Yuan Wei was on the highest altar, and saw Zhu Ping'an shaking his head and sighing from afar. He couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips into a sarcastic smile, "Huh, boy, you've run out of tricks, right?"
So, surrounded by the smell of burning incense, Yuan Wei began to conceive a brilliant poem.
Soon after he stepped onto the altar, Zhu Ping'an saw the Taoists standing under the altar holding magical instruments starting to dance a very strange dance. They were reciting some scriptures loudly and waving their magical instruments from time to time to make various movements such as welcoming and driving away.
Dance the gods...
Zhu Ping'an curled his lips and summarized the behavior of the Taoist priest under the altar in his heart.
After the Taoists under the altar finished their dance, several Taoists came from afar and brought writing brushes, ink, peach charms and other items, and delivered them to each altar one by one, for Zhu Ping'an and others to use to write poems and couplets.
There were many items including brushes, peach charms, green ivy paper, paperweights, etc., but no ink was found.
"Excuse me, Taoist priest, where is the ink?" Zhu Ping'an stopped the Taoist priest who was carrying the ritual to the altar and asked.
The middle-aged Taoist priest smiled upon hearing this, pointed at a jar of sticky gold powder and said, "Sir, this is ink."
"Is this ink?" Zhu Ping'an's mouth twitched.
"That's right. This is made from 999 pure gold powder mixed with the immortal liquid prepared by our master. The Zhaiqiao Qingci and couplets are all written with this ink." The middle-aged Taoist nodded with a hint of pride in his eyes, as if he was very satisfied with Zhu Ping'an's reaction.
Hearing this, Zhu Ping'an's mouth twitched even more violently, as if he was possessed by evil spirits.
"Are you okay, sir?" the middle-aged Taoist asked as if he was not surprised.
"Nothing." Zhu Ping'an looked at the jar of gold powder that weighed several kilograms, and the voice he spoke was almost uttered through gritting his teeth.
What a fucking waste!
This is not a fasting firewood ceremony, this is clearly a waste of money! The ink is made of gold ground into powder! The immortal liquid mentioned by the Taoist priest is probably just ordinary water, or some kind of clear oil. This kind of ink is too luxurious. After this fasting firewood ceremony, the gold powder alone must have been used for more than a hundred kilograms!
There were so many things in this fasting and woodcutting ceremony that made Zhu Ping'an drop his eyes!
It seems that these gold powders will be embezzled by these Taoists after they are used up for this fast! Just look at the gold thread on their Taoist robes!
After delivering the writing brushes and inks for writing poems and couplets, the middle-aged Taoist priest left the altar. He probably had other things to do. Only Zhu Ping'an and another middle-aged Taoist priest who was arranging instruments and other items on the altar were left.
The Taoist priest had said before he left that Zhu Ping'an would write five couplets and a poem to decorate the altar.
Seeing that other Hanlin scholars on the altar had already started writing, Zhu Pingan also gathered his thoughts and prepared to write couplets and Qingci. This was not difficult for Zhu Pingan, and Qingci couplets were not difficult to write. It was just a kind of couplet, but in the style of Qingci. The Taoist priest just sent eight brushes, probably because of the auspicious number "eight", or maybe it was because the gold powder used to make ink was more labor-intensive.
Looking at the brush on the table, Zhu Ping'an seemed to be thinking about something.
Zhu Pingan laid the table, took out a brush, dipped it in the gold powder, put the brush on the green vine paper, and wrote the word "Emperor".
This one word proved Zhu Ping'an's previous guess. The brushstrokes were obviously not as smooth as ordinary ink, with a sandy ups and downs, and the brush was slightly forked. The Taoist priest just sent so many brushes probably because of this gold powder!
After confirming what he thought, Zhu Pingan smiled slightly, and then dipped the brush in his hand into the gold powder again. Completely immersed in it, he took the brush out of the gold powder, exerted a little force on his wrist, and once again dropped it on the green vine paper.
As soon as the brush was put to paper, it was severely split, and then Zhu Ping'an picked up the brush.
"Master, please prepare a few more brushes. The brushes are heavy and cannot be used too often." Zhu Ping'an shook the obviously forked brush in his hand and said to the Taoist priest who was placing magic tools on the side.
"Please wait a moment, sir." The middle-aged Taoist nodded, then turned and walked down the altar.
When the middle-aged Taoist priest came down from the altar, Zhu Ping'an put the brush dipped in gold powder into his sleeve pocket without leaving any trace.
Strike when you dare!
Rather than letting these Taoists embezzle it, it is better to keep some of it yourself temporarily and give it to those who need it more later!
In addition, this is also an unwritten convention. In ancient times, there was a fee for writing brushes, that is, the cost of brush wear and tear. I remember hearing a certain Hanlin say during dinner last time that if you write something in Xiyuan, you can take the brush home, which is also a reward from the emperor. But at that time, the Hanlin was a little disdainful, what do I need so many brushes for... ...
But... Ahem. Ouch, that's strange. I just like these brushes.
What can I do? I can only thank God for his grace.
Zhu Ping'an naturally took another brush, dipped it in gold powder and quickly wrote the first couplet: The imperial sky blesses and eliminates the nine disasters and reduces the three calamities; the purple sky bestows blessings and gathers thousands of auspiciousness and brings about a hundred blessings.
After writing the first couplet, Zhu Pingan dipped the second brush into the gold powder and put it into his sleeve again. At this time, Zhu Pingan felt that the ancient sleeve bag was a good thing, big and easy to use, and could hold many brushes... ...
After Zhu Ping'an finished writing the first couplet, the Taoist priest who had gone down from the altar to get the brushes came up again. This time he brought ten brushes.
"Thank you, Taoist priest." Zhu Ping'an bowed to express his gratitude.
After that, when writing couplets, Zhu Ping'an would dip the brush in thick gold powder before writing. After writing a few words, Zhu Ping'an would dip the brush in even thicker gold powder again. Then, as soon as he put pen to paper, he would gently shake his head, and the brush would split and become unusable. Then he would quietly put it into his sleeve and change to another brush.
In order to get more brushes, Zhu Ping'an's next four couplets were all very long. For example, the fourth couplet was a paraphrase of the couplet written by Yuan Wei a few years ago:
The yarrow grass is used to write a pattern. The number of heaven is five, the number of earth is five, and five times five equals twenty-five. Numbers are born from the Tao. The Tao is in harmony with Yuanshi Tianzun, who is the supreme being.
The tube made of cut bamboo is used to harmonize the musical scale. There are six yang tones and six yin tones, totaling thirty-six tones. The sound is heard in the sky. Heaven gave birth to Emperor Jiajing, and his reign will last for ten thousand years.
This is a paraphrase of Yuan Wei's couplet. Of course, it is different from Yuan Wei's original couplet. The difference is big, but not big either. But it doesn't matter. There is no saying that you have to be original when writing couplets. Every year, there are couplets hung on the doors of every household, and almost every couplet is the same in millions of households. In addition, there are still many differences between this couplet and Yuan Wei's original couplet.
Of course, to prevent criticism, Zhu Ping'an's other couplets are original, for example, the fifth couplet is an original long couplet:
Dragon flies for forty-five years, celebrating the occasion when the five numbers unite the sky, the five numbers unite the earth, five things are cultivated, five blessings are prepared, five generations live together, and five colors are brilliant and colorful clothes;
The crane counts thirty days on the eighth day, wishing you a long life. Eight thousand is spring, eight thousand is autumn, eight Yuan advances, eight Kai ascends, eight sounds follow the law, and eight winds play the misty music on the red steps.
Dragon flies for forty-five years, which corresponds to the fact that Emperor Jiajing is forty-five this year; Crane counts thirty days and the eighth day, which refers to today, which is the eighth day of the thirty-day period this month. As for the words after the couplet, they are all flattering words to flatter Emperor Jiajing.
After writing five couplets, Zhu Ping'an already had ten brushes in his sleeves! Zhu Ping'an had no intention of keeping these brushes for himself, waiting to give them to those who need them more and use them in more needed places in the future! I believe that any use will be more valuable than today! (To be continued.)