All Hail Cousin Brother

295 Secret of the Silk Book

The little girl stared at her toes, her eyelashes lowered and trembling slightly.

Zhou Linghuai stroked her hair again. Her soft hair made his palm itch. “What did the people from the Marquis of Changxing say when they visited just now?”

Yu Youyao heaved a sigh of relief and looked up. “She gave up her face to apologize without any hesitation. Old Madam Cao even told Grandmother about the past.”

Old Madam Cao and her grandmother talked about the past. A polite person would talk about it. In this way, even if they did not have a relationship, they would still get to know each other.

Once people had a relationship, they had to show some consideration. Later on, no matter if it was an apology, as long as they showed sincerity, the Yu Residence would definitely accept it.

Therefore, Old Madam Cao was a smart person.

Zhou Linghuai was not surprised.

Yu Youyao recalled the silk book that Old Madam Cao had given her and quickly asked Chun Xiao to get it. “Cousin, the Marquis of Changxing’s wife gave me a silk book. She said that she has some ties with the Xie family.”

Zhou Linghuai was a little surprised. “The silk book has a pre-Qin text. At that time, most of the recorded words were made of skin and simple items. Silk weaving was a precious item, so the silk book wasn’t widely used. Only some important documents were recorded in the silk book. In that case, this silk book should have a background. However…” he thought for a moment and said, “the content of the silk book is unknown, or the content recorded isn’t very important, so the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence gave this to you.”

Even so, it was a lot of effort for the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence to give Yu Youyao a silk book.

Yu Youyao thought the same. “Since it’s an item of my maternal family, I’ll give it to Third Cousin when he returns to the capital.”

Zhou Linghuai nodded.

At this moment, Chun Xiao came over with the silk book.

Yu Youyao opened the box and took out the silk book. She unfolded it bit by bit.

The words on it were all in oracle bone script. It was probably too old, and some of the words were a little blurry. Yu Youyao did not recognize a single word, so she looked at the pictures on it.

She was even more confused.

These paintings were all simple paintings drawn with thin lines. They were green, red, white, and black. However, Yu Youyao knew that there were not as many paints in the Pre-Qin Dynasty as there were now. Among them, green, red, white, and black were the most expensive.

She looked at it carefully and realized that the method of drawing was a little strange. The Great Zhou Dynasty did not have such things. It was as if there was a special totem drawing. Even if it was a simple structure, its expression was different and vivid. Most of the people were standing or lying down, running or jumping. All of them were lifelike, but they exuded a sense of solemnity. The work and detail of the brush were not pleasing at all.

Yu Youyao couldn’t understand it, so she handed it to her cousin. “Cousin, help me take a look. I don’t understand anything recorded in the silk book.”

Zhou Linghuai was a little hesitant. “It’s an old item of the Xie family after all…”

Before he could finish speaking, Yu Youyao understood what he meant. “Cousin, you’re thinking too much. The Marquis of Changxing’s Residence has obtained the silk book. Who knows how they’ll interpret it? Although the silk book is in my hands, it’s still an antique. It’s impossible that the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence hasn’t copied it. Moreover, it’s impossible that the really important things are in my hands.”

Since it wasn’t too important, there was no harm in taking a look.

Zhou Linghuai was indeed a little interested in the silk book. Hearing her reasoning, he did not decline and took it to read.

Seeing that her cousin was reading with interest, Yu Youyao suddenly realized. “Cousin, you can actually understand the contents of the silk book? You even know the oracle bone script?”

She had no idea that her words were very contradictory.

Zhou Linghuai laughed when he heard this. “I know a little.”

Yu Youyao was speechless. Her cousin was still as humble as ever.

Zhou Linghuai was amused by her expression and asked, “You don’t know if I can understand the silk book. Why did you give it to me just now and ask me to help you take a look? It’s as if I’ll definitely recognize it.”

Only then did Yu Youyao react. She pouted. “I’m used to looking for Cousin if there’s anything I don’t understand, so I didn’t think that Cousin couldn’t understand it.”

She was probably certain that her cousin would understand.

After all, her cousin was so capable and knew so many things.

Zhou Linghuai smiled. “The content of this silk book is quite interesting. Come over, I’ll read it to you.”

“Cousin, what did the silk book say?” Yu Youyao smiled and sat down beside her cousin, leaning close to him with one hand supporting her head.

Zhou Linghuai looked down at her and pointed at the picture on it. “Strictly speaking, this isn’t considered an old item of the Xie Residence. It should have been recorded by the Xie Residence in the past. It records the myths, legends, and customs that have been circulated in the Chu Kingdom. It also includes aspects like yin and yang, the five elements, and Heaven’s Perception. There are also some astronomical phenomena, the Cataclysm, the four seasons, and climate and phenology in a lunar month. Although the silk book is small, it has rich and varied content.”

Yu Youyao listened with interest.

There were paintings of ghosts and gods on it. Every time her cousin read them, he would point at the pictures on the silk books and tell her those circulating ghost stories.

Her eyes lit up when she heard this. She did not expect her cousin to know some ghost stories in the Chu Kingdom.

As he read, Zhou Linghuai’s expression turned a little solemn, and his eyes were filled with surprise.

Yu Youyao quickly asked, “Cousin, what’s wrong?”

Zhou Linghuai stopped reading the silk book. He carefully rolled up the silk book and placed it in the box. “Have you heard of witchcraft?”

Yu Youyao nodded. “I only know that according to the books, there was a calamity of witchcraft in every dynasty. Every time, it involved a lot of people and blood flowed like a river. The Great Zhou Dynasty prohibited witchcraft. Once it was discovered, the person involved would be executed according to the law.”

Zhou Linghuai explained, “Evil spells are called witchcraft while blessings are praised by the Lord. Shamans are divided into good and evil. Those who are good are blessings, and those who are evil are witches. A curse is different from a blessing.”

Yu Youyao’s interest was piqued.

Zhou Linghuai continued, “It records the witchcraft culture of blessings, prosperity, rain, drought, disaster relief, long-distance illness, and so on. It includes benevolence, farming, astronomical phenomena, military tactics, medical skills, and so on. However, in addition to the oracle bone script, there’s also a large number of golden and hieroglyphic words mixed in. There are a few types of words that aren’t big, and many of the informative words aren’t clear.”

The shaman culture was based on gods, ghosts, and humans.

Shape, posture, movements, rituals, taboos, and so on were just its appearance. There were first shamans in the world, and then there were Daoism and Confucianism. Both Daoism and Confucianism were affected by shaman culture.

The shaman culture was extremely practical.

The auspicious blessing included benevolence and merit. From there, one could obtain blessings from gods and ghosts. In good years, it also included farming times and seasons. In the calm wind and drought, there was a weather spell to predict the rain. The disaster relief soldiers were even more impressive. There were descriptions about strange armor and formations. New illnesses were cured by medical skills.

The Gu medicine inherited by the Xie Residence in Quanzhou was probably from this sect.