Tibet

After entering December, the atmosphere of the New Year becomes stronger day by day. The New Year in the Tang Dynasty is called Yuan Day, also called New Year's Day. Every household has to clean, put peach symbols and door gods on the door, brew Tusu wine, pound rice cakes, and many wealthy families They all kill pigs and smoke the bacon with pine branches.

After the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year atmosphere becomes even more intense. Every family puts up a long pole in the yard with flags and flags on it. This is to feel the east wind and pray for good weather in the coming year.

The military camp in Hezhong has already had a holiday, and the soldiers have all gone home to celebrate the New Year. It is stipulated that they must arrive at the military camp to report no later than the tenth day of the first lunar month, otherwise they will be punished as deserters. Not only will they be severely punished, but the whole family will be implicated and exiled.

Before dawn, Li Ye was awakened by a rustling sound in the room. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the little maid Xiao Hong lying on the ground, using a wooden stick to search for something in the belly of the bed.

"What are you looking for?" Li Ye muttered, then turned over and continued to sleep.

"Madam asked me to find all the old things. I remember there were a few pairs of old shoes inside."

Li Ye yawned, "Didn't I say that I would hide my old shoes at home during the New Year?"

"It's about hiding shoes, but these shoes should be hidden as your own, not other people's shoes. These are shoes left by the previous owner. Madam said that everything left by the previous owner should be burned to avoid any bad luck."

"You little idiot, wouldn't you drag the bed out a little and get it from the other side?"

"I tried, but I can't move it." Xiaohong said aggrievedly.

"Oh! I forgot, I'm still lying on the bed!"

Li Ye had no choice but to sit up, yawn, and look out the window. It was still dark.

"Xiao Hong, are you starting to be busy before dawn?"

"My wife said that the old things must be put into bags before dawn. It should have been packed last night, but I forgot."

There are so many weird customs. Li Ye got up and helped her drag the bed out.

"Hey!" Li Ye suddenly discovered that there was a hidden space in the bed, and there seemed to be a leather bag inside.

In fact, this is normal. The bed is hollow and placed in the bedroom. It has always been a place to hide valuables. Li Ye's predecessor also hid the money he had saved more than 100 yuan in a small space inside the bed. Li Ye discovered it accidentally.

Therefore, when moving generally, whether moving out or in, you will search the bed carefully to avoid taking advantage of others in vain, or hoping to get a bargain.

Li Ye reached out and carefully took out the deerskin bag. Over time, the deerskin bag was a bit rotten and could easily be torn.

The bag was heavy in his hand, and Xiaohong came forward curiously. Li Ye said with a smile: "You will be rewarded for seeing me, and I will share some of the good things with you!"

"Okay! Look what it is?"

Li Ye opened the rotten rope and found a bag full of golden beans. They were golden beans, weighing three or four kilograms. Xiao Hong also covered her mouth and exclaimed.

There was also a roll of silk cloth inside, which was also a bit rotten. Li Ye slowly unfolded it and wrote a line of words on it, which was a rather elegant small regular script, "On the first day of the year, I gave you three pounds and three ounces of golden beans and placed them on the couch to avoid the plague." . ’

The signature is "In the second year of Tongtian, Shangguan Wan'er".

It turned out to be the three kilograms of golden adzuki beans left by Shangguan Wan'er. It turned out that the bed I was sleeping on belonged to Shangguan Wan'er.

"Xiao Hong, do you guys hide beans on the bed during the New Year?"

Xiaohong nodded, "Yes, put a pound of red beans in the bed, or throw a handful into the well. My dad said they are used to ward off plague, but you have to take them out after a few months because they will breed insects."

Or was it because the palace was extravagant and they were afraid that beans would breed insects, so all the golden beans were left by Shangguan Wan'er. Does this mean that Shangguan Wan'er also slept on this couch? It's a little bit fanciful.

Li Ye still grabbed two handfuls of golden beans and gave them to Xiaohong, and told her: "Put them away and give them to your mother. Just say they were rewarded by me and don't say they were found on the bed."

Xiaohong nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and ran back to the room happily holding the golden beans.

At this time, Granny Wu, the housekeeper, shouted in the yard: "Xiao Hong, it's almost dawn, take out the old things quickly and burn them together!"

"Why!"

Xiaohong agreed, ran in quickly, put a few pairs of worn-out shoes on the bed into bags, and dragged them out together with other worn-out items to burn.

Of course, according to New Year customs, these are all shabby items left behind by the previous owners. I generally don’t throw away my own things, except for brooms, which have been used for a year and have a lot of filth on them and must be burned before the New Year.

Li Ye was looking at this bed. The bed used by Shangguan Wan'er must be made of precious wood. Moreover, it has been more than fifty years since the second year of Tongtian. The wood is still quite solid and has no signs of insect damage.

The wood is hard and heavy, and gold dots of Venus can be seen on the wood grain. The luster is like satin, and it is very beautiful. This should be the extremely precious Venus rosewood.

At this time, Li Ye saw Aunt Mu sneaking in with a bowl of soup.

"Auntie, what's wrong?" Li Ye stepped forward and asked.

Li Ye didn't know until he met his grandma in Ganzhou that Aunt Mu's original surname was Mu. The character Mu was difficult to write and she was illiterate, so she changed it to Mu. It was very simple. She was grandma's dowry maid and once had a husband and children. , passed away very early, and now there are no relatives left in the family except her. Li Ye really regards her as his grandmother.

Aunt Mu has taken a lot of tonics given by Li Linfu in the past two years. Although she is still thin and small, her complexion and physical condition have improved significantly. Pei Sanniang has arranged for a little maid to take care of her daily life. She usually has nothing to do and spends every day They were all busy chanting sutras and worshiping Buddha.

"This is the bean I asked for from Daci'en Temple, you eat it!"

Li Ye has a big head. Eating beans and hiding beans during the New Year is something every household does. But not only during the New Year, Aunt Mu makes herself drink bean juice soup and swallow raw adzuki beans four or five times a year, 27 of them each time. , said to be able to ward off evil spirits and avoid plague.

"I waited in line for two hours to get this, so hurry up and eat it!"

Looking at his aunt's eager eyes, Li Ye had no choice but to swallow a handful of beans and drink up another bowl of bean juice.

"That's good. I don't know when you can come back next time, hey!"

Aunt Mu turned to leave, but Li Ye suddenly remembered something and quickly called her to stop him. He went back to the house and put all the golden beans into another leather bag, and handed them heavily to Aunt Mu.

"Auntie, these are golden beans. They weigh about three kilograms. Every time you go to the temple, give a few to the temple so you don't have to queue in the future."

"Okay! Thank you Aye. I always give seven cents to the temple every time, but it's a little less. From now on I will give seven golden beans. I saw others giving silver beans and sitting first in the Dharma assembly. Row."

Li Ye smiled and said: "Then you can sit in the first row in the future and gain more Buddhist spirit."

Li Ye took out another dzi bead necklace and gave it to Aunt Mu to hang around her neck, "This is the dzi bead enshrined by the king of the Shishi Kingdom. It is a legacy of an eminent monk. It is full of spiritual energy and can protect its owner. I brought it back to give it to aunt Mu." , put it in the box and forgot about it.”

Aunt Mu really likes this dzi bead. She is a person who worships Buddha. She knows this kind of Buddhist treasure. It is enshrined in Daci'en Temple. It looks far from as good as hers. Moreover, she can also feel the strong spiritual energy inside, which makes her Feeling very comfortable physically and mentally, she patted Li Ye's hand and said with a smile, "Auntie will chant sutras and ask the Buddha to bless my Ye'er's safety."

"Auntie, don't wear Dzi beads when you go to the temple, so as not to be robbed by thieves." Li Ye reminded again with a smile.

Aunt Mu smiled and said: "Don't worry! I will wear it at home. If a Buddhist treasure like this is seen in the temple, they will be persuaded to donate it, and I won't be able to part with it."

Aunt Mu left. Li Ye practiced calligraphy for a while in the morning. Seeing that it was almost noon, Li Ye had nothing to do and went out to feel the New Year atmosphere.