I woke up that evening, and the first thing on my mind was Lin'er.
Somehow he knew I was looking for him. He had sent someone to relay a message early on, saying he had been waiting in the main hall for a long time.
As I followed the guards into the main hall, I saw his somber figure and couldn't help but ask.
"Elder, why so glum? Did you not sleep last night?"
He turned around, smiled slightly, and replied.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I slept very well last night. I just woke up this morning and had a feeling Your Majesty would come looking for me, so I sent someone to wait."
As expected of an elder, he could guess such things.
I said.
"I'm not looking for you for any other reason than to discuss the people remaining in Black Mountain and those in the dungeon."
"Does Your Majesty mean you want me to send someone to bring them back now?"
"You can go say that later. As for the people in the dungeon, although I've thought of some ways, it's still not enough. It will be quite difficult to make them surrender to us."
He lowered his head in thought and suddenly had an idea.
"It would be good if we could create some activities for them to feel the warmth of our Black Mountain."
That truly struck a chord.
"That's a great idea."
Then, various activities came to mind: basketball, soccer, badminton, volleyball?
If there was something suitable for everyone, simple and beneficial, it would only be Cuju.
"Cuju... Cuju..."
I murmured to myself.
"What is Cuju?"
Lin'er was completely clueless.
Seeing Lin'er's confused yet curious expression, I couldn't help but laugh. Knowledge I hadn't used in a long time was coming in handy.
I explained.
"Cuju is played on a spacious field with two goals made of fishnets, placed several meters apart on opposite sides.
Then, two teams of twelve people each are chosen to kick the ball. The team that scores more goals into the opponent's net wins, otherwise, they lose."
"Your Majesty is truly knowledgeable. This is the first time I've heard of such a fun activity."
My smugness was completely exposed by his praise, and I couldn't help but boast.
"I have many more special things. I'll tell you about them slowly later."
"Alright, I'll go down now and send someone back to Black Mountain to invite the elders."
"Good, go ahead."
As soon as Lin'er left, I followed him out. Walking to the entrance of the main hall, I tilted my head up slightly to see the entire sky was pitch black, with neither stars nor moon.
I had been thinking that now I could find some people to have a drink and chat with.
But on the empty ground, there was only a faint scent of wine.
"Does Your Majesty want me to lead the way?"
Hearing the voice, I turned my head and saw the girl who had led me to the sleeping quarters during the day. Behind her were four or five maids dressed in the same pink floral clothes, carrying lanterns.
"Oh, it's you. I still don't know your name?"
This woman didn't seem like someone from our Black Mountain. Could she be from the South Sea King's palace?
"Your servant is Helian."
She replied softly.
"Helian, a beautiful name. Does it mean a pond full of lotus leaves?"
She shook her head and explained.
"Replying to Your Majesty, no. Helian refers to, 'A clear breeze startles the moon, a pond of lotus leaves connected as one.'"
"'A clear breeze startles the moon, a pond of lotus leaves connected as one.' A beautiful name, a beautiful name.
It seems the person who chose this name must have been a talented poet.
You don't seem like people from my Black Mountain. Are you perhaps from South Sea City?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, we were originally maids responsible for lighting the lamps in this palace. Although the Lord of South Sea City is gone, now that Your Majesty has arrived, we continue to do this work."
Hearing her say this, I felt a pang of sympathy for them.
Looking at them, they must have been here for hundreds of years. Their youth and prime years were bound by those who were crippled.
I stepped down and took the lanterns from their hands one by one, saying to them.
"I happen to have nothing to do today. Let me experience lighting the way for others."
I placed the other lanterns on the steps, taking only two myself.
They, however, fearfully picked them up again and stood aside. Helian also stepped forward to explain.
"Since Your Majesty wishes to light the lamps, let us do it together."
Hearing her words, all the profound lectures I had prepared to give them could not be uttered. I could only agree.
"Alright."
Then I returned one lantern to Qiuyu and took one for myself. They walked ahead, and I followed behind.
I asked them.
"Was it always like this for you, carrying lanterns around the palace every day?"
Helian replied.
"Perhaps because this palace is quite large, the city lord had people light the lamps to avoid trouble."
"Truly lacking hands and feet, accustomed to extravagance. Even lighting a lamp requires someone to run around. This Lord of South Sea City must have been quite unpleasant."
In a fit of indignation, I voiced my dissatisfaction.
Helian, however, did not agree. She provided an answer I did not know.
"Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness, but I think the city lord was a good person.
We few were originally banished women. Without the city lord's shelter, we might have long since been wandering the borderlands, living a life of hardship."
Unexpectedly, they were also a group of unfortunate souls. But I was curious about what "banished women" meant.
"Banished women? What are banished women?"
One of the girls said.
"Banished women are the children of traitorous generals, children who have committed crimes."
"I see."
As we spoke, we arrived at Jingxin Hall, the residence of Liu Shinian and several young generals. However, it was dark inside, and no one was present.
"Where did this Liu Shinian run off to?"
I muttered softly, and followed them into the room, lighting the candles. Instantly, the entire room became bright.
After leaving Liu Shinian's courtyard, we continued westward to Xuegu City, to the quadrangle courtyard, Xiaokan Hall, arranged for Xue Gucheng and Yan Wushuang, and Yue Jiu Cong.
The lights were already on inside, and we could hear Xue Gucheng and Yan Wushuang's voices.
Listening to their subtle, lingering affection made a sweet smile bloom on my face.
At such a moment, it would be rude to disturb them. I turned back and said to the group.
"We won't go in here. Let's go elsewhere."
"Yes..."
Then we proceeded to Yangxin Hall, arranged for the elders. Seeing it was dark inside, I also waved my hand.
"The people haven't arrived yet. Let's go somewhere else."
"Yes."
After walking for more than half the night, I had lit up the entire palace. Completing the circuit, I felt a bit tired.
"Let's go to my palace."
I said.
So, the group slowly walked back to the sleeping quarters located in the north. As soon as we entered the hall, they dispersed and lit the lamps.
I called them over, "Come here, come here, everyone. You must have never slept on such a good bed, it's especially soft. Come and try it."
The group approached the bed hesitantly, but none dared to act.
I smiled helplessly, reached out, and pulled Qiuyu onto the bed, saying to them with a smile, "You all come up too."
Only then did they cautiously lie down on the bed.
"See? Isn't it soft?"
"It's much more comfortable than the bed we sleep on."
"Let's sleep here tonight. Everyone is tired."
They repeatedly got up and shook their heads in refusal.
I comforted them.
"Don't be afraid. Come up quickly. I'm going to sleep now."
Saying this, I turned to my side. They glanced at me sleeping cautiously, then exchanged glances and secretly smiled.
Boldly, they lay on the large round bed, rolling left and right with immense joy.
...
The next morning, Lin'er personally came to the dungeon to announce the promised matter to everyone.
"Your Majesty is benevolent and cannot bear to see you all suffer here. Therefore, Your Majesty has sent me to inform all of you brothers that we will have a competition, which is South Sea City versus Black Mountain."
Before he could finish, the dungeon became restless.
He cleared his throat a few times, unconcerned, and continued.
"As long as you send twelve people and defeat our twelve people from Black Mountain, everyone can leave the dungeon, leave South Sea City, and go their separate ways."
After speaking, he left without looking back. Instantly, the entire dungeon became noisy.
General Ding Kuhai of the Western Purple Kingdom proposed.
"No matter what their scheme is, we must have someone go out and inform the King of the situation. The King will surely send troops to rescue us!"
A young general from South Sea City named Buyu saw through it clearly.
"Rescue you? How naive. The Western Purple Kingdom is over five thousand li from South Sea City. A round trip by fast horse would take over ten days. Such a long journey.
Let alone whether you can even enter South Sea City, even if you came, how would you rescue you?"
Hearing him say this, Ding Kuhai found it amusing and mocked him.
"What? Do you have no one behind you, so you're jealous? Yes, the Lord of South Sea City has fled. Who can save you? How pitiful, how pitiful."
This sentence deeply stung the hearts of the South Sea City soldiers, bringing the flicker of hope they held to face the test of reality.
Even so, they still held hope for the Lord of South Sea City in their hearts, believing he was not such a timid and cowardly person, and firmly believed that the Lord of South Sea City would return.
Upon thinking of this, they immediately felt the person before them was extremely arrogant and stood up one after another to retort.
"What do you know! Our Lord of South Sea City is not like your timid and fearful King of the Western Purple Kingdom."
"The City Lord will definitely return."
The soldiers of the Western Purple Kingdom, not to be outdone, also stood up and roared.
"Who are you calling timid! Look at your City Lord, he didn't even make a sound and abandoned such a good city."
"Still hoping for the Lord of South Sea City to return, I think you're still not awake, or perhaps the blow was too great and you've gone silly, Hahaha."
"What did you say!"
Buyu roared.
"What about it!"
The young general of the Western Purple Kingdom retorted.
"Do you want to fight?"
"Come on, if I don't beat the shit out of you, I'll take your surname."
"Fine, you said it. You wait for me."
"Come on!"
Buyu ran to the prison gate, gripping the black iron bars with both hands, desperately shouting outwards.
"Jailer! Jailer!"
"What are you shouting about!"
The jailer, Old Yu, replied impatiently.
"Come here for a moment."
Old Yu, with a few of his brothers, swaggered over from the other side of the dungeon with an exaggerated, crooked-mouthed fierce expression.
Based on his previous experience guarding the Black Mountain, he felt these people were no problem.
They arrived at Buyu's cell door and asked impatiently.
"What is it?"
Buyu pointed to a young general from the Western Purple Kingdom named Fansheng in the adjacent cell.
"Let the two of us out. I want to fight him."
Old Yu looked to the left and laughed heartily, actually letting the two of them out.
The two men were bristling with hostility, their sharp eyes filled with anger. Everyone crowded at the cell doors, watching with tense anticipation.
After a few seconds of staring at each other, they threw punches. Their fists met, and neither dodged. They then took a step back and threw another punch.
However, they deliberately aimed past them towards Old Yu and the guards behind.
Old Yu seemed to have anticipated their trick. He dodged to the side, then kicked back. His brothers also dodged and began fighting with Buyu.
Old Yu, usually unassuming, performed exceptionally well at critical moments. With both feet planted, he delivered a kick, followed by a barrage of punches.
Fansheng, with his bulky physique, was forced to retreat repeatedly. Finally, he was kicked flying. Then, his large fist descended from the air, but instead of hitting their faces, it paused for a moment, and then he burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, I see you're a man. Since you want to leave, I'll let you off the hook."
Saying this, he took the key from his waist and threw it to him. He touched the key that landed on his chest, looking at Old Yu with disbelief.
Old Yu pulled him up and laughed, "What, afraid I'll trick you? If you want to leave now, go. If not, stay."
With an incredulous look, he walked to the cell door and opened the cells one by one.
Old Yu said to everyone, "There are heavy guards outside now, and you might not be able to get out. I know when there are the fewest people, and my brothers and I can take you out."
General Ding Kuhai of the Western Purple Kingdom, however, was suspicious of these people. "Why are you helping us?"
Old Yu laughed heartily and only said, "I respect you as men."
"Is it that simple?"
"It's that simple."
"If you want to escape, you must wait until midnight. That's when there are the fewest people. If you trust me, I'll lead you out. If not, escape on your own."
Although they were suspicious of him, they still chose to believe him.
At night, the entire South Sea City was silent, and the changing guards were drowsy.
Old Yu kept his word and truly opened the dungeon doors for them, leading a group of people to sneak out. They left the heavily guarded military area and reached the main street, which was deserted.
However, upon reaching the south gate, they saw teams of patrolling soldiers guarding the gate.
Old Yu turned back and whispered to them, "Wait for me here. I'll go and distract them."
Saying this, he ran frantically to the city gate and shouted, "It's bad, it's bad! The people in the dungeon have escaped and are heading towards the east gate! Hurry and help them, don't let them get away!"
Seeing that it was Old Yu, the jailer of the dungeon, they didn't doubt him at all and immediately took a large number of patrolling soldiers to the east gate, leaving only a few guards.
Old Yu, taking advantage of their inattention, knocked out a few people and then called them out. Old Yu's brothers quickly ran to the steps on both sides to block the people above.
Then, the main group rushed out. The soldiers on the city wall suddenly saw the people from the dungeon running out and saw Old Yu clinging to the city gate.
They immediately realized what was happening and shouted, "Old Yu, you dare to betray us! You don't want to live!"
Old Yu ignored him, only calling for everyone to pull open the city gate. Those above panicked and hastily rang the great bell, and the entire South Sea City once again echoed with a warning sound, similar to when Black Mountain attacked a few days prior.
Those upstairs rushed down, but were intercepted by the ambushing brothers. The city gate was wide open, and everyone filed out.
At this moment, the young general Fansheng and Buyu, who were running at the back, invited them, "Why don't you escape with us? After what you've done, staying here is a dead end."
Old Yu refused, "You all go quickly. I, Old Yu, stand by my actions and fear no death."
Suddenly, a large number of torches flashed within South Sea City. The sound of hurried footsteps was like a death knell, falling upon each of their hearts.
Old Yu realized the pursuers had arrived and shouted to them, "Go quickly! If you don't go now, it will be too late!"
"We will never forget your great kindness."
"Stop the nonsense and hurry!"
At Old Yu's urging, they reluctantly ran towards the distant dark forest.
Liu Shinian knew that Heifeng was in low spirits and couldn't quite figure things out. Although he had tried to comfort him, he still saw him full of dejection.
So, he and Heifeng, just like when they were in Black Mountain, flew to the rooftop, drinking wine and lying down to watch the sky.
In a daze, Heifeng remembered Black Mountain again. "Black Mountain is still better. No matter when, you can see the moon."
Liu Shinian also agreed, "Yes, the moon in Black Mountain is never tiring to look at, but this is the first time I've lain down like this to look at the sky of South Sea City."
"At night it's all black, and during the day it's all white. Besides seeing the sky, there are only endless black rooftops."
"I haven't asked yet, do you have a sweetheart? I've known you for so long, and I haven't seen you fall for any girl." Liu Shinian suddenly asked a question that many were curious about.
Heifeng chuckled, "Probably not. But I had a past with Your Majesty."
Hearing this, Liu Shinian showed a gossipy expression and pressed, "Tell me quickly, what happened?"
Heifeng recalled.
"At that time, I don't know if she had just arrived or had been here for a while. She must have arrived not long ago. When I was still the mountain god in Nanshan, she wanted to bring me down, and she really did.
I don't know if I owed her from a past life, but no matter which mountain I was on, she snatched it away from me.
However, she was quite bold. When she was in Nanshan, she came alone to my temple to investigate.
After I caught her, I originally planned to eat her. Later, I found out she was human and thought it was very novel, so I decided to marry her.
Unexpectedly, she actually agreed. I felt a bit embarrassed at the time, so I refused her."
As he spoke, he suddenly laughed and said to Liu Shinian, turning his head.
"You don't know, the first time she looked at me, her eyes were full of peach blossoms. I thought something was wrong with her. Now I think she was probably infatuated with my beauty, hahaha."
"No wonder, the first time I met her, she was pestering me. It seems she took a liking to me too."
These two old men are truly shameless, telling lies with their eyes open.
"Now that she has so many handsome men around her, she probably can't choose. Do you think she has feelings for Xue Gucheng too?" Heifeng suddenly became curious.
"That can't be right. Xue Gucheng is already married. Look at how fierce Yan Wushuang is. Who would dare?" Liu Shinian suddenly spoke the truth.
"That's true."
After speaking, the two of them laughed in tacit understanding.
"Achoo!" As I was sleeping, I suddenly sneezed a huge sneeze. I opened my eyes slightly and mumbled, "Who's badmouthing me?" Then I closed my eyes and fell back asleep.