Supreme Serpent

Chapter 17

Shangyang City is located in the northeast of Shengjing, close to the northern border. It is divided into inner city and outer city.Thanks to the royal family's sympathy, here is a rich city-state with sufficient grain depots and prosperous workshops for dyeing cloth, pottery, and copper smelting.This place is only more than 30 miles away from the imperial mausoleum, and it is the source of Dongsheng's dragon veins.Shaoyang Palace is set up in the city as the place for the royal family's autumn sacrifice, and a grand ancestor worship ceremony is held every year on the Ghost Festival.

Shaoyang Palace can be described as the temple with the highest specifications in Dongcheng. It was built according to the beautiful scenery of Cuimian Mountain. It looks like a Big Dipper, majestic and majestic, showing the royal momentum.

Luo Yu walked along the chariot path made of white marble with King Rui. A tall sacrificial altar was set up in the open circular area in front of the main hall, Seven Star Hall. Many palace servants were busy preparing for the next day's sacrifice. s things.

The national teacher Chong Lingzi has long been waiting for King Rui here. He has long beard and deep eyebrows, wears a Yuanshi treasure crown, a brown robe with landscape sleeves, ten square shoes, and a whisk in his hand. His face is red and he is about fifty or sixty years old. Fairy style.

"Hehehehe"

Luo Yu heard the Taoist priest's laughter from a long distance away, he was full of breath and the lingering sound continued, he should be someone who knows some Taoism.

"Pindao has seen the prince" looked up at Lingzi Fuchen, stretched out his hand and bent his thumb and index finger to show his sanqing, and bowed to salute.

"The national teacher is working hard on the autumn sacrifice, so he doesn't have to accompany me."

Chong Lingzi saw Luoyu who was always beside King Rui, his hands and feet suddenly became cold, and he felt a strange feeling.The strange thing is not that the beauty of this person's appearance is rare in the world, but that his eyes are somewhat strange.He has practiced Taoism for many years, and his Taoism is profound, and his eyes can recognize ghosts and ghosts, but this person has no evil spirit in him, how strange!Could it be that you are blinded by yourself?

"National Division?"

Xuanyuan Jianyou was displeased when he saw him staring at Luoyu in a daze.

"Oh... Wuliang Tianzun, the prince has had a hard journey, hurry up and go to the sleeping hall to rest, Yuehe, Yuezhen, hurry up and lead the way for the prince."

"My lord please"

"My lord please"

The two little Taoist priests behind Chong Lingzi hurriedly led the way for King Rui.Shaoyang Palace is densely covered with corridors, the main hall in the front is the place of worship, and the six halls in the back are the royal courtyard.

Luoyu smiled slightly as he passed by Chong Lingzi. It seemed that this old Taoist priest still had some ability. Although he was a mortal, he could tell that he was different from ordinary people, but he didn't take it seriously. The millennium snake demon.

------

Qingluan Waterfall behind Cuimian Mountain falls from the cliff to the ground, and the water roars loudly.A wooden bridge built on the middle of the mountain is on the side of the waterfall. It is called Guanpu Bridge. Under the bridge is a bottomless pool, like a moat suspended in the sky.

All the accompanying boys turned pale with fright, and Xue Fu was also so frightened that he clung tightly to the wooden posts on the bridge, not daring to take a second look at the scenery under his feet no matter how beautiful it was.

Luo Yu and Xuanyuan Jianyou walked hand in hand, they left their servants behind, and they were very excited.

"Look, that's the famous Cui Mian Ci." Luo Yu pointed to the calligraphy left by the famous masters on the cliff in front of him.

"Xue Fu, bring a pen and paper."

"...Yes, my lord." Xue Fu who was behind took a deep breath, and beat his legs to bring a pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

"Jianyou's handwriting is good, Luanxiang Fengzhu, or hearty and vigorous, or flowing clouds and flowing water, or wandering clouds and startling dragons. Please copy this Cui Mian Ci for me."

For Luo Yu's request, he would naturally respond to every request.Xue Fu cleverly squatted down to serve as a table, and King Rui dipped his pen in the ink to write, and the writing was exactly the same as the cursive script on the cliff.

Luo Yu took a look, and praised: "It's really a good word! Why don't I write a poem about Qingluan Waterfall."

"Okay, you read what I wrote."

Luo Yuyao looked at the waterfall, pondered for a while, and said with a smile: "With it, it's called Qingluan Ci."

Qingluan Ci

The green hills are dyed green, and the fragrance of green sleep is floating.

The white rain falls, and the bead curtain rises.

The wind is like a knife, and the phoenix bird falls and its feathers flutter.

Love is farther than deep pools, and dreams are still leisurely built.

How many times have you felt uneasy, who should you send pity to?

Spread rice paper and end stone inkstone.

Looking back at the mountains, there are thousands of freehand brushwork.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew up, whistling and resounding through the mountain stream, making the bridge "creak and creak", and the rice paper with Qingluan's poems written on it was blown down the bridge and fell into the pool, and soon disappeared.

"Oh, it's blown to the bottom."

"Nothing, write another one."

Luo Yu glanced at the ink on Xue Fuman's back, and said, "No need, it's already in my heart."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and continued to enjoy the scenery.

------

The moon and stars were sparse, and the empty Qingluan Waterfall could only hear the sound of water. A blue figure flew down from the cliff tens of feet high like a sharp sword, and finally landed gently on the edge of the pool.

Taking advantage of Xuanyuan Jianyou's need to take a bath and fast, Luoyu saw that no one was around, so she wanted to find the Qingluan Ci, which was originally a chance.Unexpectedly, it was blown by the wind to an ancient cypress by the lake. Luoyu leaped up to the branch to pick it up, but fortunately the branch blocked the water vapor and did not wet the paper at all.

With a beautiful smile, it turned into a serpentine blue smoke and flew back to Shaoyang Palace.

------

When he woke up the next day, Xuanyuan Jianyou beside him was no longer there, Luoyu put on his outer shirt and walked out of the room, and saw that the man was being put on a solemn sacrificial attire by several eunuchs.The purple-gold Dake Lingluo gown has six layers inside and outside.

Looking at his gloomy face, Luoyu knew that he didn't like being served by eunuchs, but the ceremonies were complicated to show solemnity, and the servants of the palace had already left Shaoyang Palace and were not allowed to participate in the autumn sacrifice.

King Rui dressed neatly, and ordered the eunuch to change Luoyu's clothes, and treated him with the same courtesy as the ministers, with black clothes and loose clothes.

The sacrificial ceremony began when the chanting officer sang "Jiaotian Sends the God's Speech", and the national teacher Chong Lingzi presided over this grand ceremony as in previous years.The altar is filled with the six animals needed for royal sacrifices, including horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, dogs, and hogs, as well as jade, silk, fans, bells, and ritual utensils.

Xuanyuan Hao boarded the altar under the instruction of the national teacher. He first kowtowed three times and bowed nine times in a bright yellow mian suit. After that, the prince and all the ministers saluted together, and burned incense and paper. The national teacher prayed for blessings in the same way.

The most complicated thing is that the royal family and the Sangong and Jiuqing offered sacrifices to Shaoyang Palace.Chong Lingzi recorded it himself, and several eunuchs copied it on the stele.

Chong Lingzi read while writing: "Your Majesty offered 1 taels of gold, ten liters of agate, one hundred barrels of sesame oil, and twelve golden statues of the Patriarch of the Sanqing Dynasty. The Empress Dowager offered nine jade-carved coral trees, ten liters of gold leaves, and ten liters of rubies. The king presented two jade garments with golden thread, two jade beds, two white jade tents, thirty emerald jade lotus stands, fifty liters of pearls from the South China Sea, forty colored glaze gold boxes, ten sets of gold and silver carved flower tea sets, and gold silk silk Luo Yishan 230 six pieces..."

Luo Yu listened to several ministers around whispering about how valuable King Rui's sacrifice was, how rich Rui Wang's mansion was, and so on.With a knowing smile, he thought: That's natural, this is my man!

It took about two hours to make sacrifices, and another three hours to perform the ceremony of congratulations and farewell, and the sky darkened.

The so-called "the important affairs of the country are the sacrificial offerings and the soldiers", Luo Yu deeply comprehended this admonition written in Dongsheng's national code.

In the end, the emperor bestowed a family banquet, in order to hope that the country and the people of Dongsheng will be safe and sound in the coming year.

"Luo... Luo beauty?"

Xuanyuanhao called Luoyu who was leaving with King Rui outside the palace gate.He was happy and worried at the same time, he was happy because he saw the person he had been thinking about day and night here, but he was worried that the beauty would leave after meeting him.

"The emperor is not going to have a banquet with the princes and ministers, what are you doing here?" King Rui asked coldly.

"I just heard the report from the national teacher. The emperor wants to go back to Shengjing first. I heard that Luo Meiren is also there. It's getting dark. Why don't you leave tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? The booklets have been accumulated for two days. This king is not like the emperor who rides a horse and plays cuju all day long, having fun."

Xuanyuan Hao had a smile on his face, "A few days ago, Wei Guoyuan, the commander of the capital, greeted me, and said that he had reached the age of knowing his destiny and wanted to return to his hometown and take care of his grandchildren. I also comforted Wei Laoqing's family. After all, the commander of Gyeonggi is the one who defends Shengjing and defends me, so how can other people take office at will."

King Rui's phoenix eyes shone coldly, "It's time for Wei Guoyuan to rest, doesn't the emperor know?"

"What does Uncle Huang mean?" Xuanyuan Hao mentioned that the commander of the capital wanted to use the important position of the capital to exchange the beauty of the country and the city. Today, when I saw that person, she was even more beautiful and charming, which made him tickle. The itching in his heart strengthened his belief that he loves beauties and not Jiangshan.

King Rui didn't answer him, and boarded the carriage with Luo Yu.

"Luo Meiren, don't go..."

Xuanyuan Hao tugged on Luo Yu's sleeve in a fit of dismay, and vaguely felt the tenderness of that arm, and his mind fluttered for a while.

"Your Majesty, please let go." Luo Yu didn't expect this man to be so thick-skinned, and she hated him a little bit.

"Yes... I'm sorry." After speaking, he withdrew his hand resentfully.

The young emperor looked at King Rui's support and walked away, with a hot light in his eyes, and he thought to himself: Luoyu, no matter what the price is, one day I will get you, let you only belong to me, and lock you in the deep palace Until the end of time.

------

The lotus pond in front of Ye'an Pavilion is full of colored carps, chasing and playing in groups of colorful carps.

"Young Master, what does Shaoyang Palace look like? I heard that it is very big and magnificent inside, and there is also the golden body of the Patriarch of the Three Qing Dynasty ten feet high."

Luoyu took the fish food from Xiaolu and threw it into the water, and the fish rushed to surround him, vying for food, causing layers of splashes.

"I'll take you in next year to have a look. I'm so bored. The ceremony is so boring that I want to go back to sleep."

"Don't, son, how dare I go in, unless my little brother is cut off and becomes a eunuch to be lucky enough to see the autumn festival, then let's forget it!"

"You don't need to be a eunuch, next year I will take you to sneak in." Luoyu smiled and said, "Oh, look, that red carp, the one at the end."

"My mother, what a big fish, I have never seen such a big fish in my life." Xiaolu sighed and threw the fish food far away to feed the huge red carp.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck!" The sound of knocking on the wooden fish floated from far and near.

"Where did this come from?"

Xiaolu lowered his voice and said: "It's the Cuizheng Pavilion of the empress. Since the prince came back from the south of the Yangtze River last time, the empress has changed a lot. She ordered people to build a Buddhist hall in the room, and she chanted scriptures and Buddha all day long. She didn't go anywhere. The people in the dining room said that the empress will change to a vegetarian diet in the future."

Do you want to ask Buddha to call back that person's heart?Although this woman has a vicious heart, she is sincere to that man. Does she count as stealing his husband?Did he treat that woman as well as he treats himself before?It should be, otherwise she wouldn't hate herself so much.

Luoyu laughed at herself, the fish food in her hand fell into the pond with a splash, and the fish scrambled even more happily.

At dinner, Luoyu used chopsticks to pull out the golden canary bird wishful rolls from the plate, but she didn't put them in her mouth.

Seeing that he ate very little, Xuanyuan Jianyou asked, "What's the matter? No appetite?"

Luo Yu shook his head, he usually had a smile on his face, like a spring breeze, but now he stopped smiling and his brows were still frowning.

"Why are you so gloomy? Didn't you go to the garden to watch the fish? You were still in high spirits this morning." King Rui raised his face and stared at him lovingly.

Luo Yu lowered her eyes and did not look at him, "What does the prince think of me, a male favorite or a retainer?"

The man withdrew his fingers, "That's what you're worried about?"

"En" Luoyu replied sullenly.

"No, if you are a daughter, I will marry you as a princess."

"But I'm not, I'm just a man, what is this?"

"I've sent word to send those people out of the house." King Rui said calmly, picking up the chopsticks.

"Ah... Yueqi and the others? Where are you going to send them?"

"What do you care about this? Naturally, go where they should go."

"No, you have to tell me where they went."

"Border customs. Where can a group of people who have no skills but who have nothing to do with beauty go?"

Seeing that he couldn't turn the corner, he said: "The soldiers under my command are loyal to the country, so I will reward them for being lonely at the border."

When Luo Yu heard this, she felt very sad. Originally, they had no worries about food and clothing in the mansion, not to mention being favored, but now they were sent to the border to work as military prostitutes for thousands of people to ruin.The border is rough and bitter, accompanied only by the boundless yellow sand, how can those who have no strength to restrain the chickens bear it.

"No, I'm going to have a look."

Luo Yu ran from the Luohua Hall to the apse, and more than twenty beautiful young masters stood together, with their respective salutes at their feet.Maybe they already knew where they were going, and each of them was crying in a low voice, so desolate.

"Moon... Qi"

One of the young men in red turned around, he didn't cry, but looked at Luoyu with indifferent eyes.

"Why did Mr. Luo come to such a humble place?"

"I…"

Yueqi walked over, "Hehe, it's really different. Isn't it more beautiful than me? What else do you have? Since you don't know what it means to watch words and colors, you dare to put any expression on your face. You are really there, but It’s a fresh picture for a while! In the future, the prince will get tired of you, let’s see what will happen to you?”

His words made Luoyu's troubled heart even more disturbed. The person he loves is extremely noble, and he is destined to live a life of glory in the world of mortals. It is impossible to hide in the mountains with him.What he is really afraid of is the different ways of the monster. He is still young and powerful, but he has gray hair. How should he deal with himself then?Thinking of this, the whole person is shrouded in gloom.He couldn't refute Yueqi's accusation.

The young masters held Yueqi back and told him not to talk anymore, in case this person sued the prince, it would not be as simple as acting as a military prostitute.

"Let go of me, let me finish talking. We just went to that place before you, and when you lose your charm, remember that I will be there waiting for you."

He was so unwilling, why this man could get into the prince's bed, but he couldn't.When it comes to the means of serving men, he has plenty of them. He knows how to be cold, warm, gentle and pleasant. Why can't that man see it?

"It's the lord!"

"Look, there it is."

"It's really the prince, why is the prince here?"

Several young masters discussed, and hurriedly dragged Yueqi to kneel down.

Xuanyuan Jianyou stood not far away with his hands behind his back, looking here with a gloomy expression.He turned his head and said a few words to the personal guard behind him, and the guard quickly withdrew.

Soon a few more servants came and brought over a big box.

"I've seen Mr. Luo," the guard saluted, and then ordered the servants, "You guys, open the box quickly."

After opening the lid of the box, bursts of golden light blurred the eyes of those young masters.A box full of gold ingots.

"The prince said that Mr. Luo kindly interceded for you, and you can take as much as you can. If you take it, get out of the palace."

As if grasping at a life-saving straw, the troubled princes kowtowed to Luoyu several times to thank Luoyu, and they rushed forward to put the gold into their bags, making a mess.

Xuanyuan Jianyou had been looking at Luoyu, he saw that person took off his coat and squeezed into the crowd, when he came out he wrapped a large bag of gold and handed it to a man in red, he remembered his name was Yueqi.

Yue Qi didn't pick up the gold, but said something instead, Luo Yu stepped back, her expression darkened.Seeing this, he frowned, with a frightening coldness in his eyes.

"Let's go." Luo Yu walked to his side, and finally turned her head to look at the crowd who were still scrambling.

"En" King Rui agreed with him.

-----

It was night, Yueqi bid farewell to several young masters, and walked alone on the official road.He didn't know where to go, the bag was heavy with gold, but it wasn't what he wanted.

"Ah..." he yelled, and there was an extra steel knife around his neck.

"...you...who are you?" A man in black appeared in front of him blocking the way.

"If you want gold, I have...all for you...all for you." Thinking that he had encountered a robber, he hurriedly handed over the bag.

The man in black didn't answer, and said, "Have you heard of Wuhuan Island?"

Yueqi's face was pale, of course he had heard of it, but in reality there is joy. It is a small gold-mining island in northern Xinjiang, bordering Fudan and Liguo in the north. It's better, the person who sells there is only worth a glass of wine, and after buying the wine, he can play and beat him at will.It is said that prostitutes will have heavy iron chains on their feet and tattoos on their hands. They will be prostitutes all their lives and cannot escape if they want to. It is a real purgatory on earth, and countless people will die there.

"You... what are you going to do?"

"Hehe, it's too naive for the person who offended the prince to still want to be happy with gold." After speaking, under Yueqi's frightened eyes, he quickly clicked on his sleeping point, and carried the person on his shoulders in a bundle, Shi Qinggong disappeared.

------

King Rui came to Tengtao Pavilion after approving the memorial, and Luoyu had already fallen asleep.

"Lord"

Xuanyuan Jianyou made a silent gesture, and Xiaolu quickly backed away.

Not intending to disturb that person, he went to the study immediately.Luo Yu likes to write poems and paint on weekdays, and the whole room is filled with his calligraphy and paintings.The art of painting is excellent, and the calligraphy is also excellent. He is as clear and beautiful as his person.

King Rui picked up the book "Langtaosha·Yijun's Returning Home" copied by Luoyu for a closer look, and a piece of paper fell to the ground.Picking it up, it was Luo Yuyin's Qingluan Ci, his handwriting.

After a while, I put it in the book and put the book back intact.