National Division

Chapter 59: Shen Xian, son of the county magistrate of Guhe. (Please continue reading!)
Taichu Palace, rear hall of Qianyuan Hall —

Just as the Empress and the Imperial Preceptor Murong Yue were talking, an eunuch from the Inner Palace entered the hall and reported, "Your Majesty, the daughter of the Duke of Xue requests an audience."

The Empress looked at Murong Yue beside her and said, "Murong, your good disciple has returned."

He then looked at the eunuch and said, "Summon them."

Murong Yue felt a sense of joy. After not seeing her for some time, Zhihua should have stabilized her Danxia realm by now.

After a while, Xue Zhihua, dressed in the official robe of the Vermilion Bird Bureau and wearing a wingless crown with the character "山" on her head, was led by an eunuch through the deep corridors of the palace, climbed the steps, and entered the hall.

"Your subject, Xue Zhihua, greets Your Majesty the Empress. May Your Majesty live a thousand years!" Xue Zhihua bowed.

"Flat body."

"Thank you, empress."

Xue Zhihua stood up and stood with her hands at her sides.

The Empress's face was all smiles, a stark contrast to her previous cold and stern demeanor: "I was just talking to your master about you. Your cultivation level is stable now, isn't it? Come, sit here."

Gao Yanfu, the eunuch supervisor of the Inner Palace who had been standing silently by the curtain, now appeared with two junior eunuchs, carrying stools, and disappeared without a trace, just as he had wiped the bloodstains off the floor tiles of the palace earlier.

Xue Zhihua turned to look at her mentor Murong Yue, who was standing to the side. She met a pair of cool eyes, which were filled with concern.

"Your disciple has troubled your master."

Murong Yue spoke sparingly, but her tone was full of satisfaction: "The radiance of Danxia is magnificent yet not dazzling, and it can be controlled with ease. It is indeed stable."

Xue Zhihua first thanked the Empress Dowager, and after sitting down, she said, "It is all thanks to Master's good guidance. I have indeed gained some insights from this trip to Guhe County."

The Empress smiled and jokingly asked, "Tell your master and me what you have seen and heard."

Xue Zhihua looked at the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to begin with two poems."

"Oh?"

The Empress took an interest, or rather, this supreme ruler of the Nine Provinces, like the two previous emperors of the Great Jing Dynasty, was originally quite interested in literature and poetry, so she set up the Lizheng Academy in the Lizheng Hall, also known as the Jixian Academy.

In addition, there were literary service institutions such as the Zhaowen Hall established by Emperor Zhenyuan of the Great Jing Dynasty and the Chongwen Hall established by Emperor Hongxi.

Xue Zhihua said in a clear voice: "I have practiced until my body resembles that of a crane, and I have two volumes of scriptures under a thousand pines. I have come to ask about the Dao, but there is nothing more to say. The clouds are in the blue sky, and the water is in the bottle."

After listening, the Empress looked at Murong Yue beside her and said, "This is a poem."

Murong Yue nodded and said, "Clouds in the blue sky, water in the bottle, blue sky and clear water, leisurely like a crane, the Taiqing lineage, the Taiqing lineage in Anzhou, and the one who uses the character 'crane' as his Daoist name, should be Crane Guardian."

The Empress said, "I also thought of this person. In the twenty-ninth year of Hongxi, this person broke through to the Dao Embryo realm at the age of forty and was listed on the Immortal List and Earth List."

Murong Yue asked, "Was this poem written by Daoist He Shou?"

After a while, he picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and showed little interest in these Taoist poems.

“He is Shen Xian, a student of Daoist Heshou and the son of the county magistrate of Guhe,” Xue Zhihua said. “He is fifteen years old and is studying at Daoist Heshou’s Qingyang Temple.”

The Empress put down her teacup, her interest piqued, and said, "Luo Shijie, the registrar of Prince Qing's mansion, composed the poem 'Ode to the Goose' at the tender age of seven, and was hailed as a child prodigy. At the age of fifteen, he has already composed a poem. How could the son of a county official possess such talent?"

This was an era where thirty-year-olds were considered old enough to be scholars, and fifty-year-olds were considered young scholars who had passed the imperial examinations. Even the examination of poetry and prose was a test.

The Empress Dowager asked, "Luo Shijie, has the body of this man been found in Tanzhou?"

Gu Nanzhu, who was reviewing memorials on behalf of others, stood up, cupped his hands, and reported, "Your Majesty, the matter in Tanzhou has not yet been found."

The Empress Dowager lamented, "In the twenty-eighth year of the Hongxi reign, I promoted Luo Shijie from the position of registrar of Wannian County to Imperial Censor. Unexpectedly, he submitted a memorial satirizing me. I admired his talent and tolerated him repeatedly. When I heard that he wrote the poem 'Ode to the Cicada' while in prison, I pitied his noble aspirations and pardoned him after a minor punishment. However, he still refused to repent!"

Mentioning this person, the diva felt a pang of sadness.

Why can't such a chivalrous and noble person be used by her?

Is it simply because she is a woman?

At this moment, Xue Zhihua said again, "Your Majesty, there is a second poem."

Tianhou picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Xue Zhihua's clear voice rang out in the hall: "So many things have happened in the rise and fall of dynasties, like the endless Yangtze River flowing on and on. From afar, one sees lotus leaves swaying in the wind; up close, one sees a sick horse resting its hooves. The three flowers gathering at the top of the head are but an illusion, and the clouds beneath one's feet are not real either..."

The diva stood frozen in place, her teacup hanging in mid-air, as if struck by lightning.

Murong Yue also turned her other half of her face. Her face, with its fair skin and delicate features, was completely free of makeup, yet naturally beautiful, like a mirror of ice. Between her brows and eyes, there was both gentleness and determination, and her bright eyes held a hint of turmoil beneath their indifference.

One is the rise and fall of the nation, the other is the pursuit of immortality through the Dao.

At this moment, both of them stood at the pinnacle of the human and immortal paths, and listening to this Daoist poem that touched upon such grand themes as immortality and the world, they felt deeply moved. Three flowers gather at the top, clouds rise beneath their feet... Between reality and illusion, rootless and limitless, all turn to dust.

Could the poet be a banished immortal who descended to earth?
"Who wrote this poem?"

This time it was the voice of a diva, the rhythm of shattered jade striking each other as clear as metal and stone.

“Shen Xian, son of the county magistrate of Guhe County.”

After a few words, there was no more sound.

The hall fell silent suddenly—not a still image.

Only the silent dripping of sand from the hourglass could be heard, and the swallows resting on the branches outside the window shook their little heads with their black and white downy feathers, as if sensing that although the atmosphere in the hall was cold but not murderous, they were tired of standing and secretly switched legs.

The Empress put down her teacup and said, "How can the son of a county official possess such extraordinary talent and wit?"

This is a very high evaluation.

Because the rise and fall of dynasties are countless, like the endless flow of the Yangtze River, this perspective offers a far-sighted view of the world, allowing us to examine the ways of immortals and humanity.

This is the life of a Daoist emperor skilled in imperial power politics in later generations, containing the desolation that a hundred years of human life and ten thousand years of immortal life are all just a dream.

The higher one's position, the more one can appreciate the profound weight and vicissitudes that permeate this poem.

It mainly fits the two themes of immortality and humanity. There may be more magnificent poems like "Qinyuanchun Snow", but none are as fitting as this poem.

Why is there such a poem?

The Empress knew there was more to the story, and her slender phoenix eyes already held a hint of inquiry.

"When evil spirits caused chaos in Guhe County, Shen Xian asked his teacher, Daoist He Shou, for help, but was refused. He said that the evil spirits were harming people, which was the will of Heaven. The Taiqing lineage was detached from worldly affairs and did not interfere in the affairs of the mortal world. Shen Xian was so moved that he wrote another poem to present to him."

Upon hearing this, the Empress frowned, turned her head, and looked at Murong Yue beside her.

"This is the way the Taiqing lineage behaves," Murong Yue explained.

The Heavenly Empress murmured, "So many things have happened in the rise and fall of the world, like the endless flow of the Yangtze River. The gathering of the three flowers at the top of the head is but an illusion, and the clouds beneath one's feet are not real either. Which is more important, the path of humanity or the path of immortality?"

What a fine son of a county magistrate!
Could such talent really exist in one's hometown, in the countryside?

Even Gu Nanzhu's fair and delicate face showed a hint of emotion.

"What happened to the evil spirits afterward?" The Empress asked, suppressing the shock that welled up inside her.

It's fair to say that the diva was completely captivated at that moment.

"Shen Xian lured the demon with his own body, and Shen Bin, the county magistrate of Guhe County, used his own innate martial arts essence to draw talismans and fought the snake demon to the death. The father and son were almost killed, and I couldn't bear it, so I stepped in to help and severely injured the snake demon." Xue Zhihua said, then felt that she had lost face by letting the snake demon escape, so she added, "That snake demon had already formed its inner core."

Upon hearing this, the Empress remained silent for a long time.

Many people spout lofty ideals, but they only make demands of others. How many of them actually practice what they preach and sacrifice themselves for others?
Murong Yue felt a pang of emotion as she looked at her disciple and thought to herself, "If one wants to achieve something in the path of immortality, one must have one's own path to follow. Zhihua's journey this time was the right one."

"The magistrate of Guhe County is loyal, upright, and fearless, and can serve as a model for all officials." The Empress said in a clear voice, then suddenly asked, "Evil spirits are causing chaos in Guhe County, killing people. The magistrate is a Daoist official, acting on behalf of the Emperor to pacify the army and secure the people. Where is he?"

"Your Majesty, please take a look at this." Xue Zhihua said, taking out a photographic stone from her hand.

Gao Yanfu, the eunuch of the Inner Palace, bowed and stepped forward to inspect.

The diva waved her hand and said, "Have someone prepare a screen and start the screening directly."

Gao Yanfu, accompanied by two eunuchs, carried over a screen and stood before the crowd.

Xue Zhihua used her spiritual power to arouse herself, and suddenly a bright light appeared on the screen not far away, projecting a picture.

This is the projection jade of the Shangqing lineage, which combines the sound stone and the recording talisman into one.

As the figures and sounds moved, the scene of the Guhe County Government Office appeared clearly on the screen.

Magistrate Lu sat high above, his arrogant demeanor carrying the air of a scion of a noble family. He wasn't even wearing an official robe, but rather a loose-fitting robe of a hermit, his sleeves fluttering as he picked up a teacup and stirred the tea foam with a covered bowl.

As the Empress's personal lady-in-waiting, Gu Nanzhu keenly noticed that the Empress frowned slightly, and a fleeting look of disgust flashed in her eyes.

Clearly, they had long disapproved of the behavior of these scions of aristocratic families.

But as the supreme ruler of the Nine Provinces, he still possessed composure and was not in a hurry to make a judgment.

In the scene, County Magistrate Lu's left-hand side, County Assistant Liu Jian and others, are arrogant and haughty, while the right-hand side, Registrar Pei Renjing and others, appear to be watching coldly.

(End of this chapter)