The Great Han's Elegant China Forty-One Supreme Spirit

  For a time, the strings and pipes in the Temple of Gods were delicate and fine, the songs and dances were vast and remote, moving as if they were heavenly bodies.

  Qī Yì handed a slice of orange to Liu Bang's mouth, and Liu Bang smiled as he took it from her hand. Qī Yì blushed and withdrew her hand, but her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Your Majesty," said the maid Péi Lán, presenting five-colored silk threads. Qī Yì took them and tied them around Liu Bang's and her own wrists, holding them up to examine them. Satisfied, she smiled and said, "Does Your Majesty know that in my hometown of Dingtou, these five-colored threads have another name?"

  "Oh?" Liu Bang took a sip of wine and asked, "What is it?"

  "It's a love knot." The old man said that if a couple ties it around their wrists and dances together, they will be inseparable for the rest of their lives. Qi Yi said, "I've already tied you up, Your Majesty, you can't leave my side now."

  "Good, good, this name is good." Liu Bang burst out laughing, "Ai Ji," his voice slowly came down, "I and you, in this life, are connected by love." His voice seemed to hold a hint of unrequited love.

  Ziying took advantage of Liu Bang's intoxication and pulled him up, waving his hand and saying, "Play another tune."

  The musician who was playing the zither stopped his fingers and asked respectfully, "What piece would you like to hear, madam?"

  Qī Yì's eyes were dazed as she tilted her head in thought, then spat out, "Shàng Líng". Her expression was slightly bewildered.

  His Highness was delighted, and ordered the musicians to play the zither and flute, and beat the drum.

  "Your Majesty, will you sing with me?"

  Many years ago, she saw a somewhat down-and-out and unruly man singing this "Shang Ling" on the stage in her hometown of Dingtao.

  Two people's wrists are tied together with a five-colored cord, tightly wrapped around each other.

  "If the dust on the road is like the moon in the water," Liu Bang sang out loud.

  Qī Yì pū chī yī xiào, yǐ dào Liú Bāng de bì shàng, zhè ge nán rén suī rán shì tiān xià dì wáng, dàn shì tā de gē shēng què shì cū jiǎo de, yī pài de háo mài bù jī, fǎng fú líng jià yú suǒ yōu yuè lǜ zhī shàng, zì yóu fēng xiáng.

  "On a propitious day and at a lucky hour, I will ascend to the Spirit Realm." Qi Yi harmonized with his singing voice, softly chanting.

  "I have come from afar, to transmit the noble drum. Heaven's mandate has Han, bright and awake. I am diligent day and night, solely serving the Supreme Spirit. The resplendent one is above, Taiyi is the spirit. The red phoenix flies south, folding its wings in the eastern forest. The moon rises in the spiritual realm, long without end or ancientness."

  Liu Bang's song voice was heroic and majestic, Qi Yi's song voice was clear and ethereal, intertwining with each other, though heaven and earth were different, yet harmonious and elegant. The two joined arms and stepped on the ground to keep rhythm, singing facing each other. Qi Yi's half face had a fragrant cheek flushed red, slightly drunk, her eyes flowing and turning, bright and beautiful beyond compare.

  Zhang Yan hid behind the Chinese toon pillar, staring blankly at the shadow cast by Qi Yi under the eighteen-armed palace lamp. Suddenly, she felt a little ashamed of herself. In her two lifetimes, she had always been proud of her beauty and never easily conceded to others. But after seeing Qi Yi singing with Liu Bang, she finally admitted defeat and lost her spirit.

  At this time, Qi Yi was radiant and dazzling, making it hard for people to look directly at her.

  "How about it?" As if accustomed to his mother's temperament, he pulled her hand and said proudly, "My mom is more beautiful than you, right?"

  Zhang Yan looked at him steadily, pouting her lips and saying, "One day, I will definitely be more beautiful than her."

  "You?" Ruyi looked her up and down disdainfully. "You little thing, dare to compare with my mother."

  "I'll grow up one day." Zhang Yan said with a hint of discontent. Qi Yi's charm was a kind of sentiment that only women who had been pampered by their loved ones could possess, and this charm was her way of repaying the love she received from others.

  So, she wasn't seeing Qi Yi for the first time, but it was the first time she saw Qi Yi's true splendor. And this Qi Yi with such splendor was the one who was cherished and remembered by Emperor Gao in his later years - Lady Qi.

  What I lost is this feeling.

  But one day I will grow up, and I will meet someone who can be with me through thick and thin. Love and hate, joy and sorrow, gain and loss, I will respect him and guard him, and also want him to sympathize with me and understand me. At that time, when I sing a song or dance for him, perhaps my face will have an expression like yours.

  The voices of the two children grew louder and louder, unaware that Qi Yi had walked around the wooden pillar, her face stern as she scolded, "Ruyi, what are you doing?"

  "Ah," Ruyi jumped up, turned around and smiled mischievously, "Mother, how did you know I was here?"

  "Your voice is loud enough for a deaf person to hear, are you afraid others can't find us?" Qi Yi hugged him and smiled softly.

  "Where's Father?" Ruyi poked her head out of her mother's arms.

  "Shh," Qi Yi made a silencing gesture, saying softly, "Your father the emperor has had too much to drink and is already asleep."

  "Master Weng," she looked up at Zhang Yan with a faint smile.

  "Madam Qi," Zhang Yan said with a straight face, "the other day, His Majesty was about to confer the title of King Zhao on Ruyi. My father is no longer a vassal king, so just call me Ah Yan."

  "All right, Ah Yan." Qi Yi smiled and stroked Ruyi's forehead, saying, "Peilan has gone to serve your father the emperor with a hangover remedy. Ruyi is indeed very filial to her father, go attend to him and see if he's drinking well?"

  "Good." Ruyi's eyes lit up, and she quickly ran off to the inner palace door, turning her head back to call out to Zhang Yan, "Hey, wait for me here, we'll go play together later."

  "Ru Yi is quite mischievous." Qi Yi smiled faintly and said, "A Yan, speaking of which, this is the fourth time I've seen you."

  "Four times?" Zhang Yan furrowed her brow, she remembered only three times.

  "Uh, four times." Qi Yi nodded and pushed aside the curtain to walk into the side hall. "The first time I saw you, you were still young, just born that year. Your mother brought you to Chang'an, and His Majesty held you in his arms and said to me, 'Don't look at how prominent your position is in the harem now, but when this granddaughter of mine grows up, she might surpass you.'"

  Zhang Yan's face turned red in an instant, knowing that her quarrel with Ruyi had just been overheard.

  "So," Qi Yi said with a pursed lip, "Your Majesty is very fond of you."

  "Ah Yan," Qi Yi turned his head and asked despondently, "You dislike me very much, don't you?"

  "I won't." Zhang Yan said awkwardly in a low voice, "I used to be able to, but after last time when you helped me ask the Emperor to let my father enter the palace to accompany my mother, I'm really grateful to you."

  "I remember, you scolded me in the great hall." Qi Yi raised her head to gaze at the turbulent pearl curtain, her expression distant and ethereal. Her chin had a beautiful and clean arc like a swan's. "But A Yan, if possible, which woman would want to do evil things from the start?"

  "When I was in Dingtao, I had a cousin who was engaged to me. I didn't necessarily love him very much, but at that time, I truly wanted to spend my whole life with him. Later, Your Majesty came to Dingtao, and I happened to see you once..."

  "I wanted to escape, but I didn't make it. In a chaotic world, a woman's will is too small. Later, after giving birth to Ruyi, I followed you by your side with peace of mind."

  "But," Zhang Yan looked up and said, "you are plotting to take my uncle's position." Her eyebrows were strong and stubborn.

  If it was a helpless drift of fate before, then what about afterwards? No one is really that innocent, so don't pretend to be a pure little lamb.

  That's nauseating.

  Qī Yì smiled slightly.

  "He's a good person," she said, although Zhang Yan only mentioned one uncle, and although Liu Bang's eight sons were all nominally Zhang Yan's uncles, Qi Yi knew that Zhang Yan was referring to Liu Ying. "Actually, I quite like him. Ah Yan, believe me, although I hope to get the crown prince position, although I'm competing with Empress Lü and won't give an inch, in my heart, I don't dislike the crown prince or your mother. In fact, I have a bit of affection for them. They're all good people."

  She turned her head, and the shadow fell on the pearl curtain, faint and distant. "If it were just me, I wouldn't fight for the position of Empress. But I have Yu Yi, every mother would plan for their own son. Because she wants to give her son the best in this world."

  "So I had no choice but to keep moving forward, until there was nowhere left to go, and never look back."

  Zhang Yan was speechless.

  Some things are not about right or wrong, but just need a stance and a reason. You can't forgive, but you can understand. "Why did you tell me?" she said indifferently.

  "Because I don't like the feeling of being pointed at and scolded as a fox spirit." Qi Yi turned her head and smiled, "Especially when I found out that this kind of scolding, I myself somewhat agree with."

  That feeling is really bad.

  "A Yan, A Yan," came the sound of Ruyi's voice from the inner chamber, followed by a flurry of footsteps. The nanny chased after her, shouting, "Your Highness Zhao Wang, slow down!"

  Ru Yi lifted the curtain and smiled, "I've made an appointment with Prince Brother to go out and play after noon, do you want to come together?"

  Zhang Yan secretly observed Qi Yi, seeing her smiling face, and her son's interaction with Liu Yin, it was clear that she really didn't mind, and couldn't help but praise in admiration.

  "Ask you to be a good person," she stood up and scolded, "My uncle has already promised to take me."

  "Ah." Ruyi sighed.

  "Alright," said Qi Yi with a gentle smile, beckoning him to come forward and adjusting his clothes. "You must listen to your older brother's instructions, you can't run around randomly or cause trouble."

  "Got it, mom."

  When she stepped out of the immortal's place, Zhang Yan couldn't help but turn her head back to look at the slender figure in the temple. "What about that cousin now?" she asked aloud.

  Qī Yì's smile faltered for a moment, and after a long while, she said softly, "I don't remember."

  I don't remember him.

  All things in life are like flowers in bloom; none can escape this fate.

  The boundless ocean turns into mulberry fields, people say it takes thousands of years. But when the change really comes, it only takes an instant.

  Note: In the third volume of "Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital", it is said that Madame Qi's maid, Jia Peilan, later became the wife of a Confucian scholar from Fufeng. It is said that when she was in the palace, Emperor Gaozu and Madame Qi would often play music and dance together, competing to wear beautiful clothes at auspicious times. On the 15th day of the 10th month, they entered the Temple of the Numinous Maiden together, where they played the sheng and struck the zhu, singing the "Song of Ascending to the Spirit". Then, arm in arm, they stepped on the ground in rhythm, singing "The Red Phoenix Arrives". By the 7th day of the 7th month, they arrived at the Pond of a Hundred Sons. They performed the "Music of the Throne", and when it was finished, they tied each other with five-colored threads, calling it "Linked Love". On the 4th day of the 8th month, they played Go under the north window of the Carved House, surrounded by bamboo. The winner would have good fortune for the rest of the year, while the loser would be ill for the rest of the year. They took silk threads to pray for longevity at the North Star and were thus spared. On the 9th day of the 9th month, they wore zhuyu, ate puffed rice, and drank chrysanthemum wine, which was said to prolong one's life. When the chrysanthemums bloomed, they would pick their stems and leaves, mix them with millet and ferment them into wine, which would be ready by the 9th day of the 9th month the following year. Therefore, it was called "Chrysanthemum Wine". On the first day of the first month, they went to the edge of the pond to wash and rinse, eating puffed rice to ward off evil spirits. In the third month, on the fifth day, they performed music by the flowing water. And so they passed the year.

  Well, actually, if you put aside someone's third-party identity, this day was indeed spent with a somewhat divine companion.

  He has completed another migration from eastern China to western China, taking a train for one day and two nights from Anhui to Sichuan.

  So, these updates for the past few days were entrusted to the editor.

  Just arrived at school, tired and busy, teary-eyed, asking for pink tickets to comfort myself.

  Is it better to add more tomorrow?