On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Murong Ling, the crown prince of Wu, and Shen Shao, the minister Zuo Cheng, came to the Honglu Temple Posthouse to invite the Jin envoy Chen Caozhi and the Qin envoy Xi Bao to attend the ceremony of the Ximen Bao Temple. After the ceremony, Murong Wei, the Lord of Yan, will attend the Ximen Bao Temple ceremony. A banquet in the ancestral hall with ministers——
Xi Bao was very happy, which showed that Yan State did not treat them as prisoners, and there was still great hope for returning home. He immediately took a few followers and left happily. Chen Caozhi was accompanied by Ran Sheng, Shen Chiqian and Su Qi, the four of them each straddled their mounts, and accompanied by Murong Ling and Shen Shao, they left the north gate of Ye City——
Chen Caozhi was a little surprised. The Zhang River is in the south of Yecheng, and the Ximen Leopard Temple is on the bank of the Zhang River. Why did he go out of the north gate? When he asked Murong Ling, he replied: "More than ten years ago, the Zhang River changed its course. The distance between the north and south of the river is more than ten miles, and the north is the old river. The Ximen Leopard Temple is north of Yecheng and south of the Zhang River, about three or four miles away."
Along the busy road, there were many dignitaries and nobles of Yan State heading to the Ximen Leopard Temple. When they saw Murong Ling and Shen Shao, they asked where Chen Xima was. He admired Chen Cao very much, but it turned out that yesterday he was at Hongluguan Station. The miracle of rejuvenation spread throughout Yecheng overnight, and the story of Phoenix Murong Chong's night visit to Chen Caozhi was also talked about.
The Xianbei people admire Han culture. Their rules and regulations copy the stories of the Han and Wei dynasties. Even the costumes of their carriages and horses are the same as those of the Han people. Except for the different descriptions of some Xianbei people with yellow heads and red beards, there is no big difference with Jiangdong. The difference, of course, is that Jin has a golden virtue and is white, and Yan has a water virtue and is black. The clothes of Yan officials are mainly black, and the Yan soldiers also have black helmets and black armor. But the last time Murong Ke and Chen Caozhi discussed the fate of the country Regarding the Five Elements, Chen Caozhi proposed that Yan should inherit Shi Zhao as its moral virtue. Murong Ke believed it, but he didn't know whether it would be finally adopted. If so, these black-robed officials and black-armored warriors of the Yan Kingdom would have to change their clothes again.
Arriving in front of the Ximen Bao Temple on the bank of Zhangshui River, Chen Caozhi had an eye-opening experience. He originally thought that the Ximen Bao Temple was similar to the Ji Zi Temple in Jiangdong, with just three palaces. Unexpectedly, the Ximen Bao Temple was a huge and magnificent building complex. They are all mixed structures of civil engineering, with raised foundations and overlapping beams. The building complex is narrow from east to west and long from north to south. It is actually three miles long from the south end of the temple to the north end. The high platform is majestic and the atmosphere is endless. It is even more spectacular than the Kangtaicheng City!
Murong Ling said: "This temple was rebuilt more than 20 years ago, that is, the sixth year of Zhao Shihu's reign. Zhao Hu was extravagant and lustful. He spent 400,000 people on a massive construction project and built countless palaces. Later, Yecheng went through wars, and most of those palaces were burned down. , but this Ximen Leopard Temple is intact. Could it be that it is protected by the gods, so the incense is more prosperous. I pray for children and blessings, and to avoid disasters. It comes true."
Chen Caozhi nodded and said: "That's it." He thought to himself: "Ximen Bao cast witchcraft to control the flood in order to break the local superstition of witchcraft. Unexpectedly, after his death, he was enshrined as a god and worshiped as a god. It can also ward off disasters. , Hehe, it’s really worth pondering.” Then he thought: “Empress Dowager Gou visited the Zhangshui River and worshiped the Ximen Bao Temple. She dreamed of having intercourse with the gods and became pregnant, and she gave birth to Fu Jian. Did the Ximen Bao still play the role of sending her son to Guanyin? Moreover, the dream was related to the god. God, who is this god?"
The high-ranking officials and relatives of the Yan State gathered outside the temple to await the arrival of the Lord of Yan, Murong Wei.
At the beginning of Si Shi, warriors on armored horses, warriors with swords, and warriors with shields arrived in a majestic manner. Then there were ceremonial guards and trumpets, and there was an endless stream of treasures, banners, and incense carriages. The fifteen-year-old Emperor Murong Wei of the Yan Kingdom rode in the imperial chariot. The carriage arrived outside the Ximen Leopard Temple. Behind it was the empress dowager's phoenix chariot, as well as the carriages and horses of the princes. The proud and awkward Fenghuang'er who came to see Chen Caozhi the night before yesterday was also among them. Murong Ke rode a horse and followed Emperor Murong Wei's chariot——
The gate of the ancestral temple was wide open, and the ancestral chief who was responsible for the full-time management of the ancestral hall came to pick him up with the ministers and ministers of the temple. The emperor Murong Wei and the empress dowager Kezu Hun were the first to enter the ancestral hall. All the officials came to the hall one after another according to their rank. Chen Caozhi Only then did I realize that the Empress Dowager Kezu Hun was a stunning beauty with blond hair and blue eyes, but the emperor Murong Wei had black hair and black eyes. It seemed that Murong Wei looked like his father Murong Jun, and Murong Chong looked like his mother, Ke Zuhun. Is the Qinghe Princess Murong Qinchen a descendant of the Huns? Does Qinghe Princess Murong Qinchen look like her mother or her father?
The Ximen Leopard Temple is almost twice the size of the Taiji Hall, the main palace of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Hundreds of people gathered together but it was not crowded at all. The Ximen Leopard statue on the high platform was majestic like an emperor. The ceremony was very solemn, and Chen Caozhi followed suit. Worship, Cheng Cheng, who was reciting the prayers for the sacrifice, suddenly stopped, with a look of surprise on his face——
Murong Ke frowned slightly and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter?"
Cicheng was obviously panicked. It was really his dereliction of duty to have such an accident in such a solemn ceremony. He quickly knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Emperor, Your Majesty the Queen Mother, for some reason this piece of paper came in with this message!" As he spoke, his hands trembled. He then presented a piece of paper.
The chamberlain took it and presented it to Emperor Murong Wei. Murong Wei took it and looked at it. There were sixteen ancient seal characters written lightly on the paper——
"If you use witchcraft to control the water, the river will never be flooded. If you pray to the gods, the river will be stable forever."
The meaning of the first eight words was very clear, it was the story of the Simon Leopard, but Murong Wei didn't understand the meaning of the last eight words. He glanced at the queen mother next to him, Kezu Hunshi, but Zuhunshi didn't know Chinese characters, so Murong Wei He handed the paper to Murong Ke and said, "Uncle Four Emperors, please read it."
Murong Ke pondered for a moment, but he still didn't understand what the last eight characters meant. He couldn't associate Ximen Bao with Fu Jian, so he didn't see the strong hint of this prophecy for a while.
Murong Ke looked around, saw Chen Caozhi, and said with a smile: "Chen Xima, please come forward." He immediately introduced Chen Caozhi to the emperor and the empress dowager, and also invited the Qin envoy Xi Bao to meet him.
Although Emperor Murong Wei was not as dazzling as his younger brother Murong Chong, he was also very handsome with lacquer hair and jade face. He looked at Chen Caozhi with some curiosity, and then looked at each other with his younger brother Murong Chong. Obviously, Murong Wei knew that Murong Chong had Come to Honglu Temple Hall to see about Chen Caozhi.
The exceptionally beautiful Empress Dowager Kezu Hun also watched with interest as Chen Caozhi saluted gracefully, her blue eyes faintly shining.
Now, Chen Cao, the three famous queens of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the former Qin Dynasty, and the former Yan Dynasty, have all seen it. Empress Dowager Chu is dignified and majestic, which makes people dare not look at her; Empress Dowager Gou is tall and charming like the goddess in the murals of the Buddhist temple, although she has shortcomings in women's virtues. , but she is not a licentious person; and the Queen Mother of the Yan State in front of her, the Hun family, is simply gorgeous. She is also younger than the Queen Mother Chu and the Queen Mother Gou. Her eyes are as blue as the sea, which makes people unable to help but indulge. Xi Bao, the envoy of Qin I was stunned——
Murong Ke glanced at Xi Bao with disdain and said to Chen Cao: "I heard that Chen Xima had a quarrel with the doctors of the Five Classics of Qin in Chang'an. His eloquence was unrivaled and the scholars were speechless. Chen Xima, let's see what this prophecy is. meaning?"
Murong Ke was troubled by the slander of nursery rhymes. Now when he saw this mysterious sixteen-character prophecy, he thought to himself: "This prophecy has nothing to do with me, so why not use this matter to divert public opinion between the government and the public."
Chen Caozhi looked at it seriously. This was his calligraphy. It looked really friendly. He shook his head and said: "The last four characters are really obscure and difficult to understand, but since all the talented people in your country are gathered here, there must be someone who can interpret this prophecy." people."
Murong Ke then asked his chamberlain to pass this prophecy to all the officials, and it was passed to Shangshu Ling Yangqian. The white-haired Yangqian took one look and said: "The Lord of Qin, Fu Jian, whose courtesy name is Yonggu, has King Taiyuan forgotten it?"
Murong Ke laughed in surprise: "I have not thought about Fu Jian, and few people talk about Fu Jian's words." He ordered his servant to retrieve the prophecy, read it familiarly, recited it several times, and said in a deep voice: "' Fu De Yonggu', this must refer to Fu Jian, the Lord of Qin, but I still don't understand what these sixteen characters mean. Is there anyone who can understand it?"
Hundreds of nobles, relatives and senior officials in the ancestral hall were all thinking hard, and the highly respected Shangshu ordered Yang Qian to answer. Yang Qian, who was over sixty years old and well-informed, said: "Fu Jian's mother, Mrs. Gou, once traveled to Zhangshui and paid homage to Ximen. In the Leopard Temple, I dreamed that I had intercourse with the gods and I became pregnant, and then I gave birth to King Fu Jian of Qin. This prophecy should refer to this event."
Yang Qian and Murong Ke had a very good personal relationship. Taifu Murong Ping looked on with cold eyes and concluded that this was an act by Murong Ke, Yang Qian and others in order to disturb the audience and make people forget the nursery rhymes. He immediately sneered and said: "Thirty years There are many things to mention in the past. The country’s worries are not with the Qin and Wu invaders, but within Xiao Qiang.”
Murong Ke's palace was very deep, and he could not express his emotions at ease. He said slowly: "Ke has already submitted his resignation, and the seals and ribbons of Dazai and Grand Sima have been handed over to the minister's desk. Why should Taifu be so aggressive!"
Murong Ping was silent and said in his heart: "You are playing hard to get. Most of the people in the court are your cronies. They will come up to the court to remonstrate and persuade you to stay." But this can only be a slander and cannot be said openly. Otherwise, Murong Ke would have already died. Now that Shang Biao has returned to power, what else does he want to do? Does he want Murong Ke to die to thank the world?
Murong Ke looked at the Prime Minister who was kneeling down to apologize, and asked: "Where did this piece of paper come from?"
The Cun Cheng was frightened and said: "I don't know what I am doing." He plucked up the courage and said, "Perhaps it was inspired by the gods."
Murong Ke ordered his assistants to say: "First imprison Cicheng and Yiqian Daozhu, and we must find out this matter."
Murong Ping sneered and said: "The Dazai has ordered that this matter must be thoroughly investigated." This was a mockery of Murong Ke who had already expressed his resignation but was still giving orders here.
Murong Ke had a clear conscience and said: "Then please ask Taifu to investigate and deal with this matter."
Murong commented: "Murong Ke suspected that I had instigated people to frame him for the Yecheng nursery rhyme, but how could I have done such a thing! This is a warning from God. It was a boy transformed from the star Yinghuo who taught the Yecheng children to sing this nursery rhyme. Murong Ke, Murong Chui will definitely bring chaos to our country, Dayan." He said, "It would be better for Dazai to investigate and handle this matter himself, so as not to cause others to suffer in vain."
The Empress Dowager Kezu Hun never interfered in politics in the court. She only exerted her huge influence in the harem, so she said nothing in the ancestral hall. Emperor Murong Wei was also at a loss and lacked the majesty of the emperor.
Murong Ke ordered the shivering Prime Minister to stand up and continue to preside over the ceremony.
After this unexpected and strange incident, this year's Ximen Leopard Festival was a bit dull. In the afternoon, Emperor Murong Wei held a banquet for the ministers, and everyone was not interested.
When Chen Caozhi saw Murong Ke solemnly putting away the piece of Baqiao paper with the prophecy written on it, he couldn't help but smile and thought to himself: "Murong Ke will be in trouble again." Suddenly he heard someone beside him say: "Tomorrow I will Please hunt." Looking at him, it was Phoenix's son Murong Chong.
