Chapter 21 Section five

It was already late at night when the two arrived at Chao Gang's mansion. Seimei and Boya walked through the gate, and there was a deserted courtyard in front of them. "Is that woman here..." Boya said. "It should be here." Qingming stepped on the grass and walked forward. "where are you going?" "Northeast, there should be something there." Boya followed Qingming and turned to the backyard of the mansion, where Qingming stopped. In the backyard there is a small grave buried in the weeds. "Hey, read that verse in "Collected Works"."

Boya opened his mouth and chanted: Before finishing singing, a figure appeared in the grass.After a closer look, it was exactly the woman dressed as a nun that people mentioned the night before. "There was a guest last night, and tonight too. May I ask who is it?" the woman asked softly. "We are here to solve the mystery, to solve the mystery of the waka you sang last night." Hearing what Seimei said, the woman's expression brightened as if reflecting sunlight. "My lord knows the hidden meaning of that waka?" "No, I don't know yet, but it should be solved. In order to solve the mystery, you must explain some reasons to us first."

"What's the reason?" "I heard that Master Asazuna wrote that waka for you?" "yes." "Under what circumstances did Asatsuna-sama compose that waka?" "Yes." The woman nodded deeply, and continued: "Then I will tell you the truth. In fact, although I am one of Mr. Chao Gang's maidservants, I also have a relationship with Mr. Chao Gang. Mr. Chao Gang often guides me to compose poems or waka .” "and then?" "About one year before Master Asaozuna passed away, one day, Master Asaozuna summoned me and gave me this waka."

The woman said that Chao Gang told her at the time, "You have taken care of me for many years, and I probably won't live long. If something happens to me, I will leave enough for you, and you can use it for the rest of your life..." He also said, "Didn't I teach you the interpretation of the verses in the "Anthology" before? This waka is related to that verse. If I have any accidents, you can open it again and have a look." After Chao Gang finished speaking, he handed the woman a letter. "After Master Chao Gang passed away, I opened the letterhead, and the content on the letterhead was exactly that waka..." The woman lowered her eyes sadly, "But, I can't understand the hidden meaning of the waka."

Seimei murmured the content of the waka. "How? Boya, do you understand?" Qingming asked. "I don't understand at all. The word 'moon' in the text has two meanings. One means the moon is round, and the other is mind (the Japanese word for heart and moon is a homonym for the moon), which happens to be a riddle. I only understand this. " "Now that you understand this, you should be able to guess all the hidden meanings." "Should be able to guess it? Qingming, can you guess the hidden meaning?" "What do you think?" After answering Boya, Qingming turned to the woman and asked, "Bai Letian's poem is about the full moon on August 15th. What is the waning of the moon after the full moon?"

"New moon?" the woman whispered. "No, the waning of the moon after the full moon is a half moon. Mr. Chao Gang probably wants you to miss and cherish the half moon, right?" "But, what does that mean? Qingming, I can't guess at all." "The other sentence 'this palace' refers to this mansion. Boya, the 'sand' in the poem is the white sand on the river bank. The author is Bai Letian, and if the location is Chang'an, it should be the white sand in Qujiang." "yes……" "Excuse me, is there any water involved in the place related to Lord Asazuna?" Qingming asked the woman.

"I remember..." the woman nodded, "When Mr. Chao Gang brought water to the courtyard to build a pond, he mentioned it several times, saying that if this mansion is Chang'an, the pond is Qujiang." "Please lead the way." The woman walked happily on the grass.After a while, the woman stopped. "It's here. Although it's dry now, there used to be a pond here..." "Where does Asatsuna-sama usually stand when looking at the pond?" "There. It is near where you stand, my lord." "Then, let's dig and see." Seimei took out the wooden boards from the abandoned mansion, and started digging where he was just standing.After digging about a foot deep, the board seemed to touch something. "Come out, this is the half moon."

Seimei lifted the object in his hand to the moonlight, and it turned out to be a half-moon-shaped ivory comb. "Hey!" The woman exclaimed. "It should be more than this. He Ge hinted that we should remember and cherish the moon. Hey, Boya, can I dig for you?" Boya took the plank and continued digging on the spot, but the plank touched something hard again. "There seems to be something!" Boya continued to dig about a foot, and finally dug out a small urn the size of a palm from the soil.The urn has a wooden lid and is tied with a rope. Boya put the urn on the grass and untied the rope.

"I'm going to open it." Boya opened the wooden lid, and the contents of the urn glistened in the moonlight. "Isn't this gold?" Boya said. "Exactly this, what Asazuna-sama left you, is exactly this." Seimei said. "Thank you, my lord." The woman nodded: "After Master Chao Gang passed away, I have been thinking about this matter, and I have never been able to leave this mansion. After death, I can't rest in peace because of this matter. Now I can finally let go of my heart. " The woman looked at Qingming: "My lord, please use these alluvial gold, and ask the monks from a certain monastery to help me and Lord Chao Gang recite a section of the "Guanyin Sutra". Please use the rest as you like..."

Before he finished speaking, the woman's shadow gradually faded under the moonlight.After the confession, the woman disappeared. "Qingming, so there are such things in the world." Boya still held the board in his hand, and said with emotion. "Solved. How? Boya, do you want to continue?" "Continue to what?" "Go home and continue drinking until the moon disappears." "Okay, let's do that." "Ok." "Ok." Weeds with night dew seem to be drenched by moonlight drops.Seimei and Boya stepped on it and walked out of the mansion.

When he came to the gate, Boya threw the board in his hand to the ground with a bang. Under the moonlight, the two walked slowly.