The Zen room for pilgrims to stay in Huguo Temple is two rows of courtyards separated by stone walls. One row houses male guests, and the other row houses female guests. Green pines and cypresses are specially planted against the wall. Female guests live there.
The courtyard is semi-open, and each small courtyard is only separated by a flower wall or a moon gate. Pilgrims can easily go to any small courtyard while walking among them, which embodies the Buddhist concept of equality of all living beings.
, it is also convenient for the management of the Buddhist temple, but the privacy is relatively poor. But these are not important. Most of the female guests living here are surrounded by servants. Just send someone to guard the gate, and no one will mess around.
Chuang. Furthermore, everyone comes to worship Buddha and offer incense, and no one has the intention to care about others.
The monastery that Xia Houshu and his entourage were assigned to was relatively close to the side, with only one end occupied by other pilgrims. It was cleaner than those monasteries with people living at both ends. Moreover, I heard that an elderly woman lived next door, with a quiet temperament.
The daily schedule is also very regular, and even the whole yard is orderly and there is no big noise.
When Xia Houshu and the others first moved in, a female envoy was specially sent from next door to stand at the moon cave door for a long time. Finally, she pulled over a maid with a higher status and politely expressed that their old lady was a light sleeper and asked them to be patient and talk.
Try to be as quiet as possible when doing things.
The person who heard this at that time was a second-class maid named Hongluo next to Zhong Yuqing. Although she smiled and accepted the other party's request, and even picked a plate of snacks from the food box and sent it over with a smile on her face, but as soon as she returned
In the room, she dragged Qingfang to vent her bitterness.
“I don’t know which family’s female relatives live in the yard next door. They are so dignified that they tell us not to disturb their purity. They are really looking down on others! They don’t even know what kind of family we are. There is nothing there.
Are the rules so strict that they make the neighbors uneasy?"
Qingfang, who was instructing the little maid to clean the Zen room, heard this, pondered for a moment, and comforted: "This Huguo Temple has always been hiding dragons and crouching tigers, even if it is home to relatives of the emperor, it is not surprising. Now that we live here, it is naturally not as good as in."
There is freedom in the house, so you have to be careful about what you say and do, so as not to fall into the trap of others. You did a good job just now, which not only gave them face, but also did not lack our courtesy. If they are discerning, they will not say anything else.
.”
After receiving Qingfang's praise, Hongluo felt relieved, and then volunteered: "They didn't identify themselves today, so I was angry and didn't ask any more questions. I'll find another chance to inquire about it tomorrow and see.
Which family are they from, so as not to offend the royal relatives?"
Qingfang thought for a while and then said: "Nowadays, neighbors must have an idea of who lives next door, so as to avoid misunderstandings. But I think this matter still has to wait for the princess to come back to decide. If there are really people living next door,
If you are a member of the imperial family, it is better for the princess to come out to visit you so that it will not appear to be rude."
Hongluo felt that what Qingfang said was reasonable, so she said nothing more and turned around to go out and get busy.
By the time all the accompanying servants and wives were settled, it was already getting very late. The afterglow of the setting sun turned the clouds around Canaan Mountain into a touch of orange, slowly sinking to the other side of the mountain. It was beautiful and gorgeous. The entire Buddhist temple seemed to be suddenly drawn.
Like boiling water that has been drained of fuel, it cooled down little by little and gradually returned to tranquility.
Xia Houshu was leisurely drinking tea in the Zen room for a while and eating a few snacks brought from home. He was very bored.
Yunxi led two little maids to arrange the clothes and belongings brought from the mansion for her, and had no time to pay attention to her emotions for the time being.
In fact, the Zen room in Huguo Temple is cleaned by monks almost every day because there are many pilgrims coming and going. However, Zhong Yuqing is more particular. Although she never dislikes the house that others have lived in, she still feels that she needs to clean it again before she can live in peace of mind.
So the maids and servants who came with them used their exhausted bodies to clean the entire Zen courtyard inside and out, which delayed the time.
Seeing that everyone was busy, Xia Houshu didn't know what to do for a while, so he got up and walked around the room. Probably because the Huguo Temple was built halfway up the mountain, with many people and little land, it was difficult to expand to the surrounding areas, so
Each small Zen monastery is very small. If a house has more maids and servants, three or four people will have to squeeze into one room. Moreover, the layout of each Zen room is also very ordinary, with only a few simple pine furniture and polished furniture.
Cheng Liang Cheng Liang's has a sense of age. However, there are a few books sparsely placed on the bookshelf against the wall, which adds to the popularity of this meditation room.
Xia Houshu walked to the bookshelf and flipped through it. It turned out that they were all Buddhist scriptures copied by others. The writing was beautiful, but the content was half-understood by her, and she found it boring, so she threw it back.
Yun Xi looked up at her when he heard the voice, smiled helplessly and shook his head, joking: "Girl, you really can't take a moment to relax, can't you sit still?"
Xia Houshu rolled his eyes at her, feeling that he indulged Yunxi too much in normal times, and she actually dared to make fun of him like this in front of everyone.
Yun Xi also realized that her words were out of proportion, so she changed the subject and said, "You must be wondering why you met Master Zhikong today, right?"
To be honest, Xia Houshu was not curious. But now that Yun Xi mentioned it, she pretended to be interested and asked, "What did you hear again?"
Seeing that she had accepted his words, Yun Xi felt relieved and said, "When you went to ask for a signature earlier, I heard from Sister Qingfang that this visit to Huguo Temple was not a sudden move by the princess, but actually had been planned for a long time.
It was arranged and a message was sent in advance, so the princess decided to risk going up the mountain regardless. Fortunately, she didn't encounter any danger along the way. On the contrary, the girl even saved the He family's mother and son.
It can be considered a meritorious deed.”
As soon as he heard about the He family's mother and son, Xia Houshu became a little irritable and said, "Then the He family's mother and son followed us, won't they follow us again now?"
"How can that be possible?" Yun Xi looked proud, "How old is the child of the He family? Some of the children his age in meritorious families in the capital are already governors. How can we let him live with the female relatives?
Together? Besides, the princess didn’t want to be disturbed, so she told Monk Zhike when she came in, and arranged a monastery for them elsewhere, where all the pilgrims with half-grown children like them would live.”
Xia Houshu breathed a sigh of relief and asked about the grandparents named Han again.
"The grandparents are really pitiful. Meeting the girl today is a blessing after all the hardships." Yun Xi said, getting a little excited, "Previously, the princess looked at their pity and rewarded them with twenty taels of silver. Later, in order to express her gratitude, He Luoshi
Thanks, I also received nearly twenty taels of silver. With this money, whether they return to Qingzhou or rent a small courtyard around the capital, they will be able to have enough food and clothing in two or three years. When the girl is older,
, life will be better."
Good people should be rewarded with good things. Xia Houshu thought this was very good.
Then she stared at the sunset outside the window for a while, thinking about her mother suddenly asking her to ask for a marriage sign, and she was secretly worried. She had not thought about this in the past because she felt that the Xiahou family had a precedent of not marrying young, but
After what happened today, she had to re-examine this unwritten rule, and she didn't know what her parents' plans were for her marriage.
But my mother wanted to pin it on empty gods and Buddhas.
This unpredictable and unprepared frustration made her gradually irritated. She raised her eyes to look at the sky, guessing that her mother would not be back for a while, so she grabbed a copy of Buddhist scriptures from the case and walked out, and
Yun Xi was told that if her mother came back, she would go to the temple to discuss the scriptures with the young master.
My mother worshiped Buddha. Even if she knew she was lying to herself, she would not say anything after hearing this reason.
Yun Xi knew that he couldn't stop her, so he agreed with a sigh and continued to put his head down to put away the items.
Xia Houshu walked aimlessly around the monastery a few times and saw everyone walking back one after another. There were also women dressed as maids coming out with food boxes and going to the dining room.
When I came out of the monastery, I happened to meet two girls who were hanging red strings on the Bodhi tree during the day. Both of them were walking in a hurry, as if something had happened.
Xia Houshu immediately smelled an unusual scent of gossip and quickly hid in a flower bed. Several plants with small yellow flowers blocked his view. Xia Houshu could see the other party, but the other party would not be able to see her unless he paid careful attention.
of.
The girl in pink had a red face and walked angrily in front, followed closely by the woman in white, chasing her while asking her to wait for him.
The woman in pink clothes finally stopped, seeing no one around, and said angrily: "That man just now is really hateful. He obviously bumped into us first, and then I talked to him. It's just that he didn't apologize sincerely, and he was so disrespectful."
Xie Fengqing, refused to say a word, just left as soon as he said it. It's so rude! If it weren't for his good looks, I wouldn't want to talk to him!"
"Good sister, you are from a good family background and you are beautiful. You can't even look down on the sons of many wealthy families in Beijing who come to your house to ask for marriage. But don't get angry because of a man you don't know.
, It’s not worth it.” The woman in white gasped and comforted her earnestly, then paused and said, “As the saying goes, you know people but don’t know their hearts. Don’t look at him. He looks talented and is well-dressed.
He is not a good person."
"That's right." The woman in pink seemed to have thought of something, and her mood suddenly became less bad. She raised her eyes to look at the sky, a trace of contempt and hatred flashed in her eyes, and then said: "It's so late, and everyone else is afraid
He broke the rules of the temple and hurriedly walked to the Zen monastery. However, they still wanted to go to the back mountain. There must be some shady secret. And the person following him didn't look easy to get along with.
.It would be strange if they were good people."
When the woman in white saw that she had finally gained consciousness, she comforted her again. Then the two of them were in a good mood and continued walking deeper into the monastery hand in hand.
There was a sudden silence all around.
Behind the green plants, Xia Houshu was confused, but he noticed the key word "back mountain". As he watched the two girls disappear around the corner, she slowly walked out and headed towards the back mountain by accident.