Fish Meat – Chapter 156
by Little PandaThe Third Year of Zhao Wu
The Lamp Behind the Curtain, the Sword in its Case (15)
Ruan family’s Ah Qiong was a descendant of the Su Lian clan from the Changge Kingdom.
Many years ago, the Gulun Grasslands was thriving due to the presence of the prosperous Changge Kingdom.
As a crucial point along the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, this nation of horseback warriors was full of valor yet had no interest in conquest. They roamed freely across the vast grasslands, hunting and performing rituals, selling mare’s milk and furs along the Path of Ten Thousand Directions to distant western lands. Their warriors traveled thousands of miles, returning with tales from far-off kingdoms.
Ruan family’s Ah Qiong’s ancestors were leaders of the Su Lian clan, one of the two major families of the Changge Kingdom. The Su Lian clan’s ancestral surname was “Su Lian,” which branched into four major groups: “Hu”, “Ling”, “Yue”, and “Xiao”. That year, when the grass grew thick and green on the Gulun Grasslands, a restless girl was born into the Xiao clan.
This person later traveled the Path of Ten Thousand Directions for over a decade, from age eighteen to thirty, spending her youth on foreign paths. When she returned to Changge Kingdom, she brought back fascinating tales from foreign lands. Though the kingdom had passed its peak of prosperity, it was still flourishing. However, the Xiao clan’s stories were met with skepticism by her people:
“How could there be a place where golden carriages fill the streets? Perhaps you visited the Dragon King’s homeland?”
The Gulun Grasslands often experienced hurricanes that resembled black dragons, and this was what they called the “Dragon King”. Since the black dragon often brought disasters, the Changge people would worship the Dragon King annually, praying for favorable weather and prosperous conditions for their horses and grasslands.
After being ridiculed, the young Xiao member never mentioned the mysterious northern kingdom again, though the seed of longing remained buried in her heart.
As she gradually grew to become the leader of the Xiao clan and even the undisputed head of the Su Lian clan, the Changge Kingdom suddenly faced an attack from another nation.
Though both men and women of Changge were brave and clever, this battle proved extremely difficult because the enemy wore peculiar clothing that even the sharpest spears and keenest blades couldn’t penetrate. The Changge warriors found themselves in a desperate struggle, and if not for their courage and strength, this nation of nearly thousand years’ history might have been destroyed in this minor campaign.
The leader, now known as Su Lian, felt fearful thinking back on it.
Nearly fifty years old, she suddenly recalled her youthful travels when she had seen such clothing in a country called Da Yu, where they called it “battle armor”.
The Changge Kingdom had indeed once been glorious, shining like a star over the Gulun Grasslands, illuminating everything around it. However, it was gradually declining, especially after the Path of Ten Thousand Directions was blocked, leading to its rapid downfall.
With the roads to other countries gone, the people of Changge knew nothing of the changes in the outside world. They only knew horseback riding and hunting, placing their fate in the Dragon King’s favor.
It was time to leave.
Su Lian suggested national migration countless times, insisting they should at least reopen the roads, or they would soon become like the Liuhuo Kingdom in the desert. But the other clan, Bu She, disagreed.
“Our Changge people have lived on the Gulun Grasslands for generations. Our gods are here, our relatives are here – where else could we go? If we leave the Gulun Grasslands, what about our horses? They will starve without the grass from here.”
Bu She’s words were foolish. Su Lian told them there were grasslands beyond Gu Lun, and even without grasslands, they could buy grass – horses wouldn’t starve if they had money. But Bu She wouldn’t listen and even wanted to execute her publicly for blasphemy against the Dragon King and the grasslands that had nurtured Changge for generations.
Su Lian had no choice but to flee with her people.
Fewer than five hundred people followed Su Lian. After a perilous journey, they finally reached Da Yu and submitted to the reigning Wu Di [Martial Emperor]. Wu Di admired Su Lian’s bravery and decisiveness, bestowing upon them the surname “Ruan”. Over the next hundred years, the Su Lian clan, now known as the Ruan clan, gradually took root in Da Yu.
This was the origin of Ruan family’s Ah Qiong’s bloodline and the secret of Zhen Wenjun’s ancestors.
It was said that the Ruan clan later attempted to contact Changge but never succeeded. The Ruan clan, nostalgic for their homeland, even risked returning to the Gulun Grasslands, but the Changge king viewed them as outsiders and had no interest in dialogue, instead wanting to kill them all. Later, the Ruan clan understood that Changge was guarding a treasure, and several groups had already attempted to plunder it.
The entire Changge Kingdom was filled with desperation and violence. It was said the Dragon King’s temper grew worse, causing chaos despite any offerings given, attacking every few days, leaving people terrified and unable to survive.
Many young people gradually left, leaving only the elderly who held deep feelings for the country to guard it.
The last records of Changge Kingdom were from fifteen years ago.
Fifteen years ago, a devastating hurricane swept across the entire grasslands, reaching all the way to the sea and triggering terrible tsunamis.
After that, no one mentioned the words “Changge Kingdom” again. Some said Changge had vanished from the world, ceasing to exist. Some wanted to visit the Gulun Grasslands to investigate and search for Changge’s treasures, but the “Black Dragon” of the grasslands struck fear into people’s hearts. Being close to the Ku’er Jianshi Desert, with unknown spirits lurking about, few dared to go, let alone return to tell others about it.
The Su Lian descendants took root in Da Yu’s fertile soil, growing into a powerful lineage.
The men and women of Su Lian descent seemed to have natural advantages: they were tall, skilled in horseback archery, and possessed exceptional memory. They achieved great military merit during the reigns of Wu Di and Jing Di, gradually becoming the most powerful of the three major families.
What happened afterward was not particularly surprising.
“Those whose bravery overshadows the ruler face danger,” especially someone as brilliant as Ruan family’s Ah Qiong.
From south to north, from Zhongyuan [Central Plains] to the eight barbarian tribes, everyone knew of this unstoppable, unmatched “Female Asura”. No one cared who the emperor of Da Yu was; they only talked about this Female Asura. It was said this Female Asura’s ancestors weren’t Da Yu people but originally hu tribes.
Once, Ah Qiong was fighting in the northwest, in what is now Suichuan, the farthest commandery from Runing. Ah Qiong was wounded and surrounded, unable to return to Runing as ordered by the emperor. Suspicious people spread rumors that the Ruan clan intended to establish their own kingdom in Suichuan, saying foreigners would always rebel.
The emperor at that time wasn’t fooled by these malicious words. Historical records show that the emperor sent an imperial edict along with mountains of medicinal supplements to Suichuan, telling the Ruan clan to recover well, showing clear harmony between ruler and subject.
But suddenly, Ruan family’s Ah Qiong vanished without a trace, and the entire Ruan clan was executed.
No one knew the reason why.
The execution exceeded the scope of “nine familial exterminations”. Beyond relatives, teachers, and disciples, everyone in Da Yu with the surname Ruan was killed, regardless of whether they had any connection to Ruan family’s Ah Qiong. They would rather kill ten thousand innocents than let one person escape.
All of Da Yu fell into unprecedented terror, and no one dared to speak words that even sounded similar to “Ruan.”
During the emperor’s reign, to protect their own heads, no one dared mention the Ruan clan.
Time flew by. The young crown prince Li Ju ascended to the throne but passed away after eleven years. As time turned, a female emperor took the throne for three years. Those who remembered that brilliant female general had gradually left this world, and even those still alive were elderly. Those who managed to live long lives thoroughly understood one principle: never discuss state affairs.
Zhen Wenjun felt as if she were in the northern frontier, surrounded by violent snowstorms.
Leaving the tavern after two cups of strong wine, she thought she could warm herself up, but before Xiaoxue could run a few steps, the cold wind cut right through them. Yet Zhen Wenjun’s heart still burned like fire, causing her unbearable anguish.
Bu Jie had concisely described in his letter how the Su Lian clan left Changge Kingdom and submitted to Da Yu. This history couldn’t be found anywhere in Da Yu’s records.
Bu Jie carried the Dark Bird totem and visited many scholars, finally getting a small clue from a dying elder. The elder didn’t directly explain the totem’s meaning; to avoid bringing disaster to his descendants, he vaguely directed Bu Jie to Sudu, saying the last records about this totem were hidden in a cave there, and if he was lucky, he might find them.
Bu Jie was indeed lucky.
The cave was built on a mountain. Sudu experienced constant heavy rains year after year, and landslides were common, making it nearly impossible for cave structures to survive.
Unexpectedly, when he arrived, the cave he was looking for had just been excavated. Mountains of old texts mixed with mud were piled aside. Bu Jie didn’t even take time to drink water before rushing to dig, carefully washing scroll after scroll with water. He sat for three days without eating, drinking, or sleeping, until he had thoroughly uncovered all records about the “Su Lian” clan.
Records of the legendary life of the Ruan clan’s female general could no longer be found in Da Yu. The historical records in Sudu had also cost many lives, and only survived by being written in the obscure Guqiang tribal language, barely escaping Da Yu’s investigation.
Bu Jie, who had once lived in Sudu, could understand the Guqiang language, which led to this confidential letter that Zhen Wenjun now held.
Reading to the end of the letter, Zhen Wenjun could almost see Bu Jie, ragged like a beggar, earnestly searching for her origins, disregarding everything else. Perhaps he had collapsed into sleep after sending the letter.
After finishing the letter, Zhen Wenjun felt a powerful urge – she had to verify it immediately!
She clenched her teeth and ran forward against the wind and snow, running toward Liaoxi Mountain, toward her mother’s grave.
Regardless of whether her mother would blame her, she had to do this.
Zhen Wenjun came at the right time.
On a clear day, someone digging graves on Liaoxi Mountain might have drawn attention for being too strange, but that day’s blizzard had nearly blown all of Runing apart. No one would notice who went up the mountain or who was doing incomprehensible things there.
Zhen Wenjun tied Xiaoxue to a windproof wooden shelter, took out her prepared iron shovel, and began digging open Ruan family’s Ah Qiong’s grave, one shovelful at a time.
Snow covered her head and shoulders, but she didn’t stop.
Her hands were numb from cold, her feet had lost sensation, but she kept digging shovelful after shovelful.
Zhen Wenjun had no interest in who was buried in the unmarked graves nearby; she only wanted verification, only wanted answers!
Finally, she reached the coffin.
Opening a coffin with one person’s strength was extremely difficult, impossible for ordinary people, but Zhen Wenjun was no ordinary person.
Her palms were cut and bleeding in several places, but the coffin finally opened.
Inside was a skeleton with various burial objects and a sword beside it.
Just by looking at the skeleton, Zhen Wenjun couldn’t tell if it was her mother’s. She caught her breath, thinking for a moment in the snow, then reached for its legs.
Her mother had suffered from a leg ailment for over ten years; long-term limping had made one leg slightly longer than the other. One touch of this skeleton would tell if it was her mother!
The wind on Liaoxi Mountain howled like a soul-shaking lament. The large hole Zhen Wenjun had dug was quickly covered again by snow.
Zhen Wenjun emerged through the snow, her eyes vacant.
It wasn’t her mother.
This person’s leg bones were perfectly normal.
It wasn’t her mother!
I can’t keep up with the twists and turns in this novel. So if it wasn’t her mother, so Xie Fuchen made a mistake? So Yao Yunmeng still has her mother?