This courtyard had obviously long been the residence of the official servants. Several rooms had dormitories, but the room that Ji Yuan had originally stayed in was locked up, perhaps because of Ji Yuan, or perhaps for some other unknown reason, and it remained locked for seven and a half years.
Seeing Ji Yuan opening the door and coming out, all the servants who were playing or watching chess outside turned to look at Ji Yuan.
"Why is there someone in this room?" "No way, hasn't this room been locked for several years?"
"I heard it's been locked for seven years. Could it be a ghost?"
"Hey, where did this ghost come from in broad daylight? Stop talking nonsense!"
The servants whispered to each other for a while, and finally someone stood up to talk.
"Who are you and how did you get out of this room? This is the official residence of Lord Li, the Minister of Rites. Outsiders who trespass here will be convicted!"
Ji Yuan looked at the seven servants in the yard, all of whom were unfamiliar faces, but seeing how nervous they looked, he still explained with a smile.
"My name is Ji, and I have stayed in this house before. If Lord Li comes back, please tell him that I am gone."
After Ji Yuan finished speaking, he walked out of the room, turned around and closed the door, nodded to the stunned crowd, and left the courtyard. In a corner of the courtyard, the broken wall was finally repaired.
"Hey wait, you can't just leave like this, hey do you hear me?"
Someone was shouting from behind, but Ji Yuan did not stop. When the servants chased out from the yard, they could not see Ji Yuan anymore.
There didn't seem to be many people in the entire mansion. Ji Yuan walked through most of the mansion without meeting another person. There were some fallen leaves piled up in many places, but it was basically kept clean. After a little thought, Ji Yuan had a sense that after Li Ping was promoted, he had already been granted a large mansion in the capital by the emperor, and this mansion was also preserved, with a few people arranged to maintain basic cleanliness.
Coming to the street, the capital of Xiayong was bustling with people, and it seemed more lively than before. Ji Yuan looked up and around the sky, and could see all kinds of auras interweaving, creating a prosperous atmosphere of humanity, among which the literary and martial auras were also very conspicuous, and there was also the aura of Shintoism and the aura of immortals and Buddhas.
These are the auras that are revealed on the surface and not concealed at all, and can be seen by Ji Yuan's Dharma Eyes at a glance. It can be imagined that there must be existence hidden beneath the surface, whether it is a human, a ghost, a monster or an immortal.
It was also at the moment when Ji Yuan stepped out of the official residence that the Tianji Wheel in the Tianji Pavilion had already sensed it and instantly flew out of Xuanjizi's sleeves, spinning above his head and emitting brilliant light, which also awakened Xuanjizi who was still in silence.
"what happened?"
Complex words and symbols on the Tianji Wheel were rotating, and light was projected out from each of them. The flow of these symbols did not form any images, nor did they constitute any words, but Xuanjizi showed surprise after staring at them for a moment.
"Mr. Ji's aura has appeared!"
After thinking it over again and again, Xuanjizi immediately took out a small flying sword, placed it horizontally on the Tianji Wheel, cast a spell and chanted a mantra, then pointed it towards the sky. The flying sword immediately took off into the air. It flew only ten feet high when it was caught up by a beam of light shot out from the Tianji Wheel, and then disappeared in front of Xuanjizi. When the flying sword appeared again, it was already outside the cave.
However, Ji Yuan was still walking around in Xia Yongjing City at this time. The reason he did not leave immediately was that he wanted to take a closer look at the current situation of the Confucian Temple and the Martial Temple.
In fact, the places with the strongest civil and martial aura in the city are the Wenwu Temples in the south and the north. However, it is just as Ji Yuan expected. These two places are indeed very popular, but the people who worship most diligently are ordinary people. There are not many real literati and martial arts masters.
But in fact, the Confucian Temple and the Martial Temple do not actually need any incense. What they need are the devout hearts of the literati and martial artists who pursue the Tao. That's right, learning literature to correct oneself is the Tao, and practicing martial arts to break through is also the Tao. The so-called incense is needed by gods, but the Confucian Temple and the Martial Temple, which symbolize the fortune of literature and martial arts in heaven and earth, do not need it. Instead, they breed and gather the fortune of literature and martial arts to protect humanity and the literati and martial artists among them.
Ji Yuan first came to the Confucian Temple. Among the many pilgrims, most of them were praying for promotion and wealth, and very few understood the true meaning of literary fortune. But at least some scholars who came here together had some demeanor.
As some pilgrims entered the Confucian Temple, they found that it was very majestically built. What made Ji Yuan laugh was that they saw quite a few side halls with statues of gods enshrined in them.
Ji Yuan stood outside the left and right side halls, while other pilgrims had already joined in. Holding the incense they had bought in their hands, they lit incense and kowtowed, chanting something to pray for good fortune for their family, academic success for themselves or themselves, or at the very least, good health.
Ji Yuan looked up and looked forward again, and saw that there were very few people going to the main hall. Although it didn't matter whether there were people burning incense there or not, the contrast still made Ji Yuan laugh and cry.
"Well, the people who study literature and martial arts are a minority."
Ji Yuan took a step forward without entering any side hall. He was not even interested in knowing who or what god was enshrined in the side hall. He walked directly towards the main hall.
Among the scholars who came in with Ji Yuan, several had been keeping an eye on Ji Yuan, a man of extraordinary bearing. They had all worshipped every statue in the side hall, hoping to pass the imperial examination, but they had not seen Ji Yuan come in.
"Hey, that great gentleman with an extraordinary demeanor, he didn't come over to burn incense."
"Did he go to another temple?" "No, I saw him go to the main temple at the back."
"Have you finished burning incense? Let's go to the main hall too?"
"Of course. When you come to the Confucian Temple in Beijing, you must visit all of them. Let's go and take a look too."
"Okay!" "Let's go!"
Several people came out together and walked towards the main hall. After stepping into the courtyard belonging to the main hall, it was obviously much quieter. They quickly came to the main hall and saw that the door was open. There was only one person standing inside, who was the gentleman in green shirt from before.
Several people looked up. The scale of the main hall was naturally more magnificent than the local Confucian temple, but the furnishings in the hall were almost half the same. There were no statues of gods, no cushions, only a clean altar with some books, including bamboo slips and paper pages. Apart from that, there were several eternal lamps in the hall.
In front of the altar, or rather high up in front of it, there is a large banner hung. It is blue on the top, black on the bottom, and white in the middle. From top to bottom, there are three large characters written on it, which are "天", "文" and "地".
"The charm here has not lost its essence."
The scholars who came behind also heard Ji Yuan's voice. One of them was bolder and more open-minded, so he asked directly from behind.
"From what you said, sir, do you know what the true essence of the Confucian Temple is, or has the rest of the Confucian Temple in the capital lost its true essence?"
Ji Yuan turned his head and looked behind him. Several scholars bowed to him first. Ji Yuan nodded but did not return the greeting. He just answered calmly.
"Yes, it's both. The only people who are worshipped in the Confucian Temple, besides heaven and earth, are the world's literary fortunes. The rest are... well, foils."
After considering his words, Ji Yuan decided to speak in a more pleasant way.
"What you said may make sense, but the gods outside guarding the Confucian Temple and blessing us scholars are also very good. We should enjoy the offerings of the Confucian Temple."
Ji Yuan smiled.
"Wen Yun does not take incense and offerings, so it is not a problem for them to enjoy it. If they can protect the Confucian Temple, it can be considered that the gods have made the best use of it. However, they cannot be called Confucian Temple worshippers. At most, they are just attendants. In the world today, there is only one person who is truly qualified to enter the Confucian Temple."
"Wensheng?"
A scholar asked this question.
"Yes."
Ji Yuan answered and then walked away. When he reached the outside of the main hall, he met a new scholar. This man was particularly bright, with a white light gathering above his head. There was no residual scent of sandalwood on his hands. It was obvious that he had not burned incense outside before coming to the main hall.
When the scholar saw Ji Yuan, he felt that he had an extraordinary demeanor, so he stood up and bowed to Ji Yuan. This time, Ji Yuan also stopped and returned the greeting, then left with a smile.
Ji Yuan also went there and left quickly at the Temple of Martial Arts. There were also gods enshrined in the side halls there, but he did not encounter any powerful warriors who came to worship at the temple, and the number of people burning incense was also much less than at the Temple of Literature.
But he didn't meet him in the Martial Temple. When walking through the streets and alleys of the capital, Ji Yuan had already sensed more than one aura of warriors. They had all condensed their qi and blood and transformed their true energy into spirits. They must be warriors who had embarked on the path of martial arts. Ordinary ghosts and monsters dared not to mess with such warriors.
Although seven years is a short period, the prosperity of humanity is no longer in its infancy, but has begun to thrive. This is the case in the Xia Yong Dynasty, so some places that have already attracted much attention will naturally be even more extraordinary.