Chapter Eighteen: What is the Explanation for Longing's Bitterness?

  Bao Zheng and the others nodded, Bao Zheng slapped the alarm wood and shouted, "Zhang QingSong, you go down first, tomorrow, this court will set out to Chenzhou, must help you redress grievances, rescue your daughter, go down first!"

  Zhang Qing-song hastily knelt down on the ground, "Thank you, sir. In Chenzhou this year, there was a severe drought and no harvest. Many people starved to death. Anle Hou in Chenzhou Prefecture harmed the local people, exploited them like fish and meat, causing widespread mourning and unbearable suffering. Please, sir, take charge for the people of Chenzhou!"

  Bao Zheng sighed, "You don't have to say more. This official will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly when I go to Chen Prefecture. If it's true, then the Marquis of Anle will certainly not be able to escape the law!"

  "Thank you, sir!" Zhang Qing said with a smile!

  He raised an eyebrow and furrowed his brow. This person surprisingly spoke with eloquence, every word was idiomatic, not like an ordinary old man at all! Could it be that there's some hidden situation here?!

  "Go and take a rest!" Bao Gong nodded slightly!

  Zhan Zhao paused for a moment, thinking deeply in his heart. The Chen Zhou case was something he had to go to, and it might not be as simple as it seemed!

  "Lord Bao!" Zhan Zhao spoke up, "May I ask Lord Bao, how will the personnel be arranged for this trip to Chenzhou?"

  Bao Zheng hesitated for a moment and said, "Of course, just follow the team, then Ma Han will follow suit!"

  Gongsun Ce's eyes narrowed, and a hint of sharpness flashed through them!

  "Your subordinate is going to Chenzhou!" Zhang Zhao said respectfully!

  "What!?" Bao Gong's face showed surprise, and he said, "This is not possible. Zhang Heng's body has not fully recovered yet, how can he follow us to Chenzhou?!"

  Zhan Zhao Wei smiled slightly, "Alright then, if that's the case, I won't go!"

  As soon as this was said, everyone was shocked. They thought Zhan Zhao would argue strongly for going to Chenzhou, but instead he suddenly said he wouldn't go?

  "Dismissed!" Zhan Zhao smiled and directly walked out, went into his own room, and lay down on the bed.

  Even if you don't let me go, can I not go by myself? Two days later, all the toxins in my body will be completely eliminated. At that time, I'll be a good man again. Oh right, I also need to call Bai Haozi, heh heh!

  However, it seems like only one night has passed, and the injuries on my body have all disappeared. They said that my chest was pierced by the giant sword, but why did such a severe injury heal in just one night? That Zhuge Xingli left really quickly, and many questions were not explained clearly before he directly disappeared. Alas, could it be because of this silver ornament again!?

  Zhan Zhao took out the silver ornament from his chest, looked at it for a few moments, and let out a helpless sigh. Alright, I admit it, I don't understand many things. Although someone might have understood, they explained some insignificant things and then disappeared. Could it be that he had me and Bai Haozi go to Mount Shu in Sichuan to find him just to clarify these matters? But why didn't he say it clearly? Is there some heavenly secret that can't be revealed?

  He silently shook his head, and Xian Zhao lightly smiled, looked up at the ceiling of the room, and fell into a daze.

  Suddenly Zhan Zhao silently covered his heart with his hand, and I thought of her again!

  Zhan Zhao closed his eyes, and when he woke up, he didn't say anything. However, at the moment when everyone thought he was going to die, he truly felt it - as if he had been floating in the clouds and fog all along. Ahead of him lay a bright and clear path that stretched far into the distance, seemingly leading to infinity. It seemed to have an irresistible allure, drawing him towards that road...

  He seemed to be drifting in a direction he had no control over, as if unstoppable...

  At the end of the road, a pure and lovely girl looked at him with a sweet smile, softly calling his name, making him want to hold her tightly in his arms!

  However, at that time, a mysterious force bound him, preventing him from walking towards that bright and clean path!

  Between the irresistible temptation and the power that bound him, he felt as if he had been suspended for a long time. Finally, it was the binding force that pulled him back. He turned his head around, and then suddenly felt a sharp pain all over his body, and woke up!

  Really...

  Zhan Zhao murmured the girl's name in a dreamy tone, his heart filled with bittersweet tenderness. Since coming to this world, he had always forced himself not to think about it, but when he thought he was going to die, the bound thoughts finally turned into a flood, bursting through the dam in his heart. Now, once again, he thought of her!

  "Under the Phoenix Mountain, there is a green moss temple in the east. I remember that at first, with Jade Person, we had an intimate and joyful small banquet. At dusk, wind and rain came, people scattered and didn't return home, curtains rolled up, lamp fires trembled, and lovely faces blushed."

  "Don't come with a worn-out face, yet I'm worried endlessly. The passion for music and wine has faded, not just my appearance has changed. Now the peach blossoms are in bloom, on the lake, drifting away at dusk, under the blue sky, far from the green mountains. Wishing to see you, but there's no way to see you."

  Zhan Zhao murmured silently, reciting Xu Zhi's "Boluo Brook". In his past life, he would occasionally flip through this poem, but only superficially understood it. He never truly grasped the longing and sorrow in Xu Zhi's words. But now, as he silently recited it, his heart suddenly stirred, as if a resonance had been awakened deep within his soul!

  The green mountain is far away. I wish to see you but there's no reason to see you!

  "What a green mountain, far and near, I want to see you without reason. Even if I am separated from you by thousands of mountains and rivers, even if I have no reason to see you, as long as I know where you are, I will not hesitate to meet you! But now, fate is playing tricks on me, this traversal through the ages has changed everything, and yet it makes me wonder where to find you!"

  Up above, the blue sky is lost in the void; down below, the Yellow Springs are hidden from view. The heavens and earth are vast and boundless, with no signs of either to be seen!

  The room was a bit dim, and Zhan Zhao's heart also sank slowly. My lover from the previous life, how are you doing now?

  I miss you, my longing is like the wisteria entwining a tree, growing luxuriantly in the spring rain, and you are the evergreen tree in my heart.

  In my thoughts, I asked the wild geese a thousand times, ten thousand times; I asked the bright moon, I asked the spring breeze: May the wild geese bring my longing to you; may the bright moon bring my greetings to you; may the spring breeze send my concern to you!

  Your face appears before me once again, still so familiar and beautiful, yet impossible to get close to, just like the stars in the sky.

  Since I came here, I have never dreamed of you. I forced myself not to think of you, I really didn't dare to think of you!

  Actually, I'm really resentful - why did heaven create you and also create me? Why did it make us meet but then have me cross over a thousand years, never to see each other again for eternity?

  Endless longing in one word, how can it express all the entwining thoughts?

  Mountains and rivers can separate people from each other, yet there will always be a day when they meet again. But why is it that you and I have become mere passersby in the expanse of time?

  Zhan Zhao let out a soft sigh, raised his hand, and wiped it from the corner of his eye. His fingers were already stained with moisture, and a hint of calmness flashed in his eyes!

  Really... I love...