The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 149: Ancient Temple in the Mountains, Wanqing Rose

Three days later, Zhao Ti set out back to the Song Dynasty.

All matters concerning the censorship markets have been discussed and the locations of the five censories have been determined, two on Hedong Road, three on Hebei Road, and one on the coast.

After the war horses were counted, the delegation left the city, and then they saw Yuan Xiaoxian riding a white horse and leading her maids chasing after them from behind.

"King Yan, I'll take you there."

Zhao Ti smiled slightly: "Princess Cheng'an, are you going back to Tokyo with me?"

Yuan Xiaoxian's eyes flickered: "I dare not go with King Yan, for I am afraid that King Yan will put me in jail and interrogate me in every possible way."

Zhao Ti looked at her and asked, "Are you going there secretly?"

Yuan Xiaoxian's eyebrows were as beautiful as a painting, and her pupils were as sharp as water: "Doesn't the King of Yan want me to go to Tokyo?"

Zhao Ti smiled slightly: "Tokyo is too hot, I'm afraid you can't stand it!"

Yuan Xiaoxian looked lively and charming: "I listened to the spring rain in the small building all night, and I will sell apricot flowers in the deep alley tomorrow. If one day, in the morning after the rain, the air is fragrant, I will sell apricot flowers outside the palace. My voice is delicate and I am hungry and cold. Will the King of Yan take pity on me and buy them?"

Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes and said, "Flower girl? There are only hibiscus flowers in my house, and the vase is full of hibiscus flowers. If I want to sell anything, you have to sell sunflowers."

Yuan Xiaoxian said: "If life could always be like the first time we met, why would the west wind make the fan sad? Prince Yan, do you still remember that day in Prince Duan's mansion, when the night was dark but the lights were as bright as day?"

Zhao Ti said: "She is as beautiful as jade under the moon. It's a pity that she has not been captured. Otherwise, the military prison is a good place to go. There are many torture instruments inside. This king likes to watch a beauty like Princess Cheng'an being tortured there."

Yuan Xiaoxian smiled and said, "Tomorrow we will be separated by mountains and the world will be far away from us. Time passes by like flowing water. Will the King of Yan... forget me?"

Zhao Ti gently stroked the black rose and said with a smile: "If you change your name to Rose, I will not forget it."

Yuan Xiaoxian asked curiously: "What rose?"

Zhao Ti patted the horse's head. Black Rose neighed, turned around, and continued to walk forward. He raised the corner of his mouth and said, "White Rose."

Yuan Xiaoxian watched Zhao Ti's figure slowly disappear from her sight, revealing a trace of reluctance, and murmured: "Is that horse called Black Rose? If it is really named like that, it must have been given by a woman, but I don't know who it is..."

Dali is a continuous mountain range north of Shanju County and south of Tubo.

A Buddhist temple was built inside the mountain. At this moment, the sound of bells was faint and the smell of incense was far away.

A girl dressed in black walked along the mountain road and came to a Buddhist temple, then stopped. The temple was called Kufan Temple, and Nagarjuna Bodhisattva was enshrined in it.

At this time, a young novice monk came out of the temple, wearing a monk's robe that had been washed white. He saw the black-dressed girl and said, "Miss Mu is here."

The girl was Mu Wanqing. She returned the greeting and said, "Master Tongqin, I am here to burn incense."

The young monk said, "Miss, please go in. There is no one inside. I will go to dig some wild vegetables and will be back in a while."

Mu Wanqing nodded and was about to walk into the temple when the young monk asked again, "Why haven't you seen the girl bring black roses these days?"

Mu Wanqing's expression darkened under her veil when she heard this, and she bit her red lips lightly: "I lent the Black Rose to a friend and haven't taken it back yet."

The young monk said, "I see. I thought the horse had run back into the mountains and disappeared."

Black Rose was originally a wild horse in the mountains. When she was young, she often went to Mu Wanqing and Qin Hongmian's residence to beg for food, and then ran to the temple to sleep. The two were not far away, and they both recognized her. Mu Wanqing had never seen Black Rose's parents, and guessed that she might have been abandoned by the big horse, or maybe the big horse was eaten by some wild beast, so she could only live alone. Black Rose was just a foal at that time.

One winter, the cold wind from the snow-capped mountains in the northwest enveloped this stretch of mountains. The foal was shivering, and it couldn't get into the temple gate, so it ran to Mu Wanqing's residence and used its head to push the door. Mu Wanqing heard the noise, let it in, and kept it from then on.

Mu Wanqing also missed Black Rose, but Qin Hongmian would not allow her to go down the mountain, nor would she go to Dali, let alone go to the Song Dynasty.

She walked into the Kufan Temple and entered the Buddhist hall, which was empty.

This is a small temple that only worships Nagarjuna Bodhisattva, and its teachings are different from those of Central Plains Buddhism.

At this time, looking at the solemn Buddha statue in front of her, Mu Wanqing clasped her hands together and silently chanted Buddhist scriptures, then took out sandalwood, lit it and offered it in respect.

The image of this Bodhisattva is somewhat different from those in temples in the Central Plains. In addition to the seals made by his fingers which are rare in Buddhism, there is a snake-like creature faintly carved in the Buddha's light behind his head.

Mu Wanqing silently recited the opening chapter of the Great Wisdom Sutra. After she finished reciting it, the sandalwood would burn out and she would leave.

In the past, she came to the Kufan Temple three to five times a month, but since she came down the mountain and returned last year, she has come here almost every day.

Mu Wanqing has been feeling confused since she returned to the mountain. At first, she thought it was because she had learned about her life experience and it was hard for her to calm down. But later, when she found that Zhao Ti’s figure kept appearing in front of her, she realized that this was not the case.

She didn't dare tell Qin Hongmian about this, but the more she did so, the more Zhao Ti was willing to appear. He would smile at her and call her Miss Mu, which shook her heart.

Mu Wanqing felt that she was possessed by a demon in her heart. She felt that everything was fake and was just a dream. However, without Black Rose by her side, the dream seemed to come true. When Monk Tongqin asked about the horse just now, she was even more shocked. All her experiences were real and not false at all.

The more she thought about it, the more dizzy she felt. Her internal energy began to surge and her blood began to churn.

She swayed a few times and thought to herself, "Oh no!" Is she going crazy?
Fortunately, her martial arts skills were not too high, and the symptoms of being possessed were not that severe. She forced herself to sit cross-legged on the ground, practicing martial arts to adjust her body, feeling the scent of sandalwood, and the low chanting voice of someone at the back, and gradually she felt better.

She let out a long breath and looked up at the Bodhisattva in front of her. The Bodhisattva had a compassionate expression, but the strange snake-like creature in the Buddha's light made her heart jump and she quickly looked away.

This hall not only houses a statue of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva, but also has statues of spirits on both sides. This is different from the temples in the Central Plains. The temples in the Central Plains all have guardian Vajra statues, while here there are various gods and spirits who listen to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas preaching.

Mu Wanqing didn't quite know the names of those gods and spirits, and she had never asked the monks. People from both inside and outside the mountains who came to the temple to burn incense were just worshipping the Bodhisattva. At this moment, she took a look at those gods and spirits, then stood up and walked out of the temple.

After leaving the gate of Kufan Temple, the young monk Tongqin had not returned yet. Mu Wanqing stood in the mountain breeze to relax, then returned home...

At the Song-Liao border, the delegation rested for one night in the market and then continued on their journey to Tokyo.

Along the way, the scenery was bleak, with dead leaves falling, it was already the end of autumn.

After crossing the Yellow River, Zhao Ti sent someone to deliver a message first, writing down what happened in Liao in a memorial and sending it to Zhao Xu for review...

In Tokyo, that evening, Zhao Xu looked somewhat relaxed after reading the memorial.

As long as the Khitan horses were obtained, the delegation's visit to Liao would be a success. Just as Zhao Ti said, a thousand-mile long dam could be breached by a single hole. The war horse trade that had not been opened for a hundred years, once the first one was done, there would definitely be a second one.

As long as you plan properly, you won’t have to worry about not achieving great things in the future.

A smile appeared on his face, but suddenly his brows tightened, and he heard a few "bang, bang" sounds, and several tiny round holes suddenly appeared on his robe, and blood spurted out of his body.

He moved as fast as lightning and quickly pressed two acupuncture points to stop the bleeding. Then he looked at the fading sunlight outside and sighed softly...

(End of this chapter)