Chapter 185

【"The spring night is short and the sun rises high, from now on the monarch does not go to court early."】

【Fuchai indulged in Xi Shi's gentle village, and his vigilance against Yue State gradually relaxed, and he became more and more disgusted with the loyal advice of the loyal minister Wu Zixu.】

【Xi Shi's undercover career in the Wu palace officially unfolded.】

The heavenly voice became low and full of tension, and the scene showed Xi Shi's "work" with a montage technique.

【1. Bewitching the monarch: Accompanying day and night, singing and dancing without stopping, soft words and warmth, exhausting Fuchai's energy and ambition.】

【2. Alienating monarch and minister: In front of Fuchai, seemingly unintentionally mentioning Wu Zixu's "arrogance", "dissatisfaction with the Great King", "private contact with Yue State envoys", etc., deepening Fuchai's suspicion of Wu Zixu. At the same time, secretly cooperating with Wu State Grand Master Bo Pi, who accepted Yue State bribes, to exclude loyalists.】

【3. Passing intelligence: Through Yue State spies in Wu or using Fuchai's trust, trying to pass military deployment, food storage, monarch and minister movements, etc., of Wu State back to Yue State.】

【4. Exhausting national strength: Instigating Fuchai to go north to compete for hegemony with Qi and Jin, consuming Wu State's national strength. Supporting large-scale projects such as digging the Han Canal, laboring the people and wasting money.】

The scene specifically depicted Xi Shi's "double life" in front of Fuchai:

In front of people, she was a pet concubine like a thousand-charming, flower-interpreting flower;

When alone, she often pitied herself in the mirror, her eyes empty, or shed tears silently in the dead of night.

She supported each other with Zheng Dan who entered Wu together, but Zheng Dan died of depression not long after due to personality or opportunity, adding to Xi Shi's loneliness.

【Key strike: Promoting the death of Wu Zixu.】

When Yue State was sharpening its weapons and ready to move, Wu Zixu repeatedly remonstrated, even forcing with death, demanding Fuchai to be vigilant against Yue State, and destroy Yue first before planning to go north.

Fuchai was angry, Xi Shi saw the timing, cried and complained to Fuchai that Wu Zixu had been disrespectful to her, and hinted that Wu Zixu had the heart to depose the king.

Fuchai, who could no longer tolerate Wu Zixu, finally gave him the Shulou sword and ordered him to commit suicide.

In the scene, Wu Zixu committed suicide with indignation, and before dying, asked to dig out his eyes and hang them on the city gate of Gusu, wanting to "see the Yue army enter the city"!

Wu State destroyed its own Great Wall, and the destruction entered the countdown.

【In 482 BC, Fuchai led elite troops north to the Huangchi alliance to compete for hegemony with Jin State. Goujian took advantage of the emptiness, sent troops to attack Wu, defeated the Wu army, and killed the Wu Crown Prince.】

The scene showed the Yue army like a tiger out of the gate, attacking Wu State.

【Fuchai fled back to save, but had already lost the opportunity, and the national strength was greatly damaged.】

【After nearly ten years of continuous strikes, in 473 BC, the Yue army broke through the Wu capital Gusu.】

【Fuchai was at the end of his rope, wanting to emulate Goujian's request for peace back then, but was rejected by Goujian.】

The scene showed Fuchai trapped on Gusu Terrace, surrounded by enemies.

He went to see Xi Shi for the last time, perhaps wanting to take her with him, perhaps wanting to ask clearly.

Xi Shi stood in front of the ruins of Guanwa Palace, looking at this man who had doted on her for more than ten years and had also been calculated by her for more than ten years, her expression complex and unspeakable.

No words, no tears, only death-like silence.

Finally, Fuchai sighed to the sky: "I regret not using Wu Zixu's words, causing myself to fall into this!"

Covered his face with silk, pulled out his sword and committed suicide. Wu State, destroyed.

【Xi Shi, the greatest hero of Yue State, completed her almost impossible mission.】

【However, what awaited her was not flowers and rewards, but a more unpredictable fate.】

Regarding Xi Shi's ending, the Heavenly Screen displayed several of the most widely circulated claims, and made a tendency presentation:

【Claim 1: Hiding the bow after the birds are gone, sinking into the river and dying (most credible).】

First recorded in "Mozi · Qin Shi": "Xi Shi's sinking, her beauty." Because she was too beautiful, she was sunk into the river.

"Wu Yue Chun Qiu" stray text: "After Wu died, Yue floated Xi Shi in the river, ordering her to end with the leather bag." ("Chiyi" is a leather bag). The Yue people put her in a leather bag and sank her into the river.

Reason speculation:

1. Yue people's fear: Xi Shi's beauty could topple strong Wu, who knows it won't cause disaster to Yue? Goujian or Yue nobles had misgivings.

2. Goujian's ruthlessness: Goujian can share adversity, but not wealth.

Xi Shi knew too many conspiracies and was an "inauspicious" person, keeping her was useless, and instead a hidden danger.

3. Political need: Yue State needed to establish an image of "diligence and opposition to extravagance", Xi Shi as a symbol of "Beauty Scheme", must be erased.

The scene presented: After the clamor of victory, Xi Shi was secretly taken to the river bank.

She had already foreseen the ending, her face was calm, even with a trace of relief, she was put into a leather bag, pushed into the surging river water, silently, disappearing into the long river of history.

This ending is the most tragic, and also most consistent with the cruel logic of political struggle.

【Claim 2: Retiring after success, boating on the Five Lakes.】

Legend has it that Fan Li knew Goujian's character early, and after destroying Wu, he retired quickly.

He quietly found Xi Shi, the two drove a flat boat, out of the Three Rivers, into the Five Lakes (Taihu Lake), and from then on disappeared, carefree in the mountains and waters.

This claim is mostly seen in later literature and drama, entrusting people's wishes for this tragic beauty to have a good ending.

The scene presented: On the vast Taihu Lake, a flat boat, Fan Li and Xi Shi stood side by side, looking back at the direction of Gusu, then the boat went further and further, disappearing where the water and sky met. This ending is romantic, but has no historical evidence, mostly a beautiful imagination.

【In addition, there are claims of being killed by the Yue Empress or Wu people, returning to hometown to live in seclusion, etc., not all. But "sinking river claim" has the earliest historical materials, and is also the most heart-wrenching.】

【Heavenly Screen Commentary: "The rise and fall of the country has its time, why should the Wu people blame Xi Shi. If Xi Shi could topple Wu State, who was it that destroyed Yue State?" — Tang · Luo Yin "Xi Shi"】

【She is the embodiment of beauty, and also a puppet of strategy; she is a hero of national restoration, and also a sacrifice of politics.】

【A pair of slender hands, washed silk, played the zither, held the heart, and finally perhaps pushed away the waves of death.】

【The appearance of sinking fish, toppled Wu State, and also sank herself. Chaotic world beauty, never could help herself, beauty is a talent, and also an original sin and shackle.】

【Her life is a spy elegy composed with peerless beauty, the most tragic and sorrowful.】

Finally, an eight-character summary, blood and style intertwined:

Sinking fish restores the country, beauty through the ages.

【First place on the Beauty List: Xi Shi, counting finished.】

With the presentation of Xi Shi's ending, the Jiangnan water color, Wu palace prosperity, and conspiracy shadows all turned into a wisp of smoke on the river or a sigh.

On the Golden List, Xi Shi's image slowly faded.

【Heavenly Dao Golden List · History Eight Great Beauty List, all revealed so far!】

【From the eighth place Chen Yuanyuan, to the first place Xi Shi, eight beauties, eight legends, eight fates, intertwined into a magnificent long scroll about beauty, power, love, country, and history.】

【Beautiful women are not all disasters, there is much bitterness behind the legends. Those who leave their names in history, their beauty is in the skin, but also in the bones, in the soul, in the magnificent era they experienced.】

【The list is finished, you can comment on it yourself.】

On the Golden List, the names, titles, and eight-character summaries of the eight beauties flashed in turn, finally turning into golden light all over the sky, slowly converging.

The huge Golden List phantom that spanned heaven and earth also faded, until it disappeared into the sky.

The Xianyang drill ground was silent.

Everyone was still immersed in the tragic fate of Xi Shi at the end and the huge shock and complex thoughts brought by the whole list, unable to return to their senses for a long time.