Qingnu County, Lejun, Yangzhou, is the county seat of Lejun.
The Yangzhou water system and water transportation are very developed, and Qingnv County is also built on the water. The Qingnv River passes through the city. This is also a beautiful Jiangnan county. All the houses have white walls and black tiles. Every morning and dusk, they are shrouded in a thin mist. The white walls are soaked in the white mist, and the boundaries between the walls and the fog become blurred.
This county is more prosperous than many of the prefectures Song You has traveled through. There are many shops on the streets, people are coming and going on the road, and cars are flowing like water and horses are like dragons. Compared with Langzhou, it seems like two different worlds.
In addition to being prosperous and prosperous, when walking on the street, you can often hear one or two songs from the boatman's mouth on the Qingnvjiang River next to it, or one or two lines of poetry from the literati and poets on the bow of the boat, or you can hear some songs coming from the road. The sound of orchestral music coming from the nearby restaurant and brothel is leisurely and beautiful. Regardless of whether it is a county seat or a county town in Yangzhou, there seems to be an endless number of brothels and restaurants.
This is its other charming point.
No wonder Princess Changping loved Xia Yangzhou so much when she was young.
Likewise, anything that Dayan can buy can be bought here.
Song You found an inn near the river and booked it for half a month. This was the shortest length of time that the store could offer a discount, and Song You wanted to take this opportunity to get away from the barbaric atmosphere of Yaozhou and Langzhou.
However, in addition to going out for a walk in the past two days, exchanging the excess honey collected by Sanhua Empress on the road for money, and replenishing the oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and spices consumed along the way, Song You also made a new pair for himself. Apart from shoes, I rarely go out for shopping.
Most of the time on weekdays, he leaned against the window, leaning out half of his body, silently looking at the green river water below and the ships that kept coming and going. He didn't know what he was thinking.
When he got tired of watching, he started writing travel notes.
In the first few days, I felt that every day was very long. If I stayed here for half a month without moving, it must be a long time. I felt that I would be able to get enough rest. But when I turned around, ten days had passed.
During these ten days, the novelty brought by the small town in Jiangnan and the long-lost feeling of prosperity and convenience gradually faded away. Instead, I felt like living in an inn every day, whether it was asking the inn clerk to bring food to me or going out to find a restaurant in a nearby street. , or ordering food from a restaurant and having it delivered to your door. The food you eat is extremely light. Especially in this era, it is so bland that you can taste the smell of meat and fish. Sanhua Empress has already started to secretly pick up mice in the middle of the night, while Song You still doesn't know where to go.
So there was only this river left to see.
The water of the river is almost unchanged except for sunshine and rain, but the guests in the painted boats and tents traveling on the river are never the same.
There are poor people who are busy making a living, and there are also handsome young ladies. Some nobles also invite a few musicians and singers to play on the boat while having the musicians play and the singers sing. At this time, Song You will have fun with people on both sides of the river. Pedestrians and merchants come together to enjoy some of their glory and enjoy some elegance.
Even at night, there is a light boat night tour.
Looking at the various aspects of people's livelihood is also one of the spiritual practices.
"well……"
Song You withdrew his gaze from the river outside the window and turned to look at Tong'er in the room.
The little girl was dressed in three-color clothes and was lying on a square table. A square piece of paper was spread out on the table, held in place by a gem given by Yaksha. She was carefully holding a brush and writing small characters under the paper.
As I write, I pause for a moment, showing a thoughtful look.
"Miss Sanhua."
"Well?"
The little girl immediately raised her head and stared at him warily.
Song You stood by the window, knowing that if he approached, she would immediately reach out and cover the paper. If he approached again, she would put the paper away, so he did not approach, but leaned against the window sill and asked: " Is Sanhua Empress writing about her overseas experiences?"
"Travel Notes!"
"Why does Sanhua Empress have to sit across from me when I write a travel diary and read it, but Sanhua Empress doesn't allow me to sit across from me and read it when she writes a travel diary?"
"Well!"
"And I specifically chose to write it when I was looking at the scenery."
"no!"
"Um?"
"You wrote it in the middle of the night while you were sleeping!"
"I see." Song You looked at the little girl helplessly, "Sanhua Empress really has double standards."
"Double standards!"
"That's how Sanhua Empress is..."
"I don't understand~"
"well……"
Song You was still leaning against the window, with no intention of peeking at what she was writing. He just sighed and said helplessly: "Staying here every day is not an option, but there don't seem to be many interesting places in this county... …”
"Sanhua Empress saw many people going to those beautiful wooden houses with many lanterns hung on them!" the little girl suggested to him, "It seems fun! We can go there to play too!"
"It's not that fun there..."
"Those people seemed to be having a lot of fun!" the little girl said seriously, and this was not a lie.
"Those places of smoke, willows, and dust are not suitable for monks to go in and play. At most, you can go in to eat, drink, listen to music and dance."
"What about the cat?"
"Neither can the monastic cat."
"Why?"
"..."
Song You was silent for a moment: "It's very expensive there."
"!"
The little girl's expression condensed.
"I heard that there is a Qingyun Palace in the city. It is very efficacious. It is also the largest palace in the entire Le County. We can go and have a look and burn some incense." As Song You was talking, he lowered his head to the side and gently touched it with his fingers. Nodding at the top of Yanzi's forehead, he paused and said, "By the way, I'll also ask the national master about the god he was originally granted."
"when to go?"
"Sanhua Empress will go as soon as she finishes writing."
"Empress Sanhua has finished writing!"
After finishing speaking, the little girl immediately put away her pen, took a deep breath, and blew slowly on the paper on the table in front of her, and the ink on the whole article was dry immediately.
"By the way, Ningxiang ink seems to be produced in Yangzhou. Maybe it will be cheaper in Yangzhou. We can ask where it is produced and buy a few when passing by." Song You also saw her movements and saw the words on the paper. The slightly bluish ink stains, I just remembered it.
The fragrance is so good, I have used one and will never forget it.
I even used it to write letters to the Taoist priest in Guanzhong.
Eight years have passed in a flash...
I felt like I was in a trance for a moment.
"Ningxiangmo!"
The little girl's repetition interrupted his thoughts.
Song You shook his head, dispelled the trance, and looked at her with a smile: "Empress Sanhua has made great progress in knowledge now, and has good attainments in calligraphy, and she is still writing great works. In this case, she naturally wants to be the best in the world. Only good ink can match Empress Sanhua's style of writing and the masterpiece she is creating."
"Ms. Sanhua's snot~"
"Empress Sanhua clearly knows what I'm talking about."
"Obviously know it!"
As the little girl spoke, she carefully put away the papers and stood straight on the spot, staring up at the Taoist, which meant that she was ready to go out.
"Let's go."
Song You walked towards the door.
"Let's go..."
The little girl also took steps at the same time.
"Puff puff..."
The swallow did not go through the door, but flew out of the window, circled a few times in the air outside, then circled around the roof, flew above the street, and followed them all the time.
…
Soon, three figures came outside Qingyun Palace.
A young Taoist priest wearing new shoes and old Taoist robes, leaning on a bamboo cane, a beautiful little girl wearing three-color clothes and braided braids, and a handsome, tall and thin boy wearing black and white clothes.
Song You looked up at the door couplet as usual.
What is written on the door of Qingyun Palace is:
Blessings come from charity;
Misfortunes come to those who cheat.
Very simple door couplet.
Song You withdrew his gaze and stepped into the mountain gate.
As expected, there is a lot of incense and pilgrims in the palace. Several temples are dedicated to many gods. The main gods of the Tiangong are rarely absent. This may be because Yangzhou has been peaceful and prosperous for a long time, or perhaps people's main pursuits are focused on wealth and fame. Therefore, most of the worshipers are Tiangong civil servants. Apart from the Chijin Emperor, the most popular ones are the God of Wealth and Wenquxing, and then the local gods.
As for the military attachés, no matter Jin Lingguan or Zhou Lei Gong, there are no statues of them here.
There is a statue of Lao Yanxian——
Yangzhou has begun to plant high-quality overseas seeds brought back by Anqing Yanzi. As the largest palace and temple in Le County, it is natural that there should be a statue of Lao Yanxian. This is a death order of the imperial court.
Lao Yanxian still has a lot of incense.
Then they saw the young man who was so handsome that he immediately bought three sticks of incense and came to the temple with the statue of Lao Yanxian. However, he waited at the door for a long time until there were fewer people inside offering incense. Seizing the opportunity, he walked forward, knelt on the futon, and offered incense to his ancestors.
The movements are almost the same as those of ordinary pilgrims.
Those who didn’t know it thought he was really here to offer incense.
It's just that most of the people who came to offer incense to Old Yanxian came to pray for a good harvest. There were very few people as young as him, and none as beautiful as him.
And he didn't pray, but whispered some family news.
Lao Yanxian was quite harsh on him, but he naturally knew in his heart that it was out of respect for himself and an eagerness to hate iron that cannot be transformed into steel. In fact, his ancestor was very kind to him.
And he has no other relatives.
In this case, after following my husband for several years, I naturally took the time to tell my ancestors about my insights and progress in recent days, as well as interesting things that only related to me.
While murmuring in a low voice, a breeze blew up in the temple. It was soft and refreshing. It could not lift people's clothes. At most, it made the ends of the hair sway and become itchy. It also blew the incense on the altar and made it rest on Xuan'er. For a moment, the cold statue seemed to have more energy, and its features became much softer.
This is not something only swallows can see.
Even ordinary people can feel it.
The Taoist Priest from Qingyun Palace was walking out from the inner courtyard. He seemed to have something as he passed by this temple. He couldn't help but stop and look back in confusion. When he saw this scene, he couldn't help but be stunned.
The young man knelt down and whispered, smoke curled up, and gods appeared.
The Taoist priest was stunned for a moment.
When he came to his senses, there was a young Taoist in front of him, wearing new shoes and old Taoist robes, and a jade-like bamboo staff. He smiled and saluted him: "My surname is Song Mingyou, and I come from Yizhou. Fellow Taoist, you are polite."
(End of chapter)
