"Meng...Yu Jiao." The man pronounced the name softly and lazily. A hint of warmth and attachment flashed across his narrow and cold phoenix eyes, but it was fleeting.
That girl... I shouldn't have changed her name to this in the first place. It sounds really harsh now.
"Why is she strange?" The man slightly turned his body and asked the man in black calmly.
"This woman was bought by the Yu family to be the bride of Master Yu. I don't know if she disliked Master Yu's body and slept with his cousin. The Yu family was afraid of causing a scandal, so they didn't dare to make a big deal and kept her." The man in black said, "I found out that Meng Yujiao didn't know any medical skills before, but after her failed attempt to have sex with him, she suddenly became a good doctor and cured many diseases. She is now a famous female doctor in Qingyu Village."
The man narrowed his beautiful phoenix eyes, which sparkled with interest. His cold white hands stroked the messy hair at his temples, and he spoke in a feminine tone, slowly and leisurely, "Is that all?"
The man in black kneeling on the ground trembled in his heart, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. He swallowed nervously and stammered, "That's... that's all."
The man raised his eyebrows. When he taught her medical skills in the past, she was very stupid and not even one-tenth as good as that man. If she was able to cure the poison in Yu Qizhe's body, it was absolutely impossible.
"How's the situation in the capital?"
The man in black was almost suffocating when he heard this question. The trembling in his heart eased a little and he replied, "Shen Tian and Liu Zheng quarreled in the court. They both wanted to install their own people as the chief examiners for the provincial and metropolitan examinations. The quarrel gave His Majesty a headache. He didn't go to court for five days in a row. He stayed in the harem and Fengtianzhai all day to practice Taoism. A few days ago, he even asked when Cheng Gong would return to the palace. The Imperial Household Department has a lot of backlogs."
"These two old guys are causing trouble for His Majesty again!" The man sneered, "No wonder they are arguing over nominating their own people as the chief examiners. Newly minted scholars with no foundation can be recruited as students. Both old guys want to cultivate their own people. It's a good idea."
In the whole world, apart from the current emperor, I am afraid that only Mr. Cheng dares to call Shen Tian and Liu Zheng like this and talk about them frivolously.
The man in black knelt on the ground and spoke cautiously, "There is one more thing I need to report to Mr. Cheng. Fan Zeng, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, sent a woman to your house outside the palace."
"Woman?" The man raised his eyes, and a hint of coldness flashed across his deep and invisible phoenix eyes. Fan Zeng was a member of Shen Tian's faction. Sending him women was nothing more than wanting him to help with the examiner matter, but he was not interested in women!
Shen Tian's attempt to please others actually offended him.
"Since the master was not in the capital, the people in the mansion did not dare to keep the woman on their own. Fan Zeng took the woman back, but left a portrait for Mr. Cheng, saying that if Mr. Cheng found it interesting, he would keep the woman as a toy to amuse himself."
The man in black pulled out a scroll from his sleeve, held it in both hands, walked forward respectfully, and handed it to the couch.
The man lowered his eyes to look at the scroll, a flash of anger passed across his feminine and handsome face, his narrow eyes concealed a chilling coldness, and after a long time he casually raised his cold white fingers and hooked untied the thin rope that bound the scroll.
The scroll unfolded, slowly revealing half of a familiar face. The man's eyes dimmed, his expression changed slightly, and he suddenly sat up, snatched the scroll from the black-clothed man, and carefully unfolded the entire scroll.
On the white scroll, a woman with a slender waist was looking back and smiling. Her smile was so peaceful and brilliant that it almost burned the man's eyes. He stroked the woman's eyebrows with his trembling fingers and his heart was trembling.
The man in black didn't expect that Mr. Cheng would have such a reaction after seeing the woman in the scroll. He didn't dare to look at her any longer and his head almost dropped to the ground.
The man closed his eyes, holding the scroll tightly between his fingertips, and calmed his mind. He said to the man in black in a deep voice, "Ask Fan Zeng to send the woman to the house."
The man in black replied respectfully, "Yes, I will deliver the message right away."
The man gently placed the scroll on the table and instructed, "Arrange Huijue's funeral affairs. Don't let Lu Jin and Yu Qizhe find out. Leave for Beijing tomorrow."
"I will arrange it right away." The man in black bowed and left the Zen room, but he was a little shocked in his heart. It seemed that he had made the right decision by giving the scroll. Mr. Cheng only took one look at the face of the woman in the scroll and decided to set off for Beijing tomorrow. The woman in the scroll was lucky to be favored by Mr. Cheng.
At the hour of Mao, the hanging bell of Fahua Temple was rung. The deep and powerful sound of the bells and chimes resounded throughout half of Chile Mountain, echoing for a long time.
When Lu Jin heard the bell in his sleep, he sat up in shock. Without even saying hello to the family where he was staying, he wrapped himself in his coat and ran to the Fahua Temple.
He gathered his energy and ran as fast as he could along the way. It usually took him nearly an hour to walk up the mountain to worship Buddha, but now he reached the gate of the Fahua Temple in less than half an hour.
The vermilion temple door was closed at this time, but one could clearly hear the monks in the courtyard chanting the mantra for rebirth in unison, solemn and mournful. Lu Jin knew something was wrong when he heard the bell, but he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart.
He raised his hand and knocked hard on the temple door. The heavy vermilion wooden door separated the inside and outside of the temple into two worlds.
After knocking until his palms were numb, a young monk finally opened the temple door.
"Why does the temple bell ring?" As soon as the temple door opened, Lu Jin asked the little monk anxiously.
The young monk said with red eyes, "Brother Lu, Abbot Huijue has passed away."
Although Lu Jin had a premonition in his heart, he still couldn't accept the news when he heard it in reality. He trembled, forced himself to calm down, and walked into the temple.
A cremation ceremony was being held in the courtyard. Led by the abbot, monks were chanting mantras for rebirth and circling around the crematorium with ritual instruments in their hands. The fire was burning so fiercely that the body on the fire could no longer be seen clearly.
Lu Jin arrived a step too late and was unable to see the remains of Master Huijue.
"Master, I'm late..." Lu Jin staggered two steps towards the crematorium, knelt on the ground, and cried bitterly.
The monks all had calm faces and were silently reciting scriptures and performing rituals to pray for the souls of the dead. No one paid any attention to him.
It was not until the cremation fire burned out that the abbot of the temple came forward, reached out and stroked the top of Lu Jin's head, and said kindly, "Zhan Jin, although you have entered the mortal world, you have received my Buddhist teachings. There is no need to grieve so much."
Lu Jin had been crying so much that he was a little dazed. He looked up at the host and asked, "Did the master feel at peace when he passed away?"
The host nodded, his face as calm as still water, and said warmly, "Master Huijue's passing is not his physical death. He has already gone to the Pure Land. Your tears and pain here will disturb the soul of the deceased and prevent Master Huijue from going to the Pure Land."
Lu Jin wiped the tears from his face. He grew up in a temple and listened to Buddhist teachings a lot. He knew that Buddhist disciples were not allowed to cry when a senior monk passed away in the temple.
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