Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
What important matter did Pei Yan call Qing Yuan for so early in the morning?
Ah Ming said, "I heard from Brother Zhen that Third Master will be going to Hangzhou soon. He probably has something to tell Sister."
Qing Yuan did not dare to delay and followed A Ming to meet Pei Yan.
Miss Xu sighed: "I don't know when the letter will arrive from Huai'an."
Yu Tang comforted her: "The Qu brothers are very reliable. Don't worry, they will come back as soon as possible."
Miss Xu nodded helplessly and asked Yu Tang what he planned to do today.
Yu Tang smiled and said, "Mrs. Pei told me to invite Mrs. Shi to come over this afternoon to give me a massage to see how good her skills are. If she is as good as she said, I will invite her to the mansion after the matter at Zhaoming Temple is finished. I am going to copy a few pages of scriptures in the morning."
Then they invited the great masters in the temple to help hold a prayer meeting for Pei Yan.
He was very kind to her, but she kept misunderstanding him.
From now on, she should have more confidence in him.
Miss Xu was a little surprised. After thinking for a while, she said, "Okay! I'll copy a few pages of the scriptures here. Otherwise, I'll run into the eldest wife of the Pei family. She'll start to talk to me about this and that, and I won't be able to answer or not answer."
Yu Tang was surprised.
Miss Xu whispered to her, "The daughter of the second uncle of the Yin family is about to reach the age of marriage. The second young master of the Pei family, Pei Fei, is fourteen years old this year."
Yu Tang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and lowered his voice, saying: "This is a marriage alliance!"
"Otherwise, why would Mrs. Pei go to visit Mrs. Yang San so early in the morning?" Miss Xu said nonchalantly, "Mrs. Pei knew Mrs. Yang San when they were in the capital, but she was doted on by her husband at the time and had two sons. She was very proud and didn't think much of Mrs. Yang San. Why would she visit Mrs. Yang San if there was nothing going on?"
Yu Tang looked at Miss Xu's attitude and asked, "You guys don't want to?"
Miss Xu said, "Of course I don't want to. If we really want to marry, Pei Tong can be considered. Pei Fei is not good at studying, not capable, and a widowed mother with such a character, vision and knowledge, the Yin family will definitely not be interested in him."
Yu Tang doesn't know Pei Fei, so it's hard for him to comment.
She simply put the matter behind her, asked Qingping to help her bring in pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and asked Miss Xu if she wanted to copy the scriptures together.
Miss Xu readily agreed.
The two were grinding ink when Qing Yuan came back.
She was holding a basket of large cherries in her hand and said, "The Third Elder asked me to accompany you to the Dharma Hall."
Yu Tang was stunned.
I let her stay in the room yesterday, how come everything changed after one night?
Qing Yuan explained, "The Third Elder was afraid that you would be bored, so he remembered that there is a back hall behind the lecture platform. You can sit in the back hall and listen to Master Wu Neng's lecture without having to crowd in with others."
Yu Tang thought about it carefully and found that there was indeed a small back hall behind the lecture platform.
However, it is a temporary resting place for the monks who preach the sutras.
Qing Yuan smiled and said, "The Third Elder sent someone to clean up the place early in the morning. Let me accompany you to take a look. If you don't like it or it's inconvenient, we can go back to the room to rest."
She called Yu Tang "Miss", dropped the last name, and "you" became "you".
Yu Tang's heart moved.
I think this matter has a lot to do with Pei Yanli's treatment of her.
But before she had time to think about it, Miss Xu, who had to accompany Yu Tang to copy scriptures reluctantly in order to avoid Mrs. Pei, excitedly urged her, "Your body is indeed not suitable for being crowded with those people. However, the back hall behind the lecture platform must be very quiet. Pei Xiaguang is also kind-hearted, so we should not let him down. Let's go over and take a look this morning. If we don't think it's good, we can come back."
Yu Tang had lived two lives, and had only attended a large-scale lecture in her previous life. That was when Li Duan passed the imperial examination, and Lin was very happy. During the Dragon Boat Festival, they invited a master from the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou to give a lecture, and she followed the Li family to join in the fun. At that time, everyone congratulated Lin, but who still remembered who she was?
She was thirsty and hot, and finally squeezed out of the crowd and took a cool under the camphor tree. For a moment, she didn't know when Lin and Gu Xi left the Dharma Hall. After she looked everywhere in a panic, she finally found Lin and Gu Xi talking with the master near the Enlightenment Pine, but Lin scolded her and accused her of being worldly-wise and following the excitement... making her lose face.
From then on, I never participated in any incense meetings or sutra lectures again.
Thinking about her current treatment, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart for a long time, and I was also a little curious about what it was like for an incompetent master from Fujian to preach.
Yu Tang hesitated for a moment and made up his mind. He said to Qing Yuan, "Then let's go and take a look."
Qing Yuan smiled and said, "I will go get the veils for the two young ladies. The Third Elder said that there are many people in the Dharma Hall, and you are of a lower generation. If you go, you will have to greet everyone, which will be very tiring. It would be better for you to rest in the room! Let us not show up, go quietly, and come back quietly, so as not to disturb the elders in the Dharma Hall."
That's exactly the truth!
Miss Xu was very happy to hear this. She felt that Pei Yan was really considerate and thorough, and he did not make any mistakes. She could not help but praise him: "When Pei Xiaguang is annoying, he is really annoying. When he is attentive, he is really likable. No wonder Master Zhang likes only this last disciple of his. It shows that nothing happens without reason."
Is that so?
Yu Tang blushed for some reason, his heart was filled with an indescribable joy, and his ears were also red.
Miss Xu was only concerned about whether her veil looked good or not, and didn't pay much attention to Yu Tang. She was still talking there: "I think we should come back earlier to avoid running into them when the show is over. Then will you ask Mrs. Shi to come over to give you moxibustion and massage in the afternoon? I think Mrs. Shi should still come over, otherwise you will have a hard time explaining if Mrs. Pei asks about it. As for copying the scriptures, we can take time to copy a few pages in the evening. Bodhisattvas will not care whether we copy more or less, it mainly depends on whether we are sincere or not."
After all, I just don't want to copy the scriptures.
Yu Tang smiled, feeling happy as if he had a little bird in his heart, and his voice became cheerful as well: "Okay! Let's do moxibustion or massage in the afternoon, and copy the scriptures in the evening. As for you, if you think it's necessary, then copy it. If you don't think it's necessary, you don't have to copy it! I heard from my mother that every Bodhisattva has his own dojo. Zhaoming Temple is the dojo of Sakyamuni, and Putuo Mountain is the dojo of Guanyin Bodhisattva. This ritual can't be done casually."
Miss Xu rolled her eyes and said, "Then I'll copy a few pages of scriptures for Yin Mingyuan. He's not in good health, and we're getting married soon, so he should live a few more years."
Having said that, the image of Yin Mingyuan's thin and pale face appeared in her mind. He still looked gloomy and in a bad mood.
Yu Tang hurriedly comforted her: "Don't worry. Master Yin has been ill for so many years and is still fine. He is getting better and better. He must be blessed by the Bodhisattva. Don't worry."
Miss Xu suddenly felt that going to the Dharma Hall was not so attractive to her anymore.
She decided that no matter what, she would take time out at night to copy a few pages of scriptures for Yin Mingyuan, and then she and Yu Tang would take them to the masters of Zhaoming Temple to offer them to the Bodhisattva.
Miss Xu and Yu Tang, one wearing a lake green veil hat and the other wearing a lake blue veil hat, went out accompanied by Qing Yuan.
Only then did they realize that in addition to Ah Ming, there were five or six unfamiliar servants standing outside the door.
Qing Yuan said, "It was someone from the Third Elder's side. The Third Elder said that he was afraid that you would be bumped into, and that the servants were stronger than the maids."
This is what it means to protect her.
Yu Tang blushed and whispered, "Thank you, Third Elder. When you see Third Elder, please thank him for me."
Qing Yuan smiled and replied "yes", but in her heart she was thinking about the scene when Pei Yan called her over.
The room was full of busy people. The servants were busy packing, the guards were carrying boxes, Mr. Shu was whispering something to Zhao Zhen, and Pei Qi was helping Pei Yan tidy up the desk. Pei Yan stood in the golden morning light and said to her in a deep voice: "During the days I'm away, you should accompany Miss Yu well and don't let her think too much. I've already told Ah Man to ask him to call Madam Wu over. Madam Wu will be responsible for accompanying Miss Yu, and you will be responsible for taking care of her daily affairs. Don't let anyone from the Peng family get close to Miss Yu. If anyone from the Peng family dares to mess around, you just step forward. Don't be afraid if something happens. Everything will be discussed after I come back."
Qing Yuan still remembers his eyelids twitching when he heard these words.
The third master is going to protect Miss Yu.
She looked towards Yu Tang.
All I could see was Yu Tang's slim figure.
If Miss Yu entered the mansion...I'm afraid she would be able to challenge the Third Master's wife.
Which side will she be on then?
Qing Yuan felt a bit of a headache.
She could only comfort herself that this was not something she could control, and she could only make plans when the time came. The most urgent thing was to do what the Third Elder had told her to do, and to ensure that everything was safe and sound during the few days when the Third Elder was away.
Yu Tang and Miss Xu quietly entered the back hall behind the lecture platform.
The back hall was only 150 meters long and 100 meters wide. There was a bed and two chairs. Perhaps Pei Yan had instructed that the short bed was already filled with fruits, cakes, flowers and a brand new cushion.
Miss Xu was even more satisfied.
She whispered to Yu Tang, "Let's just sit on the Luohan bed and listen to the sermon."
The lectern and the back hall were separated by a carved wooden board, so the voice of the incompetent master could be heard very clearly.
Yu Tang nodded and saw that there was a small lattice fan on each side of the Luohan bed. He knew that it was the entrance and exit to the back hall from the lecture platform, so he went to the gap between the fans and looked out. He saw Pei Yan sitting in the middle of the Dharma Hall at a glance.
She felt her face burning, and stood up straight, thinking, I don't know when he will leave for Hangzhou? Will I have a chance to see him off?
Miss Xu had no idea what Yu Tang was thinking. Seeing Yu Tang peeking over there, she followed him and whispered, "Let me see it too."
Yu Tang quickly jumped aside to avoid suspicion.
Miss Xu spoke softly while approaching the slit of the lattice: "What did you see? Pei Xiaguang is indeed worthy of his reputation, as handsome as a sculpture. He is also well dressed, wearing a moon-white plain Songjiang fine cloth and a green bamboo hairpin. He looks clean and refreshing, just right for such an occasion..."
Yu Tang only felt that her face was getting hotter.