Beneath the same moonlight, Bi Gan knelt in his family ancestral hall.
Before him stood three rows of ancestral tablets, made of wood, their lacquer already mottled, some of the characters blurred with age.
He had been kneeling for half an hour, his knees numb and his back rigid, but he did not rise.
Clutched in his hand was a memorial.
It impeached King Zhou. Its words were fierce, its phrasing sharp; after he finished writing it and read it over himself, even he felt he had gone too far.
But he had written it all the same.
Ancestors above. This unfilial descendant has failed in his remonstrance.
That child... his heart has already hardened.
He closed his eyes for a moment and placed the memorial on the incense table. Flame leapt up from the candlestick, licked over the pages, curled them, blackened them, and turned them to ash.
The ashes drifted up, falling onto his cuffs, onto his graying hair, into his trembling fingers.
He lowered his head and looked at those ashes, his lips pressed into a line.
If he could no longer persuade him, then he would keep watch.
At the same time, in the Yaoguang Realm on Mount Tai.
The Water Mirror hung in midair, reflecting the scene inside the Side Hall.
Su Miao leaned back in the White Jade Lotus Chair, one hand propping up her chin. After watching the interaction between King Zhou and Daji, she waved a hand and switched away from the next scene unsuitable for children, changing it to Ji Fa's side.
He had backbone.
She lowered the hand propping her chin and tapped twice on the armrest.
But no brains, and far too impatient.
Tongtian sat on the cushion beside her, a handful of melon seeds in his hand, cracking