Mantra

Chapter 165 Swallowing Fire and Eating Flowers
Hongye stared at the imperial gift inscription on the spine of the knife and the strange flower on the letter paper, comparing them back and forth.

She had evidently discovered something remarkable.

After a while, Xian Hongye handed me the kitchen knife and the letter paper with the Miao Jiang goddess flower on it, and said to me carefully: "Look carefully at the pattern on the spine of the knife, is it the same as the pattern on the letter paper of your old squad leader?! Are they all this Miaojiang goddess flower?"

I hurriedly took the kitchen knife and compared the blurred pattern with the things on the old squad leader's letter paper over and over again.

The small circular pattern was originally blurred by the erosion of the years, but because of the detailed comparison of the patterns on the old squad leader's letter paper, I can still see that there are [-] to [-]% similarities between the two patterns.In particular, the two deeply sunken "eyes" on the skull flower are so vivid.

Faced with such similar patterns, I immediately realized that it seemed that the secrets on the kitchen knife bestowed by the Zhao family could be glimpsed from this skull-like "Miaojiang Goddess Flower".

I raised my head and asked Xian Hongye excitedly, "Do you know what Miaojiang Goddess Flower is?"

Hongye nodded at me with a serious expression: "I know, because of this flower, I only majored in literature and history in college. It is also because of this flower that my grandfather is still alive and dead!"

Later, Xian Hongye told me a story about her family, and because of that story, the fate of several generations of Hongye's family has been distorted ever since.

Before telling the story, Hongye first pointed to the pattern drawn by my old squad leader with an oil pen, and told me: "This kind of flower should be just a kind of 'totem', an abstract expression of a real object, just like a dragon."

Later, she said that the scientific name of this kind of flower is "Swallowing Fire and Shihua", which was the "family emblem" owned by an ancient king named "Su Wang" in the ancient country of Ailao 3000 years ago.

Hongye said that the history of this ancient country of Ailao is very "weird". It was probably established in the Han Dynasty, starting from "Dianchi Lake" in the east and reaching "Shendu" in the west. More than [-] miles, more than [-] miles from north to south, it seems to be the most powerful country in the southwestern region of ancient East Asia.

Moreover, this country is completely different from the surrounding barbarian tribes that were still in the "slash-and-burn" period. It has a very developed metal smelting technology and is also rich in cloth. At its peak, it seemed to be the "second strongest country" in ancient Asia. In terms of population wealth , even far surpassing the Xiongnu and Nanyue who threatened the Han Dynasty the most.

But such a powerful ancient kingdom collapsed rapidly during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

According to historical records, the Ailao Kingdom began to collapse in the 17th year of Jianwu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, the first batch of Ailao kings paid to the Han Dynasty due to the war and became puppets and officials appointed by the central government.

From then on, the Ailao Kingdom was like a pair of huge dominoes. During the internal and external wars, it was quickly swallowed up and disintegrated by the Han Empire. Until the 12th year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the last batch of Ailao kings led their troops to the Han court. It perished, and its land became the later Yongchang County of the Han Dynasty.

In the short ten years from Yongping to Jianwu in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the history of Ailao as a country came to an end. No one knew why he collapsed so quickly, and no one knew why they fled for refuge. Han Court.

As if...they were hiding from something horrible.

The ancient Ailao people did not have their own writing, and because of the remote location, there are very few records in the history books of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Looking at the history of the country, there is no specific internal reason for his disappearance.

In short, the fate of this powerful country is like soap bubbles. When it was at its strongest...it suddenly disintegrated.

…Hearing this point, I asked Hongye puzzledly: “Wait a minute, why did I hear it so confusingly… Shouldn’t the king of Ailao Ancient Kingdom be called Ailao King? Then why is there another ‘Su King’?” '? How many kings are there in Ailao Kingdom? How do you judge and count? There are groups of people who surrendered?"

Xian Hongye said: "This is the most special feature of this ancient country's political system. The system he implemented is called the 'king system'. Also because of this system, there are many 'kings' in Ailao Kingdom. And this is probably Ailao Kingdom One of the reasons for the collapse."

Different from the advanced productive forces of Ailao State, the politics of Ailao State is very backward and loose, and it is basically still in the late stage of tribal alliance. Ailao people refer to all tribal leaders as "kings", and Ailao King is only the most powerful among them. A powerful "Alliance Leader".

In ancient times, the Central Plains dynasties naturally couldn't distinguish these "Lao Shizi" within the Ailao Kingdom, so as long as any leader of the Ailao Kingdom surrendered, they were all recorded as "Ailao Kings", and they were only distinguished by their names and clans.

For example, the "Su King" mentioned by Hongye should be recorded in the official history as "Su Shi, King of Ailao..."

... At this point, Hongye pointed to the "Miaojiang Goddess Flower" and said: "Su Wang", the owner of this flower, was one of the first ancient kings who surrendered to the Han court on the eve of the collapse of Ailao Kingdom.

Legend has it that the millet king was originally a "little king" in the ancient country of Ailao, with a population of less than [-] households under his jurisdiction. Relying on his bravery, he led these more than [-] people all the way to the north and south, and miraculously conquered many earth kings who were several times stronger than him.

More than ten years later, Su Wang created a "miracle".

He actually used [-] soldiers to command the "six kings" and "[-] people" in the ancient country of Ailao, and made many foreigners in the north and south of Dianchi Lake succumb to his iron fist of force.

Since then, in order to consolidate his prestige, Su Wang carved the pattern of "swallowing fire and eating flowers" symbolizing himself in many ancient temples in the ancient Ailao Kingdom, and left many legends and records about him.

And these records and legends, without exception, all link the Millet King with the flower that looks like a skeleton.

There are rumors that King Su's mother accidentally swallowed this "fire flower" before giving birth to him, and she became pregnant later.

Others say that King Millet has no mother at all. He is an egg laid by a dragon in the sky. When the egg falls on the ground, it becomes a "fire-swallowing flower" that looks like a skeleton. When the flower blooms, King Millet will Popped out of it.

Hearing this, I couldn't stop scratching my head and said: "...It's a bit ridiculous! You just popped out of the flowers, do you think you are Monkey King?"

To be honest, I feel that the legend of Su Wang is nothing new, and it is no different from the "destiny theory" of the emperors and generals of the Central Plains. It is purely to put gold on your face, and it is too fake to be a monster!It's all feudal superstition.

Hong Ye nodded and said: "People in ancient times were superstitious, and they liked to make far-fetched things that they didn't understand. But the connection between Swallowing Fire and Sihua and King Ailao is certain."

I nodded, and then asked Hongye: "Yezi, how do you know so much? And... what does this flower have to do with your family?"

After all, Xian Hongye just told me that this "fire-swallowing flower" that symbolizes the "king of millet" was something 2000 years ago.No matter how interested Xian Hongye is, it is impossible to study literature and history just because of a flower.

And I just heard from Xian Hongye that because of this "flower", the life and death of Xian Hongye's grandfather is still unknown.

This is why?

Feeling puzzled, I naturally asked her about the connection with this flower.

After Hongye sighed slightly, she told me a story about her grandfather.

She said that because of that past event, Hongye's family was inextricably linked with this skull flower that only existed in legends.

This flower is also a nightmare in her family.

(End of this chapter)