The merchant boat trudged through the rain for three days, arrived at the next town, and docked.
The captain came over and saw Ye Qing drinking a cup of tea. The sizzling sound of the kettle on the stove was clearly audible. He smiled and said, "Sir, today is the afternoon of the 29th of the Lunar New Year. The guests below want to settle down for a few days before leaving.
, do you see?"
But the rental time was decided, and the voyage was decided by Ye Qing, who paid for half of it.
Ye Qing was thinking about the Zhaowang Temple. He was stunned for a moment after hearing these words. He came to his senses and said, "Of course it's natural. How can we make everyone have a hard time during the New Year?"
"To celebrate the New Year, each of the crew members on the ship will receive one or two silver red envelopes. If there are guests, I will invite a large banquet and join in the fun. What do you think?" Ye Qing played with the bamboo fan in his hand, pondered for a long time, and took out
Three 10-tael banknotes, he said.
The captain was immediately overjoyed and took it respectfully, saying: "Thank you for the reward, sir, I will go and do it right away."
Seeing the captain walking away, Ye Qing said to Zhou Ling: "Hurry up and book a hotel. You want a private yard. I don't want to live in the cabin anymore."
"Yes, Master," Zhou Ling said crisply.
The sky is overcast and the New Year is coming. There is still business in this weather. At a glance, there are estimated to be 30,000 people in this small town. There are clothing shops, woolen yarn shops, head and face shops, lacquer and porcelain shops, calligraphy and painting shops, paper shops, and lantern shops.
…
Various stores offer seasonal price reductions, and more than a dozen large merchants jointly organized dance and music performances. People were walking around happily like fish swimming in spring water.
After a while, Zhou Ling came back and reported that it was rented out.
Seeing the bright eyes of the two girls, Ye Qing couldn't help but laugh. He went shopping with them like a good boy, took a look around, and encouraged them to buy some new clothes.
When returning to the inn, she passed by a market and Zhou Ling took a fancy to some window decorations. They had flowers, birds, characters, and stories. They were exquisitely crafted and very spiritual. It was hard to tell that they were the work of an ordinary lady.
Ben Zing Zhou Ling only had a brief look at it, so Ye Qing took the initiative and spent the money to buy it all in a package. The lady who was selling the paper cuttings praised her repeatedly: "Young master and the two ladies are really golden boys and beautiful girls. I got this paper from the Zhaowang Temple."
, will definitely bless the two ladies to have a son soon..."
Ye Qing smiled: "Thank you for your blessing. By the way, how do I get to the gift shop?"
“Not far from the opposite side”
Zhou Ling held a large box of window grilles in her hands, lowered her head quietly, and sighed secretly.
When he returned to the hotel, he blushed under Jiang Zinan's gaze. He could no longer hide his shyness under the lamp, which made Ye Qing pay attention and wonder several times: "Is Ling Ling hot?"
"Uh, no." She lowered her head lower and pretended to admire the window flowers. After a moment, she said casually: "Actually, I can also cut flowers... My adoptive father and my uncle agreed."
"Oh, then I'm looking forward to your work." Ye Qing knew that she wouldn't brag falsely, and he said that in reality it was probably excellent, so he encouraged her seriously.
"Okay..." The voice was slightly happy.
Jiang Zinan was lying on the case and wrote a letter, saying that he promised to give it to Qianqian. Ye Qing went over to read it, covered it with his bare hands, and blushed: "You are not allowed to read the private messages of your daughter's family."
"If you don't want to read it, don't read it." Ye Qing laughed and took out the letter while she was relaxing.
"Sir, you..."
After playing around for a while, I gave it back to her without really reading it. Some of the private conversations my daughter had were still unknown to her, which would ruin the beautiful image in her mind.
After a while, Jiang Zinan screamed in surprise, and in the blink of an eye he saw snowflakes falling.
"Is it snowing?" I vaguely remembered that I saw this New Year's snow scene in my previous life, and it was still the capital city.
At this time, they all changed into red clothes, which looked like New Year's clothes and wedding clothes. Ye Qing was very happy to see it, and Jiang Zinan pursed his lips and smiled in a very charming way, saying: "The auspicious snow heralds a good harvest..."
I don’t know if it snows in my hometown, but with this snow on the 10,000-acre field, there will be a bumper harvest of potatoes in the coming spring.”
She has subconsciously regarded Yejiazhuang as her home.
Ye Qing smiled when he heard this: "Zi Nan is praying for blessings. It's snowing in my hometown. The snow is five to seven centimeters deep."
"Young Master is talking too much again..."
"If you don't believe me, let's make a bet." Ye Qing smiled, but he was really not sure. It would probably snow, but it probably wouldn't be like this.
"Just bet..." Jiang Zinan was aroused, but subconsciously glanced at him. Seeing the confidence on his face, he frowned: "Huh, I don't bet. Every time the young master does this, he has a conspiracy."
Ye Qing laughed, and at this moment, a waiter came over: "Sir, I have bought everything you ordered, and a bullock cart is also ready."
"Go and pay a visit to the Zhaowang Temple." Ye Qing suppressed his smile and spoke with a straight face.
"Yes." Both women responded with serious expressions.
The ox-cart was driven by Zhou Ling. All the way out of the town, there were people clearing the snow on the streets and even the main road. However, the heavy snowfall made the car move slowly, and it took a long time to turn onto the mountain road.
The Zhaowang Temple is located on the mountainside, surrounded by mountains, and a clear stream flows in front. The feng shui is still good, the incense in the temple is acceptable, and it has been conferred by successive dynasties. There is still a temple guarding it in such heavy snow.
Seeing Ye Qing, who was wearing a crimson uniform, he hurriedly came up to him and presented the sacrificial record as usual: "What are your instructions, sir?"
"I am a candidate who went to Beijing to take the exam. I passed by the Zhaowang Temple. I dare not be disrespectful, but I would like to treat you as a prisoner." Ye Qing said slowly: "It's down there. You can find someone to bring it up."
In this world, Shaolao is also a ritual for princes and officials to offer sacrifices to the ancestral temple. It was originally a sheep and a pig, but the Taoist court changed it, so it was replaced by the corresponding one.
The temple was overjoyed, and he responded repeatedly: "This is what I will do, little man."
Seeing that nothing happened, Ye Qing took a look along the corridor. The first thing he saw was the main hall, and his eyes suddenly brightened. In the middle of the main hall, King Zhao was wearing a royal robe and a majestic appearance.
There are no gods on the west and east sides, but there are paintings of military generals and civil servants on the wall, each wearing armor and official uniforms. Their expressions may be kind, laughing, elegant, or mighty, which makes people awe-inspiring.
At this time, the gift list could still be brought out, but Ye Qing did not go in. He strolled out by himself and went to the cemetery behind the temple.
Along the way, the trees are mostly pines and cypresses, which are evergreen and green, making it a pleasant sight.
Zhaowang Temple is an ancient holy king, and emperors of all dynasties have worshiped it. It gradually became extraordinary. After a while, the pine forest opened up and a large garden appeared.
Ye Qing felt that there was a kind of spiritual energy that refreshed his mind, but he didn't think it was strange. He secretly observed it with his heavenly eyes - there was a trace of aura, but it was far from a kingly aura, but there was a faint awe-inspiring aura inside.
"The public opinion is the people's heart. In this way, the holy king has his own righteousness, even the tombs are tainted. He leads to the righteousness of the countryside and invisibly transforms the people. How can there be any ghosts?"
Ye Qing suddenly felt an ominous feeling in his heart: "Even if there is, in this majestic temple of the Holy King, is it so easy to get the king's energy? There is no reaction from the imperial court or the Taoist sect?"
"Also, why can't I find this Huabiao tree?"
At this moment, I saw Jiang Zinan and Zhou Ling coming over. They were laughing softly, tiptoeing under the tree, holding up three white silk scarves and trying to hang them on the tree...
"Master, come here and help us..." This was Jiang Zinan's greeting voice.
Ye Qing stepped forward and saw that Zhou Ling was not used to covering the hem of her gauze red skirt. She blushed and did not dare to jump: "Young Master..."
Ye Qing laughed a little, took the white silk scarf from their hands, and hung it on the tree.
Jiang Zinan smiled and said: "Sir, the sacrifices have been brought up below. You can go to the front hall."
Ye Qing straightened his official clothes, now wearing a black wooden crown, a long robe, and long sleeves. He walked to the front hall and saw that the oil lamps were all lit and the official case had been cleared.
Ye Qing stepped forward, bowed deeply first, and according to the etiquette, he took off the clothes first, then presented the left and right sides of the smooth silk to the table.
Next came food, and presented sheep and pigs made with cakes.
Again, for wealth, I presented a white jade and a pair of gold ingots (twenty taels).
As for the heavy rice bags and meat on the bullock cart, they were for the living people in the temple, so they would not be placed here at this time. After the tribute was finished, Ye Qing kowtowed.
After Ye Qing finished the ceremony, he retreated, and then the two women offered incense. They knelt down and blessed silently. They had the experience of paying homage several times before, so they didn't need to listen carefully to understand their wishes.
When all the rituals were completed, the main hall of the temple was full of smiles: "Thank you for the generous gift, sir."
This set is probably worth two hundred and fifty taels of silver. Except for the imperial court sending people to offer sacrifices, this has not happened in several years. He quickly flattered: "Sir, it is getting late. You will stay here, in this temple."
But the banquet is famous."
Ye Qing smiled and said: "No, because it's getting late, just take me for a while and I'll go back to the hotel in town."
"Yes, yes" the temple responded quickly and led Ye Qing and his party to visit, counting the allusions one by one, but there were also many stories.
Ye Qing listened with a smile, but when he looked carefully, he saw many trees planted on the left, right and inside, but there was no royal aura at all.
Just as I was wondering, I heard Zhengtu from the temple say casually: "These trees are all more than a hundred years old. They are the historical sites of this temple. Unexpectedly, a few days ago, one of them was secretly cut down, but only one was chopped down."
Half of it is really unreasonable."
Ye Qing was startled and said quickly: "Take me over and have a look."
The temple was responding, but as it went down, a thick tree was cut down on the side of the steps. He didn't pay attention when he went up the steps. Ye Qing was moved in his heart and hurriedly went up.
I saw a tree cut off at the waist, with a smooth cross-section. I felt something when I touched it with my hand, and I suddenly realized: "This is the tree, it has the royal energy in it, but it is a pity that it has been cut off at the waist.
When I asked more questions, Cuzheng didn't know. He said that someone had cut it in the middle of the night and he didn't find out until the next morning.
Ye Qing remained motionless, his mind racing, thinking to himself: "Who, who knows about this? Is it Yu Fan? Or maybe the date has shifted and someone else has obtained it?"
I couldn't get the point for a moment, so I had to walk down the steps. At this time, I took two steps forward and looked at the head of the temple: "The adults don't want to stay, and the villains don't dare to force it. But if the adults offer sacrifices like this, they will definitely be included in the sacrificial records."
, Sir, please move."
As he spoke, he smiled again: "If you don't record your name, the government will think that the villain got so much money through deception somewhere."
Ye Qing also smiled after hearing this: "Then I'll go up and record the names so as not to embarrass you."
After saying that, he went up again, and someone brought him pen and ink. After he finished writing, he felt something in his heart. He saw an empty wall on the east side, so he walked up and pondered for a moment, and then wrote a poem on it, but it was - "Bai Zhaowang Temple"
》
Alone as a stranger in a foreign land,
I miss my loved ones even more every festive season.
I know from afar where my brothers are climbing,
There is one less person to worship the ancestors.