Chapter 640: Only Then Was There Bewilderment
The Daoist who appeared out of thin air in the rainy night was the former dean of the National Academy, Shang Xingzhou, also known as the mysterious Calculator from the Taizong era.
He was the leader, or rather the mastermind, of tonight's events in the capital.
After his appearance, the only voice that could be heard between heaven and earth was the dialogue between him and the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress.
Whether it was Zhu Luo and the Stargazer, or the fifteen princes who had already entered the capital, all remained silent—a sign of respect, or perhaps fear.
But heaven and earth are vast, and the world is immense. In the end, there will never be just one or two voices; other sounds will inevitably emerge.
"Why must it come to this?"
A voice rang out from the canal in the southeastern part of the capital.
The large ship sailing in the canal slowly came to a halt.
The Daoist nun standing at the bow changed expression instantly, reaching out like lightning, but grasping nothing.
In the dark canal water, a peculiar red hue had been rippling all along, and now it was gradually fading.
The next moment, a streak of light suddenly appeared in the night sky outside the Mausoleum of Books, illuminating the falling rain with perfect clarity, as well as a figure within it.
It was not lightning from the dark clouds, but the aura generated when that figure collided with the Mausoleum of Books' forbidden barrier.
That figure drifted slowly down through the rainy sky, landing on the riverbank outside the Mausoleum of Books.
He was a middle-aged scholar, his long robe soaked through by the rain, yet he showed no sign of dishevelment. In his calm eyes was a captivating grace.
A small, vivid red flower was tied to the little finger of his right hand, gently swaying in the rain.
Bieyanghong.
This powerhouse of the sacred domain had also failed to break through the Mausoleum of Books' barrier and was shut out.
But since he had already raised his voice, he would continue to speak.
A sharp sound of air being torn rang out.
Bieyanghong's figure suddenly blurred, a clear channel forming through the heavy curtain of rain, and a straight line of spray appeared on the river outside the Mausoleum of Books.
In an instant, he charged into the Mausoleum of Books, reaching the very bottom of the Spirit Path, in front of the stone platform.
But he could go no further, because the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress cast a glance at him.
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, landing right before Bieyanghong.
A blinding, searing white light evaporated all the water in the shallow canal, leaving several thick scorch marks on the hard black stone.
Bieyanghong looked toward the top of the Mausoleum of Books at the end of the Spirit Path, his expression grave.
In that moment, he had sensed a subtle shift in the aura of heaven and earth and stopped in his tracks; otherwise, he would have been struck by that lightning and severely wounded.
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress had only looked at him.
The realm she revealed was terrifying beyond measure—she seemed to have vaguely grasped the ability to mobilize the laws of heaven and earth!
Everyone knew that the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress's cultivation was unfathomable, but only now did they realize that all their guesses had still underestimated her!
On the northwest official road, the Stargazer lifted his head, pushing his bamboo hat up slightly, revealing an ordinary face with a hint of chill in his eyes.
Zhu Luo, seated in his wheelchair, gazed quietly at that spot, tapping his sword sheath lightly with his left hand—his only remaining hand.
"The capital is my domain. You should not have chosen this place."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress spoke calmly to the world.
Bieyanghong had stopped, but he could still raise his voice: "No matter where it is, we were bound to come eventually."
"I did not wish for you to come," the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress said to him calmly. "Because I do not wish to kill you."
Bieyanghong replied, "Since I have read the books of the sages, I must seek peace of mind."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress said, "As expected of Bieyanghong. I am gratified. Among these people, I have always felt you were the only decent one—unique in color, unique in bearing."
The night rain suddenly grew chaotic, turning into countless ripples. The waves in the river outside the Mausoleum of Books became unruly, the aura slightly disturbed.
That Daoist nun had also entered the Mausoleum of Books, standing beside Bieyanghong, looking up with a wary expression.
"The most foolish thing you have done in your life is to marry that thing."
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress looked at Bieyanghong with a faint sneer.
That Daoist nun was his wife, one of the Eight Winds and Rains, Wugiongbi.
Wugiongbi was enraged by these words, feeling that the sound of the night rain and that woman's voice were both unbearably irritating, but she dared not show it.
At such a time, Bieyanghong could not say much either. After a brief silence, he said, "Your Majesty, since death is inevitable, why not grant him a quick end?"
His sentence was not finished.
The unfinished half was: Then, let us fight to our hearts' content.
...
...
"Quick end" can sometimes be understood as both swift and satisfying. Chen Changsheng was in great pain at this moment, feeling no satisfaction whatsoever, even though the night wind from a thousand miles away grew ever stronger.
Hearing Bieyanghong's words, the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress turned sideways and glanced at him. With just one indifferent look, she saw clearly the condition inside his body.
According to the calculations of the Heavenly Mechanism Elder, before he was even born, his sun wheel had been destroyed, and all nine meridians severed.
Now, Chen Changsheng's seventy-two meridians were all broken, and all three hundred and sixty-five energy apertures had burst open.
He was enduring unimaginable agony, just like when he was in her womb back then—except at that time, he had been unaware, and the only one in the world who could feel his pain was her.
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress thought of the pain of carrying him, the pain of giving birth to him, and frowned slightly, a trace of disgust in her eyes.
The night rain grew heavier, yet stars faintly shimmered, along with a clearer, gentler radiance.
The Stargazer pushed Zhu Luo in his wheelchair, also entering the Mausoleum of Books.
The winds and rains from all directions had arrived.
That Daoist was somewhere in the night rain, unseen.
That monk was by a stream tens of thousands of miles away.
Tonight's capital was already a scheme of the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress. Now that everyone had gathered, Chen Changsheng had no further value, so naturally, he could die.
The rain falling from the night sky grew heavier, connecting into threads, then turning into a downpour, the accompanying night wind growing fiercer.
Deep within the wind and rain came rumbling thunder, and from time to time, real lightning lit up the night sky, illuminating the scene atop the Mausoleum of Books.
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress stood with her hands behind her back at the edge of the Spirit Path. Her exquisitely beautiful face showed no trace of emotion, her black hair dancing behind her like a demon god.
The torrential rain could not wet a single strand of her hair, but it soaked Chen Changsheng's clothes through.
Chen Changsheng's face was pale, his body drenched, looking exceptionally weak and pitiful.
He gasped for breath, propping himself up on the water-covered ground, struggling to lift his head to look at her.
At this moment, he was truly calm, because he had become numb, utterly disillusioned with this world.
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress sensed his movement and said indifferently, "Yourong wanted to save you. I sent her away."
When she said this, she did not turn to look at him.
Chen Changsheng's body, numbed by cold, pain, and disappointment, softened slightly at these words, a last trace of warmth lingering in his chest.
Yes, in the end, there were still people in this world who cared about him—Yourong, the people at the National Academy, Luoluo far away in White Emperor City, his senior brother somewhere unknown...
"Thank you," he said to the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress's back.
He thanked her for saying this at the last moment of his life, helping him remember that there were still beautiful things in life.
This way, when he left, he might feel reluctant due to nostalgia, but at least he would not be saddened by having nothing to cherish.
The rain grew heavier, flowing down both sides of the white stone Spirit Path toward the base of the Mausoleum of Books, gathering more and more until it began to resemble a waterfall, a truly spectacular sight.
The sound of the night rain was annoying, the downpour turning into a disaster. In the woods, the shadows of many beasts fleeing could be faintly seen, but the chirping of autumn insects could no longer be heard.
A squirrel leaped and darted through the trees, seemingly trying to find a suitable spot to shelter from the rain, but failing. It was soon soaked through. The rain was so heavy that even the squirrel's normally oily, water-resistant fur could not fully withstand it. Its fluffy tail drooped, and its gray fur clung wetly to its body, looking very pitiful.
If that gray fur were dry and fluffy, perhaps this squirrel would have looked quite plump.
Just like that squirrel in the Baicao Garden woods earlier.
The Heavenly Sea Holy Empress's gaze followed the squirrel as it moved through the trees, only withdrawing after a long while.
Here at the Mausoleum of Books, powerhouses had gathered, and the capital in the night rain seemed calm, but countless undercurrents were stirring.
Her rule over the Great Zhou dynasty was facing its most formidable challenge.
Yet at this moment, she was intently watching a squirrel take shelter from the rain.
What was she thinking about?
"Two years ago in the palace, you should have seen a squirrel."
She suddenly said this.
The words had no beginning or end.
Chen Changsheng was dazed, not understanding what she meant.
Then, in a haze, he remembered something.
It really was a long time ago. On the night of the Ivy Banquet two years ago, he was lured by Moyu into the Cold Palace and trapped by the Tong Palace formation. To escape, he risked entering the underground through the Life Gate, encountered the Black Dragon, and finally made it back to the surface only to end up in a pond in the imperial palace.
At the edge of the pond stood a middle-aged woman, seemingly about to wash her hands or clothes.
At that time, he was in the pond, soaked through and disheveled. It was late at night, and the middle-aged woman seemed startled, stepping back, her wooden clogs making a sound on the green stone.
In the woods by the pond, a squirrel was eating. Startled, it dropped its fruit, leaped onto the second floor of a side hall, ran along the railing, and its swinging tail knocked over a flowerpot.
At that moment, the middle-aged woman was directly beneath that flowerpot.
At that time, Chen Changsheng had just escaped his predicament and was still deep in the palace, extremely tense and unable to be discovered. But seeing this scene, he rushed over without a second thought.
He embraced the middle-aged woman, turning half a circle so that even if the flowerpot fell, it would only hit his back, not her.
Fortunately, the flowerpot did not fall.
Now that he thought about it, none of this was real. Because she was not an ordinary middle-aged woman; she was the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress. How could she have been frightened?
His actions back then must have seemed very unnecessary and ridiculous in her eyes, right?
But why did she suddenly bring up that squirrel now?
Thinking back to that time, Chen Changsheng felt a faint sense of bewilderment.
...
...
(In the Grand Dictionary of Tang Poetry Appreciation, there are different interpretations of those two lines of Li Shangyin's poem. I agree with the interpretation that "ke dai" means "what is awaited," and "zhi shi" means "precisely" or "exactly.")