Tang riddles

Hutuo was driving the car under the sun. In this midsummer, even if he went all the way north, there was not a trace of coolness. Wherever he went, the heat was unbearable.He wiped the sweat from his neck, picked up the water bag at hand, took a sip, carefully plugged the stopper, and continued to drive attentively.

It was the afternoon of June [-]th, and they set off before dawn. They hurried all the way, and they had just left Hebi County for fifty miles.If the road goes well today, we should be able to reach Tangyin County.This has already deviated from the original route. The original plan was to go all the way to Anyang, but now it is going north to east.

And Shen Sui and Zhang Ruohan didn't feel comfortable sitting in the car, although the car could shelter from the scorching sun, it was like a steamer, people sat in it, sweating continuously.Shen Sui had already tried his best to cool down the heat in the carriage, but with little effect.He had no choice but to open the car windows wide, and even the rear panel of the car was removed for ventilation, but a gauze curtain was hung to block the view.

Shen Sui spread a bamboo mat on the floor of the carriage, and was lying on it, sleeping with his eyes closed.Zhang Ruohan was sitting beside her, holding a round fan in his hand, gently fanning her.It was the most sleepy time in the afternoon, and Zhang Ruohan nodded lightly, feeling extremely sleepy.

"Lotus maid, you should lie down and sleep too." Shen Sui closed his eyes, and with a weak voice, he gently pulled Zhang Ruohan's hand.

"No, you go to sleep, I won't lie down." Zhang Ruohan said.

Shen Sui stroked her hand, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Don't worry, this carriage doesn't bump too much. If you lie down, it won't leak out and stain your clothes."

Zhang Ruohan's cheeks slowly turned red, and her sleepiness also flew away. She couldn't help but glared at her, and said angrily:

"You man, how do you know..."

"I don't know about your menstruation? I'll know if I touch your hand and your pulse." Shen Sui smiled and said in a low voice, the voice was so small that only the two of them could hear, "It's just that you The events of this month are a few days earlier than the previous month, so it's not always accurate. When it's Tangyin, I'll ask Xiongniang to give you another diagnosis."

"Why all the fuss, my body has always been like this." Zhang Ruohan said.

"No, I've been traveling all the way these days, and I haven't had much rest. You've worked too hard. I'm afraid you'll be overwhelmed. I occasionally find that you haven't fallen asleep at night. I was away all night last night, so you must not have had a good rest. I'm worried There is something wrong with your health." Shen Sui was worried.

"It's okay, I'm not that fragile." Zhang Ruohan's tone was relaxed and full of confidence.

Shen Sui looked skeptical, very disbelieving.

"You don't know, my master, taught me a set of breathing skills, combined with meditation, I will find time to practice for two quarters of an hour every day. This skill is very effective. I have many problems when I was a child, and now I don't commit them anymore. "Zhang Ruohan laughed.

"Your master? But that master who is known as the 'Nanhai God'?"

"Yes, but Master is not some kind of 'South Sea Divine Nun', that's all rumors. Master is just a profound practitioner of Buddhism, who knows some health-preserving skills, that's all."

Shen Sui seemed to be lost in thought, and fell silent for a while.

"You'd better lie down, at least catch up on sleep, you were so sleepy just now." After a while, Shen Sui came back to his senses and said.

Zhang Ruohan couldn't hold her back, so she obediently lay down and put her pillow in her arms.As soon as she lay down, wrapped in the familiar fragrance of Shen Sui's body, she felt drowsy like a tide, and her eyelids started to fight.

Vaguely, Shen Sui asked in a low voice:

"Lotus maid, tell me about your master, I really don't know her well."

"Hmm..." Zhang Ruohan pondered for a moment, closed her eyes and said slowly, "My master is a bhikkhuni who practiced wandering around. She is not actually from the Middle Earth. Although her ancestors are of Chinese descent, her family is a businessman. Later, she settled in the north of Suiye City. She grew up in the Western Regions since she was a child. When she was eight years old, her father suffered a huge loss in business and sold her. She was given hard labor and then escaped. A traveling monk took her in, and since then she has been fully ordained to become a monk and worshiped in Buddhism. My master is very close to Buddhism and has a very high level of understanding. It is said that after practicing Buddhism for five years, she can already distinguish the Dharma from her master. Don't fall into the wind. When she practiced Buddhism for eight years, she became a teacher and vowed to visit Buddhist temples all over the world and pay homage to three thousand Buddhas. Since then, she has embarked on the road of wandering practice. By the time she was 30 years old, she had almost traveled all over the world. Tang Dynasty in China, and even went to many farther places, such as Silla in the northeast and Annan in Jiaozhou in the southwest.

I left Chang'an for Jiangling with you, and bid farewell to Master, and have never seen each other since.Thinking about it now, I also miss her old man quite a bit, and I don't know where she wandered off again.

Right now, Master's wish has also become my wish.Today, this wish is finally beginning to come true, and thanks to you coming back, otherwise I would still be confined in that small world, and I am afraid I will have to die alone like this, unable to see the outside world. "

Shen Sui didn't speak, but hugged her tightly.

After a while, Zhang Ruohan curled the corners of her lips and murmured:

"Hold it so tight, aren't you hot?"

Shen Sui laughed, let go of his arms, and thought to himself why this summer hasn't passed yet?It's best to go into winter, then she can hold the lotus maid every day.

"Go to sleep." Shen Sui picked up the round fan Zhang Ruohan put aside and fanned it for her.

The car swayed slightly, the familiar fragrance filled her whole body, the cool breeze came and went, the sleepiness in the afternoon could no longer be resisted, and Zhang Ruohan, who had been tired for many days, fell asleep quickly.While fanning the wind for her, Shen Sui was thinking about something on his mind.Just now Zhang Ruohan mentioned a master, she always felt that this person's background was not simple.This feeling is very groundless, but since she learned of the existence of this person, it has been lingering in her heart and can't get rid of it.

Twelve years ago, when she went to Beijing to rush for the exam, she secretly guarded Zhang Ruohan's side, not daring to show up, but went outside Zhang's house every day when she was free.That was the first time she witnessed the situation of the lotus maidservant after the catastrophe at close range, which made her surprised and heartbroken.It's just that she stayed in Chang'an for a year, but she didn't see any nun-like people around Zhang Ruohan, so she didn't know who Zhang Ruohan's master was.In March of this year, she learned from Zhang Shuo that it was this one-sacred nun who led the lotus maidservant to Buddhism, and she always had some doubts in her heart.

This monotheistic nun just happened to appear after the catastrophe 17 years ago, happened to pass by Zhang's mansion, and happened to sense that a girl in the family was being tortured, so he happened to lend a helping hand and extradite this girl. The girl escaped from the sea of ​​misery.Is this really all a coincidence?

She is a person who does not believe in coincidences, she only believes in reasonable logic.She also attaches great importance to cause and effect, which coincides with Buddhism.Therefore, she does not believe in effects without cause.

Shen Sui slightly raised his body, turned his head and looked at the rear of the carriage.Through the gauze curtain, she could see Li Jilan sitting silently on the shaft in front of Shen Jin's carriage, with a bamboo hat on her head, her head hanging down, as if she was asleep.Her horse is looked after by her brothers in the team, these days she has been sitting on the shaft like this, walking with the team.

She lay down again, with many questions in her mind: What about you?Li Jilan, how true or false are your words?What have you been through?

Thinking about this, Shen Sui also slowly fell asleep.

Until a sudden cry was heard:

"Da Lang! Urgent report ahead!"

Shen Sui woke up suddenly, and Zhang Ruohan also woke up, Shen Sui helped Zhang Ruohan up, shook his head, to get rid of the chaos that had just awakened, only to find that Hutuo was looking at her anxiously, and handed out a letter.

Shen Sui hurriedly took the letter, the ink was still wet, obviously it was just transcribed.Shen Sui knew that this was not the original document, but a decrypted transcript.

She quickly scanned the lines of writing, and her complexion gradually became serious.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Ruohan asked, holding her shoulder.

"This morning, Fan Yang, Li's eldest son, was found stabbed to death in his study..."

"What?" Zhang Ruohan was taken aback, "Fan Yang's Li family... is one of the thirteen branches of the Li family in Longxi, one of the most famous families today?"

Shen Sui nodded, with a serious tone: "What's more important is that after the deceased died, he was stripped of his clothes and lay prone on the ground, with a bloody cross engraved on his back."

Zhang Ruohan: "They did it..."

"This is what the news of Tang Shisan's death really refers to." Shen Sui frowned, "This Li Jilan? Whose family's daughter is it? Could it be that she is related to Fan Yang's Li family?"

Shen Sui and Zhang Ruohan turned their heads to look at the rear of the car at the same time, Li Jilan was still sitting quietly on the wheel of the car, with her head bowed and her arms folded, as if she had fallen asleep.

***

"Princess! Princess, look! What a big house!" Riding on the horse, Yang Yuhuan was excitedly pointing at the big house with white walls, black tiles, tall gates and hidden pavilions not far away.The other hand grabbed the arm of Li Jinyue who was walking side by side with her.

Li Jinyue let her hold her, and said with a smile: "This is Qinghe County, and this family is the Qinghe Cui family."

"So this is the Qinghe Cui family? I've heard that it's a great family." Yang Yuhuan said.

"It's really amazing. Among other things, their ancestral home occupies almost half of the land in Qinghe County. The family needs to run horses, otherwise they will break their legs." Li Jinyue smiled, and then her smile subsided slightly. , a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, "However, the future of the aristocratic family is not easy to walk. After the imperial examinations are held for a few more decades, the power of the aristocratic family will inevitably be further weakened. , will be completely dismantled.”

Yang Yuhuan was a little confused: "Why do you want to disintegrate these big families?"

"Why? That's a lot to say." Li Jinyue frowned. "To put it simply, these big families invaded the fields and plundered wealth and resources. Why are you safe?"

Yang Yuhuan nodded thoughtfully, then seemed to understand something, and said:

"I know, the reason why these big families are so powerful is because their descendants have controlled the government for generations and held high positions. Therefore, they can use the power in their hands to fill their own pockets. After the birth of the imperial examination system, equal selection of scholars, poor families The children gradually have the opportunity to become officials, and the official positions are limited, so they can squeeze out the official positions of the descendants of these big families, and the number of officials in these families is getting smaller and smaller, so naturally, it is not as good as the next generation."

Li Jinyue was very surprised, and couldn't help asking: "You girl, who told you this?"

"Hey..." Yang Yuhuan smiled shyly and said, "Mr. Xu told me this. She once persuaded me to be a female officer. Maybe I can be a clerk for the princess in the future, which is considered a skill. I didn't understand at the time. , she explained the truth to me, and she told me the benefits of the imperial examination system."

Li Jinyue nodded knowingly, it's not surprising, it's Yujie who thinks well.

Looking at the majestic and majestic mansion of the Cui family in Qinghe in the distance, she was about to catch up with the Luoyang imperial city, and she couldn't help but feel a cold light in her eyes.

These four fields and eight directions are all Qinghe Cui's land, so many farmers, craftsmen, and businessmen must pay taxes to them as long as they survive on their land.And I, the royal family of Li Tang, can't get a penny.They also raise private soldiers, and there are at least a thousand people in the family.How can you allow others to snore by the side of the couch? Today is no longer the era when the small courts of the Southern and Northern Dynasties had to compromise with these big families to survive. The Tang Dynasty has ruled the world for so many years, and it is time to eradicate these big families.

Thinking like this, the large team of the Gongyue Army is about to reach the main gate of Cui's mansion in Qinghe. From a distance, Li Jinyue saw a group of men with wide sleeves and belts, high crowns and hair, standing upright in front of the gate. Looking at Li Jinyue's team from a distance.The leading man has a handsome face, starry eyes, a long beard and a long sword hanging from his waist. He is an extremely rare handsome man.Look at the age, when not more than 40 years old.

Li Jinyue ordered the team to stop, got off the horse, walked forward on foot, and took the lead in bowing to each other and saying:

"Mr. Wei Chen, Chang'an, I haven't seen you for several years."

The man smiled loudly, and led all his family members to salute in return:

"Your Excellency, Bei Governor Shi, Cui Zhen, together with all uncles and brothers, welcome Your Excellency Princess Jin to Qinghe."

"Mr. Weichen is too polite."

"Princess, you are welcome. If you don't dislike her, I will settle down in the humble house today. What do you think?"

"That's what I mean." Li Jinyue was generous and not polite at all.

Cui Zhen showed joy, and raised his hand to invite, Li Jinyue returned the salute, turned around and told Cheng Yan to connect with Cui's mansion, properly arrange for the Gongyue army to be stationed, and took Yang Yuhuan with him, and walked into Cui's mansion first.

The author has something to say: there is a line that has been hidden for a long time and is being rolled out.