Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 173 Meng Jiang (Part 1)

"well,"

Jiang Xia gazed at the coral beads swaying in her daughter's hair, her hand unconsciously stroking the Zhu Rong clan's red-patterned jade pendant at her waist. The candlelight cast a golden-red glaze on Meng Jiang's cinnabar eyes, as if an ancient divine fire had been rekindled in the present world.

His throat bobbed slightly. He intended to use his authority as a sovereign to inquire when his daughter had arrived at the ancestral temple, but when he met her eyes reflecting the phantom of a crimson dragon, his words turned into a sigh.

Now that you have heard, would you like to tell me what is on your mind?

Meng Jiang moved gracefully, her eyes, tinged with cinnabar, slightly upturned, and said, "Daughter, I am willing to become a wife of the Lü family. Xu is, after all, one of the Nine Hegemons. If you marry into Xu and bear an heir for the Hegemon of Xu, the next Hegemon of Xu will be my son. This would be of great benefit to both Xu and Jiao."

"Even if my daughter becomes a wife of the Lü family in the future, she will not be a caged bird of the Lü family. My daughter also has her own ambitions."

Jiang Xia's face darkened, and she said, "You should think this through carefully. This is a major event in your life, and you must consider it carefully. Once the court makes a decision, it will be a done deal and cannot be changed."

“A word spoken is a word borne as witness; once a daughter has made a decision, she will never change it.”

Meng Jiang's voice was as light as the morning dew falling on the ancestral temple, yet it also carried the clear and melodious sound of metal striking stone.

Jiang Xia looked at his beloved daughter for a long time, and then sighed, "What a pity you are not born a man. If you were a man, you would surely be the one to bring prosperity to our family."

"You should go back first. I'll think about it further at the ancestral temple."

“My lord and father,”

Meng Jiang was about to speak again when she saw that Jiang Xia had already turned her back. Her wide sleeve swept across the tortoise shell on the table, and the clanging sound startled the candlelight that lingered in the corner of the hall.

"No need to say anything more,"

He said calmly, "A decision will be made after the morning court session tomorrow."

Meng Jiang lowered her eyes and gathered her robes, looking at her father's straight but slightly hunched back, and said, "The night is deep and the dew is heavy, Father, you should rest early."

Only after her daughter's footsteps had completely disappeared at the end of the corridor did Jiang Xia slowly turn around.

"A daughter's life is beyond her control once she grows up!"

Moonlight slanted in through the window lattice. He untied the red-patterned jade pendant from his waist and let it hang above the candlelight, watching the winding red patterns twist and move in the light and shadow.

On the other side, Meng Jiang walked through the winding corridor under the moonlight, the coral beads in her hair swaying gently, as if she had adorned the ends of the South China Sea with stars.

She raised her hand to stroke the red dragon relief swirling on the pillar, her expression aloof. The maid, A'Ruo, was waiting in front of the hall with a brocade quilt in her hands. Seeing her approach, she quickly curtsied and said, "Has the young master had his supper? I have already ordered someone to warm up some deer meat soup."

"No need,"

Meng Jiang entered the hall with a flick of her sleeve, and the bronze doors slowly closed behind her.

The interior of the hall is simply furnished, yet it exudes the majesty of the descendants of Zhurong. A nine-tasseled red flag hangs on the main wall, with a vermilion bird pattern embroidered on the corner of the flag. On the table is a red gold goblet that was passed down through the state, with an inscription engraved on the body of the goblet that says the founder of the Jiao state was enfeoffed by Emperor Jun of the Gaoxin clan.

A bronze cauldron, about ten feet tall, stands at the base of the east wall. The lingering fragrance inside the cauldron is from the agarwood used this morning after the sacrifice to Zhurong.

She took off her shawl and let Aruo take it from her, her gaze falling on the newly made tortoise shell on the table.

That was the divination material sent by the Grand Diviner three days ago. The inscription on the tortoise shell had not yet been carved, but fine divination patterns had been burned into it by fire, as if dragons and snakes were winding and swimming on the shell.

Meng Jiang lightly touched the tortoise shell with her fingertips, recalling what her father had said in the ancestral temple, "It's a pity you are not born a man," and a complex look flashed in her eyes.

"Bring me yarrow,"

Aruo paused for a moment, then hurriedly took out a yarrow tube from the bamboo box on the west wall. It was made of spotted bamboo from the southern mountains of Jiao Kingdom, with the sixty-four hexagrams and their corresponding lines engraved on the tube. Two fire pearls from the South China Sea were embedded in the bottom of the tube, gleaming with a dark red luster under the candlelight.

Meng Jiang knelt on the prayer mat, divided the yarrow stalks into two piles, and used the method of "Guicang" to divination.

The yarrow stalks danced between her fingers. When she finished the seventh divination, she looked at the resulting hexagram, which was the first one, Qian (乾). The hexagram consisted of six yang lines, representing heaven, strength, and prosperity.

Meng Jiang put the yarrow stalks into the tube, her fingertips tracing the divination text, her gaze gradually darkening.

"A'Ruo, why is it that in this world, men are like heaven and women are like earth?"

She slowly rose, walked to the bronze mirror, and removed the coral from her hair. The woman in the mirror removed her elaborate crown, her black hair cascading down like a waterfall, and the cinnabar-painted corners of her eyes shone even brighter in the candlelight, almost like the breath of a red dragon.

Aruo lowered her head and whispered, "This servant is dull-witted and doesn't understand these principles."

"If you understood, you wouldn't be a slave in the inner court. It's just a pity that I'm not a man. Otherwise, who could compete with me for the throne of Jiao Kingdom?"

In response to A'Ruo's answer, Meng Jiang shook her head and placed her hand on the cinnabar mark between her eyebrows. Suddenly, a faint light emanated from that spot, revealing the patterns of the divine fire of Zhu Rong, echoing the fire god totem reflected in the mirror within the palace.

------

The night was deep.

Inside the Jiaoguo Inn, Wu Wenhe was reading the Xia Xiaozheng by the light of a solitary lamp, the sound of turning the bamboo slips echoing in the room.

The so-called "Xia Xiaozheng" is a large book about agriculture, sericulture, astronomy, and phenology compiled by Emperor Qi of the Xia Dynasty after he received the mandate of heaven.

The four divine beings combined the celestial order with human agricultural affairs to create this book on governing the world.

As the water clock dripped, the copper bell on the eaves suddenly vibrated. Wu Wenhe paused, his gaze shifting from the bamboo slips to the half-closed wooden door.

Before the person arrived, a refreshing breeze wafted in, causing Wu Wenhe's expression to soften.

"Who do we have here? It's you, old man! Why aren't you enjoying your life in Jingzhou? What brings you to Yuzhou?"

Wu Wenhe said softly, "If you're coming to Yuzhou, then come to Yuzhou. Why are you in Jiao Kingdom again? Why not come to Xu Kingdom so I can show you some hospitality?"

The wooden door creaked softly, and a figure in green stood like a crane among the pines, hands behind his back under the eaves.

The newcomer had silver hair that reached his shoulders, a jade crown from Jing Mountain tied around his forehead, and wide sleeves embroidered with eight dragons coiled together.

He tapped on the door frame with his finger, and the copper bell jingled again. His voice carried a hint of mockery as he said, "I dare not go to Xu Kingdom and let you do your hospitality. Who knows if you old man will tie me up and force me to stay in Xu Kingdom."

“I know your character best, Wu Wenhe. There’s nothing you wouldn’t dare to do as long as it benefits the Xu Kingdom.”

"Am I right, you old man!"

Faced with the visitor's mockery, Wu Wenhe was not angry but pleased, readily admitting and laughing, "Yes, yes, you understand me best, Qu Zhao."

“We grew up together, went to school, learned to read and write, and embarked on the path of cultivation together. If I didn’t even know what you were thinking, I would have been sold off by you thirty years ago.”

Qu Zhao snorted and stepped into the house with his hands behind his back. The copper bells on the eaves trembled slightly with his steps, like shattered jade colliding.

He glanced at the open copy of "Xia Xiaozheng" on the desk and said, "It's been many years since we last met. You're still the same as before. When you're alone and have nothing to do, you like to sit by yourself and read 'Xia Xiaozheng'."

Wu Wenhe sighed, “Emperor Qi of the Xia Dynasty was a man of great talent and ambition. He inherited the legacy of Yu the Great, and all the feudal lords submitted to him. He also composed the ‘Nine Arguments’ and ‘Nine Songs’ to harmonize with the gods and men and to demonstrate the power of the state. When I read the ‘Xia Xiaozheng’, I was not reading about the order of the seasons and agricultural records, but rather the strategies in Emperor Qi’s mind.”

(End of this chapter)