Volume One: The Woman and the Peach Blossom Pin
In the east there is a marsh called Tai Huang.
In the legend of this continent, the Great Wilderness is a strange, closed, backward, mysterious, swampy, beast-ridden, naked men and women**, people eating raw meat and drinking blood... Barbaric land.
Four-sided swamp, flying birds can't cross the terrain, making this vast territory isolated from other countries' sight. The surrounding Great Yan, Dong Tang, and Southern Qi countries are full of curiosity and ambition towards this mysterious land, but cannot enter its gates.
It's not that no country has ever thought of conquering Daxiazai, after all, the area it occupies far exceeds that of any current country.
Of course, dignified and glorious countries will not easily covet others' territory. They have even more dignified and glorious reasons.
"People of neighboring countries trapped in the swamp, you must be hungry and cold, yearning for a free and prosperous life outside! Now, we have come to rescue you!"
The vassal state of Great Yan, Yunlei City has arrived!
The Western Barbarians subordinate to Southern Qi have arrived!
They passionately shouted to the other side of the marsh, expressing their good intentions to save the people of the Great Wilderness from a life of water and fire. After greeting a few frogs and snakes, they marched into the Great Wilderness in a mighty manner.
The next day, in the vast swamp, the invaders retreated in disarray, leaving behind countless natural human sculptures.
The soldiers had only entered the vast marsh for three miles when they were first driven back by the poisonous fire swamp, and then frozen in place by the eerie ice swamp. Those black crystal-like ice swamps were beautiful, illusory, and shimmered with a dazzling seven-colored halo under the sunlight. However, as soon as the soldiers' boots stepped onto the ice surface, they heard a faint cracking sound, and a massive suction force tightly grasped their feet, accompanied by a chill that instantly rose from the soles of their feet to their hearts, ending their lives with a snap.
In the end, thousands of people stood on that black land in various eternal motion postures, permanently warning all potential invaders.
From then on, the Great Wilderness around was quiet.
The rulers of various countries all rolled up their sleeves and found excuses for themselves to step down.
"It doesn't matter which country it is, they're all just a bunch of savages!"
"Eat raw flesh and drink blood! Brothers share wives!"
"Brothers share wives! Fathers and sons also share wives!"
"Not only shared wives but also shared husbands! Sisters share a husband! Mothers and daughters share a husband! Aunts and nieces all share a husband!"
"The country's power is lagging behind! The government is incompetent! The people are hungry and cold, one set of clothes for the whole family to wear! Pitiful!"
"What's going on when I go out and hit the streets?"
"Get out!"
"Ah ah ah, it must be a lot, I want to go see——"
……
The clamorous wind sound, drifted over the gray-black marsh, gradually went far.
The rulers of various countries cannot enter the Great Wilderness, and when they think about it, this eerie terrain is also unable to be exited by the people of the Great Wilderness, seemingly posing no threat. After all, it's just a poor place with swamps everywhere, even if the territory is large, taking it over doesn't seem to have any benefits?
Human sculptures on the ice marsh of Da Huangze, standing for years without anyone collecting the bodies. The people of Da Huangze seem to not mind having a group of living sculptures at their doorstep. Occasionally, when something big happens and the whole country is celebrating, they will come out and decorate these ice sculptures with red and colorful decorations.
On a certain day in a certain month of a certain year.
In the depths of the vast wilderness, a loud cannon sounded, and a large crowd surged out, jubilantly decorating the group of sculptures with fresh flowers and colorful ribbons. The silk ribbons were exquisite, the floral patterns intricate, and would be worth thousands of dollars in any country. Yet here, they were casually draped over a group of "human sculptures".
"Haha, Right Nation Master has taken his position, we're going to have a new king, let's celebrate!"
People danced, sang and drank around the flower-adorned sculptures, played guessing games, gambled and stole kisses. When it was all over, they dispersed in a hurry, leaving only the sculptures standing coldly on the icy marsh.
The flowers gradually withered and fell, leaving a ground of dry yellow curled leaves.
Silk brocade was soaked and eroded by wind and rain, tattered like a spider web, fluttering in the wind.
After some time had passed.
One day, a loud cannon sounded again in the depths of the vast wilderness, and cheers shook the sky. A group of people came out with joy, tearing off the remaining flowers and tattered silk from the sculpture and replacing them with more expensive and exquisite silk fabrics.
"Haha, Right State Preceptor has helped establish a new king! The State Preceptor is beautiful and wise! The queen comes from a wealthy family! Congratulations! Congratulations!"
Some silk fabrics were blown away by the wind and picked up by hunters outside, who took them to sell for money. The people of Da Huang Ze knew about it, made a hissing sound, and threw out even more silk fabrics, hanging them on the crotches of the sculptures.
"Those foolish people outside, can't eat their fill or dress warmly, it's really pitiful, let's help the poor! Let's help the poor!"
Some more days passed.
One day, the deep swamp of Da Huang Ze was shaken again by the sound of firecrackers, and more people came out to set off fireworks in front of the sculptures. The ice swamp shook off a lot of eggs, which rolled around making a rattling sound.
"Haha, Master Guo has taken a liking to the Queen! Marry her, marry her! Celebrate, celebrate!"
Some more days passed.
A large crowd surged out...
"Haha, the queen is pregnant! Come on, give birth quickly! Celebrate, celebrate!"
"Hurray for you, the queen isn't married to the national teacher yet! It's all over!"
Some more days passed.
A large crowd walked out solemnly with their heads bowed, holding white flowers and white silk, which were draped over the sculptures at the entrance.
The long white silk fluttered in the wind, like the clear and cold eyes of the Right Nation Master, covering the vast wilderness.
"The Queen is dead!"
"According to national customs, we should look for the reincarnated queen now!"
"The Left Imperial Tutor gazed at the stars at night, divined the hexagrams and inquired of Heaven, and obtained the heavenly mandate indicating the rebirth of the Female Emperor!"
"The Right State Preceptor said that the Left State Preceptor farted. This generation of queen bears guilt and sin, committing adultery and being punished by heaven, will not be reborn!"
"The Left Imperial Tutor said that if there is guilt until death, it will be settled with one stroke. The heavenly mandate indicates that it cannot be disobeyed!"
"Right Country Master also divined the hexagrams to ask heaven, and listed out the location of the reincarnated queen... Wow, great Yan! The ladle of the Big Dipper, 100 miles south. At that time, the sky was filled with thunder and lightning, the earth sank into a huge pit, precious stones were all over the ground, flying discs floated in mid-air, and a woman appeared, naked with black silk, born from the crack in the sky... Hey, is this human or god? Can you say it's possible?"
"It's impossible. So Master Guo agreed for us to go find him?"
"Oh... just looking around?"
"Right, just take a look."
"Then... look for it?"
"Hmm, let me look for it."
"How long have you been looking?"
"Just go around and come back, my seventh concubine is asking me to buy some red ginseng in Dayan."
"Is there good stuff in that poor place?"
"A basket of gems can buy a better one, right? Anyway, we're not short of money."
"Let's just consider it as helping with poverty alleviation then."
"Go, find the new queen reincarnated!"
……
