infodatos Chapter 83 Absurd Imperial Edict: Granting the Old Servant Permission to Leave the Mountain
Chapter 83 Absurd Imperial Edict: Granting the Old Servant Permission to Leave the Mountain
Chapter 84 Absurd Imperial Edict: Granting the Old Servant Permission to Leave the Mountain
"Boy—no, Master Lu."
"Your skill is superb. It combines strength with softness, and softness with hidden strength. You've truly mastered the art of internal martial arts."
Lu Cheng smiled slightly and reached out to take the two jars of Shaoxing wine, intending to help this "new coach" carry them.
"Then, Mr. Tong, shall we leave now?"
however.
Just as Lu Cheng's fingers were about to touch the wine jar, a chubby, oily hand pressed down firmly on the lid of the wine jar.
"Wait a minute."
Tong Sanjin's voice changed.
It was no longer the playful banter of before, nor the slickness of a seasoned veteran.
Instead, it exudes a profound, even somewhat stubborn, tendency to get stuck on a single point.
He looked up, and his eyes, which were squeezed into slits by fat, were now red.
"Master Lu, I admire your kung fu."
"This wine is good wine. This meat is also good meat."
"But this person—I cannot go with you."
Lu Cheng's hand froze in mid-air, his eyebrows slightly raised: "What does Master Tong mean by this? We just made a bet, and a bet is a bet, that's the rule of the underworld."
"rule?"
Tong Sanjin gave a bitter laugh, his fat body trembling and rippling.
He suddenly reached out and pointed to the back of his head.
There, it was bare except for a few sparse white hairs, damp from the steam.
"Mr. Lu, look here, what's missing?"
Lu Cheng was silent for a moment, then uttered a single word: "Pigtail."
"Yes, braids!"
Tong Sanjin slapped his thigh hard, splashing water everywhere.
"In the third year of the Xuantong reign, the Qing Dynasty fell. That day, I cut off my queue, which I had kept for forty years, outside the Shenwu Gate."
"I am the top wrestler of the Shanpu Camp, I am paid by the emperor, and I am a servant who wrestles to amuse the emperor."
"I swore an oath that day."
Tong Sanjin's voice was choked with emotion, sounding particularly out of place and out of place in the noisy bathhouse.
"In this life, I, Tong Sanjin, will only sell all my skills to the imperial family."
"The Qing Dynasty has fallen, the Emperor is gone, and my martial arts skills have died with it."
"I'd rather spend my whole life scrubbing mud off ordinary people in this bathhouse, even if I starve to death, than ever pass on this royal skill to—the commoners."
These words were extremely harsh, even carrying a stale and rotten stench.
But this is a tragedy unique to that era.
He didn't really think the Qing Dynasty was any better; he was trapped in that "identity," clinging to those ridiculous and pathetic "rules," like guarding an empty grave.
Lu Feng, who was listening nearby, couldn't stand it anymore and his temper flared up instantly.
"Hey, you fat old man, you're asking for it, aren't you?"
"Bullshit! The Qing Dynasty has been gone for eight hundred years! Are you still dreaming? This is the Republic of China. My master only invited you because he thinks highly of you, and you're already putting on airs?"
"Lu Feng, shut up."
Lu Cheng stopped his apprentice.
He looked at Tong Sanjin with no mockery in his eyes, but rather a hint of pity.
This old man wasn't faking it; he genuinely "locked" himself up. If you can't unlock your heart, you can't take your body with you when you die.
"Master Tong".
Lu Cheng sat down again, his tone calm, as if he were talking to a lost old man.
"You're particular about 'rules,' that's true."
"But have you ever considered that although that person has abdicated, he—is still here?"
Tong Sanjin stiffened, his eyes glazing over.
"So what if he is? The Emperor is living a secluded life in Jingyuan, Tianjin, and I've heard he can't even support his entire family. How could he possibly care about an old cripple like me?"
"if----"
Lu Cheng leaned forward slightly, staring into Tong Sanjin's eyes.
"What if I could persuade you to give me an order?"
"What?!"
The pork knuckle in Tong Sanjin's hand fell into the bathwater with a "plop".
He stared at Lu Cheng with wide eyes, as if he had heard something out of the blue.
"Mr. Lu, you—you're not making fun of this old man, are you?"
"The Emperor's decree? That's an imperial edict! How could someone like us possibly obtain it by begging?"
"Besides, you're just an opera singer—even if you're good at martial arts, that's that guy, not the performer!"
Lu Cheng did not explain.
He simply pulled something out of his pocket.
It was a pocket watch. It had a gold case and a coiled dragon pattern engraved on the back.
This is a little trinket that Puyi gave him privately after he sang "Si Lang Visits His Mother" at Prince Chun's Mansion last time, saying it was a keepsake.
"Master Tong has a sharp eye, he should recognize this, right?"
Tong Sanjin came from the palace, so he naturally had a good eye. He trembled as he leaned closer to take a look, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"This is a gift from the Emperor. The dragon pattern on it is the work of the Imperial Household Department."
"Master Tong".
Lu Cheng put away his pocket watch, stood up, and his long robe fluttered in the wind.
"You just wait here."
"The bath isn't even fully soaked yet, and the wine isn't finished."
"Remember to fill Master Tong's glass."
"I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" Tong Sanjin stammered.
Lu Cheng turned around, a helpless smile on his lips.
"Go and get you that 'key' to unlock the door!"
After leaving Tsinghua Pool, Lu Cheng did not go to Tianjin.
He knew that Puyi had just returned to Beiping to pay respects to his ancestors and was staying at the Prince Chun's Mansion near Shichahai.
The wheels rolled and came to a stop at the side gate of the Prince's Mansion.
The old eunuch Su, who once drove Lu Cheng's carriage and played the erhu, was standing at the door basking in the sun, holding a pair of scissors in his hand, trimming the flower branches.
Upon seeing Lu Cheng arrive, a smile immediately spread across Eunuch Su's clean, beardless old face.
"Hey, Mr. Lu, what brings you here?"
"Eunuch Su."
Lu Cheng didn't stand on ceremony. He got out of the car and cupped his hands in greeting.
"I have urgent business and would like to see you, sir."
"this----"
Eunuch Su was somewhat embarrassed. "Master is in a bad mood today. He's in his study writing to vent his frustrations and says he won't see anyone."
"Sir, please inform him."
Lu Cheng took out a silver note from his sleeve, which he had prepared beforehand, and quietly slipped it into Eunuch Su's hand.
"Just say—it's about an old friend from the palace's wrestling corps, and you want to ask for the master's instructions."
Eunuch Su squeezed the silver note and raised an eyebrow.
"The Shanpu Camp? That's a cold, abandoned place that's been abandoned for eight hundred years—alright, for Boss Lu's sake, I'll risk my life to report it."
A moment later, in Baohantang Study.
Pu Yi, dressed in a gray robe, was standing in front of his desk, wielding his brush and ink.
What he wrote was not some grand strategy for governing the country and ensuring its stability, but rather four words: "not in control of one's own destiny."
His handwriting was messy, revealing a restless and impatient nature.
"Mr. Lu?"
Upon seeing Lu Cheng enter, Pu Yi put down his pen, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and gave a wry smile.
"What, what new show are you going to put on for me today? Or are you here to see me, this caged bird, make a fool of myself?"
"You flatter me, sir."
Lu Cheng bowed, his expression solemn.
"I've come today to ask you for a favor, sir."
"help?"
Pu Yi was taken aback, then laughed self-deprecatingly.
"I am a deposed emperor, powerless and without influence, unable even to control my own freedom. How could I possibly help you, the renowned Master Lu of Beiping?"
"Only you, sir, can help with this."
Lu Cheng stepped forward and recounted the whole story of Tong Sanjin in Qinghua Pool.
It tells the story of how the old wrestler spent his days scrubbing people in a bathhouse, and how he stubbornly upheld his vow to "only serve the imperial family" and refused to leave the mountain.
As he listened, the self-deprecating smile on Puyi's face disappeared.
Instead, there was a deep sense of emotion and a touch of helpless bitterness.
"Tong Sanjin————"
Pu Yi muttered to himself, seemingly recalling that name.
"I—I remember him."
"When I was a child, I was riding a horse in the Imperial Garden. The horse got spooked and almost threw me off. A big fat guy rushed up and knocked the horse over with his shoulder, saving my life."
"So—he's still alive."
"Moreover, they are still adhering to the rules from back then."
Pu Yi's eyes reddened.
In this era, even he himself sometimes felt that the identity of the emperor was a joke. Yet, in the very corners of society, there were still people who took this joke as their lifelong belief.
This kind of blind loyalty, though absurd, is also heartbreaking.
"Mr. Lu."
Pu Yi raised his head and looked at Lu Cheng.
"What do you want me to do?"
"I would like to ask you to write him a note."
Lu Cheng said in a deep voice.
"No need for any formal edict, just your word."
"Let him... disperse."
"Tell him that since he's gone early this morning, he shouldn't let his skills rot in the bathhouse. He should pass them down so that future generations can remember them. That way, his training won't have been in vain."
"good!"
Pu Yi did not hesitate at all, and even seemed a little anxious.
He walked to his desk, spread out a brand new sheet of Xuan paper, picked up his brush, and dipped it in thick ink.
This time, his hand did not shake.
His handwriting was no longer sloppy.
He seemed to have rediscovered a trace of warmth from years past, a final pity for an old servant.
He picked up the pen, then put it down.
There are only eight large characters.
By the grace of Heaven, permission is granted to leave the mountain.
After finishing writing, he took out the personal seal he always carried with him from his pocket—"Imperial Seal of Emperor Xuantong".
"Snapped!"
It was heavily stamped on the signature area.
The vermilion inkpad looked particularly glaring on the rice paper.
"Take it."
Pu Yi held up the still-wet ink "imperial edict" with both hands and handed it to Lu Cheng, a bitter smile appearing on his lips.
Tell Tong Sanjin.
"I have granted him leave."
"Let him be a proper citizen of the Republic of China from now on, and stop guarding this empty grave for me."
Lu Cheng took the light piece of paper, but it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
This is an absurd imperial edict.
It is also a way to put an end to the old era.
Thank you.
Lu Cheng bowed deeply, turned around, and strode away.
When I returned to Tsinghua Pool, it was already dusk.
There were fewer people in the bathhouse, but the heat hadn't dissipated yet.
Tong Sanjin was still sitting by the small warm pool.
The jar of Shaoxing wine was empty. He was completely drunk, his face flushed, and he was snoring loudly by the edge of the pool.
The men around him didn't dare to chase him away, all knowing that this gentleman was waiting for a big shot today.
"Master Tong".
A soft call.
-
Tong Sanjin suddenly woke up with a start, his fat body shuddering.
He opened his drowsy, drunken eyes and saw Lu Cheng standing in front of him.
In Lu Cheng's hands was a scroll wrapped in yellow silk cloth.
"Master Lu—you're back?"
Tong Sanjin had a lisp and a dazed look in his eyes.
"You just said you went to ask for something—did you get it?"
Lu Cheng remained silent.
With a solemn expression, he held the scroll in both hands and slowly unrolled it.
"Tong Sanjin, receive the imperial decree."
Although the sound wasn't loud, it felt like a thunderbolt to Tong Sanjin.
He sobered up instantly.
He looked at the scroll.
Looking at the familiar official script calligraphy above.
Looking at that bright red, glaring "Imperial Writing of the Xuantong Emperor" seal.
"This—this is—"
Tong Sanjin's body trembled violently.
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