Chapter 4 Dongpo's Deep Love (Extra extra extra update for @Liuxia Hui in Silver!)_5

I have to admit, Meng Xin Zhi was somewhat convinced by Sister Runzhi in her dream.

The broader popularity of "Ten years living and dying in endless separation" now does not mean that the longing was stronger back then.

But, since Su Dongpo remembered both his principal wife and successor wife with yearnings over the years,

it's still not easy to conclusively say who his true love was, after all.

With this thought, Meng Xin Zhi took a different perspective, "I have another question. I don't know if it will upset Sister Runzhi."

The Wang Runzhi in the dream was quite different from the one who left but a few words in history.

So different that Meng Xin Zhi felt she could speak freely without reserve.

"You can ask, and later I'll tell you if it upsets me," Wang Runzhi's response was unexpectedly playful.

Meng Xin Zhi: "Then I'll ask."

Wang Runzhi: "Mm, I'm waiting."

Meng Xin Zhi: "At the time of the Crow Terrace Poetry Case, neither Wang Fu nor Wang ChaoYun could have possibly burned Dongpo Master's writing. That was his life. Hence, we later generations say, among Dongpo Master's three women, it was you who had the least talent and understood him the least. Sister Runzhi, do you agree with this statement?"

It was a doubt that most people, including her father Zong Ji, held.

Wang Runzhi did not get angry, but firmly disagreed, "You all in future generations are wrong. Only I understood him the most."

Meng Xin Zhi: "How so?"

Wang Runzhi: "If life is gone, what use are future masterpieces? If I hadn't burned his writings and letters at that time, the Crow Terrace Poetry Case would have been the end of him at the age of 42. To die with such resentment under those circumstances, let alone his future masterpieces, even his previous essays and poems might not have survived in great numbers, right?"

Meng Xin Zhi: "That's..."

Wang Runzhi: "You only speak of how much I burned, but have you ever thought about why there are still so many poems and letters of Dongpo that have survived?"

Meng Xin Zhi: "Sister's words seem to make sense..."

Wang Runzhi: "Right? You always say, there's not much about me in Dongpo's writing, claiming I lacked all talent. None of that is true."

Meng Xin Zhi: "Then what is the truth, Sister Runzhi?"

Meng Xin Zhi is most endearing when she is thirsty for knowledge.

Even in dreams, it is the same nature.

In this aspect, Zong Yi inherited her sister's trait.

Wang Runzhi: "The truth is, I burned all the poems and letters that could showcase my talent. Moreover, instead of him being some grand master of letters in the world, I would rather he be a simple and happy food enthusiast. Rather than preserving his writing, I would prefer to cook meals for him to enjoy."

Meng Xin Zhi: "But, even setting aside your cousin Wang Fu, Wang ChaoYun remains someone you cannot overcome. 'Suitable for both light and heavy makeup,' how beautiful that encounter was."

Wang Runzhi: "'Suitable for both light and heavy makeup' refers to the scenery. Any overinterpretation is but a succession of errors by later generations."

Meng Xin Zhi: "Okay, I won't go into those speculative matters. Dongpo Master once personally wrote for Wang ChaoYun, 'Unfit for these times, only ChaoYun recognizes me; playing ancient tunes alone, every encounter with evening rain intensifies my thoughts of you.' No matter what else could be a misrepresentation of later generations, something written by hand can't be faked, right?"

Wang Runzhi: "It can't be faked. ChaoYun was purchased into service as a maidservant at the age of twelve, and from twelve to eighteen, she was trained by me personally. When she was eighteen, it was also at my suggestion that Dongpo took her as concubine. Why do you think Dongpo said only ChaoYun could recognize him? Even the Dongpo pork dish was taught to her by me!"

In the dream, Meng Xin Zhi talked a lot with Sister Runzhi.

Initially, Meng Xin Zhi was very firm in her stance.

Not until Wang Runzhi told her, "If you could find the words that Dongpo personally wrote for Wang ChaoYun, you should also be able to find the most important message in the 'Ode to the Deceased Wife, Lady of Tong'an' that he wrote for me."

Meng Xin Zhi asked: "What message?"

Wang Runzhi answered: "Dongpo's instructions for his own funeral arrangements. He requested to be buried with me, '[Only sharing the same grave remains true to these words].' No matter how many stories they have left behind, the one who shared a bed with Dongpo in life and a grave in death was only me. Not Cousin Wang Fu, nor Concubine Wang ChaoYun."

Meng Xin Zhi awoke at that moment, and upon awakening, she found herself convinced in the dream.

If to lie together in life and be buried together in death, desiring to be with the same person for eternity, is not to be one's lifelong true love, then who else could be?

...

Meng Xin Zhi was stunned for a long while before she began to reply to her poetic father, "I study cultural relics, 'such words' cannot be accepted as evidence to me. In my dream, Wang Runzhi told me 'Drinking at the Lake After a Clearing Rain' had nothing to do with Wang ChaoYun."