"what is that?"
After Wang Shiliang finished speaking, several people looked curiously at the top of the altar. They saw that the curtains on the top of the altar were being blown wildly by the strong wind, revealing the red sandalwood table inside. On the table, there were only two pots of incense burners and a square statue. There is nothing but jade.
The two deacons who were guarding the altar staggered up to the altar and tried to grab the curtain. However, as soon as they grabbed a corner of the curtain, the strong wind that rose from the ground disappeared without a trace in an instant. The Taoist priests around him were in an uproar when they saw this. , no longer chanting sutras.
Guo Xin glanced at the expression of the veteran next to him, and saw the same frightened and inexplicable expression. The behavior of the Taoist priests was very strange in the eyes of Guo Xin. Guo Xin pointed to the curtain and asked the Taoist: "I wonder what kind of treasure that is, and why do you need to set up a special altar to worship it?"
The old Taoist waved his sleeves to the disciples who were looking at him from under the altar: "Keep chanting!"
It wasn't until the sound of chanting rang out in unison again that the old Taoist lowered his head and thought for a while, then slowly said: "I just forgot to explain to the general that our temple has recently been renovating the house and palace, and I accidentally found this statue in the dry well inside the temple. The jade should be an auspicious sign for this temple. In addition, the war is about to break out and the people's livelihood is difficult, so we use this jade as a sacrifice and set up this fasting ceremony to eliminate natural disasters and poison, and protect the peace of the world."
Is there such a thing? Even the treasures found in the old palace of Huaqing were mostly royal artifacts of the previous dynasty, rather than ordinary items. Thinking of this, Guo Xin became curious and asked the old Taoist: "I am young and have never seen such a treasure. I wonder if I can borrow the jade to have a look?"
The old Taoist shook his head quickly: "But this is not possible. Once the altar has been set up, it cannot be moved lightly. Otherwise, instead of being auspicious, it will be ominous."
Guo Xin asked: "Then I don't know when the Zhaijiao will end?"
The old Taoist still insisted: "Such a big ceremony will naturally last for seventy-seven forty-nine days. Today is the first day. I cannot obey the order. Please forgive me, General."
Seeing the old Taoist's firm attitude, Guo Xin's interest became even stronger. He asked with a smile: "I am a general of the Forbidden Army, can't I even see a piece of jade?"
"It's really inappropriate to dampen the general's interest. It's just that there are so many taboos, so why should the general force it?"
Before Guo Xin spoke, Guo Pu beside him couldn't bear it any longer: "My lord is the commander of the Forbidden Army. Thousands of troops and horses cannot stop him, but you can?"
The old Taoist showed a hint of fear on his face, but he still kept his mouth straight: "This view was given by the previous emperor. Please don't be rude, military master."
Seeing that the old Taoist had even moved out the emperor of the previous dynasty, Wang Shiliang also scolded: "You are a very arrogant old Taoist. The previous emperor gave you this view, but you don't know that we are the forbidden army of this dynasty!"
The old Taoist bowed his head and said nothing, and Guo Xin took over the words at the right time: "Don't worry, Taoist Master, I am not afraid of offending auspiciousness. If something bad comes towards me, it will be fine."
After saying that, he winked at Guo Pu, who immediately walked towards the Zhai Altar.
The chanting of the Taoist priests stopped again, and they all looked here. They met Guo Xin and looked away, but then quickly lowered their heads.
Upon seeing this, the old Taoist shouted anxiously: "This is an act of aggression, general, proceed with caution!"
Guo Pu turned around and said viciously: "If you talk too much, the brothers from down the mountain will come up and smash your temple."
The old Taoist finally kept silent and only cast his eager eyes on Guo Xin, but Guo Xin completely ignored him.
Guo Pu climbed up to the altar in two steps, lifted the jade from the incense table, and held it in front of Guo Xin.
Guo Xin took the jade and took a glance at it, and he was instantly shocked. He saw a chilong coiled on the top of the jade in his hand. This was not a jade, it was clearly a jade seal, but a national seal that would only be used by the emperor!
It is rumored that several national seals of the Tang Dynasty were lost after passing through the Liang and Tang dynasties. In the previous dynasty, Shi Jin was criticized by the world because he had no national seals, forcing Shi Jingtang to carve one himself. Now that the Liu family has come to power, they are even looking for seals. Without thinking, who would have thought that one of the rumored national seals would be in his hands at this moment?
Wang Shiliang, who was approaching, took one look and was equally shocked. He turned around and shouted at the old Taoist: "Bold Taoist priest, how dare you hide such a treasure privately?"
Guo Xin also frowned and looked at Lao Dao, who saw fear and fear on his face.
Guo Xin held down Wang Shiliang, who was still asking, and stared at the old Taoist coldly: "This is not the place to talk. The Taoist can lead the way."
The old Taoist sighed deeply: "In that case, general, just follow me."
The old Taoist dismissed the group of Taoist priests who came with him, led Guo Xin and the others around the front hall, came to a secluded monastery next to the bell tower, and made an invitation gesture to Guo Xin.
Upon seeing this, Guo Xin also ordered Guo Pu and Wang Shiliang to wait outside. The two stood left and right in front of the door, holding the hilts of their swords, staring warily at the Taoist priests who were whispering in the distance.
The monastery is quite small, measuring one foot square, with only one straw mat and two futons inside. The light inside is dim, and there is a faint smell of rotten wood.
Guo Xin and Lao Dao sat down on futons on both sides. Lao Dao closed his eyes and said nothing, while Guo Xin didn't speak either. He just took the jade seal in his hand and looked at it carefully.
The size of the jade seal is slightly larger than the palm of your hand, but the weight is not as heavy as it seems. It feels very light when you hold it in your hand. When you take a quick look outside, the jade seal is all milky white, but now in the dim monastery, it feels like There is a faint layer of bluish color, but overall it is still very transparent and extremely shiny.
In addition to the color and texture, what is more eye-catching about the jade seal is the writing surrounding it. Except for the Chilong button on the top, three of the remaining five sides are engraved with text. The first is the eight slender large characters at the bottom "Emperor Shouchang, the Emperor of the Order". There are also different fonts engraved on the surfaces on both sides of the Chilong. "The imperial seal of the Han Dynasty received by Wei" and "the stone family of destiny".
The first emperor made a national jade seal. It was lost and passed down to the Tang Dynasty. There were already three real and fake national seals. In the decades after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the national seal had disappeared. If the guess is correct, the seal in hand is probably one of them.
Guo Xin looked at the jade seal again and again. Unfortunately, he knew neither epigraphy nor archeology. He could not tell any knowledge from the jade seal. He only felt that the jade seal in his hand was very beautiful. Even if it was not the legendary imperial seal of the First Emperor, at least it was It is also absolutely extraordinary.
Weighing the weight of the jade seal in his hand, Guo Xin didn't know where to start for a moment: "Is this seal... really obtained from observing the dry well?"
At this time, the old Taoist's attitude was very calm: "There is no doubt that I saw this seal coming from the well. That day when I was cleaning the dry well in the side hall, my disciple said that there was a treasure light exposed in the mud at the bottom of the well. It was not long before the treasure was dug out."
Guo Xin frowned: "So, many people have seen this seal?"
The old Taoist shook his head: "Except for the one or two elders of this temple, all the disciples only knew that there was a jade, but they didn't know that it was the national seal of the previous dynasty."
"Since the Taoist priest knows that it is the national seal, he should know that this thing should not be owned by the people. Why don't you report it to the government and dare to keep it secretly?" Guo Xin's attitude was stern and his tone was very cold. He was almost pressuring. Since this kind of thing happened to him, he would not let Yuxi stay in Lingquan Temple anymore, both publicly and privately.
The old Taoist seemed to have noticed this, and he knelt on the futon and suddenly bowed to Guo Xin: "This seal is indeed extraordinary. I have no chance to keep it. I hope the general will return it to the court and set up a memorial ceremony in this temple." The desire to serve the country and the people absolves us of the guilt.”
Lao Dao's words were in line with Guo Xin's wishes, but he still did not relax on the surface: "Whether you are convicted or not will be decided by the court. I will not punish your crimes. Besides, the foreign seal is of great importance. All matters today must not be leaked, otherwise they will be destroyed." This view!”
The old Taoist bowed tremblingly: "It's all according to the general's words."
Guo Xin nodded, took the green cloth covering the straw mat, wrapped the jade seal in several layers, and pushed the door open.
Guo Xin glanced outside and saw that many Taoist priests were staring at this place in the distance, and there were even a few carrying wooden swords. He couldn't help but feel funny, and told Guo Pu and Guo Pu: "It's not suitable to stay here for a long time, hurry up and get on your way."
The three of them walked out of Lingquan Temple under the watchful eyes of the crowd and walked down the mountain along the original path. Guo Xin told Guo Pu on the way: "Today's matter only belongs to you and me. Don't tell anyone."
Both of them nodded. Wang Shiliang pondered for a moment and suddenly said: "I heard that during the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Wentai passed down the national jade seal in the well of Luoyang Palace. The later Sun family indeed became emperor. Today's master is exactly the same. Doesn't it imply some kind of providence?"
Guo Xin looked at him deeply and said nothing. It wasn't that he didn't want to say anything, but he knew that the Guo family would indeed come to power in the near future... Could such a thing really happen in this world?
