In the summer of July in the ninth year of Zhenghe, the Demon Suppression Department set up a sacrificial platform in the Laojun Temple on Jingshi Mountain, hoping that God would protect the people of the world and no longer suffer from hunger and cold...
This kind of sacrifice is held once every hundred years by the Demon Suppression Department, and this time it coincides with the centenary of the birth of Director Zhou Tong, so it was held on the same day.
On that day, people from all walks of life, ranging from the Zhao royal family to ordinary people, gathered in Jingshi Mountain to burn incense and pray for blessings. Even the plank road on the mountain was crowded with people. It could be said that it was overcrowded.
"Pei'er, there are so many people. It's still so far away. When can we reach the end..."
Zhao Yingluo finally arrived at a place with slightly fewer people, and was ready to rest here for a while.
Although the sunshine today is not as fierce as the previous days, there are so many people, and the hot breath gathered together, adding a lot of sultry heat.
"Miss, you insisted on coming, and you can obviously ride on the third young master's sedan chair..." The little maid Pei'er carried a small bag on her back and pouted dissatisfiedly, "It's not all your fault, princess, secretly..." He ran out, and even though he could easily be carried up the mountain, he had to choose to climb it by himself...
Zhao Yingluo was really tired, and he was too lazy to reach out to teach the little maid. He just hummed and said: "What do you know? Only by going up like this can you be sincere, and only by offering incense can your wishes come true."
Then he pointed at Pei'er's bulging breasts, "Besides, hiking can also help you exercise. Look at how fat you are. You have so much fat and you don't even know how to lose weight!"
Add incense, it’s only the princess, please do it yourself, and... why is Pei’er so fat? She’s obviously a princess, so you didn’t do it.
The incense-burning ceremony only lasted two hours, and they would not be able to catch up if they were late, so the two little girls did not rest for too long before they started to climb up the mountain again.
Jingshi Mountain was once the place where Hunyuan Laojun preached. During the Sui Dynasty, it was set up as the general office of the Demon Suppression Department. The plank road was rebuilt and the Taoist temple was expanded for dozens of miles. It was divided into three main gates: the entrance gate, the front gate, and the mountain gate. The entrance gate was This place where ordinary people go to pray for blessings is open all year round and the incense is constantly burning. Qianmen is a branch of the Demon Suppression Department, including the Weapon Refining Hall, the Demon Sealing Hall, and the Law Enforcement Department. The second hall and the first department deal with supernatural incidents in various places. The mountain gate is where the Laojun Temple is located, where the Dharmakaya of Hunyuan Laojun is enshrined, and sacrifices to heaven and earth are made here every hundred years.
Usually only the entrance is open, and you only need to go to the entrance to burn incense to pray for blessings. But today it is different. You need to go to the mountain gate to count...
The Demon Suppression Department also considered that there may be many ordinary people who are not physically strong enough to go up to the mountain gate on their own, so they allow bearers to be hired to carry the sedan up the mountain. There are bearers at the bottom of the mountain, at the entrance, and at the front door waiting for business to come.
"Two young ladies, this is the front door. There are still more than a kilometer of stairs from the upper gate. In half an hour, the sacrificial ceremony will be over. My brother and I can walk quickly. We only need one hundred coins for a pillar. I can carry you two up the mountain in a short time." A tall, thick, and honest-looking man walked up to Zhao Yingluo's master and servant, he was quite shy, scratched his head and said.
One hundred pennies is quite cheap for a bearer. If he hadn't waited for a long time and still didn't see the guest, Dahu wouldn't have taken the initiative to solicit the guest.
"Miss, it's only a hundred cents. Otherwise, I won't be able to walk if I lose this money."
After climbing so far, Pei'er had long since lost her strength and could barely feel her legs. She looked pitiful and weakly held on to her master's arm.
Although Zhao Yingluo is at an active age, because he was raised in a deep palace, he often did not get exercise, and his physical condition was not much better. The two jade legs under the hem of her skirt had long been aching, and she could only use hiking poles to Barely standing still.
However, she was determined to walk up on her own, but she couldn't bear to see Pei'er like this, so she said, "You can just take the sedan yourself. When you get there, wait for me above."
Never give up halfway!
A look of determination appeared on her little face. At this scene, the woman wearing a lotus flower in the distance nodded repeatedly.
"What's the matter? Let's forget it. Even if Pei'er is exhausted, she must stay with the young lady and never abandon the young lady." Pei'er said, then rejected the strong man and followed her young lady to continue climbing up the steps.
However, just as the two of them walked for a while, they suddenly felt something was wrong. Zhao Yingluo asked doubtfully: "Pei'er, why do I feel...that the higher you climb, the easier it becomes?"
They were both at the end of their strength, one was relying on his will to hold on, and the other was thinking that he could not leave his master behind. But for some reason, the more he walked, his waist no longer hurt, his legs were no longer sore, and his physical strength was rapidly recovering.
"Ah? It turns out that the young lady also feels this way. Could it be that she has returned to the light again? I once heard the imperial physician in the palace say that when people are about to die, our situation will occur. It is called the return of the light to return to the light. Miss, what do you think? Are we going to die..." Pei'er was startled, and at the end of her sentence, she was so scared that she cried.
"What are you talking about!"
Zhao Yingluo slapped her little head. She had heard about the flashback, but it would never be this magical, but what is the situation now? Could it be that... I met a god?
Pei'er covered her little head, feeling more and more aggrieved, but thinking that the young lady treated her so well, it would be nice to die with the young lady, but it was a pity that she had hid the fifty taels of silver under the peach blossom tree...
At the end of the road from Qianmen to Shanmen, there were a lot fewer people than before, but it was still crowded. Zhao Yingluo looked at the people passed by him. They were all as out of breath and listless as he was before. He couldn't help but wonder more. There really is help from the gods.
Looking around, he suddenly found that not far from him, there was a woman wearing a lotus on her head, looking at him with a smile, and the woman acted as relaxed as she and Pei'er.
Surprised in his heart, he couldn't help but walked forward and asked, "Why is this lady looking at me like this?"
The woman wearing a lotus flower on her hair smiled slightly and said, "The Emperor's beauty is extraordinary, and her perseverance is unparalleled, so I couldn't help but want to take a few more glances."
Zhao Yingluo looked shocked when he heard this.
"The Rites of the Song Dynasty" says: Huizong changed the princess to Ji, borrowing the title of "Wang Ji" from Zhou Dynasty, which can be found in "Poetry" and "Ya". The princess is called Emperor Ji, the princess is called Zong Ji, the county head is called Clan Ji...
Zhao Yingluo is Zhao Ji's youngest daughter. No matter which prince succeeds to the throne in the future, according to the etiquette system, she will be called Emperor Ji. Therefore, calling Emperor Ji now does not seem to be inappropriate.
"Who are you! Why do you know my identity..." Zhao Yingluo was wary and retreated instinctively.
She ran out secretly without any guards. If she met an assassin, she would definitely die.
"Haha, Emperor Ji, don't be nervous..." The woman had a kind face. Seeing Zhao Yingluo's reaction, she couldn't bear to scare her, and said truthfully: "The poor Taoist is Bixia Mountain, Bixia Cave Immortal He Qiong, because he figured out that he was with the Emperor. Ji has a master-disciple relationship and is waiting here specially."
After saying that, she stretched out her hand and lightly wiped it on her face. Suddenly, Zhao Yingluo seemed to have seen something extraordinary. He opened his mouth slightly and said in surprise: "Okay, so beautiful. Is this the way to change your appearance?"
"That's right, poor Taoists can't show their true colors to others, otherwise they will break the rules. What do you think, Emperor Ji, would you like to become my disciple?"
Zhao Yingluo only felt that happiness came too suddenly. She had read in books that immortals were free from restraints, could fly to the sky and escape from the earth, go wherever they wanted, and could live forever and stay young forever.
Who doesn't want to cultivate immortality and become a Taoist? Even my father goes to Zixiao Palace every day to listen to the lectures of the Imperial Master.
I never thought that I would have such an opportunity, and the immortal would come to me in person. Even though I wanted to kneel down to bow down, I didn't expect that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't kneel down.
"There are many people with mixed eyes, and the princess's intentions are already known."
The lotus woman then said: "Although Di Ji can take Pindao as her teacher, I think Di Ji's mortal relationship is not over yet. After Di Ji is done with her mortal fate, Pindao will come to pick Di Ji up again before she enters my mountain gate to practice."
Then he used his immortal power to hand Zhao Yingluo three red, white and blue tips, "This is a life-saving tip bag that can solve three crises. Emperor Ji must remember to use it with caution."
Zhao Yingluo looked carefully at the three kits in his hand and saw that their craftsmanship was exquisite, no worse than the matchmaker's craftsmanship in the palace.
"Nothing, I'll take my leave now..."
The lotus woman said, when Zhao Yingluo looked up, the lotus woman was nowhere to be seen, as if she had never appeared. Looking at the people around him, he found nothing unusual, even Pei'er was the same. , and even looked at her strangely, "Miss, what's wrong with you?"
"God! The God is there, didn't you see it?" Zhao Yingluo pointed to the place where the woman had just stood.
Pei'er shook her head and said worriedly: "Miss, there is no such thing as a fairy. You were talking to yourself just now. Pei'er pulled you, but you didn't pay attention. Are you exhausted?"
"But...this is a gift bag given to me by the gods, can't you see it?"
"This... miss, are you sure it's not yours?"
Pei'er looked at the three kits in Zhao Yingluo's hand and felt that her young lady was really exhausted. There were only three kits, so why were they given by gods.
"Miss, why don't we go up? If something happens to you, we can tell Pei'er what to do." She felt that there was something strange here, so she advised.
Zhao Yingluo understood, how could a god be seen casually? It must be, he could only see it, others could not see or hear...
She looked at Pei'er, who had a worried look on her face and tears in her eyes. She was about to nod in agreement, but the hand holding the kit suddenly lightened. When she lowered her head, she saw that her hand was empty. There was no other kit anywhere...
No, there's a thief! In a hurry, he turned his head and saw the man passing by him hiding the blue one in his sleeve.
"Stop! Thief, give me back my things!" She shouted loudly, but the man didn't seem to hear her and kept walking forward on the steps.
Seeing this, Zhao Yingluo hurriedly ran to block his way, "A bold thief, you dare to steal even here, please return my things to me!"
The man wore a felt hat, a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks, and a black mole the size of a soybean on his chin. There was also a tuft of hair on the mole. Zhao Yingluo was only twelve years old and less than 1.5 meters tall, but he was only taller than Zhao Yingluo is half a head tall.
