Chapter 1, Leaf One (Upper)

  Before our story begins, let's talk about an ancient tale related to tombs.

  It is said that when Wu Zetian was selecting a burial site for herself, she invited Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng, the two most famous Taoist priests at that time.

  This is the historical record of the selection story of Qianling Mausoleum. After Tang Gaozong died in Luoyang, Chen Zi'ang and others advocated for setting up a mausoleum in Luoyang, but Wu Zetian decided to choose an auspicious place on the Guanzhong Wei North Plateau to follow Gaozong's will "to return to Chang'an, and die without regret". Soon, the court selected two famous feng shui masters from all over the country. One was Yuan Tiangang, a stargazer from Sichuan, and the other was Li Chunfeng, the Taishi commander in charge of yin-yang and astronomy in the imperial palace.

  Yuan Tian Gang received the imperial edict and searched extensively along both banks of the Yellow River, but couldn't find a satisfactory location. Later, he arrived in Guanzhong and came out at midnight to observe the celestial phenomena, seeing only one mountain range with purple energy soaring into the sky, coincidentally intersecting with the North Dipper. Yuan Tian Gang was certain it was a precious land and hastily rushed up the mountain, finding the correct orientation, but for the time being couldn't find anything to mark the spot, so he took out a copper coin and placed it on the ground, covering it with loose soil, before descending the mountain and returning to report.

  Another geomancer, Li Chunfeng, received the imperial edict and went east along the Wei River to find a suitable place. On a sunny day at noon, he saw a strange stone mountain rising from the ground in Qin Valley: From south to north, it looked like a young woman lying naked under the blue sky and white clouds, with all five senses complete, a pair of breasts standing upright and symmetrical, including nipples and navel. Li Chunfeng was greatly surprised, so he quickly climbed up the mountain, used his body shadow to determine the direction, arranged eight trigrams with broken stones, inserted the hairpin into the ground at the intersection of two fish, and then went down the mountain to report back to the emperor.

  Wu Zetian heard them say that they had chosen a lucky location in the same position, and sent someone to re-examine it. The minister arrived at Liangshan, found this place, removed the floating soil, and was shocked for half a day without getting up. It turned out that Li Chunfeng's hairpin was stuck in the coin eye of Yuan Tiangang's copper coin.

  Since it was a piece of auspicious land, what were they waiting for? Wu Zetian ordered the construction to start immediately, and soon the Mausoleum of Gaozong of Tang would be completed, and Emperor Gaozong of Tang would be buried there. Later, Wu Zetian followed her husband and was also buried in the Mausoleum. The terrain of the Mausoleum perfectly matched the harmony of yin and yang, with a perfect combination of heaven and earth. Qian represents heaven and yang, Kun represents earth and yin, and the interaction between yin and yang gives birth to all things. According to the Book of Burial, "Burial is about riding on the vital energy. It's about hiding the wind and gathering the energy, with water being the most important. Therefore, in burial, the left side represents the green dragon, the right side represents the white tiger, the front represents the vermilion bird, and the back represents the black turtle."

  Qianling has withstood the test of time for thousands of years, and remains unmoved by wind and rain. Generations of tomb raiders have returned empty-handed from Qianling, unable to even find the entrance to the tomb path. This is a testament to the fact that this land's feng shui has indeed protected the dragon and phoenix bodies buried beneath it from disturbance by mortals. However, some ancient people pointed out that while Liangshan's feng shui is good, it benefits the yin but not the yang. Wu Zetian chose this place as the burial site for herself and Tang Gaozong in order to bring prosperity to her descendants.

  First, the dragon vein of Qianling and Taizong's Zhao Mausoleum is cut off. If ordinary people were buried here, they could prosper for three generations. However, if an emperor was buried in this place, it's likely that after three generations, the throne would be in danger. In fact, this is indeed the case. The Tang Dynasty declined from prosperity to decline after Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and at that time, Wu Zetian had been in power for no more than three generations.

  Secondly, the head of the Tang Dynasty's dragon vein is at Jiuzong Mountain, where Taizong was buried. It is located at the head of the dragon and makes the Tang house prosperous. However, Liangshan is the tail of the Zhou Dynasty's dragon vein, and the tail energy must decline.

  Third, the northern peak of Liangshan is the highest, with the two peaks in front resembling breasts. The entire mountain shape, viewed from a distance, resembles a young woman lying flat, with the breast-like peaks towering high. This is a typical place of beneficial yin energy, where yin energy permeates and is unfavorable to yang energy. Moreover, the main peak of Liangshan is straight and upright, belonging to the wood element, while the two southern peaks are round and smooth, belonging to the metal element. Although the three mountain peaks are majestic, they appear flat when viewed from a distance, belonging to the earth element. Metal overcomes wood, and earth generates metal. Building a mausoleum at the foot of the main peak will inevitably lead to yin energy overwhelming yang energy. Wu Zetian's usurpation of power is related to her choice of this location for her tomb.

  Of course, the above inference cannot be verified or falsified. However, from the topography of Liangshan, with its twin peaks standing tall and surrounded by two rivers, it seems like a beautiful woman quietly lying down in this place. Whether Liangshan is auspicious for yin or yang, it is indeed a rare piece of land with excellent feng shui.

  So this story tells us. Don't be fooled by appearances. Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng are not necessarily good-hearted. How could these feng shui masters not understand this principle?

  OK, the purpose of telling this story is to warn people that when choosing a burial site, they must be cautious and would rather have a plain and unremarkable one that brings peace and safety to their descendants, than to choose an extreme location, even if it brings glory and prosperity for several generations, but will inevitably bring disaster to future generations.

  To be honest... I'm a grave seller. Everything I said above is an advertisement, specifically for customers to hear.

  Please trust my professional ethics. In order to do a good job in this glorious and fashionable work of selling graves, I have learned a lot of professional knowledge and paid countless efforts for it, and of course, I have also experienced many things that ordinary people can never touch. My hard work has earned me a lot of good reputation, and my business has expanded from the original part-time job of selling graves to buying and selling graves. There's nothing more to say about buying and selling graves, so let me tell you something about Yangzhai and graveyards.

  Everyone knows about the business of geomancy, but few people understand the business of grave digging. Because this profession sounds good when said nicely, it's called "divination", and when said in a bad tone, it's just dealing with dead people all day long. From simple tasks like choosing a burial site to moving graves and erecting tombstones, there are many things to consider because the goal is for the deceased to rest in peace and bring blessings to their descendants.

  I don't quite understand why I'm doing this part-time job as a grave digger. The first reason is that the pay is much higher than selling graves, and the second is that my friend is the real boss. As a result, I've suffered a lot, so let me tell you about it one by one.

  Let's start with a business of tomb sweeping, which is also how I met my friend.

  Oh, right, my friend's name is Ye Yi. He's a pretty mysterious guy, and over the years, I've followed him or he's followed me to make money from tomb raiding, and we haven't been harmed by him either.

  That autumn, I had just started working at a cemetery company, and on my first day of reporting for duty, I was assigned to work in the cemetery sales department. If anyone thinks this is a lucrative position, they are greatly mistaken. This department is desolate, with almost no one coming to give gifts or offering opportunities for bribery. Most people who buy graves come with a master, searching through the cemetery and paying directly when they find one, with clear prices that leave no room for gray income. If you dare to tell lies about a grave already being sold... sorry, unless you want to reserve a spot for yourself. This kind of talk is taboo in the industry, and although I'm a young man who doesn't quite believe it, dealing with the cemetery all day makes me hesitant to speak carelessly about such things.

  Later, I found out that those so-called masters were relying on the knowledge of one or two books to deceive buyers and then stuffed a large amount of money into their pockets. So I thought, why can't I do this? If I did it, wouldn't it be gray income? Therefore, this is also considered my first time entering the circle of tomb sweeping.