Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Roar That Shatters the Heavens

Before the emperor or Xiao Jingxuan could step in to help Su Jingluo out of her predicament, she was already quite drunk. She suddenly stood up and shouted loudly. Under the astonished gaze of the crowd, Su Jingluo, holding a wine cup and a spoon, staggered toward the center of the grand hall, with a palace attendant quickly hurrying after her.

“Princess Consort, what performance would you like to give?” The attendant needed to confirm what Su Jingluo intended to perform so she could prepare the appropriate music and instruments.

“I want to sing!” Su Jingluo declared, swaying as she raised her voice.

“Very well. What would you like to sing? What tune should we prepare for you?” the attendant pressed on.

“No need. Your music cannot match the grandeur of my song. I’ll sing a cappella,” Su Jingluo waved her hand grandly, dismissing the attendant. The noblewomen present all covered their mouths, giggling. It seemed the Princess Consort of Jing, in a foul mood, had indulged too much and was now making a drunken spectacle of herself.

Su Jingluo closed her eyes, recalling the song she often sang in her previous world—“Striding Across Rivers and Mountains.” The lyrics echoed through her mind several times.

“Autumn wind, setting sun falls into the endless river,
In the misty south, a boat sails through the rain.
Jagged rocks pierce the sky, how many flames of war have they seen?
I have traversed a thousand miles of rivers and mountains,
But whose hands hold the world once more?
Unions and partings, just a few fleeting decades…”

As she sang, Su Jingluo treated the grand hall as if it were her private karaoke room, beating a rhythm with her spoon against her wine cup, belting out the song with abandon. She did not miss a single chorus, repeating it several times. Her small frame erupted with astonishing energy. In her previous life, whenever she felt down, she would howl her heart out at karaoke, becoming a legend among her circle of friends.

Indeed, as she claimed, none of the music from this era could match the heroic spirit of her soaring melody. The entire hall resounded with her cry, shattering the heavens.

Among those present were many old ministers and generals who had faced battlefields. As they listened to Su Jingluo’s song, a surge of heroic ambition welled in their chests. They stared, transfixed, at the woman in the center of the hall, her cheeks flushed, her manner free and unrestrained.

Xiao Jingxuan had never seen Su Jingluo so uninhibited and bold. He could not help but recall his own days clad in armor on the battlefield. And yet, why was it that the one embodying the spirit of the warrior was not himself, but Su Jingluo? She sang with such passion and feeling, as if it were she who had fought on the front lines, she who had risked her life, she who had left her homeland behind to face mortal danger. Xiao Jingxuan’s eyes reddened as memories of those tumultuous years filled his heart to bursting.

Song Yunmo’s reaction was even more dramatic. With a clatter, his wine cup dropped to the floor, spilling wine all over his trousers, yet he seemed not to notice. Such a divine woman!

When Su Jingluo finished her song, she glanced at the wine remaining in her cup, feeling stirred from the performance herself. She raised her cup and spun in a circle, addressing the blurred figures around her.

“To all the heroes who have fought on the battlefield, I, Su Jingluo, offer you a toast! To your loyalty and courage, to your bravery in the face of death!”

Many of the assembled generals and meritorious officials rose to their feet and drank with her. None of them could have imagined, after all their years of campaigning, that a young woman would be the one to truly understand them.

With that, Su Jingluo drained her cup in one gulp, then promptly collapsed in the center of the hall, dead drunk and utterly insensible.