Dawn of the Empire

Chapter (Chapter 2)

Chen Dong first went to contact the eminent monk in charge of untying knots in the temple, while Zhao Xingde stayed in a temple and waited.This side hall is relatively secluded, with a few pomegranate trees planted in the outer courtyard, a few orioles singing cheerfully in the sun, and under the eaves, swallows are flying around, constantly feeding the chicks in their nests.

Although there are few pilgrims, under the care of the monks, incense is kept burning in front of the Buddha statue all the year round.The smoke of incense candles mixed with the unique smell of sandalwood in wooden temples gives people a vague sense of being out of the world. The sunlight is projected from the tall wooden doors and windows around, and through the heavy curtains, it shines in front of the giant Buddha in the hall. It seems that the Buddha's light that can save all living beings makes people feel the heart of Buddha.

The walls around the side hall are all exquisite gold-pasted murals, some of which are painted with Buddhist stories, and some are painted with groups of worshipers' real bodies. These murals are all from the hands of famous painters in the world. Next to it, there are inscriptions such as the inscriptions of the ministers of the past dynasties, and every place is extremely exquisite and luxurious.

In the center of the side hall is a bronze and gilt sitting Buddha, which is quite majestic, and the lotus throne is also as tall as two or three people.The Buddha statues in Daxiangguo Temple are all fine works of form and spirit. People of later generations do not worship Buddhism as much as the Song Dynasty, so the Buddha statues they made lack a little spirit. This is a rare opportunity, so Zhao Xingde watched carefully around this Buddha statue. Get up, tsk tsk admiration.

Just when he turned to the back of the Buddha statue, there was a sudden noise from the women's relatives outside the hall, Zhao Xingde didn't pay attention to it, but the door of the side hall was pushed open, only a woman with a shrill voice said: " This side hall is secluded, my cousin will wait here for a while, I'll go and relieve myself, and I'll be back soon." Another woman agreed with a "hmm" and walked into the side hall with small steps.Zhao Xingde heard the woman's voice very familiar, but he didn't care, he was afraid that if he went out now, he would frighten the family members, so he stayed behind the Buddha statue, held his breath, and responded to all changes with the same attitude.

I only heard the woman pacing slowly in front of the Buddha statue, she seemed to stare at the Buddha statue for a while, then she knelt down in front of the Buddha, and only heard her low voice: "Amitabha, I hope that father and mother are in good health, and my elder brother is away from all evils to ward off evil. It is safe and sound, my younger brother has grown into an adult in his studies, Mr. Zhao is knowledgeable and his wishes come true. The little girl is willing to burn incense in the morning and evening, chant rites, abstain from meat and vegetables, worship Buddha and monks at four o’clock, and practice all kinds of good deeds. .”

At this moment Zhao Xingde heard the voice of the woman praying was Li Ruoxue, and suddenly heard the sound of the palace door being pushed open.With the sound of footsteps, Li Ruoxue kowtowed exactly three times, and when she turned around, Zhao Yan, son of Prime Minister Zhao Zhifu in a moon-white Confucian robe, was standing at the door.

Zhao Yan bowed to the ground and said softly: "Zhao Yan has met Miss Li. After Dr. Qin's residence went to the elegant gathering, I have admired Miss Li's talent and temperament very much. My father has already proposed to your residence. Although Dr. Li has not yet agreed, but But my heart can see the sun." His face was like a sworn oath, but his eyes were looking straight at Li Ruoxue.Li Ruoxue was slightly taken aback, but she understood in her heart that Mrs. Wang asked her to go to Daxiangguo Temple to ask for a lottery together, so that Zhao Yan could meet her here.

She secretly scolded this troublesome old woman, inspected her clothes as a courtesy, and replied politely: "Young Master Zhao has a heart." Then she started to step out of the palace, not wanting to talk to Zhao Yan.

But Zhao Yan stopped at the entrance of the side hall, and said in a deep voice: "I asked Mrs. Qin to propose marriage to the family. Although my uncle declined politely, I will definitely find another way to marry the girl with honor." With a sincere expression on his face, and admiration in his eyes, he assumed in his heart that Li Ruoxue had long been interested in him, but was forced by his strict father to not associate with him.

Li Ruoxue didn't want this person to pester her endlessly, and said with a slightly cold face, "Marriage is at the behest of your parents. Since the family strict rules have rejected it, the little girl is not blessed to accept your son's kindness. I hope you will get married soon." Her face turned pale. Cold, these words were heard by Zhao Yan as a very clear rejection, but in the ears of Zhao Xingde who was behind the Buddha statue, it seemed that Li Ruoxue did not have no affection for this Zhao Yan, it was just because of his father's order, Zhao Xingde felt in his heart He couldn't help but sighed slightly, and suddenly heard Li Ruoxue say: "Zhao Zisi, please respect yourself!"

It turned out that Zhao Yan took two steps forward, and was about to touch Li Ruoxue's side, but Li Ruoxue took a step back, raised her voice, and looked at him coldly.Although this Daxiangguo Temple is full of incense, but Zhao Yan was able to come to this side hall to meet, so he naturally made an arrangement. If he really has unruly intentions, I am afraid that today will be embarrassing. Thinking of this, Li Ruoxue lightly bit Biting the tip of her tongue, she hated Dr. Qin's wife, cousin Wang to the extreme.

Zhao Xingde was about to go out to drive Zhao Yan away, but Zhao Yan sighed and said in a low voice: "Miss Li, don't panic, I just wanted to talk to you, but I lost my sense of proportion, and Miss Li laughed." He was originally aloof and conceited, and thought that there would be no reason why he would not refuse to marry him as the prime minister's son. Who would have thought that not only Li Gefei would flatly reject him, but even Li Ruoxue, who could say a few words, would be treated like a passerby.Thinking of this, I can't help but hate Zhao Xingde who is said to be recruited by the Li family as a good son-in-law. On that day Zhao Xingde defeated the Khitan people by shooting arrows. Since Zhao Xingde is a member of the Yuanyou party, he hastily accepted it, and if he publicly provokes Prime Minister Cai Jing, His Majesty is in the prime of his life, and the East Palace still needs to be patient, so Zhao Ke gave up, and soon forgot about Zhao Xingde. .Zhao Yan coughed, and said in a deep voice: "Although Zhao Xingde, the supervisor, has a poor reputation, his character and talent are not selected. It is said that he has a very tough temper, is aggressive, stubborn, and awkward. He is not a good match. I am very sorry Miss Li is worried."

Zhao Xingde heard smoke from the seven orifices, and thought to himself Zhao Yan, you are too bad.But I heard Li Ruoxue say: "Men, if you are not strong and brave, how can you protect your family and serve the country? If you are not stubborn, how can you keep the good and seek righteousness? How can you pretend to be Xun Xun and use weakness to flatter the vulgar. Please step aside. "Let Zhao Xingde get hooked, and his heart is really a good lady for her husband.Seeing Li Ruoxue's sharp words, Zhao Yan had no choice but to give way to the door. Seeing that Li Ruoxue was still glaring at him, Zhao Yan had to take another half step to the side. Li Ruoxue just lifted her skirt and walked out quickly. Looking up from the side hall, under the pomegranate tree in the courtyard, the maid rolled the curtain and the maid brought by the Qin Wang family together, as if looking at the emerald flowers, and immediately told her to get up and go back to the mansion with him.

"Second Miss, they said that Mrs. Qin has gone to ask an eminent monk to release the lottery, and she will be back in a while." Rolling blind didn't know why, and reminded herself.

"Don't wait for her!" Li Ruoxue said coldly.The two walked out of the Daxiangguo Temple. The ox cart driven by the servant Wang Fu was still waiting outside the temple. Seeing the second lady coming out, he immediately got up, and the whip slapped in the air, and the ox cart moved slowly.

Li Ruoxue leaned in the carriage, she didn't know whether it was from fear or anger, her pretty face was flushed.If something unexpected happened to the situation just now, not only would his reputation be ruined, but his father and brother would also be humiliated.In order to please Zhao Xiang, the cousin Qin Wangshi did not hesitate to push her family into such a predicament, which made people feel cold.She also followed her father to belittle and exile since she was a child, and she was used to seeing the world's cruelty and sinister heart, otherwise it would be difficult to make good words.Thinking that he was almost betrayed by his relatives, and thinking that Zhao Xingde, who was about to be married, was generous and heroic, but he didn't seem to be a sympathetic person.

Li Ruoxue left, and Qin Wang, who had received a report from her mother-in-law, rushed to the side hall, "Master Zhao, this cousin of the slave family is not well educated, and her temperament is quite stubborn." Qin Wang said with a smile.She saw Mr. Zhao Yan's expression was not hesitant, and her heart sank slightly. She knew that this was not going well. According to her plan, if Zhao Yan moved Li Ruoxue with his words, and even went further, and the two had an affair, then Considering the reputation of her family and the power of the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Gefei, the little doctor of imperial studies, had to agree if she refused. As for how much trouble and embarrassment this matter would bring to the Li family, she didn't think about it at all.

Zhao Yan frowned, he fell in love with Li Ruoxue, the beauty in his eyes was as bright as a night pearl, and then Dr. Qin's wife came in, although she was also from a famous family, she was as disgusting as yellow and black fish eyes, she responded casually: "It's a beautiful woman, on the side of the water, you must find it by twists and turns, and it's so easy to climb and twist." Qin Wangshi didn't understand what he meant, and was slightly taken aback. When she looked up, Zhao Yan had already walked out of the door. Women's Taoists can't chase after them.

After the outsiders dispersed, Zhao Xingde breathed a sigh of relief, only then did he realize that he had unknowingly formed such a big rival in love.But just as Li Ruoxue said, as a man, if he is not strong, how can he protect his family.Zhao Xingde pondered for a while, then knelt down in front of the Buddha statue, and said silently: "I have no regrets about getting a wife like this. May this life protect her safe and well, and make her smile often. Blessed by Buddha, if As it wishes, it will reshape the golden body every day."

He hastily made a wish, and was thinking about whether the benefits of reshaping the golden body were too few, and he wanted to add something, but Chen Dong pushed open the temple door and approached, holding a large pile of brocade silk knots in his left hand, and split half of them with his right hand He said with a smile: "If you are lucky, each person will have at least ten guan."

Zhao Xingde took the silk knots, his hands sank, he knew in his heart that these silk knots were wrapped with small gold and silver ingots, so he followed Chen Dong to a meditation room, carefully distinguishing the ends of the threads, after two hours, Chen Dong Dong had already untied three silk knots, Zhao Xingde only untied one, inside the silk knot was a piece of plain white silk paper, a small gold ingot was wrapped inside, and on the silk paper was written "Blue birds don't send messages from outside the cloud, cloves bear sorrow in the rain" Two lines of elegant handwriting.Xingde put the gold ingot aside casually, and Chen Dong praised: "It's actually gold. I don't know which little lady misses your husband and makes such a precious wish." Xingde smiled and said: "I just don't know if the Buddha also Hate the poor and love the rich."

Chen Dong took the gold ingot in his hand and weighed it. It was about half double in weight, and it was worth five guan coins. He said with a smile, "Including the temple's reward for five guan, there are a full twelve guan of income. You Let me have half of each person." Seeing that it was getting late, he returned the remaining ten or so brocade silk knots to the monks in the temple. Since it can't be untied for two hours, then the income of these money has nothing to do with Chen and Zhao.

It was dark when Zhao Xingde returned to Taixue, and Deng Su, Zhu Sen, He Fang and other supervisors had not returned when they had dinner in the fasting dormitory. I just became a teacher, so naturally I have to serve him diligently, I think back when I was learning Taoism in the mountains, I had to rush to do the job of a boy servant chopping firewood and carrying water." Zhao Xingde felt a little guilty when he heard this, and asked himself Buzhi has been teaching himself carefully, compared with Chen Dong, Zhang Bing and other imperial students who serve their masters almost like serving their fathers, I am quite lazy as a student, except in the Li Mansion and Li Ruoxue sister and brother. Apart from teaching, he didn't even fulfill the etiquette of bringing Shu Xiu to visit the teacher.

The so-called mistakes should be corrected, the next day dawn, Xingde rushed to Chao Buzhi's mansion early to visit.He recently got ten guans for writing posts, and another six guans for untangling knots. Including the proceeds from selling essays, his total savings are [-] or [-] guans.Naturally, it can't be like Deng Su and others' first apprenticeship ceremony is hundreds of jade calligraphy and paintings.Zhao Xingde then bought a pair of ordinary but well-polished white jade walls, two pieces of venison jerky, and some seasonal fruits.

Taishi Bureau Ling is an idle government office, and Chao Buzhi spent most of his free time in the mansion. When he saw Zhao Xingde visit the door according to the formal ceremony of apprenticeship, although his face was faint, his heart was happy. After chatting for a while, Zhao Xingde was left behind. The family had lunch, and ordered the boy servant to find another disciple, Song An, to meet Zhao Xingde as a brother.

Song An was already in his thirties, with a Chinese character face, slightly yellow complexion, and a lock of beard under his chin, which made him look quite old-fashioned.This elder brother is said to be a descendant of Song Jing, a famous prime minister in the Tang Dynasty, but he is no longer a famous family in his grandfather's generation.Song An studied under Chao Buzhi's door, and was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Zhenghe.Originally, he was only from a Jinshi background. During the palace examination, the officials were very happy that his name was a good omen for the country, so they deliberately raised the premise of ranking from the second-class Jinshi to the first-class Jinshi.

Now Song Ancong has been involved in a lawsuit at the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Not only is his official rank comparable to that of Chao Buzhi, but he also handles matters such as the exile of prisoners, family connections for treasonous crimes, and the addition, abolition, and entry of subordinate staff in the Ministry of Criminal Justice. His power is more powerful than that of Taishi Bureau. There are many, but serving the teacher is still very respectful, without the slightest arrogance, which makes Zhao Xingde quite admire.