Twilight War

07

City Lord Crane visited the places he thought were interesting in Chang'an without resting for two days in Xiangziguan.So he dragged Si Tianming and Zichen into the carriage.

Zichen changed into a red round-neck gown that Chang'an officials often wear, with a black leather belt around his waist and a matching sword hanging from the sword belt.

At first glance, he looks like someone's proud young Xinguanlang.

"Are you going to the suburbs of the emperor?" the coachman asked.

"Yes." Si Tianming said.

"The emperor's suburbs are very beautiful this year. It's the right time for the young masters to go." The coachman said as he drove his horse, "When I was young, I used to drive fast and see all the flowers in Chang'an!"

On the road, there were children playing and singing a few lines of poetry.

"The magpie has a nest, and the dove lives in it. The son returns home, and the hundred liang rule it."

City Lord Crane frowned and asked Si Tianming beside him, "What are they singing about?"

"This song is a happy event for the whole Donghuang to congratulate," the coachman said first.

"What?" City Lord Crane asked.

"When the old emperor marries a daughter, the whole of Donghuang will come to congratulate him. What's more, he is marrying the only daughter of the old emperor."

"I asked what the poem meant." City Master Crane said.

Si Tianming knew that although the crane city lord looked like an elegant young man, he didn't like to read ancient books, and only held books related to ingenuity all day long, so he could only explain in a good-tempered manner: "This poem is from the Book of Songs. The magpies built their nests early, waiting for the doves to marry. Congratulate the daughter on her marriage, and a hundred chariots will come to welcome her."

After speaking, Si Tianming looked at Zichen jokingly.

"How many cars will Zichen use to welcome us when we get married?" Si Tianming said with a serious face.

Zichen shook his head with a suppressed smile.

"This young master is also getting married?" the coachman interjected through the curtain of the carriage.

"Yes." Zichen said, "She is a very good girl."

"Oh, have you set a date yet?" asked the coachman.

"Not Najib yet, let's pass some days." Zichen said.

"Listen to the son's accent, he is not from the capital."

"People from Jinling came to the capital specially to get married," Zichen said.

"Hey, coincidence, that emperor's son-in-law is also from Jinling, the young master of the Jiangnan Huangxuan family. Did you hear about this emperor's son-in-law when you were in Jinling?"

"Of course I've heard that this Young Master Huangxuan is very famous." Si Tianming said without hesitation.

"How about that Young Master Huangxuan?"

"Let me tell you..." Si Tianming was about to say something when Zichen interrupted him.

"It's just an ordinary dude." Zichen looked out of the car and said lightly.

"Hey, he's a dude, that's really a pity for our princess Yingluo." The coachman shook his head and sighed, as if he felt very sorry for Long Yingluo, "By the way, this young master is going to live in the capital forever. , or go back to Jinling?"

"I'll go back to Jiangnan after I get married, but it's a pity that I can't see peach blossoms when I go back to Jiangnan at this time." Zichen said with a smile.

08

Dijiao and Lingtai.

The Lord Crane came to visit Guangshouzi, a heaven surveyor from Lingtai.

As soon as a few people arrived in the underground palace, they saw Guang Shouzi squinting at the bamboo slips while drinking tremblingly.

There was a lot of wine on his long white beard.

Dressed in white sackcloth, he looked like a tall man with a fairy air.

It's just that the hand holding the wine glass shakes like an old man who can't take care of himself.

City Lord Crane unceremoniously poured himself a glass of wine as soon as he sat down, "Guang Shouzi, can you stay in this place where you can't see the light all day long?"

"The heart is clear, the world is self-clear." Guang Shouzi said with a smile.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen you for nearly ten years, and you've been staying in this kind of place? What are you doing here? Counting the hair on your legs?" City Lord Crane asked.

"Count the stars. As for me, I just look at the stars here every day. Then rely on the stars to deduce the number of destiny!"

"It's right, the emperor will reward me, but if it's not right, the emperor will have nothing to do with me!" Guang Shouzi said drunkenly, his wide-sleeved robe was windless and automatic.

Leisurely and joyful like a fairy relying on the wind.

"Guang Shouzi, you should know why I came here." City Master Crane looked at Guang Shouzi and said.

Guang Shouzi suddenly smiled foolishly, "Crane City Master, Crane City Master, the last time I saw you, you said that you would never leave the land of Shu. You are carved from the jade of mountains, so why are you willing to come to the world now? "

City Lord Crane was silent for a while, and then he twitched the corner of his mouth almost self-deprecatingly and said, "I thought the ingenuity of Shu land was unique in the world, but now I realize that what I have been studying for so many years is nothing but carving on paper."

After speaking, he raised his head and drank the wine in his hand.

Zichen looked at Jie Niao, and Jie Niao's tone was slightly dejected.

He suddenly understood that what City Lord Crane said that day was not self-effacing.

The lord of Crane City was originally a genius with unparalleled talent in the world, and Yuyuan City was independent of Donghuang with ingenuity.

But in the end, the thousand-year-old work that Yu Yuancheng is proud of is nothing more than a child's carved slingshot under the firecrackers and cannons of Xilu.

It felt like a collapse of faith.

"I don't have any ingenuity maps here. As you can see, they are all based on sky surveying and star calculation." Guang Shouzi raised his arms. Behind him, there are hundreds of bookshelves scattered with bamboo slips and sacrificial vessels, which can't be seen at a glance.

"I'm here to ask you about the Silver of the Great Abyss." City Master Crane said in a low voice, "I know that you have been traveling to Donghuang and mountains and rivers since more than twenty years ago."

"Yes, but I haven't been out of the underground palace since ten years ago." Guang Shouzi shook his head: "People in Donghuang spend too much time studying the stars. They only care about the illusory stars. Bad luck can be fought for a long time, but no one has ever cared about the land under our feet."

"That's why I can only ask you." City Lord Crane said, "When you came to Yuyuan City that year, you once brought me a silver altar of 'Kua Fu's blood'. That altar of Kua Fu's blood is the silver of Juyuan. You once He told me that it was very powerful, but I didn't pay attention to it at the time. Yuyuan City had many clever things driven by the silver of the giant abyss hundreds of years ago, but after the imperial court banned the mining of Kuafu's blood, these clever things were stopped Now, it can only be left in the Shenmu building to collect ashes. At that time, I thought I was unparalleled in talent, thinking that I would eventually be able to create a mechanism that could be driven without Kuafu's blood. But now it seems that I was wrong after all. "

"If you want Kuafu's blood, just go to Ruyang to dig it. There are a lot of them there." Guang Shouzi said nonchalantly.

"The mines in Ruyang have all been handed over to the people of Xilu." City Lord Crane said: "In the peace talks of Daybreak, Vana not only asked Chen Chao to pay compensation and open the port, but also went to the mines in Ruyang. Huang people are not allowed to mine by themselves."

"Then I have no other choice." Guang Shouzi shook his head and said.

"You must know that there are other places where Kuafu's blood is found." City Master Crane looked at Guangshouzi and said.

"I don't know, I have been in this underground palace for so many years, how could I know." Guang Shouzi said with a smile.

"You don't know? Well, I really don't know. Are you willing to watch Donghuang's weapons always lag behind Xilu's?" City Lord Crane suddenly stood up and looked at the drunk Guangshouzi with a wry smile: "Are you willing to watch Can the people who control Donghuang only use their swords and flesh and blood to contend with the guns and cannons of the West Land forever?"

"Are you willing to watch that the people in Donghuang can only study the Luban technique thousands of years ago? Are you trying to study the lock and key mechanism seal of a pile of wood?"

"You don't know? You don't know a shovel!"

After yelling this sentence, he held the desk with his hands almost powerlessly.

Dressed in Tsing Yi, she has been decadent for half a lifetime.

"I made a mistake. I thought I was unparalleled in talent, and thought that Yuyuan City's thousand-year-old skills were independent of the world, but I was wrong. Donghuang was also wrong..." City Master Crane said slowly, his eyes passed Guangshouzi, and looked at Guangshouzi The endless void and darkness behind him, "But we can't go wrong anymore..."

"Hundreds of years, Lord Crane, do you know? I have traveled half of Donghuang in more than ten years, but I saw those craftsmen in Donghuang, iron casters, paper makers, porcelain burners, all kinds of people. Craftsmen, they are still using the technology of a hundred years ago. This Donghuang has not changed for hundreds of years." Guang Shouzi shook his head and said, his tone seemed to have dust from hundreds of years.

"I can tell you where to get Kuafu's blood, but I have three requirements." Guang Shouzi looked at the Crane City Lord and said.

"Sir, please tell me." City Lord Crane bowed to invite him.

"I hope that Yuyuan City will no longer seal itself as a city in the land of Shu. From now on, the skills of Yuyuan City should be shared with the people of the world." Guang Shouzi said word by word.

"Okay, from now on the gate of Yuyuan City will never be closed again."

"I'm afraid that I only have less than 30 years to live. Second, I hope that before I die, I can see Donghuang's firecrackers and giant cannons, and see that Donghuang will no longer exchange flesh and blood for one enemy. 60 years later , I want all Donghuang people to see for me that Donghuang has mechanical skills that can rival that of Xilu, instead of only being left behind!"

"A hundred years later, I want people in the world to see for me that Donghuang's skill is better than that of Westland!"

The old man who used to walk half of Donghuang in ten years slowly raised his head to look at Jie Niao.

In his life, the water of the Yellow River meets Jingwei, the craftsmen from the south of the Yangtze River burn the kiln fire, and the wind and sand in the north of Mobei blow across the mountains and rivers thousands of miles away.

But now he asks for a promise for these thousands of miles of mountains and rivers and millions of people.

"I shall." City Lord Crane said seriously.

"The city lord can think about it. This answer is not just you, but Yuyuan City's century."

"I agree." City Lord Crane said.

This response is a hundred years.

Millions of tons of Kuafu's blood flowed through the mountains and rivers of Donghuang, and the ancient giant woke up from the wild death and chased the burning sun again.

"Okay, then there is one last request. I beg the city lord and the young master of the Si family to drink this jar of wine with me." Guang Shouzi brought out a jar of wine from the table and said with a smile.

"Ten altars and twenty altars are fine!" City Master Crane said, patting his chest.Then he sat down and started pouring wine for himself, and began to speak the dialect of Biao Shu while pouring the wine.

As a result, he fell down without saying a word.Seeing City Master Crane's lack of capacity for alcohol, Si Tianming sneered while raising his wine glass, and ended up drinking a glass and pouring it down on the table.

Only Zichen was left holding a wine glass to Guangshouzi who was half drunk and lying on the table, wondering if he wanted to drink.

"It seems that the young master has to wait for the two of them to sober up before leaving today." Guang Shouzi shook his glass and took out a piece of square cloth from his bosom.

"I have been walking in Donghuang for decades, and I know that the places where Kuafu's blood can be found are all marked on it." Guang Shouzi said: "Young Master Jin, take it."

"Then I will thank you sir on behalf of the people of Donghuang." Zichen bowed slowly and said.

"Oh, the common people don't care about this." Guang Shouzi said with a smile: "I walked half of Donghuang, and everyone only cares about wheat, silver and women. It is enough for a few people to remember what I did. "

"Set up a heart for the heaven and earth, a life for the living and the people, inherit the knowledge for the past saints, and create peace for all generations," Guang Shouzi said slowly, holding a wine glass.

The old man in sackcloth watched the stars for nearly ten years, but what he cared about was after all the human affairs above the dust.

"I went to Huayin once, and watched people burn Kuafu's blood to keep warm and cook, and watched Kuafu's blood burn peacefully in the fire." Guang Shouzi said half asleep.

Kuafu died in Huayin.

The dying giant fell, and his blood was set ablaze a thousand years later.

"I have another sentence that I hope Young Master Jin will remember." Guang Shouzi said.

"Sir, please speak." Zichen bowed his head like the most pious student in front of a saint.

"What determines the future of a country has never been how much gold is buried in its soil, but how many seeds are borne in its wind."

09

"Young Master Jin can trust his fate?" Guang Shouzi asked suddenly.

"I don't believe it." Zichen shook the wine glass in his hand and said, "Whether it's fate or God's will, everything that hasn't happened can be changed."

"The young master may have to live a very hard life, only those who believe in fate can be at ease." Guang Shouzi said.

"I would like to send a word to the young master-Kunpeng sinks into the sea, a dream once in a thousand years; Zhuang Sheng turns into a butterfly, both true and illusory, never to wake up again!"

After finishing speaking, Guang Shouzi collapsed on the table, still holding the glass cup in his hand, half drunk and half awake, he said: "Young Master, I will remember this sentence well!"

Zichen looked helplessly at the three drunk people in front of him, feeling that it would take some time for them to wake up, so he got up.

Surrounding it are rows of yellow pear wood shelves, with no other carvings except the bronze corners.

Bamboo slips, ancient books and sacrificial vessels of various colors are scattered in the compartments of the wooden frame.

The light in the underground palace is dim, and we can only rely on the weak candlelight to distinguish the surroundings.

"Brother Jin, why are you here?" The girl with snowy skin asked while holding bamboo slips among the scattered bookshelves.

Zichen turned his head and found that Long Yingluo was actually here.

"I'm here to visit Master Guangshouzi, what about you? Why are you here?" Zichen asked.

"Father is preparing for the Northern Sacrifice recently, so I came here to find some ancient books." Long Yingluo lowered her head and smiled, like pear blossoms falling down, "Mr. Guangshouzi is my master. He was the one who suffered a serious illness when I was seven years old. The one who was rescued, in order to support my life, I worshiped him as my teacher. He does not leave the underground palace all year round, so I had no choice but to come here to find him."

The girl walked through the scattered bookshelves holding the letter, then put the letter on a table deep in the underground palace, and picked up the fluorescent lamp next to it.

Zichen looked at the tortoise shell on the case table, which was engraved with bronze inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty.

"Did you see the tortoise shell in Shangshi?" Zichen asked.

"Well, there are too few records in the ancient books about sacrifices during the Shang Dynasty. When my father Huangbei sacrificed, he wanted to sacrifice according to the rituals of the Shang Dynasty." Long Yingluo said.

"Didn't the Chen Dynasty always put Zhou's etiquette at the top of their list?" Zichen frowned and asked.

"But I still like the sacrifices in the Shang Dynasty a little more." Long Yingluo said.

"why?"

"At that time, all the heaven, earth, mountains and rivers had spirits, and what we worshiped was our Father God." Long Yingluo said.

"Yes, at that time, whenever a king died, he became a ghost in the world, protecting his descendants and all people." Zichen followed behind Long Yingluo.

The lights and shadows are vivid, and various majestic beasts are carved everywhere in the underground palace.

"However, at that time, the sacrifices were made of living people, and I didn't like it very much." Zichen said.

Zichen stroked the tortoise shells of Shang Dynasty.

Amidst the chant's ferocious and gloomy groaning, large pieces of heads were chopped off.

Sacrificing to gods, ghosts and beasts.

The blood-smeared sacrificial vessel looks like a crazy dance.

It was a very gloomy and gloomy dynasty.

"People die like grass, and death is a very light thing. Their death is for more solemn things." Long Yingluo said softly.

"But such an innocent death will always make people feel unwilling. All people are just people who came to this world once." Zichen shook his head and said, the red official uniform was hidden in the dim light.

"All sentient beings, whether born from eggs, born from wombs, born from dampness, born by transformation, with form, without form, with thoughts, without thoughts, without thoughts, or without thoughts, I will make them enter Nirvana without residue. Take a plate and destroy it." Long Yingluo read while holding the lantern.

"Do you recite Buddhist scriptures?" Zichen asked. After asking, he felt a little regretful. A lady like Princess Yingluo must have read all kinds of scriptures.

"I've been watching you ever since I saw you in Weichen Temple." Long Yingluo said.

"Why did you come to Weichen Temple that day?" Zichen asked.

"Do you know the story of the woman in red 800 years ago?" Long Yingluo asked suddenly.

Zichen nodded.

800 years ago, 24 countries did not arise.

A chivalrous woman in red dresses up as a dancer to assassinate the old prince Huairen.

The red sleeves all over the sky are piled up like peonies.

But she fell in love with the kind-hearted prince who was almost cowardly.

So she protected the prince in troubled times.

But in the end, Prince Huairen, who knew that he was powerless to govern the country, chose to become a monk.

He only left one sentence for the girl in red——Honglian Luo's Old Clothes.

So that woman galloped across half of the south of the Yangtze River to ask him clearly. She said she didn't understand this sentence, and she asked him if he really had him in his heart.

"Later, those actors and literati always said that it would be better if there were more blanks in the story, so as to leave a daydream. But she doesn't want to leave blanks, not at all, she has to ask clearly, she rode across half of Jiangnan, half a minute There is no thought of turning around, only a lonely courage.

"The well-behaved and slender girl who looked like a snowfall said these words like a heroine with a sword, "She doesn't want it, and I don't want it either. "

"But in the end, Prince Huairen still became a monk and became a monk. He said that he never had any women in his heart." Zichen said.

"But then the girl in red won't have to spend half her life guessing what that line means." Long Yingluo lowered her head and said, "When I was very young, they told me that I would marry you eventually. I don't want to marry you." I kept guessing who you were until I was 14 years old, so I went to Weichen Temple."

"I have been waiting for you in Chang'an since then."

"I know why you married me," the girl said next to the boy in the red official clothes, "but I am willing."

Zichen was stunned for a moment, and was about to say something, but was interrupted by the girl.

"Look."

The girl raised the firefly lamp, illuminating the sky full of stars made of burnt gold mud.

Zhoutian stars, 28 constellations.

The sky of the hemisphere was dyed black layer by layer by the green ink mine, and the silver lines connected the stars all over the sky.

And under this huge astrolabe, the girl said softly——

"If you can come, you will live up to it."