Three months later.
In the Samajian Palace of the Jokhang Wu Kingdom, a formal decree was issued: a Zen Ceremony will be held on the second day of February next year, and Queen Crescent will abdicate the throne to Wu Zhao, the chief minister of the cabinet; the capital of the Jokhang Wu Kingdom, Samajjian City, was renamed "Crescent City" "After abdicating the throne, the Crescent Queen became the Lord of Crescent City and enjoyed the food of 500 households.
This news was released more than half a year in advance to facilitate the city lords of Zhaowu Kingdom to participate in the celebration, and also to facilitate other neighboring countries to exchange news and meet to celebrate.
In fact, the queen of the Jokhang Wu Kingdom has already been decided to be Wu Meiniang, but it was only delayed until now because of the initial decision of the kingdom and the Queen of the Crescent Moon's trip to Chang'an and back, which took a lot of time. It was precisely during this year that Wu Meiniang, the chief minister, used a series of tricks and the solid backing of the Tang Dynasty to fully grasp all the real power of the Zhaowu Kingdom. Whether he ascended the throne or not, it just lacked a ceremony. Problem.
After the Zhaoling was issued, Mingzhu finally breathed a long sigh of relief, and her heart fell to the ground. From the day when the late king of Kang State was killed, she never had an easy time. Now she is fine, she can finally be an ordinary woman, take care of her husband and raise her children, and enjoy a peaceful life.
The newly born twins have become the apple of the eye of the Qin family. Although Mingzhu grew up in a foreign land, she is a typical traditional Chinese woman, gentle, graceful, filial and humble. In addition, she is Yao'er's sister and looks exactly like Yao'er. The Qin family accepted her immediately and got along very well with her.
After Qin Mubai's family came to Samajian, they temporarily lived in Wu Meiniang's prime minister's house. Mingzhu was so happy that she could spend time with her children and family, so she moved out of the palace and gave the king's palace to Wu Meiniang, who was busy with government affairs, so that she could have a place to rest easily.
When Wu Meiniang gets busy, it is common for her to stay away from home for six or seven days. So Qin Mubai repeatedly played the role of the "flower-picking thief" and often sneaked into the palace in the dead of night to have trysts with Wu Meiniang.
Afterward, he felt that this seemed very exciting!
The days passed by quietly, carefree. In the blink of an eye, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Qin family gathered in the palace to enjoy the moon. The family was originally enjoying themselves happily, but after drinking a few glasses of wine, Princess Gaoyang suddenly began to cry softly.
Qin Mubai and others hurriedly came to comfort her and asked her what was wrong.
Princess Gaoyang stopped her tears and whispered: "It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered my father and mother and concubine who were far away in Chang'an... The moon is full during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Are they admiring the moon in the imperial garden?"
After a while, everyone was silent.
Chen Yan gently touched Qin Mubai with her elbow from the side. He quickly came to his senses and said, "Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, so don't say anything unhappy. Mingzhu, why don't you play the lute while I play the pipa?" , okay?”
"Okay!" Mingzhu happily agreed, and asked the palace maid to fetch the Central Plains pipa and Persian harp.
"Do you still remember the song I taught you, "May I Live Longer"?" Qin Mubai asked, holding the pipa.
"Remember." Mingzhu replied with a smile, "How can I not remember such a piece of music? It happens to be that the moon is full today, so it suits the occasion."
"Okay, let's start - Mei Niang, your singing voice is the most beautiful, how about I invite you to sing?" Qin Mubai said.
Wu Meiniang smiled and said, "My husband has a destiny, how dare I disobey it?"
The whole family laughed. Wu Meiniang is already the quasi-queen of Dazhao Wu Kingdom. When she returns home, she is still so funny and has no airs.
The pipa and harp sounded, and Wu Meiniang's ethereal and melodious voice sang—
"When will the bright moon come? I will drink wine and ask the sky. I don't know the palace in the sky, what year it is now and then..."
Wonderful music and good news, just like the sounds of nature. The whole Qin family was obsessed with it. Even Sisi and Nian'er, who were not long after the full moon, were fascinated by it and neither made any noise nor cried.
Outside the tall walls of the palace, a horse just stopped. Immediately, a simple Taoist nun heard the music and singing coming from across the city wall and was stunned on the spot.
"This is "May You Live Longer"!... Mu Bai, Mei Niang, are you gathering here today?"
By some strange coincidence, she took out a jade flute and started playing it along with the music.
Qin Mubai, who was concentrating on playing the music, felt a high-pitched sound in the music, and his fingers suddenly stopped. The whole family who was fascinated was startled, and Wu Meiniang and Mingzhu also stopped.
"What's wrong?" everyone asked.
"Listen! - Someone outside the wall is playing this song with flutes!" Qin Mubai suddenly opened his eyes wide, "Xueyan! It's Xueyan who's back!"
"Then why don't you go out to look for someone!" Princess Gaoyang said anxiously, "She went to Persia for more than a year and finally came back today. Mu Bai, you can't betray my imperial sister, or I will make you look good!"
Mrs. Liu also said: "Yes, Sanlang, my mother also knows about the matter between you and Princess Wencheng. If it weren't for you, she would either be a good princess now, or she would have married Zanpu's wife . Because of you, she suffered so much ridicule from everyone in the world that she fled into Buddhism and became a Taoist nun - how can you bear it?"
"I'll go find her right now!" Qin Mubai put down his pipa and ran out of the palace.
Under the city wall, Li Xueyan finished playing a song, slowly put down the jade flute, looked up at the moon, and murmured: "Master, it was my disciple who was naughty and unfilial, which caused you to take me on a journey to Persia, and finally died in a foreign land. Now. Now. The only thing my disciple can do is to hand over what you left to Qin Mubai, and then take your ashes back to Zhongnan Mountain for burial... Mubai, if we are destined, we will meet again! "
Riding Juechen, he ran forward under the bright moonlight.
Qin Mubai ran wildly all the way out of the palace, and happened to see Yiqi floating away, only to catch a hazy figure, which quickly disappeared under the moonlight.
"Xue Yan, why are you still hiding from me?" Qin Mubai had to stop, holding on to the wall and breathing heavily, "Don't you... still can't think about it?"
Just when Qin Mubai was sweating profusely and breathless, a guard guarding the palace came forward, handed Qin Mubai a cloth bag, and said, "Young Marshal Qin, a Taoist nun just left this thing. , said he wanted to transfer it to you."
"Oh?" Qin Mubai hurriedly took it and opened it to see that it was a sandalwood wooden box. Opening the wooden box again, there was a book with a blank cover and a letter inside. There are a few words on the envelope: "Personally addressed to you by Marshal Qin".
It's Yuan Tiangang's handwriting.
Qin Mubai hurriedly opened the letter and read it. This was Yuan Tiangang's last letter. It turned out that he knew that he would die in Persia soon after his longevity, so in the last moment of his life, he deduced "*" again. However, without the assistance of his junior brother Li Chunfeng, the deduction may not be very accurate, and the years to come will not be as good as the last time.
"This unknown book is actually a new one?" Qin Mubai was immediately surprised, so he hurriedly opened it and flipped through a few pages, but his expression gradually became confused - "Why are they all filled with obscure prophecies and inexplicable pictures? ?... Hey, I understand this sentence, saying that I, the general of the Qin family, will live in the west for seventeen generations. "
"It means that when my descendants reach the eighteenth generation, our Qin family will no longer be able to keep the throne?" Qin Mubai couldn't help but smile, "Eighteenth generation, how many years will it be?"
"Every life, the grass and trees shine. It is considered good to be able to bear the responsibilities of the previous life. There are so many princes, generals and founding emperors in history, but they cannot ensure that their descendants can have smooth sailing. I, Qin, just worked hard for a few times. I should be content to have preserved the glory and wealth of my descendants for eighteen generations." Thinking of this, Qin Mubai suddenly laughed loudly, "That means that at least in these eighteen generations of my Qin family, I will be content. The Tang Dynasty should be safe and sound! - Let them go to hell with the Queen's reign, the Anshi Rebellion, the Tubo invasion, and the fall of Chang'an!"
"I, Mr. Qin, have not lived in vain in this life!"
"Because the entire Tang Dynasty, the entire era, and the entire nation eloped with me!"
Wu Meiniang and others also came out of the palace at this time. They were shocked to see Qin Mubai standing alone under the moonlight in the distance, holding a book and smiling wildly.
"Mu Bai, what's going on?"
"What is he yelling about? What about elopement?"
Chen Yan couldn't help but smile, "Gao Yang, he's talking about you! He said you were running away with him."
"Hmph!" Princess Gaoyang gritted her silver teeth bitterly. If it hadn't been for Qin's mother being present, Shunliuer would have scolded her with a string of "thieves and stinky men from the military academy".
Only Wu Meiniang smiled slightly and said nothing. Because she was the only one who had ever heard Qin Mubai talk about "*". Now she vaguely heard Qin Mubai shouting "The Queen rules the world, the Anshi Rebellion... it's all a ghost", she couldn't help but think: Mubai's heart is still with the Tang Dynasty after all. Although he has fled thousands of miles away, he still cares about the country of Datang and the future of China. But seeing how happy he is, he must have gained some insight into the secrets and knows that Datang's future should be good.
When everyone was suspicious, Qin Mubai suddenly started a fire and burned the book in his hand.
"Mu Bai, no!" Wu Meiniang shouted in surprise, "This is Yuan Tianshi's hard work!"
Qin Mubai clapped his hands, stood up and said with a smile: "Of course I know this is Yuan Tianshi's hard work. Shouldn't I burn it and take it back to him? - Mei Niang, in fact, what will happen in the future? It doesn’t matter whether you know it or not.”
Wu Meiniang was stunned for a moment and was speechless.
Qin Mubai came forward and put his arms around her shoulders and said: "Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng said that I am a demon star in troubled times who can change fate against the will of heaven. The fate of the Tang Dynasty and China has been changed because of me. No, he pushed it again. It's a preview of future history. In fact, what's the point? Maybe one day another demon star will appear and change the destiny again. Isn't this just nonsense? - Besides, if this is the case, What is said in the book is already unchangeable, so there is no need for us to know.”
Wu Meiniang suddenly smiled brightly, "I'm just curious and want to see it. If you insist on destroying it, then destroy it, I don't care! We live for one day, just do what we do today. Tomorrow will have its own plans for tomorrow, descendants Everyone has their own fate. If you know the outcome of everything, life will become dull and boring, as if you are waiting for death!"
"Meiniang, you are still so wise." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "A thousand years is too long, just seize the day. As long as we live every day with a clear conscience, that is enough. As for what will happen in the future. It’s up to them to judge what kind of blessings our descendants will have.”
Wu Meiniang smiled happily: "Yes, a thousand years later you and I will have turned into dust. Who can remember whom? Now at this moment, you and I are embracing each other under the moon. It is both fact and eternity. This is enough!"