Tianzhu: The Record of Foreign Stories in the Republic of China

Chapter 38
The small town has a name and a surname, called Xiulin City, and the place is not big, but because it is located on the bank of the Yangtze River, it bears the clouds and rains of Wushan Mountain on the top, and the white clouds and yellow cranes on the bottom. Fish and dragons are mixed, and there have always been many strange people and strange men.

Taoist priest Pinewood of Wuliangguan is such a person.

Wuliang Temple is located at the foot of Xiulin Mountain in the north of the city. It was built in the first year of the Tang Dynasty. Inside the temple, there are buildings such as Yuhuang Pavilion, Luohan Cave, and Laojun Palace; , the handwriting is illegible and is now illegible.In the blessed land of Sanqing, the incense used to flourish for a while.In the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, the Yangtze River broke its embankment and Xiulin was flooded. The Wuliang Temple on the top of Xiulin was destroyed by the victims.Up to now, in the dilapidated Taoist temple, only Daoist Songmu and his two lay disciples, Xiao Deaf and Xiao Mute, are left to live.

Song Mu Taoist priest Xiangdao, a young man, once obtained half a volume of different scriptures, and practiced all his life, but he failed to achieve immortality and ascend to heaven, but he learned a lot of strange powers, acrobatics and magic tricks. Every time people at the foot of the mountain have weddings and ceremonies, they will invite him to come down the mountain to perform.He is also happy to earn some hard work, one can support his master and apprentice three mouths, and two can save some money to rebuild the Taoist temple.Whenever the host invites you, you must first state: "It is up to you to decide what program to perform, but in the finale, I must arrange your unique skill of 'changing the head of a living person' for me." So this "living person" "Head change" has become the repertoire of Mr. Pinewood's appearance every time. Because of its exciting plot and thrilling scenes, the audience will never tire of watching it, and it has received rave reviews.

The tenth day of September, an auspicious day in the zodiac, is a happy day for Qiao Yuting, the owner of Qiaoji Rice Shop, to get married.In addition to distributing invitations and inviting guests and celebrities from the city, Boss Qiao naturally spent a lot of money to invite the pine priest to come down the mountain to show off his unique skills to entertain the guests and friends.

On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year, the weather was fine.After breakfast in the temple, Daoist Pine changed his clothes. He wore a yellow crown and a black scarf, a green robe with a yellow sash, white socks wrapped around his feet, and clouds and red shoes on his feet. Two little apprentices, a deaf and a mute, a man and a woman, rode a green donkey slowly down the mountain.

The head office of Qiaoji Mipu is located on Yipu Street, and the three branch offices are located in the prime locations of several main streets in the city, and the business is very good.It is said that there was an investigation by a good person, and at least eight of the ten households in Xiulin City cooked rice from Qiaoji Rice Shop in their pots.In order to take care of the business, Qiao Yuting has been living in the store. Because she wanted to get married and start a family, she bought land and built her own house.The house was built on the bank of the Yangtze River at the north gate, with green bricks on the floor, whitewashed walls, and surrounded by walls more than ten feet high. It can be regarded as a deep house compound.

The green donkey had a sword, props, magic weapon hanging on its buttocks, and a pine wood Taoist on its back. It seemed to be overwhelmed. It swayed from side to side when walking, and moved slowly. The bell on its neck dangled, and it sprinkled crisp bells all the way.Daoist Pinewood was not in a hurry, so he sat on the donkey's back and took a nap.It was almost noon when the master and apprentice arrived at the north gate.From a distance, I saw the entrance of Qiao's mansion decorated with lights, firecrackers blooming, guests flocking in an endless stream, just about to walk faster, suddenly a person flashed out from behind a big tree by the roadside, stopped the green donkey from going, and with a "plop", knelt down middle of the road.

The pine tree road panicked, and hurriedly stopped the donkey, slid down the donkey's back, took two steps forward, and helped the man up.I saw the man was 27 or [-] years old, wearing a light blue gown, fair-skinned, rather bookish, his face seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before, so he asked, "Who is Mr.? The way to go? You see, if the old man didn't react quickly, wouldn't the donkey step on you."

The man got up and bowed to him, saying: "My surname is Zheng and my name is Shaotang. I am a teacher of Chengguan Primary School. I often watch the magic tricks performed by the Taoist priest."

Daoist Song Mu thought, no wonder the eyes are familiar, thinking he had met him before, he said, "So it's Mr. Zheng, what can I tell you?"

Zheng Shaotang said: "I take the liberty to ask the Taoist priest for a favor."

Daoist Songmu chuckled and said, "If you want to ask the old Daoist for help, just tell me."

Zheng Shaotang said: "I know that the Taoist priest was invited by Boss Qiao to perform at Qiao's wedding. I dare to ask the Taoist priest to bring me into Qiao's home."

Daoist Pinewood finally understood, and said, "You mean, you want to attend Boss Qiao's wedding, but you don't have an invitation, so you can't go in by yourself."

Zheng Shaotang nodded and said: "That's right. I went several times, but was stopped by the steward at the door. The Taoist priest took me by his side and said that I was a lay disciple newly recruited by the Taoist priest, or that I was specially invited to come here." Those who work for the Taoist priest, no matter what, as long as they let me in."

Daoist Pinewood looked him up and down, and said, "Old Daoist, I don't understand. Since they didn't send you an invitation, why do you have to attend this wedding?"

Zheng Shaotang glanced back at the gate of Qiao's house, a cold light flashed in his eyes, he gritted his teeth and said, "I didn't go in to attend any wedding, I went in to kill someone!"

Daoist Songmu was taken aback for a moment, and said, "Oh, how did you say that?"

Zheng Shaotang raised his head and glanced at the old man, thinking: Everyone said that the old man is a warm-hearted person, if he doesn't tell the truth today, I will feel sorry for him.He pulled the pine-wood Taoist into the woods by the roadside, sat down on a big bluestone, sighed, and said, "This is a long story, please listen to the Taoist and talk slowly, and see if that person should It should be killed."

It turned out that Zheng Shaotang was from Nanxian County, Hunan Province. After graduating from Changsha Normal School, he was hired to teach at Xiulin Chengguan Primary School.A year ago, he fell in love with Yuan Mei, a music teacher at the same school, and they were very happy, and the wedding was held soon.

At their wedding, a special guest came - Shi Jiacheng.Shi Jiacheng is not only the son of Shi Jingshen, the magistrate of Xiulin County, but also young and promising. He holds an important position in the county government and has a prominent position.His arrival naturally added a lot to the wedding.Zheng Shaotang accompanied the young master of the county magistrate, he was happy for a while, drank a few more glasses, became unconscious, and missed the beauty of the bridal chamber for nothing.

And what he never imagined in his dreams was that all of this was actually a conspiracy designed by Shi Jiacheng.After Shi Jiacheng got him drunk, he sneaked into the bridal chamber and raped the bride who hadn't covered her head.After finishing the work, he proudly told Yuan Mei that he had a habit of sleeping with brides. He would not invite any pretty girls in Xiulin City on their wedding nights, and tried every means to satisfy her. own lust.Many people are afraid of his power, dare not sue officials, let alone publicize it, lest they lose face.

Yuan Mei had a strong temperament. After being humiliated, she couldn't think about it for a while, left a suicide note to her husband with tears in her eyes, and hanged herself.Zheng Shaotang woke up the next morning and was stunned when he saw the dead body of his new wife.Only after reading his wife's suicide note did he understand what happened last night.

He took his wife's suicide note to the police station to report the case, but was secretly manipulated by Shi Jiacheng, making the case sink to nothing. In the end, he couldn't even get back the only evidence against Shi Jiacheng - his wife's suicide note .He learned from the painful experience, and felt that the Shi family had all hands and eyes in the small town, and suing the officials would not be able to sue them.If he wanted to avenge his wife and eliminate harm for the people, the only way was to kill Shi Jiacheng, a bastard, with his own hands.

Out of righteous indignation, he couldn't care less about anything, and planned to assassinate Shi Jiacheng several times in succession, but because the county magistrate had hired bodyguards to escort him, none of them succeeded.He found out that Shi Jiacheng was going to attend Qiao Yuting's wedding today, and knowing that this bastard probably took a fancy to the bride of Qiao's family again, and wanted to repeat the same trick at the wedding and tarnish the bride, he wanted to tell Qiao Yuting to teach him to be vigilant.But when he thought about it, Shi Jiacheng was a well-dressed beast. On the surface, he had a good reputation in Xiulin City. Even if he told Qiao Yuting, Qiao Yuting would not believe it.

How to do it?His wife died of humiliation, her bones were still cold, and seeing that another woman from a good family was about to be murdered by him, Zheng Shaotang gritted his teeth, and simply put a sharp knife in his bosom, and hid in the woods by the side of the road, preparing to wait for Shi Jiacheng to come to Qiao's house from here today When passing by, he did not stop doing anything, and rushed forward to finish him with a knife, which can be regarded as eliminating one harm for the people.

Unexpectedly, although Shi Jiacheng didn't bring bodyguards this time, he came in a rickshaw.The coachman ran extremely fast, Zheng Shaotang wanted to make a move, but couldn't make it in time, and watched Shi Jiacheng enter Qiao's house helplessly.He wanted to sneak into Qiao's house and wait for the opportunity to do it, and he didn't want to be stopped by the steward at the door.Seeing that he couldn't produce the invitation card, the steward refused to let him in.He was wandering on the side of the road helpless, when he suddenly saw Taoist Pine coming riding a donkey.Knowing that he must be invited by Qiao Yuting to perform at the wedding.In desperation, he stopped the Taoist priest and begged him to take him in.

After hearing what he said, Daoist Songmu frowned and said, "If it's true what you said, this person really should be killed."

Zheng Shaotang said: "Don't worry, Taoist priest, after I win, I will kill myself immediately, and I will never hurt Taoist priest."

Daoist Songmu said: "Although this is the case, things will never be as simple as you imagined. Think about it, Shi Jiacheng is the 'Prince' of our Xiulin City, and he died at Qiao Yuting's wedding for no reason. , How could his father, the county magistrate, give up and let the Qiao family go easily? You were brought into Qiao's house by a veteran. You have to be rewarded, and you will be dead forever. But have you ever thought about how many innocent people you will hurt if you go down with the knife? You are old, as long as you can help you get justice, you are not afraid of anything. Pity me, these two little disciples , one deaf and one dumb, without support, how can you live? Now that you have nowhere to seek revenge, and you have risked your life to avenge your revenge, I will not stop you. But if you hurt innocent people because of this, how can you feel at ease?"

Zheng Shaotang revealed a look of disappointment on his face, and said: "So, the Taoist priest is not willing to take me into Qiao's house?"

Daoist Songmu nodded, and said, "Mr. Zheng is also welcome."

Zheng Shaotang was immediately discouraged, staggered back two steps, his eyes were gloomy, his face was ashen, he looked up to the sky and sighed, and said: "I am a man of seven feet, my grievances are as deep as the sea, I have nowhere to appeal, and I can't kill my enemies. What's the benefit? Meimei, you're lonely in the ground, I'm here to accompany you as a husband." After speaking, she shed two lines of mournful tears, took out a sharp knife, and was about to stab herself in the chest.

Taoist Songmu's expression changed slightly, and he suddenly said, "Wait a minute."

Zheng Shaotang was stunned on the spot, and said, "The Taoist priest won't help me, so he won't even allow me to commit suicide?"

Daoist Song Mu glanced at him and said, "Mr. Zheng, are you really willing to risk your life to avenge your wife and eliminate harm for the people?"

Zheng Shaotang sadly said: "In troubled times, it is better to be a ghost than to be a human being. Since Meimei's death, I have no business. Since the sky has no eyes, I can't avenge my grudges, and I can't claim my grievances, so I have no choice but to spend the rest of my life. Accompany Meimei."

Daoist Pinewood's narrowed eyes lit up slightly, and said: "Since you have decided to die, I have a way to avenge you, and it will never hurt others. It's just..."

Zheng Shaotang hurriedly said, "How about it?"

Daoist Song Mu looked at him and said, "Have you heard the story of Mei Jian Chi?"

Zheng Shaotang said: "I have read it in the book "Sou Shen Ji". Meijianchi, named for the wide distance between eyebrows, is said to be the son of Mo Xie, a famous swordsmith in the Spring and Autumn Period. His father died forging swords for the king of Chu, so he made up his mind. Revenge, bribe customers with their heads, attack the king of Chu on behalf of them, and finally get revenge."

Daoist Pine Wood said: "I can avenge you, but there must be one thing as a prop."

Zheng Shaotang asked: "What?"

Daoist Pine Wood said: "Your head."

Zheng Shaotang was taken aback.

Daoist Songmu said: "If you believe me, please use your head."

Zheng Shaotang said: "It is said that Daoist Pinewood has a warm heart and powerful spells, so I naturally believe you. Please come with me, Daoist." Turning around and walking into the depths of the woods, he wiped his neck with a knife, blood spattered, and he fell to the ground died.

Daoist Song Mu looked up to the sky and said with a smile: "Good man, if you believe me, how can I be dishonest?"

Picking up the sharp blade on the ground, he cut off Zheng Shaotang's head, wrapped it in cloth, made a package, and carried it on his back.They dug a shallow pit with a knife and buried Zheng Shaotang's headless body.Clapping the dirt on his hands, he strode out of the woods.

After this delay, it was already past noon. He was afraid that people would wait for a long time, so he hurriedly led two apprentices and rushed to Qiao's house.Qiao Yuting was already waiting at the door, when he saw Daoist Songmu, he came up to him and said, "Oh, Daoist, how did you get here?"

Daoist Pinewood laughed and said, "I've been delayed by something on the way, please forgive me."

Qiao Yuting said, "Please come in and have dinner."

Daoist Song Mu replied: "Excuse me, my two apprentices can eat meat, and the old Taoist can eat vegetarian food."

Qiao Yuting asked his servants to take the donkey to take care of it, and he led Taoist Songmu, his teacher and his disciples, straight into the house.

After lunch, the person in charge began to discuss the matter of welcoming the bride, and the Qiao family compound suddenly became lively.

Qiao Yuting rented a big red woolen sedan chair, which was carried eight times. The windows of the sedan chair were painted with mercury, depicting dragons and phoenixes, and the curtain was wrapped in red satin and embroidered with gold and silver flowers.The official blowing, gongs and drums, and fine music are neat and orderly, and there are many of them, which are very magnificent.First play a pass in the courtyard, and then a virgin boy holds a big gong and beats it three times in the wedding room, which is called Xiangfang.Everyone was beaming and cheered, and the sedan chair set off immediately.

The bride is Shen Xiaolian, the eldest daughter of Shen Guisong's family in Shen Jiranfang, Bei Nianzi Bay.Shen Xiaolian once studied in a girls' middle school in Jingzhou. She was in her [-]s and [-]s. She has both talents and looks.

In the evening, the bride received it and worshiped the heaven and the earth. The groom picked up the scale and took off the bride's red head cover.Illuminated by the red candles, the bride's pink face was shy and charming, and everyone was dazzled by it, and couldn't help cheering.

A group of young people surrounded the bride and groom, and made a fuss for a while, when suddenly the steward over there shouted, "It's time for dinner, please take your seats, the bride and groom are going to give a toast to everyone!"

Following the steward's shout, Daoist Pine knew that it was time for him to appear.When the steward arranged the banquet, he had already left an empty space in the middle of the living room as a stage.Mr. Pinewood wants to perform a show when everyone is eating, so that the guests can watch while eating, and have a good meal.

Daoist Songmu, dressed in black clothes, stood in the middle of the field, saluted in all directions, and said in a loud voice: "Today is Boss Qiao's big day, the old Taoist came empty-handed, and he didn't prepare any good gifts. I heard that there is a name in the bride's name The word lotus, the old Taoist will make a trick and give the bride a seven-colored lotus."

Everyone was startled when they heard it, it was late autumn, where would there be any lotus flowers?Not to mention the colorful lotus.Everyone didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the pine tree priest's gourd, so they all looked at it with wide eyes.

Daoist Songmu waved to his male apprentice, Xiao Deaf, who immediately brought up his treasure bag.Taoist pine put his hand into the bag, groped for a while, and found a lotus seed, soaked it in boiling water, took a large bowl, filled it with pine mud, and planted the lotus seed in the mud.After washing his hands, he murmured for a while, only to see the soil in the bowl move slightly, and a lotus flower slowly bloomed.The size of the lotus is the same as that of ordinary lotus, but the color is much brighter.Count them together, no more, no less, exactly seven colors.Can't help but be amazed.

Daoist Song Mu beckoned to his female apprentice, Xiao Ya, and said, "Little girl, I'll give you a chance to be good. Pick up these seven-colored lotus flowers and send them to the bride."

Listening to the master's instructions, the little mute stepped forward to pick the lotus, and gave it to the bride with a smile.

The bride was full of joy, reached out to take it, and rewarded her with a silver dollar.The little dumb babbled to thank him.The bride took a closer look and said in surprise: "Ah, there are lotus seeds in the middle of this lotus."

Daoist Songmu smiled and said: "Of course, lotus seeds, lotus seeds, if it is a lotus, of course it will have children."

When the guests heard this, they couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Only then did the bride understand that the lotus gave birth to a child, and Daoist Pinewood used the lotus to do business, wishing her to give birth to "lotus seeds" early, her pretty face flushed with embarrassment.

Daoist Pinewood laughed and said: "After delivering the gifts, the old Taoist will perform two thrilling shows for everyone. Originally, these two shows are not suitable for performing at weddings, but Boss Qiao personally ordered these two shows, and the old Taoist had no choice but to make a fool of himself." .”

(End of this chapter)