"This story I also heard from the elders in my family," Lu Zheng said, "It should be a matter of the previous dynasty, thousands of years ago..."
So Lu Zheng started telling the story of Emperor Ming of Tang and Yang Guifei, naturally with a fair amount of artistic embellishnt, highlighting Emperor Ming of Tang's affection for Yang Guifei and emphasizing Yang Yuhuan's beauty and talent.
After all, for an emperor, the hardest thing to achieve is genuine sincerity, and for a consort, her most widely spread trait is often her influence on history.
Have you not seen, in the history of Hua Country, the famous beauties are all set against the backdrop of the great tide of the world, Xi Shi causing havoc in Wu, Zhaojun going beyond the frontier, Diao Chan destroying Dong, Yuhuan dying for Tang, not to ntion the female emperor Empress Wu Zetian.
Among these many won, Yang Yuhuan was able to beco one of the four great beauties, largely due to Li Bai's "Qingping Tune."
"The clouds think of clothes, and the flowers think of beauty, the spring breeze brushes the threshold, and the dew sparkles. If not seen on Jade Mountain, we will et under the moon at Yao Terrace."
Once the poem was out, all other poems paled in comparison.
"Good poem!" Si Lingxi nodded, "Not a word about beauty, yet beauty is captured perfectly. A poem like this didn't get passed down? Whoever wrote this must not have been a re mortal."
Si Lingxi's eyes sparkled as she swiftly thought of which great poet in the history of the Central Plains this poem might match with.
You should know, she has lived for three thousand years, often traveling through the Central Plains, and has sat down for discourse with the literary talents of history. Most of the renowned poets of the past millennium she has t personally.
"Is it Deng Yi? Or Huang Fei?" Si Lingxi asked, "Could it be Li Zhenhe?"
"No, not right, their tilines don't match the history of the story you're telling," Si Lingxi shook her head, "It's not them."
Lu Zheng was speechless, trembling slightly...
That's why he didn't want to tie the story to history, because the person in front of him truly lived through it, Lu Zheng could almost feel Si Lingxi's probing gaze piercing through the clouds and casting onto him.
Lu Zheng remained extraordinarily calm, offering no response, and continued with the story.
Soon, the story moved into the An Lushan Rebellion, the capital in turmoil, Emperor Ming of Tang fleeing hurriedly with Yang Guifei, before encountering a mutiny at Ma Wei Posthouse and being forced to grant Yang Guifei her death.
"What?"
"Granted death?"
"Incompetent!"
"Shaful!"
From the nearby hot spring pool ca the angry rebukes of several won.
However, Si Lingxi remained quite composed, seeing from Lu Zheng's previous story setup that this Emperor Ming of Tang ignored court affairs, the country's decline was natural, border turmoil arose, military generals took power, entering chaos was only logical.
"Since ancient tis, beauties are blad in tis of chaos, it's nothing unusual," Si Lingxi said calmly.
Lu Zheng shook his head and sighed, "But aren't all decisions made by n? Just like in history, Feihong Princess and Lady Li, one defad for seducing the king, the other called a demon concubine in troubled tis, but they were rely doing their job of pleasing the king."
Feihong Princess and Lady Li were concubines of the previous dynasty in this world's history, their status roughly equivalent to Daji in ancient Hua Country.
"Tis change, and the decline of a country is caused by population growth, land annexation, local autonomy, natural and man-made disasters, court corruption, and insatiable greed of various interest groups. What does it have to do with a woman by the king's side?"
Lu Zheng snorted coldly, "The evaluation of Feihong Princess and Lady Li in this world is similar to ancient Hua Country's view on Daji and Bao Si; hardly anyone thinks from a materialist historical perspective."
"Speaking of which, at the end of a dynasty, all interest groups have ford, and as people's lives beco increasingly difficult, incense decreases, and the dynasty's foundation weakens, emperorship becos increasingly challenging, only a bit less demanding than that of a founding emperor, so unless a prodigy descends from the heavens, a fallen nation is rely normal."
Even though cultivation is possible in this world and the territory vast, so dynasties last longer than in ancient Hua Country, yet ascension is rare and eternal life hard, as ti passes by, those founding emperors and their civil and military officials who beca gods after death and the Star Officials and City Gods designated by the court will all be replaced and forgotten. With each generation declining, eventually the court cannot suppress the localities, local intentions vary, under multiple pressures, as long as a single natural disaster serves as the trigger, then changing dynasties is rely pushing the boat along the current."
Lu Zheng said calmly, "It's just that those who record history and guide public opinion are the main culprits of the dynasty's downfall, and perhaps they might even be the founding emperors or heroes of the new dynasty. Do you think they would criticize themselves?
No, they'll just pin the disasters, the massive uproot of the population, this huge bla on the emperor at the end of the previous dynasty and their favored consorts, and so the dead owe no debts, no one rembers the real reasons for the dynasty's demise anymore, the world returns to peace and joy, music plays, and dances continue.
And then history repeats, until the dynasty declines again, another tyrannical last emperor or a seductive demon concubine erges as the scapegoat for the rampant chaos... humph!"
Once spoken, the scene fell into silence, only the gentle wind and the sound of the hot spring water flowed.
Lu Zheng turned back to see Liu Qingyan's jade face glowing, her eyes glistening, looking up at him with fiery eyes.
"Lu Lang!"
"Hmm?"
Liu Qingyan then got so excited she couldn't help herself, and impulsively leaned in, deftly and aggressively inserting her little fragrant tongue into Lu Zheng's mouth.
"Mmm——"
A mont later, Liu Qingyan regained her senses, quickly let go, her cheeks flushed red, and she couldn't help but squat down, leaving just a small head above the water, not knowing where to direct her eyes.
"Hee hee!"
"Haha!"
"Heh heh!"
However, her sudden action broke the earlier silence, and the won chuckled, easing the tension.
But...
Lu Zheng, being exceptionally perceptive, certainly couldn't fail to notice the few scorching gazes from the neighboring pool.
Shen Ying might be understandable, but why Du Yueyao and Wang Xiaowan? And... Si Lingxi?
Seriously, what did I even say?
Isn't what I said common knowledge? Isn't it sothing any ordinary youth from Hua Country with a modern nine-year compulsory education would think?
"Young Master Lu is amazing!" Yi Xiaoqian could only feel a profound shock.
Du Yueyao shook her head and sighed, "If Brother Lu were willing to take the civil examination, he could surely reach high office, even beco a Cabinet Minister."
Wang Xiaowan nodded repeatedly, "Senior Brother is a cultivation genius, indeed talented beyond compare, who would've thought he had such insights about dynastic changes."
Shen Ying pursed her lips, her eyes through the mist seeing Lu Zheng's expression, as calm as if discussing a simple al he had for lunch, feeling heart-struck, reminiscent of when he saved her back in the day, treating her equally with sincerity.
Had it not been for the unsuitable setting, she too would have pounced forward by now.
Si Lingxi lay quietly by the hot spring's edge, calming her mind, nodding, and said faintly, "An insightful perspective, not bad."
However, the brilliance in her eyes lingered for a long ti, never fading.
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