In the seventh year of Xiping, Nanqi, in late spring, everything revived.

After half a month of continuous rain, the weather finally cleared. The Canaan Mountain in the southeast of the suburbs of Nanqi Jing is flourishing, with birds singing and flowers blooming, and spring and scenery. The lane entering the mountain collapsed in many places after a heavy rain. Carriages and horses are still inaccessible, but they cannot stop the devout pilgrims who come here.

In the incense team, a girl in red was particularly eye-catching.

Her steps were sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes stopped and watched, without any rules, adding a sense of agility and vitality to the rugged mountain road.

The spring sunshine shone down through the shade of the trees, shining on the red blond hairpins inlaid with rubies and the red robe skirt embroidered with golden lotus flowers, reflecting dazzling light. Her beautiful and pretty face gradually became clear, but there was a hint of ridicule and impatientness that was different from other pilgrims.

For her, if there is anything more boring in this world than being locked in a middle school in a boudoir, it would be to go to the Buddhist temple to eat incense or go to Taoist temples to practice.

The maid who followed her with her noticed her gradually becoming worse, pretended to go up to support her, and whispered: "Miss has always been tough, so let's bear it for a while. When I arrive at Huguo Temple, I will make you a bowl of cool turtle jelly."

The girl in red glanced at her and couldn't help but think of the word "looking on plums to quench thirst" in her mind. She suddenly felt a fire in her heart. She glanced at the other party and said in a depressed voice: "Yunxi, Yunxi, if you are willing to deceive yourself, don't think I'm as stupid as you. Since entering the mountain, you have said this sentence several times? After walking for so long, I haven't even seen the gate of Huguo Temple! Don't think that a bowl of turtle jelly can fool me."

"Then... two bowls?" The maid named Yunxi opened her eyes wide in shock. She thought for a while and looked around. There was no one else except them within two meters in front and back. Then she quietly turned the two fingers that were stretched out into three, lowered her throat and asked tentatively: "Why... three bowls?" Perhaps because she was afraid that the other party would regret it, she quickly emphasized again, "Three bowls are already the limit, and there can be no more. Although this turtle jelly is nourishing, it is not good to eat too much, so girls should not be greedy."

“…”

The girl in red was so angry that she was so angry that she gave her a blank look: "Am I thinking that I'm not too little?"

Yunxi looked confused: "Does that girl want to eat something else?"

So he looked serious.

"You..." The girl in red was furious and felt that it was boring to continue to argue with Yunxi. Then she took a deep breath, tried her best to suppress the unhappiness in her heart, and said in great pain: "If I had known this place was so boring, I might as well be confined to the mansion."

Yun Xi was embarrassed and frowned: "Miss is talking nonsense again. This is awesome spring, who thinks about being confined every day?"

The girl in red ignored her and continued to walk forward with a dark face.

Yun Xi smiled embarrassedly and said: "Huguo Temple is the first Buddhist temple in my dynasty. It is full of incense and unique scenery. Today, I just happened to encounter a landslide, so I felt wronged that the girl wanted to walk up the mountain. The most important thing is to worship Buddha. The more sincere the heart, the more favor the Buddha will be. The girl will be patient. After this trip, she turned back and retreated the confinement order. It is easier to go wherever you want." As she said that, she leaned closer and whispered, "Princess can be watched from behind."

When the girl in red suddenly stopped hearing this, she turned her head and looked at the woman Huachang who was surrounded by several maids and guards, who were slowly moving forward not far behind her, and sighed silently.

The woman was the "Prince" who was secretly secretive in Yunxi's mouth, and was also her mother, the mistress of the Duke's Mansion of Nanqiyue, and Princess Xuanhe, personally conferred by the late emperor.

Princess Xuanhe was born in Prince Gong's Mansion. Her real name was Zhong Yuqing. She was the only daughter of the late King Gong's King Zhong Jing. She succeeded her sister, King Gong's Zhong Zan. Zhong Yuqing was dignified and had an extraordinary temperament. She was famous in the capital when she was young. Although she was over forty years, she still had a glorious posture. Her every move was full of calmness and grandeur after years of precipitation. She was gentle and noble, and she had a few sharpness and open-mindedness that had been through many battles. After walking so far, most of the people of her age were panting, but she had a calm face and a calm manner, as if she was visiting her own back garden.

But it is really incredible that such a dignified and thoughtful person who has always been worried and serious in the past month for some reason. He even insists on taking a group of people across mountains and rivers to incense with him despite the bad weather.

Thinking of this, the girl in red squinted her eyes and looked forward. The terrain of Canaan Mountain was steep, and the stone steps entering the mountain were everywhere, like a long dragon, and the head and tail could not be seen clearly in the towering forest. The tall and majestic Huguo Temple was hidden in the dense jungle, as if it was close at hand, but also out of reach.

Everyone in the world says that gods, Buddhas and gods are wise and their destiny is determined, but she feels that false words are untrustworthy. Everyone's destiny should be firmly in their own hands, so that they will not live for a lifetime in vain.

"My mother believed in these things too much. If she could understand that there were no gods and Buddhas in the world and that man conquered nature, she would not be so melancholy and worried about gains and losses." The girl in red couldn't help but think of some past events when she said this, and sighed again. Her tender face revealed that she was not as transparent as she was. "It is better to ask for yourself instead of asking Gods and Buddhas and placing her hopes on useless places."

"You can speak softly." Yunxi reminded again.

As a maid who serves in close proximity, Yunxi understands the temperament of her girl best - she just vents her emotions quickly. She is still very rules-oriented in major matters and takes into account the overall situation. So she listened to the complaints all the way and patiently comforted her all the way, for fear that Zhong Yuqing would see the clues. However, after hearing the girl in red, she couldn't help laughing and joked: "The princess has always worshiped Buddha. If she listened to your words, she would be angry."

"What are you afraid of?" said the girl in red seriously, "I, Xiahou Shu, dare to be the one who dares to say it."

Yunxi believes the following sentence, because Xiahou Shu was born in the Xiahou family of Nanqi, and was a real golden branch and jade leaf. He was a noble girl from a noble family. He was inevitably arrogant and fearless when encountering problems.

The Xiahou family of Zhongming Ding Food has always been full of talents and is highly valued by the imperial court. They have made great contributions to the stability and strength of Nanqi, and are a hero in the family.

Xiahou Guang, the ancestor of Xiahou family, was a founding hero of Nanqi. He inherited the first-class Duke of Yue. He was well-official and had a glory for generations. The current head of the family Xiahou Yuan was extremely courageous and brave, and was a loyal minister of the court today. He was ordered to govern the affairs of the Chiyu Army's western suburbs and had always had prestige. As the pearl in the palm of Xiahou Yuan and Princess Xuanhe, Xiahou Shu was like a proud daughter of the heavens. She never looked for trouble and did not look for her. She rarely had any uneasy troubles, so she was not interested in seeking God and worshiping Buddha, and she was even more unwilling to appreciate the elegance and solemnity of the pure land of Buddhism.

But Yunxi is different. She is just a little maid. Life, death, honor and disgrace are all between her daily words and deeds and the thoughts of the master. At present, in front of her mistress, she must not let Xiahou Shu talk nonsense and lose the style and demeanor of a lady, otherwise not only the master is shameless, but also her maid will suffer.

Seeing Xiahou Shu’s dissatisfaction, she couldn’t help but show her worries and coaxed and half-lying, “I know you are not afraid of heaven or earth, but you have seen it too. The princess is in a bad mood recently and has a bad complexion. Just think of it as a filial piety to her mother and stop tossing.”

Xiahou Shu looked at Yun Xi, thinking about the dilemma between her and her mother as a maid, and thinking about her mother's closeness, he curled his lips and said nothing, and turned around and walked forward.

But after a few steps, she said again: "Speaking of this, my mother's behavior is indeed a bit abnormal. She knew that I was not interested in worshiping Buddha and incense, but she insisted on taking me to incense. Although Huguo Temple is famous, there is only one lane and one mountain road. When we were at the foot of the mountain, we heard people say that the lane up the mountain collapsed, and the mountain road was rugged and difficult to walk, which was very dangerous. She also advised us not to force it up the mountain. But my mother didn't listen to any persuasion, and insisted on going up the mountain regardless of the safety of everyone. I thought about it and couldn't figure out why. This is so strange!"

Yunxi also vaguely realized that this trip was not that simple, but she couldn't figure out the reason, so she simply stopped exploring it in depth. However, since Xiahou Shu asked, she could not pretend not to hear it, so she had to guess based on her intuition: "It is probably because the eldest son's birthday is coming soon, and the princess is sad, so she came to Huguo Temple in advance to pray for blessings."

Xiahou Shu was stunned when he heard this and stopped at his feet.

Yes, how could she forget such an important day?

She turned her head to look at Zhong Yuqing. Over the years, although her mother has been trying to let go, she is still more haggard than she has been. On the contrary, she, as a daughter and sister, was careless and almost forgot that the sixth day of the April 1st was the birthday of her elder brother.

It's been a few days since I calculated the days.

But when she thought of her elder brother who had never met several times, she felt bitter in her heart and couldn't even breathe.

Xiahou Shu had two elder brothers, Xiahou Chong, who was extremely talented since childhood, was good at strategy and martial arts. He danced with a long spear and learned a good skill. At a young age, he followed his father to polish his army camp and developed a good skill. When the late emperor was alive, he praised him as a rare young general, so he attached great importance to him and often announced that he entered the palace to study and practice martial arts with the princes; his second brother Xiahou Yi was handsome, intelligent and wise, and was a famous young master in the capital. With his noble background and handsome face, he won the hearts of countless women in the capital. However, he passed through the flowers and did not touch his leaves, making those women who were obsessed with him seem to live in a dream.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Duke of Yue’s mansion is full of grace and favor, rich and noble, and the descendants are also successful, and each is outstanding and has a good reputation. Looking at the circle of nobles in the entire capital, it is already very perfect.

However, just as everything in the world must follow the law of conservation of mass, the moon will be full and the wisdom will be damaged.

Seven years ago, the seventeen-year-old Xiahou Chong went to the Northern Kingdom with his father. That was his third time to go to the battlefield. He was full of confidence and spirit, but unfortunately he was ambushed by the enemy and was brutally killed. His corpse was left unrestrained. Since then, he has cast a bleak cloud on the general family.

To this day, whenever people mention that painful past, people still sigh.

Xiahou Shu slowly pulled his thoughts back to reality from the sad memory, sighed secretly, and told Yun Xi with a side face: "Let's go back and prepare paper and pen for me, I will personally smelify the "Amitabha Sutra" and burn it together when my elder brother is afraid of it."

Yun Xi looked surprised and finally realized for a while, saying, "Didn't the girl say she doesn't believe in gods and Buddhas?"

Xiahou Shu raised his eyes and looked at a corner of the temple looming in the distance, murmured: "Although I don't believe it, if this can make my elder brother rest in peace, I am willing to do it."

Chapter completed!