I bought fifty kilograms of cabbage and fifty kilograms of radishes, and I rolled the remaining leeks from the leek stall into balls. I bought them all but it wasn’t much, just five or six kilograms.
Put all the vegetables into a wooden box that protrudes from the back of the carriage. This is fixed directly at the back and is used to store things. You can also put a basket on it and tie it with a rope. It can hold a lot of things.
Of course, Qingyan only used them to cover up. The vegetables were still placed in the Chou Chou space, and some light things were placed outside for show.
To be honest, the carriage that Zhang Mancang built was really good. She liked it very much when she took it back after finishing it.
It looks a little old on the outside, as if it was made on purpose, and it doesn't look like it was just made, but it's really comfortable on the inside.
The inside is not just a flat plate like before. You can just spread a quilt inside the carriage and lie down. Now there is a fifty centimeter wide cabinet on one side, which can be used as a seat for people to sit on.
In the middle of the night, bedding can be spread out to sleep, and during the day the bedding can be put away to place a charcoal stove and table.
The table is the kind of folding table she asked Zhang Mancang to make before. It can be put away at any time. There is also a place for the bedding, which is placed in the cabinet under the seat.
The cabinet door is push-pull. Although it does not have the rollers of later generations and there is some noise when opening and closing, it is still very convenient to use. At least it takes less space than drawers and ordinary cabinet doors.
The edges and corners on the top are also rounded, not sharp, so you don't have to worry about pain if you bump into them. It's also covered with a thick layer of sheepskin.
Those sheepskins she had unloaded from the carport before were washed by Zhang Mancang and spread cleanly on them. They looked warm. You could sit on them or sit underneath them as a backrest.
Two tables were made, an ordinary small square table, and a circular hole dug in the middle, which could hold a charcoal stove, a copper kettle in the middle, and teacups and food around it.
This carriage is much taller and more spacious than the shed she built before. There is still a lot of space above the cabinet.
There is a crossbar in the middle of the roof, which can be used to dry things or hang lanterns.
These are all the creative ideas of Zhang Lili and Zhang Mancang's masters and apprentices. Qingyan was quite pleasantly surprised when she saw these.
The doors and windows in the front are also sliding doors. This was not Qingyan’s idea. The sliding doors themselves existed in the Tang Dynasty. Jewelry boxes with sliding lids and the like have been around for a long time, so this is not a problem. What an innovation it is, it’s not unusual for many carriages to have such windows and doors.
As mentioned before, Zhang Mancang did indeed cover the big bear. The shed in front covered the horse's body, and only the horse's head was exposed in the front.
There's nothing you can do about it. It would be a bit laborious to cover the horse's head, and it would also affect its sight.
It's easy to say, only the horse's head is exposed, and it's usually like this. When it snows or rains, just put a leather cover on the big bear's head.
After leaving Shangguan Road in the town, because there was still quite thick snow on the road, the sled board under the car came in handy. It was easy to walk, fast, and more stable than wheels, so Qingyan could completely make up for it in the car. Sleep without worrying about being awakened.
Chou Chou was finally able to come out of the space and rolled twice on top of the cabinet with You Qian.
"This carriage is indeed very well made. There is no sound at all when walking like this, unlike the one we built, which creaks when the wind blows when it is parked."
Qingyan nodded, "They are professionals, and they are definitely not comparable to amateurs like us. By the way, what's going on at Lingguang Temple? Is there any news?"
Chou Chou: "Yes, they have already spread the word that the temple will be closed tomorrow on the fifteenth day of this month to thank guests. The reason is to pray for blessings for next year and to recite the scriptures for forty-nine hours.
They have been transporting things to the altar below for the past few days. They are probably afraid that too many pilgrims will affect their movements on the 15th day, so they simply closed it to the public. "
Qingyan frowned, "That's good, at least it won't implicate innocent people. So you still can't tell what the altar is for?"
Chou Chou shook his head, "You can't tell. It's just a futon placed on top of a platform, and there are always bright lanterns underneath. There are no statues or paintings of gods, and there's not even an altar table. It's completely impossible to tell what is being sacrificed."
The altar in the tomb in Qinian Village at least had a portrait of Qiongqi on it. I also knew that it was the tomb of Yin Jin, his ancestor, and I could probably tell what was being worshipped.
Under the Lingguang Temple, Chou Chou carefully explored the place inside and out with his spiritual consciousness. There were no portraits, carved coffins, or anything like that.
If it weren't for the shape of the platform and the ever-burning lamp placed underneath, it wouldn't be obvious that it was an altar, and people would have thought it was a secret room.
Moreover, the things they prepared were strange, such as those bones and minerals. If they hadn't seen that they were ordinary things without any energy fluctuations, they would have thought that the other party had some weapon refining skills and was preparing to refine magic weapons.
Some of those ores may be able to produce metal components, but the bones are just ordinary animal bones, with nothing special about them.
At least it's not the bones left behind by some monster or beast, and it doesn't have the conditions for refining weapons.
So now we can only wait until they use the altar to know what it is used for.
Chou Chou is also very curious about this, and the other party has not harmed anyone's life during this period, so Chou Chou is not in a hurry to take action. He is ready to find out the situation clearly, and it will not be too late to deal with the other party in the future.
They must deal with each other before leaving, but they can't leave such a half-demon, and one who has eaten people, here.
Although it is not an auspicious beast like Xiangxiang who relies on merit to cultivate, but Qingyan is here, and she will definitely not leave this half-demon alone that hurts people's lives.
Besides, the other party only eats children, so that there is no evil spirit or resentment, and it does not help it at all. This makes it a little angry, so there is no need to keep him.
This is also Qingyan’s idea that she doesn’t know Chou Chou, otherwise she would probably have to give it ideological and political lessons. What is this idea? I also hope that people can eat people to create resentment for it to cultivate.
But for Chou Chou, an ancient ferocious beast, it is understandable to have such an idea. It would be good if it did not take the initiative to do bad things. You cannot ask it to be a ferocious beast that eliminates violence and is good at peace, but it would be too difficult for a powerful beast.
Because they had used their spiritual sense to detect the situation in advance when they moved forward, the carriage would not go beyond the official road no matter how thick the snow was.
When there were people ahead, Qingyan would sit outside in advance and pretend to catch the bus, and as soon as there was no one around, she would get into the car.
It's still very cold outside, especially the cold wind that makes my face feel uncomfortable. Even though I'm wearing gloves, I can't cover my face completely, and I can't wear glasses or anything like that, so I can still suffer a little less. Bar.
At their current speed, they would probably reach Ping'an County in the afternoon, so they didn't stop for lunch at noon, and planned to have a good meal at a restaurant in Ping'an County.
Even if you get hungry in the middle, there are hot meals, sesame cakes, and meat buns in the space, and you can take them out and grill them on the charcoal stove, so there is no need to stop and waste time.
On the way, we only stopped to feed the big bear fodder and warm water, but we never stopped for the rest.
Sure enough, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, they arrived at the gate of Pingyuan County, paid the five cents entrance fee and entered the city.
Although Pingyuan County is not as big as Yunling County, it is not too small. It is much more prosperous than Yunling County, and the shops inside are more complete.
Qingyan was not planning to stay in an inn in the county town, because they wanted to see what was going on at Lingguang Temple. It was inconvenient to stay in an inn, and it would be troublesome to get in and out if something happened there.
Moreover, Lingguang Temple is not in the county seat, but on the mountain to the north of the county seat. You can pass through the county seat or go around outside the county seat.
Generally, if you go to a temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, you will not go into the county town, but just take another path to the mountain.
After walking around the main street, I found a restaurant with the largest and most people, asked the waiter to park the carriage, and found a seat to the side in the hall to sit down.
I ordered a few of this restaurant's specialty dishes and had a good meal. To be honest, the dishes were very similar to those in Fucheng and Yunling County. They were all made of mutton.
There is no way, it is impossible to eat pork here. There is beef, but it is used to pull carts and cultivate the land. Now very few people eat it. The most eaten ones are mutton and chicken.
The food here tastes pretty good. Each chef's skills are different and have their own characteristics.
As for green vegetables, it's still the same radish and cabbage, and at most some dried vegetables and mushrooms, so Qingyan doesn't insist on it.
After eating, I packed another portion, went to the carriage to get a food box, packed the food and left the restaurant, letting Chou Chou eat directly in the space, so as not to leave it outside to cool.
They did not go directly to Lingguang Temple, but first found a teahouse with the most people. Although the restaurant was a place to eat and the most crowded place, if they wanted to hear some news, they had to be in a teahouse.
After all, people in the restaurant are busy eating and there is little time to chat. Most of the people who go to the teahouse are idlers, and you can hear a lot of news.
After entering the teahouse, I still found a seat to the side and sat down. I ordered a pot of tea and peanuts and melon seeds, then sat there and listened quietly.
It's just past dinner time and there are a lot of people in the teahouse. Some are sitting in twos and threes around a table in the lobby, and some are sitting in private rooms upstairs.
This teahouse has storytellers on the table in the middle in the morning and afternoon, but there are none at this time, so we have to wait for an hour.
Everyone happened to be chatting, and Qingyan could hear them with her sharp ears.
She asked Chou Chou to pay attention and see if there was any news they wanted to hear.
There is also news about Lingguang Temple, most of which state that it will close its doors tomorrow to thank guests.
It turns out that this has happened in the history of Lingguang Temple since it was built. It is said that in addition to closing the temple during repairs, there was also such a blessing ten years ago, and it was also said that it wanted to pray for the people here, and then Recited the sutra for forty-nine hours.
I heard that the weather was good and the harvest was good in the second year after praying. Later, the county magistrate also wanted to ask Lingguang Temple to perform rituals once a year, but the abbot of Lingguang Temple refused, saying that they would only perform rituals when they felt inspired. Doing it may not be effective.
The person who said this was an old man in his fifties or sixties. He said that his family used to live in a village at the foot of Lingguang Temple. His mother would go up to burn incense every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, but she did not go there on the fifteenth day of that month. So the memory is profound.
Qingyan looked at him curiously. He didn't look like a farmer growing crops. Although he was not wearing silk and satin, he was still wearing fine cotton. She must have opened a shop and did business in this city.
If you lived in a village when you were young, it may not necessarily matter if you become prosperous later on.
After that, three new people came to the table next to her. It looked like they were waiting for others to meet, so they ordered a pot of tea and nothing else.
After sitting down, I heard someone whisper: "If it doesn't snow tonight, we should be able to get to Pingliang City tomorrow.
It would be troublesome if it snowed. If we couldn't cross Pingliang Mountain during the day, we would have to find a place to wait all night.
We'd better pay attention to some villages and towns along the official road in advance, otherwise we may not be able to find them in time. "
A young man next to him asked: "Second uncle, why can't we just cross Pingliang Mountain directly?"
Another middle-aged man replied: "You are going out for the first time, but you don't know that you can't go up the mountain at night in Pingliang Mountain. It's fine during the day. But at night, as long as you go up the mountain, you will disappear, whether it is a single person or a whole convoy." , are not immune, those missing people have not been found so far, you say it is dangerous or not."
The young man's eyes widened when he heard this, "Really? But since those people are missing, how did you know about it?"
Qingyan nodded secretly, yes, she wanted to know too.
The man who was called Second Uncle said: "In the past few years, several convoys over there have had accidents. I initially thought it was another wave of bandits coming from the mountain. The Pingliang County Magistrate even sent the county's garrison to investigate. , and found nothing.
It is said that it took more than half a month to search the entire Pingliang Mountain.
In fact, there are far more than just those few convoys. There are many people who go up the mountain alone without anyone noticing. After all, many people passing by are not locals. Even if they don't go back, their families don't know where the accident happened.
This was only discovered after something happened to a merchant in Pingliang County.
The merchant just came to the town on this side of the mountain to settle the bill. He could have gone back the same day, but he didn't expect anyone, so his family reported it to the official.
People from the government came to the town here to check. People in the town said that the man returned that day, and many people saw him at that time, so the people from the government went to the village at the foot of Pingliang Mountain to inquire. People did see a car going up the mountain at about the same time.
(End of chapter)
