The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 6

"It flew away! It flew away!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise, and the children jumped up and down shouting along with them.

Xu Tian secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he was able to fly, otherwise he would have been very embarrassed in front of everyone.

The Kongming lanterns flew higher and higher, quickly passing over people's heads, then over rooftops, and drifting away into the sky.

Xu Tian then lit another Kongming lantern, and soon it too took flight.

Everyone watched as the two Kongming lanterns flew higher and higher, turning into two small dots in the sky before disappearing completely, whether covered by clouds or extinguished.

"Wow, that's amazing! Only a genius like Xu Tian has the ability to make a lamp fly into the sky, just like Zhuge Liang!" Wang Anping exclaimed excitedly.

At this moment, everyone in the courtyard had a new understanding of Xu Tian's amazing abilities.

Everything was over, and everyone left to rest. The fire in the courtyard was left burning without being extinguished.

Only Wang Anping and Xu Tian remained to rest; as the hosts, they had to stay up all night to welcome the New Year.

The two moved to the living room, sat around the charcoal fire, played cards, chatted, and ate something until dawn when the rooster crowed. It was actually quite boring.

Although it was New Year's Eve, Xu Tian didn't think too much about the future; thinking about it now was pointless.

It's just a bit of a感慨 (feeling of mixed emotions), without realizing it, "history" has already entered the thirteenth year of Yuanhe.

That afternoon, Xu Tian woke up from his nap, only to immediately hear that the Kongming lantern incident from the previous night had alarmed the government.

It turns out that the Kongming lanterns flew into the sky last night and were naturally seen by people in the vicinity, and many people saw them. At this time of night, there were no streetlights or anything to dazzle people's eyes and interfere with their vision, there was no moon or stars in the sky, and there were no tall buildings, so the view was excellent.

However, not many people could see it clearly. Most only knew that there were lights flying in the sky. Only those who were closer could distinguish them as lamps. They had never seen such a sight before, so they were very surprised and amazed.

Among those who saw the Kongming lanterns were naturally government officials. Today, some people have already come to the area to inquire about how the light was produced. It is said that the first people to discover it were those who lived near this area.

Fortunately, the person who was receiving guests today was Ma Yuan. He wasn't stupid; he said he went to bed early last night and didn't know anything about it. He then told the manager about it, and she instructed everyone in the shop not to talk about the Kongming lanterns.

Overall, the festive atmosphere has been quite strong these past few days. The streets are filled with the smell of incense and cooking fumes, and it is said that this will continue until after the Lantern Festival.

Early on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Tian had just gotten up when he heard the sound of several horse-drawn carriages and the footsteps of a large group of people passing by on the main road ahead.

I wonder which big family is passing through here again. This has happened several times in the past two days, but it doesn't feel like there are as many people as this time.

Later, he talked about this with Wang Anping, who said, "I have inquired about it. The people who passed by today were government officials, carrying the banner of the governor's mansion, and they were accompanied by many officials of various ranks."

"Huh, what are they doing going south at this time? Are they going mountain climbing too?" Xu Tian asked curiously.

"They should be going to the temple to burn incense. It's the beginning of the year, and burning incense is said to ensure a year of peace and good fortune. Also, the monks in the temple will be giving sermons during these days."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tian began to ponder.

According to later generations' understanding, he knew that the Tang Dynasty emperors embellished their reputations by claiming to be descendants of Lao Tzu, and therefore highly valued Taoism. As a result, Taoism was very developed during that era, which was one of the important reasons why Xu Tian was willing to pretend to be a Taoist successor.

However, after six months of careful observation, Xu Tian realized that Buddhism was still the most influential religion among the people.

Looking at the mountains to the south, they are all divided up by temples. It is said that there are several Buddhist temples, which are magnificent and have many worshippers, but I have not seen any Taoist temples.

Inside and outside Dingxiang City, there are temples dedicated to the Earth God, the River God, the Dragon King, the City God, and the Goddess, but there are no Taoist temples.

Furthermore, it seems that the relationship between Buddhism and Taoism is not very good, and the monks in the temples seem to be quite resistant to Taoism.

Hua Zi Lou has been here for so long, and I've occasionally seen novice monks begging for alms at nearby shops, but I've never seen them come to Hua Zi Lou. I suppose it's because the promotional slogans at the entrance mention that Hua Zi Lou's cuisine is based on Taoist traditions.

Of course, Xu Tian didn't care much about this; he didn't care whether Xu Tian came or not.

Two days later, rumors began to circulate that the reason why there were firelights in the sky on New Year's Eve this year was because the imperial court had won a great victory before the New Year, so the firelights symbolized good fortune, auspiciousness, and good things.

Upon hearing this rumor, Xu Tian was unsure whether it was guided by the government or spontaneously generated by the people; either was possible.

Although there are notices outside the store, customers still occasionally come to complain about why Huazilou is not open yet and urge it to open for business as soon as possible.

The guests could not be offended, so Ma Yuan had to carefully explain that the cooks had all gone back to their hometowns and that they should come back after the eighth day of the new year.

Xu Tian stopped making Kongming lanterns, thinking that he would quietly sell the technology after the storm had passed. It would be a one-off deal, and others would understand it at a glance, so he didn't plan to make them himself.

However, to my surprise, trouble still came knocking on my door.

That morning, Ma Yuan rushed to the backyard and said to Xu Tian as soon as he saw him, "It's bad. The Kongming lantern incident has been exposed. Several government officials have come to the door and are waiting in the hall. They want the shop owner to go and question them."

He then added, "I've never seen these people before."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tian frowned, but remained calm. Ma Yuan said he hadn't seen these people before, so they probably weren't the patrolling constables from the south of the city.

This was unexpected. Although he didn't want to deal with government officials, the situation was already unavoidable, so he went to find Wang Anping first, and the two went to the main hall together.

On the way, Xu Tian saw that Wang Anping looked serious, so he comforted him and said, "Brother Anping, the matter of the Kongming lantern is not a big deal after all. Don't think too much about it. If you are asked about the Kongming lantern later, just admit that I released it. I will handle the rest."

Upon arriving at the hall, they indeed saw four or five officials, none of whom they recognized. Only one of them, a man in blue robes, was sitting, while the others stood on either side, all with swords at their waists.

Since the shop is not open yet, hot tea is not available.

"Gentlemen, Happy New Year! It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Wang Anping, the shop owner. May I ask what brings you to my humble shop?" Wang Anping greeted them with a smile and clasped his hands in greeting.

The young man in blue who was leading the group stood up and said, "Master Wang, we are here on behalf of the prefectural government. It is not without reason that we have come to your shop during the New Year. We have something to confirm, and we ask you to answer truthfully."