Chapter 973 Don’t cheat others, cheat yourself
The Chanyuyuan is located in the back mountain of Lingyun Temple, not far from the Wenchan Hall in the temple. It is surrounded by trees and is very quiet. Even in the approach of winter, you can still see greenery.
When Huici brought a few people there, someone was already cleaning the yard.
Tang Ning took a look through the curtain and found that several people in the yard were looking at him keenly. Although they were dressed as ordinary servants, they were tall and walked lightly, and they were definitely not ordinary people.
When someone saw Lu Zhinian, he came over immediately with a look of joy on his face.
"Master, you and your wife are finally here."
Lu Zhinian hummed, "Madam is not feeling well and was delayed on the road for some time. Is everything packed up here?"
The man quickly said, "It has been packed. Master Huici has asked the temple to help a lot."
Huici smiled and said, "Before, when Donor Rong sent a message saying he would be bringing his wife, the temple had already vacated the Chanyu Courtyard, and the servants who had arrived earlier from your residence were also arranged in the adjacent courtyard."
"There hasn't been anything major happening in the temple recently. This Zen Garden is close to the back mountain, so apart from the monks in the temple, no one will disturb us. Please allow me to stay here for the time being. If you need anything later, please send someone to find me."
"Thank you for your help, Master."
Lu Zhinian turned his head: "Shi An."
The middle-aged attendant who had been following Lu Zhinian all the way stepped forward quickly, took out a red envelope from his sleeve and handed it to Huici: "Master Huici, this is the incense money prepared by my master. Please pass it to the temple on my behalf."
Upon hearing this, Huici quickly said, "Donor Rong, there's no need to be like this. You've already donated quite a bit in the past..."
Lu Zhinian said gently, "The past is the past. Today is different. My wife is frail and prefers quietness. I'm afraid we'll be bothering your temple for a long time. Please consider this as a token of my and my wife's goodwill. Master Huici, please don't refuse."
"My wife and I have already discussed that we will be moving our family to the capital next year. We will have many more days to visit your temple by then, so when the spring comes, my wife and I plan to gild the Buddha statue in Baoming Hall to pray for peace and safety for our family."
Huici's face changed slightly when she heard this. Monks are free from the four elements, so they shouldn't be disturbed by worldly things. However, monks also need to eat grains, and so many monks in the temple also need to make a living. Huici is in charge of the temple's revenue and many miscellaneous matters, so naturally she would not regard money as dirt.
Moreover, sculpting a golden body for a Buddha statue is a great merit that benefits the entire Lingyun Temple. Moreover, the silver and money required to sculpt a golden body for a Buddha statue is not a small amount, which is an extremely rare thing for the entire temple.
Huici's expression became gentler, and she clasped her hands together and said, "Amitabha, you are so kind, the Buddha will surely bless you and your wife with everything going well."
After Huici led the people in the temple away, Lu Zhinian helped Tang Ning into the house. He considerately took off the veil on her head and looked at her expressionless face. Even after the disguise, her beautiful eyes still looked at him clearly, without a trace of warmth in them.
Lu Zhinian's heart sank, and he took out the antidote for the tendon softening powder from his sleeve and handed it to Tang Ning: "There were so many people outside just now, so I had to give you the medicine."
Tang Ning didn't reach out to take it, but looked outside the door.
Lu Zhinian paused and turned his head: "Shi An, let her in."
Shi An stepped back half a step in front of the door, and Yue Jian, who was originally blocked, walked in quickly, took the thing in Lu Zhinian's hand, lowered her head to sniff it, and then put it in her mouth. When she felt that she was fine, she handed it to Tang Ning.
After Tang Ning took the medicine, his originally weak body recovered a little.
Only after Yue Jian freed her from muteness did Tang Ning finally speak: "You knew this day would come, and you planned to use Lingyun Temple to escape, so you made such thorough preparations?"
Lu Zhinian fled the capital in a panic two years ago, and soon after that, the Lu family encountered trouble. Since then, he has stayed in Beiling and has never returned to Wei.
During this period, Tang Ning and Xiao Yan fought with him several times. They were well aware of his influence in Beiling, but they never thought that he would make preparations so early, ordering people to donate incense to Lingyun Temple, and even opening a charity hall to "help" the people.
He prepared the identity of this businessman named Rong very carefully. He had people in the temple as witnesses, and he had done good deeds for such a long time as a foundation. Even his identity was widely known. Who would suspect that he was Lu Zhinian who intercepted the queen and was about to escape?
No wonder he dared to bring them to Lingyun Temple openly without fear of being discovered.
Lu Zhinian heard the sarcasm in Tang Ning's words, raised his eyes and said, "If I say no, would you believe me?"
Tang Ning's expression was cold.
Lu Zhinian knew that Tang Ning had a grudge against him, and he also understood how he felt in her heart. He said with some self-mockery, "The grudge between us all started at Lingyun Temple. If I hadn't been deceived on Queshan Mountain, you wouldn't have turned your heart against me later."
"I know the Lu family has wronged you, and I also know I have let you down in the past. So after I established myself in Beiling, I sent people to sneak into the capital and sent them to Lingyun Temple. I donated incense every month and did good deeds in your name, hoping that the Buddha would bless you and that you would return to me one day."
He did not believe in gods and Buddhas before. Even though the elders in the mansion offered sacrifices and the women in the family came to the temple to pray every year, he never believed in the power of gods and Buddhas.
Until he dreamed again and again about things that had never happened to him, those inexplicable memories, the "future" that haunted him every night, the headache that tortured him so much that he wanted to die, and even the "entanglement" with Tang Ning, both real and unreal, he began to feel that there might really be gods and Buddhas in this world.
So he ordered people to donate incense, do charity, and build charity halls every month. Even though he had never been a kind person, he hoped that the Buddha would bless him once, so that he could get what he wanted, let Tang Ning come back to him, and let them return to the way they were before.
Bringing Tang Ning here is not only to avoid those people in the capital, but also with some secret hopes.
All the changes started from Lingyun Temple, and perhaps they can end here.
Lu Zhinian said in a low voice, "Lingyun Temple was not my plan. I never thought of taking you away from the capital like this. What I did in the temple was only to hope that the little bit of incense would become a torrent, and I hope that you will be safe and happy, and live in peace for many years."
His eyes were extremely gentle, and his white clothes looked like snow against the night sky. Even though his appearance was no longer the same as before, for a moment he seemed to have returned to the elegant appearance of the third son of the Lu family.
Tang Ning looked at him quietly for a while, then suddenly sneered, tilted her head slightly and spoke coldly.
"Lu Zhinian, the biggest joke in this world is that you hope I am safe and happy."
"Don't tell too many lies. You're deceiving others and yourself at the same time."
All the smiles on Lu Zhinian's face froze.
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