The Dao dies but I live on, the spiritual energy dries up but I remain evergreen

Chapter 526: Heading North, Birthday Banquet Approaching

Since the battle of Ten Mountains and Nine Rivers, the four gods were killed, the twelve mountain gods were all destroyed, and tens of thousands of people were settled. They headed north and never encountered any more gods' festivals along the way.

The little gods who had been conferred had not yet died, but they had all fled in terror, in a state of panic all day long. The two men went north, playing along the way, knowing that the battle would be even more fierce and the enemy would be stronger. However, it did not disturb their mentality at all.

They mostly walked along the way, and when they passed a city called Yiren City, the guards in the city were on alert. After a brief inquiry, the two men found out that the empress's birthday was approaching, and people from all parties had already prepared festive birthday gifts and were transporting them to Dayu City, waiting to please the empress.

Li Changxiao teased Wang Ruyi with this, and Wang Ruyi suddenly remembered that the country's birthday would come in a few days. After she was stripped of her name, she lived in darkness, unaware of the passage of time, and just kept walking, suffering, and fainting, repeating this over and over again.

After being rescued, she traveled around the world again, punishing evil and promoting good. The reputation of the Red Sleeves Heroine spread to who knows where. The past was over for now. This trip was heading to the imperial capital, to the most popular place. She only realized that this wandering experience had lasted for several months, and even her birthday was approaching.

She put her hair up beside her ears, her eyebrows slightly frowned, and told Li Changxiao a secret. In fact, that was not her real birthday. The king was of great importance, so the year and month of birth must be auspicious, but Wang Ruyi's birthday was very unlucky, so the emperor thought about it and could only modify it secretly, more than a month in advance.

Therefore, her real birthday had to be postponed for a full month at the birthday banquet in that country. But they were all ordinary things, and they would pass by in time. What difference would it make if it was a month earlier or later?

Wang Ruyi put his hands behind his back and kicked the grass by the roadside out of boredom. The grass sagged with his toes, which was quite amusement.

Who would have thought that this woman who was playing with the grass with her toes on the roadside was actually the real owner of Dayu.

The king's birthday banquet, foreign countries' tribute, Dayu is even more lively. If you go to a big city where people gather, you can often encounter tribute teams. I have heard that the empress loves clothes and beauty, so I cater to her preferences, such as preparing exquisite clothes, every stitch is worth a thousand gold, or giving her earrings, perfume...

There were all kinds of gifts, not only from foreign countries, but also from the city officials and villagers. The city officials collected local rare items and gave gold, silver and jewelry, while the villagers had no money or silver, so they offered rice and food.

Even before the birthday banquet was about to take place, Dayu had been in turmoil, and everyone knew about it. On his way north, Wang Ruyi gradually understood the cause of the incident, and he was so angry that his face turned blue.

Especially when she passed by several villages, she heard the villagers cursing her, saying that she had only been diligent in her work for a few years, but she had already become stupid and senile, and that she would suffer in the future.

There were many such insults, some of which could even be considered euphemistic. There were even more harsh words, saying that the empress was not only stupid, but had long been blinded by lust, and on her birthday, she actually held a beauty pageant in the city and performed singing and dancing.

He also started construction in Dayu City, recruited nearly 100,000 people, built a place for them to have fun, and ordered all officials to join in the fun. Don't say that lust blinded him, the word lust is just human nature, it can be big or small, as long as it doesn't delay state affairs. However, the construction was a real waste of money and labor.

This cannot be washed away. In short, the birthday event made the empress cursed, but some people were happy and some were sad. To some people, the foolish empress was far more worthy of praise than the diligent empress.

If it is recorded in history books, I wonder what the emperors of later generations would think when they see this record. Wang Ruyi was angry, but he had no choice but to see the tribute from all over the country sent to Dayu City and delivered to "him", but he could not refuse it.

Li Changxiao even asked her jokingly, "Did you accept gifts and make money like this before?" Wang Ruyi was even more angry when she heard this. The huge blame was put on her head. She was diligent in government and loved the people. She was a wise ruler. Apart from loving beauty like an ordinary woman, she really had no other hobbies.

All the way north, Wang Ruyi's face became darker and darker, and she was in a depressed mood. She was traveling south to stay away from the government, and the affairs of the court would not reach her ears. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind; out of hearing, the mind is clear. She was so happy traveling south with Li Changxiao. However, since she went north, she heard about the events of the past month one by one, and only then did she know that Xiaozhen had done such a thing during this period.

It takes years to build a towering building, but it can collapse in a moment. Loyal officials in the court are alienated, exiled, or beheaded, while treacherous villains are promoted.

She had been in power for several months but had ignored state affairs. She still remembered that on the eve of her being stripped of her title, she had three memorials in her hands concerning disasters in various places, which she had not yet commented on. On her way north, she passed by a place and saw that due to the inaction of the court, the disaster was getting worse and worse, and the people were displaced and suffering.

Rebellions are growing and evil bandits are causing chaos.

Wang Ruyi was naturally distressed and wanted to ride the wind to enjoy the peace and happiness alone in the clouds. But gradually seeing this situation, he felt sad and sighed, and finally couldn't let them go.

She was destined to lose something in order to gain something. Therefore, she cherished every minute of the rest of the trip, and in her spare time, she would ask Li Changxiao why he helped her.

Li Changxiao had many purposes, for the mausoleum, for the people, for his own good, for cultivation, any one of them, there was nothing wrong with it, carelessness and selfishness. But Wang Ruyi was disappointed, she wanted to hear the part that belonged to her among the countless reasons, her eyes were enthusiastic.

Li Changxiao seemed to want to say something but stopped in the end. He just said that nothing in the world could be perfect and he had to leave sooner or later. After thinking it over, he stopped saying those words that could easily lead to misunderstanding.

If she really said what she wanted to say and revealed her true feelings, among the thousands of reasons, there was indeed one that belonged to Wang Ruyi. She was pitiful, she was beautiful, she was brilliant, she was passionate, there were many reasons, and they were all sincere. If she said it out loud, Wang Ruyi would definitely be happy, but...

Over the years, only his ghost servant Yu Luosha knows Li Changxiao best. He is the most contradictory person, unrestrained but not free and easy, affectionate but also indifferent.

It seems to be free between heaven and earth, unrestrained by heaven and unconstrained by earth, and everyone who sees it admires and envies it.

But suddenly I saw him looking back.

But I am alone, in the vastness of the world.

Even the ghost servant who knew him best had already become thin and shrunk to a soul bead...

Being carefree is indeed being carefree, but it is just half true, half false, half pretending, and half silly.