Chapter 119 A Secret Maneuver
The old craftsmen of the sword shop proposed a gate-washing ceremony, similar to the sword-washing ceremony.
With Ouyang Rong's consent, preparations began immediately.
By afternoon, at the beginning of the Yin hour.
The priests and shamans from the Dragon King Temple, invited by Mr. Chen and others from the ancient Yue sword shop, arrived at Di Gong Gate one after another.
“Mr. Chen, you have prepared quite a lot for the sluice gate washing ceremony. It arrived so quickly. It seems like it was prepared a long time ago.”
On the gravel beach outside Digong Gate, Ouyang Rong watched as several carriages carrying strangely shaped ritual pottery jars passed by one after another, and turned to ask Mr. Chen and the other craftsmen a question with curiosity.
Mr. Chen smiled:
"Your Excellency, you may not know this, but whenever a fine sword is forged at the sword furnace on the west bank, there is a sword-washing ceremony. It is held frequently, and the temple keepers are always well-prepared with the necessary items."
"However, the sword shop on the west bank is more convenient because there is a ready-made dragon head platform. There is no high platform here, so we have to choose a site on the spot and build a platform by the water. Naturally, more things will be transported here, which is more troublesome."
"But don't worry, I'll go and tell the priests and temple keepers to hurry up so as not to affect the progress of the sluice gate repair... Please bear with me, Magistrate."
"It's alright. Take your time, there's no rush."
Ouyang Rong waved his sleeve generously, put his hands behind his back, and laughed:
"But the old gentlemen are really particular. Although I am a disciple of sages and don't really believe in supernatural forces, I do respect the local customs of this county. By the way, what kind of temple do you usually worship at?"
"In reply to you, sir, it is a Dragon King Temple that the local people have always worshipped, dedicated to the Dragon King of the sea."
"The Dragon King Temple?"
Ouyang Rong thought for a moment and pondered:
"Then when Dragon City floods, it shouldn't reach it, right? After all, the Dragon King protects it."
Magistrate Diao, who was watching from the back, added:
“My lord, you know what, it’s really true. The largest Dragon King Temple in the county is on the top of Xiaogu Mountain. It’s usually not affected by floods. It’s similar to Donglin Temple on Dagu Mountain.”
Ouyang Rong chuckled: "What a brilliant location."
A certain Xie woman, who was inseparable from him, leaned on her sword and stared at the priests and shamans dressed in superstitious attire before her. She curled her lip in disapproval.
The two scholars with official titles in front were making jokes back and forth, while the old craftsmen, including Mr. Chen, behind them dared not argue. They glanced at the young magistrate's expression with sheepish smiles and couldn't help but explain:
"Magistrate, the main thing is to put our minds at ease. The older generation says that the location of Yue Nu Gorge is a bit strange. There has never been peace when the sluice gate was built. We are holding a ceremony to invite the gods and thank the Dragon King, which can be considered as praying for peace."
"By the way, it's quite a coincidence. Recently, there's been a lot of talk in the county about something that's related to the county magistrate and the underwater dragon king."
"Oh? What is it?"
"Everyone says in private that the magistrate drowned on the day he took office. The Dragon King did not dare to take the magistrate's life. Instead, he taught the magistrate a wonderful strategy for controlling the flood. He returned to benefit the people of Dragon City. The magistrate is the chosen one of the Dragon King."
Ouyang Rong nodded without saying anything.
However, I gained some new insights into some of the superstitions of the people of Longcheng.
As the local official, he must be aware of this matter.
As he pondered, Ouyang Rong's gaze shifted from the face of a black-robed priestess covered in paint in the procession passing in front of him.
He suddenly turned his head and asked curiously:
"By the way, when you hold sword-washing ceremonies at the sword shop, you don't usually use human sacrifices, do you?"
Noticing that everyone around them was turning to look at them, Mr. Chen and the other veteran craftsmen quickly waved their hands:
"Your Excellency is joking. Our sword shop is a legitimate business. We even forge tribute swords for the nobles in the imperial palace of Luoyang. How could we possibly be so vulgar?"
"It's not there now, but it used to be?"
“We didn’t have this before,” the old craftsmen quickly added.
Ouyang Rong pressed down with his right hand in the air, smiling reassuringly:
"It's nothing, I was just asking casually. Hmm, that's good. This is not only my responsibility, the court also abhors this and has zero tolerance for it."
The young magistrate's last few words seemed to have a hidden meaning.
No one dared to respond, and they all nodded in agreement.
To Ouyang Rong, the Dragon King Temple sacrifices and the shrewish gate-washing ceremony were nothing special, even a bit tedious, just like a shamanistic ritual.
Moreover, the leading black-robed, dreadlocked priestess was neither generous nor magnanimous, which only the county magistrate and others behind her, who lacked entertainment, found fascinating.
Before long, the gate-washing ceremony concluded on the high platform bathed in the orange sunlight of dusk.
Seeing that it was getting late, the young magistrate, as usual, bid farewell to County Magistrate Diao, Mr. Chen, and others.
Before leaving, he turned his back to the setting sun, his expression hidden by darkness in the eyes of others, but his gaze swept over the crowd in front of him.
Ouyang Rong's gaze lingered for a moment on a chubby clerk among the crowd of county government officials, then casually looked away.
This man was none other than Yuan, a clerk in the sluice gate repair team that Liu Ashan had specially assigned to a few days ago, following his orders. He was also one of the few who had slipped through the net during the last cleanup of the county government's corrupt officials.
Ouyang Rong remained calm as he led Xie Lingjiang and the others away by boat, returning to the county.
Seeing that their superiors had left after get off work, the county officials, including Magistrate Diao, no longer bothered to hide their fishing. After tidying up, they prepared to take a boat back home.
In fact, as the completion date of Di Gong Gate approached, in order to ensure that nothing went wrong, the staff of Longcheng County Government took turns guarding Di Gong Gate at night.
Last night, Ouyang Rong and his junior sister took turns keeping watch, but tonight, in principle, Magistrate Diao should stay behind to guard the new gate.
However, the area around Yue Nu Gorge is full of uncultivated forests, and it is the hot and humid season, so there are a lot of mosquitoes at night.
Magistrate Diao felt that he should give his young subordinates some opportunities and put more responsibility on their shoulders, instead of doing everything himself like the Prefect, who took away the young people's chance to perform.
So Magistrate Diao decided to return to Longcheng that night and come early the next morning, well, earlier than Magistrate Ming... Isn't that already quite diligent?
"How long are you going to keep up this gate-washing ceremony?"
As he prepared to slip away, Magistrate Diao adjusted his official hat and turned to the leading black-robed female priestess, asking her a serious question.
The fairy with the jade cup lowered her eyes and replied, "Reporting to Your Excellency, it's all healed."
"Alright, let's get going. This area will be under curfew tonight. No one is allowed to stay except for county clerks and sluice gate repairmen."
"Yes, sir."
Under the watchful eye of Magistrate Diao, the Jade Cup Fairy led a group of shamans away in single file.
County Magistrate Diao then turned around and gave a few words of advice to the clerks who were on night watch at Di Gong Gate. They were all the same old things.
Before leaving, Magistrate Diao caught a glimpse of two horse-drawn carts left behind by the dam not far away. They seemed to be carrying wooden barrels covered with gray tarpaulins, which appeared to be left behind by the priests and shamans from the Dragon King Temple.
"Xiao Yuan, what's that?"
Magistrate Diao frowned, pointed to that spot, and turned to ask a chubby steward behind him.
Yuan, the clerk, glanced over there, a fawning smile on his face, and explained:
"Sir, this is a new batch of materials needed by Mr. Chen and his team for repairing the sluice gate, which is required for the final completion of the inner sluice gate. It just so happens that the priests from the Dragon King Temple brought them here today since they were passing by."
"oh?"
At this moment, Magistrate Diao saw Mr. Chen leading his men to pull away the two carriages not far away, so he also turned his gaze away.
He glanced back at the Di Gong Gate under the setting sun.
The dazzling orange-yellow sunset fell on the water on both sides of Digong Gate, creating a shimmering effect.
Occasionally, water birds would take flight.
The new sluice gate spanning the Nüxia Gorge is now deserted, with the workers and craftsmen no longer seen bustling about during the day. They have all left.
A peaceful scene of fishermen singing at dusk.
County Magistrate Diao nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.
What a fulfilling day!
County Magistrate Diao thought to himself that he actually quite enjoyed the atmosphere of going home after work. Overtime was not suitable for an old man at all. As an official, one should treat oneself well.
He imitated the young county magistrate, put his hands behind his back, climbed onto the bow of the boat, and as the boat sailed away from Yue Nu Gorge, he tilted his head slightly and hummed a little tune.
A red sun slowly sank into the Yunmeng Marsh, and the sky gradually darkened.
Magistrate Diao stroked his beard, gazed at the magnificent scenery, and suddenly became interested, so he began to compose a poem on the spot, until... two uninvited guests suddenly boarded the boat.
"Lord Diao has a good poetic talent."
"Prefect Ming? You... what are you doing here!"
County Magistrate Diao nearly plucked his beard off in surprise. He craned his neck and looked around at the river behind Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang, asking in astonishment.
"What, you're not welcome?"
"Welcome, of course you're welcome! A warm welcome!"
County Magistrate Diao quickly bowed and stammered:
"This humble official...this humble official is going back to get something, I'll be gone for a short while, and will return to Di Gongzha immediately."
The young magistrate, who had been waiting on the nearby riverbank for a long time, was led onto the boat by his junior sister, who possessed excellent lightness skills. He smiled and said:
"Lord Diao wants to go back and get a pillow and blankets, right? It's not comfortable sleeping at Di Gongzha's camp."
"Yes, yes... no, no." Magistrate Diao nodded, then shook his head like a rattle-drum.
Ouyang Rong saw through it but didn't expose it. He turned around first and told the boatman to turn around: "Let's go, Lord Diao."
"Your Excellency, where are we going? Aren't you...aren't you going back?"
"Take Lord Diao to see something interesting, and incidentally, act as a witness."
"Witnesses?"
County Magistrate Diao was puzzled.
The young magistrate smiled without saying a word, standing with his hands behind his back at the bow of the boat.
A short while later, on the great river, a small boat turned around and returned to the direction it had come from.
At the same time, the setting sun completely sank into the river.
The daytime curtain falls.
This chapter is a bit short. There's another one coming up, probably during the day. Get some sleep, guys!
(End of this chapter)
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