My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 699: Calling Ancestors (End of the Book)

It's another autumn, and the leaves on the mountains are golden.

The mountains are like clusters.

There was a market in a town in Zhangzhou on the north bank of the Hunhe River. On the long, bustling street, an old man named Cui Yuan was holding his two little grandsons' hands. Each of them bought a string of candied haws and a clay figurine, wrapped them in oil paper, and then carefully took out ten copper coins from his bosom and handed them to the vendor.

He then dragged away his two little grandsons who were envious of the other clay figures.

Outside the town, there is a forest with a layer of withered yellow leaves on the ground. On the small path leading to the forest, passers-by would greet the old man from time to time.

Cui Yuan might be a little hard of hearing, and he was called several times. It was not until his little grandson on the left pulled his hand to remind him that he reacted and quickly responded to the familiar villager.

The child who was following him raised his little face and smiled: "Grandpa, are you telling us about how you killed the Western barbarians?"

Another child was skipping in front. When he heard that the old man was going to tell a story, he also ran to the old man and begged him by pulling his finger.

"Grandpa, I want to listen too."

"Okay, then Grandpa will continue."

Cui Yuan smiled and then continued to tell his two beloved grandsons the story of his participation in the Western Expedition when he was young.

"At that time, Grandpa was still a good boy, as strong as an ox..."

"...The barbarian emperor became as tall as a mountain, and the ground shook with every step he took!"

"The head of the barbarian emperor is still on display in the palace of the current emperor."

A little grandson asked in a baby voice: "Grandpa, have you seen it?"

"Of course I have seen it!" Cui Yuan's hair and beard were all white, and his smile was shaking. "At that time, His Majesty sent the head of the barbarian emperor to the military camp for everyone to see. Oh, it turned out to be made of stone..."

The chattering continued until they entered the village. At this time, the village was in a panic, with people searching everywhere. They saw an old man coming back with his two little grandsons.

They all ran back to the compound happily and told their host.

The head of the household who received the message was Cui Yuan's eldest son, who was now in his forties. He rushed out with his two families, first took away the two children carrying oil-paper bags, and then began to complain to Cui Yuan.

The second son also joined in and criticized his father.

After all, a frail old man took two young children and walked more than ten miles to the city without his family knowing about it. Anyone would be anxious.

Cui Yuan, an old soldier who retired from the battlefield, didn't care about all this at all. He laughed a few times and walked into the house amid his two sons' scolding.

"Your father is already seventy years old this year. He has become an immortal. What's the big deal about walking a dozen miles?"

The old man entered the yard. There was a special Buddhist temple on the right wing. He pushed open the door in front of him and hobbled into the house. He took out two incense sticks from the incense table, lit them and inserted them into the incense burner. He clasped his hands together and bent forward with his hunched back.

In front of him, on the altar was a huge memorial tablet with more than twenty names densely written on it. These names were all his former comrades.

"You really can't enjoy a good life for even a single day, but it doesn't matter, Lao Cui has helped you enjoy it. I have given birth to two sons and three daughters, and now they are all living well, with no worries about food and clothing, all thanks to the peace and prosperity of the world.

By the way, the imperial court really hasn’t forgotten us old soldiers. The monthly pension money is more than enough for us to eat.”

"But I may not be able to receive this money for long. I have been having trouble eating and sleeping these past few days. I feel like my time is up. When the time comes, you must come and pick me up. We can go down in groups of three or five and roar through the mountains and forests."

He said this with a smile.

The last bit of sunlight burned the clouds in the sky with a fiery color.

The old man looked out the door, sighed with relief, and sat down on the threshold, as if it was only yesterday that he returned from the Western Expedition.

In the blink of an eye, more than forty years have passed.

I don’t know how many times the reign title has been changed.

It is now the seventh year of Taizhen. From Wo Island in the East China Sea of ​​Daxia to Oufeiluo in the west and the archipelagos on the west coast, to the Egyptian province in the Mediterranean in the south, it has now been renamed Xihaizhou.

The Satsuma Empire, which once controlled the western world, collapsed in less than five days with the death of Emperor Adar fifteen years ago, and was quickly taken over by Daxia.

During this period, there were naturally some people in the Satsuma royal family who were unwilling to hand over the imperial power, but they were soon cleared out by Yue Fei and Qi Jiguang who were stationed there.

The rebellion was quelled in less than two months, and five of Adar's rebellious descendants died in the chaos.

This battle made the old people who had lived from the time of the Great Xia's Western Expedition recall the horror of that time again.

The young people finally understood how fierce the Daxia army their fathers had talked about was on the battlefield.

Time flies, and those fierce armies that followed Emperor Xia on the Western Expedition are becoming weaker and weaker with the passage of time.

As the generals grew old and passed away, many titles were cancelled, including the most elite troops of Xiliang, Youyan, Bingzhou, Yizhou, Qin, Tang, and other troops of different dynasties that had titles. All that was left to them were the descendants of those generals.

For example, Xiang Yu's children inherited their father's Julu Lie, but as they grew old and their descendants came up, their fighting effectiveness dropped sharply over the years.

Finally, the emperor had to revoke the three words "Julu Lie".

It seems that in the eyes of the emperor, these people are not worthy of this title.

The Emperor of Daxia is now nearly eighty years old, which is a very long age no matter where he is.

But there were also some bad things. He outlasted many people and his relatives passed away one after another. In the early spring of the second year after he returned from the Western Expedition, his mother Xiao Xi lay in a rocking chair in the backyard, basking in the spring sun and closed her eyes forever. When she passed away, she was still holding the jade pendant she and Xiao Wenbi had given her.

Less than half a year later, his father Su Congfang also passed away.

My second brother Su Lie passed away at the age of 65. He had a broken arm and was blood depleted, so he was the first to die. Fortunately, he and my second sister-in-law Hua Hongzhen had a boy.

The last to pass away was the eldest brother Su Yong. After his eldest sister-in-law Yin Suhuan passed away at the age of 71, he managed the Su family for another five years. When he died, he was surrounded by many relatives. Su Chen also rushed back from Yanjing and stood by his bed, watching him close his eyes peacefully.

Time never stops for anyone.

After late autumn, the season entered the winter month, and heavy snow had already fallen between the palaces. This is a very common snow scene in the north.

"Pour me a glass of water!"

Under the long lamp, Su Chen, who was lying on a rocking chair, had silver hair and beard, and his eyes were bright as he looked at the book he was flipping through. Under the candlelight, he did not look as old as someone who was nearly eighty. People who did not know him would guess that he was in his early fifties at most.
After a while, seeing no one coming, he called out again: "Zixun!"

Someone pushed open the palace door outside, and the wind and snow blew in, mixed with the eunuch's figure: "Your Majesty, Lord Wu retired half a month ago and returned to Yunzhen County to retire."

Su Chen stood up steadily with the help of the armrests of the rocking chair. Due to his practice of martial arts energy, his figure had not changed at this age, and he was still tall and strong. Almost no one in his eighties could compare to him.

"Gone? How could I have forgotten?"

Su Chen reached out to open the lampshade and fiddled with the wick. The room became brighter. He waved his hand and said, "Go down. I don't need your service anymore."

After sending the eunuch away, Su Chen walked steadily to the desk step by step. Just as he heard the sound of the door closing, he suddenly felt his heart pounding and he seemed to be unable to breathe.

Then, he pounced on the desk, grabbing around with his hands in disorder. With a rustling sound, his wide sleeves embroidered with scales and claws swept the inkstone, pen holder, and memorials all away. The objects flew in the sky for a distance and then fell to the ground with a crackling sound.

The eunuchs and guards rushed in upon hearing the noise and saw the emperor with completely white hair and beard, looking pale and covered in cold sweat.

This frightened the guards and eunuchs at the door, and they rushed forward to check. The guards outside the door even rushed directly to a room a few feet away, dragged out the imperial physician, and took him directly to the imperial study.

The emperor was old, and the imperial physician stayed with him all the time during the day. At night, he almost always stayed in a room not far from the emperor, ready to be summoned at any time.

The imperial physician came in, checked Su Chen's symptoms, and immediately gave him acupuncture to stabilize his condition.

After a while, the emperor who was pierced with silver needles slowly opened his eyes in the arms of the guards, and the first words he said were:
"...Send the crown prince...and the people from the East Palace over here, and the prime minister and the general as well, to my bedroom."

More than ten fast horses galloped out of the imperial city, carrying the emperor's edict, running through the streets. The lights that had been extinguished were lit up in every house, and then they gathered towards the palace in carriages.

The emperor fell ill and then issued an edict to summon the crown prince and civil and military officials. There is only one possibility for this to happen.

Su Chen, 523 years old, walked between the corridors of the palace, feeling indescribably complicated. He had been the crown prince for decades and had some complaints in his heart, but he could never catch up with his father's reputation.

Now hearing this imperial edict, he felt uneasy and empty.

His mother passed away the year before last, and now his father has left as well. All that is left in his life is the journey home.

However, he walked into the bedroom of Taining Palace, which was the rear hall where his mother once lived. As soon as he entered, he could see a screen more than ten feet high, on which was a picture of a heroic woman waving a sword and rushing into the battlefield.

This is a stone screen that my father had painters and sculptors work together to create after my mother passed away. It will never fade or blur.

On the bed next to him, his father, who didn't look old at first, suddenly looked extremely old and lay weakly on the bed.

Su Chen led several ministers to the bedside and called out in a low voice, "Father, the child is here." "You are here?"

Lying on the bed, Su Chen opened his eyes tiredly, and his turbid gaze swept over everyone, including the prince in front of him with red eyes and tears.

"Chen'er, do you hate your father for letting you be the crown prince for so many years?"

Su Chen, who was also old, shook his gray head.

"No, I will always be your child, and as a son I will never blame my parents."

"Haha, you're still talking about Master Xun's stuff."

Su Chen laughed weakly a few times, which led to a violent coughing fit. Su Chen hurriedly sat down next to his father and helped him to comfort his chest.

After a while, the coughing stopped. Su Chen relaxed and held his son's hand.

"…I'm sorry for wronging you."

"You have a murderous father, and you have killed many people in many places. You have used tough tactics for so many years, and it is time for you to adopt a gentle approach. You need to keep a closer eye on the people in the west."

Su Chen raised his silver-haired head.

"...I am old, and my time on earth is running out. The country of Daxia and its millions of people will be handed over to you. And Su Ying in Ding'an City, my father owes her a lot... Her mother is still alive, so you have to take good care of her."

Su Chen held his son's hand tightly, his eyes full of reluctance: "You must be a good emperor. The future of Daxia depends on you. If you want to learn the martial arts energy, learn it well. If you don't like it, pass it on to the next generation of descendants who like martial arts. Don't break it."

Everyone was standing by the bed. Su Chen was talking to himself and even fell asleep for a while. When he woke up, it was already four o'clock in the morning and the snow outside was getting heavier.

At the moment when the loud crowing of a rooster was heard, Su Chen, who was in a coma, suddenly opened his eyes and smiled weakly, and the white beard on his face trembled in his laughter.

"Hahahaha... I was born in a foreign land, and came to this world. I have a father and a mother, and the protection of my ancestors. I can cut through thorns and sweep across the world. Haha... I have been an emperor all my life... It's worth it! It's worth it!"

He looked at the swaying tent ceiling with cloudy eyes, and in a trance, he saw him as a child jumping out of the bed, looking around curiously.

I saw him standing barefoot in front of the map, looking at the names of the six countries on it.

He was chased around the yard by his father; he was rescued by his mother and persuaded by his brother... The scene was like a dream, flashing by and turning into a woman playing the piano in the pavilion. She later became his wife and gave birth to his children. Her graceful figure walked towards him little by little, and when she stood in front of him, she was already very old.

Su Chen looked at the dome, tears streaming down his face.

The wind and snow whimpered as they ran across the palace corridor outside. The wind that came in caressed the swaying lights, which flickered in Su Chen's eyes. He held Su Chen's hand tightly.

The falling tears slowly fell on the wooden pillow.

And the final sound.

"Daxia, I leave it to you. Walk the path well."

The news that the founding emperor of Daxia ascended to heaven on a dragon spread to all states at the fastest speed in the following days. In the Su Mansion, which was still clean and tidy, the first person to receive the news was Thirteen.

He was already 82 years old. He was devastated by the news of Su Chen's death. He fainted. When he woke up, he was wearing mourning clothes and wailing towards the north. When his family members came to persuade him, he had already died.

At the Jiang residence, an old woman who was about to die was sitting in front of the shrine, facing the two spirit tablets and fiddling with Buddhist beads to pray for blessings. Suddenly, she heard her daughter Su Ying crying outside.

Her heart suddenly ached, and the string of beads in her hand fell to the ground, unable to hold it tightly.

"Mom, father is gone." Su Ying opened the door of the Buddhist hall, squatted in front of her mother and burst into tears.

Jiang Wan pursed her lips, nodded, and put her hand on her daughter's head.

"Don't cry. Everyone in this world leaves."

Queen Itas of Yelan Kingdom in Xizhou has passed away, and she was succeeded by Bainani. She heard the news half a month later, which was already the fastest speed. She was also nearly eighty years old, and she insisted on having someone send her to Yanjing. Even if she couldn't make it, she would still burn a stick of incense for the emperor.

Elsa also rushed back. She had never married in her life. Even now in her sixties, she was still drifting on the sea, but she was already the commander-in-chief of the navy.

When she received the news, she was entering Feiyun Port from the northern waterway. By the time she rushed to Yanjing crying, Emperor Daxia's large team had already left the north gate.

After catching up, Elsa followed the coffin, crying bitterly. In the eyes of outsiders, she was just a barbarian female general.

Only the emperor treated her, her brother, and her people as Chinese people.

However, such a person is finally gone.

Not long after, the coffin was placed in a tomb in the northern snow-capped mountains. A group of slaves from the snowfield tribe volunteered to guard the tomb in the vast snow-capped mountains.

Later, Su Chen ascended the throne with the support of civil and military officials, and posthumously named the previous emperor the Changshengwu Emperor of Daxia, with the temple name Taizu.

The late empress was posthumously named Empress Dowager Wu Ci, and several brothers and sisters were given new titles.

Announce to all states and grant amnesty to the world!
The whole book is finished!
is impossible!
……

Cough!

It’s sealed so tightly, you’re trying to suffocate me to death!

Under the endless snow-capped mountains, in the pitch-black tomb, the faint light had already turned pale blue due to lack of oxygen, and was flickering and about to go out.

The black and gloomy coffin placed in the mercury pool made a thudding sound that echoed in the empty and quiet tomb.

boom!
Soon, the tightly fastened coffin lid was lifted up, followed by the coffin lid. In the dim room, a figure sat up.

"It's sealed so tightly..."

After stepping down from the coffin, the old figure staggered a few steps in the darkness, gradually steadied himself, and his steps became normal.

As the light passed by, his originally silver-white hair and beard gradually turned black and shiny again, and his cloudy eyes gradually became bright.

The tomb chamber was rebuilt from a natural cave and is quite spacious. There are many stone statues of deceased generals carved inside. They seem alive in the darkness, watching the emperor walking past the eternal lamp.

A moment later, Su Chen was holding a torch, and his appearance had transformed into that of a man in his thirties, in his most prime state.

At this moment, he was standing next to a giant stone statue that did not belong to his general, facing the wall, and suddenly said something to the statue.

"Arthur open the door."

The head on the stone statue slowly turned around, "We agreed to set me free after five thousand years!"

As he spoke, a gap slowly opened up in the stone wall.

Fresh air rushed into my mouth and nose, but there was no cold wind and snow like outside, but instead a warm breath.

Accustomed to the dazzling light, Su Chen closed his eyes and opened them again. It was a valley surrounded by several mountains, with green vegetation and flocks of birds flying in the woods.

The flat land below was filled with acres of fertile farmland. In the distance there was a farmhouse decorated with lights and lanterns. In the middle of the farmhouse there was a high platform with something shiny on top.

Before we got close, we could hear the lively sound of various musical instruments. There were dozens of tables in the huge dam.

Ying Zheng, who was playing the erhu, turned his head from the stage, then pointed at Su Chen who was standing at the entrance of the village, with a rare smile on his face.

"Knowing that you'll be buried today, I specially arranged a welcoming banquet for you!"

On the left and right of the First Emperor, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang followed suit by playing the qin, and Li Shimin also played the flute to accompany the music. Zhang Fei wanted to shout, but Lu Bu stopped him. Xiang Yu held a thousand-jin cauldron in his hands and tossed it back and forth as if he was playing...

Li Xuanba screamed and shouted to cheer for Qin Qiong and Guan Yu who were fighting for unknown reasons, but neither of them paid any attention to him.

Cao Cao held a wine glass and sat in a corner, whispering with Zhu Wen. When he saw Su Chen, he would raise his hand and say hello.

There are also painters and carpenters. It seems very lively, but at the same time it feels like a place filled with smoke and chaos.

Su Chen folded his arms.

"Everyone, why don't you wait for me to start the feast? After all, I am being buried today!"

Haha!

Everyone turned their heads to look over and roared in unison.

"Call Ancestor!"

(End of this chapter)