I was a god in the 18th century

Chapter 494: Are there Taoist nuns in Putuo Mountain?

The delegation's second trip to the road did not last long. The hot weather and crowded crowds soon drove them back into the relatively cool temple.

This time it is not a small land temple, but a much larger temple of the God of Wealth. It seems reasonable to have a magnificent temple of the God of Wealth in a busy commercial street.

The couplet at the entrance of the temple is also very interesting. It contains two paragraphs written very directly. The top couplet is "Don't think my temple is small and the gods are small and you shouldn't burn incense for a try", and the bottom couplet is "Don't rely on your power and influence to do evil and see what happens", without even a horizontal scroll.

Ma Su and Zhang Yutian were probably here for the first time, and when they saw the couplet, their faces looked a little strange. As for the three British envoys, two of them couldn't understand it at all, and the one who understood it had the least expression, so no one showed any strangeness.

Walking into the sunken Temple of the God of Wealth, it is much cooler inside than outside, probably because of its low terrain.

The soldiers did not allow the common people who had been watching the red-haired man to come in, so the temple was not crowded.

The keeper of the Temple of the God of Wealth was a middle-aged Taoist priest with a beautiful beard. When everyone came in, he was meditating on a cushion beside him, looking like an immortal.

He did not open his eyes immediately after hearing the noise. Even when he opened his eyes later and saw Ma Yu and Zhang Yutian in their official uniforms, he still looked calm and composed.

He just nodded indifferently at everyone and did not come forward to greet them, which was in sharp contrast to the smiling temple keeper in the land temple just now.

Unlike others, this temple keeper did not shave his head, but kept the traditional Han clothing and hairstyle. Although he was a monk, he only wore ordinary cotton Taoist robes, but he looked much more pleasing to the eye than the officials in gorgeous clothes beside him.

After all, the rat tail hairstyle is too ugly. If there is just a normal one, it will give people a dignified feeling.

Moreover, because his expression was not fawning and his greetings with the accompanying officials were very casual, his whole body revealed an air of neither servility nor overbearance, which made the British who came here look at him with higher regard.

The two missionaries who acted as translators did not enter the temple due to conflicts of faith, but stood under the shade of the tree at the temple gate to chat. Otherwise, they might have felt jealous when they saw the temple keeper. This pretentious style is what they want to achieve.

Although Staunton and John Barrow were both Protestants, they had actually developed rebellious hearts during the 10-month journey and had been fed by the Eastern gods of the Owen family and had lost their firm faith.

When he heard Owen explain that the god enshrined here was the one in charge of the wealth of the world, his eyes suddenly lit up.

As for money, the more the better. Who can still question the god who controls wealth?
Just look at the fact that the God of Wealth, a Taoist god, can openly enter Buddhist temples and enjoy offerings, which shows that the God of Wealth can break the barrier of faith.

Anyone who has believed in a god who can appear miraculously will instantly open up their horizons. Since they are already here, they might as well burn some incense.

Owen was not interested in burning incense to the God of Wealth, but he was somewhat interested in this temple of the God of Wealth because he smelled a very familiar smell here.

While Staunton and John Barrow followed the Qing officials in worshiping the God of Wealth, Owen looked behind the God of Wealth.

Like him, the temple priest of the God of Wealth also had his eyes cast towards the statue of the God of Wealth.

There was a reason why he was so calm when he met the local officials. Because not long ago, he met someone in the temple who was even more powerful than the local officials... should it be a human?

Just as the county magistrate Zhang Yutian's advisor was instructing Staunton and John Barrow to draw lots, a woman in fluttering clothes walked out from behind the statue.

This woman's dress is neither like that of a Han Chinese nor a Manchu, but rather like a fairy in a play. During this period, the common people of the Qing Dynasty generally wore cotton clothes, and the colors were also very monotonous. Those who could afford to wear silk were all landlords and gentry. The gap between the rich and the poor was obvious at a glance and easy to distinguish.

The dress on the woman in front of me was neither cotton nor traditional silk, but a very elegant light gauze. In addition to the rare material, the color was also not simple, with a gradient water ripple color.

This dress is layered, but it doesn't look bulky at all, and makes her look as light as a swallow. The thin fabric, coupled with the light skirt that has a drape and shape, gives people a sense of movement without wind. When she walks slowly, she looks like a fairy in a painting.

Several observant Qing Dynasty officials accompanying her quickly looked the woman over from head to toe, and expressed slight surprise at the embroidered shoes faintly visible under her long skirt.

There is no doubt that these are natural feet, that is, feet that have not been bound. In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu women did not bind their feet, only Han women had to bind their feet. This was not oppression by the Qing Dynasty rulers, on the contrary, the Qing emperors had issued an order prohibiting foot binding.

But the woman in front of him was very strange. She didn't look like a Manchu, but she didn't look like a Han lady who lived in seclusion in the boudoir and regarded three-inch golden lotus as beauty. Of course, she didn't look like a commoner. Her clothes, temperament and eyes made it difficult to define her. She was very different.

Who is she?
"Who is this female Bodhisattva?" The county magistrate's lawyer was the first to ask.

"I am a Taoist nun from Mount Putuo." The woman's voice was as sweet as a silver bell, but what she said was so unreliable.

When did Taoist nuns appear in Putuo Mountain? Zhang Yutian, the local official, had never heard of them.

Which of the Qing natives present here has not been to Mount Putuo to worship the Bodhisattva Guanyin? There are Taoist nuns in the Buddhist temple. Isn't this a joke?

Owen looked at the woman and smiled faintly, but said nothing.

There was only one person present who could accurately identify the woman in front of him. That was Owen.

The woman who cosplayed as a fairy was none other than Xia Qingdai. The outfit she wore was the same as the one worn by the heroine in the fairy tale drama, which was made entirely of layers of gauze.

On the one hand, she chose this kind of clothes because it suits her aesthetic taste, and on the other hand, it makes it convenient for her to engage in superstitious activities.

This flowing gauze skirt is quite hot to wear in the summer, but it is absolutely fairy-like.

In fact, Owen was not the only one who saw her in person. For example, Staunton and John Barrow had seen her once or twice at various banquets in London.

But Orientals have face blindness when looking at Westerners, and the same is true when Westerners look at Orientals.

In the past, Xia Qingdai appeared in front of them in a more Westernized image, with natural and simple hairstyle and clothes. Now she has changed into oriental ancient costume, with exquisite makeup and complicated hairstyle, how can they recognize her?

Xia Qingdai's makeup was done by a Hanfu shop near the West Lake, which cost her 899 yuan. Ancient costumes and modern costumes are not the same dimension, and there is a big difference between makeup and no makeup. Not to mention that the British who have seen her once or twice don't recognize her, I'm afraid even her classmates may not recognize her if they see her for the first time.

Only someone like Owen, who has her every frown and smile deeply engraved in his heart, can easily tell the difference.

He didn't know what the goddess was up to, so he just stood aside and watched her performance.