kvmb Chapter 189 Iron Heart Sees Plum Blossoms Fall
Chapter 189 Iron Heart Sees Plum Blossoms Fall
On the day Song Jing was demoted and banished from the capital, a light snow was falling in Chang'an.
The snow on Zhuque Avenue was trampled into mud by the horses' hooves, resembling an overturned rouge box.
He rode a thin horse out of the city, and the silver cloud pattern on his official robe was covered with snowflakes, making it look like it was embroidered with a layer of frost flowers.
In a roadside teahouse, a storyteller was recounting the tale of "Song Dynasty Imperial Censor Demoted for His Outspoken Remonstrance," the gavel slamming down with a deafening roar, as if tolling a death knell for this prosperous era.
Once he arrived in the local area, Song Jing's integrity became a rare commodity.
The clerk in the yamen came to curry favor with the account books, but when he looked into them with his "clear and bright eyes," the ink on the account books turned into wriggling golden silkworms, each one representing the people's hard-earned money.
When he ordered the houses to be rebuilt with bricks and tiles, the people looked at the gray walls as if they were seeing a savior.
However, this Bodhisattva was too thin, and the official robes he wore hung loosely on his body, making him look like a borrowed theatrical costume.
In Song Jing's eyes, the thatched huts in Guangzhou looked like piles of tinder waiting to be lit.
When he taught the people how to make bricks and tiles, his hands were covered in mud, making him look like a craftsman who had stepped out of the book "Tiangong Kaiwu" (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature).
An old woman brought him a bowl of ginger tea. When he took it, his haggard face was reflected in the bottom of the bowl—this face was later carved on a wooden board by the people and placed next to the Kitchen God, supposedly to ward off the fire god.
When Song Jing returned to Chang'an, he was already the prime minister of the court.
When his distant uncle, Song Yuanchao, came to claim kinship, he dressed like a nouveau riche, with gold-threaded peonies embroidered on his cuffs, looking exactly like a butterfly.
Looking at the peony pattern, Song Jing vaguely saw countless golden silkworms wriggling among the petals, and coldly said, "This officialdom is not a flower garden; it cannot tolerate such ostentation."
One sentence brought Song Yuanchao back to reality, making him look like a clay idol stripped of its gold dust.
On the day Wang Maozhong married off his daughter, the whole city was abuzz with news that Emperor Xuanzong was going to invite Song Jing to a banquet.
The mansion of this favored minister was brightly decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, and glass lanterns hung from the eaves, making it seem as if the entire Milky Way had been plucked down.
When Song Jing arrived, Wang Maozhong personally greeted him at the second gate. His fawning smile gleamed under the glass lamp, as if he had been smeared with lard.
During the banquet, someone offered a toast. Song Jing took only one sip and saw the shadow of a golden silkworm floating in the wine—the wealth of Chang'an was brewed with the people's hard-earned money.
As the banquet ended, Wang Maozhong held Song Jing's hand and said, "Prime Minister Song is truly as gentle as a spring breeze and as kind as a rain..." Before he could finish speaking, Song Jing had already withdrawn his hand, and the silver cloud pattern on his official robe gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
He gazed at the glass lamps filling the courtyard and suddenly remembered the wooden statues in front of the stoves of Guangzhou people—that was the place he should be.
In this city of Chang'an, the most man-eating creature is not tigers and wolves, but the gilded facade of respectability.
As Song Jing walked down Zhuque Street, his boots were covered in mud, making it seem as if he had trekked through the snow a thousand years ago.
The distant sound of drums shattered the glazed cover of a prosperous era.
Zi An waved his hand: "Can't you speak like a human being!"
Xiao Si immediately switched to a thick Northeastern accent and slapped his thigh:
"Oh my god, let me tell you, this Song Jing is such a hothead! He speaks his mind so bluntly, and as a result, he accidentally offended the emperor and was directly exiled to a remote area as a prefect. Guess what? Once this guy got there, it was like he had a cheat code! He was as honest as a cat that had just taken a bath, and he worked tirelessly to do good things for the people! A house caught fire? Impossible! Song Jing slapped his forehead and taught everyone how to build houses with bricks, and the fires immediately decreased by more than half. The people were overjoyed and kept calling him 'Song the Upright Official'!"
"Later, Song Jing was transferred to Guangzhou to serve as the governor."
Back then, people in Guangdong used thatch and bamboo to build houses, and as a result, they accidentally built a "Flaming Mountain" which burned down in a spectacular way!
When Song Jing saw this, he thought, "This won't do!" He quickly taught everyone how to build houses with bricks and tiles. Now, things were much better; there were fewer fires, and the people's lives were as sweet as honey!
Little Si spoke with great enthusiasm, gesturing as she spoke:
"Later, Song Jing became prime minister, which was quite an achievement! But his distant uncle, Song Yuanchao, tried to pull strings and went to the examiners, saying, 'Song Jing and I are relatives; you can decide what to do!' Upon hearing this, Song Jing immediately flew into a rage: 'Reject him! Don't give him any official position!'"
"Good heavens! This kinship policy really is 'family ties? Work permit it!' No ambiguity whatsoever!"
"And there's something even funnier! Emperor Xuanzong of Tang especially doted on a guy named Wang Maozhong. This guy used to be a household slave, but now he's doing very well."
When his daughter was getting married, Emperor Xuanzong asked him, "Is there anything you need?"
Wang Maozhong scratched his head and said, "We're just missing one guest." Emperor Xuanzong slapped his thigh: "That must be Song Jing!"
When Song Jing arrived, he gave Wang Maozhong a cold shoulder, creating an extremely awkward situation!
After Xiao Si finished speaking, he burst into laughter:
"This Song Jing, wherever he goes, it's like springtime—sunny, warm, and incredibly upright! He truly deserves the title of 'walking spring.' Everyone who sees him has to say, 'This guy is amazing!'"
When Song Jing finished writing "Ode to Plum Blossoms," before the ink was even dry, Pi Rixiu held the scroll of plain paper, his fingertips trembling slightly.
The handwriting on the paper was slender like plum branches, yet it exuded a chilling aura, as if it were a flower blooming from iron and stone.
"Her chaste bearing and resolute spirit, her unyielding demeanor and steadfast posture"—these eight characters, written on the paper, transformed a tough, unyielding man into a red plum blossom proudly blooming in the snow. However, the plum blossoms were so vibrant that it seemed as if the writing was dipped in blood.
On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, when Song Jing proposed changing "Duanwu" to "Duanwu" in front of the emperor, Emperor Xuanzong's expression changed.
The pomegranate flowers outside the hall were in full bloom, their red color resembling a basin of rouge splashed on them.
Song Jing's "clear and bright eyes" gazed at the emperor, and in a daze, he saw a golden silkworm wriggling under the dragon robe—this prosperous age was actually a brocade woven with countless "taboos," embroidered with some unspeakable dark patterns.
When he drank with Wang Jun, he often talked about interesting things that happened in the court.
Wang Jun laughed so hard he almost fell over, spilling wine from his cup onto his brocade robe, leaving dark stains that looked like bloodstains from years past.
Song Jing merely smiled with pursed lips, a flash of cold light passing through his eyes—how many unspoken words were hidden in that smile, even he himself probably couldn't count them all.
In Chang'an during the Tianbao era, even the wind carried a cloying, rotten sweetness.
On the day Ji Wen framed Song Hun, Song Jing was practicing calligraphy in his study, copying the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering".
The brush paused, and ink smeared onto the Xuan paper, resembling someone weeping. When Yan Zhenqing defended Song Hun in the palace, his voice was clear and resonant like a bell, making the bronze bells on the eaves jingle. Song Jing stood outside the palace, gazing at the setting sun, and suddenly recalled the scene many years ago when he wrote "Ode to Plum Blossoms"—the plum blossoms were truly beautiful then, but unfortunately, they could not withstand a spring rain.
After his death, someone found an unfinished notebook in his study.
On the last page, scrawled in scribbles, were the words: "A heart of iron and a spirit of stone, it turns out, is a lie. Even the proudest plum blossom cannot withstand a single spring breeze."
The handwriting was crooked, as if it had been written while drunk. However, the character for "drunk" was written very heavily, the ink penetrating the back of the paper and leaving a faint mark on the table, as if someone was sighing.
In this city of Chang'an, the most deceptive things are not the flowery lies, but the seemingly indestructible "iron hearts and stone intestines".
Song Jing's uprightness was originally a fortress built with countless unspoken "no"s, and how much softness was hidden inside was something even he himself dared not think about in detail.
Like the red plum blossoms on the branch, no matter how beautifully they bloom, they will eventually fall...