Chapter 245: Destroy the Family
Things turned out just as Sun Shaozong had expected. Governor Zhou sent people to the capital to report, and at the same time tried his best to invite the Korean envoy Li Enxian to attend the unveiling ceremony on March 9th.
Since Li Enxian was sent to pay tribute, he was naturally very familiar with the rules of the Great Zhou. He knew that Governor Zhou would never dare to let him enter Beijing without the consent from above, so he agreed to it.
The book does not elaborate.
A few days passed and it was the ninth day of the first lunar month.
Early that morning, colorful flags were flying and gongs and drums were beating outside the Governor's Mansion.
The dragon and lion dance teams, and the women with long flowing sleeves, mixed together, yet there was not the slightest sign of disorder. In the middle, there were thousands of firecrackers blasting in unison, which made the people in the city restless.
This was not only the case in front of the Governor's Mansion, but all businesses of a certain size in the city were also required to hang red and green decorations in front of their doors and set off firecrackers to celebrate the grand event of the governor's promotion from governor to governor.
How can all these things be described by the word "ambitious"?
But Governor Zhou used the excuse of "enhancing our country's prestige" this time, and no one dared to question him , especially the merchants in the city. In order to avoid being labeled as "stingy and harming the country", they gritted their teeth and threw the silver "into the water".
However, although the scale has been increased, it is still extremely boring in the eyes of Sun Shaozong - compared with the sound and light effects in modern society, these are really nothing at the moment.
As for the banquet at the Governor's Mansion...
How can the food cooked in that big pot be compared with the exquisite small stove in Wangjiang Tower?
Therefore, after arriving at the Governor's Mansion, Sun Shaozong became very listless. All he wanted to do was to return to the capital immediately after this farce was over to settle the situation, lest Qiu Yunfei could not hold on and really let Wei Ruolan seize the power.
Not to mention how Sun Shaozong was huddled in the corner, bored and lost in thoughts.
But it is said that Governor Zhou and the Korean envoy Li Enxian stood side by side under the plaque that had not yet been unsealed.
Since the North Korean upper class also used Chinese characters and spoke Chinese, there was no barrier to communication between them. So Governor Zhou pointed at the performances on the street and said a few words in a high-spirited manner, and Li Enxian nodded frequently with an envious look on his face.
Regardless of whether he was being polite or truly envious, Governor Zhou became more and more proud.
At this time, a group of young men dressed as big-headed dolls were seen, placing more than ten tables on the left and right, each piled up to two feet high, and using long bamboo poles to pick up three balls of embroidery, which attracted two lions with "silver heads, golden backs, red beards and flaming tails".
Governor Zhou saw this and knew that the climax of the performance was about to come, so he whispered a few words to Li Enxian. Li Enxian immediately widened his eyes and looked at the two lions without blinking.
The two lions were seen circling the "Table Mountain" for several circles, chasing, playing, running and jumping, just like real lions. Not to mention other people, even Sun Shaozong became interested and squeezed next to Zhao Wutong, craning his neck to watch.
After the two lions finished warming up the audience, they began to climb up the table in various ways, such as "standing on one leg, lion's tail curled up", which caused the people around to exclaim in surprise and cheer continuously, and even Li Enxian could not stop praising them.
Governor Zhou was even more proud, thinking that he had made the right decision by spending a large sum of money to hire the top lion dance troupe from Cangzhou Prefecture.
The two lions climbed to the top of the mountain respectively, and after showing off their skills, they suddenly stood up at the same time and "bit" the hydrangea on the long pole.
Not long after, a gong sounded below, and big red banners came out of the mouths of the two lions at the same time, which drew applause from the whole audience again.
When the banner was quickly unfolded, it turned out to be a couplet. The top line read: He is not a decent person, pretending to be Lei Gong, but lacking any real character!
After reading the first couplet, I felt that something was wrong. When I looked at the second couplet, it was even more unreliable: He is used to having private relationships, and he would try to make money. He has absolutely no conscience!
This seems...
Are you satirizing corrupt officials?
Even someone like Sun Shaozong, who had little knowledge, could understand the meaning of the couplet. Naturally, the civil servants at the gate of the Governor's Mansion were all furious.
Especially Governor Zhou, whose old face was almost as black as the ash at the bottom of a pot - just now he thought that it was a great thing that Li Enxian could speak Chinese and write Chinese characters, which would make it convenient for him to show off.
But now seeing this couplet, he wished that Li Enxian was blind - it would be best if he was really deaf and blind!
We can't go on like this!
Governor Zhou secretly signaled, and the clerk next to him stepped forward to stop the performance of the two lions.
However, with the gongs and drums being so loud, how could one hear clearly what the lion dancers were shouting on the table?
I had been struggling for it, and I had bitten the last hydrangea. After tearing it apart, I revealed the last horizontal scroll, which read "Destroy the whole family and get good luck" in large letters!
When Governor Zhou saw these four words, it was as if a ball of fire exploded in his chest. He no longer cared about his dignity and reservedness. He raised his hand and pointed at the table mountain and shouted: "Capture them, capture them, quickly... Capture these traitors for me! Traitors, traitors, they are really a group of traitors who don't know how to live or die!"
Seeing that he was shaking with anger, his subordinate officials also started to shout together. The officers and soldiers of the Governor's Office then realized that they were all illiterate. They rushed forward and surrounded the hundreds of people who were performing on the street.
Seeing the chaos in front of the Governor's Mansion, Zhao Wutong beside him was muttering something with a pale face.
Sun Shaozong poked him in the waist and asked, "This couplet is a satire on Governor Zhou, right?"
Zhao Wutong nodded in despair, and subconsciously explained: "This is a couplet composed of split characters. The first line '本非正人' is the character for '亻'; '装作雷公的样子' is the character for '雨'; '面字少三' is the character for '而'; together they form the character for '儒'."
"The second line, 'absolutely no conscience', is the character 'Gen', and when you add the character 'Mao' and separate them, it becomes the character 'Qing'."
"As for this horizontal banner..."
Sun Shaozong interrupted him and said, "Don't worry about the horizontal scroll. I can tell it's the word 'Zhou'."
The combination of the characters '门' and '吉' in '灭门大吉' forms the character '周'!
Sun Shaozong couldn't help but be a little surprised, because the Governor Zhou's name was exactly 'Zhou Ruqing'!
Not only did the couplet hint at his name, accusing him of being corrupt and unscrupulous , but it also ended with the four words "annihilate the entire Zhou family", cursing them all to be executed. No wonder Zhou Ruqing was so angry, completely ignoring the fact that the Korean envoy was right next to him.
He originally wanted to show off his power in foreign countries, but now he has brought shame upon himself abroad.
As long as there is even a trace of truth in the content of the couplet, Zhou Ruqing will probably be dismissed from office, and may even have to fulfill the curse of "annihilation of the entire family"!
I just don't know who came up with this wonderful couplet...
