Before leaving the mountain, Yu Jiao went to the incense hall to donate incense money. Cheng Ying stood outside the hall and watched her from a distance. Hui Ting, the successor abbot of Fahua Temple, stepped forward and chanted a Buddhist name: "Do you have any instructions for me this time?"
Cheng Ying's eyes were still fixed on the slender figure in the hall. She shook her head and said, "Abbot, there is no need to be like this. Just treat me as an ordinary pilgrim. The ten-year period has passed. There is no cause and effect between me and Fahua Temple."
Hui heard this and said, "Master Du is very kind."
Seeing Yu Jiao walking out of the incense hall, Cheng Ying didn't want to say much, but went to meet her and walked out of the temple with her.
Seeing the three people walking away, the young monk who was welcoming the pilgrims looked up and asked his fellow monk beside him in confusion, "Master and other fellow monks, why are you so polite to this King of Hell who is full of murderous sins?"
The monk beside him tapped the little monk's shiny head and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Cheng Dugong is a benefactor to our Fahua Temple."
The young monk felt pain and covered his head, saying in a very childish voice: "Brother, you lied to me. Before I entered the mountain gate, everyone said that he was a bad guy who killed people without blinking an eye. How could he be the benefactor of my Fahua Temple?" The young monk was an orphan who had been displaced after his parents died. He had just entered the temple not long ago. Because he was born childish and cute, like the boy under the seat of Guanyin, he was arranged to greet and see off pilgrims at the temple gate.
The monk pinched his round cheeks and said with a mixture of anger and amusement, "Monks don't lie, how could I lie to you?" Seeing that there were no pilgrims coming in or out of the temple, he whispered, "Ten years ago, if it weren't for Cheng Dugong, all the temples in the world would have collapsed and we monks would have nowhere to stay. Just remember that he is the benefactor of my Fahua Temple, and don't ask anything else."
Ten years ago, after the current emperor ascended the throne, he worshipped Taoism and fasting and praying. He listened to slander and believed that monks were the most useless people in the world. He wanted to respect Taoism and destroy Buddhism, destroy temples, and punish monks to work as city laborers. The abbot of Shengjing Dafo Temple went to the emperor to preach in the hope of influencing the emperor to suppress Buddhist monks for no reason. Unexpectedly, he angered the emperor, and Dafo Temple was the first to be hit. The fire burned for two days and two nights, and 300 monks were reduced to ashes.
All monks in the world were in panic, and Buddhism was in danger.
The abbot of Fahua Temple received a letter. On the day when the reply was delivered to the capital, Cheng Dugong said something to Emperor Mingzheng that made the emperor change his mind. Although he ignored the Buddhist monks from then on, he did not kill them all.
Although Cheng Ying had a bad reputation and could stop children from crying at night, he was the benefactor of Buddhist monks.
Even though Cheng Dugong had told the monks when he moved into the Fahua Temple that he never did favors, and that he had clearly marked the price when he gave out gifts that day in exchange for profit, the monks, who knew about the disaster that had happened to the Buddhist community ten years ago, were still grateful for his kindness in their hearts.
Abbot Xuanming, who passed away, once said that it was a great kindness of Master Cheng to exchange the hundred-year fortune of Fahua Temple for the stability of Buddhism in the world and pass it down from generation to generation. The monks in the temple deeply agreed with this.
People have thousands of faces, how can we judge whether they are good or evil?
The way down the mountain was much easier than going up, but it still took more than half an hour. When they reached the foot of the mountain, Cheng Qi brought the carriage that was left at a farmer's house. Yu Jiao got on the carriage with Cheng Ying and had dinner together in a restaurant in the county town.
Yu Jiao was afraid that Cheng Ying would be difficult to deal with, so she stopped her from leaving tomorrow and insisted on staying with her for a few more days. However, Cheng Ying did not mention it until after dinner. When she asked Cheng Qi to send her back to Qingyu Village, she said, "You will leave for Beijing tomorrow, and I will not see you off."
Yu Jiao heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, but she said, "You are tired from climbing today, godfather, please take a good rest tomorrow. The people here are simple and honest, you can enjoy yourself for a few more days."
Cheng Ying gave Yu Jiao a deep look and said, "It is indeed a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. It is worth staying here."
Seeing Cheng Ying returned to the inn, Yu Jiao got on the carriage and Cheng Qi took her back to the village.
The Yu family's house was brightly lit, with two paper lanterns hanging in front of the door, emitting two halos of light. As soon as Yu Jiao got off the carriage, she saw Yu Mengshan holding Fei Ge'er's hand, and Bai Lu waiting outside the courtyard gate.
"Dad, Fei Ge'er, why are you waiting outside?"
Yu Mengshan stood up with Meng Fei by his hand, a smile on his dull and honest face, "If there is nothing else, I will take Fei Ge'er out to wait for a while. Your mother has left some food for you on the stove."
Yu Jiao knew that it must be Cheng Ying who had an attack on Yu Ruhai in the East Courtyard today, causing Yu Mengshan and his wife to worry about her safety, so they were waiting for her to come back outside.
Yu Jiao touched Fei Ge'er's head, and they entered the courtyard and returned to the east wing.
Seeing that Song was not in the room, Yu Jiao asked, "Where is mother?"
"She is in the main courtyard." After saying this, Yu Mengshan went to the kitchen to get food for Yu Jiao.
Yu Jiao said, "Dad, don't worry, I'm back after dinner." She glanced in the direction of the main courtyard, "Is mom in trouble?"
After what happened in the courtyard today, Yu Ruhai didn't dare to do anything to her, but he would vent his anger on the second wife.
Yu Mengshan shook his head. "Your grandfather said he had a headache and refused to take medicine. He smashed two bowls of medicine. Your mother was watching the stove and boiling the medicine. Miss Jianjia also went over to help."
The first two batches of medicine were boiled by Yu Mengshan. Song saw that the old man was just trying to make things difficult for her, so she asked Yu Mengshan to take Fei Ge'er to wait for Yu Jiao outside the courtyard gate while she went on to boil the medicine.
Yu Jiao knew that he and Song were both good-tempered people. No matter how excessive Yu Ruhai's actions were, they were unwilling to say bad things about him behind his back. She looked at Bai Lu.
Because of Cheng Ying, Yu Jiao went out today and left Jianjia and the others at Yu's house.
Bai Lu did not hide anything. When Yu Jiao asked about it, she said bluntly, "After you left, the second master called a doctor back. When the old man woke up, he kept cursing." The country people were vulgar, and their indirect words were really hard to hear. Moreover, the old man was really difficult to deal with. He repeatedly made things difficult for the second couple. Jianjia couldn't bear it, so she stayed with Song to prevent the girl's mother-in-law from suffering any loss or humiliation.
"Go to the main courtyard." Yu Jiao stood up with a slightly cold expression and asked Bai Lu to call the Jinyiwei.
She knew that filial piety could crush a person. She and Yu Qizhe were far away in the capital, so they could out of sight and out of mind. However, Yu Ruhai was able to act like an elder and repeatedly counsel the Song couple.
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