Chapter 225 The Audacious Senior Brother
Xie Lingjiang, dressed in red, walked along a small path and passed through a plum blossom grove.
She pushed open a small door and walked into a quiet, empty courtyard.
This road is the forest path behind Meiyingzhai, where Guo'er lives.
Xie Lingjiang looked dazed, somewhat forgetting what Li Xian, Wei Mei, Li Guo'er, and others had said or instructed her before she left the Su residence.
In my field of vision, the swing under the grape trellis in the yard seems to be swaying back and forth. Strangely, why are the white clouds in the sky and the light and shadow of the grape trellis on the ground also swaying?
Xie Lingjiang's eyes were glazed over. She lowered her head and used the key, which had been warmed in her palm, to try twice before she could align it with the keyhole.
With a "click".
The door was pushed open.
The sunlight that followed Xie Lingjiang into the house illuminated every speck of dust in the air in front of her.
A faint scent of old clothes lingered in the air.
Dressed in red, with her hands at her sides, she entered the house alone.
The countless dust particles in the sunlight seemed to be squeezed and swirled around restlessly by the visitors who entered the room.
Xie Lingjiang walked to the octagonal table directly in front of her.
A fair, white hand emerges from beneath the red sleeve.
The right palm, with its fingers bent, slowly stroked the familiar and unfamiliar objects on the table:
Official seal and ribbon.
Two light green official robes of the seventh rank.
Jade target white sandalwood skirt knife.
A wax-sealed letter bearing a sealing wax stamp.
There was also a pot of clivia and a water ladle placed with its lid turned upside down.
Xie Lingjiang held her fingertips in the air and slowly stroked the things her senior brother had "left" for her.
The sunlight streaming in from outside barely managed to reach Xie Lingjiang's slender waist, which was clad in red, and just enough to illuminate the relics on the octagonal table.
She lowered her head.
I stood in the sunlight for a while.
The palm landed last.
He picked up the envelope first.
Xie Lingjiang silently tore off the sealing wax stamp, took out a folded piece of letter paper, and unfolded the four corners.
She lowered her head, brought it closer to the sunlight, and looked at it.
The familiar, elegant font came into view.
But he was telling Xie Lingjiang something that felt completely foreign at that moment.
Perhaps it was because she was sitting motionless at the table.
Some of the dust that had been dancing in the sunlight inside the room gradually settled down, and the air was like a newly fired porcelain vase that was slowly solidifying.
At a certain moment, Xie Lingjiang put down the letter.
He turned to gaze at the clivia swaying gently on the table, lost in thought.
A moment later, he picked up the letter again.
He lowered his head and read silently.
This time, I don't know how much time has passed.
The sun slowly began to set in the west.
The sunlight streaming in from outside the door slowly slid down from her waist to the knees of her long, straight legs.
Xie Lingjiang suddenly folded the letter in half, quickly put it in her bosom, and turned to leave without looking back.
She went to an empty swing in the yard and sat down with her head down.
In the quiet courtyard, a woman in red swayed gently on a swing.
The swing is under the grape trellis.
The plump grapes on the vines had long been picked clean by a senior disciple and sent to Yilanxuan.
Only one swing remained.
Xie Lingjiang had always wanted to play on a swing.
But I can't bring myself to do it every time; I'm too thin-skinned.
She remembers that when she was a child, her family lived in a quiet courtyard in the mountains, not the grand and luxurious ancestral home in Wuyi Lane, Nanjing.
Although he was a member of the Xie family of Chenjun, his father had always disliked noise and refused the new dynasty's offer of an official position. He then spent a long period of time living in seclusion in the mountains.
Xie Lingjiang clearly remembers that in the mountain courtyard where she grew up and studied, there was also a grape trellis, and under the trellis was a swing left by her predecessors.
This was one of the few joys she found during her childhood when she was buried in her studies.
Oh, and there are also the lovely grapes on the trellis. Xie Lingjiang loves them very much. Every year she stands on tiptoe and eagerly looks forward to the grape ripening season. After spring, summer, autumn and winter, the girl grows taller and taller.
Later, however, her mother, who was stricter than her father, felt that spending all day swinging on the swing was not a proper way to do things and would affect her studies, which was not the behavior of a refined and elegant lady like Xie.
So they had the swing removed and the grapevines on the wooden frame cut down, so that she could study diligently and not get distracted.
She certainly cried, but Xie Lingjiang did live up to expectations. At a young age, she was promoted to a Confucian lady, and now, before she is even twenty, she has gone even further and been promoted to the seventh rank.
However, the cut-down grapevines and swing in her memory became one of the few regrets of Xie Lingjiang's childhood.
But as she grew up, even though her mother had passed away and her father was not strict, he understood and respected her as his only daughter.
But after she grew up and gained her freedom, she never swung on a swing again.
As for grapes, they are still her favorite fruit, but she has been busy reading and cultivating herself throughout the year and has eaten them less often. At most, she will mention them casually when others ask her what she likes to eat.
Xie Lingjiang had mentioned these things occasionally when chatting with her senior brother.
At the time, the eldest brother didn't say anything and quickly changed the subject. Xie Lingjiang thought he was just not interested.
Besides, during the daytime of that period, they were busy outwitting and outmaneuvering the Liu family, so she paid no attention.
A few days ago, Xie Lingjiang returned from Gezao Mountain and suddenly found an empty swing under the grape trellis in his yard, swaying in the wind, which made Xie Lingjiang's heart sway along with it.
But Xie Lingjiang was too proud to play, so she pouted and asked the senior brother on the swing if he was being childish, rejecting his smiling invitation with a straight face.
The main reason is that she couldn't let go of the pride and dignity of a noble lady from the Xie family.
What a joke! She's all grown up and still swinging on a swing? She's a Confucian lady, dignified and self-disciplined.
Besides, a swing is a rather large swing, and one of the more upright senior brothers has a history of having rather dishonest eyes—it's all written in his little notebook—so Xie Lingjiang was naturally too embarrassed to sit on it and swing around...
On the swing under the grape trellis, a woman in red gradually stopped and took out a letter from her bosom.
He looked down and examined it closely.
With a light touch of the toes, the swing continued to sway.
But the next second, the woman swinging on the swing suddenly received the message and spoke to the empty courtyard directly in front of her, calling out her full name:
"Resign and go into seclusion? Ouyang Lianghan, how dare you! You didn't even wait for me to come back to discuss it with you. Ouyang Lianghan, you...you want a beating?"
In an instant, a figure in red flew off the swing and rushed into the house.
She grabbed the skirt knife, tucked it into her slender waist, and strode out the door.
Xie Lingjiang didn't even glance at the items on the table that hinted at her resignation, such as the official seal and robes, or the orchid water ladle that hinted at her watering the flowers.
She gripped the jade hilt of the sword tightly and walked out of the Deer Garden without saying a word.
Xie Lingjiang went to the government office first and questioned the officials, including County Magistrate Diao and Yan Liulang, whom Ouyang Rong had contacted before he left, and gathered information and clues.
She needed to know where her senior brother, who had resigned from his official post and gone into seclusion, was!
Is he going to honestly return to his hometown in Nanlong, or is this just a smokescreen to avoid her searching?
Xie Lingjiang's lips were pressed tightly together.
She ran around the county town, searching everywhere, asking around all afternoon, but the answers she got were all surprisingly consistent:
My eldest brother has taken leave and gone back to his hometown.
No one Xie Lingjiang came into contact with knew that Ouyang Rong had decided to resign, and she did not reveal this matter.
At this moment, as dusk fell, Xie Lingjiang, supporting himself with his sword, walked out of the county government gate, muttering to himself:
"You really went back to Nanlong? Don't think I wouldn't dare to go look for you..."
After frowning and pondering for a moment, she suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with realization, and turned back to the Deer Park.
"Oh right, and Liu Ashan too! He's usually closest to the senior brother, and he just happened to take leave."
Xie Lingjiang rushed back to Meiluyuan and found Aqing's family who had stayed at the house.
"What? You mean your brother also went out on business, and it was on the same day that your eldest brother took leave to go back to his hometown in Nanlong?"
"Hmm, is Sister Xie looking for Master? I think Brother might have gone back with Master." Ah Qing raised her bright, intelligent eyes and whispered her guess.
Xie Lingjiang didn't answer immediately. She glanced at the pretty girl and forced a smile.
She turned her head and walked out of Aqing's house, her brows still slightly furrowed.
"My senior brother asked me to help him submit his official seal and robes... to resign from his post, saying he wanted to retire. But why did he take Ashan away from Longcheng County? Ashan has a family and a fiancée. Does he mean he'll retire to the countryside with him? That doesn't make sense..."
As Xie Lingjiang frowned in deep thought, her footsteps, as was her habit, unconsciously turned towards the plum grove courtyard.
Night fell.
Silently walking to the outside of the Meilin courtyard wall, Xie Lingjiang turned around, preparing to rush to Penglangdu to take a boat that night, but the next second, she suddenly turned her head.
The faint sound of watering could be heard coming from inside the yard.
"Senior Brother is back?!"
Xie Lingjiang rushed into the courtyard, but what she saw was a slender figure in purple, and her face immediately fell in disappointment.
"What are you doing here, little sister?" Xie Lingjiang asked sternly, her face serious.
Inside the room, Li Guo'er was sitting at the octagonal table, one hand supporting her chin and the other holding a water ladle tilted to one side.
A trickle of water fell from the ladle and seeped into the soil of the orchid pot.
“Obviously, watering the flowers.” Li Guo’er nodded.
Xie Lingjiang hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
Li Guo'er lowered her head to examine the clivia, her pink lips parting slightly at the same time:
"Don't worry, I didn't touch anything except water the flowers. Sister Xie, you don't need to worry."
Xie Lingjiang, who had been busy all afternoon without achieving anything, slumped her shoulders slightly, silently walked to the swing, sat down, dangled her feet in the air, and lightly kicked them back.
Li Guo'er turned her head and looked at the tired and forlorn woman dressed as a man in the courtyard, her pretty face full of curiosity:
"Doesn't Sister Xie never play on swings?"
Xie Lingjiang didn't answer, but lowered her head to grab the rope and swung her legs.
Li Guo'er paused, her gaze quickly sweeping over a breathtakingly beautiful scene that rippled like water, then nodded and said:
"No wonder Sister Xie never used to play on the swings. The scenery there is truly exceptional, enough to make other women feel ashamed."
Xie Lingjiang's face remained expressionless, making Li Guo'er's joke seem rather awkward.
Li Guo'er, dressed in a purple Taoist robe, chuckled lightly, not paying any attention.
She turned her head and glanced at the official seal, official robes, sashes, and other items on the table, then nodded and asked:
"Is Ouyang Lianghan resigning from his official post?"
"Can I be quiet for a moment?"
Li Guo'er nodded slightly and arranged the flowerpots.
She stood up slenderly, wiped her hands with a handkerchief, went out and left, muttering to herself:
"He really resigned from his official post? It seems he went there. Hmm, that's a bit unexpected. Do Confucian scholars still believe in this? It seems Ouyang Lianghan has a deep understanding of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. He's quite the hidden talent."
Xie Lingjiang perked up her ears and suddenly raised her head: "What did you say!"
Li Guo'er shook her head: "It's nothing. Sister Xie, please continue swinging. I'll be going now."
"You...you don't go. I'll say it again, do you know where our eldest brother went? He didn't go back to our hometown of Nanlong. Did he go somewhere else?"
Xie Lingjiang grabbed Li Guo'er's sleeve and asked a series of questions anxiously.
Li Guo'er didn't answer immediately, but tilted her head slightly to look at her and asked:
"Why is Sister Xie so eager to find him? He must have left a letter saying that it was his personal choice. Why is Sister Xie so reluctant to let him go?"
"I……"
Xie Lingjiang's pretty face flushed red, she stammered for a moment, then quickly nodded and decisively said:
"It's not that I'm reluctant to part with him, I just want to... I want to beat him up! He's so young, yet he resigned from his official post and went into seclusion without saying goodbye. He's so heartless. How can he face his family and teachers? Yes, I want to teach him a lesson on behalf of Aunt Zhen and my father!"
"Oh, really?" Li Guo'er squinted.
"Stop keeping me in suspense, just tell me!"
Li Guo'er pulled her sleeve away from her hand and said directly, "They must have gone to Donglin Temple, a place called Jingtu Palace."
How did you know?
Li Guo'er silently took out a book from her sleeve:
"I found this by chance while browsing his bookshelf. This Buddhist scripture records the story of Master Zhongma of Donglin Temple becoming a Buddha in his physical body and ascending to the Pure Land of Lotus Flower."
"He folded up the relevant pages, and there were also some bookmarks and annotations. Hmm, he is indeed a proper scholar. He even takes beautiful notes while reading Buddhist scriptures."
Her long, black hair was gathered up by a jade lotus crown that exceeded all regulations. She nodded slightly, expressing her approval of Ouyang Rong's upright character.
"The same is true of the other related Buddhist scriptures. I suppose he has been reading them frequently during this period and is very concerned about this matter, having searched through all the available documents."
"Donglin Temple? Master Zhongma? Ascension...to the Pure Land?"
Xie Lingjiang murmured, not even paying attention to Li Guo'er's intrusion into his senior brother's room and rummaging through his bookshelf, or rather, temporarily ignoring it for the time being.
She immediately took the rare book, bent down to read it, and after a moment, she stomped her feet in anger, spun around in place, and said urgently:
"How could Senior Brother believe in this stuff? Why didn't you tell me? You should have told me sooner."
"Does he still believe in Buddhism? Wait a minute, no wonder when I met him at Donglin Temple, his study was filled with Buddhist scriptures. Did he start paying attention to these things back then? And he often went to Donglin Temple..."
"But the idea of becoming a Buddha in the flesh and ascending to the Pure Land is completely unreliable and is likely a misunderstanding. My father mentioned this to me when we talked about it."
“This Master Zhongma is no ordinary person. He was probably a Qi cultivator of the Lotus Sect at Donglin Temple back then, with extraordinary cultivation. That is why the so-called miracle of his body remaining intact after death could be seen. The speculation that he ascended to the Pure Land is unreliable.”
"There is no such thing as a pure land or fairyland in this world. Only those charlatans and sorcerers who follow crooked paths believe in fairylands and immortality!"
"My father also analyzed that the lineage of Qi practitioners in Donglin Temple has been severed, and the recent abbots have no Qi cultivation. This may be related to the disappearance and death of Master Zhongma and his group of Qi practitioners back then! There has been a break in the lineage."
"What's ridiculous is that the monks of Donglin Temple today have mistakenly believed that the patriarch had attained Buddhahood in his physical body and ascended to the Pure Land, and they are spreading this story widely!"
Xie Ling and Jiang Yin almost ground their teeth to powder; that person really deserved a beating.
"How could Senior Brother believe this so easily? How could a mere mortal who hasn't even cultivated Qi ascend to immortality? Wait, two days have passed, where is he now? Is he still staying at Donglin Temple?"
After saying that, she left Li Guo'er behind, rushed out of the courtyard gate in her red dress, and left the Plum Deer Garden.
Xie Lingjiang left the city overnight, climbed the mountain under the stars, and hurriedly arrived at Donglin Temple before dawn.
Before she could catch her breath, she declined the welcoming monks and headed straight for the Compassionate Relief Home.
At the entrance of the Beitian Charity Home, a monk was yawning and sweeping the ground in the morning when he saw a woman in red rushing past him like the wind. He froze, and the fallen leaves he had swept up were scattered all over the ground again...
Above her head, a ray of light broke through the dark gray dawn sky, shining brightly.
There's another chapter coming at midnight. It's not stuck here, so don't wait any longer, bro. You probably won't be able to wait until Xiao Rong finishes. Read it tomorrow...or2
(End of this chapter)
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