Shocking Mountain Moon

Chapter 1 Wedges
In the 28th year of Jingping, Emperor Jingping died and the young emperor succeeded to the throne. The next year, the reign was changed to Longxing. However, a year later, the Northern Qi army approached the capital, and the young emperor fled south and established his capital in Linzhou.

In the 34th year of Longxing, Linzhou fell, and Emperor Longxing, his concubines, and ministers burned themselves in the palace. Thus, the Xia Dynasty was completely destroyed, and the people of the country fell into the hands of foreigners.

Three years later.

"Let me go, let me go--" On the streets of Linzhou City, which had long since returned to their bustling state, a pretty girl struggled desperately to ask passers-by for help.

The man in fancy clothes glanced coldly at the passers-by, knocked the girl unconscious, carried her on his shoulders, and walked away in a swagger.

Someone in the crowd couldn't help but take a step forward, but was held back by others: "Don't worry about your life, he's a noble. Not to mention taking a common woman away, even if you kill someone in the street, you don't have to pay with your life!"

Killing someone means paying with one's life, which has always been a matter of course, but the world has changed nowadays. A Qi person can be given a reduced sentence for killing a Xia person.

The street was momentarily suffocatingly quiet, with only an embroidered shoe lying alone on the ground, reminding everyone of the withering of a young girl in her prime.

Suddenly, someone sobbed and couldn't control their tears, but soon the sound died down. People dispersed in silence, but the three people who had stopped to watch stood out.

Among the three, the white-haired old man tilted his head and nodded slightly to the young man beside him: "Finally you have calmed down."

The young man lowered his eyes in silence, clenching his hands at his sides.

"Let's go." The old man took the first step.

He looked very old, but his pace was not slow. The young man walked beside him, and the tall middle-aged man followed behind him. The three of them walked through the streets and alleys without stopping, and finally appeared in front of them was a vast expanse of ruins.

There was no one and no sound here. Suddenly, a bird flew over and seemed to smell something ominous, so it quickly spread its wings and flew away.

The young man looked at the collapsed temple and the charred bricks and stones. The fire three years ago seemed to reappear before his eyes.

Many people were screaming, wailing, and rolling around, but the emperor standing in the fire said nothing and looked in her direction.

Later she thought that people could endure the pain of being burned by fire because the pain of losing their country was too great.

"Ah Heng..." the old man called out the boy's name, "Change your clothes and go home."

The word "go home" was like a needle piercing the boy's heart, bringing her back to her senses instantly: "Can I... really go back?" When she spoke hesitantly, it turned out to be the girl.

A hint of a smile appeared on the old man's solemn face: "Time's up, go home."

The girl no longer hesitated, carrying her bag, she walked around a broken wall, and soon changed into women's clothes and came out.

She was wearing a blue cloth dress and two buns on her hair, which was the simplest attire.

This is how she looked when she came here ten years ago.

The past ten years seemed to have frozen in her body.

Another place that has not changed much is the Que Lake in the back garden of the imperial palace. Although the fire had burned everything, the Que Lake in front of us is still sparkling and the water is clear.

The girl took a step closer and turned around.

"Go." The old man raised his hand, relief, reluctance, heaviness, pain, all kinds of emotions flashed through his eyes, extremely complicated.

The girl pursed her lips, knelt down, and put her forehead to the ground: "Take care, sir."

She raised her head, with tears in her eyes, and looked at the middle-aged man who had been silent the whole time: "Take care, Uncle Fu."

The middle-aged man's voice was hoarse and trembling: "Ah Heng, take care of yourself too."

The girl turned around quickly, trying her best to control her trembling body and jumped into the lake.

The tears that had never been shed in front of the old man and the middle-aged man finally flowed out and merged into the cold lake water.

　Fictional, official positions, customs, etc. are all mixed to serve the plot. Hello everyone, see you again.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)