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The Flower Family has been a prestigious lineage for hundreds of years, naturally familiar with the Jia Family and the Xue Family.
I only heard Hua Man Lou say, "What I know about the Four Kings and Eight Lords, as well as the four great families of Jinling, is completely different from what you mentioned. The Duke of Xue and Lord Jia are both pillars of the nation; they did not die young..."
Bai Tang replied, "It's because I took both of them as my disciples. That woman Jinghuan was also killed by me, so the fate of the four great families changed along with it."
"You... you killed the fairy?" Hua Man Lou exclaimed in shock. "You even took the Duke of Xue and Lord Jia as disciples? How old are you?"
Bai Tang said, "Young man, it's quite impolite to inquire about a woman's age."
Hua Man Lou responded, "Uh. I was being presumptuous; I’m just really curious. The Duke of Xue is already in his fifties, and Lord Jia has passed away, yet you look like you're barely in your twenties."
Bai Tang smiled, "What do you think of that child Wanxi?"
Hua Man Lou replied, "A very cute child."
Bai Tang asked, "If I told you he is the son of Yongming Emperor, would you believe it?"
Hua Man Lou responded, "Is he really the current emperor's nephew?"
Bai Tang said, "It seems you believe it now. At that time, Yongming Emperor entrusted his beloved son to me so that he could survive. I brought him back to the world where the Bai Family resides. Later, an accident occurred in that world making it uninhabitable, so I moved my family to this world. The flow of time is different between the two worlds; in this world, Xi's nephew has already married, while Xi has only just turned one year old."
Hua Man Lou remarked, "So that's why a day in the mountains can equal a thousand years in the world?"
Bai Tang replied, "You could say that."
Hua Man Lou laughed, "I’m really lucky to be able to be friends with immortals."
Bai Tang smiled, "We are not immortals, but ordinary people with special experiences. By the way, please keep this matter a secret for me!"
Hua Manlou replied, "Rest assured, I won't even tell my parents."
Bai Tang trusted Hua Manlou. The two ascended the stairs and soon passed through several offices, entering the inner palace. They saw beaded curtains and embroidered drapes, painted beams and carved eaves, with light shimmering on the red doors and golden floors. The snow illuminated the jade windows, and the palace was filled with fragrant flowers and exotic herbs—truly a wonderful place.
After a moment of silence, Hua Manlou said, "I thought the residence of immortals would be elegant and ethereal; I didn't expect it to be even more magnificent than a royal palace!"
Laughter reached their ears as they quickened their pace, soon spotting their target, Lu Feng. He looked quite charming, reclining on a soft couch, sipping fine wine and tea while joking with the fairies beside him. These fairies floated gracefully in their flowing garments, as beautiful as spring flowers and enchanting as the autumn moon. Compared to Lu Feng's beautiful companions, they were far more stunning; no wonder he was so captivated.
Lu Feng lay on the lap of a fairy dressed in red, whom Bai Tang recognized as Jia Yuan Chun; to his left was a woman in a purple dress who fed him wine with her mouth—her demeanor was flirtatious and graceful; it could only be Qin Keqing. Sitting at the lower end were four women who were assistants to Jinghuan Fairy: one was the lovesick Immortal Mistress, another was the devoted Bodhisattva, one was Yin Chou Jin Nu, and the last was Duhen Bodhi. The rest were some unfamiliar maidservants, likely gathered by the six women.
A man and six women exchanged jokes; Lu Feng recounted his adventures in the martial world while the six women shared tales of lovesick men and wronged women. Yuan Chun seemed to have broader knowledge than the other five, recounting many strange stories about emperors throughout history.
"…During the Warring States period, for a hundred years, the common people suffered from oppression and warfare. Just take the Battle of Changping for example; Bai Qi slaughtered over forty thousand living people in a pit—such resentment! We hoped that after unification there would be a true emperor. Even if we couldn't restore the former glory of Wen and Wu, we could at least avoid the endless wars of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods that left people struggling to survive. But since Qin Shi Huang ascended to the throne, he has been tyrannical and brutal, valuing human life less than during the Seven Kingdoms period. In fact, all this is predestined calamity—not just Qin Shi Huang's fault. Even Qin Shi Huang himself is merely a demon lord born out of calamity. Normally such individuals should have committed an offense first and been banished to the mortal realm to suffer earthly punishments instead of heavenly penalties. Both rulers and subjects are governed by fate; they cannot act on their own accord. However, as an emperor who is also a father to his people, if he can govern wisely and hold himself accountable for his actions like King Wu did or bear the sins of his predecessors in mind, he might still turn misfortune into fortune. It is essential for emperors to recognize this responsibility. If they fail to do so or worsen matters by committing acts that harm their subjects, it will lead to rebellion among the people who will rise up against them. True emperors will not allow Qin Shi Huang to continue oppressing them. Therefore, no matter how much he seeks immortality or enlightenment among immortals, he will not succeed. Even if Xu Fu found an immortal mountain overseas, he could never return to the Central Plains to deliver elixirs of immortality to Qin Shi Huang. Ultimately, Qin Shi Huang died in despair…"
Yuan Chun felt thirsty and took a sip from her teacup. The tea had an exquisite aroma and taste. Hua Manlou caught a whiff of it and couldn't help but feel envious of Lu Feng's good fortune. Bai Tang whispered to Hua Manlou, "This tea comes from Fangchun Mountain's Fragrant Cave; it's brewed using dew collected from immortal flowers and leaves. Once we resolve Lu Feng's matter, I'll gift you ten pounds."
Hua Manlou nodded happily in gratitude. The two did not advance further but hid outside the hall waiting for Yuan Chun and others to reveal their intentions.
"After Qin Shi Huang's death, resentment lingered on. Knowing that Liu Bang was destined to rise in his place, he attached himself to a large white snake that blocked Liu Bang's army at Mangdang Mountain. Everyone was terrified and quickly reported this to Liu Bang. That day Liu Bang had drunk heavily; emboldened by alcohol, he drew his sword to slay the great snake. Liu Bang truly was Qin Zheng's nemesis; when faced with Liu Bang, that snake which had been as large as a mountain suddenly shrank down to the size of chopsticks with a 'slip' sound. Liu Bang cut the white snake in half with one stroke of his sword. That night, Qin Zheng used what little resentment remained to enter Liu Bang's dreams: 'What you have done to me today shall be repaid in kind. You severed my head; I will usurp your head in return; you cut off my tail; I will usurp your tail; now you have severed my waist into two halves; I will usurp your throne during Emperor Ping's reign.' Thus it came that during Western Han's Emperor Ping's time, the white snake transformed into Wang Mang, who killed Emperor Ping of Han and usurped the Han dynasty. Later on during Guangwu's restoration efforts, Wang Mang was defeated and Han rule was restored under Liu's Eastern Han dynasty."
Upon hearing this story, Lu Feng clapped his hands in delight: "That was splendid! No wonder you are an immortal; even your knowledge about the grudges between Qin Shi Huang and Han Gaozu is so clear." With that said, he personally poured a cup of wine for Yuan Chun.
Yuan Chun's eyes sparkled with pride as she drank half of her wine before offering the other half back to Lu Feng.
Lu Feng felt completely relaxed and exclaimed loudly: "The wine is good, but you are even better!"
Bai Tang whispered, "This wine is brewed from the essence of a hundred flowers and the juice of ten thousand trees, combined with the marrow of a qilin, hence it is named 'Ten Thousand Colors in One Cup.' I will send you a jar later."
Yuan Chun's enchanting eyes sparkled as she let out a laugh like silver bells, casting a proud glance at Qin Keqing. Qin Keqing was originally the younger sister of Jinghuan, and before Jinghuan's death, her status was far above Yuan Chun's. It was only after Jinghuan was killed by Bai Tang that she fell into the same predicament as Yuan Chun and others. She was unwilling to abandon her celestial form and enter reincarnation, determined to escape this world and return to the original celestial realm. Although she was merely the lowest of the low in the celestial realm—this world of Dream of the Red Chamber was originally divided for the reincarnation of Divine Attendant. Only the group brought by Jinghuan could return to the celestial realm now that Jinghuan was dead; they could only find a way back.
"Sister Yuan Chun has told the story of Qin Shi Huang, so I will tell a story related to him as well!" Qin Keqing said, "I will tell the story of Meng Jiangnu."
Lu Feng laughed, "Is it the story of how Meng Jiangnu cried down the Great Wall?"
Qin Keqing shot him a charming glance and retorted, "How could I tell such a well-known story? I want to talk about what happened after Meng Jiangnu cried down the Great Wall."
"To continue, Meng Jiangnu died at the Great Wall mourning her husband. Qin Shi Huang was furious and ordered soldiers to cut flesh from her corpse to feed the fish. They saw pieces of white and pink flesh thrown into the water. Meng Jiangnu had already died and felt no pain, but those watching below closed their eyes in sorrow, unable to bear it. Some wept uncontrollably, one person started crying, and soon everyone joined in; in an instant, cries filled the air, shaking the valleys. The supervising officer grew furious and ordered his soldiers to kill those who were wailing. At that moment, suddenly there was no sunlight, sand and stones flew about, striking those soldiers on their heads, causing them to scatter in fear. The lions seemed to recognize humans; suddenly one large piece fell from above onto the officer who had given the order, injuring him severely as he knelt down and begged for mercy."
Lu Feng asked, "Could it be that Meng Jiangnu's deeds moved heaven?"
Qin Keqing replied, "Whether it moved heaven or not, I do not know; I only know that it touched two celestial beings. These two beings were Tie Guai Li and He Xian Gu from the Eight Immortals. At that time, they had just become immortals and were traveling through the mortal realm to accumulate merit as per the decree of Supreme Elder Lord when they encountered this incident. They were moved by Meng Jiangnu's loyalty and decided to help this suffering couple."
Qin Keqing took a sip of wine to moisten her throat and continued, "After He Xian Gu punished those officials and soldiers who desecrated Meng Jiangnu's corpse, Tie Guai Li pointed his staff and chanted a spell, calling out 'Swift.' Many pieces of flesh that had fallen into the water immediately floated together as if reuniting. Tie Guai Li circled his iron crutch around this gathered flesh several dozen times. With each circle he made, a circle of flesh scattered into countless pure white jade-like raindrops that spread everywhere. By the end, the river was filled with such beautiful fish. Tie Guai Li raised his iron crutch and shouted; suddenly thousands of fish turned their heads toward him, tapping three times before scattering in all directions. However, it seemed as if something held onto Tie Guai Li's hand; he hurriedly opened his gourd and stuffed that thing inside..."
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