Queen Sun

Chapter 54 Mountain Temple (1)
Zhenguan 13 years, Yangzhou.

Fireworks in March, there are many pilgrims in the Daming Temple in the northern suburb of Shugang. This temple built in the Southern Dynasties Liu Song and Daming Dynasty is quite famous in Yangzhou.On the [-]th birthday of Emperor Wen of the former dynasty, an edict was issued to erect [-] pagodas in [-] states across the country to worship relics. One of them was built in Daming Temple, which was called "Qiling Pagoda", which added a few points to this temple. Aura.

Most of the people who come to offer incense are female relatives. First, the warmer weather is a good time for women to go out for spring. Second, some girls who are waiting to be married are mostly accompanied by their mothers and maidservants to pray for a good marriage and a good son-in-law.

Different from the bustling Daxiong Hall, the atmosphere in the inner hall is much quieter, because it is not a place that everyone can enter, but it is more solemn and solemn.

A young monk guarded the door of the inner hall curiously and looked in. The abbot, Master Jianyuan, who had been devoting himself to practicing Buddhism and seldom showed up, came here personally to welcome a female guest. A lottery, if this matter gets to the ears of outsiders, I am afraid it will cause a sensation.

Master Jianyuan looked at the label in his hand solemnly, raised his head after a long silence, and sighed softly: "Madam, do you still remember what the old monk asked you when you first came here?"

The woman standing in front of Master Jianyuan looked only in her twenties, her face was not extremely beautiful, but there was a trace of Qingyun and Gaohua like the bright moon, she opened her mouth softly: " The master once asked me, where do you come from and where do you want to go?"

"I also remember that at the beginning, Madam replied that I come and go and stop here, and I only wish to spend the rest of my life." Master Jianyuan said with deep eyes, "But now, Madam's wishes have not changed? "

The woman seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then nodded firmly.

A flash of realization flashed across Master Jianyuan's face, and then he clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, monks don't tell lies, Madam's way forward is not here, but where she came from."

The woman lowered her eyelids slightly, and smiled calmly: "Master, may I ask one more question, the road ahead is bumpy?"

There was a moment of silence: "Madam's most precious life, I'm sorry I can't understand it."

"Most expensive?" There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, "Then can you please tell me the signature you just signed?"

Master Jianyuan spread his palms and said calmly: "This is the autograph from above, named "Huanggui"."

There was another moment of silence in the hall, the young monk at the door only saw the woman nodding slightly to the abbot, then walked past him quickly, not knowing where she was going.

He walked into the hall lightly, but saw that the abbot, who had always looked solemn, showed a half-joyed expression at this moment, and muttered in his mouth: "The return of the phoenix, the phoenix is ​​flying together, this is a good omen of peace in this world, Buddha is merciful, bless you!" I am a great Tang Dynasty."

"Abbot, who is that female benefactor just now?" The little monk didn't understand what the abbot said just now.

Master Jianyuan looked outside: "Her residence is just to the west of our temple, have you heard of it?"

"Ah." The little monk suddenly realized, "Yes, I heard from my seniors that three years ago, a female benefactor who lived alone moved in there. Except for offering incense and worshiping the Buddha, she hardly ever goes out of the house on weekdays."

Master Jianyuan smiled and said, "Perhaps, she will leave soon."

"Leave, where will the benefactor go?"

"Chang'an, or Luoyang."

As the sun was setting, Ruoshui walked alone in the quiet mountain road, and when she came out of Daming Temple, her mind was tense, Huanggui?If she knew this earlier, why would she ask for a sign today on a whim?The past has long been sealed, just like the previous life, so don't worry about it, she told herself.

When Ruoshui came to a small courtyard, she stopped and pushed open the courtyard door. In front of her were two rooms side by side, one for the kitchen and the other for the bedroom.She does everything by herself, doesn't have any servants, and never receives guests, so it is suitable to live in a house that is too small compared to before.

Since she moved here three years ago, she only claims to be a widow to the few neighbors scattered around her. He would send some vegetables and pastries, and Ruoshui would read some letters from his son who was away in return for them.

In fact, Master Jianyuan regularly asks the monks in the temple to send some things and books needed for people's livelihood. If the weather changes, Ruoshui only needs to go to the city to order some clothes, and he can live a comfortable life. The important peace and serenity finally came back.

Two days after returning from the temple, Ruoshui didn't care about the twitching right eyelid, seeing that the weather was fine, she decided to go to the city to make some summer clothes, and to listen to fresh rumors in the teahouse.

Yangzhou City is divided into Zicheng and Luocheng by the Shugang. On the Shugang is Zicheng, also known as "Yacheng" or "Yacheng". buy and sell.Since Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty excavated the Grand Canal and went to Yangzhou three times, Yangzhou has become a world-famous port. In the Tang Dynasty, it became a big city second only to Chang'an and Luoyang. A necessary place for railway transportation.

After passing the suspension bridge on the moat and the city gate guarded by officers and soldiers, although Ruoshui's face was covered by a hood, it also attracted the attention of many passers-by. Because Yangzhou belongs to the south of the Yangtze River, there are few winds and sands, and ordinary women do not cover up when they go out. Face, on the contrary, is proud of its beauty.

Ruo Shui had no expression on his face, and went to a clothing store with ease, ordered a few sets of clothes with the boss he was already acquainted with, paid a deposit, and left the shop quickly after deciding on a date to pick it up.

Behind him, the newcomer in the clothing workshop asked others curiously: "Is this customer also a regular customer of our store?"

The boss next to him stopped what he was doing, and slapped the guy on the head hard: "You still don't work hard! If you ask questions, you will be lazy."

The clerk scratched his head and didn't dare to say a word, but he heard the boss sigh: "The lady covered her face when she came to order clothes for the first time three years ago. After all these years, no one knows her last name." What, where do you live, there is also a history if you want to come here, we are just doing business, so it's better not to be curious."

Every time he returns to Yangzhou City, one of the places Ruoshui must go to is the tea house.Yangzhou has a lot of good tea, and most of the tea from other places in the south of the Yangtze River is transported to all parts of the country through here. Yangzhou also has a lot of good water, the seventh-class water in the world, and the spring water in Daming Temple is the fifth-class. Every time she goes, she must drink several cups. .But drinking tea in front of the monks in the temple is definitely not as interesting as in the tea house. Listening to all kinds of people talking about the customs and customs of various places is really a kind of leisure life.

Sitting down on the corner seat on the second floor, as usual, ordered a pot of tea and some snacks, Ruoshui took off his valance, took out a small book from his sleeve, and began to read.

It was just in time, and after a while, the small tea house was filled with people, Ruoshui put down his book, looked down while eating.In the hall on the first floor, some young people with the appearance of scholars gathered together and talked freely, maybe because they were far away from the capital, even if the topic of discussion involved the royal society, they did not shy away from it.

If Ruoshui listened intently, he saw a young man in white clothes speak unfairly: "Your Majesty is too fond of His Royal Highness King Wei. In the 11th year of Zhenguan, he not only allowed King Wei to stay in the capital, but also didn't have to go to Xiangzhou to meet his relatives." Ren Dudu, even allowing him to set up a literature museum in the mansion, this is obviously against the rules of etiquette."

The person beside him also nodded and said: "I also heard that in the first month of this year, Lord Shangshu Wang of the Ministry of Rites asked His Majesty to cancel the ceremony of dismounting to meet the prince when ministers above the third rank met the prince on the way, but His Majesty said that life is impermanent. The crown prince is unlucky, why don’t you think about it, other princes may be your monarchs in the future, how can you be contemptuous! It has attracted unanimous advice from all the adults. Don’t you say that the current emperor has something to say?"

Ruoshui's hand holding the teacup trembled involuntarily, the corners of his eyes raised slightly, and he continued to listen.

The man in light yellow clothes who sat opposite the person who spoke just now seemed to be a little disapproving: "Your Majesty is a wise monarch, how could he do stupid things? If His Highness the Crown Prince hadn't acted differently, how could His Majesty treat His Highness the King of Wei more and more?" Pay more attention to it?"

"Deviation?" The young man in white refused to accept, "His Royal Highness has been intelligent and filial since he was a child. Ten years before Zhenguan, he was well-known in the court. Your Highness is proficient in the art of war, cavalry and archery, so how can there be any deviation?"

The man in yellow hesitated for a moment, and lowered his voice slightly: "You don't know, I heard that during the Western Expedition in the ninth year of Zhenguan, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also went with the army and injured his foot. Your Majesty is very upset about this. Of course, this is just a rumor, and it cannot be done for sure. But there is another incident, which everyone in Chang'an has heard vaguely. Not long ago, the Turks who surrendered to our court a few years ago The nobleman Ashina Simo went to Chang'an to meet His Majesty, afterward, His Highness the Crown Prince and that man's drunken behavior in the street market was almost astonishing, and His Majesty was furious, and the Crown Prince was imprisoned in the East Palace for more than a month."

Ruoshui stared blankly at the table, their words were still going on, but she didn't seem to hear anything, and only repeated in her mind: foot disease, rage, drunken disgrace, how is this possible!But in three years, how could my eldest son and second son have such changes!How could Li Shimin...

Sitting upright for a long time, it wasn't until the sound of rain outside the window brought her back to her senses, picked up the cooled tea, and drank it in one gulp.Ruoshui suppressed the worries in his heart, and the group of people downstairs seemed to be blocked by the sudden rain, so they simply ordered another pot of tea and continued to chat about the unfinished topic just now.

It was still the young man in white who spoke first: "According to what you say, doesn't your majesty have the intention of easy storage?"

Although the two words in the middle were pronounced lightly, Ruoshui had already guessed what he wanted to say.

But the person beside him said: "That's not necessarily the case. After all, His Royal Highness and His Royal Highness Wei Wang's mother compatriots, how could they make such a decision so easily based on His Majesty's deep affection for the queen, let alone the eldest grandson of the prince's mother-in-law?" I always prefer the crown prince over the king of Wei."

"It's because the two His Highnesses are both the direct princes, so they are both qualified. How can the crown prince ignore Wei Wang's unparalleled talent and learning just because he is one year older than Wei Wang. I think His Majesty was not the eldest son of Gaozu back then." Huang Huang The man in the clothes seemed to admire King Wei's knowledge in particular.

At this time, everyone seemed to be thinking of the old incident in Wude, so they all fell silent. After a while, a young man in a blue gown who had never spoken seemed to have a deep feeling: "If the empress is really still alive , there will definitely be no disputes like today."

Ruoshui narrowed his eyes slightly. It's been a long time, and he hasn't heard these two words... Empress... His heart sank.

"You said, is the empress still alive?" the boy in white said in a low voice.

(End of this chapter)