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Chapter 1212 - 1206: There’s Actually a Lot of Evidence

Chapter 1212: Chapter 1206: There’s Actually a Lot of Evidence

"From Wanhua Inn to the Hong River is a distance of fifteen li, which we can see from the text, but the Hong River does not necessarily mean Hongjiang Ferry. The text is written as follows: ’Traveling at dawn and lodging at night, before one is aware, one has already reached Hongjiang Ferry.’"

"From this, we can analyze that Chen Guangrui and his wife traveled together, and when it was time to find an inn to stay at night, they arrived at Hongjiang Ferry."

"Thus, we can also conclude that it takes only one day to travel from Wanhua Inn to Hongjiang Ferry."

"Unaware of having arrived at Hongjiang Ferry, they only saw Boatman Liu Hong and Li Biao, the two men, pole the boat to the shore to greet them. Consequently, Chen Guangrui and his wife boarded the bandit’s boat."

"It was on this night that Chen Guangrui was murdered. We must pay special attention to this part of the plot, everyone please carefully recall, what is there about this segment that merits our deep reflection."

"Pole the boat to a deserted place, wait till the deep silence of the third watch of the night, first killing the servant, then beating Guangrui to death, and dumping the bodies into the water."

"Look everyone, the servant was killed, swiftly and decisively severed with a blade. But Chen Guangrui, he was beaten to death alive; this sculler would at most be moved by greed or lust, why would he inflict such cruel methods on Chen Guangrui?"

"Furthermore, let’s continue reading below. It said that Miss Yin despised the thieving Liu Hong, hating him to the point of wanting to flay and devour him; but because she was pregnant and could not tell the sex of the child, she had no choice but to grudgingly go along with him. Before she knew it, she had already arrived at Jiangzhou."

"Miss Yin accompanied Liu Hong simply because she was with child. A few days later, they finally arrived at Jiangzhou."

"I think Professor Cai must have also discerned some clues from this point," said Li Changlin as he raised his eyes to look at Professor Cai.

Although he was somewhat resentful towards this haughty professor, after all, Journey to the West was not his solo performance.

The program had invited four guests, and Li Changlin did not feel right monopolizing the stage all to himself.

Upon hearing this, Professor Cai nodded slightly, by now his impression of Li Changlin had changed quite a bit, and he had already recognized that the other party indeed had real expertise.

Otherwise, Li Changlin would not be able to recite passages from the book from memory, which even Professor Cai himself could not remember word for word.

This alone proves that Li Changlin has indeed devoted effort to studying Journey to the West.

"From Mr. Li’s analysis just now, we can deduce that the time from Chen Guangrui and Miss Wen’s marriage by throwing the embroidered ball to their arrival at Hongjiang Ferry would not have exceeded eighteen days."

"During these eighteen days, most of the time was spent on the road, aside from the two or three hours they spent together on their wedding day. Apart from that day, they only had a leisurely three days at Wanhua Inn due to Mother Zhang’s illness. Whether Chen Guangrui and Miss Yin consummated their marriage on the wedding day is something we cannot speculate. But even if they truly consummated the marriage and conceived Tang Monk on the first try, it still does not explain Miss Wen’s actions."

"Generally speaking, it takes about forty days for a woman to start experiencing pregnancy symptoms after conception, and that’s in an era when our medical science is so advanced. However, Miss Wen was able to confirm her pregnancy within eighteen days, which simply does not make sense."

"Of course, if the child’s father was someone else, then this could be explained. It could also explain why Miss Yin, despite being the daughter of the Prime Minister, resorted to the tradition of throwing the embroidered ball, because at that time Chancellor Yin had no choice but to do so."

Professor Cai had some credibility, as his explanations were eloquent and basically clarified all the points Li Changlin wanted to address.

Next to him, Professor Luo also laughed, adding, "Moreover, if you look at the four words ’unknown whether male or female’ in the context, they actually conceal a mystery. The mention of ’unknown whether male or female’ in the text actually suggests that the pregnancy was already some time along, not something that was just discovered. Therefore, from this point, we can be absolutely certain that the child Miss Wen carries was conceived before the marriage, known not only to Miss Yin but also to her father, Chancellor Yin. As such, the top scholar Chen Guangrui is naturally not the biological father of Tang Monk."

"Who would have thought that Journey to the West could be interpreted in such a way!" Upon hearing Professor Luo’s summary, Professor Ma, sitting next to Li Changlin, immediately expressed his astonishment.

In fact, not just him; even Wen Chengzai, including the several hundred audience members below, were all showing an enlightened look at this moment.

When reading Journey to the West in the past, many would find this part of the plot quite strange, but very few people have truly pondered why the author arranged it this way.

For many, reading a book is merely a form of entertainment, and not everyone conducts serious research like Professor Cai and Professor Luo.

Journey to the West’s status as one of the Four Great Classical Novels is surely for good reason, and even now, there are many issues within it that no one has thoroughly studied.

Just like Professor Cai, although he conjectured that the father of Tang Monk was Emperor Taizu of Tang, his arguments still lacked the persuasive power of Li Changlin.

In fact, regarding the Chapter on the origin of Tang Monk, as long as readers read carefully from the start, they will notice the abnormalities.

After all, the practice of Miss Yin throwing the embroidered ball to find a suitor was nearly absurd.

Whomever it hit, she would have to marry him, and with everyone watching, it would be impossible to refuse.

This method, even if Miss Yin herself didn’t mind, Chancellor Yin would never agree to it.

He was, after all, the Prime Minister of a nation, second only to the sovereign, a man of great importance. How could he bear to let his beloved daughter make a spectacle of herself in this way?

You have all sorts on the streets—collectors of scraps, beggars, hoodlums, and the like. Upon seeing such a sight, they would all eagerly join in the commotion.

It’s all about participation, after all; what if it hit you, wouldn’t you soar to the heavens!

Under such circumstances, unless Chancellor Yin lost his senses or held a grudge against his own daughter, he would never allow her to engage in throwing the embroidered ball; after all, he could not possibly know that the top scholar Chen Guangrui would be passing in front of his residence on horseback that day!

It is already noted early in the original text of Journey to the West, ’The King of Tang personally decreed the top scholar a three-day horseback street parade. Unplanned, he paraded to the doorstep of Chancellor Yin Kaishan’s home, where Chancellor Yin had a daughter named Wenjiao, also known as Mantangjiao, unmarried still, who was on the high-built colored pavilion, throwing the embroidered ball to choose a husband, and as fate would have it, Chen Guangrui just so happened to pass below.’