Jinghong Tower

Chapter 341 Laba
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, this is the day when the emperor went to Kaiyuan Temple to preside over the porridge ceremony.

As early as a few days ago, Kaiyuan Temple had set up nine large stoves with a height of one person, and set up large pots on the stoves. The monks had to stand in front of the stoves on ladders to cook porridge.

Through the temple wall, you can see the large pot raised high up. You can imagine how spectacular it would be to cook Laba porridge in nine large pots, with steaming water hanging in the sky above the ancient temple.

The monks in the temple have also cleaned up the outside of the temple. The Wucheng Army and Horse Division rushed and arrested the vendors outside Kaiyuan Temple ten days in advance. The nearby shops have also been ordered to close. Even The surrounding residents have also been cleared out, and they can only move back after three days in Laba.

Now, within a two-mile radius of Kaiyuan Temple, it has been under control for ten days.

Except for the monks, the Imperial Guards, and the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division, not even a wild dog could be seen. Even the officials of the imperial court had to take a detour when passing by this place.

In a blink of an eye, it was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. On the fourth day of the fourth watch, on the way from the temporary palace to Kaiyuan Temple, the imperial guards set up sentries in three steps and led the Jinyi guards closely. They started patrolling from last night, and the entire Jinling City was put into combat readiness.

In the early morning, the honor guard of the emperor and empress walked out of the palace, and the emperor, who was close to the people, poked his head out of the chariot and waved to the people who loved him.

The strict men pushed the "people" who had prepared in advance to the front, and an old man shouted loudly: "O Holy Mingjun!"

The scholar next to the old man was so excited that he burst into tears and shouted: "Peace is shining brightly in all directions, and the Liuwei Qingguan is praised. The royal family has congratulated the tune, and it has shown the light of God through the ages!"

The middle-aged woman next to the scholar waved a small handkerchief in her hand, her eyes full of admiration: "I have met the emperor, I have met the emperor, I have no regrets in this life!"

The emperor saw his subjects and their love for him. The emperor shed a handful of tears. I am very happy to have people like this.

The sedan chair drove through the ancient streets and finally arrived outside the Kaiyuan Temple. The emperor got off the carriage outside the temple and walked into the mountain gate hand in hand with the empress.

Taichang Temple officials who were guarding outside the temple shouted loudly: "Long live, long live, long live, long live!"

Everyone followed and shouted: "Long live, long live, long live!"

The emperor was so excited that his heart was surging with excitement. These calls were the wishes of his subjects for him. He would definitely not disappoint them.

I am a wise king!

The emperor walked up to the high platform and took a jade bowl containing eight kinds of grains from the master abbot. He did not let the eunuch support him, climbed up the ladder himself, and put the grains in the jade bowl into one of the big pots. The Laba porridge, which represents this year, was cooked by the emperor himself.

The emperor was helped down, and the monks stirred large spoons and cooked porridge.

The aroma of the porridge gradually spread from inside the temple to outside the temple. The emperor smelled the fragrance and thought, by this time, the people must have lined up outside the temple.

Yan Mi only cleared a radius of two miles, and the people queuing up were probably already two miles away.

It is said that when Kaiyuan Temple cooked Laba porridge in previous years, many people were not afraid of the severe cold in winter and would get up in the middle of the night, take small stools to occupy a seat in front of Kaiyuan Temple and queue up.

That's just Laba porridge at Kaiyuan Temple, cooked by the monks themselves.

Today's porridge was cooked and served by the emperor himself, so the meaning is even different.

The emperor knew that many times, when the ministers were given food, the ministers would put it in the ancestral hall first to let the ancestors know that there was smoke coming out of their ancestral graves, so the emperor gave them porridge to drink.

The emperor was looking forward to it. He was looking forward to seeing those pairs of eyes full of admiration and expectation.

The people are simple, with clear stupidity on their faces, and as docile as lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

The emperor loves such subjects.

There are too many people waiting for soup, and a stampede will inevitably occur. I don’t know if the Jinyi Guards and Jinwu Guards have made proper arrangements. I will be sad if some people are trampled to death.

In the blink of an eye, the emperor turned around a thousand times, and the Laba porridge in the nine large pots was ready.

The emperor was very excited, like a young man who was inexperienced in the world.

The monks used thick cloths as cushions and worked in groups to lift the nine cauldrons down.

The cauldron was arranged in a row. The emperor came over and took a look at the Laba porridge in the cauldron. He wanted to serve the first bowl of porridge with his own hands.

"Open the mountain gate and let the people come in to receive porridge!"

With an order, the originally closed mountain door slowly opened, and the next moment, everyone was stunned.

The emperor couldn't see the mountain gate and didn't know what was going on outside.

Still no sound was heard from the front. A chamberlain rushed out and was stunned when he saw the scene outside the mountain gate.

He trembled and returned to the report: "Slave, slave, slave, I saw it, I saw it outside the temple, outside the temple."

The emperor's face was full of worry: "There are too many people and there is a stampede? Alas, what I am most worried about has happened. Come on, please go and ask the imperial doctor to treat those poor people."

Eunuch Xia promised in a deep voice and was ready to send someone to ask for the imperial doctor.

The chamberlain swallowed hard. He just knew that the emperor could predict the future. Of course, his prediction was the opposite.

But if he doesn't tell the truth, the doctor will find something abnormal when he comes, and then he will have to bear the charge of deceiving the Holy Emperor alone.

The chamberlain could only bite the bullet and said: "Report to the Holy Sage, outside, alas, the people may not know that the Holy Sage is coming to cook porridge himself, so no one comes outside."

emperor
In the huge open space outside the main entrance of Kaiyuan Temple, there was not even a vendor selling incense.

The emperor couldn't believe it and sent out another chamberlain. With the previous one, this chamberlain no longer had to hide and tuck him away.

He said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have seen this, but there is no one outside!"

The emperor felt his head buzzing. Why was this happening? Why?
There was really no one outside, not a soul.

The emperor did not give up and took a look himself.

The emperor angrily said to Yan Mi: "The people here must have been scared away by you. As long as you Jin Yiwei stand here, how can the people dare to come out?"

Yan Mi had no choice but to take his royal guards and run two miles away to capture the people.

There was nothing they could do, their people had done a great job, and there were no common people within two miles.

The captured people burst into tears. It has to be said that no one who is having a great time and is caught by the Jin Yiwei will not be happy.

Unfortunately, Jinyiwei's manpower is limited, and the front of Kaiyuan Temple is too big. It's so big that these people standing there don't even occupy one-third of the square outside the temple.

Emperor Longyan was delighted when he learned that the people who came to receive the porridge had arrived.

The first commoner walked in and took a large bowl of Laba porridge that the emperor personally scooped out for him.

There was too much porridge and too few people. The remaining porridge could only be eaten by the monks in the temple.

When the emperor left Kaiyuan Temple, he was no longer in the same mood as when he came.

Who would have thought that there would be so few people coming to receive porridge?
I'm not tired, and I won't be tired even if I scoop out a few more bowls of porridge. But the people here today are only half, half, half, half of what I thought...

The news about Kaiyuan Temple quickly spread throughout Jinling.

The emperor gave out porridge, but only three or two kittens came to receive the porridge.

What about people?

There are so many people. Where have they gone? Do you still need to ask? They must be at home.

Everyone is at home, and no one wants to get the porridge.

The emperor never dreamed that the vigorous porridge soup would turn out like this.

Where the emperor didn't know, there was an undercurrent surging.

The people secretly thought in their hearts: This emperor must be a madman, otherwise they would not be able to explain the things they heard.

Some people are thinking: Today I have offended the emperor severely. The emperor is so perverted, shouldn't he take revenge on everyone?

Perverted emperor. Back in the palace, the emperor smashed everything in the room.

At this time in the capital, He Ran was wrapped in heavy cotton clothes and reading the information sent from Jinling.

The nail placed in the palace actually snatched away Tang Meiren.

He Ran smiled and shook his head. He obviously had no choice but to steal Tang Meiren.

He Ran wrote quickly and wrote a reply.

When the letter was sent out, He Ran suddenly thought of Zhou Cangyue.

It seemed that she hadn't received a letter from Zhou Cangyue in some days.

That child probably encountered something.

Could he be seriously injured again?

He Ran guessed correctly, Zhou Cangyue was indeed injured.

This time, he was hit by an arrow in the leg and is still lame.

He was not so injured that he couldn't take care of himself. His hands and other leg were still fine.

The reason why Zhou Cangyue didn't write to He Ran was because he was too embarrassed to brag to He Ran.

In his last letter to He Ran, he told He Ran that he would take three days to capture Yongxin City.

He Ran said that he was bragging. The real power in Yongxin City was not the local Han officials, but the Miao people.

From that letter to now, let alone three days, thirty days, no, two thirty days.

Not only is Yongxin City still alive, but what is even more shocking is that in order to attack Yongxin City, the Huwei Army lost a lot of troops.

How could Zhou Cangyue have the nerve to write to He Ran?

However, he had already guessed that Yongxin City could not be conquered for a long time, and it was reported to He Ran early in the morning.

Then he would be even more shameless.

Now Zhou Cangyue only has one thought: to heal the injury on his leg as soon as possible.

He will continue to attack Yongxin City.

If he didn't knock down Yongxin City, he would be sorry for his own legs.

Therefore, he never wrote to He Ran.

Occasionally, when he saw or heard something new, he wanted to write a letter to tell He Ran. He picked up the pen several times, but put it down several times.

He knew that as long as he didn't write, He Ran wouldn't write to him either.

If he didn't write for a year, He Ran would definitely not even think about it and spend a year doing what he likes.

But as long as he writes it, He Ran will definitely ask about Yongxin City.

Zhou Cangyue didn't want to be laughed at by He Ran.

However, although Zhou Cangyue did not write a letter to He Ran, he sent her a gift.

This is how Zhou Cangyue convinced himself.

He Ran even sent him a camp bed, didn't he need to return the favor?

Of course you have to return the favor.

The locals like to eat rice in bamboo tubes, and Zhou Cangyue felt that He Ran was actually quite greedy.

He walked to the mountain with a crutch. The bamboos on the mountain were thicker than those at the bottom. Zhou Cangyue picked the bamboo that he liked the most and chopped it down.

So when Bai Gou discovered that Zhou Cangyue was missing, he saw Zhou Cangyue jumping down the mountain on crutches, dragging a big bamboo behind him.

He used bamboo to make two bamboo tubes for steaming rice for He Ran, and also made four wine glasses.

He carefully polished the bamboo tube and wine glass until they were clean and smooth.

After thinking for a while, he found a small knife and carved patterns on the bamboo tube and wine glass.

What he carved was Jinghong Tower.

The Jinghong Towers in each place are different. Zhou Cangyue has actually only seen three Jinghong Towers, of course, excluding the one he built himself.

His memory is very good, and he has memorized all the styles of these three Jinghong Towers.

He carved these three Jinghong Towers, but he carved a small figure on each Jinghong Tower.

If you look closely at that person, you can see that she is a little girl with a double-snail bun.

The newly cut bamboo is emerald green, and the little girl's dress is also emerald green.

Zhou Cangyue still remembers that one year, he went to visit an old friend of his adoptive father in Zhending Mansion. As soon as he walked into the alley, he saw a little girl dressed in green, so he ran over and slapped the little girl on the shoulder. The girl invited him to drink. He got drunk, but the girl became more energetic as she drank.

How long ago that was, it seems like just yesterday, but if you think about it carefully, six years have passed.

Zhou Cangyue suddenly felt a little emotional. It seemed that he hadn't seen He Ran for a long time.

The last time I saw He Ran, he was still a woman.

He Ran has grown taller, forget it, it’s better not to grow taller anymore. He Ran is already tall among women. If she grows any longer, she won’t look good. Besides, she’s not fat yet. Every time I see her, They are all skinny.

Zhou Cangyue finished carving the last stroke and admired his masterpiece with satisfaction.

It’s just that bamboo will turn yellow over time. It would be nice if it could always be green.

Zhou Cangyue made another box out of bamboo, put all the bamboo tubes and cups in it, wrote a big word "return gift" on the paper, and sent it to the capital.

As soon as the gifts were given away, the military doctor walked in with a tigerish face.

"Marshal Zhou, you don't want this leg anymore, right? It seems like Marshal Zhou should practice riding one leg in advance."

Zhou Cangyue giggled. This military doctor was lent to him by He Ran. He had a stubborn and tough temper. Zhou Cangyue was a little afraid of him.

"Don't be angry, I'll go back to bed and lie down."

Anyway, all the gifts are ready, and he has nothing else to do now, so he can just go and lie down.

The military doctor checked the recovery of the wound and then asked him to lie down. Before leaving, the military doctor threatened: "I won't do this again, otherwise you will really have to practice riding a horse on one leg."

Zhou Cangyue was respectful and just about to roll back on the bed and lie down when he saw Hongdou running in as if his butt was being burned by fire.

"Oh no, Miao Zi captured our people! He even killed Liu Ada!"

Zhou Cangyue stopped and asked, "What on earth is going on?"

Hongdou gasped: "This morning, Liu Ada took people out and didn't come back. Just now, Liu Ada's head was hung on the city gate tower!"

Liu Ada was not a member of the Beggar Clan. He was a bandit leader captured by Zhou Cangyue when he was in Yudi.

Although Liu Ada was a bandit, he was upright and brave in battle. Zhou Cangyue had a good impression of him, and Liu Ada was now the general bannerman.