Chapter 46 Section Fourteen

A raging fire was lit on the altar, and yak shoulder blades and sandalwood were burning in the fire.The cigarette smoke rose ethereally into the sky, and in the still weather, it rose to a high place before being dispersed.Wearing colorful clothes made of red and green, the witches and witches held high copper knives and danced around the fire, praying for the guidance of Pantar God and leading the souls of the dead to heaven. The Maharaja stood with his hands in his sleeves, staring blankly into the distance, not knowing where to turn his gaze.The guards and warriors around were all forced to cry by the smoke, but the Maharaja didn't seem to feel it. His white eyes seemed to have been dry, and it was rare to blink.

Today is the day of the burial of the fifth prince, Asule, and everyone knows that the Majesty's heart is far from the calm on the surface. It has been four months since the Fifth Prince disappeared, and the Maharaja has not announced his death.The nobles were all concerned about the candidates for the new heir, but there was no movement from the Maharaja.Occasionally, some herdsmen said that they saw a child wandering alone on the grassland, who looked like the fifth prince, but every time it was an illusory thing. It wasn't until the shaman of the Lanma tribe came from afar with an auspicious white yak that he suggested that the majesty set up a sacrifice for the five princes, so that the pantar god would be gracious to take the soul of the lost child to heaven, and the majesty finally agreed.

The wizards burned the ox bones and incense wood, and burned the old cloak of the white fox as the body of the son on the fire, and the green smoke rose into the sky.The hearts of the nobles fell to the ground. They gathered in twos and threes and whispered in the distance, but they didn't have the courage to step forward to interrupt the majesty's meditation. Envoys from Donglu were also invited.Lei Yun Menghu put on a white sackcloth over his armor, stood behind Tuoba Shanyue, and lowered his voice: "General, our important matter should be settled, right?" "Oh," Tuoba Shanyue turned her head slightly, "it's not the time to talk about this."

He stepped forward slowly and stood behind the Maharaja. The majesty did not look back, and his voice was exceptionally calm: "I command Qingyang, and I have killed many people in my life. I always thought that I was used to life and death. But if I really want to tell him that he is dead, I still can't bear it. I want to delay for a few more days, and for a few more days. It made General Tuoba laugh, I know that General Tuoba wants to use the new son as a proton, and that's why he stayed in our remote place for so long." Tuoba Shanyue pondered for a while, stepped forward and stood side by side with him: "No matter how many people you kill, if it's not your own relatives, you may not know what life and death are?"

"Does the general also sigh like this?" The Maharaja suddenly turned around. Tuoba Shanyue was slightly stabbed by his gaze, and suddenly woke up a little bit, shaking his head: "I remembered some old things, and they were all meaningless emotions." The Maharaja pointed to the girl in front of the fire: "These days, I often blame myself, thinking that I have ruled the Northland for decades, but I have never really treated my wife and children well. They said that in the past six months, she Always standing like this on the grass where A Sule was stroked away, day and night. She was waiting to see him come back. Seeing her, I felt that it was not my father who really cared about Asule. The words should have been said to him long ago, but he has not said them. Although he is a cowardly son..."

Tuoba Shanyue looked at the girl in the white dress in front of the fire, seeing her white skirt and the white hairband woven between the braids flying up with the hot wind from the burning fire, like a leaf in the wind. He turned sideways to look at the small brocade chariot not far away.The female slave lifted half of the curtain and pointed to the burning fire. The barbarian noblewoman sitting in the brocade looked at the raging fire with slightly dull eyes.She smiled silently, hugging the cloth doll, bowing her head to kiss those cloth braids from time to time. "Yan's...Yan's..." The elderly woman gently stroked the madam's hair, but the madam still smiled foolishly.

"Bimogan, Xu Dahan, come here." The Maharaja beckoned to his sons. "Father." The princes knelt side by side in front of their father. "Your younger brother is really dead now. He is in the arms of Pantar God, full of joy. And you, my eldest son and third son, you are my most intelligent sons, and you can all become the next sons, Are you sad?" Neither Bimogan nor Xu Dahan spoke. "I know it's hard for you to say, yes, what are you talking about? The death of your brother is your chance to become the heir to inherit the golden account. Whether you should cry or laugh, even my father doesn't know," Da Jun shook his head, "I was born in an emperor's family, so I can't help crying or laughing."

Bimogan raised his head, opened his mouth, and remained silent in the end. "Tonight, you inform the leaders of the various families to come to the golden tent. I have something to say." The maharaja waved his hand, "Retire." "Yes!" The princes withdrew together. "Does General Tuoba know what I want to announce?" the Maharaja whispered. Tuoba Shanyue nodded: "The majesty has already made a decision on the candidate for the new son?" The majesty nodded: "General Tuoba can make the itinerary for returning to the south." "Tuoba understands."

The sound of "pang pong" came from a distance, and the witch hit the scorched ox shoulder blade on the top of the head. The sound was empty and distant, and finally dispersed into the void. A slight commotion came from outside the crowd. Maharaja turned his head away, Ba Bang pushed aside the crowd and came in, hurriedly came to Maharaja and knelt down: "Majesty, there is..." There was a look of embarrassment on his face: "A group of herdsmen from North Shuo broke in and clamored to see the Majesty. They said that they led a team of horses through the mountain stream by the city and found... the prince!"

"Bastard!" King Gele Khan walked out of the crowd, "Has there been few such things in the past few months? When was it not a lie told by those untouchables? It was just to ask for some bounty. These stupid untouchables come in and make trouble? Get them all out!" The oldest witch approached in small steps: "Majesty, we have heard the answer from the god in the dark, and the soul of the son has been taken to the sky, and he is enjoying the blessings in the cloud city of the god of Pantar." Tuoba Shanyue turned her head slightly, and saw a trace of hesitation on Maharaja's face.

"Majesty, do we have to believe what these ignorant herdsmen say every time?" Gele frowned, "We are the dignified Pasur family, if we want to give this child back, it will be given to us by the gods , Could it be these lowly herdsmen? What's more, we have believed that so many herdsmen who have come to report in the past few months, most of them are pretended by some untouchable children. Does the majesty still call those people in to make trouble at the ceremony? " Ba Bang hesitated: "Majesty, those people really look like they are here to ask for a bounty." Maharaja's lips moved.Still didn't speak. The witch raised her eyes to look at the majesty under her gray eyebrows, but did not speak. Tuoba Shanyue suddenly smiled: "I heard a long-door master say, how can you not regret it when you are alive? At first I thought it was funny, but then I thought, manpower is always limited, and there are many things that cannot be done, so you will definitely Regret. But we live in this world, get up early and go to bed late, isn’t it just to do more things so that we won’t regret too much when we are about to die?” Maharaja was stunned for a moment: "I still don't understand what General Tuoba said." "Meet these herdsmen. Even if it's fake, you won't regret it in the future." The expression in Maharaja's eyes jumped slightly: "Let those people in." The herdsmen were brought in. They were all wrapped in untanned leather, and the sleeves of the Gebu clothes were tied at the waist. They were indeed the poorest wandering herdsmen on the grassland.They were driving a large cart covered with cloth, and lined up and knelt in front of the cart. "Open the hood and have a look!" Ba Bang ordered. "Slow down!" Maharaja stopped him. Maharaja took a deep breath, took a deep breath: "Give each of these people a tael of gold first." Ba Bang looked at his master puzzled, but still took out gold from his waist, and gave each one a piece. The Maharaja walked up to the caravan and turned to look at the herdsmen: "Thank you very much." He smiled silently: "After this time, I finally feel less guilty about this child." Suddenly he opened the cover. The bright sunlight shone into the dirty caravan, and a pale young man fell asleep on the horse straw. He was so hungry that he was skinny and boneless, and he was too weak to get up, but his eyes were still clear, and there was always something deeply hidden. inside.The maharaja looked at him silently, as if he recognized him, but also as if he didn't recognize him at all. The herdsmen also looked at the silent maharaja uneasily. For a long time, tears slowly rolled down the child's face. The witch finally couldn't bear his temper, and followed the past to take a look. "My son... my son is dead... this is a ghost, a ghost... a ghost has appeared! It's a ghost, it's a ghost!" He yelled in horror, eagerly beating the bull's shoulder blades, and chanting ancient The scriptures in Man Wen were knocked down on the top of the child's head. "Are you crazy?" The violent roar disturbed everyone's minds, and they were surprised to see that the Maharaja suddenly grabbed the ox bone and smashed it on the head of the witch.The witch rolled her eyes and fell limply in front of the car. The Maharaja stepped on the back of the witch and stepped into the caravan, holding the child tightly in his arms. "Abba." Asule said in a low voice. He closed his eyes tiredly.