Located in the east of Xuandemen Royal Street, the main gate of the Imperial City of Bianliang, the Great Xiangguo Temple, according to legend, is the former residence of the Duke of Wei Wuji - Xinling Jun, covering an area of more than 500 acres, with jurisdiction over 64 Zen monasteries, law institutes, more than 1,000 monks, is the largest temple in the Great Song Dynasty.

Because the Bianhe River flows through the front gate of the Daxiangguo Temple, and there are Yan'an Bridge and Zhou Bridge across the Bianhe River, a wharf has been formed here, and the superior location is coupled with the reputation of Yuanman. In normal times, there are many good men and women inside and outside Xiangguo Temple, burning incense and praying for blessings.

In this Spring Festival of the seventh year of Tiansheng, Bianliang City is full of people, shoulder to shoulder, a prosperous scene.

On the second day of the first lunar month, just after the end of the hour, there are many guards on both sides of the road from Yujie to Daxiangguo Temple, and both sides of the road are full of people watching the excitement at this time.

The people of Bianliang know that the second day of the new year is the day when the Liao envoy goes to the Great Xiangguo Temple to offer incense. But looking at today's battle, it seems that the Son of Heaven is on patrol, but the direction is the Great Xiangguo Temple, could it be that the Son of Heaven went to the Xiangguo Temple to worship the Buddha? Strange road: Today, the mountain gate of Daxiangguo Temple was also blocked by the imperial city guards, and I didn't see half of the idle people and so on.

After a while, the emperor's chariot went out of the Xuande Gate in the south of the palace, went to the royal street, and drove towards the Daxiangguo Temple, but it was followed by the frame of the envoys of the Liao State, the envoys of the Xia State and the envoys of Goryeo, Tubo, Qiuci and other countries.

At the same time, seeing the emperor of this dynasty and the envoys of various countries, it caused the surrounding people to talk and be very excited.

Since the time of Taejo, the appointment and resignation of the abbots of the various houses in the Daxiangguo Temple were directly decided by the emperor. Every time the abbot takes office, the imperial court sends the envoy to drop incense according to the routine, which is called "opening the hall for the country", and this Xiangguo Temple is a veritable "royal temple".

Therefore, the abbot of today's Daxiangguo Temple has been waiting in front of the temple to prepare to welcome the holy car, but there are many monks behind. On the plaque of the mountain gate, the four big characters of "Daxiangguo Temple" are the inscription of Taizu, and they are also wiped at this time.

After Emperor Zhao Zhen got off the chariot, he took a group of ministers and envoys from various countries, accompanied by the abbot, into the Great Xiangguo Temple. A burst of Sanskrit music resounded in the temple, it seemed solemn and solemn in the temple, this is the monks of the "Vimo Temple" playing music. Everyone stood in the middle of it, listening to the Sanskrit music, and at the end of the song, all eyes were pious, except for the Liao envoy who looked heroic, but his eyes were full of indifference.

This person is reminiscing about the dishes at the banquet after the Great Song Dynasty New Year's Day yesterday, especially one of the main dishes called "Dripping Crispy Crystal Fish", which is really delicious, of course, "Sheep in the Oven" and "Xuan Roasted Pork Skin" are also mouth-watering, and the dozens of dishes at the banquet are all delicious, thinking of this, he can't help but smack his lips.

"Third brother, don't make a mistake." The noble man on the side swept the corner of his eyes to the third brother and whispered. When the third brother heard this, he hurriedly put away his disrespectful attitude.

There are many halls such as the Tianwang Palace, the Daxiong Treasure Palace, the Octagonal Glazed Palace, the Tibetan Scripture Building, the Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Buddha in the Xiangguo Temple, the palace pavilion is solemn and gorgeous, the monk's room is lined up one after another, the east and west attics and the corridor stand opposite each other on both sides of the main hall, it is really a magnificent place.

There are famous paintings in each hall and on the surrounding corridors, but the most breathtaking thing is the mural of "Manjushri Vima Bodhisattva" of Wu Daozi, and the wall sculpture of five hundred Arhats of Yang Huizhi, who is "sculpted saint".

For a while, the voices of exclamation sounded one after another, looking at the looks of those envoys or reverence or envy, the accompanying ministers suddenly felt extremely complacent, and they all secretly said in their hearts, "The prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty does not stop here, it is really a small country with a short vision. ”

At this time, no one paid attention to the road, and Emperor Zhao Zhen, under the guidance of Master Puzhao, a senior monk in the temple, walked towards the backyard with Yan Wenying, a personal attendant. After Zhao Zhen and Master Puzhao entered the meditation room one after another, Yan Wenying guarded the door of the meditation room, and Zhao Zhen opened the door and walked into the inner room, while Master Puzhao sat cross-legged on the futon outside and closed his eyes to chant.

There was a middle-aged woman sitting quietly on the chair in the inner room, her face full of wind and frost looked like a person in her fifties, and she knew at a glance that she had lived a poor life for a long time, but her gentle temperament showed a kindness that had not been wiped out by the years.

The middle-aged woman sat upright on the chair, although she waited for a long time, her dignified posture still showed the good etiquette she had received, she looked at the figure who hurriedly walked into the inner room door and began to hesitate, her eyes were slightly red but she looked at the young man she hadn't seen for eighteen years with a smile, she thought, see her today, even if she dies immediately, she has no regrets.

Zhao Zhen stood at the door, quietly looking at the middle-aged woman, gradually his eyes turned from the beginning of the overwhelmed to warm, and suddenly turned to sadness, a moment later, he knelt at the feet of the middle-aged woman in a stride, hugged the man's legs with both hands, and buried his head in her arms, and called "A-Niang" in a low voice, and choked up.

The middle-aged woman suddenly heard this call, but tears dripped uncontrollably. Shaking his lips, he shouted, "Zhen'er." ”

A quarter of an hour later, there were three more people outside the door of the meditation room, and the Empress Dowager Liu E's henchman Luo Chongxun stood at the door with two small chamberlains, but this Luo Chongxun was kindly sent by the Empress Dowager to serve the official's family today.

"Father-in-law Yan, is the official family still in the meditation room?" Luo Chongxun asked Yan Wenying softly, he didn't pay attention to the bell in front of him, but he was thrown away by the official family, remembering the instructions of the Queen Mother before coming today, he hurriedly found the door of the meditation room, but at this time, he wondered why the official family came here alone.

As if to solve Cairo Chongxun's doubts, there was a question and answer in the meditation room.

"How is it a sentence of the moment?"

"A word is out of the sky, and Wan Qian Peak is in danger."

Zhao Zhen asked again: "What is a dangerous line?" But Wen Puzhao shouted, "Duh"!

Zhao Zhen asked: "In front of the emperor, why is it like this?" Puzhao said, "Don't let it go." ”

"How can it be to seize people without seizing the territory?"

"The thunder frightens the grass and sprouts, and the progress of the mountains is not delayed."

The official replied: "How can it be to seize the territory and not take the people?" He replied: "Wearing horns and hair, coming and going." ”

Ask: "How is it to win both worlds?" He replied: "When you go out of the world, the shadow of the flowing mountains is not real." ”

Ask: "How is it that people are not seized?" He replied: "There are no guests in the cold forest, and the sea listens to the dragon's song." ”

After a moment of silence in the meditation room, Zhao Zhen chuckled lightly and said, "Thank you, Master, for your order." ”

When the door opened, a young monk walked out of the meditation room, and whispered the Buddha's name to Zhao Zhen with his palms together and left. Luo Chongxun saw Zhao Zhen who came out later, and Fang let out a sigh of relief.

Then Luo Chongxun lowered his head and whispered a few words to the little chamberlain on the left, and the little chamberlain nodded and ran towards the front hall. Seeing that the official family had already walked towards the courtyard gate, he seemed to think of something again, and hurriedly whispered a few words to the little attendant on the right, and he followed the pace of the official, but the little attendant on the right stayed at the door of the meditation room and did not leave.

As the deputy commander of the guards, Liu Congguang, the deputy commander of the pro-army infantry army, is responsible for assisting in arranging the security guards in the palace and helping to protect the safety of the officials' families. At this time, the incense of the envoys of various countries was nearing the end, and at this time, a small chamberlain beside Luo Chongxun hurriedly ran over, tiptoed close to Liu Congguang's ear and didn't know what to say, Liu Congguang's expression immediately became serious.

Seeing that the official family led a few people away, the little attendant outside the meditation room looked left and right, and wanted to push his hand to the door of the meditation room, but at this time, a pleasant female voice came from the door, "But you want to come in and have a look?" The little chamberlain was stunned, but his hand stopped on the door, but he couldn't go up and down.

After the door was opened from the inside, a woman in a purple brocade robe stood proudly in the door, the little chamberlain did not expect this person, only glanced at it and hurriedly lowered his head, bowed down and said, "Princess Jin'an", then retreated to the side of the door, and did not dare to look up.

Although this princess is unassuming, everyone in the palace knows her, just because today's official family is quite close to her, and the princess is usually restrained and easy-going, and most palace people in the palace know this Huayi princess Zhao Xian.

Zhao Xian returned to her original dress today, she looked thoughtfully at the little attendant beside Luo Chongxun, and asked, "But you have to go in and search for it to rest assured?" ”

The little waiter hurriedly said that he didn't dare, and he didn't dare to stay in front of the door of the meditation room, and he bowed his head and retired after taking a few steps back.

After Zhao Zhen finished the Buddha, he left the Great Xiangguo Temple, and after boarding the chariot in the palace, the Xiangguo Temple began to open to ordinary people again, and more and more people poured into the temple to offer incense.

At noon, Zhao Xian was not in a hurry to leave the Great Xiangguo Temple, but walked towards the Tibetan Scripture Building. From the moment she left the backyard, she found that there were people hiding around her, she laughed secretly in her heart, and made up her mind to take the people who were staring at her in the shadows to visit this Xiangguo Temple.

"The little lady is polite." Zhao Xian, who was in front of the scripture building, heard the male voice behind her and slowly turned around.

The man behind him suddenly felt that his eyes lit up, and he saw that this woman's hair ornament was simple, her appearance was bright, and her black eyes were clear and clear, as if she could see each other's hearts at a glance.

The person who spoke was a young man in white clothes and a black crown, although he spoke Chinese fluently, but his dress and appearance, as well as the attendants who followed him in foreign costumes, were obviously not from the Great Song Dynasty.

Zhao Xian looked at the person in front of her indifferently, and said in a half-loud voice, "Prince of Xia Kingdom? ”

A woman stopped in front of the building, obviously interested in this scripture building, Li Yuanhao, the prince of Xia Kingdom, was originally curious, and couldn't help but call, but as soon as the woman opened her mouth, she revealed his identity, but it made him unexpectedly have an inquisitive heart for this woman, Li Yuanhao smiled and said, "The little lady knows about herself?" ”

Zhao Xian nodded, didn't answer, turned around and continued to walk forward.

"Can the little lady tell me Fang's name?" Li Yuanhao was stunned and hurriedly caught up and asked, in the Great Song Dynasty, it was obviously inappropriate for a man to ask a strange woman this question. But Li Yuanhao was originally from the Xia Kingdom, where the people were open, and all kinds of women responded to his requests for the prince, so he was unaware that this behavior was almost rude.

A man in scarlet clothes hurriedly came to meet him, and saw Li Yuanhao pestering Zhao Xian, his cold face became a little colder, he walked in front of Zhao Xian in a few steps, first hugged Li Yuanhao and said, "Prince Xia is polite", and then bowed down to Zhao Xian and said, "Princess Jin'an, now in the front halls, there are a lot of people who are incense, or let the lower officials guard the princess." ”

After hearing this, Zhao Xian lowered her head and thought for a moment, nodded slightly at Liu Congguang, and walked towards the back door of Xiangguo Temple with him, leaving Li Yuanhao in a daze, and after a while, he smiled and walked towards the back door.

Not far away, two men looked at this scene, and after standing for a while, one of the men with a heroic face smiled and said, "Big brother, that woman turned out to be the princess of the Great Song Dynasty, but she didn't have any sense of pretentiousness of the Song girl, but she was very charming." "This person is the person who thought of delicious food when he listened to Fanle before, and it was Yelu Zongyun, the king of Changsha County in Liao.

The eldest brother next to him, Yelu Zongzheng, the king of Zhongshan County of the Liao Kingdom, nodded, looked thoughtfully at the backs of those who were far away, and said, "The inside of the Great Song royal family does not seem to be calm, and the princess is actually staring at it."

From the beginning of the first month of the first month, because Kaifeng Prefecture allows the people to "Guan Pu" for three days, the so-called "Guan Pu" is a kind of gambling business with goods as bargaining chips, and everything such as food, vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, fruits, flowers, charcoal, silk, jewelry, clothes and shoes, combs, hats, toys, all kinds of department stores, and even the restaurant's meal card and liquor license, can participate in "Guan Pu", so the street can hear the shouting of "Guan Pu".

There is a group of people in the open space in front of the Great Xiangguo Temple, and the seller uses a horse as a bargaining chip to put "Guan Pu". Although the people of this dynasty were rich, it was not uncommon for most of the slightly wealthy families to have a few donkeys, but there were not many families who owned horses, and this horse-looking horse attracted many buyers.

However, how can buyers have sellers shrewdly, seeing that several buyers left the money to buy horses, but they couldn't even get a single horse hair, so they had to give up. There was a large crowd of enthusiastic spectators around, and the mountain gate of Xiangguo Temple was almost blocked.

At this time, the incense, the crowd watching Guan Pu was messily coaxing inside and outside the Xiangguo Temple, in and out of countless people, probably no one would notice that Zhao Xian's personal maid escorted a middle-aged woman, mixed in many incense women, and left the Xiangguo Temple in a soft sedan chair.