The emperor led Mo XI and went to the back hall of Rosefinch Hall.
There was a pool of dream water which could gather the past merge it with reality in front of an audience.
The emperor on the edge of the pool. He looked at the reflection of him and Mo Xi in the pool, and then slowly took off the string of pearl beads from his wrist. He held them in his hands and played with them. The beads were warm and moist, and he played with them one by one. When he reached the seventh, he stopped.
"Mo Xi, I… Although I chose to have the jade slips of the imperial platform destroyed, they... "
He closed his eyes and clapped his wrists. "But, please believe me, I never thought of cheating Official Gu."
"This pearl can be returned to him. I always wears it with me. If I can fulfill my promise in my lifetime, I will tell the people in person. But if I can't fight against the fate of heaven, then I will also keep this pearl with the truth from the world. One day, when the time is right, there will be future generations who will disclose the golden platform's alliance to the world."
At night, the wind blew, making the leaves of parasol beside the pool rattle.
"Then, under the grave, I will finally have face. I can see loyalty again."
He spoke, pointing his fingertips at the celestial bead. Within a moment, the celestial bead gave off a dazzling glow. A wisp of silver white memory floated out of it and fell into the dream pool. The water rippled, breaking a pool of moon shadow and frost, then the misty cold fog overflowed from the dream pool.
The cold fog gradually gathered into a scene, and a faint voice came from the deep fog, and then became very clear.
In front of their eyes, the Yan Yingying building unfolded slowly.
"The fragrance of tea leaves a curtain of wind, and the voice of Du You is dry and read. Nanxuan sleeps on a pear cloud dream, leaving the soul for thousands of miles." The double tone melody water fairy came from the stage of Hualou theater. Qing Yan'er's delicate voice was like a hanging silk thread which blew in the rouge powder field.
"The sun is slanting and the shadows are heavy. Xuan Cao's hair is merciless and beautiful, and durian flowers are full of hate. The end is heavy with sorrow."
The fog in the pool was more and more thick. It wrapped the back terrace of the whole Rosefinch Hall, creating a shadow surrounded by pearls.
Apricot Blossom House.
Mo Xi and the emperor stood in the middle of the fog. Slowly, everything became clear and incomparable. Mo Xi found that he once again saw the situation from the Time Mirror. This was the eve of Gu Mang's rebellion eight years ago. Gu Mang was talking to the mysterious man in black in the wing of the brothel.
But at that time, Mo Xi didn't know who the man in black was. Now, he had no doubt that he was the emperor.
Sure enough, the emperor went up to Mo Xi's side and looked at the man in the black robe, saying, "This was the last time I met Official Gu before he rebelled. At that time, he knew that he was going to leave soon, and his mood was not very stable, so I made an agreement with him. I came to see him in the middle of the night and took him to see something at Zhanhun mountain."
It was no different from the dialogue in the Time Mirror. In the dreamland, the emperor in black pushed a package to Gu Mang and put it on the table. "What you have brought, please change it."
Gu Mang's actions were the same. He raised his hand and opened a corner of the package, but soon closed it up again.
Gu Mang asked, "What does that mean?"
"You should always be ready to go there," the emperor said. "I only want to tell you about the situation there. I'm afraid you won't believe it. I'll take you to see it with your own eyes tonight. Seeing is believing."
The surrounding scene darkened. When everything went back to light, the situation in the dense fog had changed to the foot of Zhanhun mountain. Both Gu Mang and the emperor were covered in black cloaks, covered from head to foot.
Gu Mang walked to the winding path up the mountain. Looking at the winding and deep bluestone path, he took off his hood, and looked up at the towering mountain road.
"What's the matter?" the emperor asked.
Gu Mang said, "I just thought that I would leave here soon, and my hands would be stained with the blood of the sergeants of Chonghua, and my heart..."
The emperor interrupted him. "This is the situation of Chonghua now. After the defeat at Fengming mountain in the north, you have seen it with your own eyes. You and your army are in a state of decline. There are only those who have fallen into trouble. There is no one who can deliver coal in time."
He saw that Gu Mang wanted to argue, so he added, "You don't have to tell me that if Xihe was here, he would face you. It's useless for him to turn to you. You're a wise man. You should already know that you can't turn things around by your own efforts."
Gu Mang: "..."
The emperor said, "To get to this point, treason is a game you have to play with no regrets."
He spoke, raising his hand in the dim cold night, and holding Gu Mang's cold fingers. Gu Mang looked back at him and moved a little. He seemed to want to break away, but in the end he didn't.
Mo Xi looked at the situation in front of him. When he first saw this passage in the Time Mirror, he thought that the man in black was a Liaoguo man, and that the trembling of Gu Mang when he was holding his hand was due to indecision. But now he knew the truth. He was in such a complicated mood that the first complete sentence that came out of his mind was, "Was it cold?"
"What?" said the emperor standing beside him.
"His hand," he murmured softly. "Was it cold then?"
It was eight years ago, so it was impossible for anyone to remember the details at that time. But after a moment's stupefaction, the emperor understood.
He lowered his eyes and said, Cold."
"..."
"I'm sorry, but I'm the only one who pushed him to this dead end."
Mo Xi didn't say a word, and the emperor in the dreamland was repeating the same dialogue as the Time Mirror. He said to Gu Mang, "General Gu, we need to open up a way. There are no hands without blood. Take advantage of the fact that you don't have an innocent life yet. Go to Zhanhun Mountain. There will be no more opportunities."
Gu Mang suddenly closed his eyes, and the night wind blew his slightly disordered sideburns. He was silent for a long time. He took his hand out of the emperor's palm. His fingertips were still shaking slightly. No one could warm his hands. He said, "Well… Let's go."
The black robe rolled, and the emperor and Gu Mang went up the path one by one.
In the Time Mirror, Mo Xi's trace was broken here, but this time it was different. This time the fog was in the second row. It was so sad and changeable that he finally saw what Gu Mang and the emperor saw when they went to Zhanhun mountain——
The emperor and Gu Mang came to the border of the forbidden area of Zhanhun Mountain. He raised his hand, cut his palm, and put the blood on the border light array. The blood was immediately absorbed by the array, and a voice from the deep earth seemed to rumble, "Yan Ran's achievements were written in green calligraphy."
The emperor replied, Tthere is an old inscription in the mausoleum."
Yan Ran's achievements were written in green calligraphy, and there is an old inscription in the mausoleum.
Wasn't this simple poem the dream of Gu Mang's life? As soon as Gu Mang heard this dialogue, his eyes suddenly turned red. And the emperor saw him so, sighed, clapped to clapped Gu Mang's shoulder, and said in a light voice, "There won't be another. Here, take the cape besides."
Gu Mang raised his hand and untied the rope of his cloak.
——Under the cloak, it turned out to be a military mourning dress with a white background and a black edge.
"Let's go."
They crossed the barrier and entered the forbidden area of Zhanhun mountain.
Mo Xi had already guessed and prepared his heart before, but when he saw the scene, his heart still seemed to be hit hard.
The whole forbidden area of Zhanhun, half of the foothills, was a forest of tombs, some of which had been engraved with names, painted with meticulous gold paint, some of which did not have anything written. The large area of mountains and fields gathered together like spiritual grass. Gu Mang came back in the dark, and gathered at the top of Zhanhun mountain.
Gu Mang was stunned for a long time. Then, as if he didn't dare to step out of a good dream, he moved forward carefully. Slowly, his carefulness turned into a stumble, and he hobbled closer. When he saw the inscription on the first tombstone, his tears suddenly came to his eyes.
"..."
He raised his hand and stroked the golden inscription on the tombstone, tears streaming down his face.
"Home..."
Then he knelt down, slowly choking in his throat. He was kneeling in front of the unfinished tombstones, kowtowing to the seventy thousand soldiers he had left on Fengming mountain again and again.
"Home..."
The emperor stood beside him for a while, and put his hand on his shoulder. "This forbidden area is the first promise that I made to you. Seventy thousand tombstones, each with a name carved by myself, each with my own hands. General Gu, if you plan with me, please believe that one day, the forbidden area of Zhanhun mountain will no longer be a forbidden area."
Gu Mang didn't say a word again. He was wearing a white hemp military funeral suit with his hair tied in a bun. He choked and prayed again and again.
There were no more living people in his eyes, only his separated brothers. When he saw them like this, they didn't bother him any more, just watched him.
After a long time, Gu Mang staggered to his feet. He folded his hands and bowed in front of the tombs. He whispered something with his hands close to his forehead and heart.
"What else do you want me to do?" the emperor asked.
Gu Mang closed his eyes. After a long time, his eyes were moist and he said, "If you… can I... There are three other things that I would like to ask you for your permission."
"Speak."
Gu Mang's fingertips caressed the gold letters on the tombstone, and they slid all the way down.
"... The first thing, if I really can't come back… Please don't set up a tombstone for me on Zhanhun mountain. I'm going to Liaoguo to find out. I'm doomed to be stained with the same soldiers' blood on my hands. No matter whether I'm forced to or not, whether I have a hidden intention or not, the people I kill will be killed. I have no face to be buried with them again."
The emperor seemed to be upset by his statement, and he said, "But -" "Please listen to me."
"..."
"The second thing is that Xihe Jun is pure and kind. He is a noble man, but he has a deep personal relationship with me. He has already offended countless elders. After my treason, he will certainly not believe it, or even have extreme disobedience. Please don't appeal the truth to him in any case. Please forgive his sorrow and don't pursue responsibility."
Mo Xi heard this and could no longer help but burst into tears. He couldn't help but come forward and look at Gu Mang, who was tall and upright in his military uniform and looked solemn in his vision. He murmured, "Gu Mang..."
Gu Mang's reflection from eight years ago could not hear anything. He stood in the steep mountain wind and his clothes were flying. He didn't go to die, but it was better to die. Now he was explaining his things behind him to the emperor. "Third."
After finishing saying these two words, Gu Mang was silent however.
He lowered his eyes and looked at his hands. After a long time, he said softly, "Third, I want to play a soul song for them while my hands are still clean."
"But Emperor, I only have a small suona that can't be put on the table. Can you lend me your spiritual weapon?"
He spoke and raised his head. The wind was blowing on his fine hair. He looked up to the emperor eagerly in the moonlight.
Chonghua's Requiem was given to the heroes and was often sung and played by the officials. But Gu Mang couldn't expect the officials to comfort his brothers. The only recognition he could ask for came from the man in front of him.
"You are so sincere. Why don't you allow me?" the Emperor said. A bamboo flute appeared in his palm, and he passed it to Gu Mang.
Gu Mang thanked him and took the flute with both hands. He looked up, as if to engrave the seventy thousand tombstones of Zhanhun mountain into his heart. Under the shadow of the bright moon pine, he pasted the bamboo flute on his lips and closed his eyes to blow.
"In the past, there was a young man holding a sword, but it was hard to return the blood, the sand, and the bone. The body was still beautiful to the last year. Leave your heart, and I'll take care of you. I will pass on your heroic spirit. When you return to your hometown, there will be no green mountains... "
The end of the song.
Gu Mang put down the bamboo flute. His eyes were wet.
He turned to return the flute to the emperor and knelt down again in front of the forest of steles. After a few moments of silence, he lowered his head and sobbed in a low voice, "Emperor, I will leave soon. I don't know if I can come back or when I can come back."
"Official Gu..."
"When I'm away, please come and see them more for me… Don't burn too much paper and gold foil… Just bring more good wine and more small dishes." By the end of his speech, he was already sobbing, "When they followed me, the military pay was not enough. Looking at the rations of other troops, they often joked with me and said to me..."
His forehead touched the cold stone tablet, and his tears fell like broken beads.
"They said they were hungry… I want them to have a good meal."
The emperor: "..."
"Although I didn't say it these years, I could hear that there were always people saying that we wanted to seize power… Want to turn the world… Greedy, ambitious... " Gu Mang slowly raised his head, "But do you know what, Emperor? Their biggest ambition was to eat a full meal... "
No one knew how he looked when he heard this sentence.
However, Mo Xi could see the emperor at this moment. Even though it was so many years ago, when he heard Gu Mang say this sentence again, the eyes of the emperor were still suffering.
"Come and see them more for me, and bring them more money."
The emperor said, "Don't worry, Official Gu. I will do it."
"Can they have any more wine?"
"I will bring the best wine from Chonghua to your people."
"Just burn a pocketknife. They're used to poverty. If the wine is too good, they won't drink it."
"... Ok. "
Gu Mang didn't ask again.
He knelt in the forest, looked up at his brothers who had become steles, and did not move for a long time.
The emperor in the illusion sighed and raised his hand, but he did not disperse the bamboo flute. Instead, he pasted it on his lips and played soul summoning music.
The flute was long and the moon was clear, so in this sad and solemn music, everything on Zhanhun Mountain was gone.
All the mists and visions disappeared at this moment, but the sound of the bamboo flute full of affection seemed to have passed through reality from the illusion which came from the foot of Zhanhun Mountain eight years ago.
The mist faded, but the sound lingered.
After a long time, on the Rosefinch stage, the emperor reorganized the celestial beads. He then looked up at the bright moon in the clouds and said softly, "Fireball."
"..."
"In these eight years, I kept the secret by wearing this on my hand. Every time I can't hold on, I turn out this memory and watch it again."
"Every time I look at it, I will remember it again. This road is not for myself. For eight years, day and night, I have never forgotten. I dare not forget."
The emperor raised his hand and stroked the celestial beads on his wrist, and spoke softly.
"It's only because… People place heavy value on, such as in prison... "
Speaking of the end, the voice choked, "In fact, how could I ever be ashamed of Official Gu… Sorry for you... "
No one spoke any more. The old trees sways and the cicadas chirped in the night.
On the terrace of Rosefinch Hall, Mo Xi and the emperor looked at each other silently. They were all pathetic and wet with tears.
— --------------------
The author has something to say: yesterday, I saw a little brother named this article "the king's speech" in the comment area, and I felt very indignant. I think we can also call it "the game of rights", "the house of cards", "saving the soldiers and Gu Mang", "the salvation of Xihe Jun", "the list of the eight armies of Wang", "ring pity", "dream space"