Chapter 200 Jinghe Mausoleum
Chapter 200 Jinghe Mausoleum
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After seeing off Consort Hu, they departed.
Yang Silang felt much more at ease.
Judging from the attitude of this fairy concubine today, I have undoubtedly taken another step forward in my status and have completely escaped the death list.
After all, he was good at flattering, could tell stories, and praised her beauty.
The emotional value is off the charts.
As a result, after listening to the story, Consort Hu did not give any gifts as she had the previous two days. It must be because she had flattered her grandmother today and enjoyed it so much that she could not offer anything ordinary.
I'm quite curious about what exactly this wonderful thing Consort Hu was talking about.
He only lingered in his thoughts for a moment before turning over and going to sleep for a short rest.
Knowing that his master had something to do today, She Nu woke him up.
When he opened his eyes again, the door creaked open, and a woman brought in a breakfast tray and respectfully placed it on the table.
Yang Silang looked up and saw that the woman had no demonic aura at all; she was not She Nu.
Upon closer inspection, she was tall with long legs, wearing a hat, with two beautiful eyes and smooth eyebrows. Because her skin was originally fair with a rosy tint, she now looked even more like an egg.
It was her newly accepted apprentice, Fu Hongying.
Yang Silang suppressed a laugh.
"Hongying, what brings you here?"
Fu Hongying lowered her head shyly.
She looked so ugly that she was so scared when she looked in the mirror yesterday that she turned the mirror upside down and dared not look at it anymore.
She mustered her courage and said.
"Master, since I am your first disciple, isn't it my duty to serve you breakfast and help you rest at night?"
Yang Silang laughed heartily.
"Shouldn't you also add the daily morning and evening greetings?"
"I don't have that many rules among my students," he said gently. "I've been busy lately too."
"After I've recovered for a few days, and both of us have grown our hair back, I'll take a look at your martial arts skills and see what techniques and stances you've learned. Then I'll give you some pointers."
"Go ahead... We're both bald, and it's so weird to look at each other like we're looking at ourselves."
The main issue is that she's a female apprentice, about the same age as me, which makes things a bit inconvenient.
Fu Hongying was already shy because of the bald head, and she became even more embarrassed after hearing Yang Silang's words. She quickly bowed and hurriedly left.
She was originally a cheerful person, but even the most cheerful woman loves beauty. Now that she has no body hair, seeing Yang Silang's bald head reminds her of herself, which is indeed a bit embarrassing.
Fu Hongying was sent away.
Yang Silang quickly finished his breakfast and then told Wang Daniu that he had to go out to take care of something today and might not be back until tomorrow morning, or even later.
This is why he wanted to tell the Nine-Tailed Fox Consort Hu, because it was clearly impossible for him to tell stories tonight.
Unless Consort Hu doesn't mind going to Jinghe Mausoleum to listen to stories with the deceased emperor.
After giving his instructions, Yang Silang changed into a set of tight-fitting short-sleeved hemp clothes that had been prepared, and changed his fast boots into thousand-layer cloth boots. He rode Daqing straight to Caoxie Hutong to meet up with Long Yiyan.
Long Yiyan had already prepared everything. As soon as Yang Silang arrived, the two of them set off for the outskirts of the capital without stopping for a moment.
With Long Yi's eye on the commander's badge, the two successfully left the city.
Only then did he spur his horse and gallop away.
Longevity Hill is still a hundred miles away from the capital.
Fortunately, the horse Long Yi was riding also had demon blood, making it fast-running, which was a perk for the officials guarding the tomb.
After all, most of the garrison officials lived in the city, and if they had to travel back and forth on ordinary horses, it would have been exhausting to do so every day.
in this way.
When the sun is high in the sky.
The two had already arrived at Longevity Hill.
Looking at the mountains from afar, Yang Silang saw more than a dozen mountain ranges rising abruptly from the horizon, with the central main peak being the highest. Extending outwards to both sides were more than ten peaks on each side, which was Longevity Mountain.
Coincidentally, when viewed from the front, the height of the mountain peaks decreases from the middle to both sides, and they are symmetrical from left to right, with the two opposite peaks being almost the same height, which is quite rare.
Moreover, its arrangement is also ingenious, forming an arc shape that curves inward and outward, facing the capital.
From a distance, it looks like a slightly curved mountain screen supporting the sky and the earth, with a lake in front of it. The lake meanders and, when viewed from the sky, it looks like a tripod, hence the name Dingding Lake.
Further south of the lake, there is a slightly lower mountain peak, which is square and flat, standing upright on the ground at a height of more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters). It is steep and has no road, so ordinary people cannot even think of climbing it. This mountain is called Yintai Mountain, and it is on the same central axis as the main peak of Wanshou Mountain and Dingding Lake.
The imperial tombs are located at the foot of these mountains, and their feng shui conforms to the ideal of being surrounded by mountains and water, sheltered from the wind and gathering energy. With mountains as a support and water as a reflection, and further ahead, Yintai Mountain as a facing mountain, it is simply the most ideal feng shui treasure land.
"It is said that the landscape around here was not like this before," Long Yi said, pointing to the landscape in front of him. "It was the founding emperor who had such great vision."
"Back then, the tomb-hunting envoy searched the entire country for more than a decade, and returned with trepidation."
"The most famous auspicious lands in the Great Shun Kingdom have all been occupied by the emperors of the previous dynasty."
"Then there are the famous mountains and scenic spots occupied by renowned sects and powerful families."
"In other words, if Emperor Taizu wanted to build the Great Shun Imperial Mausoleum, he either had to move the tomb of the deceased emperor of the previous dynasty, or find a powerful family to move the tomb."
Yang Silang asked Taizu what he had said out of curiosity.
Long Yiyan said with a proud look on his face.
"As our founding emperor said, 'I built this empire from scratch. So-called blessed lands can also be earned with our own hands. Why be petty and ask others to make room for us?'"
"So he directly conscripted all the top Taoist masters in the world and mobilized the martial arts masters in the army to create a geomantically auspicious place."
"A minister once advised that natural feng shui is best, and that man-made feng shui might affect the stability of the nation and its future, and might not last long."
Yang Silang asked curiously.
"What did the founding emperor say?"
Judging from the results, Longevity Hill was definitely built.
"I can't believe it," Long Yi said with a heroic air.
"Emperor Taizu said that although all previous dynasties were located in auspicious places, they could not guarantee the dynasty's longevity. The shortest dynasty lasted only a dozen years or so before it perished after two generations."
"Although this feng shui is man-made, if my descendants are successful, it will be the best blessed land in the world. Conversely, what use is it if the emperor of the future cannot hold onto the throne even if he occupies the best blessed land?"
"The main peak of Longevity Mountain remained in its original position, but it drove the Immortal Shoulder Mountain to cover the soil, carrying more than a dozen mountain peaks from thousands of miles away."
"The other lake was also created by two Martial Saints working together, causing water to gush out from the flat ground."
"And then there's Yintai Mountain, which was also carved out by several sword saints working together to flatten its peak and cut the surrounding cliffs, resulting in its current appearance."
"Once all the terrain and formations are in place, then we will use the array to eliminate any remaining fist intent and sword energy."
"For hundreds of years, the vegetation has grown so lushly that even the people in the neighborhood have almost forgotten that Longevity Hill is almost entirely man-made."
Yang Silang looked around at the scenery.
Sure enough, apart from the sheer cliffs of Yintai Mountain that looked like four walls and were obviously not formed naturally, there was no trace of anything else.
Even the cliffs of Yintai Mountain are covered with lush greenery.
"What a spirit the founding emperor had..." He let out a long breath.
He still admired this powerful ruler who promoted martial arts and Taoism to the world, but his idea was also outrageous, creating a feng shui treasure land for himself.
He was neither a founding emperor nor had the authority to do such a shocking thing.
The two continued to ride forward and soon arrived at the Great Red Gate, the entrance to the mausoleums of Wanshou Mountain. City walls stretched out on both sides, encircling the entire Wanshou Mountain.
The city wall in the distance is slightly shorter, while the city wall around the Great Red Gate, which is several meters high, is exactly the same height as the city wall of Beijing.
The two dismounted here.
The guards at the city gate saw Long and chuckled, calling him "Lord Long."
Long Yi pointed at Yang Silang and said that this was the supervisor who came to repair the Jinghe Mausoleum Merit Stele Pavilion today. They let people in without even checking them.
It is evident that the guards protecting the tomb are lax. However, this area is a forbidden zone for dozens of miles around, and there are usually no unfamiliar faces. No major events have occurred in the hundreds of years since the country was founded, so it is no wonder that the guards are lax.
When entering the city gate.
Yang Silang discovered that the length of the gate was nearly half that of the gate in the capital city. He figured that the length of the city walls on both sides was also smaller. After all, this was actually a project that was only for show, and it was impossible to really spend manpower and resources to build and replicate the city wall's specifications, as that would be a complete waste.
After entering the city gate, they passed through the main spirit path, then walked several miles forward before turning left onto the side road leading to Jinghe Mausoleum. If they went straight, they would be heading to the tomb of Emperor Taizu, which was not the place they were going to today.
After passing through the mausoleum gate, one enters the spirit path of Jinghe Mausoleum, where stone statues of lions, tigers, elephants, civil officials, and military generals are placed on both sides. These statues are about ten feet tall, and some are cast in gold and iron, with inscriptions engraved on them.
Among them were even some giant demons several meters tall, in pairs, totaling thirty-two, all of them covered with runes.
Yang Silang guessed that these stone statues might not be mere decorations, but could very well be some kind of deadly weapon.
Further on.
This is the Stele Pavilion of Divine Merit and Sacred Virtue that was reported for repair this time. Behind the Stele Pavilion are the Hall of Abundant Grace, the Mausoleum Gate, the Two-Pillar Gate, the Stone Five Offerings, the Square City Minglou, the Treasure City, and the Treasure Mound where the Emperor and Empress were buried, among other buildings.
However, Yang Silang could only go so far.
In front of the Stele Pavilion of Divine Merit and Sacred Virtue, there is a huge shadow stone standing on the ground.
A dozen or so craftsmen were squatting to one side in front of the stone, among them a man dressed in coarse cloth standing with his hands behind his back.
Although he was dressed roughly, Yang Silang could see a mountain just by looking at his broad back. The man's blood and energy were contained and not released. His hair was dark and shiny, and he had a majestic aura.
He immediately realized that this must be another martial artist who had paid money, also there to comprehend the remaining fist intent of the Martial Saint.
Long Yi led him forward.
The man turned around, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, a square face, and a wide mouth. He had the air of a high-level martial artist. His skin was radiant, and his eyes, though weathered, were still bright. He looked like he was in his thirties or forties, or perhaps fifty or sixties; it was hard to tell.
Yang Silang observed with his spiritual sense that this person not only possessed abundant external qi and blood, but also seemed to be harboring raging earth fire within his body. He did not know the true depth of this qi and blood, but it was certainly higher than his own cultivation level.
Hiss... It's probably not very meaningful for a Martial Saint to refer to the incomplete fist intent of other Martial Saints. So, is this a Grandmaster of Golden Marrow?
"Assistant Commander Long?" the man said with a cupped hand and a smile. "So it's your turn to be on duty today?"
Long Yiyan quickly returned the greeting.
"Who do you think it is? It's Mr. Tian..."
"With you supervising the work today, this job will surely be done flawlessly."
He then pointed at Yang Silang.
"This is another supervisor in your team, surnamed Yang. He's my friend, please take good care of him."
Yang Silang gave an awkward smile.
This is ridiculous! They're all overseers in the same team, yet they don't even know each other.
Mr. Tian was clearly a man of many experience. He nodded upon hearing this and looked at Yang Silang.
"Young friend, stay by my side today. Let's supervise the construction together without worrying about anything else."
Yang Silang nodded repeatedly.
The imperial mausoleum is teeming with experts, and he certainly didn't want to cause any trouble.
According to past practice.
After having lunch, everyone rested under the shade of a tree for half an hour.
In the middle, two officials, one with a dragon-like eye and the other with a rat-bearded man, dressed in the same uniform as the deputy commander, came over to count the number of people and tools, and recited a series of high-sounding platitudes.
The gist of it is that you must be extremely careful, avoid flooding, and not damage the objects in the stele pavilion. If anything goes wrong, the lightest punishment is being swept away three thousand miles, and the heaviest punishment is the extermination of three generations of your family, and so on.
Yang Silang was speechless. This act was going too far.
Afterwards, everyone dispersed and roamed freely in the vicinity for a while.
Long Yiyan leaned closer and whispered a few words, saying that the commander who had been with him earlier was Long Shuji, the one who had set him up to incur gambling debts, and was on duty during the day.
The Mr. Tian in question is Tian Zhenfeng, the chief镖头 (bodyguard/escort) of the Yuanwei Escort Agency in the capital. He is seventy years old and a renowned Grandmaster of Golden Marrow.
It was Shen Shi (3-5 PM).
Long Shuji appeared out of nowhere and coughed.
"Alright, the time has come, let's begin!"
Everyone in the room immediately got to work.
Yang Silang and Tian Zhenfeng also stood in front of the shadow stone and began to stare blankly.
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