The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 94 The Id

Sheathing his flying sword and landing on the ground, Zhang Yunling arrived at a new place. It was a large town, and with so many people around, Zhang Yunling took out a wooden boat from his storage bag and boarded it to sail down the river, thus avoiding being seen.

Seeing a fisherman in the distance by the river, Zhang Yunling went ashore, stowed up the wooden boat, and went up to ask what the city was called.

Seeing that he looked like a scholar and spoke very politely, the fisherman answered him.

"This city is called Xiangyang. Judging from your accent, you don't sound like a local. What brings you here?"

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Yunling asked again, "Are there any famous or learned people here?"

“I’ve heard that there is a great poet in Lumen Mountain south of the city. Why don’t you go and take a look?”

"Thank you." Zhang Yunling took out five taels of silver and stuffed it into the fisherman's hand, then walked towards the direction of Mount Lumen.

He didn't stop along the way; instead, he took out a piece of paper with poems written on it from his pocket and recited Li Bai's poems aloud, attracting the attention of the people around him.

Gradually, the sound of reading reached the direction of Mount Lumen. A man in a long robe came out following the sound and happened to see Zhang Yunling heading towards Mount Lumen.

"Young friend, are all the poems you recited written by yourself?"

"Exactly." Zhang Yunling smiled slightly and handed the thick stack of poems in her hand to the man in front of her.

After a conversation, Zhang Yunling realized that the person in front of him was the poet Meng Haoran. The two hit it off immediately and headed together toward Meng Haoran's hermitage. They drank and talked about the past and present, exchanging their experiences in writing poetry. It was a delightful time.

Meng Haoran politely invited Zhang Yunling to stay for more than ten days, greatly admiring his poems. Zhang Yunling also greatly admired Meng Haoran's talent, but happy days are always short-lived. Meng Haoran's secluded life on Mount Lumen was coming to an end, and he would be setting off for Guangling in a few days.

Recalling the poem Li Bai wrote back then, when the two parted, Zhang Yunling slowly recited the line, "My old friend bids farewell to the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, sails down to Yangzhou in the third month of spring, amidst the fireworks and flowers. His lone sail disappears into the vast blue sky, leaving only the Yangtze River flowing to the horizon." This moved Meng Haoran to tears.

Because the Yellow Crane Tower is the legendary place where immortals ascended to heaven, and Meng Haoran's trip was also for traveling around the world, this farewell did not seem so sad.

However, the emotions and connotations contained in Li Bai's few lines of poetry were so rich that they deeply moved Meng Haoran.

After this parting, Zhang Yunling embarked on his journey once again. Along the way, he witnessed the imperial court recruiting talents and announcing to the world that those with outstanding literary and martial skills could recommend themselves to the court. He also experienced various natural disasters, man-made calamities, and invasions by enemy forces, but none of these could stop his progress.

During the past ten years or so, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang continuously recruited talented people. Zhang Yunling also tried to recommend himself to the court, but he was rejected by the officials below most of the time. When he wanted to enter the civil service examination, he remembered something: merchants were not qualified to participate in the civil service examination.

Hearing that a poet named Wang Changling had passed the imperial examination, Zhang Yunling couldn't help but recall that he had also been the top scholar in the imperial examination. But right now, the most important thing was to find Li Bai and get to the bottom of everything.

In the twenty-first year of the Kaiyuan era, Emperor Xuanzong proclaimed to the world that the whole country should begin reading the Tao Te Ching. Zhang Yunling recalled the three statues he saw in the Xuanxu Ancient Realm, one of which seemed to be holding a copy of the Tao Te Ching.

Later, he met an old man named Pei Ming. The swordsmanship he had learned in his youth turned out to be rudimentary in front of this old man, and Zhang Yunling spent a whole year painstakingly studying swordsmanship.

Zhang Yunling handed over most of his travel money to the old man as a token of gratitude, and presented several poems to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, all in hopes of obtaining an official position.

Later, he met a poet named He Zhizhang, who greatly admired Zhang Yunling's poems, calling him a reincarnation of Venus, and told Emperor Xuanzong of Tang about it.

Upon hearing of this, Emperor Xuanzong summoned Zhang Yunling to the palace for a personal audience and inquired about current affairs. Zhang Yunling, drawing upon his knowledge of various classic texts and his understanding of the mundane world, answered all of Emperor Xuanzong's questions, earning the emperor's deep appreciation.

Afterwards, Emperor Xuanzong appointed Zhang Yunling as a Hanlin scholar, whose duties included writing poems and essays for the emperor's entertainment and serving him. Whenever Emperor Xuanzong held a banquet or went on an outing, he would always order Li Bai to accompany him, using Li Bai's quick wit and poetic talent to record what he saw and heard in poems.

After that, Zhang Yunling composed poems according to Emperor Xuanzong's wishes, such as "Palace Pleasures" and "Qingping Tune," which he copied from memory. As a result, all the poems he had written over the years became known throughout the world, and Zhang Yunling became famous.

However, many people in the court were jealous of Zhang Yunling because he could win Emperor Xuanzong's praise with just a few words and a few pens, and they submitted memorials targeting him.

Zhang Yunling remained unmoved. Even when he passed the imperial examination and became an official, he had never been so appreciated by the emperor. Gradually, he became obsessed with it and even dug out the poems written by Li Bai in his old age.

Emperor Xuanzong ignored the memorials submitted by his court officials regarding Zhang Yunling and continued to praise the poems he had written.

Sometimes, when Zhang Yunling encountered a scene that didn't match some of Li Bai's poems, he would try to incorporate some of his own original verses. Even so, Emperor Xuanzong would still appreciate his talent.

Time passed by, and as he spent his days reciting poems and making merry with Emperor Xuanzong, he became less reserved and much more generous in his interactions with the emperor.

Until one day, Emperor Xuanzong and Zhang Yunling were drinking and chatting happily. Whether he was drunk or suddenly struck by a sudden interest, Xuanzong asked Zhang Yunling in a deep voice:

"Yun Ling, I have something to ask you."

"May I ask what Your Majesty is asking?"

"There has always been a custom that the surname of the emperor of a dynasty is called the imperial surname."

Zhang Yunling nodded silently, listening attentively.

Emperor Xuanzong patted his shoulder and continued, "Just as the surname Zhang is a Taoist surname, since you have been surnamed Zhang for half your life, why don't I bestow upon you the surname Li? Then no one will dare to write a letter to slander you in the future."

Zhang Yunling reacted quickly, immediately kneeling down and kowtowing, "Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Xuanzong smiled and did not tell him to rise. Instead, he continued, "Back then, I heard He Zhizhang say that your talent was like that of an immortal, something that no mortal could achieve. Only a celestial being banished to the mortal world by Heaven could possess such skill."

Zhang Yunling said in a low voice, "Your Majesty is absolutely right. I once wrote a poem while I was in Jiangxia. I wonder if Your Majesty..."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xuanzong laughed heartily, personally stepped forward to help Zhang Yunling up, and gestured for him to begin.

Zhang Yunling cleared his throat, tried hard to recall what he had learned in his previous life, raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, then slowly recited:

"The Jade Palace in the heavens, with twelve towers and five cities."

An immortal touched my head, and I was granted eternal life.

Mistakenly pursuing worldly pleasures, they became deeply troubled by the complexities of reason and the confusion of emotions.

Ninety-six sage rulers, their names hang like fleeting clouds in the air.

Upon hearing these four lines, Emperor Xuanzong clapped his hands in admiration and burst into laughter. Zhang Yunling understood Xuanzong's thoughts; these lines were the most Taoist in the entire poem, and reciting them now further enhanced Xuanzong's favor towards him.

"Your Majesty, I have another interesting story to tell you."

With the emotional build-up in place, Emperor Xuanzong raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, then asked, "What is it that Yunling is referring to?"

“My mother once said that she dreamed of Venus when I was born. Just as He Jian said, I wonder if I was really an immortal in my previous life.”

"Hahahaha!" Emperor Xuanzong laughed heartily, patted Zhang Yunling on the shoulder, and seemed to genuinely regard the matter as a lighthearted topic of conversation. The two then laughed at each other.

Emperor Xuanzong continued with a smile, "Not only will I bestow upon you the surname Li, but I will also bestow upon you a name!"

"Since you're the reincarnation of Venus, why don't you call yourself Li Taibai from now on? Hahahaha!..."

Zhang Yunling initially laughed along, but gradually his smile stiffened and eventually froze completely on his face.

"Li Bai?... "

After Emperor Xuanzong had eaten and drunk his fill and was in a very satisfied mood, he bid farewell to Zhang Yunling and instructed his attendants to take him back to the palace.

But Zhang Yunling remained stunned by the table, muttering the new name that Emperor Xuanzong had just bestowed upon him.

He was the only one left in the main hall.

"Li Bai! Why won't you come out yet? How long are you going to hide?!"

After a long while, Zhang Yunling suddenly started shouting like a madman, but the only response he received was a series of echoes resounding throughout the palace, belonging only to him.

Suddenly, Zhang Yunling seemed to understand something.

He has never lived for himself in the past half of his life. He is always looking for others and imitating others. He has forgotten the old man's words from back then and is single-mindedly pursuing the truth he wants to know, but all of this seems so illusory.

"Li Bai".

Zhang Yunling collapsed to the ground, finally understanding.