Chapter 103 The Monk Returns the Money, the General and the Princess

"Oh? Marquis Anping is here?"

Xie Yao raised an eyebrow, but was not surprised.

"Yes, this Anping Marquis entered the Chengfo Temple dressed as an ordinary pilgrim. This morning, while I was strolling around, I noticed that he was acting suspiciously, so I asked you to be careful."

Jue'an said he was worried about Xie Yao, but his eyes rolled and he asked like a naughty boy: "As for where he is now, little A Yao, do you want to know? Just pay a small price, and this old monk can help you find him -"

Before he could finish his words, Xie Yao interrupted him: "That's not necessary."

"Thank you, Abbot, for telling me this," she said slowly, her eyes sharp. "That's enough."

"Well, alright, as long as you understand what's going on, the old monk will leave."

Monk Jue'an sounded regretful. He still wanted to help little A'yao and make her owe him a few favors.

Xie Yao watched him turn around and was about to slip away, and suddenly said with a half-smile: "Abbot Jue'an, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Are you afraid that I will ask you to pay back the money?"

Monk Jue'an paused and almost tripped over his own robes.

"You little girl, it's been nine years, and you still remember that little thing. It's just three hundred taels of silver, it's not like this old monk can't pay it back." He looked embarrassed.

Xie Yao said, "Three hundred taels? I don't remember that Abbot Jue'an owed me a total of four hundred and fifty taels of silver."

She thought back to nine years ago.

After the general returned to Beijing and was assassinated, he stayed in Chengfo Temple for a month to recuperate.

Xie Yao often sneaked out of the Bo's mansion to look for the general.

When the old monk Jue'an saw the small change stuffed by her uncle in her purse, he was blinded by the money and said that it was too boring for an empty-nest elderly person to practice Buddhism, so he even asked him to play dice!

Unexpectedly, his luck was so good that he won four hundred and fifty taels of silver from him in just a few rounds.

Finally, the old monk said with a sad face that he was a monk and had no money.

He also said, "Little A'yao, you are destined to Buddhism. You are a girl with wisdom and great fortune. You will definitely not mind a few hundred taels of silver. If that doesn't work out, I have a string of Buddhist beads that I have worn for fifty-one years. I will give it to you to ward off disasters and turn misfortune into good fortune!"

When Xie Yao was a child, she was too lazy to argue with the old monk who could be her great-grandfather.

Now, when Jue'an heard Xie Yao talk about the past, his face didn't even blush: "Alas, everyone has a time when they are young and frivolous. It's only a hundred taels. You are young, but you have a good memory."

Xie Yao: "That's true. I'm young, so of course my memory is good."

Jue'an clasped his hands together and looked at her deeply, as if he had seen something from her face. He showed an unfathomable expression and finally looked like a highly respected monk.

"Silly child, you know that the younger you are, the worse your memory is. You have to go through the joys and sorrows, a foolish dream, and rebuild yourself from the broken bones and blood before you can turn around from the sea of ​​suffering, understand the cause of the disaster early, and develop the so-called memory."

Xie Yao's heart trembled, and in an instant, a myriad of thoughts ran through her mind.

She quickly suppressed her emotions and said with a smile, "Don't worry about the money for now."

Jue'an heaved a sigh of relief: "No problem, no problem."

Xie Yao then asked, "But you were trying to win the princess's favor for me, so why did you mention the general? Even if you just said that I saved you, the effect would be the same."

Monk Jue'an stroked his beard and said, "For the sake of those few dozen taels of silver, this old monk can tell you something."

Xie Yao could no longer bear it and emphasized each word: "It's five hundred taels, five hundred taels, round it off and it's one thousand taels!"

Jue'an: "..."

"In fact, General Gu almost married the eldest princess back then." He suppressed the smile on his face and sighed.

Xie Yao was shocked and listened carefully.

The more she thought about the general's request that she return to Beijing and deliver a letter to the eldest princess, the more she felt it was not a simple matter.

He wants to pave the way for himself, and he has plenty of ways to do it.

Why not let her go find her old border army subordinate, General Lao Su?

Why not show up in person?

Why did you specifically say, if you don’t want to see me off, then don’t go.

He did nothing but wrote a letter to the emperor, saying that Miss Xie had blocked an arrow for him, and even if she was a pig, the emperor had to confer the title of county lady on her.

Xie Yao asked Jue'an because she wanted to know what the relationship was between the general and the princess.

Jue'an continued, "When General Gu was young, he was just the heir of a declining marquisate. The eldest princess was also disliked by the late emperor at that time. However, the two of them were a perfect match in terms of talent and beauty."

His gray-black pupils darkened a lot, as if he saw the young man and woman from twenty years ago.

"Back then, the Gu family had already discussed a marriage with the imperial family, and the engagement was almost finalized, but the late emperor issued an imperial decree, ordering the eldest princess to marry Emperor Yong as a consort. The eldest princess disobeyed the decree, and was sent to Chengfo Temple by the late emperor, where she was imprisoned for a full six months."

Having said that, Xie Yao understood everything that happened next.

She grew up at the border with the general, learning how to lead troops and fight battles by his side. The general treated her like a teacher, even better than a father.

She thought that her master didn't marry and have children at his age because he was afraid that if he had offspring, his achievements would surpass his master and he would be feared by the emperor.

I didn't expect that there was such a story between her master and the eldest princess.

No wonder the general asked me to deliver a letter to the princess.

Tsk, those two letters, one is Queen Shen’s suicide note, and the other one, I’m afraid it’s Master’s love letter.

The old emperor of Yong State is dying. If her master tries hard, can he rekindle his relationship with the eldest princess?

Xie Yao's eyes lit up.

Jue'an: "That's all. Regarding a few taels of silver, this old monk has done his utmost to be kind and righteous—"

Seeing Xie Yao's expression change, he quickly said, "Four hundred and fifty taels, four hundred and fifty taels."

He turned and tried to slip away again: "Buddhism is boundless. I am going to meditate. Today is a great day. I must complete the ritual for the late queen before 3:45 PM and pray for her together with the eldest princess."

When Xie Yao heard him mention the "big day", she nodded.

Then she reached out and grabbed the back collar of the old abbot's robe.

"No, little A'yao, the old monk has told you everything that should be said and also everything that should not be said. What else do you want?" The old abbot was anxious.

Xie Yao stretched out her hand and asked, "Where are the sixty-year-old Buddhist beads?"

Jue'an uttered an "ouch" and said awkwardly, "Actually, that Buddhist rosary is nothing special. I prepared many strings when I was young. I gave them to the late Empress, the current Empress Dowager Jiang, the late Emperor, the current Emperor... and last year, when the Princess returned home, I also gave her a string."

Xie Yao's eyes were bright. "Then I want one for my mother. Will you give it to me? That's right. The people who gave Buddhist beads to Abbot Jue'an were all royal relatives. You look down on my mother because she's just an earl's wife. If you look down on my mother, you look down on me. If you look down on me, then pay me back one thousand taels of silver..."

"I'll go find it, I'll go find it right away. When you go to Wanfu Hall to pray for the Xiao family, I'll give it to you!"

Jue'an left in a hurry. He was really afraid of Xie Yao!

Only then did Xie Yao curl the corners of her lips in satisfaction.

On the way back, she called Pu Wei.

"Marquis Anping is here." Xie Yao said.

Pu Wei said anxiously, "Miss, Xie Zhi knelt and came up the mountain because she wanted to marry the Marquis of Anping. Now that she has lost face, the Marquis of Anping must be here to vent her anger. I'm afraid he'll attack you!"

"I'm not afraid of him taking action, I'm just afraid of him becoming a coward."

Xie Yao asked, "Do you still remember the style of the Anping Marquis's carriage? Go to the stables and look for the Marquis's carriage. Once you find it, tell the Marquis's wife that her husband has arrived."

Pu Wei was puzzled. "Miss, do you want the Marquis' wife to protect you? You did save her today, but in front of outsiders, the Marquis' wife might not refuse the Marquis of Anping's face."

Xie Yao glanced off into the distance calmly, "I just wondered how a dignified Marquis could come to the Chengfo Temple without making a sound."

After giving Pu Wei instructions, she took Honeysuckle back to the warm room.

The wife of Marquis Anping and Eunuch Qing went to several main halls in the temple to pray for blessings. Only the eldest princess and the palace maids around her were there.

The eldest princess gave Shuangxi a look, and the palace maids withdrew.

She glanced at Rendong, then turned her gaze to Xie Yao, her eyes becoming increasingly sharp.

"Xie Yao, you sent this maid to tell me that you were going to burn incense for my mother and the heroes of the Strong Women's Camp. Did you calculate that I would protect you?"