Thousand Miles of Bright Moonlight

The day before the performance festival, Ashina Bisuo sent Yaoying back to pick up the jewels and jade from the Hushang.

"They killed the slaves for no reason, and they were at fault. The Fang City Office has found out the cause, but Xie Peng injured someone and the fine cannot be returned."

Yaoying was a little surprised, thanked Bi Suo.

Bi Suo shrugged her shoulders and said: "The laws of the royal court are not as rigorous and detailed as the Central Plains. Merchants can kill slaves and maids at will. After a few prohibitions, the king still can't stop this evil until the regent kills. Only a few nobles who took pleasure in the killing of slaves have constrained a little. This is still in the royal court, with the enlightenment of the king. In other city-states, the lives of a sheep are not as good as a sheep."

Yaoying sighed softly.

In troubled times, whether in the Central Plains or outside the region, this has always been the case, and human lives are like weeds.

In the Western Regions, not only the Han people were bullied, the tribes annexed each other, and many tribes were driven by the enslavement of other tribes, and their lives were not as good as pigs and dogs.

The Central Plains needed a strong and unified dynasty, and so did the Western Regions.

Bi Suo clapped his hands, and the two maids walked into the yard in response, holding a box in their hands.

"I didn't think well that day, and the princess's clothes were stained. These are what I specially prepared for the princess."

Bi Suo pointed to the box and said with a smile.

Yaoying declined and said, "The general ran for me. I haven't thanked the general yet, so I dare not let the general spend money."

Bi Suo waved her hand and interrupted her: "If the princess wants to thank me, tomorrow at the Acting Festival, men, women and children in the city will wear costumes to pay homage to the Buddha. How about the princess accompany me to the Buddhist temple for the puja? The princess hasn't visited the holy city yet. It just so happens that I can do my best as a landlord."

Yaoying hesitated for a moment. Ashina Bisuo worked hard for her these days. She deserved to thank him, and after the Fa conference they were going to go to Gao Chang together, nodded and agreed. She is inconvenient to go out and walk around. If there is Bi Suo, a nobleman in the royal court, Xue Yan should not dare to provoke her.

Bi Suo immediately smiled brightly: "I asked the maid to prepare the princess's festive dress. The princess will try to put it on. If it doesn't fit, let them change it again."

After speaking, he said, "This is the clothes tailored to the size of the princess. The princess must not be polite with me. The princess is the king's guest, and is my guest."

Seeing Yaoying's eyes drooping, he seemed to be thinking of a reason for rejection. He raised his thick eyebrows and deliberately raised his face: "Does the princess really want to see me sad?"

Yaoying smiled, thanked him, and motioned to the soldier to pick up the box, but instead of going back to the house to put on new clothes, she asked about another thing.

"The regent Sultan Gu that I saw on the tower that day was a follower of the Buddha?"

Bi Suo's eyes flickered, nodded, and smiled: "Did the regent scared the princess? The princess doesn't need to be afraid of him. He distinguishes rewards and punishments, and he is very loyal to the king."

Yaoying was indeed frightened by Sultan Gu. In the past few days and nights, she always dreamed of the scene of him cutting off the head of the bandit with a knife. That thin and tall figure was ruthless and murderous, just like a Yaksha.

She wakes up in her dream, and a question arises in her heart: After the death of Tamaraga, the royal court was destroyed, where is the Sultan as the regent? He is in charge of military and political power, why did he disappear silently?

Was he assassinated by the princely minister?

Yaoying was puzzled.

Sultan Gu is too mysterious, his whereabouts are secretive, and he rarely shows his face. When his ugly and hideous face appeared in front of everyone, it was when he started killing.

She tentatively asked: "How old is the regent?"

Bi Suo rubbed his chin with a finger, thought for a while, and said: "The regent is a few years older than me and Wang. He is our senior."

It turns out that Sultan Gu is the brother of Tamaraga.

Yaoying thoughtfully, hearing the second half of the sentence, she was surprised and said: "The general and the Buddha were once brothers? The general is also a member of the Shi family?"

After Ashina Bisuo was a Turkic royal family, his name Bisuo was taken from the Sogdian language, which means people with colorful colors. His mother believed in Zoroastrianism. Why didn't he believe in Zoroastrianism as much as his mother?

Bi Suo smiled, spreading his hands towards Yaoying, acting like a slapstick: "I don't look like a Buddhist child at all? In fact, I was sent to study Buddhism when I was young. When the elders study the scriptures, only the smartest and most wise-rooted can continue to practice with Master. The king is the smartest among us. He is very talented. Master said that compared with him, we are just a group of people A bleating lamb."

Speaking of this, Bi Suo chuckled.

"Wang learns everything fast. We just started to learn Sogdian when he could speak four languages. When he discussed Buddhism with Master, we were like listening to the heavenly scriptures."

Yaoying remembered the legend she had heard these days, "I heard the little novice said that when the Buddha was born, the people of the city saw the vision of the descent from the sky in the holy city."

Bi Suo was silent for a moment, and the corner of his mouth grinned: "Yes, the sky was full of clouds in the city that day, and the upper part of the palace seemed to be covered with Buddha's shadow and Buddha's light, and there was also a faint sound of Buddha chanting. Master said that it is because the world is chaotic, so there is a god. The Buddha was reincarnated as a mortal body, and he came into the world to enlighten all peoples and purify all sentient beings."

Yaoying smiled.

Regardless of whether what Bi Suo said is true or false, the people of Wang Ting must be convinced.

This night, Yaoying put on the dress sent by Bi Suo. The clothes were cut according to her size. They fit well. I don't know where Bi Suo found out her size.

In the middle of the night, she was sleeping in a daze, and the noise of people walking outside the window made her start to dream.

Xie Qing entered the house from the outside and whispered: "Princess, it's the movement from the main hall. The Buddha moved to the Buddhist temple."

Tamara Gaya usually lives in a Buddhist temple. This time I don’t know why he stayed in the palace to recuperate. Tomorrow, there will be a puja in the temple and he must move back.

Yaoying lay down and continued to sleep, thinking: The monk always seems to move in the middle of the night.

Early the next morning, Bi Suo was dressed in a new military uniform, a silk belt and a waistline, with heroic hair, holding a large bunch of flowers, and standing at the gate of the courtyard, her blond hair was shining.

Yaoying changed into the attire of a woman in the royal court, her black hair was dressed in small braids, her braids were tied with colorful ribbons and gems of various colors, and she was dressed in a brocade robe with a red ground, a pair of beads, a flower tree and a deer pattern lapel collar. With beads on his sleeves and gold boots under his feet, he did what other people looked like. He put a dagger full of jewels off his waist, stepped down the stone steps, raised his face, and smiled slightly.

It was as if the shining starlight in the sky fell from the clouds, all trapped in her body.

Bi Suo stared at Yaoying dumbfounded, and lost her senses for a long while, until she walked up to her and waved her hand to herself, and then she recovered.

"The princess is so beautiful."

He searched his stomach and couldn't think of any words to praise the princess, and suddenly became clumsy.

The corners of Yaoying's lips were curled up, her face covered by a veil, she looked at Bi Suo who was scratching her cheeks in front of her, and suddenly remembered the group of young boys in Chang'an who chased her by chasing horses.

Thinking back to the years in Chang'an at this time, it feels like a lifetime away.

The Acting Festival began early in the morning. The roads were swept in the city, and the city gates and gate towers were covered with curtains and decorated everywhere.

The exquisite Buddha statues of the Buddhist temple are placed on a giant four-wheeled vehicle measuring twenty-by-meter and thirty-four feet high, which circulates around several main streets in the city. Each four-wheeled vehicle is beautifully decorated with gold, silver, bark glass, Pakaga, Mousuoluo Jie Lapo, Chi Zhenzhu, Ashimo Jie Lapo, hanging curtains, and umbrella cover to accompany you. Like a small mobile palace. The Buddha statue is decorated with gold and silver carvings, with a hanging chest, slim and majestic, and a solemn posture.

The people in the city rushed out, men and women, old and young, with yellow hair down, all put on new clothes, cheering and rushing to the city gate following the giant wheel, chanting the Buddha's name in their mouths.

Bi Suo took Yaoying out of the palace, and the main street was full of people.

Xie Qing and Xie Chong frowned, fearing being washed away by the crowd, they followed Yaoying closely.

Ashina Bisuo explained every ceremony for Yaoying along the way. He was considerate, patient and enthusiastic. From time to time, people in the crowd greeted him. He responded with a smile and was very popular.

Infected by his emotions, Yaoying temporarily let go of her worries and feel the lively and joyous celebration of the royal palace.

The long street under the city gate was covered with felt blankets, and twenty huge four-wheelers drove slowly to the high platform under the gate. An incense case was set up on the high platform, surrounded by green beads and glittering gold. The princes and ministers in Chinese clothes walked down the high platform, took off their felt hats, and walked forward barefoot.

A clear sound of music floated from the south, and the agitated crowd suddenly fell silent. Everyone held their breath and consciously retreated to both sides of the road, raised their heads, and looked at the other side of the long street with respectful expressions and frenzied eyes.

Yaoying followed everyone's sights.

Guided by two rows of monks wearing cassocks with incense burners in their hands, an ornately decorated elephant covered with colorful jewels and jewels came slowly from the south. There is a throne on the back of the elephant, and one sits on the throne with a face like Leng Yue, eyes are like lotus flowers, holding a lotus branch in one hand, holding a lotus in the other hand, and a large snow-white gold patterned robes. His eyes droop slightly, as if he is in meditation. The whole body seems to be covered by a faint Buddha's brilliance, like a god. .

Tamara Gha is here.

He glanced at the people faintly, and everything in the world seemed to be out of his eyes.

The bustling crowd on the side of the road was quiet for a moment, and then burst into cheers. Everyone looked up at him with emotions and red faces, rushing to throw flowers at him. Some people wanted to step forward to touch the corner of his clothes, and they were blue. The army knight in the shirt stopped.

The music was soft and mellow, and the flowers fell like rain.

The elephant walked to the high platform and bowed his knees docilely. The prince and minister stepped forward two steps and knelt beside the elephant's feet. Tamaraga dropped his feet and stepped onto the high platform with the hands and shoulders of the minister.

Xie Qing and Xie Chong were taken aback for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "Princess, what is the rule? Their king actually stepped on the shoulder of the minister!"

Yaoying explained to them: "This is an ascension ceremony, which is very common in Tianzhu and the Western Regions."

Her gaze fell on the minister, and Kang Mozhe and others stood under the high platform in a respectful manner, with no grievances on their faces-seeing the prestige of Tamaragarh so majestic, would they dare to be unruly?

A mellow and gentle voice sounded from the high platform, and Tamara Gya began to preach, in nonsense that ordinary people could understand.

Yaoying listened for a while, but she could only understand a general idea. He was telling the story of the Buddha who saw the sorrows of life and became tired of the world and enlightened him.

His voice was cold and tactful, with a clear and calm rhythm, and the people were fascinated by it.

After a quarter of an hour, Yaoying couldn't understand at all. She raised her head to look at Tamaraga on the high platform. He had a handsome face and a dusty attitude, and there was no sign of serious illness on his body.

Yaoying found that she had never seen Tamaraga standing. He stepped on the minister's shoulders and climbed onto the high platform just now.

What kind of disease is he suffering from?

The Fa conference lasted for an hour, when Ashina Bisuo heard half of it, she guided Yaoying out of the crowd and took her to the Buddhist temple.

The Buddhist temple will hold a debating conference, and the conference will begin when the Tan Mauraga preaching is finished. The eminent monks arrived long ago. Except for those who visited the Fa conference, the rest were already preparing for the debate. The courtyard was crowded with monks. Some were sitting cross-legged and meditating with their eyes closed. Some had already argued with people around them. Get up and argue loudly.

The atmosphere in the temple is tense and active, and the little novices staying in the temple are all looking forward to seeing the demeanor of the Tamaragarh monks.

His early fame was won in the debates.

Yaoying followed Bi Suo to find their seat and looked around boredly.

Bi Suo lowered his head and talked to her about a few interesting things about practicing in Buddhist temples as a child, and suddenly a keen eye swept over.

Yaoying's heart jumped suddenly, and she looked at that line of sight.

In the corner of the courtyard, a man in a half-sleeved robe leaned lazily next to the pagoda, while talking with the monk beside him, while raising his eyes to look at her, his light golden eyes gleamed with a chilling glow in the sunlight.

It's Haidu Aling!

Seeing her recognizing herself, Haidu Aling twitched the corner of her mouth and lifted her chin, with rough and firm lines.

Yaoying didn't want to be in the same room with him, got up and left the seat.

Bi Suo stood up with a blank face, seeing that her expression was not quite right, and looking in the direction she had just looked at, her sight collided with Haidu Aling.

The two looked at each other for a while, Haidu Aling curled his lips, retracted his eyes, and sneered on his lips.

Bi Suo's face rose flushed, and he stepped up to keep up with Yaoying, ashamed to say: "Princess Wen Zhao, Bei Rong also sent a monk to argue with Wang, but I don't know that the messenger sent by Bei Rong is Prince Aling Haidu! "

"The princess need not be afraid, this is the royal court, he dare not mess around!"

Yaoying hurriedly walked out of the Buddhist temple, slowly settled her mind, stopped in her footsteps, and smiled at Bi Suo: "I don't want to see him. I can't accompany the general to watch the debate."

Bi Suo hurriedly said, "It just so happens that I don't want to see it either. I will send the princess back to the palace."

The two returned to the palace, Yaoying ordered her soldiers: "No one is allowed to leave the palace these days, Beirong people are in the holy city."

Everyone knows the importance and nodded.

Yaoying thought of the eager smile on Haidu Aling's lips, and she couldn't sleep well.

She will not fall into his hands again, she must return to the Central Plains.

…

Yaoying didn't know that there were some people thinking about her in the Central Plains, eight thousand miles away.

A few months ago, Chang'an.

A fast horse departed from Pei's house, and the rider traveled day and night for three days and three nights to reach the capital. Before he could take a few breaths, he went straight to the East Palace.

The **** screamed: "His Royal Highness, the people sent to Pei's house are back!"

With the sound of footsteps, the man in the crown prince's tuxedo strode out of the room, his eyes red.

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Refer to "Faxian Biography" for the description of the rituals of the Xingxiang Festival.