The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 005 Meteor

It was early morning when Tang Shen arrived at Gusu Prefecture City.

During this time in Zhao Family Village, the villagers were all working in the fields and there was no one on the road. However, there was already a huge flow of people in the Gusu City. The vendors were selling their goods and breakfast, and the peddlers were carrying the goods from one end of the street to the other.

Within a moment, two carriages passed by the brother and sister.

"Brother, there are so many carriages, so many!"

Zhao Family Village didn't see a single carriage for a month, but Gusu Prefecture City was packed with carriages and horses.

Tang Shen: "Grandma Liu probably looked like you now when she entered the Grand View Garden." (TN: A phrase to describe someone who has not much sophistication/has barely seen much of the world)

"Grandma Liu, Grand View Garden. What are you talking about?"

"I am complimenting you on your beauty."

Tang Huang: "..." Why don't I believe it?

In ancient times, it was not easy to find a house to live in. Yao San had stayed here for a month and was familiar with Gusu Prefecture City. He took Tang Shen to find a house broker.

A house broker was equivalent to the real estate agency in ancient times, and the intermediary agent. In the Song Dynasty, it was illegal to buy and sell houses privately without using a house broker. 

After looking for a whole day, Tang Shen and Tang Huang took a fancy to a tile-roofed house with four entrances. The house was very small, with just a kitchen, a main room and a side room. A lot of the tiles on the roof were broken and there were several small holes in the walls. The house broker asked for three strings of coins a month.

Tang Shen was not good at bargaining. Fortunately, Aunt Yao was there, so they finally settled on two strings a month, and had to pay a six-month deposit first.

In the blink of an eye, half the savings was gone. The miser Tang Huang was stunned and refused to let go of the small purse of remaining money.

Since there were only two rooms, Tang Shen and Yao San shared one room, while Tang Huang and Aunt Yao slept in the other room. Aunt Yao kept saying: "This is not good! How can we share a room with the little bosses? San'er and I can just stay in the side room."

Tang Shen: “At the age of six we begin learning literacy. At seven years old, girls and boys neither sleep nor eat together. Although our family house was just a few thatched houses, there were many rooms and each person had a room of their own. Now there are only two rooms, and Ah Huang is already nine, too old to sleep with me anymore."

Aunt Yao said: “Then how about San'er and I go to the kitchen to make do?"

Tang Huang: "How could that be done? Aunt Yao, just sleep with me."

Yao San: "Mom, we should just listen to the little boss."

After allocating the rooms, handling the moving matters, and cleaning the house, Yao San came to Tang Shen and said, "Little boss, I will go out tomorrow to see if there is any work, and find a job to supplement the family income."

Tang Shen said: "What kind of job are you looking for?"

"Guard. Don't laugh. I'm a rough man with only a little strength to me. I only know how to do this. They didn't want me before because I had my mother along with me. Now we have a place to live with the little boss, I can now easily find a job as a guard."

"Brother Yao, don't worry, I have something else for you to do."

Yao San was stunned and said: "Something else? 

Tang Shen thought for a while: "Do you know where in Gusu Prefecture City there are the most people?"

"Of course it's Suijin Street in front of Tianqing Temple!"

Gusu Prefecture City, Tianqing Temple, Sujin Street.

Tianqing Temple, also known as Xuanmiao Temple, was said to have been built during the Western Jin Dynasty on the order of Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. The most popular place in the entire Gusu City was not the Hanshan Temple outside the city, nor the Xiyuan Temple inside the city, but this Xuanmiao Temple. There was a long street in front of Xuanmiao Temple called "Tianqing Temple Front Street", and people in Suzhou call it Suijin Street.

Aunt Yao took Tang Huang out to buy some household items and do some sightseeing/shopping. Tang Shen and Yao San went to Suijin Street.

Yao San took Tang Shen to the busiest alleys of Suijin Street, where there were tailor shops selling silk and satin, rice shops, grain shops, wine shops, and various stalls. At noon, the two of them sat down in front of a wonton stall and while eating, Yao San followed Tang Shen's instructions and said: "Shopkeeper, your wontons are so delicious that I almost swallowed my tongue while eating it. You must be a time-honored brand of Gusu City.”

The stall owner selling wontons said with a smile: "You are really good at talking. My wontons are also the best even in Suijin Street. We have been making them for more than 20 years since my father's generation."

Tang Shen: "Oh, is this still an ancestral craft?"

"Of course. Go and ask who makes the best wontons on Suijin Street. Nine out of ten people will definitely say mine."

Yao San: "Your stall has to pay a lot of tax every year, right?" He made a gesture of rubbing his fingers, “And also some private fees?"

The vendor shook his head: "No way. Ever since Liang daru became governor of our Gusu Prefecture City, everyone knows that Liang Daru has always cared for the common people. Those hoodlums on the streets have long since dared not bully us casually. We only need to pay a fixed fee to the government. We have official protection." He spat to the side, "Those shameless hoodlums, who dares to act recklessly in Gusu City? You must be foreigners, Gusu City is different from other places."

Tang Shen: "We are from Wu County."

"No wonder, our Gusu Prefecture City is a great place."

After finishing a bowl of wontons, Tang Shen paid and left. Yao San calculated: "Little boss, the money received by the prefecture government is not much, but we only have fifteen strings left. After buying various household items, who knows how much will be left. There are no fruit trees in Gusu Prefecture City, so if we want to make fruit juice we have to buy fruit from someone else for the juice, which is a big expense.”

"Who said we are going to make fruit juice?"

Yao San was stunned: "Then what are we going to do?"

The two of them stood in the center of the bustling Suijin Street. Tang Shen said, "Brother Yao, do you see any difference between Gusu Prefecture City and the Zhao Family Village?"

Yao San looked around them for a long time and said: "There are many more people than in the Zhao Family Village, and there are more people selling things."

"Gusu City has Osmanthus and Lotus wine, and Jinling Green Bamboo Leaf wine that comes from Jinling. There are seven or eight shops selling these two wines in Suijin Street alone. However, there is no wine in Zhao Family Village, only home-brewed rice wine, but mostly there is just herbal tea. People in the village don’t have anything tasty to drink so our fruit juice sold fine in Zhao Family Village, but in Gusu City, I can tell you that within a month of selling, we will be squeezed out of Gusu City and forced to return to the Zhao Family Village.”

“How can that be!"

Tang Shen and Yao San walked slowly on Suijin Street. Tang Shen carefully looked at the vendors on both sides. His eyes lit up: "Brother Yao, you are from the north, can you make thin pancakes?"

In the evening, the family returned to the house, and Tang Shen arranged for Yao San to buy some buckwheat noodles, black rice noodles, mung bean noodles, and some flour the next day. He asked Aunt Yao to take some money and go to Suijin Street to see and eat and taste the flavor of the Gusu City people.

Tang Huang said happily: "I will go with Aunt Yao."

Spending money to eat outside, who wouldn’t want to do this?

Tang Shen said calmly: "You will come with me."

Tang Huang: "Huh?"

"We're going to visit relatives."

Tang Huang didn't understand what Tang Shen meant at first, and subconsciously said, "How could we have any relatives in Gusu Prefecture City?" But after a while, she realized and said quickly: "You, you really want to visit relatives? When father was alive, he said he wouldn't go even if he starved to death. How can you go?"

Tang Shen looked at her: "So our father passed away. Little boss Tang, do you also want to starve to death?"

Tang Huang: "..."

After a while, the little girl muttered: "How could we starve to death?"

Tang Shen rubbed his sister's head and said, "There is no grudge in the first place, so why not visit relatives?"

The mother and son of the Yao family looked on confusedly. Before coming to Gusu Prefecture City, they had never heard Tang Shen say that the siblings had relatives in Gusu Prefecture City. In fact, even Tang Huang forgot that they had such a relative.

The father of Tang Shen and Tang Huang, Tang xiucai, was actually from Gusu Prefecture City.

Two months ago, Liang daru asked Tang Shen if he was related to the Tang juren in the west of Gusu Prefecture City. Tang Shen only said that they were distant relatives. But in fact, they were not distant relatives at all. Tang Shen's father and Tang juren were brothers. Except one was the son of the official wife while the other was the son of a concubine.

Tang xiucai's mother died early, so he was raised by his legitimate mother since he was a child, and was considered half a legitimate son. The Tang family was from a scholarly family, with a well-off family background. They were not considered extremely noble and wealthy, but they were also a family of literati and polite people. The legitimate mother's relationship with Tang xiucai was not so good, but she would not purposely make trouble for him. He had been attending private school at home since he was a child.

Tang xiucai was an intelligent child since young. Because his mother died early, he was always very prideful and competitive. He felt that he was a son of a concubine and had no honor. Fortunately, he worked hard and became a xiucai at the age of fourteen, which could be regarded as a glorious achievement. The Tang family had high hopes for him, thinking that he could at least become a juren. Unexpectedly, from then on, Tang xiucai failed the exam four times.

On the fourth time, it was his eldest brother who was not very smart when he was young, but in his thirties, managed to pass the county examination in one fell swoop, and went on to pass the provincial examination the next year.

Tang xiucai was so angry that he fell ill. After he recovered from the illness, he took his whole family to his wife's hometown of Zhao Family Village, and vowed never to return to the Tang family unless he passed the provincial examination.

Within two years, Tang Shen's mother died. A few years later, Tang xiucai also passed away due to illness before he managed to pass the provincial examination.

When Tang Shen and Tang Huang were young, they often heard Tang xiucai complaining about the unfairness of the world. He couldn't pass the provincial examination, but why was his stupid older brother able to? Therefore, the siblings also hated the Tang family since they were young. After transmigrating over, Tang Shen was completely uninterested in the grudges of his parent's generation. According to his memory, although Tang xiucai always complained about the Tang family, he only complained about his elder brother becoming a juren and had no objection to others.

As the saying goes, the son should not talk about his father's fault, only the person involved knows the details of what happened back then, and Tang xiucai had already passed away.

Tang Shen thought to himself: Dad, I can also be considered your son. From now on, I will take my sister to eat and drink delicious and tasty things. I promise not to embarrass you. Finally, he added silently: So tomorrow when we go to the Tang family, don't be angry up there in heaven.

After saying this, Tang Shen raised his head and looked at the sky: "If there is no lightning or thunder, I will assume that you agree."

Tang Huang happened to be passing by the yard holding a pillow. When she heard this, the corner of the little girl's mouth twitched and she also raised her head to look at the sky.

Where was there any lightning and thunder on such a sunny day? There really must be something wrong with my brother’s brain!

Before she could take her eyes away from the night sky, Tang Huang suddenly saw a star falling from the sky and heading north. The little girl had never seen such a thing before. Frightened, she threw the pillow, and hugged Tang Shen's arm: "Brother, what was that? What was that? Did you see it? The stars have fallen!"

Of course Tang Shen saw it. He was just talking to the dead Tang xiucai in his mind when a shooting star suddenly appeared. Tang Shen was also frightened and thought: This couldn't be Tang xiucai scolding me, could it?

He forced himself to relax and recited the Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces and the Scientific Outlook on Development in his heart. He was an atheist and did not believe in these ghosts and gods.

"That's called a meteor."

Tang Huang asked: "Meteor?"

"Meteors are an astronomical phenomenon. The earth we were on now... Well, you don't understand this. Anyway, you only need to know that meteors are normal. It is a star that happens to pass in front of us and you happen to see it. Some of them will also meet us regularly, for example, there is a star called Halley, which is a comet that will meet us once every 76 years."

Tang Huang seemed to still be confused, but Yao San said from the side: "Little boss has read a lot, so he knows a lot."

Aunt Yao: "Of course, scholars were different from us."

It was too difficult to explain clearly to Tang Huang what a meteor was, so Tang Shen went back to his room to sleep after a few perfunctory explanations.

At the same moment, the capital of the Song Dynasty, Shengjing.

The majestic palace had a strict inner court.

In the dark night, a group of armored guards held long spears and marched on the bluestone in unison, making their rounds. There was silence in the palace. Except for the patrolling guards, only one magnificent building was still dimly lit.

The light flickered, then suddenly a gust of wind blew by and the room turned into darkness.

A scream suddenly came from inside.

"Come, come, quickly, light this longevity lamp for zhen!" (TN: form of self address by the emperor, similar to the royal we)

In an instant, two children in Taoist robes ran into the hall with their waists bent and came to a row of bronze lamp stands. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the lamp light was not extinguished, but only a few sparks were left.

The child was so frightened that his face turned pale, his legs shook, and he lit the nine longevity lamps tremblingly.

Among the golden bricks and carved beams, an old man wearing a white robe and had a long beard breathed a sigh of relief. He walked anxiously to the longevity lamp and stared at the nine lamps with obsessed eyes.

"What was that wind just now?"

The two children knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

The old man had a fair face, slender eyes and arched eyebrows. He looked at the two children quietly with deep eyes. He was silent for a moment, but before he could speak, a voice came from outside the room: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Astronomer has come to report!"

Emperor Zhao Fu of the Song Dynasty paused and said, "Summon."

The Imperial Astronomer Li Xiaoren walked into the hall quickly. He kept his head lowered and did not dare to look up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two children kneeling on the ground, and Li Xiaoren cursed in his heart. When he heard that the lamp of longevity was extinguished, he hurried over, but he was a step too late. These two boys were both his proud disciples. Originally he thought that serving the emperor and guarding the longevity lamp would be a good job, but he didn't expect that they would encounter such a disaster.

Wearing a Tai Chi Bagua official robe with a colorful golden pheasant tail feather tucked on the official hat on his head, Li Xiaoren knelt down and prostrated on the ground: "Your Majesty, there is a meteorite as big as a peach, leaving the Zigong, entering Taiwei, appearing above the Emperor Star, suppressing the southeast, passing through Tianshi Yuan Twenty-two stars to bring disaster, which may endanger our century-old Song Dynasty!"

A look of panic appeared on Zhao Fu's fair face. He took two quick steps forward and then stopped: “Elaborate in detail."

Li Xiaoren described the incident of the meteor in detail again, and said: "Your Majesty, the meteor stopped on the Emperor Star and disappeared without a trace. I'm afraid this is an ill omen."

"Why?"

How could he know why. This meteor came inexplicably, starting from the south and sinking into the north. Could it be that something was going to happen in the south? A rebellious party interfering in politics?

Li Xiaoren suddenly thought of a person. He told lies with open eyes: "This star has fallen past the twenty-two stars in the sky, submerged into Ziwei, and then becoming invisible. It must have been hidden for many years. I observe the stars at night, and the Ziwei Emperor Star is bright as day. The imperial power is prosperous and has not had any impact in the past twenty years. I believe this evil star has already been subdued by Your Majesty and has been dormant beside Your Majesty for many years, only to show signs of revival in recent days."

Zhao Fu narrowed his eyes: "Being subdued by zhen, dormant for many years… revival?"

Li Xiaoren gritted his teeth and reminded again: "Your Majesty, one must remove the root when cutting the grass."

Zhao Fu looked at Li Xiaoren quietly. As the saying goes, accompanying the emperor was like accompanying a tiger. Li Xiaoren held his breath, like a child, not daring to breathe out.

"My dear official, speaking of which, he has also been in prison for twenty-four years."

Li Xiaoren bowed to the ground, and said, “Chen is stupid and doesn't know what Your Majesty means." (TN: self address for officials)

Zhao Fu said impatiently: "Zhen knows, you are dismissed."

Chen retreats."

Li Xiaoren trembled as he got up from the ground. Before he could stand upright, Zhao Fu said lightly: "Those two, drag them out and execute them." 

The two children shouted: “Your Majesty, please spare my life, Your Majesty, please spare my life!"

Li Xiaoren stiffened, then left without looking up.

After leaving the emperor's palace, Li Xiaoren wiped the sweat from his forehead and heard two screams from the palace behind him. Li Xiaoren acted as if he hadn't heard anything and left the palace calmly.

Jiangnan, Gusu Prefecture City.

Knowing that they were going to visit the Tang family, Tang Huang was both curious and nervous. The little girl put on the new tunic and skirt that she and Aunt Yao bought on the street yesterday, which evoked a second look from Tang Shen.

Tang Huang said shyly: "What are you looking at?"

Tang Shen said with a smile: “It turns out that my little sister is also quite comely when not wearing hemp clothes? I used to think she was a mountain village woman."

"..."

"Tang, Shen!!!"

The brother and sister set off to go to Tang juren's house in the west of Gusu Prefecture City. Before they left, Tang Shen said, "I almost forgot about something."

After a while, he came out of the house with something in his pocket. Tang Huang didn't see clearly, only that it was a placard of sorts.

Then the siblings went out and headed to Tang juren's house in the west of Gusu Prefecture City.

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The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 006 Clever Brother

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The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 004 Tang Shen