Ch. 123 - 5 Auspicious Symbols Falling on Mount Huang, Idiot Scholar Before Refugee Camp
The Famous Detective of the Red MansionThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
"Back up! Back up!"
"I’m talking about you! You should kneel far away!"
Mount Wuhuang in the south of the city.
Although the name of the mountain was bright, it was a steep and barren slope. Because of the lack of water in the nearby Shaolin, few people were interested in it.
However, today is an exception. Not only the whole town turned up in the 49 cities, but also many refugees from outside the city rushed to join in. This small barren mountain was besieged.
It was the birth of the first hot air balloon in the Great Zhou Dynasty and its sudden crash caused such a spectacle!
Of course, this was just Sun Shaozong's idea.
The official statement on this matter was, ”The auspicious omen comes from heaven and congratulates the Emperor on his ascendancy to the throne for ten years.” Otherwise, why didn’t the auspicious omen went away and fell on Mount Huang?
Unexpectedly, this extremely nonsense statement really bewitched many people.
At the foot of the mountain, there was a vast area of people kneeling. Those who chanted Buddhism, worshiped Taoism, eulogized the monarch, and begged for a son spoke in harmony.
Sun Shaozong's immediate task was to lead the officials of one prefecture and two counties to set up a warning line at the foot of the mountain to prevent someone from bumping into the auspicious omen on the mountain.
On the mountainside, there was a second defense line composed of Warrior Camp. Not to mention ordinary people, even court officials like Sun Shaozong were not allowed to approach at will.
To tell the truth, Sun Shaozong was not very interested in the hot air balloon. It was not a Zeppelin airship. A glance from afar showed that it was a crude thing. What's so strange?
But he wanted to know whether people were sitting in the hot air balloon, or whether there were transmigrated people on it!
Although, it might not be a good thing to have two striders in the same world, Sun Shaozong still has some vague expectations.
"What’s wrong?"
While Sun Shaozong was looking up at the top of the mountain, someone laughed and said, "Lord Sun wants to have a look at the big Kongming Lantern?"
Kongming Lantern?!
Sun Shaozong was stunned when he heard that the principles of these two things were indeed similar, so it was appropriate to call the hot air balloon a large Kongming Lantern.
It’s just that…
Cheng Rixing, a small county official, could see the truth in it, but the Imperial Court was still so inspiring. Weren't they afraid that they would make a joke?
After thinking for a long time, he suddenly saw the crowd not far away receding from side to side like a tide. A group of Dragon Guards wearing inked dragons and cloud-swallowing robes flashed out, as well as two green cloth sedans carried by eight people.
It was obvious that a great person had arrived. Sun Shaozong did not dare to snub him. He shouted to Wang Qian, the Magistrate of Daxing County, and Xu Huaizhi, the Magistrate of Wanping County, to welcome them together.
When he came near, Sun Shaozong was waiting to respectfully ask which important person was in the sedan chair. He then saw that the door curtain of the sedan chair in front was lifted, revealing a white face.
Sun Shaozong hurriedly replaced his hand salute with the one-knee military greeting, and said respectfully, "Sun Shaozong, greetings to the Commander!"
Needless to say, it was Eunuch Dai Quan who sat in the sedan chair.
In the past, Dai Quan had to make fun of Sun Shaozong. Today, however, he was not interested. He waved the blue silk handkerchief in the wind and said, "Chase the people away. I have been ordered by the Emperor to welcome the auspicious omens back to the Palace."
When Sun Shaozong heard the words, he hurriedly asked everyone to make their way off the mountain road. However, he was more and more sure that it was not simple. At least not as he thought at first that it was a transmigrated person who invented the hot air balloon, which caused a stir.
This Eunuch Dai was also acting in a sweeping manner.
Come and go fast!
About half an hour later, a group of people came down from the mountain. In the middle, besides the two sedan chairs, there was a hot air balloon that burned most of it.
According to the shape and size of the basket, 70 to 80 percent out of 100, the hot air balloon was indeed carrying people.
But Sun Shaozong looked through the whole team and didn't see one who looked like he was in disguise.
A green sedan chair?
It seems that the reason for this was the people on board, not the hot-air balloon itself!
After Dai Quan and the "Auspicious omen" were sent away, Mountain Huang naturally had nothing to guard.
So Sun Shaozong discussed with the General of the Warrior Army, leaving only a small number of people to continue to guard the foot of the mountain, and the rest of them would go back to their respective cities separately. After all, the order in the town also needs people to maintain it.
However, Sun Shaozong did not go back to the city directly.
How could he not go to the refugee camp to visit his Elder Brother?
Sun Shaozong asked for directions, and then he ran along the official road. About ten miles away, he saw numerous thatched huts guarding a military camp in front of him.
Although the refugee camp was a mess, Sun Shaozong rode on a horse with a sword and with a valiant figure. Thus, no one dared to stop him.
So he made his way to the gate of the military camp without any obstacles. Sun Shaozong was just about to explain his intentions, but he saw a young man on the road who was kowtowing to the ground with his head. He cried out, "Please be merciful, General, and give Ying’er back to me!"
Seeing that his forehead was blue and purple and that there were also dried blood stains, it was obvious that he had been kneeling for some time. The soldiers guarding the camp gate turned a deaf ear to him.
This manner…
Was it his Elder Brother who robbed his woman?
"Lord Sun?!"
At this moment, he saw a surprised person welcome him out and said, "Are you coming to visit my General?"
This man seemed to be a Lieutenant under his Elder Brother. Sun Shaozong couldn’t remember his exact name.
He raised his chin at the young man, who kowtowed. Sun Shaozong asked, "What's the matter with this man?"
The Lieutenant glanced at the young man and said casually, "This guy keeps insisting that the woman my General bought in the morning was his childhood sweetheart. He was clamoring to ask the General to return the woman to him. If he didn't have the reputation of a scholar, I would have sent someone to chase him away."
Sun Shaozong raised his eyebrows and said, "A childhood sweetheart? Is there an engagement?"
Before the Lieutenant could speak, the kowtowing scholar shouted in a hurry, "Although there isn’t any engagement, I have been in love with Sister Ying’er for long, taking heaven and earth as evidence, and..."
Before he finished, Sun Shaozong urged his horse to enter the military camp.
If there was an engagement, he might still need to consider it. But how could the relationship he has received privately in these years compare with the contract of selling herself in exchange for real gold and silver?
However, Sun Shaozong was not heartless after all. After entering the gate, he lowered his voice and said, "If this boy kneels until tomorrow morning, let him go to my house to pick the person up."
The Lieutenant hurried and agreed.
But Sun Shaozong said strangely, "By the way, Your Majesty has allocated a lot of money for disaster relief. Why are there still people who sell children and women?"
The Lieutenant hurriedly explained, "You might not know. After this disaster, there are often epidemics. The young brother of the woman's family was infected with the epidemic and had no money to ask the doctor for treatment, so she had to sell her daughter to save her son's life."
Tch!
It turned out to be a pot that favors boys over girls.