322 Zhancui Mourning Garments
Xiao Se took a flying leap and jumped from the pavilion to the thousand-gold terrace.
"Catch." Xie Yanshu gave a light push at the long sword at his waist, and the long sword flew out of its sheath towards Xiao Se. Xiao Se held the wine flask in his left hand and caught the sword in his right hand. He seemed to casually swipe the air with the long sword before tossing it away. The sword fell neatly back into Xie Yanshu's sheath.
Xiao Se landed steadily, raised his wine flask and drank another sip.
The curtain behind the thousand-gold terrace finally fell as it was cut by Xiao Se’s sword, slowly revealing the scene behind it before all the guests.
What was hanging there was not a beautiful landscape painting, nor was it a magnificent sculpture.
It was only one word. A word in black on a white background. Grave and solemn, sending a chill through everyone who looked at it.
Funeral. (奠)
"Your Highness!" Xuan Tong whispered to Xiao Chong.
"What is it?" Xiao Chong had also noticed the change in the atmosphere in the hall.
"Yong'an Prince used his sword to cut open the curtain and behind it, on another curtain was written the word ‘dian’." Xuan Tong looked left, right and one whole round. "Would you like to leave?"
Outside Grand Golden Terrace, there were many personal soldiers from the White Prince Residence lying in wait. As long as Xuan Tong sent a signal, no matter who was sitting in the hall, they would charge in without hesitation.
Xiao Chong shook his head. "Wait a little."
"Let's go." Lei Wujie, Sikong Qianluo, and Ye Ruoyi also walked out of the pavilion in the air, leaped up and landed beside Xiao Se. Only Tiannü Rui remained standing where she was, a frown furrowing her brows, looking like she didn’t understand what they were planning.
On the gambling terrace constructed of a thousand gold, Xiao Se was dressed in his fine brocade robes as he looked down at the guests below the terrace exchanging whispers. Suddenly, he raised his arms and shouted, "Stop!"
Behind him, his companions who were also dressed in brocade robes, also shouted in response, "Stop!"
The entire hall fell silent and all the guests were stunned. They stared at Xiao Se with wide eyes, not knowing what he was going to do.
After they heard that shout of "stop", Xiao Se made a sharp movement with his hand, pulled off the brand new brocade robe from his body and threw it on the ground. Underneath, he was wearing a full body of clothes made of hemp.
The other Snow Moon City disciples also followed the same action, and threw the brocade robes they were wearing on the ground.
Lei Wujie also yelled angrily, and his red clothes were torn into shreds and fell to the ground.
The hemp they were wearing were all made of the coarsest raw hemp and the edges were all unhemmed. They were wearing mourning clothes.
Lanyue Marquis frowned slightly and looked at Qi Tianchen. "Zhancui?"
Zhancui, the gravest of the five mourning garments. Only an heir paying homage to the Emperor, a servant to his lord, a man and unmarried daughters to their father, the eldest grandson to his grandfather, and the wives and concubines to their husbands, would wear zhancui clothes when their closest relative passed away.
And in Heavenly Revelations, wearing zhancui clothes was a big deal. The previous grandmaster of the Directorate of Astronomy stipulated a rule that prolonged grieving would affect the fate of the country so there must be prudence with wearing zhancui. Hence, in order to wear zhancui clothes, one required the approval of the Directorate of Astronomy and after that, to borrow the zhancui mourning garments from the Directorate of Astronomy. Commoners were not allowed to privately fabricate zhancui clothes. Therefore, the zhancui clothes that Xiao Se and the others were wearing must have been bestowed by the Directorate of Astronomy.
Qi Tianchen sighed. "Although I lent them to him, I didn’t say he could wear it out here right in front of everyone."
Taking the lead, Xiao Se raised the wine flask in his hand, and the people behind him raised their voices together, their voices full of sorrow. The sixteen of them, along with Lei Wujie and Ye Ruoyi, all drew the long swords at their waists. Sikong Qianluo waved her right hand and raised her long spear high into the air.
"Your Highness!" Xuan Tong said anxiously, "We should leave first."
Xiao Chong heard the crisp sound of drawing swords, and shook his head. "There are hundreds of court officials and all the noble families of Heavenly Revelations here. He wouldn’t dare to do anything."
Xiao Yu sneered and looked up at the terrace. "If you could see the current situation, you will know exactly what he dares to do. This is not much worse than drawing his sword and killing his way to the Hall of Supreme Peace."
"Sword, rise." Lei Wujie shouted furiously. With his sword, he leaped up and flipped over in the air. Ye Ruoyi also leaped up together with him, and the sword in her hand crossed with Lei Wujie’s.
The sixteen Snow Moon City disciples raised their swords at the same time, and each pair stood with their swords crossed. Each rise and fall of their swords were like butterflies that flitted from flower to flower, their steps light and graceful as peerless dancers. In the midst of their swords swinging back and forth as the blades flashed with lights like falling stars, a rumbling sound of a drum sounded…
Where was the drum?
On the terrace was a large red-coloured drum as tall as a man. Sikong Qianluo jumped up and stood on top of the large drum. Her spear danced, and with every move, she struck heavily on that large drum!
The sound was like thunder, sending a shockwave over ten miles!
On the pavilion, the lady who was playing the qin was already sweating profusely while trying to keep up with the tempo of the drum. The lady playing the xiao was tottering on the verge of collapse, while the lady playing the pipa had broken two of the strings and faint cracks had appeared on the jade flute. But they didn't stop, they were unable to stop, the sorrowful sword aura and the drawn out drumming were forcing them to use more energy, more and more energy!
"What is this?" Grand Preceptor Dong felt his heart beating faster and faster. It had been a long time since he felt his blood surge through his body.
Lanyue Marquis said solemnly, "Sword Dance."
Xiao Se held up the wine flask and took a few steps forward.
He looked like an actor who had gotten drunk and arrived late, yet would eventually sparkle brilliantly on stage. He raised his wine and sung:
"Dew on scallion leaves, dry easily in the sun. The dew that dried up today will form again tomorrow, but once a person died, there’s no coming back."
"Who lives in Haoli? The souls who rest there, whether virtuous or foolish, are equal after death. Why is Death so impatient for the living? Never granting long life or a moment of hesitation."
"Dew on scallion leaves, dry easily in the sun. The dew that dried up today will form again tomorrow, but once a person died, there’s no coming back!" Lei Wujie and Ye Ruoyi sheathed their swords and sang together with Xiao Se!
"Who lives in Haoli? The souls who rest there, whether virtuous or foolish, are equal after death. Why is Death so impatient for the living? Never granting long life or a moment of hesitation!" Xiao Se turned around, looking completely intoxicated.
The sixteen Snow Moon City disciples sheathed their swords, and Sikong Qianluo withdrew her spear, still standing on top of the drum. The four musician ladies also stopped. Tiannü Rui stood in the pavilion, already moved to the point where her entire body was trembling.
The song had ended, but something was still missing!
What was missing?
The entire hall was silent, and Xiao Se exhaled a sigh.
"Dew on scallion leaves, dry easily in the sun. The dew that dried up today will form again tomorrow, but once a person died, there’s no coming back."
"Who lives in Haoli? The souls who rest there, whether virtuous or foolish, are equal after death. Why is Death so impatient for the living? Never granting long life or a moment of hesitation."
All of them sang slowly in unison.
Three repetitions of the elegies.
The first expressed grief.
The second expressed anger.
The third to rest in peace.
Xiao Se poured the remaining wine in the flask on the ground. His face was already covered with tears, but still, he endured his grief. "Just as all of you wished, I will use blood to dye this Heavenly Revelations City crimson red!"
Xiao Yu scoffed once, Xiao Chong swayed slightly, and Xuan Tong immediately held him tightly.
The entire hall of guests finally realised Xiao Se’s true purpose. He would not negotiate terms with them, nor even exchange greetings with them.
Because this banquet was actually just a funeral.
"Da-shixiong. Rest in peace," Xiao Se whispered as he wiped away his tears.
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Note about the mourning clothes:
斩衰 Zhancui
Zhancui is the gravest among the five mourning garments (wufu 五服) and signifies a mourning period of 3 years, though in actual practice, it’s not exactly 3 years. Literally, ‘zhan’ means “to cut,” and ‘cui’ designates “humble clothes for mourning.” Thus, in the context of the mourning ritual, ‘zhancui’ refers to the unhemmed garment made of rough cut fabric like sackcloth. The implication is that the death of the closest family member, such as a parent, does not afford a psychological state for hemming the cloth, so the son wears the ‘unhemmed sackcloth’ to represent the intensity and depth of his grief.
*
Poetry note:
薤上露，何易晞。露晞明朝更复落，人死一去何时归。
Dew on scallion leaves, dry easily in the sun. The dew that dried up today will form again tomorrow, but once a person died, there’s no coming back.
蒿里谁家地，聚敛魂魄无贤愚，鬼伯一何相催促，人命不得少踟蹰。
Who lives in Haoli? The souls who rest there, whether virtuous or foolish, are equal after death. Why is Death so impatient for the living? Never granting long life or a moment of hesitation.
Xiao Se’s elegies are from two different poems. The first one is 《薤露》 (Scallion Dew) and the second one is 《蒿里》 (Haoli). Both are unattributed poems from the Western Han dynasty and are elegies that express condolences to the deceased. Mount Haoli is located just south of Mount Tai and is said to be where the dead are buried. Hence, it became a name associated with the Underworld where souls lived.