RPAGF Chapter 1005 Finally
Chapter 1005 Finally
On the first morning after the beginning of autumn, Shen Yanzhi was awakened by the dew on the window frame. When he turned over and sat up, the shadow of the revolving lantern on the curtain happened to pass by the head of the bed - it was a lantern specially remade for him by a carpenter in the county. On the lamp wall, there was no longer the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, but a picture of defending the city at the border: a general in golden armor stood on the city tower, with a large flag with the word "Qin" fluttering behind him. The moat under the city was shimmering with ripples, without any trace of black waves. In the celadon brush washer on the desk, there was still half a pool of ink ground last night. Shen Yanzhi reached out and dipped a little. The ink condensed into round ink beads on his fingertips. When it dripped onto the rice paper and spread out, it actually emitted a faint golden light - this was pine soot ink mixed with the morning dew in front of the Qin Yue Temple. Liu Laoli said that it could calm the mind and soul, and was especially suitable for copying files. "Sir, a letter from the capital!" The servant Azhu ran in holding a rosewood box. The hem of his long blue cloth gown was stained with grass debris, and it was obvious that he had just rushed back from the post station. A wax seal was affixed to the wooden box. The ink was cinnabar red, which was used exclusively by the royal family. The two characters "Eastern Palace" on it still had the edges of a new seal, exactly the same as the signature on the prince's letter. When Shen Yanzhi opened the wooden box, sandalwood wafted out from the brocade cushion, mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus cakes on the desk, and condensed into a warm breath in the morning light. The letter paper was gold-sprinkled rice paper, but the handwriting was full of the youthfulness of a young man, but the occasional calmness between the strokes was very similar to the annotations on the military book written by Qin Yue in "Records of the Underworld". "A personal letter from Mr. Shen: It has been more than three months since we last parted. The magnolia tree in the East Palace is in bloom, and the petals are as white as snow, which reminds me of what you said when you buried the jade pendant - 'Pure as snow, it will not be stained by dust even after frost and snow.'" Ah Zhu came over to recognize the words, and pointed at the three words "magnolia tree" with his fingertips: "Sir, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still remembers that you buried the jade pendant!" The copper paperweight in his hand suddenly made a slight sound. It was a gift from Qin Yue's old subordinates. The military emblem engraved on the back of the paperweight gleamed in the morning light, faintly matching the edge pattern of the wax seal on the letter from the Crown Prince. Shen Yanzhi continued reading, the tip of his pen unconsciously rubbing against the inkstone: "I've been having strange dreams these days. In the dream, I was wearing black armor, standing on the city wall of Langjuxu City, and the spear in my hand was much heavier than the sword of the East Palace. A general in golden armor stood behind me, teaching me how to read the terrain and deploy troops. He said, 'Defending the city is not to trap the enemy, but to protect the people behind us.'" "I asked him who he was, and he always said, 'You will know when you can recognize the military emblem on the bricks.' Yesterday, someone from the Imperial Hospital came to take my pulse and said that my pulse was much steadier than before, and I had some of the energy and blood of a soldier on the frontier. Sir, tell me, is this General Qin protecting me?" The edges of the letter were a little wrinkled, as if soaked with tears. Shen Yanzhi noticed that there was a small lotus birthmark drawn at the end of the letter, but now it had been painted bright red with cinnabar, and next to it was a line of small words: "The Imperial Hospital said that this birthmark will change with one's temperament. Now it seems that it really looks like a flower that grows towards the sun." "When will you come to the capital, sir? I asked the imperial kitchen to prepare your favorite osmanthus cake, but I don't know how it compares to the old brand in the county. By the way, the old subordinates of the Zhenbei Army sent some new tea from the border, saying that it was General Qin's favorite cloud tea. We will taste it together when you come." The signature was "Prince Yuanzhao", and there was a small red seal next to it. The ink was mixed with very fine gold powder - it was specially authorized by the emperor to use, saying that it was "touched with the spirit of loyalty and bravery." Shen Yanzhi folded the letter into a square shape and put it into the brocade bag close to his body, which also contained half a piece of magnolia petals brought back from the capital. It had long been dried into a dried flower by the body temperature, but still retained a faint fragrance. "Sir, are you really sending this tea to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" Ah Zhu came in, carrying a tin can. A wooden plaque hung from a red string, inscribed with the characters "Zhao of the Northern Army." This had been sent by Zhao Hu of Black Wind Ridge, and a note was pressed into the bottom of the can: "This new tea comes from the tea trees the general planted himself. Drink it with confidence." Shen Yanzhi had just nodded when Ah Zhu suddenly pointed out the window: "Sir, look!" An old man carrying a basket of flowers slowly walked along the main street of the county town. The Manjushri flowers in the bamboo basket had disappeared, replaced by blossoming peonies, their pink and white petals still stained with morning dew, resembling piles of broken jade in the sunlight. "The world is finally clean," Shen Yanzhi said, walking to the window and watching the flower basket pass the City God Temple. The stone incense burner in front of the temple was filled with fresh incense, and the smoke rose straight into the sky, a stark contrast to the dark fog that had filled the air three months ago. Several children ran after the flower baskets, their windmills spinning rapidly. The word "peace" on the side of the windmills rustled in the wind. "Sir, this is the newly arrived copy of "Records of the Netherworld." Ah Zhu came in with a book with a blue cloth cover. The edges of the pages were still rough from cutting, obviously it was newly copied. This was specially reserved by the county bookstore for Shen Yanzhi. It is said that when the copyist copied the chapter about Qin Yue Zhaoxue, he specially used ink mixed with gold powder to make the text glow in the sun. When Shen Yanzhi took the copy, as soon as his fingertips touched the cover, he felt a warm scent - exactly the same as the scent of Qin Yue's jade pendant. He opened the page. On the yellowed rice paper, the small regular script was neatly carved. Compared with the original "Records of the Netherworld", the ink fragrance of the new copy had more pine smoke and less old musty smell. The book turned in his palm and finally stopped at the newly added entry. The four characters "New Lord of the Netherworld" were written in cinnabar, with a small soul-calming formation pattern drawn next to it - that was the formation that Shen Yanzhi had drawn at the mass grave. He leaned in for a closer look, and indeed, the ink was mixed with gold powder, gleaming in the morning light: "Qin Yue, the Ghost King, was originally the General Zhenbei of the previous dynasty. He was framed and died with hatred, and he accumulated resentment and became an evil for three hundred years. Fortunately, Shen Yanzhi cleared his name and the royal family restored his title, and he was posthumously named King Zhonglie. His soul got his wish, and on the Ghost King Festival, he shed his true form and joined the ranks of the immortals." "The Netherworld is vacant, and the ghosts elected their old subordinate Zhao Yi as the new master. Zhao Yi was originally a guard of the Zhenbei Army. He died protecting the orphan of the Qin family, and his loyal soul stayed in the mass grave. The new master established a rule: Anyone who died unjustly can go to the Netherworld to await trial, and must not disturb the peace of the world of the living; if there is injustice in the world of the living, the Netherworld can show signs and warnings, but they must not act arbitrarily." Shen Yanzhi's fingertips paused on the word "Zhao Yi". He thought of the old ghost who guarded the graves at the mass grave. He always planted some wild chrysanthemums beside the new graves, and would cover the ownerless corpses with broken mats on rainy nights. When he drew the soul-guiding formation, it was this old ghost who quietly guided the incense ashes to the mountain temple. He continued to turn the pages of the book, and the illustration on the last page made Shen Yanzhi's breath stop. The painting showed a stone bridge across the Wangchuan River. The red spider lilies on the bridge railings had all turned white, like piles of snow pressed in the cracks of the stones. Qin Yue's black armor had been replaced with golden armor, and the gold powder patterns on the armor plates were more prosperous than when he was alive. He stood at the end of the bridge, leading a white horse.