The fragrance of tea fills the room, and the bamboos are quiet.
Wang Jin, the envoy of Taiwei Palace, and Yuan Zai, the prime minister, drank tea instead of wine and chatted happily until it was lunch time, then they turned around and chatted casually about some strange things in Luoyang.
The voice of Zen Master Hui Cong from the superintendent of Chonghua Temple rang out from outside the bamboo curtain: "Amitabha! Tan Yue, Brother Huiding has prepared a simple dining room, and invites you to come to the dining room to use it for a while. Your Majesty is already waiting there."
When Yuan Zai heard the words, he immediately stood up, crossed his hands and said with a smile: "After drinking tea for a long time, I am really hungry! I had a heart-to-heart talk with Brother Xia Qing today, and it was really a worthwhile trip! Since Zen Master Huiding has invited me, you and I
Let's go together so that I can borrow flowers to offer to the Buddha and use this meal from Chonghua Temple to bid farewell to Brother Xia Qing in advance."
Wang Jin then rewrapped the "Water Sword Box" in brocade and held it up to Yuan Zai: "Thank you, my dear brother, for your kindness! It's just that my foolish brother has just been reprimanded by the saint. There will inevitably be some Xiaoxiao in the court who make random guesses and take the opportunity to impeach you."
, it’s really hard to escape right and wrong! That’s why I kept it secret and invited you here through the mouths of my younger siblings.
Now that the foolish brother and the wise brother have all been told all about what they are worried about, and the rest have been planned accordingly, they no longer have worries in their minds. This 'Sword Like Water' is the key to our plan, so I entrusted it to the wise brother.
After everything has been settled, it will be up to the wise brother to decide where this sword should go. The foolish brother will be waiting for good news in Changjing!"
Yuan Zai was overjoyed and accepted it quickly. He felt so happy in his heart that he couldn't find it anymore: "Brother Xia Qing spent five years of hard work and painstaking efforts to find this rare treasure 'Like Water Sword'. But he is willing to secure the country.
The people are rich and entrusted to me. I will definitely live up to Brother Xia Qing's expectations!"
The two of them said goodbye, and Zen Master Huicong had no choice but to exit the Zen room and wait outside the bamboo.
In a daze, I seemed to see a flash of red light escaping from Youhuang and dissipating behind the courtyard wall. When I looked again, I saw only a scorching sun and white clouds. I couldn't help but exclaim, "It's weird."
But he said that Yuan Zai had obtained the "Sword Like Water", and it was like he had found a treasure. He held it in his arms all the way, and even his steps were a little more agile. Zen Master Hui Cong saw the sweat on his forehead and his breathing became heavier, so he stepped forward and wanted to
I tried to do it for me, but he opened it with one arm. I had to suppress my curiosity and silently lead the way.
The lunch meal is also exquisite, with green bamboo shoots, new lotus roots, spinach, tofu, small bean sprouts, summer sunflower seeds, bamboo fungus, flower soup, black plum soup, chicken soup...there are always twenty-four dishes, large and small. There are 24 dishes in the temple.
According to the shape of the ingredients, people are ordered to cut them into shreds, slices, strips, cubes, and dices, steam and stew them, and then season them with soup, which tastes salty, sour, and sweet.
However, all Yuan Zai's thoughts were placed on the brocade bag beside him, and all kinds of vegetarian food seemed to taste the same. After eating in a hurry, he took Wang Yunxiu and the servants in the mansion, meandered out of Chonghua Temple, and hurried to Guangli
Return from the square.
It's almost half past midnight, and the summer heat is in full swing.
To the east of the main hall of Yingchuan Villa is a very luxurious study room, which is separated from the main hall by an inkstone screen about a foot high. On the screen is a newly mounted picture of "Orchid Priestess Encouraging Drinking Wine", with rich lines and bright colors.
The wind is so gorgeous that it makes people ashamed to look directly at it.
The study room has shelves in the east and west, with windows opening in the north and south. There is a lacquered caisson above and a lotus pattern mat underneath. Under the north window is a bronze incense burner with a roaring lion and a lotus. In front of the south window is a red sandalwood scroll-footed bookcase. On the case is a
A three-color vase with a wide belly and a few thousand-petaled peonies in the vase. The soft breeze comes in through the window, blowing up the fragrance.
The bookshelf on the shelf is like a forest, and the scriptures are like a mountain, almost covering the east and west sides. The east side is full of Taoist scriptures, and the west side is full of Buddhist scriptures. There are also bottles, 罍, bells, and tripods scattered among them, which looks full of ancient charm.
Yuan Zai was sweating so much that he went straight into the study without even taking off his official boots. He called for someone to bring the ice mirror and waved away the servants. He couldn't wait to pull open the brocade and found the yellow "water-like sword box".
It comes into view immediately!
I took a quick glance at the Tongyuan Canal the day before yesterday, and I could only roughly remember the appearance of the sword box. Now that the sword box was close at hand, I was so excited that I finally saw something extraordinary:
The wooden box is entirely made of Thuja wood, three feet and six inches long, and less than half a foot high and wide. Holding it in your hand, it is really heavy! It is as if the 'Water Sword' is made of real gold. The six sides of the wooden box are plain and simple.
There are no carved patterns, but it is full of vertical and horizontal slits, like mortise and tenon joints.
There is a slight flaw in one corner of the wooden box. According to Wang Jin, the cracks were caused by him throwing the sword in a rage when he learned that both swords were coming out that day. This shows that although the sword box is made of wood, it is also very strong.
According to Wang Jin's research, this sword box is filled with craftsman's ingenuity and contains a magnet mechanism. Its structure is ingenious and extremely difficult to dismantle. It is believed to be a "ghost box" handed down from the Gongshu Ban. If you want to open the box and get the sword, you have to recruit a lot of money.
Only carpenters who are proficient in this art can do this.
It was the first time that Yuan Zai had seen such a complicated "Ghost Box". However, when he first came to Chang'an, he often bought the "Luban Lock", which was a child's play, to dismantle and assemble it for fun, so he was very interested in it.
A bit conceited.
However, he was busy in the study for more than half an hour, pulling, pulling, knocking and beating, but the "ghost box" did not move at all!
Yuan Zai's patience gradually wore away, and his face turned livid: "Manager Wu!!"
Manager Wu knew Yuan Zai's temperament well, so he had just sent the ice mirror and not gone far. He only stood in the shade of the tree under the eaves of the main hall, alternating left and right, shaking the palm fan, his fat body already soaked with sweat.
Suddenly, when he heard Yuan Zai calling him, he immediately threw down his palm fan and ran towards the study, folding his hands and saying respectfully: "My master's orders!"
Yuan Zai took a piece of cold melon from the ice plate, nibbled on the tip a few times, and then threw it aside. When a chill spread throughout his body, he opened his eyes and raised his eyes, smacking his teeth and saying:
"Mr. Wu! Please bring more now and invite the most skilled carpenters in Luoyang City to come to the mansion... Oh! Also prepare some 'Luban Locks' that are not easy to dismantle and ask these carpenters to solve them individually.
If anyone solves the problem well, he will be rewarded with a lot of money and will be kept in the house until he is ready; if he is a fool and has no merit, he will be beaten out with sticks!"
Manager Wu glanced at the wooden box in Yuan Zai's hand and immediately understood. He hurriedly agreed, turned around and left the main hall.
The lotus leaves are covered with green waves, and the sails are dotted with snow.
Outside Xuanren Gate, beside the new pond of Lidefang, there is a pavilion built near the water, which is several feet high.
As usual, the pavilion has black tiles and white walls, Stanley pillars and green steps, flying eaves and hooks. There are five floors in total, and the railings on each floor are covered with five-color silk. From a distance, it looks extraordinary.
At the main entrance, there is a forest of brocade robes and gorgeous clothes. There are also many orchids, half-hiding their faces, swaying their waists, trying hard to attract the guests who come to feast and have fun. There is a piece hanging directly above the entrance hall.
Plaque: Yuan Shui.
The officials and people of Luoyang have different opinions on what kind of business "Yuanshui Tower" does. However, the officials and people of Luoyang are all aware of the reliance behind "Yuanshui Tower" and do not dare to provoke them easily. Therefore, people who come to patronize it from time to time
, although there were as many as crucian carp crossing the river, none of them dared to fight in the building or indulge in drunkenness.
Just because there had been a bold and unruly person, he disappeared that day, and his body floated up from the new pool a long time later. Wuhou Puwu, who came from nearby, made a brief inspection and concluded that he fell into the pool while drunk and drowned. Viewers
Although there are many doubts, who dares to be the first bird?
At noon that day, a strong man with shabby robes and unkempt hair, holding a piece of chicken rib in the corner of his mouth, walked to the "Yuanshui Tower". There was a trace of suspicion and confusion in his eyes, but he still scratched his head and buried his head to rush in.
enter.
"Where did this beggar come from? Get away! Don't make the guests unhappy!" A man who looked like a waiter slipped an anvil and pestle out of his robe sleeve and yelled in an evil voice.
The strong man squinted his eyes and showed a lazy smile. Suddenly he stretched out his big black hand, took out half a silver collar, and slapped the waiter on the forehead: "I reward you! Take the third master to see Lin Gu.
Miss Yue, if you dare to play tricks on Third Master, I will smash your foul mouth!"
The guy's butt tightened, and he felt a little trembling in his heart. The strong man's eyes flashed a fierce light inadvertently, like a murderous bandit. He didn't dare to make any mistakes at the moment, threw away the anvil and pestle, and put on a smiling face,
He led the strong man up to the fifth floor and came to the outside of an elegant house with intoxicating fragrance.
The strong man was not polite, he raised his voice, opened his hands and clapped: "Lin Guyue, the third master is here! Open the door quickly, I will stay here tonight, and let the third master do everything you know!"
Hahaha!"
Seeing this momentum, the waiter ran away without knowing where he was going. The strong man patted him several times, and then the thin bamboo door of the elegant house suddenly opened, revealing a beautiful and exquisite woman. Her face was extremely...
Calmly: "Third brother, come in and talk!"
The strong man dodged and entered the elegant house. However, he saw green smoke lingering in the house and the fragrance of powder assaulting his nostrils. Although they were two completely different scents, they blended together, but they had a different charm. He couldn't help but praise:
"Little sister, the third brother is really envious of you for choosing this healing place! If the demon cultivators in the clan knew that there is such a place in the world of mortals, wouldn't they all come out to experience it? Hehe!"
The woman was Liu Xiaomu, but she frowned and showed a bit of anger: "Liu Dingchen! I hope you will be careful about your identity and don't do anything wrong. You are a monster, and you have a deep grudge. What you have done recently
, but it’s all harmful to human ethics! Be careful of thunder and punishment!”
Liu Dingchen's smile froze, as if she had grasped something, and he immediately said in embarrassment: "Little sister... don't be angry, third brother is just talking! How dare you seriously behave with these human women? Not only is it harmful,
While cultivating, it is easy to be targeted by those bull-nosed, old bald donkeys, and they will kill you for any reason. The gain is really not worth the loss!"
Liu Xiaomu's brows relaxed slightly at this moment: "You know it's best! It would be better for you to end the matter of 'hiding your beauty in the golden house' at the Xianglu Village Teahouse as soon as possible to avoid any future troubles."
"What's 'the beauty hidden in the golden house'? The third brother doesn't know what the little sister means?" Liu Dingchen pretended to be stupid and said blankly.
"That Tiantu, what's going on?!" Liu Xiaomu stood up suddenly, and Liu Dingchen stood up too in a panic, accidentally knocking over the wine cup in his hand.
"Um...Third Brother, please tell the truth! That Tiantu was very fond of Third Brother's temperament, so...so he moved his heart, so...he did stupid things with the help of alcohol..."
After Liu Dingchen finished speaking, he seemed to have lost half of his strength and finally slumped down on the chair.