Sandalwood curls, and the faint candle moves with the slight ups and downs of the waves.
She saw the blue sea surface, the clear agate-colored light, and when her body turned around, there was a huge abyss with no end under the ocean.
The deep and huge darkness was terrifying, a hallucinatory chaotic sound came from my ears, and a yellow figure plunged into the water.
The moment he sat up, the noise faded into the surrounding darkness, and in front of him was still the cabin that he had become familiar with, the bedding with a little aroma after being smoked every day, a little star candle, and the undulating waves outside the window.
There was a sound of getting up from the outside of the cabin.
"Your Highness, are you awake?"
"It's okay, don't come in."
Zhou Pei replied, and sat quietly for a while on the bed where the candle light was slightly drunk. She turned her head to look at the sky outside, and then put on her clothes.
When he got out of bed and walked outside, the maid Komatsu who was sleeping in the cubicle had also quietly got up. After asking Zhou Pei if he wanted to bring water to wash, he followed her to the outside.
In the hallway through the cabin, orange lanterns were still lit, extending to the door leading to the large deck. Leaving the upper deck of the inner cabin, the sky at sea is still not bright, the waves are undulating on the sea, the stars and moons in the sky seem to be embedded in the blue-gray transparent glass, and the sky and the sea at the end of the field of vision merge into an infinite place.
Looking back, the huge dragon boat was dimly lit, like a palace sailing on the sea.
Ten years ago, in order to facilitate Zhou Yong's escape, countless craftsmen spliced together dozens of large ships, and carried out various transformations to build this huge sea dragon palace, which was shaped like land even on the windy sea. After moving to Lin'an, the dragon boat was moored on the wharf of the Qiantang River, and various craftsmen's ingenuity was integrated into it. Looking back on this calm night, it is truly magnificent and graceful.
But in Zhou Pei's heart, it is difficult to have the slightest ups and downs.
The huge dragon boat fleet has been drifting at sea for three months. It was summer when it left Lin'an fashion, but now it is approaching the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the past three months, many things have happened on board, and Zhou Pei's mood has changed from despair to Heartbroken, on that day at the end of June, Zhou Pei jumped off the side of the boat while his father came over and the guards around him avoided him.
Then, the first figure to jump into the sea was Zhou Yong wearing an imperial robe.
Since the Jurchen went south, Zhou Yongdan was frightened and his body was thin and skinny at one time. Being able to explain Zhou Yong's conditioned reflex at that moment, he jumped down towards the sea, and he was always afraid of death.
His jumping into the sea was useless in practical terms. If the guards who jumped into the sea later rescued the two, the father and daughter would have been drowned in the sea.
But also because of such a move, after being rescued, Zhou Pei's hatred for Zhou Yong gradually turned into more complicated emotions. She cried in the room for a long time and no longer wanted to see Zhou Yong, but Zhou Yong has since then Gradually, he fell ill. It was a minor illness at first, and it gradually worsened in mid-July. By this time, he had collapsed on the sick bed and could not get out of bed.
Under such circumstances, whether it is hatred or contempt, for Zhou Pei, it seems to have become an empty thing.
She sat on the deck under the night sky, quietly watching the star and moon, the autumn sea breeze blew over, with water vapor and fishy smell, the maid Komatsu stood quietly behind, I don't know when, Zhou Pei was slightly biased. head, noticing the tears on her face.
She moved the bench away and said, "Sit down."
"The slaves dare not."
"You are Zhao Xianggong's granddaughter, right?"
"... Hmm." Maid Xiao Song wiped her tears, "Slave... I just remembered the poem my grandfather taught me."
"I heard... The bright moon rises from the sea, and the world is at the same time... You are also the first of a scholarly family. When I was in Lin'an, I heard someone say your name." Zhou Pei tilted her head and whispered, the Zhao Xianggong in her mouth was the Zhao Ding, when he gave up Lin'an, Zhou Yong called Qin Hui and others on the boat, and Zhao Ding, but Zhao Ding never came, and only sent a few promising grandchildren to the dragon boat: "You shouldn't be a slave. …”
As she said this, Zhao Xiaosong, who was behind her, couldn't hold back his emotions, and cried more and more intensely, reaching out to wipe his tears. Zhou Pei felt sad. She understood why Zhao Xiaosong was so sad. The autumn moon was rolling in front of her, and the sea breeze was quiet. She thought of the rising moon and the end of the world. Lin'an, at this time, I am afraid that it is about to burn.
This severe sadness gripped her heart tightly, causing her heart to feel as if it was squeezed by a huge hammer, but there was no emotion on Zhou Pei's face, and she looked forward quietly. The sky and the sea slowly opened their mouths.
"If I remember correctly, when Xiaosong was in Lin'an, she was named a talented girl. Are you sixteen this year? Have you ever promised a kiss, do you have a sweetheart?"
Zhao Xiaosong shook his head sadly, Zhou Pei looked indifferent. In this year, she is nearly thirty years old, and her marriage is unfortunate. She is busy with many things. In a blink of an eye, more than ten years of time have passed. At this time, all the busyness has finally turned into an empty existence. , She looked at Zhao Xiaosong, and only vaguely could see herself when she was a girl more than ten years ago.
"It's okay, in such a year, love and love will inevitably turn into something hurtful in the end. When I was your age, I was very envious of the games of talents and beauties circulating in the market. Looking back, we... leave When I was in Lin'an, it was the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival, right? There was a Dragon Boat Festival in Jiangning more than ten years ago, I don't know if you have heard of it..."
Zhou Pei recalled the poem and sang slowly and in a low voice: "The light sweat is slightly transparent, and the dragon boat bath in the Ming Dynasty is full of fragrant orchids. The talisman hangs a green cloud. The beautiful women meet...a thousand years..."
She recited this charming poem to the end, her voice gradually became inaudible, but just smiled at the corner of her mouth: "Now, it's almost Mid-Autumn Festival, and there are Mid-Autumn Festival poems again... When will the moon be there, ask the blue sky for wine... I don't know the palace in the sky, What year is today…”
This low voice turned to singing, and it sounded lightly and softly on the deck. Zhao Xiaosong knew the author of this poem. In the past, these poems were also circulated in the mouths of the ladies in Lin'an, but only in the mouth of the eldest princess. What came out was a singing style and tune that Zhao Xiaosong had never heard before.
She looked at the princess in front of her, and saw that her face was still as calm as water, but the voice seemed to contain countless things. She still can't understand these things. It was more than ten years ago, the sound of seemingly endless tranquility and prosperity flowing like water...
Komatsu listened to the voice, and the sorrow in her heart was gradually infected. I don't know when, she subconsciously asked: "His Royal Highness, I heard that the gentleman was really your teacher back then?"
This was not something she should have asked. The voice fell, and in the dim light, the eldest princess, whose expression was always calm, pressed her forehead. Time was as ruthless as a grinding wheel, and tears fell in an instant.
The news on land came a few days ago.
Regarding the critical situation in Lin'an, Zhou Yong did not make any preparations for escape, and the Dragon Boat fleet left in a hurry. In the first time, he was afraid of being caught by the Jurchen, and did not dare to dock at will, and stayed at sea until he drifted. After more than two months, he stopped for a while and sent personnel to log in to inquire about the news.
The news came back four days ago. After reading it, Zhou Yong vomited blood and fainted. After waking up, he summoned Zhou Pei. This was the first time the father and daughter met after Zhou Pei jumped into the sea at the end of June.
At this time, Zhou Yong's illness intensified, and he was so skinny that he could no longer get up. He looked at Zhou Pei, who came over, and handed her the news, with only a heavy expression of grief on his face. On that day, Zhou Pei also read the news, her body trembled, and she gradually started to cry.
Since Zhou Yong abandoned Lin'an and left, throughout May, the situation in the world has been brewing upheaval in chaos. By June, the outlines have been revealed. In June and July, many forces that originally belonged to the Wu Dynasty have begun to express their views. On the bright side, most of the troops and governors still held the slogan of loyalty to the Wu Dynasty, but as the Jurchen army swept across, the number of people who changed their flags gradually increased.
In such a situation, Jiangnan was the first to bear the brunt. In June, Jiaxing, an important town near Lin'an, refused to surrender, and the mutineers and the Jurchen army united in and out, and the Jurchen slaughtered the city for ten days. At the end of June, Suzhou looked down on the wind, and the important towns in the Taihu Lake Basin expressed their positions one after another. As for July, more than half of the Kaesong surrendered.
From the banks of the Yangtze River to Lin'an, this was the most prosperous core of the Wu Dynasty, and there were stubborn opponents, but they seemed increasingly powerless. The situation that the military generals who were once criticized by the civil officials of the military dynasty had too much authority finally began to appear in the whole world at this time. On Jiangnan West Road, the military and government officials broke out because the orders could not be unified, and the military general Hongdu led his troops into Jizhou Prefecture. , put all the officials in jail, and raised the banner of surrendering gold, and on Fujian Road, the two armies originally arranged here are already preparing to kill each other.
Liu Guangshi, who had traveled south from Xiangyang, entered the Dongting Lake area and began to demarcate the land to collect his rights. At the same time, there was friction with the Nianhan troops in the north and the Miaojiang black flag that invaded Changsha. In this situation where countless people and countless forces in the world have begun to act mightily, the Jurchen order has been issued, driving all the troops of the Wu Dynasty that have nominally surrendered gold, and began to pull out their camps and march westward. The battle to truly decide where the world belongs is imminent.
Under such circumstances, the authority that once belonged to the Wu Dynasty had collapsed in front of everyone's eyes.
The collapse of a dynasty may take years, but for Zhou Yong and Zhou Pei, all of this, the huge chaos, may not be the most important thing.
In July, Jun Wu, who had entered Jiangning, refused all orders from the small court in Lin'an, purged military discipline, and refused to retreat or surrender. At the same time, the hundreds of thousands of troops under Zongfu, together with the surrendering Han army who had gathered here, and the troops of the Wu Dynasty who surrendered and dispatched one after another, began to launch a fierce attack on Jiangning, and by the end of July, Arriving near Jiangning one after another, the total number of troops who launched the attack has reached as many as one million, and even half of the troops were once under the command and jurisdiction of Prince Junwu. After Zhou Yong left, they defected one after another.
Wanyan Zongfu said that even if Jiangning was an iron city, he would melt it into a pot of molten iron.
The turmoil in the world is happening violently, and Jurchen's westward advance has just begun, so in June and July, a city of Jiangning turned into the core of the most fierce battle in the entire world. The Wu Dynasty has collapsed, and only the former Prince of Wu Dynasty, leading the Beiwei and Zhenhai troops, is like a desperate beast whose home has been destroyed.
In front of it, the enemy is still coming like a tidal wave.
No one knows how long in the future such tenacity will last.
"I'm sorry Jun Wu... I'm sorry... my son... "
Perhaps it was the throwing into the sea that day took away his vitality and his fear. At that moment, Zhou Yong's rationality gradually recovered, and in Zhou Pei's cry, he just murmured these words.
That afternoon, he summoned the ministers in the small court and decided to abdicate and pass his throne to Jun Wu, who was in danger, to give him the last help. But soon after, it was opposed by the ministers. Qin Hui and others put forward various pragmatic views, believing that this matter would be harmful to both the Wu Dynasty and Jun Wu.
Zhou Yong then fainted amid the quarrel and commotion among the ministers.
And Zhao Xiaosong also knew that Lin'an was slaughtered on that day, and that his grandfather and his family may have died tragically...