The Singing Girl's Master Still Lives, The Washerwoman's Companion Remembers Their Journey

Shen Le followed the moving Buddha statue with a bewildered look on his face. From a bleak, deserted farmhouse courtyard with an ancient Buddha before a dim lamp, he was transported to the Qinhuai River, where lanterns blazed and music filled the air:

No, wait, what are you people doing?!

The Chongzhen Emperor had only hanged himself a few days ago!

Li Zicheng had only just taken the Capital City!

Wild Boar Skin was about to come charging in!

Even setting that aside—even if you didn't know about Wild Boar Skin—you should at least know that the emperor was dead and the Capital City had fallen! Everyone should be united as one, striving diligently to restore the realm!

What were you doing?

A perfectly good Qinhuai River: on one bank stood the Examination Hall, with scholars arriving in endless streams, reciting and discussing poetry, classics, history, and statecraft. Across the river were all manner of riverside houses and pleasure boats, with strings and wind instruments playing and songs drifting through the air—

Basically, the scholars who came to the Examination Hall either buried themselves inside, never stepping out, deaf to all matters beyond the window and focused solely on the teachings of the sages. But if they took even one step outside, or glanced across the river—

Good heavens. Carved railings and painted balustrades, ornate windows draped in silk gauze. Pearl curtains stretching for miles, hosts and guests strolling and exchanging bows.

At night, it became even more outrageous. Pleasure boats after pleasure boats hung lanterns of every kind, like a winding fire dragon whose radiance illuminated heaven and earth, lighting the waterways all the way from Treasure Gathering Gate to Universal Aid Gate.

The Buddha statue was carried in through the back entrance, and all along the way Shen