Horse-head Wall Reflects the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 61: How can the ant hole collapse the dam? The charming picture of the green mountains

"So many people died when the dam burst." With Cheng Jianwei's words, Liu Jiaoan knew that Guan Yin would first ask about the rain that Tongtong had written about. "Later, when the case was traced back to the housekeeper, Tongtong's father was imprisoned and executed without any explanation."

Guan Yin didn't intend to get any information from his original peers. Instead, he thought of the Taoist priest he met that day: "I remember Jiaoan, you said that your cousin who is a Taoist priest knew about this matter."

Things are different now. Guan Yin was so vigilant at the beginning, but now he regrets not asking more questions.

"Yes." When Guan Yin mentioned her cousin, Liu Jiaoan's eyes lit up. "It's just that my cousin left Qiyun Mountain to travel around. She only said that she would go to Huangshan to visit some old friends."

"Huangshan is so big, where can we find her?"

This was not difficult for Guan Yin. He had memorized the history and guidebooks of most famous attractions. If he wanted to find someone, he would always have a general direction: "I can do it, but we... Jiaoan, do you know where Tongtong's money went?"

"Half of it will be used to support the girls in the music school, and the other half will be used to look for clues from the past."

It seems that the original body never hid the whereabouts of the money from Liu Jiaoan: "Most of those girls have miserable life stories. Tongtong is full of desire to avenge her father. She gave me the courage to escape from my father's arrangement. How can I not support her actions?"

At this point, anything else he said seemed to hurt the other party, so Guan Yin simply brought the topic back to the original "dam breach": "Jiao An, do you know if there is any connection between the deceased son of that family and this matter?"

"I heard that the neighboring couple's son died in the line of duty...died in the flood?"

Of course, floods will cause casualties among people and animals, but anything that can cause the death of a local official must be no small matter. If you calculate the time, it happened just around the same time as the housekeeper's incident.

"Yes."

Guan Yin came here for more useful information. When mentioning the young man next door who died young, Liu Jiaoan remembered what Guan Yin had said to her. In her hometown, what she did was like a teacher. An old story came to her mind: "Earlier, there was always a rumor that it was the father's strict requirements that forced his son to death."

"Forced to death?" Liu Jiaoan said so, and Guan Yin remembered the visit that day, the strange emotion that was always looming between the couple who depended on each other, and the lady's hesitation to speak.

"When a father has a child in his old age, he will naturally worry about spoiling the child too much."

Guan Yin didn't think he had the right to force the couple to face up to the past, but the original father's innocence required evidence, and all he could do was try not to hurt their feelings.

It was a sunny day outside the window, the sky was blue and boundless, and there were only a few clouds hiding in the deep green mountains. Guan Yin finally took Liu Jiaoan with him, carrying the eggs that he had exchanged for the money left by Cheng Jianwei, to visit the neighbor's house.

"Why are you here?" The couple had just returned from the fields and happened to meet Guan Yin and his friend at the door. The latter had a handsome appearance as a young man, which inevitably made the couple, who had just lost their son, stunned for a moment.

No matter how many courtyards there are, when three people come together, it is enough to sweep away the original loneliness. Now that Guan Yin and Liu Jiaoan are visiting together, the courtyard that rarely has visitors suddenly has more life.

"I came here to ask about the dam breach in Huangshan that year."

The atmosphere that was originally flowing became heavy as Guan Yin spoke these frankly. It seemed that there was a force that could suppress people's souls and grind them into the ground.

"Why are you asking this?" The neighbor's wife didn't say anything. Instead, she was afraid of seeing the old man in a dream on a rainy night. When everything around her was quiet, she spoke, "At your age, I think you can't remember this at all."

What could two young girls know about something that happened more than a decade ago? It was inevitable that people would doubt their purpose.

If it weren't for the trust in his own wife, which made the old man feel sympathy for the two girls who were forced to live in this small village in the shade of the mountains, he would have wanted to kick Guan Yin out after hearing what he said. How could he have had the mood to ask more questions?
"My father..."

"The father of an old friend of hers from the music school was involved in an old case."

Guan Yin's growth path, apart from the hardship, was not too bumpy, so he seldom thought about these twists and turns when he spoke. Liu Jiaoan's "making something out of nothing" seemed easy to be seen through, but in fact it was nothing more than giving both parties room to maneuver, and he never expected the other party not to guess.

"Old case? What old case?" The father and his son died in the burst dam. The father hated himself and the person who built the dam.

If it were a little stronger, wouldn't it have happened... What's more, I heard that a large number of officials were punished for this, including some who were found to have embezzled money.

"Do you know that my son, my Mian'er, died in that dike burst?" The natural terrain of the Huangshan area has determined that the number of times the river burst its dike here in history is very small. This generation can only remember that one time. When the old man spoke again, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes were hidden with a deep red color.

"So many people died, and the riverbank has been rebuilt. Does the truth still matter?"

The old man in front of him had a straight character. From his parenting ideas, Guan Yin knew that the former was definitely not a person who could not distinguish between right and wrong. What on earth made the old man say such a thing? The only thing Guan Yin could think of was to escape.

"My friend's father was imprisoned because of false accusations, and that's why he ended up living alone in the music school. He was clearly an official who served the country and the people, so why shouldn't his injustice be redressed? Should people who work for the people die unjustly?"

"The people around him don't believe it, the people he saved don't know it, but the people who really enriched themselves are the ones who are free to do whatever they want in this world?"

"The laws of the world can also give justice to the dead!"

Guan Yin's words never stopped, leaving the old man no chance to speak. After hearing everything, the old man, who had been speaking as "Mian'er", was nailed to his chair as if by a bolt of lightning.

"Mian'er, Mian'er..."

The old man's mutterings were completely inaudible, and Guan Yin didn't know which of his words had irritated the former - based on the old man's expression, Guan Yin knew that his guess not long ago was reasonable.

"Mian'er, is he... wuwuwu!" Almost without any warning, the old man's emotions were like a thin string that had been worn for a very long time. Everyone knew it would break, but no one had ever imagined that it would break so suddenly. "Don't blame others, it's me who hurt Mian'er!"

"It's me!"

"As a father, I feel so sorry for Mian'er... wuwuwuwu!" The old man no longer cared about his dignity and cried in front of others, "Madam, I feel so sorry for our Mian'er and for you!"

"If I had listened to you at that time and not been so strict with him, wouldn't he have... People around him said that he had a chance to leave the place where he was standing. It was clearly...it was clearly me who killed Mian'er!"

Having said that, how could Guan Yin not understand the reason why the old man collapsed?
"Cheng Mian, Cheng Mian, Daddy is sorry for you!" The old man cried bitterly at his age, gasping for breath at his desk without caring about his image. If it weren't for his wife's help, Guan Yin suspected that the old man would cry himself to death.

"I just told him that being an honest official is easy, but I didn't believe that his son could do it, and I didn't praise him..."

The old man didn't say much, but Guan Yin had already extracted the cause and effect from it. His father's awkward words once made his son, who had studied hard and finally achieved something, completely exhausted.

So Cheng Mian wanted to prove to his father what kind of official he was and that he had never forgotten his father's teachings - he saved people but was determined to die.

He could clearly survive, but because he was exhausted both physically and mentally, he chose to die in the flood... His tragic and heroic death earned him a word of affirmation from his father for this son who "died in the line of duty."

The affirmation of elders seems to be an eternal topic for children. It has lasted for thousands of years and has always been an indispensable part of family education. Guan Yin has a deep understanding of this.

When Guan Yin first arrived at the school for internship, he heard a colleague tell a story with a tone of regret, confusion, and a little contempt. A child who scored 985 points in the college entrance examination, because he did not meet the requirements of his parents, thought that he might not be able to go to a good school, and hanged himself in a rented house in a red dress.

"You said that this child's ability to withstand pressure is really not good now."

"You have to think about it. They are different now than we were back then. Back then, we were able to work hard as undergraduates without any worries about finding a job. Look at Xiao Guan, he's just arrived... a graduate student from Beijing Normal University."

"That's true, but you don't have to commit suicide at every turn! If you can't take the exam this year, it doesn't mean you can't take it next year. Besides, the score lines are out, and they are not high overall this year. That score is enough for any 985 university in Beijing, and you can choose any university outside Beijing except C9."

"Hey……"

"I heard that the parents rented a house nearby specifically for the child to go to school."

"Isn't it like this now? Since you are asking for it from your children, it is normal for your parents to give more."

"I heard from a neighbor that as soon as the results came out, the father went downstairs to smoke. The mother went to work the next day and the same thing happened... When she came back, she was frozen."

"Ah...what can we do? It's not easy for children these days."

When the original confusion turned into regret for a once vibrant life, the words of a few teachers could not bring back the child who had a bright future.

At that time, Guan Yin, who had a smooth journey, with loving parents and support from elders, realized that the myth of Nezha cutting flesh and removing bones has actually never been separated from real life.

They risk their lives, perhaps just wanting "a memory" and "a word of recognition". By the time their parents react, it is already too late and there is no more fun.

The same goes for the big man in front of him. When he realized that his son's death was half caused by himself, the only thing he could do was not to dare to dream when he heard thunder and rain, but he also longed to see that figure in his dreams.

After all, not everyone can become the Marshal of the Central Altar reshaped by Honglian in the myth. If the parents are wrong, they are wrong. The face they can't let go of and the "affirmation" they are unwilling to say finally became a torrent that removed the last inch of soil from Cheng Mian's feet and buried him in the rolling white waves.

"You guys, what do you want to ask? I don't know much, but as long as I know, I can tell you."

The big man's emotions stabilized, and he no longer had any hostility towards the two girls in front of him - it was rare for a father to have a chance to vent his anger and express all his regrets. Today, the big man felt more grateful.

"Can I ask why Cheng Mian was... misunderstood?"

"Mian'er said that he found out that the money sent by the court to repair the dam was embezzled. He wanted to make amends but didn't have enough money. Instead, after being discovered, he was accused of corruption and demoted to a post in a village near the river."

"It's not that I didn't believe him at that time. I was only thinking about the fame I would get after studying hard for more than ten years. How could I..." When the old man talked about the old things, his voice was choked up again, so that Guan Yin could hardly hear what the old man was saying.

Fortunately, the following words were not important. If we continue, we will find that this is another unsolved case. Cheng Mian is dead. If we want to follow this line, we can only find the person who sent the letter back to Cheng Mian's parents.

"I wonder if Mr. Cheng and Mrs. Cheng can still contact the person who sent the letter back?"

"That person is dead too."

"Dead too?" Then Cheng Mian's death might not be as simple as his determination to die. Guan Yin suspected that the man who embezzled the money must be behind this. "How could they all be dead?"

"I don't know where the money I was given went. There were starving people on the road, and there was an epidemic in some places after the flood. It was originally going to fall on Mian'er. That man worked with Mian'er and knew that Mian'er wanted to prove himself to me as his father before he died."

"I am writing this letter with the victims who were protected by my son, and only then..."

So that's how it is, Guan Yin nodded. Logically speaking, a young Jinshi who has made great contributions to disaster relief should be able to get a memorial archway to bring honor to his family.

It is inevitable that someone will erect a monument and write a biography for him, and it would not be an exaggeration even if it was written by the emperor.

"I will do my best to clear Cheng Mian's name."

"Naturally, there is no shortage of merit that should be attributed to them." Guan Yin said this to Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Cheng, and also to himself.

A word echoed in his mind for a long time: "We must not let the heroes down, nor must we let the heroes' families down." Guan Yin knew that not every loyal minister and righteous man in history received the treatment they deserved, but later history books and people would vindicate them.

Unfortunately, it takes time to destroy a dam. Guan Yin knew that he couldn't bring down these corrupt officials one by one on his own.

But if the people of one area are willing, they can keep an honest official. Can the petition of all people reflect the world?
"Forget it... whatever you want to do, my husband and I will support you. Mian'er, we don't ask him to restore his reputation and bring honor to his family, we just hope that he can get what he wants in his grave."

"it is good!"

What Guan Yin actually wanted to say was: When Cheng's father approved of this child, Cheng Mian had already gotten what he wished for.