"Ha ha!"
The old man shook his white head and laughed, looking calm. He leaned against the wall and looked over the Taoist's head at the dancing dust in the sunlight that shone into the prison.
"If I want to go out, I just need to lower my head, but my neck is a bit stiff and I can't lower it."
"If you don't leave, you will most likely be beheaded..."
Zuo Zhengyang had mentioned the situation before, and the Taoist couldn't help but ask: "Is it that the emperor is angry with you? If so, I will follow Old Lu's example and smash his throne room!"
"Beheading? I won't even frown."
The old man lowered his eyes and looked at him. After a while, he answered the Taoist.
"Yes, and no."
Having said that, Wang Shuhua slowly stood up, holding onto the wall.
"If I knew that Liangsheng was going to smash the Golden Palace in anger, I might have stopped him. But now that he has smashed it, I have to shout 'good!' The young Taoist priest may not understand the meaning of this."
The old man walked around the cell with a smile on his face, looking at Zuo Zhengyang at the door and at the sunlight coming in through the small window.
"When the king is wise, his subjects die without regrets; when the king is foolish, his subjects die to advise and promote the successors. Liangsheng spoke out to congratulate the people of Liangzhou. This is what scholars like me should do. If I am insulted for this, as a teacher, how can I remain indifferent
On the other hand, the livelihoods of millions of people in Heliangzhou are trapped in the mouth of one emperor. How can scholars like us remain indifferent? The court is full of sycophants and flatterers. If scholars like us remain indifferent, it will be a sign of the country's demise."
Sun Yingxian listened patiently, but still couldn't help but punch the wall.
"It's okay if they perish. Anyway, the north is not China. Wouldn't it be better if they could unite!"
Hearing what he said, Wang Shuhua laughed.
"I was born and raised in the Southern Chen Dynasty. I have been spreading knowledge here for decades... I have watched the lives of thousands of people, the rise of buildings, and the development of cities from poverty to prosperity. I feel emotional."
Zuo Zhengyang at the door was slightly moved. As a warrior, his emotions were not delicate and he had never thought about it so much. But after hearing these words, he felt an indescribable complexity in his heart.
"So the old gentleman is not leaving like this?" This was the first time that Sun Yingxian changed the way she addressed someone.
In the light and dust, the old man sighed with some emotion.
"So I won't leave... I have lived to this age and have seen a lot. I have a lot of words from sages, but I can't always say them. Wouldn't that make me a sour scholar? Little Taoist priest, don't you think so
… When it is time to die, scholars of our generation cannot retreat. Once we retreat, we will lose our integrity. So, I will rush to the Golden Palace to give advice on behalf of thousands of lives and to fight for the injustice of my disciples! I will also set an example for my successors.”
The old man's words fell in a sonorous and powerful voice.
The cell fell silent, even the crying and shouting nearby gradually died down. Sun Yingxian could not stand such oppression anymore, so she grabbed the old man's arm and went to the wall.
"In this case, I will take you away."
When Zuo Zhengyang shouted, "No!", Wang Shuhua also broke free from the Taoist's hand, then held it again with a calm look.
"I am not afraid of death, and I died a worthy death, but I am still worried about Liangsheng. I am afraid that he will never recover after this blow. Young Taoist priest, I have a favor to ask of you."
After saying this, in front of the two men's gazes, Wang Shuhua tore off a piece of the sleeve of his prison uniform with a hissing sound, spread it on the ground, bit his finger and began to write.
The Taoist priest came over, took a look, and then closed his eyes.
The blood was spreading on the prison cloth in deep red.
Good life:
Hope for the teacher...
The sunlight slanted in the prison, and soon after, the full crimson handwriting was folded, and the old man handed his hands to the Taoist over there.
For the rest of the time, Wang Shuhua chattered a lot with the Taoist and Zuo Zhengyang. When he talked about what happened when he went to the Golden Palace to meet the emperor, he even laughed out loud.
“…Your Majesty is stubborn and unyielding. I spit in his face. Hahahaha!!”
The sky gradually turned into a faint red. Sun Yingxian walked out of the cell and stayed in the city for several days. She saw Min Changwen being kicked out by the emperor several times. On the day of execution, she also saw the old man with white hair and beard standing upright on the execution ground.
"How can we Confucians be afraid of death—"
The moment he removed the gag from his mouth, his voice echoed above the execution ground.
…
After watching the whole process, Sun Yingxian took the letter and headed towards the northwest of the capital. Since there was no one at home, Lu Liangsheng must have gone to Heliangzhou.
"Ah... How should I start this?"
Occasionally when taking a break, Sun Yingxian would always think of the scene on that day, and always wondered in his heart, how could there be such a person in this world... This was a person, or a group, that was even more different from the ascetics.
"I hope Old Lu won't follow the example of Uncle Hua in the future!"
"Buddha... have mercy!"
Just as he was muttering, a Buddhist chant was heard from afar. The Taoist turned around and saw a fat monk walking towards him from a distance, with several children following him.
"Master Fajing, you haven't returned to the temple yet?"
After what happened in the capital, he returned to his playful self and walked up to pat the fat monk's belly.
"There's not much to eat over there, and you don't look thin or hungry."
At this time, Sun Yingxian also noticed that among the children following the monk, there was a child with brown-blue pupils, just like Lu Liangsheng at the beginning, so she couldn't help but pay attention to him.
"Innate spiritual roots?"
"This child's family was killed by bandits, and he was unwilling to accept the government's resettlement. I had no choice but to take him back to Wanfo Temple."
Fa Jing chanted the Buddha's name and reached out to stroke the child's head. The latter turned his head away and stepped aside with a sullen look on his face.
"I won't let the people of Nan Chen settle me down. It's obvious that they killed my parents!"
As he said this he glared at Fa Jing fiercely.
"Don't be a monk either!"
Sun Yingxian chuckled, retracted his gaze, and patted Fa Jing on the stomach again: "This kid is so extreme. He didn't even know the whole story, but he said the government killed his parents."
Over there, the fat monk also shook his head.
"I hope... Buddhism... can resolve... his anger. By the way, I came... specially to look for you, Fellow Daoist Sun. When I was in Liang...zhou, I met Fellow Daoist Lu, who asked me... to tell you that he went... to Northern Zhou."
Northern Zhou
So far!!!
The Taoist stopped talking to the fat monk and hurriedly cupped his hands, cast a magic talisman, and a cloud of dust rolled up. He ran away and disappeared in front of him in a blink of an eye, shocking the group of children who cried out "Wow".
Fa Jing bowed to the Buddha, shook his head, turned around and led a group of children to the north. They also wanted to cross the river and go to the place once called Northern Qi.
The sky was changing, the clouds were moving northward, and at this time Lu Liangsheng was leading his old donkey into Chaoning Prefecture.