Gongsun Yu continued to stay in the Phoenix Ruins to recuperate, although the wound was healed, but the silver snake is an extremely venomous snake, not to be taken lightly, there was no antivenom replacement in ancient times, so it is better to recuperate for a period of time, and you can also enjoy the good time of the two people in the world with the junior sister Yi Susu, if you return to Chang'an, there is Lu Fu, then the feeling is different.

Yi Susu has also been sorting out the things in the hospital these days, of course, they can also help the neighbors to see a doctor by the way, and they have promised them before to come over every once in a while to help them see a doctor.

In this way, the two stayed in Phoenix Market for a month, and of course, the relationship between the two gradually warmed up, and there was a great close-up exhibition.

But it can't be left for too long from the Boji Medical Center, and Lu Fu will definitely not be able to withstand it by himself over there. Now the general illness Lu Fu can still be solved, but he can't do it if it's more complicated, Gongsun Yu has explained to him many times how to take the pulse, how to look, smell, and ask, but he still can't understand, according to his words, he has a headache when he encounters it.

So they decided to go back to Chang'an.

April day, early summer, it is said that April in the world is full of flowers, but it is also said that April is the most beautiful day in the world of the year, April day in the world.

Early in the morning, Gongsun Yu and Yi Susu once again said goodbye to their neighbors and left Phoenix Market and Zhongnan Mountain. Along the way, the fresh and cool wind blew in the face, which made people feel a hundred times more energetic, or because of the company of Yi Susu, Gongsun Yu felt that the leaves were extraordinarily green and the sky was extraordinarily blue.

Half a day has come to the southern suburbs of Chang'an City, in a place called Meihuawu, only to see a sea of people. Gongsun Yu and they also came forward to see the excitement, and saw that an eight-foot square four-way altar had been built in an open space, and there were eight green threads on the altar, which were arranged according to the direction of the gossip the day after tomorrow. In the middle is a table with sacrificial items such as raw fish and wine.

Gongsun Yu felt very curious, so he asked an old man next to him: "Uncle, what are you doing?" ”

"Young man, you don't know yet, this is a pheasant ceremony, it's April, and it hasn't rained yet, I'm afraid that there will be a big drought this year, so the court asked people to come and ask for rain."

Gongsun Yu realized that it was already summer, and there really hadn't really fallen a drop of rain yet.

There is a witch on the altar, dressed in a cyan robe, holding a long sword in his hand, kneeling in front of the desk to the north, reciting the blessing. After a while, after the recitation of the blessing, the witch Zhu got up and took out the long sword, stepped on the five elements of the gang, first raised the left foot, and then the right foot, so that one step, one front and one back, one yin and one yang, the beginning and the end are synchronized, and the feet are interlocked horizontally and straightly, and each other is like a T-shape.

Gongsun Yu was fascinated, and felt that Wu Zhu was very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, and thought about it, it turned out to be Lu Lian, who published the theory of yin and yang and five elements on the Bowang Pavilion during the Autumn Chrysanthemum Meeting last year. At this time, Gongsun Yu understood, he was recruited as a guest of the prince's door at that time, and I remember that Shi De asked him if he would bow at that time, and it turned out to be to let him come to the suburbs to pray for rain as he did today.

Gongsun Yu asked the old man next to him again: "Uncle, who is that witch zhu worshipping?" ”

"Of course, to pray for rain, you have to worship Gonggong to the north, Gonggong is the god of water, as long as the god of water is powerful, it will rain, and you have to choose to worship today and Hai, Hai belongs to water."

Gongsun Yu nodded as if he didn't understand. At this time, Lu Lian had finished worshipping, and hurriedly beckoned the people under the altar to put the eight green dragons made of clay in the open space in front of the Sitong altar, these eight green dragons, one is about eight zhang long, and the other seven are four zhang long, the eight zhang long green dragon is placed in the middle, and the remaining seven are placed side by side to the south, and the heads of the eight green dragons are placed to the south, and the interval between each green dragon is eight feet.

After the green dragon was placed, Lu Lian called eight men in green clothes to dance next to the green dragon. Of course, the dance danced by the men is also taught by Lu Lian, which is called the opening of yin and closing yang.

Gongsun Yu felt curious again, and continued to ask the old man: "Old man, then why do the heads of the eight green dragons all face south?" ”

"Young man, don't you know, there are four different ways to ask for rain, spring, summer, autumn and winter, it is already April, April belongs to summer, the five elements belong to fire, and fire belongs to the south, so the dragon head should be placed to the south."

"Thank you for your advice, I understand, if it is spring to ask for rain, then it is necessary to the east, because spring belongs to wood and belongs to the east."

After hearing what Gongsun Yu said, the old man nodded in agreement.

At this time, after the eight children finished dancing, Lu Lian and his assistant moved to a pre-hewn square pond on the edge of the ridge. The square pool, also called the toad pool, is eight feet square and one foot deep, and it is filled with water. Then the assistant put the five toads into the pool, and Lu Lian began to pray again, and saw him face the northern sky, open his arms, and chant words in his mouth, to the effect that the heavens should show compassion for the sufferings of the people in the world, and make a few heavy rains to relieve the drought.

After praying, Lu Lian began to walk the five elements again, and danced his sword while stepping, walking back and forth around the edge of the pool a few times before stopping.

While walking around the edge of the pond, Lu Lian also instructed the farmers to hold hoes in their hands to dredge the ditches in the fields and remove weeds from the ridges.

Finally, under the Sitong altar, in the north direction, a three-year-old rooster and a three-year-old boar were burned, and everyone also knelt down one after another, worshipping the water god to the north, praying for timely rain, otherwise this year's harvest is not good, how will the people live.

That's the whole process of asking for rain. Gongsun Yu continued to ask the old man next to him: "Uncle, is there this kind of sacrificial activity every year?" ”

"Basically, there will be, sometimes even several times a year, spring, summer, autumn and winter, not only to ask for rain but also to stop it."

"Then every time you ask for rain, will it work?"

Hearing this, the old man looked up at the sky and sighed: "It is still up to God to see if our sincerity can impress God. If you ask for rain in the summer, before asking for rain, those pots and pots and pestles should be burst for seven days in advance, if you are asking for rain in autumn, those witch wishes are more hard, in order to show sincerity to the sky, witch wishes need to burst for nine days, and then ask for rain, and ask for rain in winter, the scale is larger, I heard that the dragon dance will be carried out for six days, anyway, I have never seen the winter rain. ”

"There are so many rules for asking for rain, who made it, did the court set it?"

"Yes, the court is determined, I heard that it is the great Confucian Dong Zhong Shuding, there are many rules, today we see that the dancing are young men, if it is in the spring to ask for rain, the dancing needs children; If it is autumn to ask for rain, there are stricter rules for dancing, and widowers are required to dance; I heard that praying for rain in winter is more strict, and the old man needs to jump. ”

"There are so many rules for dancing alone, so shouldn't the whole set of rules for praying for rain be written all over the bamboo slips."

"Of course, there is also the stop of rain, and there are more rules."

Another strong man next to him heard Gongsun Yu and the old man talking about asking for rain, and also stepped forward and said: "Look at the eight green dragons, they need to be molded with clean soil on the day or the day of the child, the soil must be pure, there can be no miscellaneous things, the earth dragon must be covered before it is molded, so that it can see the light of day." ”

A hunchbacked middle-aged man standing in front also turned around and whispered with a smile: "I heard that there are even more strange rules, such as asking for rain on Gengzi Day, stipulating that all husbands and wives of officials and ordinary people should have the joy of bed that night, which is intended to damage the yang and make up for the yin, drought is yang and rain is yin." ”。

Everyone laughed when they heard it.

At this time, Yi Susu's face turned red after hearing this, and she hurriedly urged Gongsun Yu to rush back to Chang'an City as soon as possible.