Aggrieved Fish Sprite

February [-]nd is the Rain Festival.

Just before and after the Waking of Insects, spring plowing needs rain, and almost every household is looking forward to the rain.

If it is in the south of the Yangtze River, the Rain Prayer Festival is more like a folk custom. Generally, there is a temple fair to catch a fair, and then burn incense and kowtow to pray, and then go home to make steamed cakes and eat dragon beard noodles, and it is over.

However, in Yongzhou, February [-] is a big day.

Originally, there was less rain here than the nearby state capitals, and now it has been suffering from severe drought for several years. The more severe the disaster, the more people expect the mercy of God, lest their hearts be dishonest.

The Jianghu people who happened to pass by Yongzhou did a few good deeds by accident.

In some remote and ignorant villages, after listening to the nonsense of the witches in the village, they killed young women to sacrifice to the Dragon King.

They dressed up the women and locked them in the Dragon King Temple, and they would kill them the next day when they offered sacrifices to the gods.

Although there are good and bad people in the rivers and lakes, some people in the orthodox sect claim to be righteous but have not done anything good, and some people are sanctimonious hypocrites, but for various considerations, they will not stand by A beautiful young woman was killed.

Therefore, overnight, there were many rumors on the way from Yongzhou to Taijing, all of which were about chivalry and righteousness, and the younger generations of martial arts righteousness took this opportunity to severely smear their reputations.

Even the young hero who has not met the "Daughter of the Dragon Sacrifice" has something to say about what he has done in the past.

What should I do if I am not famous and no one knows my deeds?

Then pretend to be a coincidence, and then flatter each other!

For example, if you talk about the bandits I exterminated last year, I praise the flower pickers you caught last month.Just standing in the middle of the road, with a polite smile, raising your voice, chatting back and forth, and then leaving satisfied with the pointers of passers-by.

——The so-called passers-by may have been arranged in advance.

He must nod seriously at the right time, and say to the people around him, "So this is XX, I've heard about it for a long time, but I never imagined that this person is so young and promising/with a handsome appearance/ The style is extraordinary, it is really amazing."

Once the chatterbox is opened, things will be easy to handle later.

You can continue to praise someone's extraordinaryness, or you can show off the person's mastery.In this way, from the deeds to the origin of the identity, coupled with the fact that they have practiced a certain kung fu for several years, they are indeed very talented, and finally dragged into the title of seniors in the world, which shows that they have also spoken out in praise.

His eloquent words stunned other passers-by.

With such a whole set of bragging, even if everyone has never heard of such a person in Jianghu, they will remember it now.

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and where there are rivers and lakes, acting is inevitable.

In front of the inn, in front of the tea stand, on the edge of the well...

Similar scenes have been staged many times, and the veterans secretly laughed in their hearts, and took advantage of the time to rest their feet to pick their teeth and watch the excitement.

When Elder Songya of the Spring Mountain School stumbled over and ran over, many people didn't realize it. In a blink of an eye, there was an old Confucian scholar whose body was covered in blood, as if he had been seriously injured.

The two righteous young heroes who were "exchanging greetings" took a few steps back in fright.

"...Save me, save..."

Song Ya could still hold on originally, but when he came here, his heart was suddenly hit by a dark force. This force seemed to be lurking in the injured part of the pipa bone before that, and he was caught off guard.

He fell to the ground, struggling hard.

There are vague figures in front of him, Song Ya really can't recognize who they are.

But the revenge of killing one's body must not be left alone!

The old Confucian scholar was panting heavily, with bloody froth dripping from his mouth, and his eyes were dull. Anyone could see that he was about to die.

"Chunshan faction... whoever... has sent a message to the Chunshan faction for me, I will be grateful." Song Ya was ruthless, and used the last life-saving internal force. When the internal force was exhausted, he could no longer suppress the injury. .

The effect was immediate, his voice was much clearer, and he could barely see the surrounding situation clearly.

Song Ya was very disappointed to find that there were some juniors in the rivers and lakes nearby.

He could only seize the last moment and said with difficulty: "The golden silk armor was born, someone got that golden silk armor! He is nearby..."

Everyone was in an uproar, shocked.

They chatted hastily, and someone subconsciously yelled, but the noise overwhelmed Song Ya's voice.

How can a dying man have the energy to raise his voice?The old Confucian scholar was eager to say something, but the people closest to him were not in the mood to listen, his complexion was getting worse and worse, and he was about to be pissed off in advance.

How come the current juniors of the Jianghu have this kind of virtue?Didn't figure things out, and started discussing excitedly?

When someone came to his senses and eagerly questioned the identity of the person who took away the golden silk armor, the elder of the Spring Mountain Sect was already very angry and his consciousness collapsed.

"...National Teacher...Chu Dynasty..."

The old Confucian scholar murmured, and everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.

Is this insanity?The Chu Dynasty has been gone for 16 years.

Just when they were annoyed, the old Confucian scholar came back to his light, sat up suddenly, and yelled angrily: "Meng Qi!"

The person closest to the Pine Cliff was startled and fell backwards, almost slipped and fell.

"Is that the man's name?"

"Meng Qi? Or Meng Qi?"

I couldn't wait to ask again, but found that the old Confucian scholar was staring, his body was motionless, and he was out of breath.

"Golden Silk Armor really reappeared? Or after the news of Emperor Li's Mausoleum came out? Could there be fraud in this?"

"...Are you deaf? Didn't hear those three words? Spring Mountain Sect!"

The veterans resting at the tea stand looked at each other.

The status of the Chunshan Sect is not high in the Jianghu, and it is still a sect that is both righteous and evil. In the early years, it was one of the righteous ways, but later its behavior became more and more controversial. Not less.

He refused to recognize the evil way, was not ashamed of the righteous way, and his reputation plummeted.

However, a bad reputation does not mean that the Spring Mountain Sect is weak. In fact, it is stronger than many righteous sects.

"Golden Silk Armor, Emperor Li's Mausoleum, Chunshan School...there is something big going on!"

Those who saw that the situation was not good, left in a hurry, not daring to cause trouble.

Naturally, there were people from the Jianghu who were greedy for the so-called "thank you", and discussed sending Songya's body to the Chunshan School. At this time, they didn't know that it was the well-known Elder Songya who died in the Jianghu.

They first bought a thin coffin and put the body in it.

The coffin didn't have a nailed cover, anyway, someone must want to see it, so why bother.

The news of the golden silk armor spread like wildfire, and on February [-], it spread in every restaurant and tea shop where people from the Jianghu gathered.

Originally it was just a treasure, although everyone was interested, it would not cause such a heated discussion, but it turned out to be a golden silk armor!Why do you go to Taijing? It's not because of the treasures of the emperor's mausoleum!

The golden thread armor is invulnerable and priceless, but it is only one of the treasures in the funeral objects of Emperor Li's Mausoleum.

When the entire martial arts world is vying for the golden silk armor, ordinary people in the Jianghu know that they have no chance, but the treasures of the emperor's mausoleum are different. I heard that the bricks in the tomb are all gold, and you can eat and drink without worrying about breaking a few pieces!

They chatted excitedly, talking about Jinsijia and Emperor Chen Li's extravagance.

I can't wait to see the golden silk armor with my own eyes, and then touch it with my own hands.

It seems that the more expensive the golden silk armor is, the more it can prove the greatness of this wealth.

After Mo Li entered Qiong County, in addition to seeing the lively postures of the government and the people to pray for rain, there were people from the rivers and lakes gathered in twos and threes, their expressions were excited, and they whispered to each other.

From Mo Li's point of view, there was a strange atmosphere in the county town, and everyone's faces were flushed, as if they were going to do something big.

People who pray for good weather kowtow step by step in order to show their piety.

There are people dressed as Taoists on almost every street, wielding mahogany swords, holding talismans painted with cinnabar in their hands, and walking on seven-star steps, chanting like dancing gods.

There are Yamen servants, Baojia, Lichang and others holding incense burners behind.

A sacrificial altar had been set up in front of the Dragon King Temple long ago, with three animals and melons and fruits placed on it.

The Taoist standing in front of the sacrificial altar is wearing a gossip robe.

With a wave of the whisk in his hand, the blue smoke rose straight up, and it seemed to go straight into the sky from a distance.

"... Please Long Xingyun, pray for dragon cloth rain, Liu Ding Liu Jia, come quickly."

The Taoist was thinking vigorously, and suddenly saw a little Taoist boy stretching his head by the sacrificial table. He was very displeased, and he ignored it until the long prayer was finished, and the dust was raised again, and the smoke turned into a cloud Float to the crowd.

Everyone couldn't bow down, the Taoist had already retreated to the side, and whispered to Daotong: "What are you doing in a hurry? Didn't you see that it was a sacrifice to the sky, so undignified, the Dragon King blamed it, you are responsible for the people of this place. ?”

The little boy was about eight years old, and he couldn't tell the truth from the truth in the Taoist's words. He lowered his head and said, "Yes, something happened."

"what's up?"

"Gold silk armor..."

The Taoist said impatiently: "You are so young, don't always listen to people's nonsense on the street. We can hide the wind and watch it with God's blessing. There are all kinds of wonderful methods. You hear that the wind is rain. How can you become a great tool in the future?"

Xiao Daotong hesitated for a while, but still summoned up his courage and said: "But they all said it with a nose and eyes, it's not like making it up, the temple master went to Taijing again, I heard them say..."

The Taoist glared at him, the little boy trembled, he didn't dare to turn around, and said hastily: "People from several sects went to see the dead person of the Chunshan sect, master, guess what, they recognized the corpse as Elder Songya! "

"What?" The Taoist was stunned and said sharply, "Where did you hear that?"

"... Outside, the outside world has already spread."

The little boy shrank his neck in fright, and said timidly, "Master, do you think we should send a letter to the temple master?"

The Taoist moved the corner of his mouth, showing a half-smile expression, and said in a bad tone: "You don't need to worry about it, and I don't need to worry about it. There are so many people in Zangfeng Temple, which one can't report the letter?"

As the Taoist said, he suddenly felt a chill behind his back.

He turned his head quickly, suspicious that someone was staring at him.

But there were too many people in front of the Dragon King Temple, after the ceremony, the county magistrate and others also rushed over.

Once the Taoist was disturbed by them, it was impossible to find the person who peeped at him before.

"Let's go." Mo Li pressed the bamboo hat and said to Meng Qi behind him.

Meng Qi did not wear a hat, he restrained his breath, as if no one paid special attention to his existence.

This is a very strange thing. It's not that Meng Qi has disappeared in their eyes, but that people who are close to him will always focus on other things nearby and miss seeing his face. Opportunity.

This is the characteristic of the perfection of martial arts. Flying flowers and picking leaves can hurt people, and it is no different from a grain of sand or a stone.

But this is a legend, it is not difficult to hurt people with grass blades, even the best experts can't do it without being noticed.

Meng Qi has always had this ability, and Mo Li asked about it, but it's a pity that Meng Qi himself couldn't explain it clearly.

After a long time, Mo Li even felt that this was the talent of Longmai.

The alchemists like to talk about the dragon's veins, busy looking for the dragon's veins, but the dragon's veins really appeared in front of their eyes, who recognized it?

"This Taoist is considered to be a bit skilled, but he doesn't seem to be the confidant of Patriarch Qingwu."

The Taoist and Xiao Daotong spoke in a very low voice. In such a noisy place, even Meng Qi couldn't hear what they were saying, but they didn't cover their mouths when they talked, and Meng Qi could tell the general meaning.

Mo Li originally planned to follow Zangfeng Temple to the messenger of Patriarch Qingwu, since this Taoist didn't intend to get involved in this disturbance, it was useless to keep an eye on it.

"Today, there are three or forty Taoist priests, monks, and witches who practice in the city. Only this one was invited by the government. The Tibetan Wind Temple really has a huge influence on the territory of Yongzhou."

After Meng Qi finished his judgment, he didn't make a decision, instead he asked Mo Li, "Doctor, where shall we go next?"

"Imperial Mausoleum."

Qiong County is small, but it is very special.

This is the ancestral home of Lu Zhang, the emperor of the Qi Dynasty, and it is said that some members of the Lu clan live here.

The Qi Dynasty ruled the world, and these tribesmen did not follow the chickens and dogs to heaven, but lived in fear in the Lujiazhuang outside the county seat, near the Zhuangzi was the imperial tomb built by the Qi Dynasty.

There are many troops stationed in the imperial mausoleum, and ordinary people are not allowed to approach it except members of the Lu clan.

So these Lu clan members lived a very hard life, no different from Shouling.

We can't complain yet, because the emperor's mausoleum is currently moved in by the ancestors of the Lu family, and who dares to complain to guard the mausoleum for their ancestors?

"Why did Lu Zhang do this?" Mo Li asked curiously.

After all, from Meng Qi's mouth, Lu Zhang is a very face-saving emperor. Although he usurped the throne, he never forgot to pull a fig leaf.The banner of the rebellion was that the emperor of the Chu Dynasty was mean and ungrateful.

The so-called king treats his ministers like brothers and feet, and the ministers regard the emperor as his heart;

In fact, it was Emperor Chu Yuan who did the best. Although the later Emperor Chu Ling treated his ministers badly, he was definitely worthy of General Lu Zhang. Commander of the General.

Lu Zhang deliberately made things vague. What the common people know, they only know the scriptures spoken in the teahouse, and only know that Jingyuanhou, who pacified the world, died inexplicably.

According to Meng Qi, after Lu Zhang became emperor, he set up Jinyiwei as a secret subordinate to limit the power of generals, and on the surface he was very tolerant and generous to his courtiers.

Not to mention gold, silver and jewelry, even elixir is given as soon as it is said, that's how Liu Dan was targeted by Master Meng.

"He likes to do superficial things so much, but he put the Lu family members under house arrest. People with a discerning eye can easily see the problem, but he doesn't care. Is this an enmity with the family?" Mo Li asked as he walked.

The people in Zhushan County don't even know the emperor's surname, so naturally they have no secret information about the emperor.

These days, the clan is very powerful.

In some villages, the ancestors fled and gathered together, and intermarried with each other.

Sometimes a village has only one surname, and they are all related by blood. What the elder Zong said is better than the government.If someone deviates from the clan, no matter how great the reasons are, he will be regarded as unfilial and disloyal in the eyes of the world.

Who would believe someone who doesn't even recognize their ancestors, who doesn't even take care of their blood relatives?

"The teacher said that these are all fallacies. The more such a clan is, the easier it is for dark things to happen." Mo Li recalled.

Qin Lu is a very contradictory person. He is a gentleman who upholds etiquette, but also a person who despises clichés. For Mr. Qin, etiquette is self-cultivation, not iron chains.People in the world should not bind themselves in those rules and regulations, just like everyone else.

With his hands behind his back, Meng Qi observed the people in the rivers and lakes on the side of the road, and said casually: "The doctor's guess is right. Lu Zhang and his clan not only have an enmity, but also have a big enmity!"

"Appreciate further details."

"He joined the army when he was young, gained military merits at the border, was promoted, and got mixed up in the capital step by step..."

In the middle of speaking, Meng Qi couldn't help but stop and judge, "This experience sounds similar to Liu Qiandai. No wonder Lu Zhang has a good opinion of him."

"We still have money." Mo Li gently reminded Meng Qi not to always worry about other people's money bags.

"Money, who would think too much?"

Meng Qi said, quite meaningfully, "I checked Liu Dan's background, although his family was poor, his parents died early, and his relatives could not be relied on, and he wanted to get ahead, so he had to join the army, seeking wealth and wealth. Compared with Liu Qiandai, Lu Zhang's youth was much more miserable. At that time, there were almost no foreign enemies in the Chu Dynasty, and he could not earn much military merit if he worked hard. If he hadn't married Shangguan's daughter later, he might not have been able to struggle to get ahead until he was defeated by Emperor Ling of Chu. An eye-catching official rank."

They went out of the city gate of Qiong County, twenty li to the east, and a memorial archway could be seen in the distance.

"The matter will start from this archway."

Lu Zhang's father died early, and his mother was forced to hang herself. The members of the Lu clan wrote a good article, and then reported it to the government as voluntary martyrdom.

Doing so can not only swallow up the dowry of the woman, lose the field property of the orphan and the child, but also earn a chastity memorial archway for the clan.

What is the function of the Chastity Archway?

The government's reward is not only a beautiful archway, but also tax relief or corvee for this family.

"...In short, it's all about money! The Lu family in Qiong County is not the first to do this, nor will it be the last." When Meng Qi said this, his expression was neither happy nor angry, as if he had seen it a lot. Such a tragedy.

Mo Li frowned deeply, and asked puzzledly, "Isn't there anyone who exposed it?"

"Historically only families with some background can do this, because not only do they have to brag about the virtues of a "frugal woman", but also how outstanding her husband who died early was, who was a good student and a man of integrity.

"I hired people to talk desperately in the four wilds and eight townships. In the end, a good article is indispensable. Those local officials often don't understand common affairs, and they rely on the article to pass the imperial examination. When they see a good article that is written with sincerity, they are very impressed. , so this is done.

"On the part of the officials and herdsmen, they want to be promoted. The filial son and the wife are also part of the evaluation of the Ministry of Officials. With it, it can prove that the place is managed very well. After all, the warehouse knows the etiquette, and the food and clothing are enough to know the honor and disgrace."

It is impossible to make a fuss about the death of a village woman.

Only the big family members in the countryside, farming and reading heirlooms, and even the county chronicles have records, it would be great.

If a chastity archway is erected, the county magistrate can also put his name in the county annals, and it is a good name for the imperial court to reward the local clan.

Meng Qi said in a deep voice: "The interests of so many people are involved, who will stand up for a dead man? A woman's husband's family and her mother's family can all be rewarded. If the closest person doesn't speak, who else can be? Some big clans want face , the selected married women are all widows without children, and if they have children, they still want to die, firstly, outsiders don’t believe it, and secondly, if the children grow up, if they are too promising, it will be troublesome.”

The current emperor of the Qi Dynasty, Lu Zhang, is undoubtedly the troublesome one who is too promising.

"...Doctor Mo has been in Zhushan County for a long time, and when your master traveled around the rivers and lakes, he mostly treated the poor people. I'm afraid he didn't know the face of the wealthy people in the village. Even if they forced people to die, they seldom personally Those who did it, the women in the family and the women they married were taught to be obedient early on. Even if they are not reconciled, they will not die if they insist on it. The clan will not strangle people to death, but It is to grind her slowly on all kinds of trivial matters until she is completely unrecognizable, so that the women in the family can see it clearly, so that they can't bear to look directly and feel afraid. In this way, the young woman of whose family After the husband died, he had no children to rely on. When the clansmen came to persuade him to die, they cried loudly and hung themselves on the beam. Everyone said that it is better to live than to die, but the fact is often the opposite. Thinking of living like that , is that people prefer to die early.”

Mo Li couldn't speak, he looked at the old archway in the distance, and said after a long time: "This custom still exists today? Under the rule of the Qi Dynasty, the government should not let the chastity archway be built again, right?"

"The government doesn't have to build an archway, but can it prevent widows from hanging themselves in the middle of the night?"

If a widow lives longer, how much of the family wealth left by her husband and her own dowry will be left after she eats and drinks until she is 70 years old?Naturally, it is better to die early, and the clan elders will divide the money.

Meng Qi looked solemn, and sighed: "Not only the Qi Dynasty forbade it, but also the Chu Dynasty later forbade the building of memorial archways. They even ordered to reprimand them several times, but the teacher came from nowhere. How should those women be punished if they died voluntarily? The scourge of the clan, You Sheng Man-eating beast."

Mo Li was silent for a long time, and Fang said: "This archway was given by the government of Chu Dynasty? Chu Dynasty is also on his hatred list?"

"No, this archway should belong to the Chen Dynasty. When Lu Zhang's mother died, the officials of the Ministry of Rites of the Chu Dynasty already knew about these disadvantages, and they no longer gave chastity archways easily, so they rejected it. It belongs to the daughters of martyrs, but to those old women who are famous in the country for doing good works, and women who have adopted children who are particularly prosperous."

Meng Qi lowered his voice, shook his head and said, "Lu Zhang's family wealth belongs to the clan elders and patriarchs. All the clansmen can enjoy is the reduction of money, food and corvee. They are full of expectations but they don't even have this. One can imagine the situation of Lu Zhang when he was young. .”

Mo Li found out speechlessly that in this matter, no matter whether Chu Chao gave the archway or not, there was something wrong in Lu Zhang's eyes.

The author has something to say:

The emperor of the Qi Dynasty wanted to talk about it because the plot in the later stage had a competition for the world [not] a court drama [theory of the imperial physician's disaster]

Of course, Lu Zhang rebelled not because he hated the Chu Dynasty, but he was born in a prosperous age and had no gratitude to the monarchs and ministers of the Chu Dynasty who created the world. This is the reason for his background, and people have various personalities.

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In this chapter, the two dragon veins walk in the voices of praying for rain and offering sacrifices to the dragon god.

Meng Qi: Ask for a ball!I have to find water to drink myself! !