Chapter 15: The meditation room is deep in flowers and trees
The Zen courtyard is shaded by flowers and trees, quiet and deep, and the lights in the Zen room are like beans.
Xia Houshu stood at the door of the Zen room where he lived, carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead, took a deep breath to make himself look more relaxed, and then gently opened the door of the Zen room.
Zhong Yuqing was indeed in her room, sitting at the short table on the right and reading scriptures. Under the dim candlelight, her face did not look good.
Xia Houshu paused at his feet and subconsciously turned sideways to block his mother's view as much as possible. Fortunately, she was wearing red clothes today. Even if it was stained with blood, it was not very conspicuous in the dim candlelight. However, she was wearing red clothes.
She didn't dare to relax at all.
Zhong Yuqing didn't seem to be relieved after meeting Master Zhikong. She also looked at the scripture in her hand absentmindedly and stared at one place for a long time without responding.
Xia Houshu approached and tentatively called "Mother".
Zhong Yuqing slowly came back to her senses after hearing the sound. Her eyes moved from the scriptures to her daughter softly and with a bit of confusion. However, she did not notice anything unusual about Xia Houshu. She just said in a slightly reproachful tone: "You
This child is just as willful as he is at home, and he behaves so unruly when he goes out. I asked you to go back to the meditation room to rest first, and not to run around, but you didn't take it to heart at all, and in just a short time you ran away without a trace.
He never came back to eat, and he was just like a wild horse running wild. Tell me honestly, where did you go to the wild again?"
Xia Houshu pondered the meaning of his mother's words, as if he didn't know her true whereabouts. He took a peek at Yunxi next to him, who was pouring tea calmly, and knew that it was nothing serious.
She breathed a sigh of relief, raised the scripture in her hand to Zhong Yuqing as if offering a treasure, and said enthusiastically: "I ate some cakes brought from home in the afternoon, so I didn't feel hungry. And I thought it was the first time.
When I came to Huguo Temple, I went out for a walk, and happened to meet some young masters discussing scriptures. I thought it was interesting and stayed a little longer. Unexpectedly, it was so late, which made my mother worried."
Zhong Yuqing, a mother, knows her daughter's temperament and preferences very well. She looked at her daughter with sharp eyes and asked doubtfully: "When did you become interested in these scriptures?"
"It's true that nothing can be hidden from mother's eyes!" Xia Houshu smiled awkwardly, deliberately pretending to be embarrassed after being exposed, and continued to explain calmly, "I did follow your instructions in the Zen room this afternoon.
While I was resting here, I even read the scriptures copied by others." As she said this, she quickly returned the Buddhist scriptures in her hand to her mother again to prove that she was not lying.
Seeing that her mother's face softened a little, but still looked a bit displeased and confused, she added: "It's just that these scriptures are too profound and I really can't understand them. Later, I heard the young master in the temple say that the fish in the pond were released and
The turtles got into a fight over food, so I went to take a look out of curiosity. Unexpectedly, the turtle moved slowly and the fish was nimble, so the two sides fought for a long time and couldn't stop, so..."
When she went down the mountain, she did pass by the release pond and found that there were many big and fat turtles and silver carp in the pond. The fish and turtles were kept together, so they were not allowed to compete for food!
"Shut up!" Zhong Yuqing was so angry that she covered her chest. Did she raise a daughter, or a boy who only knew how to mess around all day long?
"It's okay if you don't have the rules, but you haven't made any progress yet! What does a turtle and a fish fighting for food have to do with you? Is it worth spending an afternoon watching?"
After Zhong Yuqing scolded you, you were not relieved, but then she thought about it, what could she do? She couldn't ignore her own daughter no matter how much she did, and had to be soft-hearted. Thinking of this, she breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at her daughter and continued to scream.
He scolded: "All the rules I teach you are in vain!"
"Mom, I was wrong." Xia Houshu quickly lowered his head in reflection.
"You..." Zhong Yuqing hesitated, and finally sighed deeply.
Zhong Yuqing looked at Xia Houshu critically, and saw her standing there with lowered eyebrows, waiting for scolding, and her expression gradually softened. She probably felt that it was better for her daughter to watch those boring fish and turtles fight than to cause trouble everywhere, so she said what she said next to her.
He swallowed it back, leaving a sigh.
As a mother, Zhong Yuqing is very aware of Xia Houshu's temperament and often worries about her. Although Xia Houshu is a girl, she has never been a peaceful person, and she is no more worried than raising a boy. She makes mistakes in her daily life and does not care about her.
It's just a case of being caught. Once caught, she admits her mistakes faster than anyone else and has a better attitude than anyone else. But she will still do it next time, but she will be smarter.
As the matron of the family, Zhong Yuqing usually had to take care of all the affairs in the palace of the Yue Kingdom. She was in charge of more than a hundred people, which made her physically and mentally exhausted. The death of her eldest son became a huge stone weighing on her heart.
She couldn't let go for a long time, and often felt that she was unable to do what she wanted. As Xia Houshu was not raised by her side when he was a child, his temper was inevitably loose and willful. She understood it and felt guilty, so as long as Xia Houshu's behavior was not excessive, she
They all turned a blind eye.
But the situation is different now. Xia Houshu is no longer a little girl.
If it hadn't been for the quarrel between Xia Houshu and Zhong Lufu a month ago, which she had ignored, her daughter would have already passed her hair age, and it was time to discuss marriage. But in this capital where the rich and powerful are everywhere, who can truly love and accompany her?
Where is the person for the rest of my daughter’s life?
Naturally, Xia Houshu had no way of knowing her mother's worries. She was just keenly aware that her mother didn't intend to argue with her. She was just scolding her when she was angry, so she breathed a sigh of relief. But she was injured, and her mother was
Here, there is still some danger of being exposed.
She secretly thought about how to politely ask her mother to leave.
She thought about it for a long time, then suddenly remembered the wordless Buddhist amulet she had asked for in the afternoon, so she took the opportunity to change the subject and asked: "Mother, you went to see Master Zhikong this afternoon. Is Master Zhikong okay? I heard from the monks in the temple
He said that Master Zhikong has not seen many guests in the past year."
Zhong Yuqing was pretending to be something, and did not doubt that he was there. He answered honestly: "Master Zhikong is old, and his physical condition is naturally not as good as before."
Seeing that his mother's attention had indeed been diverted, Xia Houshu quickly struck while the iron was hot and continued: "Master Zhikong is an eminent monk who has achieved Taoism. I think he will be blessed by the Buddha and will be blessed with longevity. My mother often said that Master Zhikong is extremely intelligent and profound.
He is well versed in Buddhism and must be better than the fortune-telling monk we met at noon. I wonder if Master Zhikong has deciphered the wordless fortune-teller?"
When Zhong Yuqing heard the three words "no signature", her face suddenly changed, and she said in a dull voice: "Shur, since you don't believe this, just pretend that you have never asked for any signature today, and don't ask again in the future."
"Why is this?" Seeing his mother's huge reaction, Xia Houshu couldn't help but become curious, "Is it because the Buddha's fortune sign has a bad meaning?"
Xia Houshu didn't care what the unmarked sign meant. After all, whether it was good or bad was entirely up to other people's opinions, but he wanted to know the reason why his mother was so melancholy.
Realizing that his words might be out of proportion, Xiahou relieved himself and said comfortingly: "The words of gods and Buddhas are the most empty. If you believe it, there will be something, if you don't believe it, there will be nothing. The same is true for Buddhist amulets. If the meaning is good, it can indeed inspire people and connect with others.
It’s comfort; but if the meaning is not good, and you just believe it in such a confused way, wouldn’t it be causing trouble for yourself? Anyway, I don’t believe it, so mother doesn’t have to worry about it.”
"Shur!" Zhong Yuqing suddenly stopped her, "I told you not to mention it again!"
"Daughter, I know." Xia Hou suppressed the doubts in his heart and stopped asking further. He thought that since his mother said so, the wordless sign must have no good meaning as the old monk who interpreted the sign said before.
Otherwise, my mother would not be so secretive. Fortunately, she is not superstitious and can take this matter lightly. It is better to just say it goes in one ear and out the other and pretend it never happened.
Zhong Yuqing soon realized that her tone was not appropriate. With Xia Houshu's character of knowing what was not allowed to be done, her curiosity might be aroused. But she didn't know how to explain her feelings about that.
I was worried and fearful about not having a signature, and I couldn't figure out whether my daughter was really not interested or trying to make her happy, and I felt very irritable.
In the afternoon, she went to see Master Zhikong. As usual, she discussed the essentials of Buddhist scriptures and also expressed some thoughts about her eldest son Xia Houxi. Under the guidance of Master Zhikong, she gradually felt a lot more relaxed and talked about
Xia Houshu asked for the wordless marriage sign in the afternoon. She never thought that Master Zhikong would laugh it off and tell her that all things in the world are born from existence, existence is from non-existence, and non-existence is the source of all changes. It is destiny, and it can be done or not.
Well, it is better to follow the advice of the old monk who interpreted the lotus, just let nature take its course and wait and see what happens.
Zhong Yuqing understood that Master Zhikong had good intentions and wanted to persuade her to let go of some obsessions and not live so tiredly. But as a mother, Xia Houshu was the daughter she almost gave birth to at the risk of her life, and she was also the only one in her life.
Daughter, how can she resign herself to fate and let nature take its course? She has already lost a son, and she did not fulfill her duty as a mother when her daughter was young. She already feels guilty, and now she absolutely cannot wait and see what happens in her daughter's marriage.
Of course, it was not convenient for her to tell Xia Houshu about these worries as a mother.
After calming down a little, Zhong Yuqing said: "Shu'er, it's getting late. I'm a little tired today, so you should settle down earlier." After saying that, he specifically told Yun Xi, "There are many people in this monastery, so you can't.
You have to follow the girl, don't let her run around and talk nonsense and make people gossip. Mrs. Liu chose to pretend to be deaf and dumb about what happened today to give us face, but if she does it again and spreads it, we may lose face someday.
The lining is gone."
Xia Houshu was thinking hard about how to invite his mother back to his room. After listening to his mother's words, he hurriedly nodded in agreement, promising that he would be careful in his words and actions and not bring shame to the family.
Zhong Yuqing then returned to her room with some relief.
Xia Houshu watched his mother go back to her room and closed the door. She quickly took Yunxi back to the Zen room where she lived. She stretched her head and looked around again. She didn't find anything strange, so she asked Yunxi to bolt the door, and then
Go to the table and sit down.
Yun Xi vaguely felt what had happened, and was about to ask when she turned around and found that Xia Houshu took out a small white porcelain bottle and smelled it, then put it on the table and lowered his voice and gave her an order: "Hurry up and help while no one is here.