Chapter 93 Chapter 93 Master Yundeng
It was raining heavily at night. Sheng Puzhu looked up at the rain falling from the eaves, which formed into curtains of beads and fell densely on the ground.
The main courtyard of Yishou Hall was brightly lit, and the entire Jingguo Mansion was shrouded in this depressing and lonely rainstorm.
"Mammy, the smell of medicine in the room has almost dissipated. You can close the window now." Sheng Puzhu picked up the embroidery frame in the bamboo basket again and gave the order in a light voice.
Nanny Jiang tiptoed forward and was about to lean over to close the window.
The old lady had somehow woken up again. She said weakly, "Don't turn it off. Let the smell get out of the way."
Nanny Jiang was embarrassed for a moment and stood there.
Sheng Puzhu stood up, winked at Nanny Jiang, and smiled as she stepped forward to shake the old lady's hand. "The heavy rain disturbed your sleep?"
The old lady reluctantly shook her head. "No, it's not that loud. I'm old and my hearing is poor.
"Even if I take herbal medicine all day long, I almost taste like the dregs in the casserole. Maybe if I plant them in the ground, they'll sprout in the spring."
"Good boy, you and the princess go back and rest first. Don't let the smell of medicine in the room bother you."
Sheng Puzhu was amused by the old lady, but also felt that her words were a bit ominous. She looked up and saw that Nanny Jiang had already closed the window again. She said gently, "How could that be? Please don't talk nonsense."
"Of course not."
"I'm old, and I'm afraid I won't live for many more days. I know you are filial..." After speaking intermittently, the old lady closed her eyes and fell asleep again.
She has been in worse and worse spirits these days. Sometimes she wakes up suddenly and looks very energetic, but she can hardly say a few words.
Princess Shoukang stood up and tucked the quilt in for the old lady herself. "I'll stay here, Puzhu, can you go to sleep first?"
Sheng Puzhu shook his head and said firmly, "My mother and I will accompany my grandmother."
Princess Shoukang stopped trying to persuade her. She just asked Nanny Yan to change the tea to hot tea, picked up the notebook that she had just casually placed on the rosewood table, and turned a page carelessly with her fingertips. However, her eyes were not really on the words, but she was listening to the sound of rain in a trance.
for a long time.
Princess Shoukang pinched her brows and simply put the book aside. "Is the embroidery almost done?"
"Yeah." Sheng Puzhu nodded. The warm yellow candlelight outlined her quiet profile, and her long eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyes.
On the embroidery frame was a piece of dark green brocade, embroidered with a pair of plump mandarin ducks that looked plump and well-fed.
Princess Shoukang found it interesting and asked with a smile, "This color should be embroidered for Sanlang?"
Sheng Puzhu was a little shy, but she pretended to be calm: "I'm not good at this, and my embroidery is not very good."
"What's wrong?"
Princess Shoukang raised her eyebrows and said, "I think he would like anything you gave him."
"Sanlang likes to hide things. He looks cold and heartless, but he's actually very easy to coax."
"If you make him angry in the future, just coax him more."
"When he was little, he read all day long. I was afraid he would damage his eyes, so I had all the books in the study hidden and told him that they were exchanged for wine money in his father's library."
Princess Shoukang suddenly laughed out loud: "In the end, he really believed it and used his New Year's money to ask the old Duke to redeem the book for him."
"Hahahaha, the old Duke also found it interesting and really took him to the library to redeem the book."
"Sanlang was sulking for several days afterwards. I had no choice but to sew him a cloth tiger myself, and that was the end of the matter."
Sheng Puzhu was very close to Princess Shoukang, so she tilted her head and listened very attentively.
Her rosy lips were pursed, and her watery almond eyes twinkled under the light, as if hiding broken stars. It turned out that the precious cloth tiger had such a past.
The nights are short in late summer, and the downpour seems to have no end in sight.
After Sheng Puzhu finished embroidering the last stitch, she cut the silk thread with scissors and held the embroidery frame high under the lamp, looking at it very seriously.
It is a pair of mandarin ducks embracing each other. The draft clearly shows an elegant posture, but the woman’s needlework is not very good, so the embroidery turns them into a cute and innocent look.
The night was made even more chaotic by the sound of thunder and rain. Just when the rain was at its heaviest, a burst of hurried but steady footsteps could be heard outside the house, mixed with the servants' muffled cries from time to time.
The door was pushed open from the outside, bringing with it damp and cold air. Xie Zhiyan and Xie Huaiqian walked into the room together, followed by two people wearing straw raincoats whose faces could not be seen clearly.
They must have been walking in a hurry, and with the rain curtaining down, their clothes were soaked through, with water droplets constantly dripping from the corners of their clothes, gathering into a small puddle at their feet.
"My dear."
"Father."
Sheng Puzhu was the first to react. She quickly ordered Nanny Yan to get a clean towel and called Nanny Jiang to the small study to prepare hot water and a charcoal basin.
In short, the entire Yishou Hall became busy, and the stiff and tense atmosphere seemed to suddenly relax and be injected with fresh vitality.
"This is Master Yundeng." Xie Zhiyan took the dry handkerchief, only having time to wipe the raindrops from his eyes. He looked towards the inner room and asked, "Is Grandmother okay?"
"I took the medicine and went to bed half an hour ago."
"My spirits are sometimes good and sometimes bad."
Sheng Puzhu answered gently, looking behind Xie Zhiyan with some curiosity.
The legendary Master Yundeng was thin and wore a half-worn gray cassock. He looked very old, with a haggard face, but his eyes were bright and clear, as if he could see through people's hearts.
"Buddha has mercy on me."
Master Yundeng chanted the Buddha's name, not caring that his body was soaked. He just stood beside the charcoal brazier for a while, and when his clothes stopped dripping with water, he walked straight to the bed.
His dry fingers gently rested on the old lady's thin wrist, and he closed his eyes and concentrated.
The room was eerily quiet, and Sheng Puzhu was so nervous that he deliberately slowed down his breathing.
She didn't notice at all that Master Yundeng was following behind her and that his gaze had been on her since she entered the door.
Xie Zhiyan frowned and calmly moved his body to block it.
a long time.
Master Yundeng slowly opened his eyes, swept his gaze over everyone, and finally landed on Xie Zhiyan and Xie Huaiqian.
"Can I have a moment to talk?"
The father and son looked at each other, nodded, and moved to the outer room.
"The old lady is old and in poor health. She is also deeply troubled and has a lot of problems. It's difficult to recover."
Xie Huaiqian wiped the rain off his face, frowned, and asked, "Can it be cured?"
Master Yundeng said calmly, "I can try my best to stabilize the vital points with acupuncture needles and then supplement with decoctions."
"It's just that your mother is at the end of her strength." His tone suddenly grew graver, as if he had grown older. "Mortals cannot compete with heaven and earth for longevity. Everything is just a delaying tactic. You must maintain a calm mind while serving her. You must not allow yourself to be stimulated again. Extreme joy or extreme sorrow are both taboos."
Xie Huaiqian took a deep breath and asked with difficulty, "If everything is carefully taken care of according to your instructions, I wonder... how long can my mother live longer?"
Master Yundeng was silent for a moment, then slowly stretched out his withered hand, spread his five fingers, and gestured vaguely: "Do your best, and your life span will be no more than five years."
Five years.
Not much, but at least another five years.
Human greed is so great that no one can escape it, but this seems to be the best outcome.
Xie Zhiyan glanced at Xie Huaiqian, who came back to his senses first. He bowed deeply and said sincerely, "Thank you, Master!"
Master Yundeng's eyes held compassion and an inscrutable wisdom. He spoke calmly, "Everything is the result of karma."
"It seems that the connection between me and the Duke's Mansion is more than just this one."
"Brother?"
Sheng Puju finally noticed the man who had been staring at her.
At first she thought he looked familiar, but when she saw him clearly, she was stunned.
Pei Ce!
Her brother, who had separated from her when she was thirteen and had never been found since.
Sheng Puzhu couldn't hide her exclamation, her almond-shaped eyes were wide open, full of surprise and disbelief.
The man with a look of vicissitudes in his eyes smiled. He probably wanted to touch his sister's head like he did when they were little. When his eyes fell on Sheng Bozhu's dignified bun like a cloud, his raised hand froze in mid-air, and then he withdrew it as if nothing had happened.
"haven't seen you for a long time."
"pearl."
"Why is my brother with Master Yundeng?"
"Where have you been all these years? Mother has been looking for you for a long time."
Sheng Puzhu had so many questions that he choked up a little when he spoke.
"Little Pearl is still as crybaby as she was when she was little." Chen Ce touched her cheek with the back of his hand, the smile in his eyes deepening. "When I parted with you that year, I took a boat to Penglai, and then from Penglai to Persia. In Persia, I met Master Yundeng, and then I became his disciple and became his registered lay disciple."
"Since leaving Dengzhou, I have changed my surname to Shen. Over the years, I have been traveling around the world with my master, practicing medicine and saving lives."
"I'm not crying. Is my brother married?" Sheng Puzhu looked at his temples that had already grown white hair, and his heart ached.
Shen Ce smiled and said, "No, brother doesn't want to get married."
"Brother, this is good."
On the other side of the screen, Master Yundeng smiled inscrutablely. He looked at Xie Zhiyan thoughtfully, "They are just siblings. Sanlang Xie should be more open-minded."
"Being jealous all the time is really bad for your physical and mental health."
Even jokes made by a man over a hundred years old can touch people's hearts.
Xie Zhiyan pursed his thin lips, walked forward as if nothing had happened, pulled his wife into his arms, and calmly separated the two people who seemed very intimate.
"Ma'am, would you mind introducing yourself?"
Sheng Puzhu met Xie Zhiyan's deep gaze and wanted to pull her brother's sleeve like she did when she was a child. However, before she could stretch out her hand, it was held tightly by the man behind her.
"My dear, this is my brother, Pei... No, my surname is Chen, and his given name is 'Ce'."
"Xie Zhiyan, Puzhu's husband."
Xie Zhiyan just raised his eyes, without even extending his hand, and spoke in a tone as light as if he was talking to a stranger.
Shen Ce nodded, also indifferently: "Thank you for taking care of my Puzhu these past few years."
Sheng Puzhu didn't understand why these two people were so hostile to each other.
She tugged at Xie Zhiyan's sleeve and whispered, "What does Master Yundeng say about Grandmother's health?"
Xie Zhiyan's expression darkened. The light and shadow revealed the fatigue and dampness between his brows. His voice was hoarse as he said a number with difficulty.
"Is there really no other way?" Sheng Puzhu felt sad.
The old lady was ill this year, so the birthday party that had been prepared long ago could not be held. She was usually cheerful every day, and even when she was sick, she never made trouble for others.
Master Yundeng and Shen Ce wanted to stay in the mansion, and the nanny had already cleaned up the guest house with great skill.
The heavy rain outside had stopped at some point.
The thin moonlight fell on the ground, making it wet everywhere, just like Sheng Puju's mood at the moment.
The candlelight flickered, and the couple had returned to Yunyu Hall.
"Do you think I'm greedy?"
"Before, the imperial physicians were helpless. Master Yundeng was able to extend Grandmother's life by five years, but I still feel it's not enough. Why is it so unfair that such a good elder like Grandmother can't live to be a hundred years old?"
When Sheng Puzhu saw Xie Zhiyan take off his wet outer robe, her tone was troubled, but she could not suppress the regret in her heart.
She rarely expressed her emotions so directly. Her eyes were red and her voice was filled with sadness.
Xie Zhiyan turned around, and gently took her hand with his slightly cool palm, wrapping it up along with the uneasiness.
"Greedy?" His tone was silent, but rather reassuringly calm. "Madam, this isn't greed. It's just human nature."
"Grandma has so many regrets in her life. We can do a lot in five years."
He didn't care about the wetness on his body, and used his arms to pick up Sheng Puzhu and put her in his arms. The moonlight outside the window was cold, which further highlighted the rare warmth between the two.
Sheng Puzhu looked at the dark sky and saw that his face was pale and his body was thinner than before he left home. She said softly, "My dear, go take a bath quickly. The water is getting cold."
Xie Zhiyan smiled and said, "Don't worry, let me hug you."
"On the way back, I didn't know that Chen Ce was your brother Pei Ce. He concealed it well and tested me all the way."
Sheng Puzhu blinked her eyelashes, finally no longer feeling so sad. She asked in confusion, "So he knew about you a long time ago?"
Xie Zhiyan hummed, "We originally invited him in the name of the Duke of Jingguo's Mansion."
"He only needs to ask and he will know."
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