The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 026 Thinking Of Sir Part 1
A long white sash hung high above the mourning hall. Although it was the middle of winter and the weather was freezing after the snow, it was not cold in the mourning hall. The sounds of crying and kowtowing to the ground with one's head could be heard one after another. When Tang Shen came to the mourning hall of the Liang Manor wearing a hemp hat and mourning clothes, what he saw was the scene of the Liang Manor's manservants and maids crying together.
Liang Song married a wife in his early years and had a son. Unfortunately, Madam Liang died early, and her only son also died of illness ten years ago.
Xu Hui was Liang Song's first cousin once removed, the person he was closest to in blood currently.
Xu Hui wore a hemp hat and knelt on the side of the coffin, constantly adding paper money to the earthen basin. Other Liang family members from Gusu City also came to mourn. In the past, Tang Shen had never seen his teacher interact with these relatives, but now they were all here, wearing hemp and mourning.
Tang Shen knelt down, kowtowed three times to his teacher, and burned a handful of paper money.
When Xu Hui saw that he was also wearing mourning clothes, Tang Shen said, "I will see him off with you."
Xu Hui was silent, only nodding.
The coffin was kept in Liang Manor for seven days. On the early morning of the eighth day, everyone took the coffin to be buried. Xu Hui walked at the front, holding Liang Song's memorial tablet, followed by several distant relatives with the same surname as Liang. Although Tang Shen was his teacher's student, he was not related by blood after all, so he stood beside the coffin and followed the procession.
Tang Shen gently held the base of the coffin with his hands, as if carrying it.
In front of the tombstone, the yin and yang basin was smashed, and everyone kowtowed in turn. Tang Shen and Xu Hui bid farewell, and the two separated.
Tang Shen returned home and was about to change out of his hemp hat. From a distance, he saw Tang Huang carefully hiding behind the door and quietly observing him. Seeing this, Tang Shen waved and asked, "What are you doing, sneaking around there. I'm about to change my clothes, and you still want to watch?"
Tang Huang: "You, don't talk nonsense, I don't want to see you change clothes. Brother, you... don't be sad."
Tang Shen was silent for a moment: "Of course I'm sad. My teacher treated me very well. I never thought he would leave like this."
"I saw you secretly wiping tears in bed a few nights ago."
Tang Shen: "What are you mumbling about?"
"It's nothing, Brother. If you feel uncomfortable, just tell me."
Tang Shen smiled for the first time in the past few days: "How old are you, what do you know. Forget it, it's good you have the heart."
Liang Song was gone, but life still had to go on.
In order to attend Liang Song's funeral, Tang Shen asked for ten days' leave from the academy. After taking care of everything, he returned to the academy. Sun Yue saw him and was about to call his name, but then shut up. Fatty Sun moved over hesitantly and said, "Tang Shen, if you are sad, don't hold it in. My grandma passed away last year, and she was the most loving person in the world towards me. It took me half a year to feel better."
Tang Shen glanced at him: "I know you are considering this for my own good, so don't worry. It's been so long and I should recover."
Sun Yue nodded.
Tang Shen took leave specifically to attend Liang Song's funeral, and went to his funeral with Xu Hui. As a student, he was benevolent and dutiful. Sun Yue could see Tang Shen's sadness in his eyes, and now he could also see that Tang Shen hadn't completely come out of it yet, but he had just accepted the reality.
Sun Yue: "Say, so many great scholars died for Zhong daru alone. Is it worth it?"
Tang Shen's eyes flashed: "It's worth it!"
"Ah? What's it worth? I don't understand. I don't understand the literati sentiments of these great Confucians. I still want to live for a few more decades and eat more good things. If I can pass the exam, I can live the life of a god and spend the rest of my life happily. Hey, Tang Shen, why don't you say anything? Why are you reading "The Book of Rites"? Could it be you know that the examiner favors it?”
Tang Shen: “Just read your book! Just now you said you wanted to comfort me, but now you are annoying me and being inconsistent."
Sun Yue: "..."
"You are the one who is capricious."
Lecturer Qian walked into the lecture hall and started teaching. Tang Shen's mind slowly drifted away.
During the seven days when he knelt in the mourning hall, he stayed by his teacher's coffin, thinking all the time why his teacher wanted to die for Zhong daru!
He didn't understand the moral integrity of the ancients. If only Grand Secretary Luo and Liang Song died for Zhong daru, then he understood. They all died for their own ideals, for some lofty ideal that Tang Shen didn't understand.
However, on that day, seven great scholars died in the entire Song Dynasty!
Almost all members of the Songqing Party died overnight.
This party practically only existed in name only due to the palace coup twenty-six years ago. Nowadays, the only few remaining great Confucian scholars who were well-known to people all over the world raised their knives without hesitation at the same moment and pierced their own hearts with it to express their will by death.
Yes, the only way to prove their ideal was to die!
Tang Shen thought about what ideal it was for seven days, and he finally understood.
Twenty-six years ago, the crown prince's Grand Tutor Zhong Taisheng and the crown prince broke into the palace with private soldiers, intending to force a coup. The crown prince was shot dead on the palace gate by the current emperor and the second prince at that time, and Zhong Taisheng was imprisoned in the imperial prison. From then on, the Songqing Party, which was at its peak of power at that time, was suddenly labeled as a rebel party traitor, and its members were almost wiped out.
History books were always written by the victors.
Zhong Taisheng was a rebel party traitor, and the crown prince was an unfilial and rebellious son. This fact was engraved in iron and blood and could not be changed forever. So they sacrificed seven whole lives to show their determination, even if there was only a slight hope, they would tell future generations what the truth was, and restore the innocence of the crown prince and Zhong Taisheng!
Thinking of this, hatred surged in Tang Shen's heart. However, he suddenly smiled. He remembered something.
"Sir, the saddest thing is that you don't know that there are six colleagues who made the same choice as you!"
When Tang Shen left the Liang Manor that day, Liang Song advised him to study more on "Spring and Autumn" because Grand Secretary Luo Zhen liked "Spring and Autumn". He didn't know that Luo Zhen had already taken a step ahead of him and followed behind Zhong Taisheng. He also didn't know that in five other places in the Song Dynasty, there were five former friends who had chosen to end their lives like him.
In order to rectify an eternal infamy, and to clear a name in history books, seven people sacrificed their lives.
Was it worth it?
Tang Shen felt it was not worth it.
But Liang Song thought it was worth it, and Luo Zhen thought it was worth it.
The five Songqing Party members who died felt it was worth it!
And that was enough.
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Liang Song, Governor of Gusu Prefecture, hanged himself and died. The people of Gusu unanimously mourned for Mr. Liang and saw him off at his funeral. After February, when the new year's county exams were out, life would eventually continue, and Gusu City would return to its former peace.
For the students of Ziyang Academy, they mourned the departure of several great scholars, but they felt even more painful because they did not know who the examiner of this year's xiangshi would be.
Sun Yue slapped the desk and wailed: "Why did Grand Secretary Luo kill himself?"
Tang Shen: "With this howling time, if you read the books a few more times, you might be able to understand this year's provincial examination questions."
Sun Yue: "Easier said than done. So what if I read it? I know the Four Books and Five Classics very well, what questions for that year didn't come from these books. But if you can't write an answer after reading, what's the use!"
The two chatted and joked for a while. A xiucai from another lecture hall called Tang Shen's name at the door: "Tang Shen, someone is looking for you outside. It seems there is something urgent."
Tang Shen walked out of the academy and saw Yao San waiting for him outside the door, with sweat on his forehead.
Seeing Tang Shen, Yao San hurriedly said: "Little boss, it's not good, something happened in Xixia Tower!"
Tang Shen's expression turned cold.
The two of them hurried to Xixia Tower. Before they could get closer, they saw a crowd on Suijin Street. This group of people gathered around the entrance of Xixia Tower, seemingly watching the excitement. Someone shouted, "The little boss Tang of Xixia Tower is here," and everyone moved out of the way. Tang Shen walked over and took a look, only to see a pale-faced middle-aged man lying on a stretcher, howling miserably and rolling around while holding his stomach.
Next to him was a fat woman. When she saw Tang Shen, this woman immediately moved to grab and hit him without a word.
Yao San stopped her: "What are you doing!"
The woman said angrily: "What am I doing? Come and take a look, Tang sanyuan's Xixia Tower sells food that has gone bad and will cause people to die! Yesterday, my husband came to your place to eat food. When he ate it, he already felt that it tasted wrong. It tasted like something had gone bad. Then he vomited all night when he got back. He almost died from vomiting! Tang Shen, if you don't give us an explanation, I will smash your Xixia Tower!"
Tang Shen smiled and said: "What a big tone, how can you say that it was my, Xixia Tower, who made you feel sick? Touching the porcelain right in front of me!"
Yao San: "Little boss, what is the meaning of touching porcelain?"
Tang Shen laughed and cursed: “Touching porcelain is when someone takes a piece of porcelain and bumps it into you while walking on the road. As soon as they let go of their hand and the porcelain shatters on the ground, they insist that it is you who broke it. Say isn't this fantastic or not."
The onlookers: "Hahahaha, touching porcelain, these words are really vivid!"
The fierce woman said angrily: “Ha, are you going to deny your account? You scholars can talk beautifully, and I can't win against you. My husband met Butcher Li from the east of the city when he was eating at Xixia Tower yesterday and they exchanged hellos. I will find him to come immediately and ask him to testify that my husband truly got sick from your food!"
And after a short while, the woman really found Butcher Li.
Butcher Li said: "Yes, I did meet Zhao Si when I came to Xixia Tower to eat yesterday."
Woman: "You still dare to quibble?"
Tang Shen's eyes gradually turned cold, and he stared at the shrewish woman and Butcher Li carefully. Yao San: "Who knows if you guys are colluding in a scheme together!"
Tang Shen stopped him: "No need. They did come to Xixia Tower to eat yesterday."
The woman's eyes flickered: "You admit it? Okay, then do you want me to find Dr. Liu from Tongli Lane and ask him if my husband ate food at your place yesterday afternoon and started vomiting yesterday afternoon, and even now he is sick!”
Tang Shen: "Go ahead and call him."
The woman didn't panic and quickly called Dr. Liu. Doctor Liu testified: "Yes, Zhao Si was sent to my clinic by his wife yesterday afternoon, and I treated him myself."
There was an uproar in the crowd.
"Is this Xixia Tower really giving people food poisoning?"
"It's really scary. I didn't expect such a famous place like Xixia Tower to do such an immoral thing!"