Chapter 160: To the Buddha

After running for five days, Jiang Shaohe was already far away from the capital, and he felt relieved.

That evening, Jiang Shaohe and his wife arrived at a town and found an inn to rest.

They had never traveled so far before, and they were exhausted. After eating and bathing, they went to bed early.

As the night deepened, the bright moon outside was covered by dark clouds, and Jiang Shaohe and his wife slept soundly inside.

Suddenly, the door of the inn was knocked hard.

The waiter who was sleeping in the side room was awakened and went to open the door with sleepy eyes.

"How many guests are there? What room do you want?" The waiter yawned and asked habitually.

The yamen runner beside Zhufeng showed his badge and said in a stern voice: "The Dali Temple is handling a case. Which room do Jiang Shao and his wife live in?"

The waiter was shocked when he heard this and woke up instantly. After seeing the badge of the Dali Temple and the people in uniform, he quickly let them into the house.

"Sir, please wait a moment. I will check it out."

The waiter ran to the counter and took out the check-in record to look through it.

"Hurry up, if something goes wrong, you can't afford it." Zhufeng urged impatiently.

They chased for two and a half days at full speed, sleeping only two hours every night, and finally tracked them down here.

The waiter's hands trembled with fear, and he handed the booklet to Zhufeng, trembling, "Sir, there is no one with the surname Jiang."

Zhufeng had expected Jiang Shaohe to use a pseudonym, so he took out the portrait and asked, "Have you seen this person?"

The waiter took a look and had an impression in his mind. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, he lives in the third room on the left hand side of the upstairs. I will take you there."

Their small town was far away from the capital, and they had never seen the officials from the Dali Temple, so they naturally did not dare to neglect and offend them.

"Bang!" Zhufeng kicked open the bolted door, and the yamen runners from the Dali Temple rushed in and quickly lit the candles in the house.

Jiang Shao and his wife, who were dreaming, were awakened. When they sat up and saw the yamen runners with knives surrounding the bed, they were shocked.

Jiang Li didn't understand. They just escaped seven days of detention and fifteen strokes of the cane. Was it necessary to mobilize so many people to hunt them down?

"Jiang Shaohe, you are under arrest." The bailiff took out the arrest warrant from the Dali Temple.

Jiang Shaohe saw it and knew that the murder was exposed.

How could it happen so quickly!

A flash of hatred flashed in Jiang Shaohe's eyes. It must be the boss who betrayed him.

"Hurry up, you want us to help you get dressed." The bailiff shook the knife in his hand.

Jiang Shaohe got out of bed, shivered, put on his coat and shoes.

Jiang Li hugged the quilt and blushed. She really couldn't do the thing of getting dressed in front of so many men.

Zhufeng and others didn't want to see her get dressed, so they took Jiang Shaohe to wait outside the house.

After a cup of tea, Jiang Li dressed and went out, with her hands cuffed.

The waiter was shocked. Oh my god, there were actually two wanted criminals living in their inn.

"Where is their carriage?" Zhufeng asked.

The waiter hurriedly said, "Sir, please wait in front of the door. I will go and get them now."

He put Jiang Shaohe and his wife in the carriage, and Zhufeng drove the carriage himself to the post station outside the city to rest.

Five days later, Jiang Shaohe and his wife were taken back to the capital. Jiang

Shaohe was imprisoned in the Dali Temple. Sun Hechuan ordered people to whip him thirty times and also put him to the punishment of a hundred ants gnawing at his heart.

Jiang Shaohe was in so much pain that he confessed everything.

Sun Hechuan sentenced them to beheading in the autumn according to the law.

As for Jiang Li, she was taken away by Lord He, and her sentence was changed from fifteen strokes of the cane to thirty strokes of the cane, and she was detained for fifteen days.

After thirty strokes of the cane, Jiang Li was only half alive.

After being released from prison on the fifteenth day, Jiang Li did not flee to the capital again, but bought a new house, waiting to collect the bodies of Jiang Shaohe.

As a bedmate, Jiang Li had no idea that Jiang Shaohe had hired a killer to murder Jiang Shu and Jiang's father.

When she heard about it, she suspected that the officials had made a mistake for several times, until Jiang Shaohe admitted it himself, she was struck by lightning.

Jiang Yun died, and Jiang Shaohe was about to die. A good family of three was broken up, leaving Jiang Li alone.

It was already July, and Jiang's father was depressed and heartbroken for a long time, but finally came out, and the family returned to normal life.

Yu Zheng persevered for a month, and the rumor about his devotion to Buddhism finally spread and floated into the palace.

After the morning court session that day, Yu Zheng was called by Concubine Yu Gui.

When he arrived at Concubine Yu Gui's palace, he was not surprised to see the emperor there.

"Father, mother."

Concubine Yu Gui smiled and waved at Yu Zheng: "Come over quickly and play a few games with your father."

Yu Zheng walked over and sat down as he was told, playing against the emperor with the white pieces, while Concubine Yu Gui watched from the side, fanning herself.

The father and son played a few games back and forth, and each won and lost.

"No more, I'm tired." The emperor rubbed his forehead tiredly.

Concubine Yu Gui served tea to the emperor, then turned to Yu Zheng and said, "It's almost noon, Zheng'er, stay and have dinner with us. A batch of lychees just came in as a tribute, you can take some back later."

"Okay." Yu Zheng agreed, and the three of them sat together and chatted.

As they chatted, the emperor mentioned the late emperor's afterlife.

"According to custom, the royal family has to send people to the imperial mausoleum to chant sutras for three days, and they have to copy a hundred volumes of Buddhist scriptures in advance and burn them. Zheng'er, who do you think should be given this task?"

In previous years, this kind of hard work was given to some royal relatives who did not hold official positions and were relatively free, such as Prince Rong and Yu Yuan.

This year, the emperor specifically mentioned it, obviously testing Yu Zheng.

A dark light flashed across his dark eyes, and Yu Zheng said sincerely, "I'll go."

"You go?" The emperor frowned in surprise.

Yu Zheng nodded and said, "I have read a lot of Buddhist scriptures recently, and also went to Zhaojue Temple to discuss Buddhism with the abbot several times. I was quite touched, and I would copy a few Buddhist scriptures to meditate before going to bed every day."

"It so happens that I have been a little confused recently, so I will go to the imperial mausoleum to accompany the emperor for a few days. Maybe I can get some guidance from the emperor in my dreams."

When Yu Zheng said this, his face was pious and serious, which made the emperor and Concubine Yu tremble in their hearts.

Are the rumors outside true? Is their son really fascinated by Buddhism and devoted to it?

Yu Guifei touched her chest and asked tentatively: "What confusion do you have that you need your grandfather's guidance?"

Yu Guifei didn't understand why a living person couldn't solve his confusion, so he had to go to the dead for guidance?

Yu Zheng looked at them, pursed his lips and said hesitantly: "I went to Lin'an a few days ago and saw many orphans displaced from the people. I felt pity but I could do nothing."

"On the way back to Shangjing, he was assassinated again, and we still haven't found out who did it."

"I feel that the hustle and bustle of this world is really tiring, and only Buddhism can make people calm. So I want to study Buddhism and use it to save all living beings and comfort my heart."

Yu Guifei was shocked and her beautiful eyes widened in shock.

The emperor was furious and slammed the table: "Ridiculous!"

Yu Zheng lowered his eyebrows and kept silent.

"You are a prince, shouldering the heavy responsibility of Dazhao, how can you have the idea of ​​becoming a monk! It's simply outrageous!" The emperor was so angry that veins on his forehead were throbbing.

Yu Guifei rarely saw the emperor get so angry, so she quickly stroked the emperor's back and advised: "Your Majesty, calm down, Zheng'er was just talking casually."

Yu Zheng raised his eyes, looked at them calmly with dark eyes and said: "Our ancestors have abdicated and become monks, why can't I do the same?"

The emperor was so angry that his eyes widened.