On the eighth day of June in the twenty-fourth year of Yuanzhen, Tanzhou.
Song Huiyue rides a green horse, dressed as a teenager, wearing a hat and a green gauze shirt, with an empty fish basket hanging upside down on her waist, and many mud spots splashed on both sides of her cloth shoes.
She has an oval face, thick eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, a straight nose, and beady lips, which have not yet faded away from their childishness.
She is sixteen years old and is eligible for marriage. Logically speaking, she should be at the age where a matchmaker has crossed the threshold.
But things in the world often don’t make sense.
Her father, Song Qi, was originally the chief historian of the Jin Dynasty. He was an official of the fourth rank, commanded the government officials, and reported matters to the king.
It really has a bright future.
Ten years ago, the queen passed away, and Concubine Zhang and her son King Yan Li Yuguang suddenly emerged. The court suddenly experienced great changes, and Song Qi and the King of Jin "went to prison together."
Thinking of the love between father and son, I punished the King of Jin to Tanzhou. If the king had any fault, I would interrogate Chang Shi. Song Qi was interrogated by me and hanged himself in prison.
Song Huiyue, who was only six years old, fled to Tanzhou with the ten-year-old King Jin, and then all the family members moved here. Ten years passed in a blink of an eye.
In an instant, Wuliang became Wuliang.
Song's mother, Mrs. Chen, lived a hard life guarding this small family. She did not want Song Huiyue to marry into a wealthy family, but only wanted her to marry into a good family so that she could have enough food and clothing and live a satisfactory life.
She invited an embroiderer to teach Song Huiyue how to work.
The thread is alive in the hands of the embroiderer, and it is lifelike when embroidered on the satin. It is also alive in Song Huiyue's hands, because it is not under her control.
Song Huiyue feels quite good about herself.
Everyone has their own strengths. Although she is not a female worker, she can read and do accounting, and she can also do some boxing and kicking. She can be regarded as both internal and external.
But others don't buy her account of being good both internally and externally - since ancient times, no lady has ever learned boxing and kicking, unless the man's family couldn't figure it out and wanted to find someone to beat the man.
In addition, because of her evil reputation, the marriage was postponed.
Song Huiyue was not in a hurry, but Song's mother was so anxious that she had bubbles on her lips. She didn't like her and scolded her until she frowned, so she could only sneak out to fish.
Suddenly a strong wind swept through, and the vegetation in the mountains suddenly shook wildly. The crown of a towering camphor tree beside the road surged like waves, and its leaves scattered like rain, covering the ground.
"Is it going to rain again?"
The mountain road was rugged and muddy, and there were dark clouds covering the top. It rained heavily in an instant. She hurriedly urged her horse to return to Tanzhou Mansion as soon as possible.
While I was walking fast, a lot of mud suddenly rolled down from the hillside not far ahead. Looking at it, I saw that the mountain was covered with small trees and weeds. The soil was soaked by the rain and was very soft, and the roots were exposed.
Tanzhou is surrounded by mountains and water. During the flood season, there are often landslides.
Song Huiyue reined in her horse and took a few steps back.
At the same time, a man and a horse galloped forward, ignoring the earth and gravel falling from the cliff, and headed straight for Song Huiyue.
The person who came was black and short brown, with a thin build, a pair of narrow red phoenix eyes, the tails of the eyes were raised like hooks, and the divine light was hidden inside. He was Yinxiao, the nurse of the Song family.
He is two years younger than Song Huiyue, but he has long arms and legs, and a calm expression, as if he has missed his childhood and has grown up in a hurry.
Song Huiyue squinted her eyes as she watched him pass through the rocks without fear and stop in front of her.
Yinxiao reined in his horse and lowered his head: "Madam, Huang Wenqiu is coming."
Song Huiyue nodded, raised her whip, and ran forward.
As soon as the sand and stones fell from above her head, dust filled the sky, and the green horse spread its hooves and passed through it. Then, it seemed as if a dragon was rolling in the mountain, making a roaring sound, and all the vegetation and mud fell.
Yin Xiao followed closely behind, riding his horse and whipping his whip, and an earth temple completely fell down behind him.
The collapsed soil flooded the mountain road, leaving a gap in the mountain.
Song Huiyue and Yinxiao had already turned a corner.
"I heard that you came to Jianshan. He went to Jiaozi Shop." Yinxiao caught up with Song Huiyue's horse in the sound of wind, "Now he is taking shelter from the rain in Chonghua Temple."
He controlled the horse so that his voice could penetrate into Song Huiyue's ears despite the sound of the wind, but he also prevented himself from crossing Song Huiyue's ears.
Song Huiyue turned back and glanced at him.
Before her eyes fell on Yin Xiao's face, Yin Xiao lowered his eyes: "I'll break his legs, and he'll be obedient."
Song Huiyue remained silent and rode her horse until she reached the mountain gate of Chonghua Temple before she stopped, rolled her saddle and dismounted.
She untied the empty fish basket, hung it on the horse, inserted the riding whip, and climbed up the steps: "Go and see him."
Yin Xiao tied the two horses together and followed them.
Thousands of mountain winds passed through her body, raising her sleeves high, as if she suddenly had wings and was about to leave the ground.
The sound of bells and bells in front of the eaves is endless.
Chonghua Temple was dilapidated, with incomplete walls and swallow excrement hanging in front of the door. The door was unlocked. Yin Xiao stepped forward and pushed the door open, letting Song Huiyue in.
In Zhike's building, an old monk was sweeping the water with a bamboo grate. When he saw Song Huiyue and others coming, he quickly put down the bamboo grate and clasped his hands together: "Are the two donors here to take shelter from the rain?"
The sky is already covered with thick clouds.
Song Huiyue returned the gift: "That's right. Master, please do it for me."
Yin Xiao took out a tael of silver and the old monk said: "Master, please arrange tea."
The old monk caught it and put the money in his sleeves. He thought that the rain came just in time. He collected two pieces of silver, enough for five months of chewing, and he could also make some small bets.
"I'm going to make tea right now, please come in."
"Thank you, Master. I'll go and see the real Buddha first." Song Huiyue turned around and walked towards the main hall.
It was dark and unclear in the main hall. The Buddha was sitting cross-legged, his hands covered with dust and his eyes slightly closed.
There were several extinguished short incense sticks inserted in the incense burner.
Song Huiyue took out the flint and planned to light the candle and burn a stick of incense. As soon as she took it out, she heard a call from the door.
"cousin."
Song Huiyue turned around and looked at the person.
At this moment, a ray of lightning sharply cut through the sky, piercing the dark hall, illuminating the faces of Song Huiyue and the Buddha white, as if their eyes were open at the same time, shooting darkly at the visitor.
Lightning flashed past, and thunder boomed. The people standing outside the threshold shivered violently, and their umbrellas dropped to the ground in shock.
The heavy rain hit the muddy ground, connecting the sky and the earth.
Huang Wenqiu came to his senses only when the raindrops hit him, and hurriedly stepped in without caring about the umbrella.
He is a gentle and handsome young man with a fair face. He wears a turban on his head and a plain t-shirt. Every move he makes exudes elegance.
His cousin and Song Huiyue are very different from each other. If we go to the bottom of the matter, it can be said that they have no relationship at all.
Just because Huang Wenqiu's mother's surname was Chen, she met Song's mother, Chen, when she was offering incense at Lushan Temple. They went back and forth, met relatives, brought up old friends, and became cousins.
He stopped in front of the monk's statue: "Cousin, I came here specially to see you."
Song Huiyue stood with her hands behind her hands and smiled calmly: "Now that my cousin is rich, I don't even see my aunt coming to visit me. I heard from Yinxiao that he came to see you several times, but you also avoided seeing her."
Huang Wenqiu felt guilty, frowned, and glanced at Yin Xiao who was standing in the dark: "I have something to tell you."
Song Huiyue nodded: "Please tell me."
Huang Wenqiu could only say clearly: "Yin Xiao, go and wait outside the door."
Yin Xiao remained motionless, not even looking at him, as if he was not a person.