The next morning, Xia Houshu washed up and went to have breakfast with his mother as usual. Hong Luo went to the dining room to get her meal, but before she came back, Zhong Yuqing was sitting in front of the window copying Buddhist scriptures. Xia Houshu said hello and sat next to him.
Watch her copy scriptures.
Zhong Yuqing writes in fine regular script with even force and every stroke is very neat. It can be seen that her mind is very pure at this moment.
Qingfang leaned into Xia Houshu's ear and secretly told her that these scriptures were intended to be burned at the eldest son's birthday. After hearing this, the smile on Xia Houshu's face suddenly froze, and he looked at his mother with a hint of sadness in his eyes.
Can't bear it.
Zhong Yuqing obviously noticed it, raised his eyes and glanced at them, asking: "What are you whispering in front of me?"
Of course Xia Houshu would not tell the truth, but said with a bit of anger: "Qingfang just said that my handwriting is not half as good as my mother's, and she asked me to learn from it. Mother, I know she is someone you value."
She's a person, but you can't let her bully me."
Qingfang was stunned when he heard this, and roared in his heart: Even if you don't want to make the princess sad and lie, don't slander me like this! I haven't even seen your handwriting a few times, how can I ridicule you? What's more, you are
Master, I am a servant, how can I have the courage to bully you?
Zhong Yuqing did not doubt that he was there, and actually laughed and agreed: "She is right, your handwriting is really ugly, and you can't handle it at all. The Buddhist scripture you copied for me last time was later read by your aunt
Now that it’s here, I’m embarrassed to say it was you who wrote it.”
The Buddhist scripture that Zhong Yuqing mentioned was copied word by word by Xia Houshu to show his filial piety when she celebrated her birthday last year. But after a lot of thinking, she didn't expect that the words "disdain" would be written ugly.
Xia Houshu curled his lips and retorted: "When writing this word, the most important thing is to see it clearly, distinguish it clearly, and get the meaning right. Why care about those details? If everyone follows the mother as an example, wouldn't everything become calligraphy?
Holy hand?"
Zhong Yuqing and Qingfang looked at each other and smiled: "Look, she is not happy if her handwriting is ugly. She will try her best to make excuses for herself. No wonder she said you bullied her." Then he looked at Xia Houshu and said seriously,
"I don't expect you to become a master of calligraphy. I just hope that you can write more neatly and standardly. In the future, you will be the master of the house, so you will inevitably use it."
Xia Houshu simply pretended to be angry and said angrily: "Since mother has arranged so many capable people around me, they will naturally help me. If I don't know how to do it, or can't do it well, there are some
They are taking care of me, so what do I have to worry about?"
Zhong Yuqing couldn't help but froze when she heard this, and the smile on her face disappeared instantly. She chose a capable and well-behaved person to put in her room, really to serve her attentively, and to look after her for herself when necessary.
She actually regarded this as an excuse to be lazy and lazy.
Xia Houshu didn't intend to continue this topic. She deliberately ignored her mother's sigh, pretended to be angry, turned around and sat on the other side.
Zhong Yuqing shook his head and continued to copy scriptures, while Qingfang was waiting for the pen and ink.
When Xia Houshu saw that no one paid attention to her anymore, he thought of other things, and his thoughts gradually flew to the sky.
It has been a day and two nights, and the matter in the back mountain should have come to an end today. Even if the pilgrims in the temple did not like to wander around like her, the monks who patrolled the mountain should have discovered it. And these two
It rains sometimes and clears up sometimes, but the place is already in terrible condition.
She was worried that no one would find out what happened in the back mountain, and at the same time she was worried that if someone really discovered it, there would be a big fuss. She thought about it in such a contradictory way for a long time, and then she saw Hongluo coming back with a food box.
Also coming in with her was the monk Zhike who had received them before.
The Zhike monk, whose name is Huineng, is accustomed to observing words and deeds, and is well-rounded in what he says and does. As soon as he entered the door, he sincerely apologized to Zhong Yuqing: "I heard from other brothers that yesterday the princess was inquiring about the donor Li who used to live in this courtyard.
The young monk quickly came over to explain the matter to the princess, so that the princess would not hear false rumors and cause misunderstanding."
Zhong Yuqing's eyes glanced at Hongluo intentionally or unintentionally. Hongluo was worried that she would suspect that he was talking nonsense, so he immediately explained: "I overheard others talking yesterday and asked more questions. I didn't deliberately inquire about anything." Then.
He looked at Monk Huineng and said, "I met the young master outside earlier. The young master only said that he wanted to see the princess, but refused to reveal anything about it. I am still confused."
Hongluo's remarks not only made it clear that she did not go against Zhong Yuqing's instructions, but also explained that she met Monk Huineng outside the door and did not say anything more.
Qingfang was the first to react. She had been with Zhong Yuqing for many years. Sometimes she was Zhong Yuqing's other mouth. She had to speak for many things that Zhong Yuqing couldn't say. Before Zhong Yuqing could speak, Qingfang said: "
What little master Huineng said makes no sense, my princess and the girl live here very well, what do you want to apologize for, little master?"
Huineng frowned slightly after hearing this, and glanced at Zhong Yuqing intently. Seeing that the other person looked calm and neither sullen nor angry, he wondered if the rumors were wrong and Princess Xuanhe didn't mind at all?
With Qingfang getting straight to the point, Zhong Yuqing said with a smile: "Young master's words also made me very confused. Is there something you want to tell me?"
Having said this, Huineng could no longer hide it, so he said: "The princess sent me the notice a few days ago, and the young monk has already arranged this courtyard for the princess. Later, two female donors lived next door.
There was a disagreement, so Donor Li proposed to move here for a few days and find a sunny day before going down the mountain. Since it had been raining intermittently for the past half month, many pilgrims staying overnight were unable to go down the mountain, and the monastery in the temple was full.
Since there was really no room for other courtyards, we decided to arrange for Donor Li to stay for a few days before the arrival of the princess. Later, Donor Li did withdraw from the courtyard in advance and did not
I thought she encountered a landslide when going down the mountain..."
After Hui Neng finished speaking, he looked at Zhong Yuqing again, and then continued: "Although the people are not in our temple, they have just left here. We originally wanted to arrange a new courtyard for the princess, but the princess also saw it.
, since the driveway was destroyed, people in this temple can't go down, but people at the bottom of the mountain keep coming to the temple. Buddhism emphasizes the equality of all living beings, and we can't stop them from coming in, so recently this Zen temple has become even more crowded.
It's in short supply. Even if we want to give the princess another room, we are unable to do so."
After saying that, he seemed to be afraid of Zhong Yuqing's sudden anger, and quickly added: "I originally wanted to tell the princess about this in person when she went up the mountain the day before yesterday, but there were so many people that day that the young monk couldn't speak frankly. Later, I heard that the princess
The master went to see Master Zhikong and was delayed, so he hurriedly came to apologize to the princess and hoped that the princess would be magnanimous."
Xia Houshu felt that this monk was really hypocritical. He obviously had no intention of telling them that it had been a day or two, but because they heard about it from other channels, they had to apologize. Moreover, this apology was quite insincere.
This is shirking responsibility and passing the blame.
Just like Zhong Yuqing said, there are several houses in the world where no one has died. It's just that knowing this in advance and being told by others afterwards are completely different feelings. But with Zhong Yuqing's character, she was not angry when she heard it yesterday.
Now in front of Monk Huineng, I won't mind even more.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Zhong Yuqing just said lightly: "Young master has his heart. Now we don't think there is anything wrong with living here, and you don't need to take it to heart."
Monk Huineng breathed a sigh of relief and apologized again.
Zhong Yuqing was not a person who liked to repeat things over and over again, so he said no more.
Qingfang, who was next to her, immediately understood and said with a smile: "Young master is so cautious, could it be that he has forgotten what our house does? Our father-in-law has been on so many battlefields, and has been born and died, and has been shrouded in horse leather, but...
I have never heard of anyone being timid just because of a rumor. The princess and the Duke are one and the same, how can they be afraid of these things?"
Monk Huineng smiled coquettishly, said a few auspicious words and then left.
Xia Houshu found it ridiculous. Everyone said that his family was indifferent to fame and wealth, and regarded money as dirt. They talked about the equality of all living beings all day long, but in the face of absolute power and interests, they still didn't grovel and carefully please? Who has a higher status?
Whoever pays more for sesame oil will have the right to speak and receive better treatment.
Although Xia Houshu was the beneficiary in this aspect, she couldn't help but feel contempt for him.
After a while, Hongluo and several maids prepared the dishes, while Qingfang waited on Zhong Yuqing to clean her hands. Xia Houshu glanced at today's breakfast. It was still white rice porridge and steamed buns, but the pickled radish was replaced with pickles.
Hongluo was also a discerning person. Seeing a trace of displeasure on Xia Houshu's face, he immediately explained: "I heard from the people in the dining room that since the driveway up the mountain collapsed, all the food in the temple can only be eaten.
The monks brought it up from the bottom of the mountain. Recently, there have been a lot of pilgrims staying in the temple, so food has become even more scarce. If the rain continues, I'm afraid the bamboo shoots in the back mountain will be hollowed out."
Although it was a bit exaggerated and not funny, Xia Houshu still couldn't help laughing. It would be good to dig bamboo shoots in the back mountain. As long as someone goes there, they can find abnormalities.
Zhong Yuqing happened to be seated. After hearing this joke, he couldn't help but say: "One porridge and one meal, when we think about it hard-earned, half a thread, constant thoughts and financial resources are difficult. Such meals are not available to ordinary people, but we are like this
Of course, noble people can afford it. How can you feel disgusted just because the food is simple? Besides, we don’t come to the temple to enjoy happiness."
Xia Houshu didn't expect that she would be taught a lesson just by showing her emotions, and she felt a little unhappy. It wasn't that she didn't like porridge and side dishes, it was just that she wasn't interested in foods like pickled radishes, pickled cucumbers, and pickles.
, after all, during those years in Boyunguan, she almost vomited from eating. Now she is eating delicacies every day, and she has a mouth full of them. People often say that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality, isn’t it?
Is this true?
However, what her mother said was indeed reasonable, and she could only accept the teaching with an open mind.
After the meal, the weather cleared up, and Xia Houshu accompanied his mother to the yard for a walk to eat. Seeing that she was still absent-minded, Zhong Yuqing thought she was still thinking about changing to a monastery, so she said, "Do you know why I insist on not changing the yard?"
Xia Houshu was actually worried about the affairs in the back mountain. When his mother suddenly mentioned changing to a monastery, he shook his head.
Zhong Yuqing raised her eyes to look at the tall cypress trees at the courtyard wall, smiled and said, "Although I worship Buddha, I don't believe there are ghosts in this world." She turned around to see her daughter's surprised face, and then said, "If there really are ghosts in the world,
Damn it, then my son will definitely come to see me, but after so many years, he hasn’t even seen one."
