Fang Zhao stayed at the retirement facility to watch the series with the two elders and chat about some interesting things that had happened during filming. He also helped them take care of the small plot of vegetable land they had rented.
After dinner, Fang Zhao would be dragged out for a walk by Great-Grandfather Fang. They walked all over the garden. There were many old cadres in the retirement facility, but they would avoid Great-Grandfather Fang when they saw him from afar.
Today, after dinner, the two elders were watching the screen again. Finally, it was the episode where Fang Zhao received his bento box. The two elders stared at the screen with solemn expressions.
Fang Zhao also maintained his silence.
In this episode, "Fang Zhao" perished in the chaos caused by the earthquake, caught off guard.
Actually, at that time, given his status, he could have gotten someone to escort him out of the war zone alive. But he had not chosen to do so.
At that time, he had known that he did not have much time left, and he was tired.
Mutual deceit, bloodshed, and injuries accumulated from every war. Every day, his nerves were stretched to the limit like a steel wire. After arranging everything, he had chosen to stay and fight. Although he had regretted not being able to see the day of the Founding Era and had lost to injuries and time, a loss was a loss. After thinking it through, there was nothing to be resentful about.
He could only bring everyone to this point, and he believed that the successor he had arranged would bring everyone to their destination. On the verge of death, his mood was very calm. He had also acted this way in the series.
Many people in the cast and crew thought that he had acted this way because he was apprehensive of the Wu family and had followed the opinions of the director and scriptwriter. But that was not the case.
The accompaniment music for his death had also been composed by someone else. It was a mourning song filled with choking sobs and sorrow. Although it had a heroic intent, it was even more sorrowful. Just based on the music itself, it was still very good. Otherwise, it would not have been chosen.
However, for the audience, there was actually not that much sorrow. It was not that the acting was bad, nor was it that the music was bad. Rather, everyone was already prepared. History was there. Before filming had even started, everyone knew the ending.
Secondly, from the start of the "Founding Era" series until now, how many important characters had received bento boxes and how many accompaniment music had appeared? The audience had already heard and seen too much. At most, they would only feel sad that this great person had died in battle and feel sorry for him.
In a certain film discussion forum.
"Sigh, even if I don't want to see it, it has still reached this episode."
"Old Commander Fang, you've worked hard!"
"It feels like I've lost an old friend that I've been with for a long time. Even though I knew the ending, I thought that all I had to do was cherish the memory. But at this time, I still feel very sad."
"Did Old Fang leave with regrets? What a pity, what a pity! If I can persevere for another year, even if I can't become the governor, I won't be able to escape the number one spot in Yanzhou's cemetery. "
Seeing the fate of Yanzhou's great man, who was publicly acknowledged to be "ill-fated," many people questioned the cause of death recorded in history books.
At the rank of an army commander, there was no need to mention the importance of an individual. Why didn't he have more people by his side to protect him? Was the truth really like what the movie said? Was it Fang Zhao himself who gave the order not to let anyone protect him? Did he choose to stay and fight to the death?
"Old Fang's ending is the same as recorded in the history books, but are the records true? Or did he deliberately hide some unspeakable things? "
"Does the brother above mean that Old Fang was actually murdered? It's just that it involves some secrets and can't be put on the table? "
"It's a power struggle, isn't that how people are? When there's no hope, they are willing to have someone blocking in front of them. When they finally make a name for themselves and see that the benefits are not far ahead, their thinking is different. "
"It doesn't seem like it. Old Fang has already arranged for a successor. He knew long ago that he wouldn't be able to hold on, and there was no need to use more lives to exchange for him. He might as well die in battle."
In the comments section of the "Founding Era" TV series, more and more people used "Old Fang" to refer to Founding Era's "Fang Zhao."
Many people didn't believe in the cause of Fang Zhao's death and didn't believe in such a "plain" way of dying. They were more willing to speculate whether there was an unseen conspiracy or assassination beneath the surface.
Regardless of whether the public acknowledged the cause of Fang Zhao's death, "Founding Era" had been filmed this way, and Fang Zhao had been willing to act this way. Although the truth wasn't exactly the same as in the TV series, it wasn't much different. It wasn't a heroic or profound death. Compared to others, his death wasn't too miserable. At least his corpse was intact.
History had drowned out many truths. The truth might be more complicated than everyone thought, but it could also be simpler.
Actually, the truth was just as recorded in history books. It was just that it had been simplified into a few sentences.
Just like many important characters who died in battle, at the end of this episode, a grave number appeared. Then, with a "memory kill," Fang Zhao played through the various scenes of this character from before.
However, Fang Zhao's focus wasn't on this. He had acted out the previous scenes according to someone else's script. The three-minute accompaniment at the end of this episode was what he truly wanted to say to everyone.
The deep and heavy orchestral music was like a gust of wind coming from a high mountain, sweeping past the bitingly cold snowy plains, the dispirited wilderness, the serene and deep woods, the silent long night, the patter of spring rain in the ancient city, and the craggy green mountains with its thorns.
The trumpet sound was like a gust of wind, sweeping past the ears. It was like the wind was unhurriedly talking about something.
Amidst the gradually vigorous trumpet sound and layers upon layers of zither music, that gust of wind seemed to step over a hill covered in weeds, break through the turbid dawn, and fly past the clouds. Then, slowly, light could be seen …
In front of the screen, a relieved smile appeared in Fang Zhao's eyes.
The other music in "Founding Era" related to Fang Zhao was an expression of other composers' emotions. As for what Fang Zhao himself wanted to tell everyone, it was all in these last three and a half minutes.
A long, long time ago, when the world was still peaceful, I had once thought that when I was old, my temples gray, would I quietly watch the flowers bloom and wilt in front of the courtyard, or would I chat with my friends and family about composing and the fleeting years of my life?
Unfortunately, what came was a hail of bullets, smoke and gunfire, and countless dangers. I was faced with ruins, broken limbs, a sea of blood, and a mountain of corpses.
In that era, the God that people believed in did not have a compassionate heart. How could one struggle against a predetermined fate?
I wasn't born courageous.
In this life, I was once perplexed and perplexed. I had once abandoned myself to despair, but in the end, I woke up in a bloody purgatory.
In a heaven-defying war, in the face of calamity, the naive ultimately became cannon fodder. The world was a battlefield, and the battlefield was the world that people like us who lived during the Period of Destruction saw and experienced.
Wailing, shouting, from fatigue to numbness, the innocence in our eyes completely vanished. Unable to retreat, we could only advance, attack, counterattack, again and again.
People who lived during the Period of Destruction were always pushed along by fate.
We found a path amidst despair and darkness, hoping that the end we pursued would be bright and warm. We hoped that we could endure until the day we saw the sun break through the clouds.
Fortunately, we were on the right path.
In this life, I was once ordinary and once glorious.
I had walked through ruins, grasslands, snowy mountains, forests, and my footprints covered every part of Yanzhou.
I had experienced the cruelest of times, experienced the difficulties of going against the heavens, charged through the ups and downs of life, great joy and great sorrow, and reached the pinnacle of life.
In the end, everything returned to silence.
All the stirring, stirring, and unyielding, all the extraordinary bravery had already passed. All the bitterness and hardships, joy and joy, had already been diluted by time. In the end, the world had been turned upside down and dissolved in history.
All the thrilling, magnificent, and bumpy experiences that I had experienced, only I knew.
However, this was enough.
I didn't want to fight for credit, and there was no unwillingness.
The war had already ended, and the dead had already rested in peace. The blood-stained soil had already rotted and sunk into the ground. New life was absorbing nutrients and growing on this land.
I saw the rising sun, its radiance illuminating the earth!
I saw countless people pledging their oaths and saluting in front of the tombstone!
I saw the Founding Era, saw this new starting point under the illumination of the sun, and saw the brilliant world beyond the battlefield!
Now, I had once again returned to this place and put down my heart that had finally calmed down. It would be together with my old friends, under the afterglow of the setting sun, resting in the dust of the tombstone.
I have no regrets in this life!
Amidst the music, there was no desolate, stirring, or regretful laments of a martyr in his twilight years.
The unhurried and indifferent notes brought out a kind of true magnificence that had been accumulated over time and experience!
The voice of a legend, calm and grand!
In the final scene of this episode, there was a true historical scene.
In the newly built Cemetery of Martyrs, two teams of people wearing star epaulets were escorting a coffin.
The already aged Wu Yan solemnly placed the Fifth Division's flag, Yanzhou's new Dingzhou flag, and the new federation flag into the coffin.
"Fang Zhao (? Year 99 of the Period of Destruction), the first commander of the Fifth Division … "
The words on the tombstone gradually faded.
In front of the main hall of the cemetery's worship area, under the setting sun, stood a tall and imposing grayish-white statue, gazing into the distance.
This episode was also the final episode of the Yanzhou chapter's ninth season of "Founding Era."
Fang Zhao silently exhaled.
He had written this song to tell everyone: "I have seen it all," "I have no regrets in this life," and "I am still here."
What he had put down was the heart that belonged to Fang Zhao during the Period of Destruction, and the heart that belonged to Fang Zhao in the New Era was still beating.
In the music score, the latter's expression was very obscure, so much so that when Mo Lang had reviewed the draft, even though he had heard a bright sense of return, he had only thought that it had been specially designed.
"Sigh!"
Great-Grandfather Fang, who was sitting beside Fang Zhao, sighed heavily. He pulled out a tissue to wipe his tears and snot before sighing again. Great-Grandfather Fang did not know what he was feeling now. In the past, he had felt that the commander who had died in battle before dawn had been unlucky and pitiful. When he had found out that his great-grandson had played this role, Great-Grandfather Fang had invested even more emotions into this character and felt that the commander had become even more pitiful. But now, for some unknown reason, the sympathy and pity he had felt had lessened considerably.
Two minutes later.
Great-Grandfather Fang, who had finally calmed down, started to browse through the comments online. This was something he did every time he binge-watched a series.
On the online interactive platform, netizens were very active in the comments section below the official status of the "Founding Era" Yanzhou chapter.
"The creator of a legend, the epic of a single person!"
"Everyone is destined to die, but not everyone can leave behind a legend. Every person who can ignite a flame in the long river of time will leave a mark in history."
"My mood was originally rather gloomy. Watching this made my mood even gloomier, but when I heard the trumpet sound at the end, I felt a little more energy to run."
"At the end of the scene where the tomb was being moved, the accompanying music played a marching snare drum. It sounded like it was synchronized with the scene."
"This accompanying music is too awesome. Although it is calm, it is imposing and majestic. Listening to it is incomparably melancholic and gives off a very strange feeling."
"It is like watching an old man reminiscing about his life's experiences."
"Epic music is also divided into high and low standards. Even if the accompanying music at the end of this episode were to be placed in the 'Founding Era' music compilation, it would definitely be considered high quality. It's a pity that there is no information on the composer of the ending credits."
"I didn't pay attention to the accompanying music. I was just lamenting that Old Fang's fateful life had come to an end. He had gone to accompany his comrades. Sigh, the price of peace and tranquility is disastrous! "
"Bawling loudly, how could he have died in battle?! He didn't even get to see the Founding Era! "
"He has once been magnificent, so there is no more regret. I guess that Old Fang's state of mind was probably — whatever the Founding Era, whatever great general, it is my fortune to have it, but if I don't, it is my fate."
"This is a true great man who dedicated himself to humanity! To a hero! "
"Although Old Fang's life has passed, it will be filled with glory!"
"I beg to differ. Old Fang's life was filled with glory, but he died too early!"
"Old Fang really didn't find a wife? And he didn't leave behind any children? "
"Cough, Old Fang raised his eyes and sighed. 'In my life, the more beautiful something is, the more I can't touch it.'"
"When the calamity descended, Old Fang faced the sky and howled, 'I will not take a wife, will not have children, will not fight for power, and will not be made a general. I will fight to stop my death. Even if I have to fight, I will not rest until I die! '"
"Old Fang said that when a person dies, it will benefit the common people! Even if the oil in the lamp dries up and I have one foot in the grave, I will still sacrifice with my blood! "
"Lying alone in his coffin, Old Fang calmly said, 'Someone asked me how I felt when I was the only one among the 12 first-generation commanders to pass on. However, what I saw was not loneliness or a long night, but a majestic sea and a sky filled with twinkling stars! '"
"Old Fang said …"
Among the trending comments, there was a stream of "Old Fang said."
Fang Zhao, who was watching this group of online drama queens: "…"
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