Chapter 158 Pei Lingxi

Mount Zhongnan is located south of Chang'an. It is the middle section of the Qinling Mountains and stretches for hundreds of miles.

When the Tang Dynasty was established, Laozi was revered as the "ancestor" of the Li family, and this was used to promote the idea that "kings' power is granted by God."

At the same time, in order to gain the support of the imperial court, Taoism frequently created signs of the appearance of Laozi to please the court.

The Tang emperor acknowledged these so-called miracles, and as a result, more Taoist temples appeared in famous mountains and rivers, with Mount Zhongnan being the most famous.

The common people in Chang'an all knew the story of "Live as Long as the Southern Mountains". The "Zhongnan Shortcut" that appeared in this dynasty made people think that Zhongnan Mountain was a "celestial mountain and blessed land". In this respect, no other celestial mountain in the world is as famous as Zhongnan Mountain. Even Huashan Mountain and Songshan Mountain are inferior to it.

Since Mount Zhongnan is close to Chang'an and is a famous Taoist mountain, and there is a vast plain area between Mount Zhongnan and Chang'an, so there is no need to climb mountains or cross ridges, both kings and nobles and ordinary people favor this place.

The Taoist temples here are basically built at the foot of the mountain, or in valleys near flat roads, making it convenient for people to come.

There are even many manor villas of princes and nobles around, where they come for vacation and entertainment.

But many true hermits would build thatched huts in the mountains and live as poor landlords.

Li Xuan led more than ten personal guards including Luo Xing and Liao Zhengrong, and traveled lightly to Yishou County on the southeast foot of Mount Zhongnan.

Here is the famous Taibai Peak of Zhongnan Mountain.

Li Mi lived in seclusion in this area.

A few days ago in Chang'an, someone said that they had seen Li Mi at Taibai Peak, so Li Xuan wanted to come and pay a visit.

If possible, invite Li Mi to be your subordinate.

He needed an excellent staff to give him advice, not just military and local affairs like Liu Yan and Yang Wan.

It also involves the court and personal aspects.

Before that, Li Xuan was going to come to Zongsheng Temple to burn incense and pray for Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan.

After all, I've already said it before, so I still have to pretend to do it.

In the early morning, there was a thin mist and it was a little cool. After leaving the inn, we headed towards Zongsheng Temple.

Along the way, willows are like smoke, flowers are in full bloom, and pines and cypresses are lush and green. This road has obviously been decorated.

There are a lot of cars on the road, but not all of them come to Zongsheng Temple to pray. There are other Taoist temples and even many Buddhist temples located around it.

After about an hour, the group arrived at Zongsheng Temple.

"Qilang, the environment here is very good!"

When Luo Xing saw the scenery here, he praised Li Xuan.

The scenery here is beautiful and the environment is quiet. The mountains behind are majestic and towering, like waves, and there is a stream flowing down the valley, like silk and jade, gurgling.

There is a lake in front of the temple that looks like a mirror.

As they rode on their horses, they could vaguely see pavilions, towers, and palaces everywhere, like a fairyland.

"It's good..."

Li Xuan just nodded slightly.

Legend has it that in the Spring and Autumn Period, Yin Xi lived here with grass and waited for Laozi.

There is also a legend that Laozi lectured on the Tao Te Ching here.

In the early Tang Dynasty, Zongsheng Temple was built in the form of a palace, and it was the first palace-style Taoist temple in the world.

Even in the first year of Tianbao, Zhuozhi County was changed to the current Yishou County because of the existence of Zongsheng Temple.

Li Xuan did not enter the temple directly, but handed over his identity and asked the Taoist boy to notify the master of the temple.

Although Zongsheng Temple is not an imperial Taoist temple, like many imperial Taoist temples, the abbot of Zongsheng Temple has an official position, and some are even given an actual job and serve the royal power.

Li Xuan wanted to let the abbot of Zongsheng Temple know that he came to pray for Li Longji and Yang Guifei.

"Greetings, General. I didn't know you were coming. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. I hope you can forgive me!"

The abbot of Zongsheng Temple bowed to Li Xuan in front of the courtyard gate.

He is Fan Yun, a disciple of the famous Taoist Zhang Tanxuan.

After Zhang Tanxuan's death, Fan Yun was appointed as the new abbot of Zongsheng Temple. Li Longji appointed him as the Doctor of the Imperial Household.

"Master, there is no need to be so polite. I am here in plain clothes only to pray with the Saint and the Concubine. Please make the arrangements! There is no need to alarm others."

Li Xuan said to Fan Yun.

To be honest, he thought that the abbot of Zongsheng Temple was a great man with an immortal appearance.

But he didn't see this kind of demeanor in Fan Yun.

He came here just to make a transit, and after burning incense, Li Xuan would leave.

"According to custom, we should pray for the saint and the imperial concubine in the early morning when the purple air comes from the east. This way we can gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and bring good fortune to ourselves."

Fan Yun replied to Li Xuan.

Although Li Xuan only brought his trusted attendants and no officials with him, he did not dare to slack off at all.

Although he was the abbot of the temple, he was not out of touch with worldly affairs. He knew that the man in front of him was the most trusted minister of the saint, who had hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command and came to pray for the saint and the concubine, so he could not neglect him.

"Yes! All right. Please ask the abbot to prepare a place for us to stay and hold a blessing ceremony tomorrow morning."

Since there are rules, then we should follow them. Li Xuan doesn't mind waiting for one more day.

"General, please! The Taoist temple will be temporarily closed tomorrow morning. I see Qingshanzi is Baiyunzi's disciple and is proficient in the art of praying for blessings. He will be invited to preside over the ceremony tomorrow and accompany the other Taoists."

The Taoist boys took Li Xuan's horse away and invited Li Xuan into the temple.

Bai Yunzi is Sima Chengzhen, whom even Li Longji respected very much.

A Taoist temple like Zongsheng Temple must have a famous Taoist priest in charge.

Accompanied by Fan Yun, Li Xuan climbed the stairs and entered the Taoist temple.

The residence that Fan Yun arranged for Li Xuan was a quiet place with deep forests, secluded valleys and lush bamboo trees.

After explaining some matters concerning prayer to Li Xuan, Fan Yun temporarily excused himself to prepare for tomorrow's prayer.

Li Xuan did not stay at his residence. He planned to take a tour around the Taoist temple. A young Taoist priest led the way for him, and he only let Liao Zhengrong and Luo Xing follow him.

He visited many palaces and pavilions including the Taiqing Palace.

There is an endless stream of incense burning in the various halls.

There is no need to pay any money when burning incense at Zongsheng Temple. If the rich and powerful are happy, they can leave some extra money.

The annual rewards given by the imperial court to Zongsheng Temple were far from enough to be used up.

Moreover, there are still many fields in Zongshiguan at the foot of Mount Zhongnan.

"Crash..."

"This stream comes from the mountain spring in the valley. It is called Lingxi. We in Zongsheng Temple all drink the water of Lingxi!"

The young Taoist priest introduced a stream to Li Xuan.

"Really? Then I'll try it!"

When Li Xuan arrived at the stream, he found that the entire stream was full of spring water, which was rare in the world.

"Wow..."

He squatted down and fiddled with it with his hand. He immediately felt cold and a sense of clarity surged through his body.

Only mountain springs can be so cold and refreshing in the summer.

Of course, Li Xuan didn't go to drink. If he wanted to drink, he would go upstream.

He just squatted down to wash his face.

"Hey! Why are you like this..."

Just when Li Xuan was washing her face with the Lingxi water, a pleasant sound suddenly came from upstream of Li Xuan.

It was a young lady accusing a young man in a red robe.

"Does the young lady like me? But I already have a wife, so it would be nice to have her as a concubine."

The red-robed young man responded with a smirk on his face, as if he knew nothing about it.

His eyes swept over the young lady.

"Don't be so self-indulgent!"

The young lady sneered, pointed at the red-robed young man, and shouted to the people beside the Lingxi River, "He vomited in the Lingxi River, and you are still washing your faces?"

The faces of the pilgrims beside Lingxi changed drastically. The Taoist temple is a solemn and quiet place, and Lingxi is famous for its sacredness. How could this be possible?

However, seeing that the young man in red robe was followed by two servants in green robe, they knew he was obviously not someone to be trifled with, so they could only secretly despise him and did not dare to accuse him to his face.

"You're quite aggressive, young lady. I like this type of person! You're well dressed. Whose family are you from? I'll have someone take you in!"

Seeing the young lady shouting, the red-robed young man laughed instead of getting angry.

He even reached out to grab the young lady.

The young lady was so frightened that her face turned pale and she dodged repeatedly.

Just when the red-robed youth was about to catch the young lady, Li Xuan's side went into a rage. Luo Xing and Liao Zhengrong immediately ran to the red-robed youth and shouted, "You bastard, do you want to die?"

They watched the general washing his face in Lingxi River and even dared to spit into the river. Who were they trying to disgust?

"Who dares to meddle in other people's business?"

The red-robed young man shouted indifferently.

His two servants immediately rushed forward to protect their master.

Luo Xing had been on the battlefield with Li Xuan for many years and was already very brave.

Not to mention Liao Zhengrong, the number one swordsman in Helong.

Even without taking out the sword, it is easy to deal with a slave.

Luo Xing and Liao Zhengrong went there to beat up the young man in red, so they started fighting as soon as they met.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Luo Xing threw a servant over his shoulder and sent him flying.

Similarly, Liao Zhengrong also used a double-leg kick to kick a servant away.

The red-robed young man was so scared that he turned and ran away.

But how could Luo Xing let him run away? He flew over and kicked him in the back, knocking him over.

When the young Taoist priest who followed Li Xuan saw the fight breaking out, he immediately ran away to inform the temple master.

Although there are many Taoists in Zongsheng Temple, they are good at cultivating their moral character and few of them can fight.

"Clap!"

"Are you a bad mouth?" Luo Xing rode on the red-robed young man and slapped him twice.

"You bastard, you dare to hit me? Do you know who I am?"

The young man in red robe refused to accept the decision and decided to report to the police to have them arrested.

He just spat into the water and these people beat him up.

"Do you know who my husband is?"

"Clap!"

After saying that, he slapped him twice more.

The people around were stunned.

Although this young man in red robe is disgusting, but this kind of fight happened in Zongsheng Temple. Isn't he afraid of being arrested?

The young lady was also very scared. Although the young man in red robe was swearing, if they fought, they would be arrested by the soldiers.

Lingxi holds a very important position in her heart, so when she saw the red-robed young man spitting into Lingxi, she criticized him loudly.

Moreover, there was clearly someone washing their face below, yet he was still doing this. It was so disrespectful.

"stop!"

At this time, a noble lady dressed in brocade came here. When she saw her son being beaten, she screamed.

But Luo Xing didn't listen to her at all. He still rode on the red-robed young man, ready to continue playing with him.

"Luo Xing, come down..."

It was only after Li Xuan gave an order that Luo Xing gave up.

He actually didn't have much of a problem. He just thought that this was too low quality, so he indulged Luo Xing and Liao Zhengrong.

Can't you just spit on the ground? Why do you have to spit in the spiritual stream of the Taoist temple?
And why did he vomit when he was washing his face in the water?

Maybe there is a devout believer downstream who holds the spring water and drinks it directly?
"How dare you hit my Wu Lang? Who gave you the courage?"

The lady immediately stepped forward to support him, and was furious to see her son had been beaten black and blue.

But she only had two maids with her, so she couldn't fight back. So she ordered the maids, "Quickly notify the Yishou magistrate, arrest them all and take them back to Chang'an!"

"Madam, he was the one who vomited into Lingxi first. It has nothing to do with them."

The young lady had earlier advised the lady not to report the matter to the police.

If the matter is reported to the police, Luo Xing and Liao Zhengrong will be held responsible.

There is no law that says spitting in water is illegal.

"Mother, she is in cahoots with them, arrest her too."

When the red-robed young man saw his mother coming, he regained his confidence and pointed at the young lady and said.

In his opinion, he was beaten because of this young lady, and he must take this young lady as his concubine.

There are not many young ladies as beautiful as her in Chang'an.

"We are not in the same group, but what you did is wrong."

The young lady quickly shook her head and denied it.

"gone!"

Li Xuan glanced at the arrogant noblewoman and ignored them.

There are many noble ladies like this in Chang'an, and they become arrogant once they leave Chang'an.

"Stop them quickly!"

Upon seeing this, the noble lady immediately shouted at the fallen servant.

But the two servants were miserable!
Luo Xing and Liao Zhengrong are too powerful, and with their martial arts skills, they can't be stopped at all!
But their master had ordered them to do so, so they had no choice but to get up.

The young lady was so scared that she quickly ran to Li Xuan, and her coachman was still waiting outside the temple!
"If you dare to come up, I will kill you."

Seeing that these blue-clothed servants dared to come up, Luo Xing shouted.

The blue-clothed servants were afraid of the power of Luo Xing and Liao Zhengrong and did not dare to enter.

The noble lady was furious but helpless. She could only hope that the county magistrate would bring his troops quickly and not let them escape.

"You guys should leave quickly! My grandfather is the Yishou Order. If he catches you, I will ask him to beat you gently!"

The young lady revealed her identity and asked Li Xuan to take Liao Zhengrong and Luo Xing away quickly.

"We didn't do anything wrong, why should we leave? But you are alone, go home quickly!"

Li Xuan looked at the young lady and said.

She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a green skirt, with two buns on her hair, and delicate facial features.

Although among all the beauties Li Xuan had seen, none of them could compare to Changli's beauty, she was somewhat different from the others.

She was very bright, with a pair of pure black eyes, like a pool of autumn water, extremely clear, and there was a scholarly air in her brows.

"According to the Law of Litigation, both of them should be flogged forty times. The man spitting in the water is not against the law."

The young lady understood some laws and told Li Xuan the seriousness of the fight.

"But we didn't beat him up because of what he did. We saw that he wanted to bully you and rob you, so we tried to stop him!"

Li Xuan had plenty of reasons to refute. Even if he didn't use his status to pressure them, they wouldn't be able to gain any advantage.

"That's it!"

The young lady blushed, thought for a moment, and then said, "That won't work either. If they are powerful people, you are not in the right!"

"Young lady, look at my clothes. Do I look like an ordinary person?" Li Xuan asked the young lady with a smile.

"It doesn't look like it!"

The young lady looked at the tall and handsome Li Xuan, who wore a jade pendant with a flying bird holding a flower around his waist and carried a sword.

She remembered that those who carried swords on the street were all officials.

Even the sons of princes and nobles cannot do this, let alone bring the sword to Zongsheng Temple.

But Li Xuan is so young and doesn’t look like an official.

Is it...

"Put your sword away immediately. If the county soldiers see you carrying a sword in public, they will punish you."

The young lady immediately said to Li Xuan.

"Your grandfather is the Yishouling. I remember that the Yishouling is the second son of Master Pei?"

Li Xuan did not respond and asked the young lady a different question.

As early as when he was in Chang'an, he had learned about the county magistrates around Chang'an and wanted to see which other famous officials there were besides Yan Zhenqing.

Li Xuan remembered Yishou Ling very clearly. Pei Fan, the second son of Pei Yaoqing, a famous prime minister during the Kaiyuan period.

Although Pei Yaoqing was not from Wenxi, he was also a branch of the Wenxi Pei family.

During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, the Pei family of Wenxi had many ministers, which were far inferior to those of the Five Surnames and Seven Famous Clan, the Hongnong Yang family, the Hedong Xue family, and the "Wei Du in the south of the city, five feet away from the sky" and other well-known aristocratic families.

But the big families have already split up, and some have moved away from Wenxi for many years and are living their own lives.

If Li Xuan were not here, Pei Kuan and Pei Dunfu would be fighting each other to the death, making things difficult for Li Linfu.

There were also veterans like Pei Xianxian who stayed in the eastern capital Luoyang and did not care about fighting.

"Yes! My name is Pei Lingxi."

The young lady admitted it generously, and pointed to the Lingxi River in Zongsheng Temple and said, "It's this Lingxi River!"

"Your name is quite interesting!"

Li Xuan couldn't help laughing.

"My mother gave birth to me in the house in front of this spiritual stream, so I have this name."

Pei Lingxi explained to Li Xuan.

That was why she stopped the red-robed young man from vomiting into Lingxi just now.

She felt that this place was destined for her, she liked Lingxi very much and came here from time to time.

"Good name!"

Li Xuan praised.

In this era, women's names were not as solemn as men's. Just like Princess Anle, when she was born, Li Xian wrapped her in clothes, so she was named Li Guoer.

There are many examples similar to Pei Lingxi and Li Guoer.

"Why are you saying this? You should just leave now."

Pei Lingxi once again persuaded Li Xuan to leave quickly.

After her grandfather died, their line declined.

Moreover, her grandfather had not been prime minister for more than a decade, the political situation in the court was changing, and her family was not very distinguished.

"General..."

At this moment, Fan Yun, the abbot of Zongsheng Temple, hurried over, bringing with him a group of strong Taoists.

Upon learning that the general had started a fight with someone, he put down his work and immediately called his disciples.

Although it is said that the general has the courage and strength to match ten thousand men, he must not be allowed to suffer any losses.

"General, are you okay?"

After Fan Yun came over, he asked cautiously.

Pei Lingxi next to him covered her mouth with her hands. She couldn't understand why Li Xuan was called the general.

General, and also increased. Only the generals of the sixteen guards have such qualifications.

Moreover, she often came to Zongsheng Temple and recognized that this was the abbot of Zongsheng Temple. Usually, when princes and nobles came, they had to be respectful.

"It's okay! But tomorrow we will pray for the saint, and it's not good for someone to spit in this spiritual stream."

Li Xuan waved his hand and described this as blasphemy.

"How can this be possible! Lingxi is the holy water that Taiqing Daozu drank, and it is the sacred thing of Zuguan. I will definitely report it to the saint and punish such people."

After hearing this, Fan Yun spoke righteously.

As they were talking, the noble lady came nearby with the young man in a red robe.

(End of this chapter)