Huguo Temple is a century-old temple and the largest Buddhist temple in Nanqi. It is famous throughout the world for its prosperous incense.
Every morning, the scent of the burning incense candles in the temple blends with the clouds and mist rising from the mountains, wrapping around the mountainside of Canaan Mountain like a ribbon. At that time, the Cangshan Mountains were green and ethereal, the clouds and mist were misty, and the birds were circling and soaring, forming a scene of its own, like
An ink painting by a famous artist. At noon, the thick fog slowly dissipated, the incense and fireworks curled up, and the gurgling streams and waterfalls in the mountains gradually became clear, accompanied by the simple and solemn temple towers. Everywhere revealed a kind of ancient temple hidden in the mountains.
sense of mystery.
Perhaps it was because the incense in Huguo Temple was efficacious, or because there were too many worried and suspicious people, that the stone steps leading up the mountain were smoothed by the bustling crowd of pilgrims, leaving no sharp edges.
After a while, Xia Houshu and his party finally arrived at the gate of Huguo Temple. Like the other pilgrims, they were all out of breath from exhaustion and wanted to find a place to lie down and take a breather.
Monk Zhike had already been waiting at the mountain gate, talking politely to the pilgrims.
Xia Houshu expected that his mother would definitely ask her to go to the Main Hall to offer incense sticks later, so while his mother was negotiating with the monk Zhike, he quietly persuaded Yunxi to queue up for her to offer incense. Unexpectedly, this girl Yunxi usually looked naive, but the key was
At that time, he was very smart and refused to agree. He even used the excuse that the princess was watching and did not dare to overstep his authority. Xia Houshu retorted one by one and used coercion and inducement, and he was about to convince Yunxi.
, Zhong Yuqing, who had been watching with cold eyes, suddenly spoke up and said that when offering incense and worshiping Buddha, you must do it yourself to show your sincerity.
Xia Houshu rolled his eyes secretly and reluctantly followed the incense procession step by step inside.
After entering the courtyard gate, you can see a tall Bodhi tree about the thickness of an arm standing in the southwest corner from a distance. The branches are covered with red ropes. When the wind blows, they sway gently like a bunch of flowers flying. In this simple and simple tone,
And it is extremely conspicuous in a single Buddhist temple.
There were about ten people standing under the bodhi tree, including old and young, all women. Everyone was chattering in a lively manner. Among them were two girls in their prime, one white and one pink, each holding a handful of red ropes and jumping up and down.
Throw it hard into the tree.
The red rope was thrown into the air with force and jumped among the branches. Some were hung high, some were hung low, and some were not hung at all. They walked in the air and then fell back to the ground.
The trusted female envoys who were watching all focused on the red rope in the girl's hand. When they saw their master hanging it, they cheered and encouraged each other; if they didn't hang it, they remained silent and silently picked up the red rope on the ground.
The rope was returned to the master's hands and continued to be thrown.
Not far from them, there was a woman in yellow standing quietly watching, accompanied by a lady dressed in noble clothes and three or four maids.
Xia Houshu came to Huguo Temple for the first time and was very curious about it. He stopped and asked Yunxi: "What are they doing?"
Although Yunxi is not much older than Xia Houshu, she likes to gossip. In addition, she has a simple and honest temper, and others are not wary of her, so she can always hear a lot of new things. Many anecdotes that Xia Houshu has never heard of.
However, Yunxi was familiar with the matter, and he could be called the "know-it-all" of the Duke of Yue.
At this moment, Yun Xi's eyes were also attracted by the scene under the bodhi tree, and her admiration was beyond words. When she heard Xia Houshu's inquiry, she squinted her eyes and said cheerfully: "They are seeking marriage."
Xia Houshu was confused when he heard this.
Seeing her frown, Yun Xi quickly explained: "I heard that there is a marriage tree in Huguo Temple that is hundreds of years old. It is very spiritual. As long as a girl who has not left the palace hangs a red string on the tree, she can pray to the marriage god.
May you find a good husband, love your husband, and grow old together. I think this is the marriage tree. In the past, girls didn’t like to come to Buddhist temples, so I didn’t have the chance to follow, but this time I have learned a lot.”
Xia Houshu was quite surprised when she heard this, and her smile suddenly froze at the corner of her mouth. She didn't expect such ridiculous rumors to exist in the public, so she carefully looked at the old bodhi tree, which was called the "marriage tree". The thick trunk and
The old tree bark did look a bit historical and vicissitudes of life, just because it was covered with strands of red ropes, which gave it a sense of joy as the old tree came into spring. But this was not enough to make her believe that this was the tree.
A "sacred tree" that can control other people's marriages.
Xia Houshu looked at it seriously for a while but couldn't see any mystery. He couldn't help but sneered: "If you say that hanging a few red strings on a tree can help you get a good marriage, then all the women in the world don't have to worry.
, I will keep fit and refreshed at home every day, and when I get married, I will come to Huguo Temple, raise my arms and hang a red rope on the tree, and all my wishes will come true."
At this point, she paused, seemed to remember something, couldn't help laughing, and then said: "Since you knew this rumor, you should have told Zhong Lufu earlier. In this way, she would not have to
She was worried about her marriage, and even made trouble with me in front of so many people, asking me to take the blame for no reason. She directly found a sign and engraved the names of her second brother and herself on it, then tied a red string and put it there.
Just put it on the tree and everything will be solved. If it doesn't work out, you won't say that I bullied her. It's because their fate has not come yet, and even the Bodhisattva didn't let them be together."
Yun Xi heard the sarcasm in her words, but was unwilling to admit that the name of the Marriage Tree was not worthy of its name, so he could only argue: "Girl, you are talking nonsense. With so many people asking for marriage, the God of Marriage must be too busy. Naturally, it depends on your eyesight."
, so it is said that sincerity leads to spiritual success.”
"Sincerity leads to success, they are just humble words after hard work." Xia Houshu disagreed and kicked the pebbles in the cracks in the ground with his toes. The pebbles jumped into the grass like a cricket and disappeared in an instant.
Traces.
Yun Xi knew that she was impatient.
However, Xia Houshu did not stop there. She pondered for a moment and then said: "Everyone in the Zhong family said that the eldest cousin and the second cousin married well, had no worries about food and clothing, and had unlimited glory. But who cared about them for this superficial glory?
How much have you paid and what have you endured? As the eldest sister of a concubine, the eldest cousin must respect her aunt's mother at home, support her biological mother, love her younger sisters, and always set an example for her younger sisters. Now that she is married, she still has to look at her husband's family's face.
She must be filial to her parents-in-law, considerate of her husband, educate her children, take care of the housework, and take care of the daily chores of the whole family. She must not make any mistakes. Even if she is like this, she may not get a good word. How tired is she?
There is a second cousin, she has a good temper, she is always smiling, she does not fight or grab, and she never talks about others. But how can her two sisters-in-law in her husband's family get along easily? Either she is from a bad background, or she is
She secretly deducted her status, bullied her for coming in late and had no foundation. She was too embarrassed to gossip with her elders, so she could only swallow her anger and use her dowry to supplement the food and clothing expenses of the house. If she hadn't been optimistic and generous, she would have fought to the death.
After giving birth to twins, gaining the attention of the mother-in-law and the pity of the husband, how could life be as easy as it is now?"
Before Yun Xi could talk, she added: "A good marriage in the eyes of everyone may not be the same for the person involved. It's just that the two cousins tried their best to make it a good one, and the result was luckier than most people."
That’s all. So no matter what you do, you still have to do your best in order to obey the destiny. Just thinking about it yourself or placing your hopes on others will not achieve anything."
Yunxi has been with Xia Houshu for many years and naturally knows her temperament. She likes to compete for face in everything, but in fact she doesn't care much about it.
She has also heard the inside story of the married life of the two cousins in Prince Gong's Mansion, but to her, the superficial scenery is still scenery. As long as the result is good, it doesn't matter if the process is difficult. Besides, Xia Houshu is better than others in terms of background and personality.
The two concubine cousins were too powerful, and Princess Xuanhe held them like pearls in her hand, so she was not worried that Xia Houshu would suffer a loss in future marriages.
Xia Houshu was never the one who would let himself suffer.
On the contrary, it was herself...
In a few months, she will be eighteen years old. At this age, the daughter of ordinary people should be married long ago. However, she is a child of the Duke of Yue's family. Before she reaches the age or without the permission of the master's family, she
She cannot marry at will. Fortunately, Xia Houshu values her and promised to pick a good husband for her before she turns twenty. Now there are only two years left before she turns twenty, and she is looking forward to marrying her soon.
Meet your sweetheart.
Yunxi looked at the bodhi tree and looked eager to try.
Xia Houshu rarely saw Yun Xi looking so crazy, so he followed her gaze and took a look at the Bodhi tree. He saw that the two girls were still throwing red ropes to the tree, and they didn't seem to feel tired at all.
. She was very puzzled and said confusedly: "They threw so many red ropes. Do they want to seek more marriages for themselves?"
"Of course not!" Yun Xi wished she could stop Xia Houshu immediately.
It’s so dumb! Is it allowed to say such things casually?
She secretly glanced at the people around her, but no one noticed them, then she pretended to cough and said very seriously: "They just want to hang the red rope higher."
Only then did Xia Houshu realize that on this poor bodhi tree, the lower part of the crown was densely hung with red ropes, but there were no red ropes at the top of the crown. It seemed that not many people got what they wanted. But she still suppressed the disdain deep in her heart.
Ask modestly: "What's the point here?"
"I heard that the higher the red string is hung, the better the marriage will be." Yunxi explained patiently without doubting that he was there. Then she sighed softly, as if she was suppressing and pitying herself: "In this world, which one
A woman doesn’t want her future marriage to go smoothly, her home to be safe, and her life to be harmonious and beautiful?” After saying this, she glanced at Xia Houshu and asked in a low voice, “Girl, why don’t you come back and give it a try?”
"It's just an old tree. I don't even know how many years it can live. It's a joke that you want to care about my marriage!" Xia Houshu sneered.
Her voice was not too loud, but it still reached the ears of everyone around her, attracting frequent glances from the woman in yellow and her entourage who were watching from a distance.
Yun Xi secretly screamed, looked around and said quickly: "Girl, please don't talk nonsense, be careful to offend the God of Marriage!"
Xia Houshu looked at the nervous Yun Xi and almost laughed out loud. Then she raised her chin slightly and said with disdain: "What if I offend a fictitious god? Is it possible that he can really make me lonely for the rest of my life?"
?Even if he really has this ability, I'm not afraid."
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the woman in yellow walking towards them, led by the woman beside her, and said hello to Zhong Yuqing.
Zhong Yuqing has a good reputation in the capital. Externally, she is intelligent, righteous, exquisite and transparent, and can fully assist her husband in making suggestions. Internally, she manages the family business, educates her children, and unites with her sisters-in-law. She is a model of a woman. So in
It was not unusual for the wealthy Huguo Temple to meet someone who knew her. But in this case, her mother would inevitably reprimand her for speaking inappropriately.