Chapter 1949 Bill
It was not the first time that the abbot of Xuandu Temple had seen Zhou Man, but this time Zhou Man was particularly pleasing to his eyes. He did not know about Zhou Man’s speech in the court that was faithful but not superstitious. He only knew that because Zhou Man gave the princess and the queen a bracelet that had been blessed in front of the statue of Laozi, it seemed to be beneficial to the princess and the queen’s health, so the empress dowager and the emperor decided to come to Xuandu Temple to pay homage to Laozi.
However, although the master of the temple liked Zhou Man at this moment, he did not dare to flirt with Zhou Man in front of the emperor and the empress dowager. What if the emperor and the empress dowager misunderstood?
Huang Tianke could testify that he and Zhou Manke had no connection whatsoever, and their relationship was truly that of a temple master and a believer.
It was because her husband was more knowledgeable that they had discussed philosophy and drank tea together.
Buddhism and Taoism colluded with officials to promote their doctrines, each of which was a skill in secret, but was openly criticized. The abbot did not want to give such an impression to the world, so he looked at the Queen Mother with a smile, occasionally glancing at Zhou Man.
Manbao was holding the empress dowager's hand in a daze.
The emperor and the crown prince standing by looked at the empress dowager and saw Zhou Man. They also thought she was in a daze and couldn't help but frowning slightly.
The emperor couldn't help but glance at Xiao Yuanzheng.
Xiao Yuanzheng was tactful enough to step forward, and the emperor let him look at Zhou Man.
Dean Xiao could tell at a glance that Zhou Man was emptying his mind while listening to the pulse. Doctors like them often do this. In fact, it feels very good to listen to the pulse quietly like this.
But how can I tell the emperor such a thing so that he will believe it?
Xiao Yuanzheng whispered tentatively, "Doctor Zhou is taking my pulse."
The emperor glanced at him, his eyes seemed to say, do you think I am a fool, or do you think I am blind? Look at Zhou Man's dazed look, does he look like he is taking a pulse?
Xiao Yuanzheng hesitated whether to step forward to remind Zhou Man that perhaps closing his eyes would be better, but before he could step forward, the emperor had already retracted his gaze, then walked to the empress dowager and spoke to the abbot.
Manbao rolled his eyes at the emperor, then continued to listen to the pulse with his mind cleared.
She thought the human pulse was truly strange. It was clearly the thumping of the heart, but if you listened carefully, you could also feel the blood flowing from the heartbeat through the meridians and internal organs. Doctors with better hearing and brainpower could even tell from the pulse what was happening where it was flowing...
The doctor can therefore determine the cause of the disease.
Manbao was listening to the Empress Dowager's pulse at this time, listening to it change from excited and a little angry to relaxed. She could even "hear" that the blood circulation had slowed down. Although slow, it was more unobstructed than before, without the stagnation caused by impatience.
Manbao was listening intently when she suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at her. She couldn't help but frown slightly and opened her eyes. When she looked up, she met the emperor's gaze.
The emperor is the boss. Manbao felt guilty instantly and began to reflect on herself. Did she do anything wrong just now?
The abbot was preaching the meaning of scriptures to the empress dowager, and after seeing that the empress dowager was only paying attention for a moment, he turned to talk about ways to maintain health. Although the empress dowager listened carefully, she did not seem very happy. The abbot thought for a while, and remembered the rituals that Zhou Man and Bai Shan had to perform during the New Year and Qingming Festival, so he changed the subject and talked about the theory of yin and yang retribution.
The Queen Mother perked up and listened more attentively.
Manbao listened and then looked at the abbot with some contempt. He really said one thing to one person and another thing to another person. He clearly didn't say that when they discussed Taoism before.
He said that he didn't know whether yin and yang could alternate, but people performed rituals more to comfort the living, and at that time they were asked not to tell anyone.
Just as he was complaining in his heart, the Queen Mother sighed and said to the abbot, "I have three wishes. Please perform a ritual to ask for them."
The abbot bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, please speak."
The Empress Dowager fell silent. The abbot glanced at the Emperor standing beside her, understood what was going on, and stood up and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you must be tired today. Why don't you rest in the guest room for a while?"
The empress dowager stood up with the help of the head palace maid and Zhou Man, left the hall, and took the sedan chair to the guest house.
The emperor frowned slightly and glanced at Zhou Man.
Zhou Man received his gaze and followed the empress dowager into the guest room. The emperor and the prince tactfully went to the next room to rest.
Most of the people in the room left, leaving only the head palace maid and Zhou Man.
Seeing the Queen Mother looking at Zhou Man, Zhou Man said frankly, "Your Majesty, His Majesty said that an imperial physician must accompany me. If I go out, should Xiao Yuanzheng come in?"
The Queen Mother withdrew her gaze and said, "Forget it, if she wants to follow, then let her follow."
Manbao observed the empress dowager's complexion closely, calling it "diagnosis by observation", and paid full attention to protecting the empress dowager's health.
The abbot came over with a tray with pen, ink, paper and inkstone on it, and asked the empress dowager to write down her three wishes.
The Queen Mother raised the pen with a slightly trembling hand. Although it was a little shaky, she could still write clearly.
Manbao was standing beside the Queen Mother and could see her just by lowering her eyes.
The empress dowager naturally knew that she could not hide these three wishes from the emperor. Even if he did not know through Zhou Man and the palace maids around her, and wanted to open the paper and read it directly, could the master of Xuandu Temple still refuse?
The reason why the emperor and the prince were asked to stay away was just to save each other's faces and avoid getting angry or having other emotions on the spot.
The Queen Mother also didn't want the Emperor to recall any bad memories.
She slowly wrote down her three wishes: first, that the country would be peaceful and the people would be safe, and that the Li family would live forever; second, that the souls who had died because of the King of Yizhou would rest in peace and be reincarnated; and third, that her young son and descendants would be safe and sound.
After the Queen Mother finished writing on three sheets of paper, she slowly put down her pen and looked towards the abbot.
The temple master sighed and said, "Your Highness is kind-hearted. Don't worry, I will perform these three rituals with all my heart."
The Queen Mother heaved a sigh of relief and said to the temple master, "Light the longevity lamps and let them hang in the temple forever."
The abbot then asked, "How many years do you want, Madam?"
Although it is a bit inappropriate, the temple master still listed the longevity lamp projects of their Xuandu Temple. There are one-year, five-year, ten-year and twenty-year ones. The quality of the lamps is also different, so the prices are also slightly different.
The Queen Mother said directly: "Order them all for a hundred years."
Manbao: ...
Viewer:…
What they both thought at the same time was, who should they ask for the money?
The Queen Mother had already said, "I ask His Majesty to give you some money for the lamp oil."
By the time the emperor realized that he had an additional debt, they were about to say goodbye and return to the palace. The abbot of Xuandu Temple presented a bill to Gu Zhong, who showed it to the emperor.
The emperor looked at the bill in his hand for a long time without saying a word. He looked up and saw Zhou Man had already followed the empress dowager into the carriage. He returned the bill to Gu Zhong and said, "Keep it for now. Go back and summon Zhou Man for questioning."
He had to see whether it was worth paying a hundred years of incense money for these three wishes. If it was not worth it, he would pay for one to five years first to satisfy the Empress Dowager.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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