The Words of the Number One

I nodded and did not insist anymore. After thanking the old man, Li Ding and I walked into the thick and foggy cemetery. Although Li Ding said that he did not care, he was still a little nervous. When a child appeared in the fog, I glanced at him and saw that he was a bit stiff.  

The people of the Zheng Kingdom respect supernatural beings the most, and it is indeed tough for Li Ding. 

The child was kneeling in front of a tombstone, burning paper offerings. When he saw us, he felt with his hands and slowly stood up. A pair of big round eyes looked at us. It was probably that on this kind of foggy day, and to have met someone in a cemetery, he was very frightened. 

“You are Lu Shi’s son?” I leaned down and asked him. 

He was thin and weak, like those sparse and thin crops, looking no more than ten years old. 

He nodded while trembling in fear, looking at me and Li Ding. Even his voice trembled: “ You…What are you two?”

It seems to him, we are both treated as malicious ghosts here to seek lives. 

I took out a bloodstained letter from my arms and handed it to him: “This is a letter that your father did not send out before he died. He entrusted me to give it to your mother, but since your mother is dead, then this letter can be given to you.” 

He took the letter in daze, opened it and looked at it for a moment. He seemed a bit helpless and looked up at me: “I…I don’t know how to read.” 

I received the letter from his hand, and looked at his mother’s tombstone: “Then I’ll read it.” 

“My wife, Hong Fang, see the words as if you see the person. There are a lot of urgent casualties in the war. For tomorrow’s battle, I am afraid that I may not be able to return. If I do not return, by no means should you foolishly wait. You are still in a good age, and can find another good marriage. I think about you very much and I often remember the days when we often depended on each other when we were young. May you have a good husband that can protect you for the rest of your life. Da lang and Er lang1Da lang = what a parent calls their eldest son, while Er lang is what a parent calls their second son are especially lovely. Their appearance that has not been seen for many years has become blurred to me. Tears continue to fall non-stop when reading this, may you be healthy.” 

The tombstone stood quietly in the thick ice-cold fog, and the crows were no longer making noise. It was as if there really was someone here listening to this letter. The mister that Lu Shi found to write this letter, made a lot of typos, but the style of writing is not bad. It seems that he has already met his wife in the underworld. The meaning of this letter should have been said to his wife. 

Often remembering the days when we often depended on each other when we were young. May you have a good husband that can protect you for the rest of your life. 

In the end, his wife did not have the opportunity to marry someone else, and instead died as being his wife.

I received the letter and handed it to his son who probably does not understand the meaning of this letter. However, he still had red eyes, and took the letter as if it was a precious treasure. He looked at me with a pair of red and big eyes: “Noble, is my father a hero?” 

A hero? In this world, how many heroes can there be?

I looked at him for a moment and shook my head: “Your father is just an ordinary person.” 

One of the thousands and thousands of ordinary soldiers who died in the war of the expansion of the Song Kingdom. 

“However, your father loves you very much, and now the person he loves the most is only you who is alive in this world.” I leaned down, and said to him: “This is the most important thing.”

Lastly, I paid respects to the tombstone, and left with Li Ding. At this time, it was noon, and the sunlight gradually became stronger, dissipating the fog. There was only a thin layer of water vapor in the air that did not block my line of sight much. The sound of a child’s crying was heard from a distance, and Li Ding seemed to be a little unable to bear it. His foot stopped, but he still did not look back. 

It only took me half a day to get back to the boat. 

When I was playing chess with Ji Yu that night, he asked me: “You went to Pucheng just to help this man named Lu Shi, deliver a letter?” 

I nodded. 

“What’s so special about him? You don’t seem like a person who would care about other people’s business.” He put a chess piece on the chessboard that ate away a lot of chess pieces. 

I paused to think, meeting his deep smiling eyes. 

“On the way to the Song Kingdom, Qiqi and I passed by the battlefield. I saw him crawl out a pile of dead people, and he gave me a letter and the name of his hometown, then he was out of breath. I originally did not want to care, but I also did not have the chance to refuse.” 

Ji Yu seemed to believe it, slightly smiling while shaking his head. He pointed to the chessboard: “You play on this side.” 

I followed his guidance to play chess. He propped his chin, and asked unhurriedly: “Do you still have any grudges that have not been avenged yet?”  

“I never had a grudge.” 

“The destruction of the Han, Zheng, and Cai Kingdom and the assassination of the monarch of the Song Kingdom, didn’t you take revenge for the destruction of the Qi Kingdom?” 

“That was Qiqi’s grudge, not mines.” 

Ji Yu’s eyes lifted up from the chessboard, and a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes looked at me out of the corner of his eyes, with a bit of a provocative meaning. 

“The old kingdom was destroyed, your father and mother committed suicide, you fell from being a remote and aloof princess to a maid in just one night. You don’t feel resentful?” 

I chuckled as I seemed to have answered this question a lot. When I first started to help Qiqi take revenge, she also complained that I was too heartless as I was very indifferent to the destruction of the Qi Kingdom.

However, hundreds of years have passed since the Emperor Zhou unified the whole country, and divided the vassals. Now the royal family is declining, and the princes are fighting against each other. The death of the nation would not be unexpected at all. 

“Over the past hundred years, many kingdoms have been destroyed, so does this mean that the Qi Kingdom can not be one of them? Most of the monarchs have died along with their kingdom, so does it mean that my father can be an exception? The Qi Kingdom was already in such an unfavorable situation, and even without the union of these four kingdoms, sooner or later another kingdom will come to attack anyways. Destruction is just a matter of time, and if one really wants to complain about it, then they are only blaming my father for not being good at ruling his kingdom. Besides, he has already died for his country, so there really is nothing else to complain about.” 

Ji Yi looked at me for quite a while. In his usual smiling eyes, there was a hint of surprise. 

“That is your parents.” 

“So what?” I looked at him. He was silent for a moment, and said slowly: “Speaking of this, you don’t blame me either? I threatened you into becoming my maid, and took away your freedom.” 

“It is nice to have freedom, and it is a very very good thing, but after all, that is a type of luxury. If you are not even worried about your life, then where is their room to talk about freedom?” I put a chess piece on the chessboard, and raised my eyes to meet his sharp gaze. 

“That day, I bribed the soldiers, and also buried some valuables and money outside the palace. After escaping, I would not have to worry about food for the time being, but after all, I did not have the strength to tie a chicken2“strength to tie a chicken” = means body is weak and has no strength, idiom. To flee alone with money and valuables in this chaotic world, I am also worried that my life will be in danger. You have taken away my freedom, but have also provided me with delicious food and beautiful clothing. This is fair business so why would I resent you?” 

He looked at me for a long time, and then looked at the chessboard again. 

He smiled and shook his head: “Eternal calamity, and chess3is a special type of chess game with a circular nature similar to calamity.” 

I lowered my eyes: “Young master’s guidance is very good.” 

He put the chess piece that was in hand back into the rattan box, and said slowly: “You truly are…an interesting and strange person.” 

I just love our smart and complex main leads! Thank you for reading!

1Da lang = what a parent calls their eldest son, while Er lang is what a parent calls their second son2“strength to tie a chicken” = means body is weak and has no strength, idiom3is a special type of chess game with a circular nature similar to calamity