Chapter 202 |
Huaxia.
The 21st Century.
May 10th, History Forum.
HappyBirthdayEmperorYonghe
SoyMilkSoyMilkIsBorn! Giving away 3,000 forum coins~
Today is the annual carnival for the forum's Soy Milk fans, celebrating the birthday of the emperor in Huaxia's history who ended the chaos of the Three Kingdoms and established a unified golden age during the Great Zhou Dynasty.
A post sent exactly at midnight: HotTake! The TV drama Emperor's Path is about to start auditions, and it's absolutely impossible for anyone to display even half the elegance of my Emperor Soy Milk!
It deservedly became the HOT post with the highest number of replies.
1L: Hahaha, I came right on the dot! I'm super fast!
3L: Tsk, I have a feeling this thread is going to start a fight. A lot of actors' fans have come to the forum recently, saying they are here to learn about the roles their idols are playing, but in reality, they don't even know how many years the Great Zhou lasted.
5L: How many years?
6L: Is the person above new?
11L: Fake fan, kick them out!
13L: The Great Zhou was also a feudal dynasty and didn't escape the dynastic cycle. Counting the time before the great unification, it lasted for a total of 273 years, which is almost the longest lifespan a dynasty can sustain.
14L: The Yonghe and Chengan periods accumulated a health bar for the Great Zhou that was too long and thick, otherwise it definitely wouldn't have survived all the tossing and turning in the late stages of the dynasty.
15L: Really, Emperor Soy Milk went to war in the Northern Frontier at sixteen, ascended the throne at eighteen, and unified the mountains and rivers to rule the world at twenty-one. In the fifth year of Yonghe, Nanning was completely stabilized, and the golden age began... With this speed, these methods, and these achievements, what were all of us here doing at sixteen?
16L: Going to war at sixteen is a stab to the heart, right (
17L: Going to war at sixteen is a stab to the heart, right (
...
40L: Going to war at sixteen is a stab to the heart, right (
41L: I'm here to break the formation. New fans from the film and television section, and casting directors, pay attention. Can you find a young man who is beautiful, strong, and sickly?
Emperor Yonghe is recorded in history books as having poor health. Although there are few historical records about his time as a prince, there is this sentence in the notes of Grand Secretary Xi during the Yonghe period: [The Emperor was often ill in his youth, no different from after he reached adulthood. I traveled back and forth to Jing'an Temple at the end of the year to pray for Buddha's blessing.]
The military march log compiled by General Ye of the Northern Frontier Protectorate states: [The Emperor's seventh son arrived, carried the flag into battle, and morale soared. He broke the enemy army and was invincible in every attack.]
The Emperor's seventh son here refers to Emperor Yonghe. Because of his poor health, he practiced martial arts since childhood, and his martial arts skills were above those of the other princes. He fits the persona of a sickly, martial, and handsome young man perfectly, okay? Don't use those clumsy fight scenes and wire-fu to fool us (we're not buying it).
43L: We say it's a stab to the heart because Emperor Chengan's memoirs state that his uncle originally didn't want to be emperor and was forced into the game. Speaking of which, Princess Zhiyi was the catalyst for Emperor Yonghe entering the game, right? The elder sister he grew up with was hung on the flag. Although it was later proven that the Princess was fine, how heartbroken Emperor Yonghe must have been the moment he heard the news. That was stabbing a knife into his heart.
47L: Bullshit! Soy Milk is so smart, how could he not know that Princess Zhiyi was fine at that time? Moreover, Soy Milk entering the game was clearly due to the flood recorded in the history of the Great Zhou. People from Sanhe Province should know this, they fought so hard over the origin of the Cangyan Flower Longevity Shrine that they almost beat each other's brains out.
With such great public support and prestige at the time, how could he possibly stay out of it...
48L: Who are you saying is full of bullshit? If you didn't study history well, don't talk nonsense! Is there any historical evidence that Soy Milk knew in advance that his sister was fine? Is there?? If not, don't talk nonsense!
The two started fighting, a melee began, and they argued for seventy or eighty floors.
The new fans and the lurking crew directors and screenwriters silently wiped their sweat.
They hadn't even read much yet, and Emperor Yonghe's fans started a civil war. They cursed with such a cultural level (dirty), quoting classics and citing history.
110L: Stop, stop. Speaking of which, are the things recorded in the Miscellaneous Collection of A Hundred Diseases donated to the country by the Yang family of traditional Chinese medicine true? Has it been authenticated?
112L: The person above is on a 2G network, it is true. That's right, our Soy Milk is someone who didn't treat his illness as an illness, but instead treated himself as a drug test subject. Many of the standard symptom sources in there are from the prescriptions the Yang ancestors adjusted on him (
115L: I love it, I really love a human whose sickness is so standard—from a medical student.
130L: Who gets it, my kinks are dancing wildly... This is exactly why I fell into the fandom. I think Soy Milk really has a bit of a self-destructive tendency, right? Honestly, what normal person would treat themselves as a disease experimental subject.
132L: At seventeen, for the sake of the border soldiers, he was forced to take poison and was blind for a year. Every time I see this part, I hate it so much my teeth itch. Kill all those remnants of the previous dynasty! And I also feel frustrated at his failure to live up to expectations, how could he just eat it when told to?! Did he not want his own life, did he not think that he might never be able to see again for the rest of his life?
134L: Honestly, if it weren't for that ancestor of the Yang family of traditional Chinese medicine, there probably wouldn't be the Yonghe golden age.
141L: Nor would there be the Chengan reign maintaining the achievements, let alone the subsequent Empress's resurgence.
145L: Soy Milk even secretly poured away his medicine. When Emperor Chengan was old, he gossiped a lot in his autobiography about his uncle being like a child hahaha.
150L: hhhh It makes sense that Xia-Xi (Xia Zicheng Xi) wouldn't let Soy Milk off the hook.
161L: ...It took me a long time to realize that Xia-Xi (Xia Zicheng Xi) is Xia Fuyang and Xi Zixing, a Duke Defender of the State and a Grand Secretary. Do they know their names are put together like this?
162L: Just got here, want to ask, do these two have a good relationship? It sounds like a ship name. Does the history forum also ship guys?
163L: Yeah right, a love stronger than gold (doge
164L: Yeah right, their relationship was so good they held hands when attending court (doge
166L: Hahahaha what the hell, they are the real enemies. Look at the excavated materials, when they were young, in order to compete for Soy Milk's attention, they gossiped about each other behind their backs a lot.
When Grand Secretary Xi was accompanying the eighteen-year-old Soy Milk on a tour, Xia Fuyang must have almost bitten his handkerchief to shreds. But saying they have a good relationship isn't wrong either, aren't enemies just another kind of good relationship.
170L: The Imperial Diary wrote that they even played chess together in the imperial palace, so it's actually not bad.
173L: The Imperial Diary? Are you talking about the "harmonious ruler and ministers" Imperial Diary?
174L: Yes, yes, yes, the Great Zhou has had harmonious rulers and ministers since its founding. Minister Lin never threw tantrums over money, and Grand Secretary Xi and General Xia never made passive-aggressive remarks to each other.
176L: Grand Secretary Xi: Yes, we are exactly like that, wouldn't you say, Tanhua Xia?
180L: The person above must be Xi Zixing himself.
183L: I'm dying of laughter, family.
187L: Tanhua Xia is Tanhua Xia, wanting little red flowers in private, it fits the title (thumbs up
188L: When they excavated Emperor Soy Milk's imperial tomb, they didn't find a corpse inside, but they found the memorial submitted by our Top Scholar Xia asking for praise. Tsk tsk tsk, he embarrassed himself in front of the whole country.
Our Majesty was also quite mischievous. How could he be so wicked as to keep it all along, hahahaha.
190L: Let me ask, which minister during the Yonghe era didn't want a little red flower? The fake Emperor Yonghe: an emperor who unified the world. The real Emperor Yonghe: a top-tier kindergarten teacher at coaxing his ministers (?
Someone jumped out and asked: Did Emperor Yonghe really not have a single concubine? Was he really not gay?
203L: This question has been discussed to death long ago. People ask it every year. Just do a search. themoonisleaving
205L: It is true that he didn't have a single concubine. Otherwise, the inner court female officials probably wouldn't have been established, nor would there be Zhang Chansi, the first female official in history who almost entered the cabinet. There wouldn't be the gradual improvement of women's status starting from the Great Zhou Dynasty, let alone the two female emperors that emerged from Great Zhou.
As for the reason, there are many theories. The more reliable one is that His Majesty was in poor health and didn't want to hold back other girls by trapping them in the palace for life.
There is also an outrageous one saying His Majesty was an immortal descended to earth and couldn't be tainted by worldly marriages... Although it's ridiculous, many ruling court officials of the Yonghe era mentioned this to some extent. Opinions vary.
Finally, there is what you said: Soy Milk liked men, but because he was afraid of not being tolerated by the world, he couldn't speak of it his whole life. I personally think this is even more ridiculous. His Majesty was an emperor with real power who unified the world. Who couldn't he have if he wanted them? Men, women, or even eunuchs, who could, or who would dare say a word against it?
Emperor Yonghe wasn't a rigid emperor who cared too much about his reputation.
209L: A long sigh. However, because Soy Milk was single, there are quite a few fans with bad taste who ship him with everyone. Xia and Xi go without saying, but there's also the Marquis of Pingnan Xu Tingfeng, Female Official Zhang, and even human-demon (dog demon) romances... just because His Majesty liked keeping dogs (closes eyes).
214L: The level of shock is no less than when I saw the Lin Daiyu and Voldemort ship, or the Lin Daiyu and Sun Wukong ship. I beg you all to be a bit more normal, I'm scared.
215L: Time Travel to Great Zhou: A Devastating Love, Yonghe's Love, Elegy of a Prosperous Era... Aren't these all dramas about a time-traveling female lead falling in love with Emperor Yonghe? Our Majesty alone has fed so many screenwriters and directors.
220L: The Emperor's Path is definitely going to be a trashy drama too.
The lurking director couldn't hold back: I heard that The Emperor's Path is filmed entirely according to historical materials! They won't make things up. Insider info says it only goes up to the March Pear Blossom Banquet and the Gentlemen's Pact, with no random changes at all.
No one paid attention to him.
The topic naturally took a turn.
239L: Although the last emperor of Nanning is scolded terribly, called stupid for actually trusting the enemy emperor, but... it's polarizing. The Great Zhou Dynasty praised him quite a lot, and later many scholars also praised his decisiveness.
240L: At that time, Great Zhou had already fought to their doorstep. Resisting would only result in more deaths. It's understandable, but putting yourself in the shoes of the Nanning people who were ready to die for their country, it would be a lie to say it doesn't cause heartache.
262L: The Gentlemen's Pact, the treaty they signed back then for Great Zhou to annex Nanning without harming the commoners, is currently sitting in the museum. Please take a look: [Picture]
264L: Tsk, I can even see Soy Milk's fingerprints. Let's make a rubbing of it and turn it into merchandise (just kidding).
265L: They were both emperors at the time. With just one state letter, Emperor Yonghe went to Nanning. Was their relationship that good? After the March Pear Blossom Banquet, the Emperor of Nan died, and the Emperor of Zhou unified the world. It was clearly a very crucial event, yet the history books don't have a single word recording what they talked about... It makes me scratch my heart and liver with curiosity.
266L: The Emperor of Nan was once a hostage prince in Great Zhou, so he definitely knew Emperor Yonghe. They might have even eaten together. Their relationship should have been pretty good, or at least they were acquaintances who knew each other's character. Otherwise, given Emperor Yonghe's style of doing things, he wouldn't have gone so decisively.
272L: I don't know how the director of The Emperor's Path is going to film it. No one knows the conversation between the two emperors at the Pear Blossom Banquet. Although someone recorded Emperor Yonghe mentioning that the Emperor of Nan slit his own throat, some also say that Emperor Yonghe personally stabbed the Emperor of Nan to death.
It's such a mystery. I really want to see the scene of that day with my own eyes.
276L: +1. I've wanted to time travel for a long time. I dream of becoming a ghost following behind Soy Milk to see his childhood, his youth, and his most glorious young adulthood. The historical records are still too sparse. Court historians, what were you even getting paid for?!!
277L: Not me. I just want to know where exactly Emperor Yonghe went after abandoning his ministers.
After saying this, the entire thread immediately exploded with replies.
288L: Crazy +1+1. I've never seen an emperor like this. How could he just run away? Domineering Ministers and Their Runaway Mischievous Emperor, The Bitter Ministers Abandoned by the Emperor, Calculate the psychological trauma of the courtiers after Soy Milk disappeared in the thirty-second year of Yonghe (12 points for this question).
289L: Hahahaha, that was the most shocking news of the Chengan era. The Supreme Emperor left a letter and went wandering. It was a bolt from the blue for the ministers, crying to the heavens and earth. Although the court diarist tried very hard to polish the scene of that day, you can still see how chaotic it was.
290L: You're still laughing? Does it feel good to wait like a bitter fool for a man's whereabouts, shamelessly waiting for nearly eight hundred years? @All Soy Milk Fans @National Historical Archives
293L: Damn, I have a friend who said he felt very uncomfortable reading this sentence. You retract it, let me post it.
295L: ...That really pierces the heart. My defenses are broken, don't ask.
298L: Boiling beans with beanstalks, the beans weep in the pot. We are all Soy Milk fans, why torture each other so eagerly?
300L: The imperial tomb is empty. It only contains Emperor Yonghe's everyday items and scattered handwritten notes. During the protective excavation, however much I looked forward to knowing his whereabouts, that's how disappointed I was when I found out what was inside. Sigh.
301L: He really must have disliked the imperial palace. Emperor Chengan's autobiography wrote that Soy Milk was actually very lonely, with his relatives passing away one by one.
303L: But I didn't expect him to leave so cleanly and decisively. His nephew, Emperor Pancake, was even suspected of having assassinated his uncle, hhh. With all sorts of conspiracy theories, he sounded like he was dying of grievance in his autobiography.
307L: He must have returned to the capital to see Emperor Chengan during that time, right? There were still so many of his ministers and friends in the capital. If he didn't come back, I refuse to believe Xia and Xi wouldn't go crazy.
338L: Our Emperor Soy Milk of Yonghe, the first emperor with an unknown year of death. No one knows how long he lived.
340L: Connecting the inland, opening the seas for naval patrols, creating a prosperous era, making all nations come to pay tribute, a genius emperor whose inventions and creations directly shortened the course of history by nearly two hundred years, just coolly abandoned thirty-two years of his life's blood and went freely to roam the world.
343L: Wuwuwu, Soy Milk is really super awesome.
352L: I like Emperor Soy Milk precisely because he was decisive, always knowing what he wanted. After learning this part of history, I completely fell into the fandom. It's been ten years already.
360L: Actually, regarding Emperor Yonghe never marrying, it makes sense. He didn't want to forge deeper ties, including a partner and heirs. Only when his responsibilities ended could he truly be himself, his complete self.
366L: I think so too. You can tell from the travelogues of the Xi Cabinet that he really loved traveling around.
490L: It's actually quite nice. The unknown leaves room for imagination. Who knows, maybe Emperor Soy Milk really was a reincarnated immortal who has lived until now, brushing past us without us even knowing.
502L: I personally think that as long as it was the way he wanted to live, then anything is fine. Although we aren't in the same space and time, I believe he lived well after leaving the imperial palace.
510L: Even so, I still really want to see his life after fifty, which came to an abrupt halt in the historical records.
...
They discussed the fragmented words in history.
Time turned, and the figures on the dust-covered scrolls and manuscripts seemed to become much thinner on the faded ink paper. A lifetime written down in just a few lines, with not even their faces passed down to future generations.
But the stories from hundreds of years ago were not covered in dust; they were merely veiled by a layer of blurry clouds, lost in time, becoming mysterious and unknown, attracting people to pursue and explore them.
If there truly were a pair of eyes that could peek into a certain moment hundreds of years ago—
Time rapidly reversed.
The first year of Chengan.
Qingzhou territory.
A person was leisurely buying a stick of candied hawthorn on the road. After taking a bite, his cheeks began to ache from the sourness.
Qu Dubian covered his mouth, endured it for a moment, and swallowed it.
He muttered to himself, Sure enough, I am getting older. I cannot handle sour things anymore.
He only took one bite before wrapping it up in oil paper. Then, he strolled over to the neighboring stalls, curiously looking at this and poking at that.
Although he had seen all sorts of bizarre things during his many years as emperor, local trinkets were still very interesting.
A young girl selling rattle drums looked him up and down and smiled, Young brother, buying for your newly born child? Take a look at these two, they are the latest goods.
Qu Dubian: Me? Young brother? He was amused, Alright, I will buy one.
Because he practiced the Longevity Art, his true qi nourished his meridians, making him age very slowly. Aside from a few white hairs, he and Little Pancake looked like brothers, not like an uncle and nephew with a twenty-year age gap.
Being able to pass for a youth at fifty years old made him feel quite shy yet happy.
The young girl smiled, Alright.
Qu Dubian played with the rattle drum as he walked forward. He had just run away from the capital two months ago.
He knew that after he left, the capital would definitely explode.
For the past two months, he had not really dared to show his face. After all, Little Pancake's abilities, cultivated by him over the years, were nothing to scoff at. Besides Little Pancake, there were so many court officials. If they really did a carpet search for him, he would not be able to hide.
However, since he sent a letter last month, they should be less irritable now. Those officials better accept reality sooner rather than later. He was not going to go back to work anymore; he was going to freely enjoy his retirement life.
Liuliu went to deliver the second letter to the court, and took the opportunity to go to the neighboring town early to buy the local roast duck.
The two of them agreed to meet up in the neighboring town.
Calculating the time, Liuliu should be heading to the neighboring town now, and he needed to find a ferry crossing to set off.
Later, he would make Liuliu take a bite of the sour hawthorn, hehe.
The young-looking little old man walked with his hands behind his back and found a quiet ferry crossing.
Peach blossoms bloomed profusely around him, petals fluttering and drifting with the water.
This crossing seemed to be private, as not many people usually came here.
Next to the crossing was a sloppy yet somewhat exquisite thatched shed. It was sloppy because the shed was battered and torn, but exquisite because the bed inside looked very comfortable.
Qu Dubian: Is anyone here? Is the boatman around?
No one answered.
Is anyone here?
A passerby replied, Young brother, stop shouting. The owner of this ferry is a lazy bum who only comes once every three to five days. If you want to cross the river, find another ferry!
Is that so...
Qu Dubian sighed.
Oh well, he would have to walk more. He could not blame himself for choosing poorly; it was just that he had no affinity with this crossing.
He left the crossing and had only walked about ten meters when a lazy voice came from behind him:
Hey.
As soon as this voice entered his ears, Qu Dubian stiffened for a moment.
He turned around.
It was a man with white hair at his temples and straight bangs, looking to be in his forties, wearing a light purple shirt and holding a little milk dog in his arms. A wooden tag hung around his neck, on which faded engravings could faintly be seen.
Qu Dubian: Fourth Brother...?
The man bent down and lowered his head, brushing past the branches of the peach blossoms on the bank, and stood in front of Qu Dubian.
Hmm? What did you call me?
There was clear confusion in his eyes, having completely forgotten about the past.
After a moment, he let out an oh and said, My surname is Mian, and my name is Mian Xiao'an. You can just call me by my name. Sorry about that, I pole the ferry to wait for someone, not to make money.
Qu Dubian: Wait for someone?
Mian Xiao'an actually did not like talking too much with strangers, but for some reason, he felt that the person in front of him was somewhat familiar.
The moment he saw this person's back, he could not help but call out to him.
That person gave me my name. I only know that the person likes keeping dogs, but I do not know exactly who that person is, Mian Xiao'an paused. Actually, I am not really waiting for him, I just feel that since the parting was on the shore, perhaps the meeting will be too.
Qu Dubian: You do not remember him. Perhaps one day you will brush past each other, and you will not even know that it is actually a reunion.
Mian Xiao'an thought for a moment: That is fine too.
As long as he recognizes me, then it is a reunion.
The little milk dog in his arms sneezed, and a peach blossom petal that had landed on its nose was blown away.
Yes, as long as he recognizes you, then it is a reunion.
Qu Dubian's eyes curved into a smile.
So, it is very nice to see you again, Fourth Brother.
The green mountains are lush, and the flowing water babbles.
The seasons change, round after round. The people who are meant to meet will eventually reunite.
—End of Full Text—
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