Chapter 1: The Loss of the Pearl
In 333 BC, King Wei of Chu took advantage of Qin's lack of time to use troops against Chu, taking advantage of the internal instability of the Yue State and sending his minister Zhao Hua to lead an army to attack Yue. The Chu army first captured the area ruled by the former Wu State, and then continued to attack Vietnam, occupying all the territory of the Yue State, killing the king of Yue Wujiang, destroying Yue, and changing the Yue land to Jiangdong County.
One day, King Chu Wei, accompanied by the minister Zhao Hua, came to Louyi, which had just been incorporated into the Chu State, in plain clothes. Louyi is named after the Loujiang River, and the king of Wu once hunted deer here, so it is also known as the deer city. There is a Yufeng Mountain of more than 170 zhang high in the northwest of the city, so the ground is flat and hundreds of miles, but a peak is unique, the mountain is full of verdant, it is one of the beautiful scenery of Louyi. I heard that the king of Wu had a seven-colored deer in the Yufeng Mountain, and he hid in the mountains because of the war. Therefore, King Wei's trip is intended for the seven-colored deer.
King Chu Wei, surnamed Mi, formerly known as Xiong Shang, the son of King Xuan of Chu, inherited the pattern of King Xuan to save Zhao Vawei and open up Bashu, and was the strongest king of Chu in the Warring States Period after King Chu Mourning made the development of Chu State, and he spent his life to restore the hegemony of King Zhuang as his ambition, trying to make Chu the first of all countries. After defeating the king of Yue Wujiang and taking all the land of Wu, he established Jinlingyi on the stone mountain (now Qingliang Mountain) by the Yangtze River. At this time, the state of Chu reached the peak in the Warring States Period, the first of the seven strong countries of the Warring States, its territory, from Daba Mountain, Wushan Mountain, Wuling Mountain in the west, to the sea in the east, from Wuling in the south, to Ru, Ying, Yi, Si in the north, including the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River basin with many tributaries, later generations have commented: "Chu, the power of the world, the king, the sage of the world." The place is more than 5,000 miles, with a million armor, a thousand cars, 10,000 horses, and 10 years. This overlord is also a treasure. However, at this time of prosperity, King Chu Wei clearly saw the severity of the situation, and he said to Su Qin: "The country of the widow is bordered by Qin in the west, and Qin has the heart to raise Bashu and Hanzhong. Qin, the country of tigers and wolves, is not to be kissed. However, Han and Wei were forced by Qin's troubles, and they could not conspire with Shen, and they were afraid that people would enter Qin, so the country was in danger before the plot was launched. The widow expected that Chu would be Qin, and he would not see victory; The widow is restless, the food is unpleasant, and the heart is shaky like a county and there is nothing to end. "And what is even more worrying is that King Wei's health is deteriorating, and the strength of the country will be the strength of the king, so in order to ensure the seven strong countries of the Warring States, in addition to taking the pills provided by the Dome Sect every day, King Wei hopes to get the care of the seven-colored deer in Louyi Yufeng Mountain under the proposal of Zhao Slip, so as to ensure that King Wei will live a long life.
A group of people passed through Wanzhang Pond, suddenly, the sky dark clouds surged, lightning and thunder, the water waves in the pool gushed, lightning continued to hit the top of the waves, and the water waves were not afraid, the lightning swallowed up. However, it hurt King Chu Wei and his people, although they were bloody and sweaty BMWs, they were all prostrate on the ground and did not dare to move forward.
Everyone dismounted and hurried to the small village by the pond, but saw the villagers gathered at the entrance of the village, kneeling to the deep pool and praying. Zhao slipped a villager and asked, and he knew what was going on.
According to legend, this place was originally a water town plain, the land is fertile, men plough and women weave, and they are full of vitality.
Suddenly, a large crack suddenly tore open in the sky, and out of the crack came a huge dragon-headed fish-tailed monster. I saw the monster stepping on the dark clouds, opening its mouth wide, swallowing a candle-like torch, and fleeing in the sky. At this moment, a coercion enveloped the entire space, and a loud shout sounded from the center of everyone: "Bold rebel, dare to steal the holy fire, and will not be spared!" With two loud bangs, the monster split in two fell towards the watery plain. After the head hit the ground, it kept struggling, making a monstrous earthquake, the earth cracked, the house collapsed, with the continuous struggle of the monster's head, a deep pool with a radius of several miles appeared on the green field, and the descendants called this pool "Wanzhang Pond".
Although the monster died, since then, every ten years, there will always be a phenomenon of dark clouds covering the sky and water gushing out of the pool. The villagers would then put pigs and sheep sacrifices on the table to pray for safety.
"This is a kiss, the ninth son of the dragon! It is rumored that it was he who stole the Xuantian Candle of the Candle Dragon and died, and was actually beheaded here. King Chu Wei said.
"Is there such a thing in a small place in Louyi, I heard that its tail fell to the north more than 20 miles away from here?" Zhao Hua asked.
"Yes, the head of the city was beaten by the sword, and the place of the northern city god was greatly afflicted, and the tail of the city was stirred up seventy-two deep pools. King Chu Wei continued.
As he spoke, the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and the pool was calm again.
King Wei was busy calming the villagers. But I saw a village woman whipping a child about 10 years old with hibiscus in her hand.
King Wei stepped forward and drank: "Why do you village girl beat the child badly?"
"It's my child, what's the matter with you?" said the village woman viciously.
King Chu Wei Su Shi benevolent government, won the hearts of the people, the village woman has no eyes, she can't recognize it.
The guards on the border had already pulled away the village woman, and King Wei came to the child, but saw that the child was covered with whip marks and blood.
After investigation, it was learned that the child's name was Mengsheng, and it was named because his mother gave birth to him in a dream. His mother gave birth to him in a dream, and died of blood in a dream, and his father blamed him for taking his mother in a dream, so he did not like him very much. After taking a concubine, another boy was born, and his father died in a hunting in the mountains, so Mengsheng was bullied, often hungry, sometimes so hungry that he couldn't do it, he stole a handful, and was often caught and beaten by his stepmother. The village woman who beat him just now is his stepmother, Cai Shiye.
King Wei sighed non-stop, squatted down to wipe Mengsheng, because of excessive hunger, Mengsheng stumbled and fell into King Wei's arms, and the little face full of blood was tightly attached to King Wei's hat. Mengsheng suddenly felt a heat on his forehead, and he fell unconscious.
King Wei was startled, and hurriedly hugged Mengsheng, feeling that the hat had just been pulled by gravity, and took off the hat to find that the pearl embedded in the hat from the bank of the red water was missing. Busy with everyone rescuing Mengsheng and looking for Xuanzhu.
Mengsheng woke up slowly, full of confusion, and everyone was also shocked, but as a powerful king with thousands of jewels, when he heard that Xuanzhu could not be found, he didn't care, but saw that Mengsheng was frightened and inexplicable, and he felt pity, and hurriedly asked Zhaohua to take the silver taels, called Cai's family, and told him to raise him, otherwise he would be punished.
When the Cai family saw the silver two, he was full of smiles, full of promises, and led Mengsheng home. But Mengsheng kept King Chu Wei firmly in mind.
Besides, King Chu Wei came to the foot of Yufeng Mountain, the county town of Louyi, surrounded by everyone, and visited the place where King Wu hunted for deer.