Under the green hills, by the ancient road; Trees are lined with trees, and grass is green. Walking inside, the ancient trees are jagged, overgrown with weeds, and the eyes are full of barrenness. The forest is quiet, with occasional bird calls, but no one is inhabited. Looking deeper, a temple is faintly visible in the green smoke of the mountain.

Walk through the artemisia grass and come to the temple. The temple is secluded and sparsely populated. Push open the temple door and walk into the hall, a monk in the hall sits quietly to worship the Buddha, and a pilgrim kneels down and prays. There is no one else.

The pilgrim closed his eyes and bowed in front of Guanyin Bodhisattva, and did not get up for a long time. He seemed to have many troubles in his heart, and he seemed to have many wishes. After a long time, the man slowly opened his eyes, finally straightened up, and looked up at the Bodhisattva calmly.

"The donor wants to draw lots?" The monk asked busily.

The pilgrim thought for a moment and nodded, "It's okay." ”

The pilgrim knelt and held the stick, shook it a few times, and the "whoosh" sound of the shaker was endless, and then a "bang" fell down a sign - the nineteenth lot.

The poem says:

The boat is released from the rapid water beachhead, and the storm is what to do.

If you want to be safe and quiet, wait for the waves to pass this crisis.

The pilgrim was silent, as if he had an understanding in his heart, and seemed to be puzzled. Seeing this, the monk took the opportunity to say, "Can the donor release the signature?" ”

The pilgrim nodded, got up and handed the sign to the monk. After the monk took the sign, he looked at it for a long time before he said: "This hexagram boat is like a rapid, and everything is kept in the past." I don't know what the donor wants to ask for? ”

The monk's most common question made the pilgrim frown, as if he didn't know what he wanted to ask. In the end, he said inexplicably, "I just want to ask about an ending." ”

The monk did not question the benefactor's ambiguous statement, he closed his eyes and calculated: "The outcome of the matter may be beyond everyone's expectations. ”

The pilgrim wonders, and there are only two endings in the heart: either forgive or not forgive. How can there be a third ending? Therefore, he questioned: "In my opinion, I am afraid it is a dead end." ”

"Donor, don't you know that the mountains and rivers are poor and there is no way out, and the willows and flowers are bright and another village." The monk explained.

The pilgrim smiled wryly and did not answer.

Seeing his disbelieving expression, the monk smiled and said, "The poor monk has a relationship with the donor, write a poem and give it to the donor." With a stroke of the pen, he handed the note to the man when he had finished writing.

The pilgrims were amazed and looked at the unsightly monk in disbelief.

The monk let the pilgrims look at him back and forth, "Little benefactor, don't you remember the poor monk?" ”

※※※※※

In the fourteenth year of Yongkang, on the second day of the third month, in a quiet small temple, An'er and Li Hongyi officially worshipped.

The chance encounter next to the stable made the two unrelated people meet each other, and they fell in love with each other. In just a few days that followed, they decided that the other party was their lifelong brother, especially after Li Hongyi heard the story of Taoyuan's righteousness, he also wanted to learn from Liu Guanzhang and the others, and was willing to make an oath in front of the Bodhisattva to marry An Eryi Jinlan.

Originally, according to Li Hongyi's arrogant personality, he just found a place to worship. But An'er said that swearing is a major event, and you have to choose an auspicious place and make a solemn oath in front of the Bodhisattva. Hong Yi felt reasonable, so he asked An'er to check the date of the yellow calendar, and he himself wanted to find a so-called "good place".

The date was soon set, the second day of March. As for the location, Li Hongyi said that the Guanyin Temple was chosen. An'er was suspicious, he generally chose Guandi Temple for worship, why did he go to Guanyin Temple? However, Li Hongyi swore an oath: "Don't worry, that Guanyin temple is very spiritual, very good." ”

An Er glanced at Hong Yi suspiciously, and with a trace of doubt, she went with him to the very good Guanyin Temple.

The two walked through the lively bazaar, crossed a few long bridges, and walked all the way west along the ancient road. It's not going to be out of town, is it? ”

"I didn't go out of the city gate, but on the edge of a hill in the city." Li Hongyi took the lead in leading the way, pointing to the front and saying to An'er, "Look, it's right there, it's almost there." ”

An'er tiptoed to look, how could there be any temple, not even a shadow.

Finally, after walking for a long time, I finally found the temple at the foot of the green mountain, deep in the forest.

There are very few monks in the temple, and even fewer people come to worship the Buddha. As soon as An'er saw this temple, her mood plummeted.

"There are so many temples in the city, why are you here? And this temple is too dilapidated, the incense must not be good. An'er looked around with disgust, and said in her heart, this is the legendary very good and spiritual temple?

"There are few people here, it's not crowded, we can take our time and worship the people. And ......," Li Hongyi whispered in his ear beside An'er, "I am familiar with the monks here, so I can get rid of sesame oil money." ”

"Are you short of money? I have. ”

"You have? Just make you a little scholar, how much money can you make? Li Hongyi obviously did not believe it.

"I have it at home, and I got a lot of silver tickets when I ran away from home."

"Your family is so rich, why did you want to run away?"

An'er's eyes were gloomy when she heard this, and Li Hongyi guessed: "Is it because your father beat you?" ”

As soon as she heard the word "father", An'er seemed to be stimulated by something, and she was furious, "He is not my father, I don't have a father." ”

And Li Hongyi seemed to be stimulated, and then yelled: "What nonsense, he gave birth to you is your father." ”

An Er said: "If you don't have a child, I don't recognize him." ”

"I'm still an orphan, I really want to have a father, even if he beats me, I'll admit it."

"Are you an orphan?" An Er was shocked, it was the first time he heard Li Hongyi talk about his life experience.

Li Hongyi was quiet and said calmly: "Yes, I was adopted by King An since I was a child and have been living in the palace. I don't know who my parents are, and I don't know if they are alive or dead. ”

It turned out that he was fatherless, motherless, and alone. An'er looked at Li Hongyi with a little pity and was full of emotion.

At this moment, both of them were silent, Li Hongyi looked lonely, and An'er was ashamed, so the two were silent together.

Until a small monk came and greeted Li Hongyi: "Little benefactor, here again?" ”

"Yes, I'm here to worship the boy." After that, he put his arm around An'er's shoulder and introduced, "This is my brother, An'er." ”

"Righteousness? Very good. The little monk was also happy for the two of them, and said with a smile, "If you are a brother, why bother with flesh and blood." ①”

An'er corrected: "Acquaintances are getting to know each other, why bother with flesh and blood." ②”

The little monk looked at An'er thoughtfully, guessing that An'er might have a tense relationship with his own brother, so he sighed "Why bother with flesh and blood".

And Li Hongyi stood there stupidly, because he didn't understand a word of the two poems just now.

Then the little monk prepared the supplies for them to worship, Li Hongyi and An Er knelt in front of the Bodhisattva, took the incense stick handed by the little monk, and officially began to burn incense. The little monk stood aside and became the only witness to witness the two of them bowing their knots.

According to the oath that had been drafted before, the two said in unison: "Liu An and Li Hongyi are now brothers here." Drain your liver and gall, and never give up. Share honor and disgrace, life and death. But if you violate this oath, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed! ”

After the oath, An'er and Li Hongyi looked at each other and smiled, and at the same time cut their fingers, and blood drops dripped into the glass. Then he picked up the wine glass and drank it all.

After the completion of the prayer, the two of them will be brothers in this life and this life, and no matter what the road ahead, they must not violate their oath today.

Then An'er asked, "I'm twelve this year, what about you?" ”

Li Hongyi laughed heartily after hearing this, "I'm thirteen, and you're going to call me brother in the future." ”

An'er saluted Li Hongyi and shouted, "Brother." ”

Li Hongyi patted An'er on the shoulder and smiled: "From now on, they will be brothers, share blessings and hardships!" ”

An'er was both relieved and sad when she heard this, siblings are not as good as brothers with different surnames. It's really the same root, why is it too anxious to fry each other?

※※※※※

The people in the capital were in a panic, but they still didn't find Prime Minister Shao An. The emperor suddenly remembered that Hong Yi had mentioned to him the small temple that he had sworn with Shao An. So the emperor went out of the palace in micro-clothes, and with the description of Hongyi back then, he found the green mountain.

When the carriage came to a rough mountain road, it had to stop because the mountain road was too narrow and potholed to drive.

"Master, the road ahead is rough, and the car can't pass." Chen Gonggong respectfully approached the car window to report.

The emperor lifted the heavy curtain and looked at the road ahead, "Get out of the car and walk." ”

Gonggong Chen looked at the emperor worriedly, "Master, it's freezing this day, and the mountain road is difficult to walk, if there is anything, how can a slave afford it." Please stay in the car and let the minions go to Shao Xiang. ”

The emperor shook his head, looked up at the corner of the temple hall that was faintly revealing not far away, and said with a smile: "I want to go in person and see the place where the two of them married when they were young." ”

The emperor walked all the way to the gate of the temple, and when he looked out of the door, he saw that although the temple was simple, it was very clean and tidy. There were only two people in the main hall, the pilgrim and the monk.

The pilgrim was looking down at the note, and in contemplation he heard footsteps from far and near. He turned around in surprise and saw the emperor dressed in a black micro-robe, walking in style, with Gonggong Chen following closely behind.

The emperor also saw the pilgrim's face clearly at this time, and the pilgrim was Shao An.

The emperor waved his hand, retreated from everyone, entered the hall alone, walked quickly to Shao An and said to him, "Don't go." ”

Shao An's surprised gaze fell into the emperor's eyes, and he smiled again. He nodded with a smile and handed the note to the emperor.

The emperor unfolded the note, and there was only one poem on it, the poem said: Landing as a brother, why bother with flesh and blood.

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(1) Landing as brothers, why bother with flesh and blood. From: Tao Yuanming's "Miscellaneous Poems: Life Without Roots", which means that everyone in the world should be regarded as brothers, why should biological siblings be able to go on a blind date?

(2) Acquaintances are in each other's acquaintances, why bother with flesh and blood. From "The Ballad of Konghou", which means that a close friend is closer than a flesh and blood relative.