Sui Sui left home early, but the road leading to Jinguan Gate in the west of the city was still crowded with people and cars.
It has been sunny and rainy for several days, and the road is dusty. People riding horses and walking are all covered in dust, and even those sitting in the car will be choked by the dust from time to time.
Because there were so many people, the car went at only half the speed of usual, and it took more than an hour to get from Shanchiyuan to Jinguanmen.
There were quite a few people outside the city, and fortunately the roads were wide, so the cars drove faster.
Sui Sui's intention was not to drink, but since he used the excuse of seeing the Buddha's relics, he had to go to Qinglong Temple to report for work.
There were also huge crowds of people outside the mountain gate. From a distance, it looked like a flood rushing into a floodgate, which made people's scalps tingle.
Sui Sui was almost exhausted from being shaken around in the car, and he still had to endure the discomfort and squeeze into the crowd. It was really miserable.
She still underestimated the devout enthusiasm of the common people in Chang'an towards Buddha.
After finally entering the mountain gate, Sui Sui looked up at the sun. The time agreed with Duan Beicen was almost up. She did not dare to delay any longer and went straight to the main hall where the Buddha's relics were enshrined.
The main hall of Qinglong Temple was bustling with people, almost packed with people, but the exquisite Seven Treasures Pavilion separated by a wall was a completely different scene.
Qinglong Temple was built along the mountainside, with Buddhist temples, pavilions and meditation rooms scattered all over the place. The exquisite Seven Treasures Pavilion is the highest point in the entire Qinglong Temple.
Looking down from the Buddhist pavilion, you can have a panoramic view of the situation in the temple.
At this time, there were about ten princes and sons of noble families dressed in gorgeous clothes and wearing golden crowns and jade belts sitting in the pavilion, eating vegetarian food leisurely while gazing towards the Buddhist temple.
One of them was wearing a Buddha blue brocade robe with precious flower patterns, a white jade crown on his head, and a purple gold belt around his waist. He was none other than King Huanxuan of Qi.
The opening of the Buddha's bone relics at Qinglong Temple is a grand event that takes place once every sixty years. The emperor and empress were devout Buddhists but could not attend in person. The crown prince had just gotten married, so he, as their son, came to worship Buddha on their behalf.
Long before the pilgrims came in, they had already viewed the Buddha's bones and burned incense before coming out.
The other man was wearing a purple peacock silk robe, a white jade belt around his waist, and had fox-like eyes. In the cold weather, he was holding a broken jade fan in his hand. His fingers were whiter and more delicate and flawless than jade. He was Huan Minggui, the Prince of Yuzhang, who was known as the most dissolute man in the capital.
He and a few like-minded royal family members leaned on the railings, looking at the women coming in and out of the main hall, and making a few comments from time to time.
Sitting next to him was a guest dressed in white, holding a pen and writing and drawing on silk according to Prince Yuzhang's instructions.
A long-faced man in his twenties wearing peacock green Hu clothing said to Prince Yuzhang, "These girls are all wearing veils, so their faces can't be seen clearly. Brother Ziyu, I'm afraid it will be difficult to compile a list of beauties."
"My dear brother, you are wrong," Huan Minggui smiled and tapped his eyes with his folding fan, "If you had my eyes, you would be able to find the peerless beauty with just one glance."
The man in Hu clothing was skeptical: "Is it so mysterious? How many peerless beauties did you see today, Brother Ziyu?"
Huan Minggui sighed and said, "It's easy to find a beauty, but it's hard to find a beauty who can topple a country or a city. If you can find one easily, can you still call her a beauty?"
"What kind of beauty can be considered stunning?" The man in Hu clothing became interested. "Does someone like Yingzhu, the courtesan of Yaoyue Tower, count as such?"
Huan Minggui put it simply: "Vulgar and vulgar."
"Where is the daughter of Prime Minister Zhang?" asked another person.
"She is still a little girl, smiling foolishly all day long and has no elegance." Huan Minggui said.
Someone stole a glance at the King of Qi and said in a low voice, "I know someone who is absolutely stunningly beautiful. Even Zi Yu can't find fault with her."
As soon as they heard it, everyone knew he was referring to Ruan Yuewei, the most beautiful woman in Chang'an. However, no one dared to comment openly on the Crown Princess, especially since the Prince of Qi was also present at the table.
Huan Minggui just sneered: "It's hard to live up to the reputation."
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and he did not try to avoid people. The only one who dared to comment on the woman he loved in front of the King of Qi was the Prince of Yuzhang, a scoundrel.
But what's strange is that although one of them is aloof and the other is unruly, and they have nothing to do with each other, they have always had a good personal relationship.
If these words were spoken by someone else, Huan Xuan might be unhappy, but since Huan Minggui said them, he didn't bother to care.
Huan Xuan did not respond, but another person at the table could no longer sit still. He stood up and sneered, "Prince Yuzhang has such high standards that only the gods in heaven can catch his eye."
The person who spoke was a young man of about sixteen or seventeen years old. He was wearing a scarlet brocade robe with a dogwood pattern and a white fox fur coat with a silver-grey brocade surface draped over his shoulders. His face was transparently pale with a slightly sickly green tint. He was not short in stature, but looked rather thin because he was frail.
He was obviously angry, breathing slightly, and his cheeks were abnormally flushed.
Although these words were full of sarcasm, Huan Minggui did not take them as an offense. He raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Your Highness, I am too kind. I am just speaking the truth."
The man just now was Zhao Qinghui, the son of Duke Wu'an. In terms of kinship, he was Ruan Yuewei's cousin. He had admired his cousin since childhood, and his infatuation with Ruan Yuewei was probably even greater than that of the King of Qi. However, due to his frail health, he seldom went out, and was not very familiar with the princes and sons of the royal family at the banquet.
Everyone knew that this sickly boy had a gloomy and weird temperament, but Duke Wu'an and his wife had only this legitimate son who came in their old age, and they doted on him like the apple of their eye, making him spoiled and ignorant of the ways of the world.
However, others might give him face, but Huan Minggui, a rich and idle man, would not.
He has the support of the current emperor, and his father gave up the throne of crown prince first. As long as he has no ambitions to be the emperor, he doesn't need to care about anyone's opinion - the more he acts recklessly, the more at ease the emperor will be.
Even though he knew that he had made the young man furious, he still smiled and waved the fan leisurely.
"Is it possible that in Prince Yuzhang's eyes, there is no one worthy of being called a peerless beauty?" Zhao Qinghui persisted.
"That's not the case," Du Erlang, the second son of the Duke of Liang who often hung out with him, said with a smile, "He has seen a pair of truly peerless beauties before."
"A couple?" Everyone became interested.
Du Erlang nodded calmly: "It's a mother and daughter."
"Which family is this woman from?" someone asked.
Du Erlang laughed and said, "He was only seven years old at that time. He saw Madam Xiao and her daughter from the Dong'an Palace in the palace. He pulled Madam Xiao's sleeve, crying and making a fuss, asking her to marry her daughter to him. The young lady from the Xiao family was one year younger than him and had a missing front tooth. She almost twisted his arm off."
Du Erlang mentioned this anecdote to smooth things over, and everyone laughed in approval.
But Zhao Qinghui was a cold person, and said in a cold voice: "I was wondering who it was, it turned out to be the female demon from the Xiao family, the vision of Prince Yuzhang is obvious."
Xiao Tong'an lived in the frontier for many years. Madam Xiao stayed in the capital as a hostage, while his daughter Xiao Ling lived with her father in Wei Bo. She only returned to the capital once when she was young. Therefore, not many people in the capital had seen her. Because of her great military achievements, many people said that she was born with knotty muscles and a rough face, and was a she-devil.
It was more than ten years ago that Xiao Ling came to the capital. At that time, Prince Zhao was still a baby and naturally had never met Madam Xiao and her daughter. It was just because Prince Yuzhang looked down on his cousin who was like a goddess in his heart, so he wanted to belittle the person he admired.
Everyone felt a little embarrassed. Du Erlang was about to say something witty to smooth things over, but someone spoke first.
"The man is gone, yet the Crown Prince of Zhao slanders a deceased person, a meritorious official of the Yong Dynasty," Huan Xuan put down his teacup and said coldly, "Is this how Lord Wu'an teaches his son?"
No one dared to utter a sound; one could hear a pin drop in the pavilion.
The palm-sized pointed face of Prince Zhao suddenly turned red, but the powerful prince who commanded the Shenyi Army was not an idler like Huan Minggui. Even if he had ten times the courage, he would not dare to contradict him in person.
He could only hold back his anger and concentrate all his hatred into his sinister eyes.
He asked himself that no one in the world understood his cousin better than him, and cherished her more. But everyone said that the King of Qi was infatuated. But what was the truth? His beloved was slandered, but he did not say a word, but stood up for the unrelated female demon. It was really ridiculous.
The Crown Prince of Zhao regarded the King of Qi as his enemy and wished to cut him into pieces, but Huan Xuan was too lazy to even look at him and turned his gaze away.
At this time, Huan Minggui, the instigator of the plot, said, "I just said that a beautiful woman is hard to find, and here comes one."
Then he turned back to the guest and said, "Today's list has been selected."
When everyone heard what he said, they all looked in the direction his folding fan was pointing.
I saw a woman in a green shirt and a veiled hat walking out of the Buddhist hall.
Du Erlang looked at her for a while and scratched his cheek: "I can only see that the woman has a thin waist and long legs, but I can't see her face clearly, so how can I know if she is beautiful?"
Huan Minggui smiled and said, "This is the time to test your eyesight."
He pointed at the plain-clothed figure with his folding fan: "Generally, beauty is judged by appearance, while peerless beauty is judged by character. Look at the woman's posture, which is strong yet gentle, and gentle yet resilient. Look at her gait, which is not at all artificial, but not at all vulgar or hateful. Every move she makes is full of natural charm..."
When Huan Xuan heard the words "hard yet gentle, gentle yet resilient", he felt his ears getting hot for some reason, his throat tightened, and he looked out the railing involuntarily.
Of course I couldn't see her face clearly from such a distance, not to mention that the woman had a veil covering her face.
But perhaps there was some kind of induction between people who had physical contact, and he recognized the figure as the hunter woman as soon as he saw it.
Huan Minggui was still talking nonstop. No one believed that he had such a sharp eye. He was also aroused by his desire to win, and said excitedly: "If you don't believe it, how about making a bet with Xiao Wang? You can decide the bet. Let's go and see what happens. If she is really a peerless beauty, you lose."
Du Erlang asked, "There are so many people in the temple, how can I find him?"
Huan Minggui said, "She will eventually leave the temple. Let's wait by the mountain path and wait for her to come."
Everyone also aroused his interest: "Interesting, let's go and see if Ziyu's eyes are really as amazing as he boasts."
Just as they were about to go downstairs together, a cold voice sounded behind them: "You are members of the royal family, but you imitate those scoundrels and make trouble. How disgraceful."
The one who spoke was King Huanxuan of Qi. He had the highest status and the most power among those present. Now that he had spoken, the bet was no longer valid.
Huan Minggui looked at his cousin with resentment: "Can't I even take a look at her? If I miss such a beautiful woman this time, I don't know if I can see her next time..."
Huan Xuan didn't answer, but just glanced at him coldly.
Huan Minggui knew that he had no chance to see the beauty today and he had no interest in appreciating beauty, so he angrily asked the guest to take away the "Book of Beauties".
…
Sui Sui paid her respects to the Buddha's bones, added the incense oil she and Grandma Gao had given them, asked the monks for some amulets in brocade bags, and then hurried out of the temple.
When she walked down the steps in front of the hall, she suddenly felt as if someone was looking at her. She paused and looked up. She saw a Buddhist building built high up on the mountain, hidden among the woods dyed with autumn colors. A few human figures could be vaguely seen through the low-hanging gauze curtains.
She called a monk who was in charge of reception and pointed to the pavilion and asked, "Master, may I ask what place is that?"
The monk in charge of reception replied, "That is the exquisite Seven Treasures Pavilion of our temple."
Chun Tiao became interested: "What a beautiful building, it's quiet there, can we go take a look?"
The monk in charge of reception looked embarrassed and said apologetically: "There are several donors having dinner in the building, so it is inconvenient for us to enter the garden..."
Chun Tiao knew that some high-ranking official was visiting and had sealed off the entire garden, which made him feel a little regretful.
Sui Sui patted her shoulder and said, "Come back next time and we'll go eat vegetarian food."
Although Chun Tiao always complained about Sui Sui being greedy, it was inevitable that a girl of her age didn't like to eat and play, so she also became interested.
The two asked the monk in charge of reception for directions, walked out of the mountain gate, went around the back of the temple, passed through a cherry orchard, and walked up the mountain along the rugged goat path. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the noise of the Qinglong Temple behind them gradually faded away and was lost in the sound of gurgling water. After walking a little further, they heard the deep and distant sound of bells coming from the depths of the autumn forest.
Linghua Temple is only the size of a palm and can be considered a small monastery at best. Hidden deep in the pines and cypresses, it has a unique kind of tranquility.
As expected, there were not many pilgrims in the temple. The few people there were, like Sui Sui and Chun Tiao, who had gone to Qinglong Temple to pay homage to the Buddha's bones and came here to have some tea and vegetarian food.
The monk in charge of reception led the two men to the meditation room and brought them some snacks and fresh fruits.
Chun Tiao took a look and found that the vegetarian dishes were not very well prepared. He picked up one and tasted it. The taste was ordinary. While the monk in charge of reception went to the corridor to make tea, he wrinkled his nose and whispered, "This vegetarian dish is not very good. We came all the way here in vain."
"Just think of it as coming out for fun," Sui Sui picked up a big red persimmon from the ceramic bowl and gave it to her, "This persimmon looks good."
The monk in charge of reception came in with a tea kettle and said: "These persimmons are grown in our temple. There are no such good persimmons anywhere else. You two donors can try them. If you like them, you can take a basket away later."
I just said thank you.
The monk in charge of reception scratched the back of his head and put his hands together in greeting. "Take your time, benefactors. I will go to the front first. If you need anything, just shout at the door."
After a pause, he continued, "If you two want to rest after your snacks, you can go to the east room. There is a bed in it. Few people come here, so the bedding is clean."
The two men thanked him and the monk in charge of reception left.
After his footsteps faded away, Chun Tiao smiled and said, "My lady is so pretty. The young master blushed just now and didn't dare to look at your face. It seems that his cultivation is not good enough and his six senses are not pure."
He picked up a persimmon and stuffed it into her mouth.
The persimmons were indeed very sweet. Chun Tiao ate two in a row and drank a bowl of strong tea. He touched his stomach with satisfaction and yawned.
Sui Sui asked, "Are you sleepy?"
Chun Tiao rubbed his temple and said shyly, "I don't know why, but I have been feeling a little dizzy since just now."
"The monk in charge of reception said there is a bed in the inner room, you can go and sleep for a while." Sui Sui said.
"How can that be possible?" Chun Tiao yawned again and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I have to serve my lady."
"It's still early, and there's no rush to go back," Sui Sui said, "I'll just walk around the temple, you don't need to accompany me."
Chun Tiao still thought something was wrong, but he was so sleepy that his eyelids drooped and he just wanted to find a couch to lie down on immediately.
Sui Sui smiled and said, "I got up early today and walked so far. I'll take a rest if I'm tired. Sister Chun Tiao is still polite to me."
Chun Tiao tried to hold on for a while, but he couldn't hold on any longer, so he had to excuse himself and go to the inner room to sleep.
He waited until he heard a soft snoring sound from inside before he lowered the curtain and gently pushed open the door.
As soon as I walked out of the yard, the monk who was in charge of reception came to greet me. Without saying a word, he just bowed his head and clasped his hands together in greeting, then led the way in front of me.
Sui Sui followed him out of a small door on the west side of the mountain temple, walked along the path in the pine forest for half a quarter of an hour, and came to a small thatched cottage of a woodcutter.
The monk in charge of reception stopped, turned around, and bowed, "Please come in, General."
Sui Sui nodded, pushed open the wooden door and walked in, and someone came out from the house to greet him.
The man was dressed in a blue cloth robe that had been washed to a pale color, and a black towel on his head. He looked like a down-and-out scholar who had failed the imperial examinations many times. However, no one would associate him with down-and-out status if one looked at his pair of cold star-like eyes.
Sui Sui took off his veil and smiled at him, "Beicen, you are dressed well. It would be a shame if you don't write a few sour poems."