golden pagoda, and placed in the Taiyi Temple to worship.

After the ashes were annihilated, the empress led all the officials towards the imperial city.Zhong Lisuo, who was wearing a blue Taoist robe, walked among the Taiyi people at the end of the team, looking at the bright red flag belonging to the Qing Kingdom in the distance, and thinking about the distant glance that he inadvertently raised his head to look at the queen just now, he sighed more and more in his heart.

The world is impermanent, this is the truth she has always understood.She doesn't know which day is the time of parting, and all she can do is to live every day well.Just when can you get close to the queen at once?

Zhong Lisuo was a little regretful that he hadn't gotten closer to the queen during his lifetime.

Thinking about something in her heart, she gradually slowed down and fell behind.Shao Si Ming, who was walking in the front, walked into her at some point, and seeing her like this, said softly: "Thank you, Mr. Lezheng today, I wonder if you would like to join my Taiyi sect?"

"Huh?" Zhong Lisuo looked up at the sudden question, looking at the girl's sincere and innocent eyes, slightly surprised.

At that time, he only thought that Shao Siming was Zhong Lisuo who asked casually, but he never thought that he would see Shao Siming at home in Jiantiansi's red and white sacrificial uniform after school the next evening.

This evening, it was a little deserted.The formally dressed girl sat on the guest seat in the main hall of Zhenbeihou, looked at Zhenbeihou who sat in the first seat, and said solemnly and solemnly: "Master told me before he died that Brother Lezheng is a 16-year-old uncle. The vulgar disciple I recognized before, she started before me, so I want to call her Senior Brother. Well, to be precise, Senior Sister."

"Uncle Zhanran left early, and there is no successor behind him. When the master saw Mr. Lezheng that day, he remembered what the uncle said accidentally, so he sent a jar of treasures to recognize the apprentice on behalf of the uncle."

"Little brother Lezheng has a predestined relationship with my Taiyi sect, and the roots of Taoism are deeply rooted. If you enter my Taiyi, you will have a safe and smooth life." The girl looked serious, and she clearly stated her master's last instructions, and finally said sincerely: "Hou Lord also knows the rules of my Taiyi Sect, even if you serve the gods, you can marry freely. The Eastern Emperor and all the gods are free to come and go as you please, so Lord Hou doesn't have to worry about the lifelong affairs of little brother Lezheng."

"So, may I ask Lord Hou to allow little brother Lezheng to belong to my Taiyi sect?"

The high-ranking girl made it clear what she wanted to do, and when she came, Zhenbeihou was a little caught off guard.You know, in a few days, this 16-year-old girl in front of her will be the Chief Commander in charge of the imperial court.As the senior brother of the Commander-in-Chief, even in name, Le Zhengsu, not to mention the glory and wealth, at least has a smooth life.

But what Zhenbei Houtu wanted was not what the identity of Shao Siming could bring, but that entering the Supreme Unity Sect could make Le Zhengsu healthy.He only wanted the child to be safe, but even though he earnestly hoped that the child could enter the Taiyi Sect, the parents, Zhenbeihou and his wife, still gave Le Zhengsu the right to choose, and said, "Su'er, what do you think? "

What else could Zhong Lisuo think, as early as yesterday when Shao Siming handed Qing Lan's letter to her, Zhong Lisuo could only follow what Qing Lan said.

Qing Lan said that after entering the Taiyi Sect, she can avoid many hardships, so she listened to the words of her old friend and entered the Taiyi Sect to become a Taoist priest.

So she replied: "Turning to the extreme of happiness."

Shao Siming, who finally got the consent of the other party's parents, heaved a sigh of relief, set his eyes on Zhong Lisuo, and said with a smile: "Then, little senior brother, from now on, I will go to the Hongwen Hall to look for you after class. I will teach "Tai Yi Ji" on my behalf."

Zeng expected that Zhong Lisuo shook his head and said, "No need, I have read "Tai Yi Ji" thoroughly."

It's not just that she has read it thoroughly. Before she was eight years old, what her mother explained to her day and night was Taiyiji.After her rebirth, Mrs. Lezheng still read "Tai Yi Ji" to her.According to her ability, she has long been familiar with it.

So, learn something else.

The author has something to say: Commander-in-Chief: The apprentice is in your hands.