Chapter 1: The Dark History of the Family

"Where is the State of Qi, Little Gentleman?" asked a tall and thin stable boy, looking somewhat bewildered.

However, it was the sound of a young girl, like silver bells, that first came from behind Zhao Wuxu.

In the future, one could also find someone to document the legendary story of the Zhao Orphans, in order to create confusion and mislead.

In the 5th century BC, the Huaxia civilization still maintained a relatively primitive mythological system

This incident also caused a sensation in the Zhao family palace: this young gentleman, for some unknown reason, actually sat cross-legged in public during the banquet, and when greeting his father Zhao Yang, he surprisingly did not bow down in reverence, but instead used the hand gesture of an equal status person!

As it is said, her smile is charming, and her beautiful eyes are captivating. Her hair flows like the azure clouds, her eyes are clear and bright, her lips resemble cherries, and she is dressed in a deep robe adorned with small red flowers. A pair of jade-like feet, capable of making future admirers swoon, tread upon wooden clogs, revealing only a thin, cicada-wing-like white foot garment beneath her skirt.

Here, however, there is a more widely known name: Xiagong! Over seventy years ago, during the "Xiagong Incident," countless lives were lost, and blood flooded the fields. The Zhao family was completely exterminated, with only one Zhao orphan surviving. Subsequently, the Zhao orphan rose from despair, and this devastated city regained some vitality. The surviving subjects all expressed their gratitude, believing it to be the grace and favor of their ancestors.

This opening remark caused the stable boys and shepherds to anxiously and eagerly shift their shoulders

The name of the past is no longer important, from now on, he is Zhao Wuxu! His family is the Zhao clan!

This gentleman, who can know stories from a thousand miles away, is almost regarded as a messenger of the Taiyi deity in their eyes, possessing knowledge of all things and understanding everything

Curiosity killed the cat. I should not have asked questions that would destroy my worldview. Who would have thought that the chaste and virtuous heroine Zhao Zhuangji in the script is actually my great-grandmother. She actually, actually seduced her uncle into bed while wearing mourning clothes after her husband's death. After the affair was exposed, she foolishly slandered her family to the king, leading to the annihilation of her entire clan. Truly, a beauty brings disaster!

Who has the time to care about the chaotic lower half of grandmother's life

Zhao Wuxu's purpose is merely to pass the time in a mundane life. The entertainment options in the pre-Qin period were scarce, and as an unappreciated illegitimate son of the family, activities such as adding fragrance to the red sleeves, bullying men and dominating women, or training hawks and dogs were out of the question. Before amusing his sister with stories, he would first practice his wit with the stable boys and shepherds.

And then? What is in the waterfall? Has the stone monkey become the Monkey King?

To speak frankly, the party involved, Zhao Wuxu, is truly very innocent, for he is a person from two thousand years in the future; how could he possibly understand the ancient rites of the Spring and Autumn period!

The stableman who had just been transferred from the outer town suddenly realized, it was him!

It is indeed his sister, Ji Ying

Alas, it is a pity that they are siblings

Although this child is the least favored among the four sons and one daughter of the sovereign, a gentleman is still a gentleman. After taking the crown, he can at least serve as a minister, governing a hundred households. Indeed, he is not someone of lowly status who can be offended by such petty individuals!

Without any concern, he spoke eloquently while holding the riding whip: "In the eastern sea beyond the State of Qi, there lies a land known as the Kingdom of Aolai, where there is a famous mountain in the hills, called Huaguo Mountain..."

His original surname is Zhao. According to his grandfather, their family hails from the Zhao clan of Tianshui, which has a prosperous lineage. It can be traced back to the royal family of the Zhao state during the Warring States period, as well as the Zhao family of the Jin nobility during the Spring and Autumn period

The dream came to an abrupt halt, and some fragmented memories emerged in his mind, from the time he was a toddler taking his first unsteady steps to gradually growing into a young man of twenty. After a brief moment of panic upon awakening, he came to an understanding.

At the same time, he could not help but feel a sense of regret in his heart

The caretakers of livestock, such as grooms and herdsmen, along with countless others like stable boys and cowherds, are often seen with disheveled hair and tattered clothes. Now, during the rare leisure time before breakfast, they have gathered around Zhao Wuxu, their eyes wide open in anticipation of something.

The sovereign Zhao Yang had four sons and one daughter, among whom the most estranged was the youngest son Wu Xu, referred to as the "baseborn son," while the most favored was the fourth daughter Ji Ying

In the midst of misfortune, Zhao Wuxu was fortunate enough to learn ancient Chinese from the few remaining memories. The phonetics of the pre-Qin Huaxia language featured a significant number of uvular trills, which sound quite peculiar to modern ears, resembling Tibetan. However, perhaps due to the advantages of his physical habits, he did not encounter any terrifying language barriers. After practicing a few more times, he found it relatively fluent.

Little did he dream that after a car accident, he would trace back the bloodline of his ancestors and suddenly find himself transported back to the Spring and Autumn period

The Zhao ancestors were renowned for their horse herding and charioteering during the transition from the Yu, Xia, Yin, to Zhou dynasties. Although their descendants became privileged nobles living in comfort, they did not entirely forget their ancestors' original profession. The stables and paddocks are not lacking in swallows and fine steeds, as well as skilled horse assessors invited from the State of Qin

However, the traveler had no time to bask in his ambitions before he found himself in trouble. It could be considered his misfortune, whether due to the fragmented and chaotic memories he inherited, or because Zhao Wuxu had never received proper noble training. In the initial days after his arrival, he repeatedly made mistakes in speech and etiquette, which led to him being sent to the stables for reflection by the young lord, who was displeased with him, namely the legitimate lady of the house.

Grandfather often flips through the family's thread-bound books, pointing to the very top of the long family tree for him to see

The young man shook his head and sighed repeatedly. He had not yet reached the age of maturity, and his conical topknot was merely wrapped with a blue scarf. The left lapel of his upper garment was tightly pressed against the right lapel, with a cord tied under his right armpit, forming the traditional right lapel style esteemed by the Huaxia people. However, his lower body was casually clad in a pair of pleated trousers, an imported item from the land of the Di, resembling the pants of later generations. This combination appeared rather incongruous, and if it were to be seen by the rigid tutors and family instructors in the Zhao family palace, it would surely provoke a severe reprimand.

Unknowingly, the story has reached the end of the first chapter, "Yet, behold, the stone monkey closed its eyes and crouched down, then leaped directly into the waterfall spring..."

This is unacceptable, and thus he was severely reprimanded by the infuriated sect leader and matriarch, and was punished to reflect in the stables, where he has been for ten days now

At first, he only felt that the world was dim and hazy, and it seemed that a young man in ancient attire was bowing to him with a gesture of respect.

Interestingly, among several brothers, Xiao Ji Ying was particularly close to Zhao Wu Xu. In Zhao Wu Xu's memory, this was perhaps due to the fact that both lost their respective mothers during a great epidemic, and subsequently regarded each other, both equally lonely and desolate, as kindred spirits, empathizing with one another

I am a descendant of the Ying family, of the Zhao clan, named Wuxu

I have spent my life in military campaigns, enduring the siege of Jinyang, leading Zhao, Wei, and Han to defeat Zhibo, and dividing Jin among the three states. However, the state of Zhao also suffered significant damage under my command, and thereafter it was suppressed by Wei and Han for a full one hundred years

Seeing Zhao Wuxu stop speaking, the grooms and shepherds felt an itch in their hearts as if they had been scratched by a dogtail grass, yet there was someone who was even more anxious than they were

Who

A thousand miles? Inconceivable, inconceivable

However, who would have thought that the Zhao Orphan case, which has always been a topic of great interest, actually has such a dark history... From that moment on, he dared not ask another question after accidentally discovering the truth

I have one regret that will haunt me for a lifetime

Thus, the role of Tang Seng was whimsically replaced by Zhao Wuxu with that of the Western Zhou Emperor Mu Wang, who had once journeyed westward to Kunlun Mountain to meet the Queen Mother of the West. As for the role of Zhao's ancestor Zhao Zao Fu, he had also decided it would be represented by the devoted and hardworking Sha Wujing, who drives the white dragon horse cart.

Zhao Wuxu tapped his head with the whip in his hand and said, "You have the most questions. The State of Qi is located just to the east of my State of Jin. If you travel a thousand miles towards the direction of the rising sun, you will arrive there."

With such a significant stain, how could the Zhao family still have the face to make their way in the world? If he were to establish the Zhao state in the future, he would have to force the historians to completely erase this sordid affair, transforming it into a tragic epic that would move the masses to tears, depicting a virtual treacherous minister, Tu Anjia, in a bitterly resentful light.

Moreover, he does not work either, casually chewing on a piece of hay while leisurely sitting on the wooden trough, and the minor official of the Zhao family managing the stable can only turn a blind eye to this situation.

People are aware of Donghuang Taiyi, know of Xiwangmu, and recognize Nüwa and Fuxi, but during the Spring and Autumn period, there was no Buddhism, let alone any monks. Wuxu does not know the specific birth and death years of Shakyamuni, but it can be confirmed that Buddhism had not yet begun its eastward transmission

However, in a spacious stable within the city, there was a young man from the Zhao family who scoffed at this so-called "virtue and grace." He muttered in a voice that no one could hear:

The herdsmen and the children all gasped in shock; for them, the extent of their activities throughout their lives was merely within a hundred miles, or even just within ten miles.

Although Zhao Wuxu has seen Ji Ying multiple times since his rebirth, he cannot help but express admiration from the bottom of his heart: this girl is only a few months older than him, and at the age of thirteen, before reaching the age of maturity, she is already so extraordinarily beautiful. When she grows up, she will surely become a stunning beauty that captivates the world.

Outside the city of Xinjiang, the capital of the Jin State, stands a solid small city surrounded by rammed earth walls, known as the Zhao Family Palace. This city is the private domain of the Zhao family, one of the six major noble clans of the Jin State

Upon Zhao Wuxu's return to hetushucomcom, he noticed a stunning young lady behind him, who was listening intently to his story.

In both Peking opera and films, there is nothing but fabrication. It was only when I arrived in this era that I realized there is fundamentally no such person as Tu Anjia in the world

In their teenage and early adult years, they had never heard such interesting stories; the convoluted verses chanted by the three elders during the village shooting ceremony left them utterly bewildered. During the ancestral worship, the incantations read by the shaman for their ancestors were even more incomprehensible to them.

He stood out in the stable filled with the scent of livestock: though his appearance was unremarkable, his sword-like eyebrows accentuated his particularly spirited eyes; his eye sockets were slightly sunken, and his nose bridge was somewhat high, suggesting a hint of barbarian ancestry; his hands and feet were clean, unlike those who had done heavy labor, his complexion was rosy, and his teeth were well-aligned, clearly indicating that he was a well-fed carnivore. Yet, it was puzzling why he had ended up in this lowly and filthy stable.

At this point, he suddenly stopped, stood up from the manger, stretched his waist, while the group of shepherd boys in front of him remained crouched on the ground, their eyes wide open, still waiting for what would come next

Zhao Wuxu noticed that the people had mostly gathered, so he lightly cleared his throat and said to the crowd of young attendants and shepherds: "Today, I will tell you the story of the Stone Monkey from the Eastern Sea who assisted the Great Zhou Emperor Mu on his journey to the West... No, that is incorrect; it is the story of his support for the Great Zhou Emperor Mu's westward expedition!"

There were also newly arrived grooms who wanted to step forward and use a whip to lecture a bit, but they were pulled back by their seniors and slapped once, "Thief! Do you know who that is?"

This is Zhao Yang of the Zhao family, and this is Zhao Wuxu of the Zhao family. They are the ancestors of the Zhao family, the founders of the Zhao State. Under my grandfather's incessant recounting year after year, he has memorized their deeds by heart

Only after a period of ten days had passed, he was able to sit here and tell stories to the herdsmen and shepherds.

He is a gentleman without shame