Chapter 1878 Show
They were preparing to cover up their lie. As soon as they returned home after a break, Bai Shan went into his own storeroom. Finally, he found a Buddha statue in one box and a Laozi statue in another box. They were all carved from jade.
There are many Buddha statues, but there are also two statues of Laozi.
Bai Shan compared them carefully and took away the smallest statue of Laozi, which was only one and a half feet tall.
When the steward guarding the warehouse saw the young master carrying out the statue of Laozi, he immediately reached out to protect it and said cautiously, "Young master, this is carved from black jade. What are you going to do with it?"
Bai Shan said, "Send it to someone."
The steward was startled and asked quickly, "Does the old lady know?"
Bai Shan said: "We will know soon."
Then he wrote down what he took out on a list, signed his name on it, and ran away with the things.
The manager was unable to stop it, so he could only quickly take the notebook and put it in his arms, then locked the warehouse and ran to report to the old lady.
That statue of Laozi was specially made by the old lady. It was made of rare and fine black jade. It is more than ten times more valuable than the three-foot-tall green jade statue of Laozi.
The young master picked the best one.
I heard that the old lady took the statue of Laozi to give to someone.
Old Madam Liu was indeed planning to give the portrait of her father away as a gift, and the person she wanted to give it to was the old man of the Zhang family, a family friend of the Bai and Liu families.
Old Master Zhang gave the position of clan leader to his son a few years ago and devoted himself to seeking the truth.
Now Bai Shan is about to grow up. After a few more years of study, she will have to go back to her family home, so she has to start doing business in Longzhou, at least to make those who have forgotten and despised them remember them and value them again.
This way they won't be humiliated when they return to Longzhou and settle down.
She found that piece of black jade before winter last year. She spent a lot of money to buy it and also spent a lot of money to hire a famous craftsman to carve it carefully. It took more than two months to carve it.
Madam Liu took the booklet and took a look. It was indeed signed and sealed by her grandson. She put it down and asked with a smile, "Who is he going to give it to?"
The steward trembled his lips and whispered, "The young master didn't say anything. I only saw him go to Miss Man..."
The whole family knew that the Zhou family also believed in Laozi and mentioned Master Tianzun from time to time.
However, Old Lady Liu knew that her grandson and Manbao were half-believing and half-disbelieving in Laozi. If they said they believed, deep down they didn't really believe that ghosts and gods would help them; if they didn't believe, they would make wishes to ghosts and gods from time to time, and worship them very devoutly every time.
Madam Liu shook her head and smiled, then said to the steward, "Forget it, since he took it, just give it to him."
When those two children worshipped Laozi, they would just draw a portrait of themselves and would not even bother to spend twenty cents to get a portrait from the Taoist temple. This time they went to great lengths to take the black jade statue of Laozi away, probably because it had some other great use for it.
The manager was startled, and quickly agreed, then bowed and retreated.
After he left, Zheng anxiously asked, "Mother, what about that birthday gift from Old Master Zhang..."
"Just find another gift," Old Lady Liu said with a smile. "There's more than one statue of Laozi in the world, and there's no need to rush. His birthday is still more than two months away, and the two children might be returned in a couple of days."
Not long after, Bai Shan came over to explain to Madam Liu that he knew the statue of Laozi was to be given as a birthday gift, but he planned to borrow it first and "return it to Grandma in fifty days."
Madam Liu frowned and asked, "Are you still going to bring her into the palace?"
Bai Shan nodded, "It will be more convenient to burn incense this way."
Madam Liu rubbed her forehead and asked, "Can you bring it in?"
Bai Shan said: "Manbao asked Eunuch Wu for help, so the problem is not serious."
Not only do they have to bring it in, they also have to bring it out again on their next day off, and bring it back in again when they enter the palace...
Anyway, just act very pious.
As an outsider, it would be fine for Zhou Man to occasionally carry the statue of Laozi in and out of the palace. After all, she could use the excuse of giving it to others or using it for herself, but it was obviously impossible for her to go in and out so frequently.
Who knows what she's up to?
So even the guards who were on good terms with her would not allow her to carry such a thing in and out again after one or two times, out of caution.
But it’s different with Eunuch Wu’s endorsement.
The prince was standing behind Eunuch Wu. It seemed that I was entering the palace towards the East Palace. Since the prince had agreed, the guards naturally would not try to stop me.
So, when he entered the palace again, Bai Shan was holding a box in his arms. Eunuch Wu came to pick him up personally, and then registered with the guards, indicating that this statue of Laozi would go in and out several times.
This made the guards check more carefully. If they were not allowed, they would have smashed the jade carving to see if there was something stuck inside.
Manbao felt sympathy for them. After carrying the items into the palace, he said to Eunuch Wu, "They are truly pitiful. There are so many ingenious and ingenious things in this world. If they don't check carefully and miss something and bring it into the palace, then that would be their responsibility."
Eunuch Wu: "...Doctor Zhou, they are examining you now."
Manbao didn't feel guilty at all and nodded, saying, "I'm a good person and never bring anything into the palace."
Bai Shan, holding the box, nodded slightly, thinking to herself that yes, because she could let Uncle Zhou take anything she wanted to smuggle, but Minglu could use it.
It's just that this time they need to do it for others to see, otherwise he thinks it shouldn't be difficult to let Uncle Zhou bring this jade carving into the palace.
Eunuch Wu was also very interested in their statue of Laozi and asked, "Master Zhou, why don't you send it to the Taoist temple for consecration, but instead consecrate it yourself?"
Manbao said seriously, "It would be more sincere and effective if you come by yourself."
Eunuch Wu didn't know whether he believed it or not, but he didn't care about her anymore after sending her to Chongwenguan, but he still paid more attention to her.
Although he knew that Zhou Man would not harm anyone or him, it was a matter of concern after all, so he still had to be more careful.
Manbao and Baishan placed the statue of Laozi on the east side, then placed the box in front of the statue and lit three incense sticks to burn incense to it.
When Bai Shan and Bai Erlang saw it, they followed suit and bowed as usual. After a while, nine incense sticks were lit in front of Laozi's statue.
Bai Erlang asked, "You still need to chant the sutra, right?"
"It's okay. I'll read for fifteen minutes after I come back and wash up. I'll read for fifteen minutes in the morning from now on."
Bai Erlang always felt that her attitude was perfunctory, but her behavior seemed very pious to the people in the palace. The palace maids who served her saw Zhou Man kneeling in front of the statue of Laozi and chanting scriptures devoutly when they came to pour her face water and take away her dirty clothes every morning and evening.
She didn't even need to look up the scriptures. She could recite them clearly with her eyes slightly closed, with ups and downs, word by word.
The palace maid thought that Lord Zhou was very powerful, so within a few days, many people in the palace knew about this matter.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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