Thousand Verdant Mountains – Chapter 31 Part 1
Chapter 31 Part 1
Xuyu finally decided to go to Ci’en Temple to paint the blessing painting.
Judging from Yuwen Zhi’s appearance, this time it should indeed just to paint and not do anything sinister.
This man was not a good person, but he seems to genuinely hold a deep remembrance for his deceased mother, which she had heard when she lived in county prince mansion. Moreover, for people at that time, seeking blessings was an extremely important thing for the well-being of their departed parents and relatives. It’s unlikely that he would be so disrespectful to his mother just for the sake of revenge.
When she traveled with Grandpa, whenever their money ran out, Grandpa would stop and look for some work to earn money, mostly painting for local temples or wealthy families. She had also painted a lot of blessing paintings like this one. According to her experience, if she had an assistant, it would take two to three days to complete. If she was assigned to paint alone, four to five days should be enough.
It would be better to spend a few days to finish the painting quickly, and the matter would be settled.
She went straight to Ci’en Temple.
The temple was located in the southeast of Chang’an, in an area sparsely populated, mostly surrounded by other temples and Taoist monasteries. The temple itself covered a vast area and was built upon the highest hill in the vicinity, surrounded by lush, verdant trees. When Xuyu arrived, it was midday, with the sun high in the sky and yellow dust swirling along the road. However, upon entering the temple, she was greeted by the sounds of Buddhist chants, birdsong, and dense shade. The incense offerings were particularly abundant, with carriages and fine horses from the northern part of the city crowded outside the gates. Devout men and women came and went in an endless stream.
The people from the county prince mansion were waiting in the temple just as Yuwen Zhi said. It was the steward she met at Lingao Posthouse that day. His attitude was different from Yuwen Zhi’s, he was quite courteous and led her to the Blessing Cave behind the temple.
The so-called blessing cave were essentially a row of stone chambers carved at the base of the back mountain. The blessing cave of the late county princess consort was located among them. It stretched about ten paces in length, around half of that in width, and stands over one in height. However, it should have belonged to another family before it was transferred to the county prince mansion. The three stone walls and the arched ceiling have all been smoothed and whitewashed, erasing any traces of the previous murals.
Nowadays, many temples in Chang’an were good at making money, one by one they opened this kind of blessing caves for the donors who donate the most incense money. For example, in famous temples built by imperial decree, such as Ci’en Temple, believers flock to it and compete to make offerings and boast about it, so it was common for the caves to change owners.
Xuyu had seen this steward in the county prince mansion before, he took the surname of the master. They ran into each other outside the city that day, but there were many people on the roadside, so he should not have seen her. He was a little surprised when he recognized Xuyu, but he quickly recovered and did not mention the past.
Xuyu asked what to paint, and the steward said that shizi had not specified anything and told the painter to decide themselves.
Xuyu looked around and quickly came up with an idea. She made a list and asked for the necessary painting supplies, including various brushes, paints, lighting, ladders for climbing, and other things. The steward ordered his attendant to write down everything, and finally asked if there was anything else needed.
The foundation of the stone chamber had been completed, which saved her a lot of trouble. For a stone chamber of this size, according to the current popular painting method, painting three sides and the ceiling, with one person working day and night, it should be about four to five days to finish like she had initially estimated. Considering the inconvenience of traveling back and forth here, and that she also had to work at night, she asked for a place to stay.
The steward said, “Don’t worry, Young Master. You don’t need to tell me about this. I have asked the monk in charge of reception to prepare it.”
The residence was nearby. It was a meditation room for the donor to purify their mind and practice Zen. It was fully equipped with bedding and was kept very clean.
Xuyu returned to the inn, packed up her stuffs, and was ready to leave. After hesitating for a while, she finally wrote a note to the innkeeper, asking him to pass it on if anyone was looking for her. Then she hurried back to Ci’en Temple and began to devote herself to paint that very day. And the progress was smoother than she expected.
The base of this stone chamber was primed with a mixture of fine sand, adhesive mud, and lime, with the proportions carefully balanced. Once applied to the walls, it formed a solid and adhesive surface, resistant to cracking and well-suited for painting and coloring. It must have been made by top skilled craftsmen.
Not only that, the pigments were also of top quality. The five primary colors—blue, red, yellow, black, and purple—serve as the foundation for the artwork, with each base color further divided into several subtle shades.
For instance, within the green category alone, there were pigments such as indigo from Persia, malachite green, gold-infused azure, and Kunlun green, each ground into particles of varying sizes to create different shades and intensities. Other pigments like cinnabar, white lead, and mica were also of the highest quality, pure and fine, far surpassing the relatively coarse and common materials she had used before.
It must be said that despite the less-than-pleasant start, once she fully immersed herself in the task at hand, her focus became unwavering, and time seemed to fly by.
On the fourth day, she had finished all the outlines and started to fill in the colors. In the morning, the steward came again and heard her say that it would be finished in a day or two. He was surprised, looked at the mural, thanked her for her hard work, and then left.
Xuyu inherited her grandfather’s temperament when it came to painting, diving into her work with such intensity that she would forgo sleep and rest. On this day, she painted almost nonstop from morning to night, taking only brief breaks to eat and rest. After lighting a torch, she continued working until around the third watch. By then, she had completed coloring the ceiling and the main mural, but she was utterly exhausted and starving. Only then did she finally set down her brush and massage her aching neck and arms.
Painting the wall was not a big deal, but painting the ceiling was a very physically demanding task. She had to balance herself on a scaffold, suspended in mid-air, all while holding her arms up and keeping her neck bent upward. After extended periods, this position caused severe discomfort and fatigue.
In the past few days, the servant from county prince mansion was also stayed outside the stone chamber waiting for her commands. At around the second watch tonight, Xuyu saw that he was sleepy and kept yawning, so she asked him to go to bed first. Now, as she sat on a narrow bed next to the cave wall to take a break, she picked up a leftover flatbread from the day and some cold tea, planning to eat before heading back to bed. However, she was so exhausted that the moment she relaxed and leaned against the wall, she dozed off.
She didn’t know how long it had been, but she suddenly felt as if someone move closer to her. Jolted awake, she opened her sleepy eyes and was startled to see Yuwen Zhi’s face looming right in front of her.
His face was flushed from wine, as if he had just had a drink somewhere. He was standing in front of her, bending over, his hand reaching out to her, holding something.
Looking closely, she saw that it was the half flatbread she had not finished.
“What are you doing!”
Xuyu was a little frightened and jumped up.
Yuwen Zhi immediately threw the flatbread to the ground like it was a hot potato, stood up and said disdainfully: “What can I do? I just saw you were holding it like a treasure even though you were asleep. It’s so funny, so I just took it away from you!”
Xuyu slowly exhaled, rubbed her forehead, turned around and began to pack up the painting tools on her work table. At this time, she heard Yuwen Zhi behind her said, “Isn’t there someone waiting for orders here? Where is he? How come you’re the only one sleeping here in the middle of the night?”
Xuyu could hear the unhappiness in his voice and, recalling how this person was notoriously ruthless and merciless, she grew anxious. The servant had stayed from dawn until late at night for the past few days and had only gone to bed a little earlier this evening. Fearing that Yuwen Zhi might suddenly lash out, she quickly turned and said, “I sent him away just a while ago, and I’m about to go to sleep myself. It’s so late—what brings you here, Shizi?”
Yuwen Zhi had just returned from a banquet tonight when he recalled the steward mentioning that the painting here was nearly finished. With this thought in mind, and relying on the drunkenness, he turned his horse and came here. Because he had a pass, although he encountered several groups of patrolling Jinwu Guards, he was not hindered and arrived directly at this place.
After Xuyu asked, he did not respond. He just pulled out a fire stick, held it in his hand, and went to the wall of the chamber to start looking at the painting.
Xuyu stopped urging him and let him finish his turn. Finally, he pointed at the main painting that she had just colored tonight and asked, “Is this my mother?”
Xuyu used the image of a to portray the county princess consort.
In Buddhist scriptures, Upasika refers to female believers who practice Buddhism at home. They do good deeds and accumulate virtue, and enjoy blessings during their lifetime. After their death, they are freed from the suffering of six realms of reincarnation and continue to enjoy the offerings of the world.
In the picture, the princess consort was precisely an Upasika who enjoyed the blessing of her virtuous deeds. She wore a floral crown, her appearance radiating a serene majesty, adorned in luxurious robes and draped with intricate jewelry. Flowing embroidered sashes surround her as she sat in a celestial chariot drawn by heavenly horses, ascending to heaven. Around her, many flying celestials in different poses welcome her, while auspicious beasts, including peacocks, phoenixes, and divine deer, ride on swirling clouds. On the ceiling of the stone chamber, she was painted with honeysuckle curtains and thousands of Buddhas, symbolizing the otherworldly realm the Upasika was heading to.
The entire stone chamber presented a picture that was exquisite, magnificent, warm, and full of sacredness and solemnity.
Xuyu explained the content of the painting to him. He was silent at first, staring at the beautiful painting in front of him. After a while, he suddenly seemed to wake up from the painting and snorted, “Doing good deeds can bring you blessings? What a nice thing to say!”
Xuyu looked over in confusion.
He turned to look at her. “My mother was indeed as you said. She was kind and generous when she was alive, but what did she get? She was ignored by my father! He had countless concubines, and when my mother returned to her hometown to live alone, he still didn’t care! That’s fine, but do you know how she died?”
Xuyu only knew that the county princess consort died early, but she didn’t know how she died.
She had no intention of prying into this kind of private matter involving other people’s family affairs. But before she could respond, he gnashed his teeth and said, “That was the year when my father went to welcome the one who fled west…” He paused, “It should be said to visit the west!”
He uttered these three words with a tone full of contempt.
“He went to welcome the old emperor and took all the troops with him. His enemies colluded with the Xifan people and attacked us. Originally, my mother should be fine. With my mother’s family guarding the pass, the city would not be broken for a while. It was those wretched, beastly commoners outside the city, in order to save their own lives, led my family’s enemies over the mountains through a secret path and storm the city!”
Perhaps because of the drunkenness, but Xuyu saw that his eyes were red, and under the light of the fire stick, they were flashing with resentment.
“She never harmed a soul in her life! Not even a single moth!”
“But just like that. My mother just disappeared like that.”
Finally, he said this in a cold tone, but his expression seemed to be smiling.
“So in your eyes, human life is as insignificant as an ant?” Xuyu asked softly.
Yuwen Zhi snorted again, walked over, and put the fire stick in his hand back on the rack.
“So what if I kill a few people?”
He asked back, looking at the painting on the cave wall again.
“All that talk of doing good deeds and six realms of reincarnation! It’s all nonsense to fool ignorant people! Look at this world, who has ever met a good end by doing good deeds? Who has ever achieved great things by accumulating virtue? What I see is nothing more than a pack of dogs and pigs fighting over scraps! The only difference is that the common folk are scrambling just to fill their bellies—”
He kicked the flatbread off the ground with a powerful kick, and the crumbs flew everywhere.
“And the ones in power are fighting for the right to control life and death, to stand above all others!”