Chapter 12 Chapter 12: The Mystery of Shuangru Mountain

The ancient bluestone road is winding and winding, climbing up the stairs, and the higher you go, the more strenuous you are.Although Tan Xiaoku was born at the foot of Tongbao Mountain.But this is the first time to really climb this mountain. I have forgotten how long I have been climbing, and finally, amidst the shadow of ancient pine trees in front of me, the corners of the cornices of an ancient temple are exposed.Tan Xiaoku breathed a sigh of relief.The next stone road is much gentler.The gentle mountain breeze brought the sound of wooden fish and chanting sutras.Xunsheng came to the gate of the ancient temple, looked up, and saw the three characters "Xianren Temple" written on the gate of the temple, and the couplets on both sides were antique, saying: "All living beings who are enlightened will become Buddhas, and the bright moon shines on others selflessly."

Tan Xiaoku entered the temple and made meritorious deeds, and burned incense in front of the Avalokitesvara statue. When he looked up, he found that the monk who was meditating and chanting in front of the temple looked very familiar, but for a while he couldn't remember where he saw him. He didn't have time to think about it. Up the stairs from the side. Tan Xiaoku's trip was to find Zhu Qifeng's grave for his master.Most of the royal tombs have seven or eight feet high seals.It looks like a small hill, and Zhu Qifeng's cemetery is no exception.But Duliang is a hilly area, with hills seven to eight feet high everywhere.Therefore, if it is not an insider, finding the tomb of King Zhu is more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.Zhu Zixiang told him that finding Zhu Qifeng's real body tomb is actually very simple. Just climb to the top of Xianren Temple, stand on the top and look down, and you will find two hills that look like human breasts. The one on the left is Zhu Qifeng's tomb.

Tan Xiaoku leaned on the railing of the Zou Ma Lou to the top of the temple and looked down the mountain. Sure enough, he found two mountain bags that looked like human breasts!What surprised him even more was that the hill on the left was right behind Tanjiacun!Tan Xiaoku clearly remembered that the hill was covered with all kinds of wild fruits, and his sisters often took him to pick and eat them when they were alive.Later, the old people in the village knew about it and said that the wild fruit on the mountain was not edible. If you eat it, you will get sick or lose your life.Tan Xiaoku dare not imagine that this mountain bun is the mausoleum of King Zhu. The Tan family has lived here for nearly three hundred years and never knew the secret!I only know that this mountain is terrifying, and not a single plant or tree can be moved on it. For this reason, the ancestors of the Tan family erected a stone tablet in front of the mountain, with words engraved on it. Tan Xiaoku is the same as all the villagers of Tanjia Village. I dare not look at the words on the stele, for fear of causing bad luck... These secrets are all solved at this moment...

Tan Xiaoku came down from upstairs, and when he saw the old monk again, he suddenly remembered that he was the Monk Liao Kong who was the dojo for Xiao Xuanting. Is the donor's master okay?" Tan Xiaoku said: "My master was in bad luck and was imprisoned in prison. I came here to burn incense and pray to Bodhisattva to bless him." Liaokong said, "May the Bodhisattva bless you, so good and good." Tan Xiaoku heard from his school teacher, Mr. Gu Ziye, that this Monk Liaokong can be regarded as a monk with a little ink, and he wrote a verse in his early years: Spring is coming to an end, and summer is coming again, and village songs and music are everywhere.

The cuckoo wakes up the famous and wealthy, why bother to search for it. After seeing this verse of his, the abbot deliberately cultivated him.One day, when Liaokong was carrying water out of the valley, the abbot hit the bucket with his staff, and the water was completely poured out. Liaokong suddenly realized and made a verse: A thunderbolt shakes the earth, and the mountains and valleys are flooded with water. The monstrous torrents soaked Sumeru, so that his mouth and nose were wet. When the abbot heard about it, he passed on the mantle to Kong. Tan Xiaoku bid farewell to the sky and was about to go down the mountain.

It was noon at this time, and the sun outside was very poisonous, and everyone in Tanjia Village hid in their houses to escape the heat.Tan Xiaoku came to the mountain bag behind the village and found the stone tablet without much trouble.The stele has been weathered badly, showing the ruthlessness of the years, but the words on the stele are still legible. It says: "There used to be a Shuangru Mountain behind the village. Related, it has been said that if there is a place to connect the veins, disasters will happen unexpectedly in the village, so it has been repeatedly banned for many years, and no one has moved the ground to get anything."

The stele is buried deep, and the words below can only be seen by pulling through the weeds. According to Zhu Zixiang, when the stele was first erected, it was placed very high, with a lime base underneath.Now that the lime base is gone, it is clear that someone has moved the ancient tomb.So far, the mission of Tan Xiaoku's trip has been completed. Tan Xiaoku's home is not far away, and he wanted to go back and have a look after he had been away for so long, but he gave up this idea because he was worried that his tribe would recognize him. According to Master's instructions, if someone moved the stone tablet in front of Shuangru Mountain, it would prove that "Zhu Chengsheng" in the story had indeed entered the tomb, then the next step was to find Jiang Yilang and persuade him to go to the prison to have an interview with Master.

It was already Xinpai time when Tan Xiaoku came to Zhige Pavilion, and it was the time when the business was slow, a few clerks sat on the stools and took a nap, and the shopkeeper Qian Jincai was trying to settle accounts with abacus beads.Tan Xiaoku entered the store, Qian Jincai helped his reading glasses, and then went back to his business. "Is Mr. Jiang there? I have something to look for him." Tan Xiaoku called out. Qian Jincai said without raising his head, "I'm busy, don't interrupt!" Tan Xiaoku said: "Treasurer Qian, I really have something important to ask Mr. Jiang."

Only then did Qian Jincai stop, seeing Tan Xiaoku's serious face, he asked, "Who are you? Why are you looking for Mr. Jiang?" Tan Xiaoku said: "My name is Tan Xiaoku, and I am Zhu Zixiang's apprentice. My master wants to meet Mr. Jiang." As soon as Qian Jincai heard the name "Tan Xiaoku", he walked out of the counter and looked carefully: "You are Tan Xiaoku? Your master is in prison, how can Mr. Jiang meet him?" Tan Xiaoku said: "I can take him to see Master in prison." Qian Jincai asked: "Is there anything you can't tell me?"

Tan Xiaoku shook his head: "No, my master said three people are not allowed to preach." Qian Jincai said, "Mr. Jiang is no longer here." Tan Xiaoku said: "Impossible, he's in the house around the corner on the second floor, I saw him earlier in the morning!" Qian Jincai shook his head and sighed: "Since you met him this morning, I have nothing to say, you'd better go upstairs and see for yourself." Tan Xiaoku climbed up to the second floor, and saw that Jiang Yilang's room was empty, even the bedding had been packed.He walked down anxiously and asked Qian Jincai: "You must tell me, where did Mr. Jiang go?"

Qian Jincai shook his head: "The three of you are not allowed to preach. I can only tell you that Mr. Jiang will never come here again." When Qian Jincai said this, Tan Xiaoku knew that it was impossible to ask anything from him. Now it was the time to send the prison meal, and he couldn't go home to cook, so he bought a bag at Duliang Restaurant. Take a ready-made one. It is more than three miles from the Zhige Pavilion to the prison, and there are some secluded alleys.Tan Xiaoku heard people in the market talking about Xiao Ziyu along the way, saying that he must have ulterior motives for blocking the story.People in the market don't know the specific content of the story, so there are various speculations. When Tan Xiaoku came to the prison, Hou Dongyuan walked out of the duty room all the way and shouted, "Tan Xiaoku, you came just in time. Zhu Zixiang has already left. He left a message asking you to visit him in a new place." Tan Xiaoku was surprised and said: "Where is my master? He is a death row prisoner, how can he move anywhere?" Hou Dongyuan said: "I don't know about this. Just wait here, someone will take you to see Zhu Zixiang." Hou Dongyuan quickly brought an old man here, and Tan Xiaoku recognized at a glance that the old man was Xiao Ziyu's housekeeper Xiao Zhong. The words were divided into two parts, but it was said that after Tan Xiaoku left, Zhu Zixiang's heart was suspended.He was very worried. If someone really moved the entrance of Zhu Qifeng's tomb, he could be sure that "Zhu Chengsheng" was indeed a real person.Then, the tomb will be leaked.The only remedy is to have a face-to-face meeting with Jiang Yilang and try to get him to dispel the idea of ​​robbing the tomb. Why did Zhu Zixiang pay so much attention to Zhu Qifeng's tomb? It turned out that after Zhu Qifeng broke the three bridges, he was unable to build a large-scale mausoleum because of the sudden incident.Fortunately, the twelfth generation Minxian King built a large mausoleum during his lifetime.According to Mr. Feng Shui's argument, this mausoleum is the place where the dragon's head is buried. Those who are buried here will prosper, and the descendants will have ninety-five honors.King Xian was very happy. He lived to be more than ninety years old and had no descendants around him. He thought that even if he was buried here, it would be useless.Furthermore, some Feng Shui masters said that although this place is good, it also has fatal disadvantages-if someone has a pulse after the funeral, the throne will be lost at least, and children and grandchildren will be lost at worst.When King Xian heard this, he immediately changed his mind and chose another auspicious place to rebuild the mausoleum.When Zhu Qifeng died, there was a little prince Zhu Jinchun. Although he was only fifteen years old, his ambition was astonishingly great. Hearing that his father was buried here, he could be the emperor, so he immediately insisted on burying Zhu Qifeng here despite the opposition of many people. place.In order not to be disturbed, Zhu Jinchun's father-in-law Zhizhou Tan Wenyou moved from his hometown in Pengxi, Sichuan to guard the mausoleum.These people surnamed Tan came from afar and lived in a sparsely populated area. They only knew that outsiders were not allowed to enter the mountain bag behind the village, but they didn't know what kind of secrets were hidden in the mountain bag.They have fixed fields and mountains, and they can pay no taxes and grains, so they are extraordinarily dedicated to their duties.One day not long after they moved here, there was a stranger wandering around the hillside, acting very suspiciously. A man surnamed Tan arrested him and handed him over to the palace.After torture, the suspicious man was named Li Kun'an, a cook of the imperial dining room. He learned the secret of the mountain bag from a silversmith surnamed Li. For this reason, Zhu Jinchun killed all the cooks, and only one named Zhu Chengsheng left Minzhou ahead of schedule. palace. In the third year after Zhu Qifeng's death, Zhu Jinchun really had a chance to become emperor. It turned out that after the Chongzhen emperor Meishan committed suicide, all the vassals of the Ming clan had ambitions to become emperor. In 1646, Tang Wang Zhu Yuyue established the Shaowu regime in Guangzhou, calling himself Emperor Shaowu.Later, Zhu Youlang, king of Gui, also established the Yongli court in Zhaoqing and proclaimed himself emperor.The two refused to give in, and the two sides fought fiercely in Sanshui, Guangdong.At that time, Tong Yangjia, commander-in-chief of the Qing army, took advantage of the situation to go south and occupied Guangzhou in one fell swoop. Emperor Shaowu was captured and hanged himself to death.Tan Wenyou judged the situation and took the opportunity to force Zhu Youlang to move the capital from Guilin to Liang in order to achieve the purpose of coercing the emperor and ordering the princes. He dedicated the Minwang Mansion of his son-in-law Zhu Jinchun to Zhu Youlang as the capital.After Tan Wenyou's goal was achieved, he began to implement his second plan - to abolish Emperor Yongli and make Zhu Jinchun the emperor. Just when Zhu Jinchun was dreaming of being an emperor, the Qing army approached the city. Tan Wenyou led his troops to fight to the death. All the generals under his command died in battle. Zhu Jinchun's dream of being an emperor was shattered. .After the fall of Duliang, Zhu Jinchun knew that he could not escape death, and asked his family members to keep the pulse of the ancestral tomb to avoid the fate of cutting off their children and grandchildren. After Zhu Jinchun was killed by the Qing army, his family left Minwang Mansion with a small amount of money and genealogy and traveled northward, finally settling down in a desolate place more than 30 miles north of Duliang.Within ten miles or so of this place, there is no dog barking or human habitation. A small river runs through the east and west, and there is an unnamed bridge in the middle.In order to commemorate the shame of their ancestors who "soul-broken three bridges", they named this small bridge "Luoma Bridge".From then on, they multiplied and thrived here, and they became a big family with thousands of people. Outsiders called it "Luomaqiao Zhu Family".This family attributes their prosperity to the veins of the ancestral graves, and they have worked hard to prevent the "pulses" from being disturbed by others.I don't know from which generation, the elders of the clan have made an important decision-each generation selects an outstanding child surnamed Zhu from the clan to specialize in the work of guarding the grave, and entrusts him with the only family tree in the clan for safekeeping.This "Genealogy of the Zhu Family in Duliang" is truly a "treasure map"!It contains a detailed record of the burial place of the thirteenth generation of the Min kings of the Zhu family and a list of the funeral belongings in the tomb... That is to say, from this generation on, people surnamed Zhu have never seen the genealogy brought out from the Min king's mansion, and even more I don't know where the ancestors were buried... They worshiped their ancestors, but they just wrote such words on the tablets of the ancestors of each family-the gods of the ancestors of the Zhu family in Peiguo. In order to ensure that the ancestral tomb of the surname Zhu is intact, each generation of "grave guard" envoys settled in Duliang and mingled with the tomb robbers. Over time, they also became tomb robbers-because only in this way can they truly guard the ancestral tomb and complete their mission.In fact, every generation of "grave guard" envoys has fulfilled their mission. For more than three hundred years, only Zhu's tomb was accidentally stolen. Xiang's body. There are few gossips, but it is said that Zhu Zixiang learned that the secret of the ancestral grave was not only leaked, but was also preached as a story. This made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles, and felt that he had a mission. He was sorry for his ancestors and his whole family.At the same time, he was lucky, hoping that Jiang Yilang was just telling a story, and he didn't know the secret of Zhu Qifeng's tomb.Therefore, he urgently needs to confirm whether the entrance to the tomb has been moved.If someone moved, then Jiang Yilang was not just telling stories, he must have a purpose in doing so, maybe it was to find him, Zhu Zixiang! Ever since Tan Xiaoku left, Zhu Zixiang was counting the time, and estimated that he would return to the prison before dark.This kind of waiting was destined to be very difficult. After noon, the iron gate opened with a bang, and a prison guard yelled, "Zhu Zixiang, come out!" Zhu Zixiang felt a "thump" in his heart, he knew what it meant for those who entered the death row to be called out.He couldn't believe it, he had only been here for a few days, how could he die?In his subconscious mind, it will be at least a few months before Xiao Ziyu executes him.He dragged his heavy shackles and walked out of the prison door. He hadn't gone far in the aisle when suddenly a thick and thick stranger covered him with a big sack—Zhu Zixiang's eyes went dark, and a huge force made his whole body leave. ground…… When Zhu Zixiang was released from the sack, he found himself in an elegantly furnished living room.Two big men rushed to help him open the shackles, and then another maid brought tea.For Zhu Zixiang now, whether he is going to heaven or going to hell, he feels normal, so he is not surprised to be brought here. The only thing he is worried about is his apprentice Tan Xiaoku. The big man seemed to have seen Zhu Zixiang's thoughts, and before he could open his mouth, he said, "You can rest assured here, your safety is absolutely guaranteed here, and we have arranged for someone to bring your apprentice here." Zhu Zixiang stared at the big man: "Do you know where my apprentice is?" The big man said: "Your apprentice will go to the prison to bring you food, and the people we arranged will wait for him in the prison." Zhu Zixiang's tense heartstrings relaxed: "Can you tell me where this is?" The big man was displeased and said: "Master Zhu wants to eat and drink, and there will be someone to serve him at any time. We are servants who handle affairs, so we have no right to answer your questions." After the big man left, servants brought hot water and a change of clean clothes. Zhu Zixiang knew in his heart that he was about to meet important people.Zhu Zixiang hadn't showered for a long time, and today he happened to wash away the bad luck from his whole body. Zhu Zixiang came out of the bathroom and found that the coffee table was filled with various pastries and fruits.He was also polite, let go of his belly and ate. Zhu Zixiang was looking forward to the appearance of important people, but time passed, and all the people who came to this living room were maids and servants who were sending this to that. When the time came and the evening was approaching, the door was pushed open again. He did not expect to come in this time It was his apprentice Tan Xiaoku!When Tan Xiaoku met, he asked, "Master, why did they let you come here?" Zhu Zixiang said: "I don't know why—Xiaoku, tell Master quickly, how are those two things going?" "Master, don't worry, some things can only be said after the door is closed." Tan Xiaoku leaned on the door and looked around. After confirming that no one was coming, he closed the door, sat in front of Zhu Zixiang and said, "I found Shuangrushan. The stone tablet is still there." There, it's just that the lime pedestal underneath is gone." "Oops, someone moved the tomb passage. It seems that the 'Zhu Chengsheng' is indeed a real person. If it is correct, the time when Zhu Chengsheng dug the tomb passage should be the year when Zhu Jinchun, the 14th Min king, was killed by the Qing army. Fortunately, Zhu Chengsheng did not enter the tomb to open the coffin, otherwise the Zhu family would be in great trouble that year." "Master, is the pulse of the ancestral grave really so important? My father was buried in Huanggou'ao, Jingzhou, without even a coffin. It was buried with a broken bamboo sweep." Tan Xiaoku couldn't help being sad when he thought of his father. "It doesn't matter what you use to wrap the body. What matters is that the place where you bury it has a good pulse. If you bury it in a prosperous place, your descendants will surely prosper. Since ancient times, the homes of emperors have relied on the feng shui of their ancestral graves, which is why they are more careful than ordinary people. The reason for valuing ancestral graves. Xiaoku, how did you do the second thing?" Tan Xiaoku shook his head: "It's not done well, Qian Jincai said that Jiang Yilang has left and will never come back." Zhu Zixiang asked anxiously, "Where did he go?" Tan Xiaoku said: "I don't know, Qian Jincai doesn't want to say." "Xiaoku, do you know where this is?" Zhu Zixiang asked Tan Xiaoku. Tan Xiaoku looked at Zhu Zixiang in surprise: "You don't even know where this is?" Zhu Zixiang shook his head: "I was brought here in a sack." Tan Xiaoku said: "No wonder - this is Xiao Ziyu's house on Liushan Road, I think Jiang Yilang must be here too." Zhu Zixiang turned pale with shock: "This time, my family's ancestral grave is doomed..."