Chapter 4 Dongpo's Deep Love (Extra extra extra update for @Liuxia Hui in Silver!)_4

Meng Xin Zhi asked Wang Runzhi a question.

It was exactly the same one that Zong Ji had just asked her.

Not too polite, but sufficiently direct.

Meng Xin Zhi, "Sister Runzhi, isn't Wang Fu, with his 'ten years in life and death, two vast and boundless realms,' and Wang ChaoYun, with her 'light makeup or heavy application always suitable,' more renowned than you through the ages?"

Wang Runzhi, "Ten years in life and death... only tears a thousand lines. It took a decade after my cousin's death to get a dream, and only in dreams did the tears line a thousand strings. What does that amount to? I wrote a letter to Dongpo, and his tears were far more than a thousand lines."

At this point, Wang Runzhi recited a poem Su Dongpo had written for her—"Butterfly Loves Flowers: Sending off Spring":

[After the rain, the spring's beauty is even more refreshing and clear. Only the one departed harbors melancholic sorrow that cannot be washed away. Beigu Mountain is surrounded by water on three sides. The Biqiong Comb holds up a coiffure of green snails.]

[A letter from my hometown travels thousands of miles. Asking me, when will there truly be a plan to return? With white hair I offer the spring, matching it with a drink. The east wind breaks and spills a thousand lines of tears.]

Meng Xin Zhi had seen this "Butterfly Loves Flowers" while collecting information on Su Shi.

In her original perception, this poem was not so much written for Wang Runzhi as it was expressing Su Shi's own feelings of homesickness.

Because the dreamscape established them as best friends, Meng Xin Zhi had no scruples joking, "This poem doesn't even mention Sister Runzhi's name, where does it suggest it was written for you?"

"Saying it like that takes the fun out of it," Wang Runzhi countered, "The so-called timeless lamentation poem doesn't mention my cousin's name either, does it?"

"So, 'Record of a Dream on the Night of the Twentieth Day of the First Month of the Year Yimao' wasn't about Wang Fu?" Meng Xin Zhi simply couldn't believe it.

"That's not my point. Dongpo and my cousin definitely had their years of mutual respect and deep affection." Wang Runzhi offered her own interpretation, "But when he wrote that 'River City', it was less about mourning my cousin and more about reminiscing over his own vigorous and spirited youth."

"'Rather than saying… it's more about…'" Meng Xin Zhi laughed heartily, "I suspect Sister Runzhi is stealing my phrases."

"Whatever phrases I use in your dream, isn't it all up to you?" Wang Runzhi glanced at Meng Xin Zhi.

Meng Xin Zhi scratched her head a bit sheepishly, "Seems like it, yeah."

"My cousin shared with Dongpo the most uninhibited eleven years of his life. How could he possibly not miss them?" Wang Runzhi got back on topic.

Although she felt a bit embarrassed not to side with her best friend, Meng Xin Zhi, who had studied cultural relics and museology for many years, was not so easily convinced, "Is that so?"

Wang Runzhi responded with a smile, "I know you still don't believe me. If you think that writing a lamentation poem a few years after someone's death represents lifelong devotion, then what Dongpo wrote for me was even more sincere and acted upon, not just an idle thought. You can't assume that 'River City', because of its wide circulation in later ages, represents that ultimate affection."

"Acted upon?" Meng Xin Zhi asked, "What actions?"

"You know my title is Lady of Tong'an, right?" Wang Runzhi sought confirmation from Meng Xin Zhi.

"Yes, I know that," Meng Xin Zhi nodded in response.

"That's good enough. I didn't have to wait for ten years; Dongpo wrote 'Butterfly Loves Flowers: Releasing Fish on Tong'an Lady's Birthday, Taking 'Brilliant Light Scripture' to Save Fish' three years after my death. On the anniversary of my birth and remembrance, he bought fish and released them, praying for my blessing."

With the name of this poem, Wang Runzhi smoothly responded to Meng Xin Zhi's initial "provocation," "This must mention me, right?"

Meng Xin Zhi didn't even know when she had read this poem.

But she could recite every line clearly in the dream:

[The early spring breeze barely breaches the fifth, river willows slightly yellow, endless delicate threads. Lush qi fills the embroidered chamber, for once upon the river was born an extraordinary girl.]

[Whose toast for longevity's cup shall rise? Three pearls on the lap, Wang Wendu seated, freeing all the poor fish, watching them gather gratefully. The heavenly lord sends down a Manjusaka rain.]

Indeed, as Wang Runzhi said, this poem was not only heartfelt but was accompanied by a concrete action—[freeing all the poor fish]—releasing all the purchased fish.

This short poem began with Wang Runzhi's birth and covered her entire life.

It was not just a brief record of a dream occasion.

Wang Runzhi, "Xinzhi, do you know why [once upon the river was born an extraordinary girl]?"

Meng Xin Zhi, "Ah? I don't know why."

Wang Runzhi, "Because I was born in the rare leap month, my name's 'Run' has that very origin."

It was another point of knowledge Meng Xin Zhi had not paid attention to in life.

After waking from the dream, Meng Xin Zhi specifically checked how rare the leap month actually was.

In history, the most recent leap month closest to now was in the year 1640, and the next one will be in 2262.