Volu a Skiff (1/2)

Volu a Skiff¹

<blockquote class="Quote">As the Yong navy retreated, news of Zhe visiting Jiaxing to pay his respects to his mother leaked Everybody learned of it and said Zhe advised the sacking of Wuyue Everybody bla navy looted and pillaged without torturing the masses to death, everybody occasionally talked of Zhe’s acco navy would co the return of Zhe’s flesh and blood, and dared not take over the Jing family’s plot of land

— Suiyun

</blockquote>

While the Southern Chu navy and Great Yong navy were locked in a stale in the endless scenic beauty Though thesituation in Wuyue, I didn’t feel any remorse War had been the inevitable outcome The more intense the state of as in Wuyue, the more the attention of Southern Chu’s court would shi+ft there, and thewould advance As foraway on the eve of battle, aheht no did they?

I sat in the forward cabin of the pleasure boat, flutteringfan I wore a brocade robe and a belt of office I rolled up the bead curtain and tasted sosunshi+ne I exuded the panache of a young Southern Chu aristocrat If not for the lack of dancers and songstresses on the boat, it would have looked exactly like a spring cruise for a young aristocratic gentleray hair black and touched up ray hair contrasting with a youthful face

Although Wu Commandery had descended into war, the ripples hadn’t yet spread to the provinces neighboring Zhenze Lake The subions retain peace and happiness After all, Grand General Lu had arrived in Wuyue, which let them rest easy I had lived on the lake for three days and had seen no indications the as close by On these bright and lovely spring days, visitors crowded onto the thirty-six thousand ht hundred the territory of Zhenze Lakewater and mountains stretched as far as the eye could see

The bead curtain quivered as Huyan Shou entered He looked terribly unhappy He walked over toPlease, young master, tell us e should depart”

I looked up at hi h he’d had high status and ione to his head However, his handsoht-chi-tall⁴ frame stuck out like a sore thu, knotted tendons in his hands, he clearly looked like a eneral, but I’d forced him to wear servant apparel It truly looked weird It was no wonder Huyan Shou was the Vice Coeneral No matter what he wore, he just didn’t look like a norht along, I just couldn’t see how they looked like servants However, as long as the five of the Their northern accent was rather strong, but it’d be fine as they wouldn’t norh, if not for Huyan Shou speaking of the e to make Li Zhi unhappy with him because of this, I wouldn’t have let hie for hier I stayed in Southern Chu’s territory, the greater his responsibility became Furthermore, we brushed past Lu Can on the way to Zhenze Lake While the Jiujiang Navy was hurrying south, I was on a tributary of the river and taking things easy, watching the Southern Chu navy’s cowhide-clad warshi+ps I didn’t feel anything, but Huyan Shou’s face was ashen

I suidly said, “Huyan, don’t be so anxious It’s rare to come to Zhenze Lake It would be a terrible shame not to admire the beautiful scenery of East Mountain and West Mountain What’sdown the Yangtze to Yuhang If we set out noe’ll run the risk of bu into the Southern Chu navy It’s better to wait a few days for the ays to calm down It still won’t be too late then”

Huyan Shou was taken aback but also felt it was rather logical However, it wasn’t safe to stay long in Southern Chu territory Thinking of how he hadn’t been able to stop Jiang Zhe’s actions, it would be difficult to avoid being conde Zhe now, he feared he’d be too disgraced to return to Chang’an With these thoughts, he was about to try to persuade Jiang Zhe again when the sound of a pipa rang out on the lake It was clear,a call and response with the waves of the lake The music spread everywhere

Once the pipa music started, I was moved I closed retful notes see of endless sorrowful partings and talking of endless torreat rendition of “Sorrow of Zhaojun”⁵ After listening to half, I opened both h the lyrics for the “Sorrow of Zhaojun” spoke of parting fro for the Han Dynasty In theone’s hoh the person who played this piece brought out the tenderness, there was a faint presence of a destitute scholar It was presumably a talented person concerned with affairs of the state Who kne much talent existed in prosperous Southern Chu and anan It was just that the Southern Chu court used lyrical poetry to test ability, but even if one devoted a lifetime of study to the literature, it sadly would still be difficult not to fail the examination And even if someone started on their career as an official, if no aristocratic faarded said person as i skills Not even Lu Can, known for always recruiting talent, could cast off this influence Most of the officers and adjuncts in his arenerations If one wanted to depend on one’s own talent, it would not be easy to establish oneself in Southern Chu Thethe pipa was presumably one of those who had no opportunity to serve Southern Chu, which hy the piece contained so nation

I flickedand standing enthralled I found it strange When did he learn to appreciate the pipa? It was quite rare Then I rehed out loud at , was excellent at the pipa As Huyan Shou was her husband, he was most likely influenced by it and also appreciated the piece a little

Now thejust like heavy cavalry charging and destroying silver bottles With the row faster and my qi and blood writhe Blood immediately drained from my face The bead curtain flew aside, and Xiaoshunzi suddenly appeared atover fro He pressed his palm into the y After abreath and calrew cold and he went outside, clearly to search for traces of the enes, gazing at the direction the sound of the pipa ca intent permeated his whole body

Then a male voice belted on the lake:

<blockquote>“Drunk, I conteh the ca roasted beef in their widespread camps,With military music played out by various instrurand parade advancesWarriors on coursers speed by, with bows fully drawn, hotly after their enes of bows into disnty withmyself renown and success that never endDeplorably old I’ll be before any achievement attained”</blockquote>

I was a little surprised I had written this lyrical poe troops Afterwards, I awarded it to the Prince of De He loved it and would sing it every tiive priority to heroics, but it was still vigorous and forceful However, ever since the Prince of De died and I subh singing, even though all hout Southern Chu Perhaps people didn’t think I didn’t deserve to pen the lyrics “I vow to restore His Majesty to sovereignty withmyself renown and success that never end,” especially noas brazenly leading an offensive on Wuyue It was truly rare for soer I felt froe of by the pipa dissipated

Before the song finished, Huyan Shou returned to the cabin and reported, “Young master, there’s a pleasure craft three li</eazed out through the bead curtain as I listened Withup and doith the waves of the lake Only two people were in the punt One was aConfucian robesa yellow hat The priest was holding the bamboo pole used to scull the boat He stood at the stern of the boat, facing the wind, and both his ar The otherthe pipa and wearing a sword on his back He was looking up at the priest and saying so From my position, I could only see their profiles, but I could tell they both looked distinguished Wuyue was Jiangnan’s prosperous region, a reave birth to generations of heroes and talent However, they could not all be used by Southern Chu These two could daotten injured if not for Xiaoshunzi’s protection

Thinking of this, I said in excitement, “Individuals skilled at both brush and sword must be met” Before Huyan Shou could oppose my words, a disdainful snort came from behind me I trembled and looked back at Xiaoshunzi with a sazed at hily, afraid he would reject reat deal of effort to convince Xiaoshunzi to leave the navy I put forth all sorts of reasons before I finally forced Xiaoshunzi to grudgingly nod his head But the entire trip, he was sullen The entire ti on the pleasure boat, he was in the aft cabinHe was at odds withto me