Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 52 The Taoist Priest
  After Lai Sheng and the other stewards left, Jia Rong looked at Jia Qiang and said, "Brother Qiang, I'd like to ask you to go over to Rong Mansion and inform the old lady and the eldest and second masters. I have to go." Cheng, tell the news to Grandpa."

"Okay, big brother, don't worry." Jia Qiang nodded and happily accepted the task.

Then, Jia Rong and Jia Qiang walked out of the south hall and went to Rongguo Mansion and Xuanzhen Temple outside the city respectively.

******
  It is snowing in June, and the streets of Shenjing City are covered with snow. Pedestrians wearing cotton-padded jackets are doing business with their hands down.

When ancient people dressed, they figured out the rules for changing clothing materials according to the seasons. The palace even refined a set of clothes-changing procedures: wear Luo on the fourth day of March, wear gauze on the fourth day of April, change into Luo again on the fourth day of September, change into silk on the fourth day of October, wear velvet after a light snow, and take off after the beginning of spring next year. Shedding velvet, wear velvet again on the fourth day of March.

Families of noble officials imitated the palace and wore roughly the same style.

Ordinary people may not be so wealthy and wear them more simply. Pay attention to "wear linen in the summer and cotton clothes in the east". They would use the poor-quality Tremella fungus in a bun, wear an old Roman hat on their head, a white summer cloth shirt that reaches below the knee, a colorless sweat scarf on their sleeves, and a white cloth tied around their waist. He was very shabby from head to toe.

But the vast majority of people can still afford to wear linen and cotton, and they can cover their bodies without freezing to death.

This is also a symbol of peace and prosperity.

But Jia Rong, riding a maroon red rabbit horse and riding broken jade, ran all the way from Ningrong Street to the West Gate, and unexpectedly discovered a horrifying scene.

At the intersection near the West City Gate, several flatbed trucks were slowly pushed by officers from Shuntian Mansion.

On the cart was an "inverted corpse" with purple bruises on his skin. The strange thing is that the clothes of these corpses are ragged, and most of them are summer clothes. The clothes are wide open, and there is a smile on the corner of the mouth, as if they died of "heat".

Is this also called a peaceful age?

This is the first time that Jia Rong comes to this world and observes so many "corpses" at close range.

In a previous life, when I encountered a corpse on the road, I was afraid that the crowd would explode. They ran away screaming in fear, or called the police, or took pictures with their mobile phones to record this horrific scene.

But on this street, ordinary people and passers-by are not too shocked when they see corpses, as it seems to be commonplace.

When a flatbed truck passed by, there was a mud puddle on the ground, causing the flatbed truck to shake and a man's body fell out with a "clack".

Immediately, several passers-by were alarmed.

"unlucky!"

Most of the people looked normal, except for a businessman wearing a Liuhe hat and a lambskin quilt. He cursed with an unpleasant expression and walked away quickly.

Seeing this, Jia Rong suddenly realized: "It turns out that this is the real prosperous age of Long'an!"

******
  The bells are ringing and the horses' hooves are clattering.

Jia Rong rides a red rabbit horse with a flying silver cloak, looking like a prince and grandson. A few horses were chasing behind them, and immediately came a boy wearing a green cotton-padded jacket. The group of people left the Golden Light Gate with great momentum and headed towards Xuanzhen Temple.

The scenery outside the city is different from the Pavilion City in Shenjing City.

"This scenery is also great."

Jia Rong went out of the city for the first time and saw wide roads, dense mountains and forests, and ice and snow hanging on the branches. Looking around, it was covered with white snow, and the world was crystal clear.

In modern times, it is a sight that is absolutely unheard of.

"The scenery of the North, thousands of miles of ice and thousands of miles of snow. Looking inside and outside the Great Wall..."

Suddenly, Jia Rong galloped wildly on his horse, riding on the flying flowers and splashing jade, and he couldn't help but become very poetic.

"Uncle, what a poem!"

A group of young men, holding reins, gathered around Jia Rong. When they heard Jia Rong reciting poems, they immediately cheered.

"You also know poetry?" Jia Rong shook his head, but stopped reading. "We don't understand, but just listen. Whatever the master writes must be good poetry!" All the young men complimented, smiling and showing flattering faces.

Not only Lai Sheng and the stewards of Shangsi Fang were "trusted". At this moment, among the young men, servants, and girls in the Ningguo Mansion, no one knows that the master is useless. Uncle Rong will soon transform into the "master" of the Ningguo Mansion.

If you don’t fawn over now, wouldn’t that be stupid?
  Don't you hear that "the meritorious officials in Qiandi follow the merits of the dragon"? As long as he sticks to it now and waits for Uncle Rong to take over, he can just work as a manager. Wouldn't that mean that he can use the gold and silver to do whatever he wants? There will be endless glory and wealth in this life.

Jia Rong shook his head and did not argue with the boys. He galloped on the spacious official road and gradually approached Tiantai Mountain.

******
  Shenjing City was built by Emperor Taizu, the founder of the Great Zhou Dynasty, on the site of the former Ming capital city, imitating Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Yongxing, the Supreme Emperor, he added many additions to form the city.

Its terrain is backed by the junction of the Taihang Mountains and the Yanshan Mountains, between the Yongxing River and the Taibai River, facing the large and small plains, sitting north to south, holding the yin and embracing the yang, hiding the wind and gathering energy, and full of imperial atmosphere. It is first-class getaway paradise.

To the west of the city, there is a mountain range called Shijing Mountain, known as the "No. 40 Immortal Mountain in Yandu". It is the extension of the northern end of Taihang Mountain to the plain. There are more than peaks such as Jianfu Mountain, Tiantai Mountain, Cuiwei Mountain, Qinglong Mountain, and Hutou Mountain.

Xuanzhen Temple, where Jia Jing practiced, is located in Tiantai Mountain. It is famous for its extremely high mountain, which is as majestic and majestic as Mount Tai. Many Taoist priests practice in the mountains.

Jia Rong rode his horse to the foot of Tiantai Mountain, facing a sloping mountain road.

In order not to hurt the horse, Jia Rong abandoned it and walked.

After walking along the sloping mountain road for a while, I turned a corner and saw a half-mountain pavilion.

"Uncle, I've been walking for a while, let's take a rest."

At this time, Sun Rui breathed heavily, led the horse to Jia Rong's side, pointed at the Banshan Pavilion and said.

"alright."

Jia Rong nodded and immediately walked to the mid-level pavilion.

Sun Rui and other brothers tied up the horse and took out a heart-saving box from the horse's belly bag. There were plates of exquisite pastries and dishes in the drawer.

Jia Rong held the gold-headed silver-horned ink bamboo chopsticks tightly, took a chopstick and tasted it, and found that it was all warm.

Even more beautiful.

On the stone table in the pavilion, apart from the dishes, there was also a pot of wine.

At this moment, Jia Rong is wearing a hair crown, ermine skin, and cloud-head boots. She looks like a prince and grandson. She is sitting on a stone bench covered with suede leather, eating warm wine and delicacies, and looking at The artistic conception of the snow-capped mountains and woods outside the pavilion is truly beautiful.

"They say feudalism harms people! This is indeed true. This life is so corrupt! How can ordinary people stop it?"

Jia Rong shook her head and drank the warm walnut shochu into her stomach. Immediately, the wine turned into a stream of heat, sweeping through the limbs and bones, and the whole body became warm.

Jia Rong is not a solitary eater.

While he was eating, he also gave Sun Rui and others a plate of cakes and a pot of warm wine. Several people stood under the pavilion, holding small wine glasses and "squeaking" each other to grab the wine.

At this moment, there was a sudden creaking sound in the distant mountain forest, as if there was some movement.

Jia Rong looked intently.

But I saw a thick, fat, black Taoist priest walking towards me with a colorful tiger on his back. The branches blocking the road gave way one after another. The snow that was pressed down on the treetops also fell one after another.

In an instant, Jia Rong was stunned.

"Is this a heavenly being?"

(End of this chapter)