Early the next morning, Yue Guanchao and the others called Hu Jindou and went down from Hujiagangzi to Dupanling. According to Hu Jindou, there are Dupang Ridge and Mengzhu Ridge in the northwest and southeast of Jiangyong County. The two ridges are hundreds of miles in front and back, and there are more than 700 hills and ridges, large and small.
Huangfei Temple is located in Baixiong Ridge, the nearest village to Hujiagangzi. This ridge is only a thousand or so above sea level, but the mountain is extremely wide, like a bear lying on its side. The mountain has undulating knots and gentle folds. Most of the mountain is covered with thousand-year-old forests. If you get to the bottom of the mountain, you can still see the mountains. The valley extends out of the flat bottom of the tidal flat.
On a cold winter day, if the mountain is covered with autumn dew and white frost, or there is deep snow, the mountain will immediately look like a white bear sleeping, which is particularly expressive.
They rode the carriage to the river valley in front of Baixiong Ridge. In the beginning of spring, the mountain had returned to green and verdant, the thousand-year-old forest was lush and dense, and the mountain flowers and trees were colorful, covering the mountain completely. If you look at it roughly, you can't even see the shadow of the temple. .
"Look at the bear's paw in the middle!" Hu Jindou's little finger pointed to the highest point in the ridge, which looked like a raised fist. There happened to be a temple hidden in the woods at the wrist. Seeing that everyone was paying attention to that location, Hu Jindou continued to explain: "There is the Empress Temple. When the generals of the Jin Dynasty chose this place to build the temple a thousand years ago, they once saw white bears on this mountain. There were the most black bears in the past. Once a white bear appears, it means auspiciousness. They think that places where white bears appear are mostly Feng Shui treasures. , so the Imperial Concubine Temple was built here. From then on, this mountain became commonly known as White Bear Ridge." After that, Hu Jindou asked his servant to drive the carriage along the winding mountain road to the high point of the mountain, and waited for the carriage to stop. , the Imperial Concubine Temple has arrived.
Yue Guanchao and the others followed Taoist Jin out of the car and took a closer look. The Imperial Concubine Temple was not considered luxurious. The outer walls of the temple were painted with red mud and the eaves were decorated with yellow tiles. The cornices were flexible and the houses were neat. A concave courtyard wall connected the temple gate. In the main hall, a walkway built with bluestone slabs extends from the lush ancient forest. At the end of the road, you can see the thousand-year-old stone archway with a letter.
"Huangfei Temple" has three faded and cracked ancient characters. They walked around the stone archway and walked into the bluestone road. The woods on both sides basically grew along the roadside. Pines, cypresses, bamboos and banyan trees connected to the sky like a canopy for days. Only when they reached the end did they see a temple appearing in the open space in the forest.
At this moment, people have come to offer incense and are chatting outside the temple gate. It seems that there are old women and children. Most of them are villagers who are suffering from illness and come to see a doctor, or they are old and young women who come to pray for incense and fulfill their wishes.
After a while, there was a sound of movement behind the temple, and many villagers became excited and picked up everything they had brought.
"Quick, quick, the old Concubine Tian is out." Amid the commotion of the crowd, Tian Liumei walked slowly out from behind the courtyard wall on crutches. Yue Guanchao followed the voice and looked at the old Concubine Tian carefully.
According to Mrs. Hu, the old concubine was already thirty-five when she came back. Now thirty or forty years have passed, and she is at least seventy or eighty years old. An old lady at such an old age must have been staggering. Confused, if you were not lucky, it would probably be gone.
Tian Liumei in front of her is not very tall, her skinny body is already skin and bones, her back is stooped, she has been slightly bent over for many years, she has developed old age bumps on her back, her skin is full of folds, and patches of age spots appear on the back of her hands, neck, and On his face, his hands and feet were thin and his blood vessels were protruding. He looked like a dying old man.
Although this old lady is older, her clothes are still very particular. There are no stains, no patches, and no broken threads. She wears a black-bottomed herb-patterned jacket, a sapphire blue coarse cloth skirt, and an embroidered floral apron. Black velvet pants tucked into socks and granny shoes.
Yue Guanchao turned his attention to her face. The old lady's hair was as white as silver. Although it was completely white, she was not sparse and bald. Her hair was neatly combed and smooth, with no mess. She tied her hair into a bun on top of her head and pinned it down. A silver fan hairpin with bright velvet flowers on the left and right hairpins.
Her ears are hanging down, blue wooden beads are decorated with red tassels, hanging down to her shoulders, and her wrists are also wearing woven bamboo bracelets. Even if the things on her body are not valuable, she can still dress up well with limited things.
Although her eyes were old, she was not weak. He could feel that no matter how old she looked, there was still a breath of energy supporting her. Her hands and feet were still agile and free, without any delay. He could only say that the old concubine in front of them was indeed old. But he is not weak. His ability to survive here for such a long time is definitely not dependent on the charity of the people in the villages.
At this moment, the old lady held a crutch made of dead vine wood in her hand and walked slowly to the temple door. She skillfully picked up the key and opened the temple door. She bowed to the villagers outside and said: "Pilgrims, each of you has prepared your things. Slow down." When entering the temple, please do not crowd or push against the imperial concubine." After saying that, he stepped into the temple gate first. After that, the villagers lined up according to the previous queue, and then they took the tributes and went into the temple to burn incense. .
Hu Jindou stood nearby and said to Yue Guanchao: "The old concubine lived like this for about thirty or forty years. She was busy until noon every day, and it was not until the afternoon that the temple became free, and then she started cleaning. Inside and outside the temple, everything should be tidied up in the evening. During every New Year and festival, this time will be extended, and tidying up can only be started in the evening." Yue Guanchao stood outside the temple gate, looking into the temple gate, and walked through A narrow courtyard can be seen from the temple gate, which is about the size of four houses. The entrance is covered with a black awning. There are several tables, chairs and benches under it. Several notched teapots and teacups are placed on the table. It can be regarded as a place to rest. .
"Hey, why did you jump in line so casually? We all have to queue up to get in." When the surrounding villagers saw Yue Guanchao walking in, they were afraid that they would fall behind. Their faces looked a little ugly and they yelled.
"I'm from the Hu family here to deliver something to the old concubine!" This statement made people unable to refute, and told the people around them to shut up. Since they didn't come here to offer incense and see a doctor, they couldn't deal with them.
Stepping into the threshold of the temple, there are already several villagers sitting under the pergola. The square courtyard has been cleaned very clean. Even the flower beds on both sides are filled with fresh flowers. There are no fallen leaves or dead grass. The three-room temple in the middle stands On the inner wall, the cornices and yellow tiles shine like gold in the sunlight, and there are no weeds on them.
Walking into the temple, there were four people coming to offer incense at this moment, the old woman, the mother-in-law, and sister Shao Ai. They knelt down on futons in twos and lowered their heads and prayed for something.
Yue Guanchao listened carefully to the words. The old and the young, the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, were in their seventies and eighties, and the younger ones were in their twenties and thirties. Their hair was tied up in a woman's style. They were probably mother and daughter or mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The prayers they said were mostly for the safety of the family, the success of the male, and the marriage. Give birth to a noble son early and hold a grandson in your arms.
As for the sister Shao Ai on the other side, she looks to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. When they pray, they mostly talk about being like sisters and finding a lover. They pick up the female script written on the fan and exchange their hearts with each other. talk.
He raised his head and looked in front. Concubine Hu's altar was shaped like a lotus, built on a white stone platform that was half waist high, and sitting on it was Hu Yuxiu, who was dressed in auspicious clothes and gorgeously dressed.
As mentioned earlier, Hu Yuxiu was first posthumously named Lady of Jincheng County by Taizong of the Jin Dynasty. After Song Gaozong established the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to show that he was continuing the Northern Song Dynasty, he also canceled the title given by the Jin people and specially changed Qin Zong's title. The concubine Hu Yuxiu was named the Concubine of Jingkang, and the dress of this statue was also shaped according to the specifications of the imperial concubine.
In the Song Dynasty, the imperial concubines were required to wear phoenix crowns and Xia pei. The statue in front of us was made of the green robes and zhai clothes worn by the concubines other than the queen, with a peacock coat added on the outside, and full embroidered Xia pei. They wore a phoenix crown on their head and bobby temples. Holding Ruyi in his arms, he sat on the lotus platform in an upright posture.
The face of this imperial concubine is probably not the original one. Her face is close to that of the goddess in ancient sacred paintings. The sky is full, the earth is round, the red phoenix has long eyes, the eyebrows are curved, the cheeks are red and blessed, the smile is full, and she looks amiable. , maternal nature overflows.
According to Princess Hu's age, she was definitely no more than thirty years old when she died. The statue in front of her looks at least forty-five years old. Although it is to fit the status of the concubine, the statue is different from the real person and is somewhat strange, just like a temple. It was not established for her, but just borrowed her reputation and identity.
Yue Guanchao wanted to look around again, but Tian Liumei realized that he was not here to offer incense, so she came over and asked, "Young man, what can you do?"
"It's okay, old lady. I just want to come in and take a look. You are busy." There were too many people at the moment, and there were so many people outside waiting to offer incense. Now was not the time to ask questions. Yue Guanchao had to go out of the door and return to Taoist Jin. around them.
"How's it going? Did you see something fishy?" Song Siyuan asked. Yue Guanchao shook his head and said: "Everywhere in the temple has been cleaned very clean by her, and there is no problem. This old lady seems to be in good spirits. Logically speaking, this old lady has been tortured by the world for these years, and she has already become angry. It's gone. After so many years, she has become too old, but she can still feel that there is energy in her heart. She always feels like there is a force hanging on her. She can walk and speak very easily. I think she is more transparent than the average old lady. ." Song Siyuan nodded to him and said: "This shows that Tian Liumei is definitely not what Mrs. Hu said. There is no greater sorrow than death. That's why she is unwilling to go down the mountain. She can live in Baixiong Ridge for decades, she must have her perseverance. , or maybe she is guarding some secrets. As long as her tone persists, she will stick to it." At present, there are still many villagers coming to offer incense, and it is not convenient for a few people to ask about Tian Liumei's situation. She simply waited outside the temple from noon until the afternoon, until the last villager left, and then Tian Liumei came out from the temple gate.
"Aren't you here to offer incense?" Tian Liumei came over tremblingly, her eyes kind and kind.
"Grandma Tian, we want to ask you some questions. We are sent by the Hu family." Song Siyuan said, first explaining that we were sent by the Hu family. She had received some kindness from the Hu family, so she had to give some face.
"Then, come with me to the courtyard." After saying that, Tian Liumei led them through the wall of the Imperial Concubine Temple and took them to the small square courtyard behind the temple. Although there were not many rooms here, they were still well cleaned. It's clean.
Tian Liumei asked them to sit around the millstone, picked up the tea bowl and poured herbal tea for each of them, and said slowly: "Ask you, I will tell you everything I know."
