Chapter 81

While having dinner, Chen Ke recounted the news he had heard to Wu Lang and Song Duanping. As for the little monk Xuanyu, he strictly adhered to the rule of not eating after noon and could not bear to see them indulging in meat and wine, so he sat in meditation under a tree in the courtyard. The tenth of the Twelve Ascetic Practices is called 'Tree Stop,' which means if one cannot attain enlightenment in the cemetery, one should go to the tree to contemplate and seek enlightenment. Upon hearing Chen Ke's words, Song Duanping was also surprised: "Oh, Uncle Chen is not far from Guangnan West Road, as he is an official in Hengzhou."

Chen Xiliang passed the imperial examination in the third rank in the first year of Huangyou and, according to custom, was appointed as a ninth-rank Censor of the Supreme Court, temporarily in charge of the administration of Changsha County. Last year, due to his meritorious service, he was promoted two years ahead of schedule to an eighth-rank Palace Attendant and transferred to be the magistrate of Hengyang County. Although he was still a county magistrate, the removal of the word 'temporary' meant he truly had authority.

The word 'temporary' means 'interim.' For those appointed for the first time, except for the top five in the imperial examination, they had to go through a probationary period without an official seal or signing authority. Only by removing the word 'temporary' did it signify becoming a formal official with the corresponding signing authority.

However, before he could be happy for long, a rebellion broke out, and Chen Ke became worried. "Hmm." Chen Ke nodded and said, "I heard that Hengzhou is a key point for traveling south to the two Guangs. My father must be very busy... Since we are already in Jingnan East Road, I want to go and see if I can help." He then said seriously, "But since there is a war, the journey might not be peaceful. So I hope you can take them to Yingzhou to find Mr. Sima."

"Heh..." Song Duanping, tall and thin, with a naturally smiling face, laughed and scolded, "What are you saying? Without us three bodyguards, you might be killed by bandits before reaching Hengyang." Wu Lang also firmly said, "If we go, we go together, or not at all!" "Right, among the four of us, who can you beat?" Song Duanping mercilessly mocked, "If you want to be a hero, it's not your turn!" "Damn..." Chen Ke felt utterly humiliated. Helplessly, he said, "If you want to go, go. But we should ask the little monk Xuanyu. Monks might not want to get involved in military affairs."

Song Duanping jumped up and said, "I'll go ask."

A short while later, he returned with an incredulous look and said, "Heh, this little monk is really something. Guess what he said?"

"What did he say?"

"He said the ninth of the Twelve Ascetic Practices is called 'Cemetery Residence,' also known as 'Corpse Forest Residence' or 'Residence Among the Dead.' It means living in a cemetery to see the decay of dead bodies, or to observe the impermanence and emptiness of life, to detach from the three realms." Song Duanping said incredulously, "From the look of it, even if we don't go, he will."

"Hehe, that's called devotion." Chen Ke laughed and said, "We'll be careful on the road; nothing will happen."

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The next day, when Chen Ke asked the innkeeper for directions, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed... Because from Yuezhou, one could take a boat through Dongting Lake and up the Xiang River directly to Hengzhou. And if they were willing to spend money, they could even take an official boat, which would be safe, fast, and worry-free, with no danger at all...

Although it was a mistake, safety was more important. The group checked out and went to the dock excitedly to board a boat.

But when they asked at the dock, they found out that the innkeeper's information was outdated. In the past, when times were peaceful, officials would earn extra money by letting people ride on the official boats. If there were empty cabins, one could even get a private room.

But now, with the war, a large amount of grain and military supplies needed to be transported to Lingnan. The official boats had to handle heavy transportation tasks and prevent spies from causing trouble, so they no longer took private passengers.

"There's no choice; we can only take a civilian boat." Song Duanping said somewhat dejectedly.

"Um," Chen Ke suddenly remembered something and took out a string of coins from his pocket, taking one and saying, "Let's try this. If it doesn't work, we'll have to take a civilian boat."

"What is it?" Song Duanping asked curiously.

"A fortune-teller gave it to me, saying it's very influential." Chen Ke touched the coin and said, "I just don't know if it's real."

"Let's try it."

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After a while, the four of them not only boarded the official boat but also got a cabin.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Song Duanping marveled, "It's really amazing..."

Chen Ke was also surprised, touching the six remaining coins in his pocket and thinking, "Yes, I didn't expect the official to recognize this thing." At this point, he was sure that the person he had drunk with the previous day was indeed Shao Yong.

It seems that people in any era have to give face to fortune-tellers.

Although they were allowed on the boat, to avoid unnecessary trouble, the four of them could not move around freely. They were confined until nightfall, and Chen Ke finally couldn't stand it: "I need to go out for some fresh air." They were staying in the lower deck's crew cabin, where the air was very stuffy.

"Be quick, I'll go when you come back," Song Duanping said.

"Okay." Chen Ke responded, pushed the door open, and walked up to the deck, taking deep breaths of fresh air.

While stretching his limbs, he looked around and saw a white figure doing the same.

The person seemed to notice and turned to look at Chen Ke, smiling at him. In the dark, he couldn't see the face clearly, only the white teeth.

"You came out for some fresh air too?" Worried about being exposed, Chen Ke said casually, "The moon is really full tonight."

The person clearly paused, looked up at the sky, and realized it was the thirtieth of the month, and there was no moon.

"My name is Chen Ke, from Sichuan. What's your honorable surname, and where are you from?" Chen Ke took the opportunity to get closer, thinking, if we get to know each other, you won't feel comfortable reporting on me.

"Me..." The person's voice seemed to be that of a young man of similar age.

"Just the two of us, who else could it be?"

"My surname is Zhao, from Tokyo Bianliang." The person thought for a moment and answered truthfully.

"Ha, the imperial surname," Chen Ke said, though there were many people surnamed Zhao, and the court wouldn't give you a penny just because you shared the same surname as the emperor. But he pretended to praise, "That's great!"

"What's good about being surnamed Zhao..." The person sighed, seemingly with deep feelings.

"How is it not good? It's the first in the Hundred Family Surnames, and you can pretend to be related to the royal family."

"I don't need to pretend." The person laughed bitterly and didn't say more.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

I can't hold out any longer, I've dozed off a few times. I'll post two thousand now and four thousand tomorrow at noon.

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