Chapter 77: What exactly is love?
Fenyin Temple is quite famous in Yandu. There are many eminent monks in the temple and the sound of Buddhist music is lingering in the air.
It is located among the green pines and cypresses to the west of Yandu City. The vermilion lacquered mountain gate has been stained by incense over the years, exuding a warm and ancient charm.
A gold-plated plaque hangs above the door lintel, with the three characters "Fenyin Temple" written in vigorous strokes. It is said that it was written by Zhiguang, an eminent monk of the previous dynasty, using cinnabar mixed with morning dew. Whenever it rains, faint Sanskrit characters appear between the strokes.
The halls in the temple are arranged layer by layer, with copper bells hanging under the eaves. The bells tinkle when the mountain breeze blows past, interweaving with the chanting of the "Nirvana Mantra" coming from the hall, making you feel as if you are out of this world.
At three quarters past noon, a red lacquered sedan chair stopped in front of the temple.
Xiyan was wearing a moon-white long skirt with a lotus pattern and a palace belt of the same color tied around her waist. The hanging tassels swayed slightly with her steps.
She took a half step forward respectfully and lifted the curtain of the sedan chair with her bare hands:
"Mrs. Dowager, we've arrived at Fenyin Temple!"
"good!"
There was a soft response from inside the sedan, and then Xiao Nanyue's mother, Su Xianrou, holding Xiyan's hand, slowly walked out of the warm sedan.
Today, she was wearing a dark green cloak with dark patterns, her black hair was loosely tied into a bun with a sandalwood hairpin inserted diagonally, and a few strands of hair hung by her ears, making her face look as pale as porcelain.
Although she is nearly forty years old, the charm of her youth still remains in her eyebrows and eyes, but there is a hint of sadness in her eyes, as if it has been stained by time and will never be erased.
"Ye Ren, you take the guards and wait outside the mountain gate. I will accompany the Concubine Dowager in."
Xiyan turned around and gave instructions, and Ye Ren agreed. Behind him, more than a dozen black-clad guards stood guard beside the sedan.
Su Xianrou walked up the bluestone steps, followed closely by Xiyan and the concubine's two maids, Chaolu and Ningshuang, holding incense and candles.
The main hall was filled with the scent of sandalwood, and in the copper censer in front of the Eighteen Arhats statues, the smell of sandalwood mixed with pine smoke curled up.
The concubine took the three incense sticks handed to her by Xiyan, gently leaned over to the gilded Buddha statue, and then knelt on the cushion and prayed silently.
Master Huijue had been waiting at the side door. He was wearing a gray monk's robe today, with a string of bodhi seeds hanging around his neck, and had a kind face.
Seeing the concubine turn around, Huijue clasped his hands together and bowed:
"Mrs. Dowager Consort, the side hall is ready. Please follow me."
Su Xianrou nodded and inserted the incense and candle in her hand into the candlestick. The four masters and servants followed Master Huijue into the side hall.
The side hall was brightly lit with candles. In the center was a three-tiered lotus platform, on which was enshrined the tablet of the old prince Xiao Beicheng. Twenty-four glazed lamps were placed on both sides, and the wicks swayed gently in the scented oil, reflecting the golden light of the mantra of rebirth painted on the walls.
The concubine took off her cloak, revealing the gray monk's robe underneath, and knelt on the thin mat.
As soon as Master Huijue chanted the Buddha's name, the sound of the novice monks chanting scriptures in unison was immediately heard in the hall.
"Xiyan, you guys wait outside the palace, you don't have to accompany me."
The toffee didn't even turn her head, and there was a hint of silence in her voice.
Xiyan agreed, took the cloak from the concubine, and retreated to the palace door with morning dew and frost.
Through the carved wooden door, one can still hear the words from the scripture, "May the deceased be reborn in paradise," mixed with the sound of a wooden fish.
Xiyan looked at the copper bells on the eaves swaying in the wind, and suddenly remembered that at this time last year, there was a talisman embroidered by the concubine herself in front of the old prince's tablet. She just glanced at it and saw that the silk thread on the talisman had faded a little.
It seems that no matter how good the texture is, it can't withstand the wear and tear of time. Can the word love break the laws of this world and remain unchanged forever?
She suddenly felt a little confused. What exactly was love? Why could this once stunning and most beautiful woman in Yandu still be obsessed with him even after the old prince had been gone for eight years?
Xiyan sighed softly. At least, she couldn't understand it, nor did she want to understand it.
…
The wind in April is usually warm, but now it carries a chill as it blows through the copper bells in the corner of the temple, and the jingling sounds carry a hint of solemnity.
Xiyan looked at the rolling leaden clouds in the sky and realized that the weather seemed to be changing. She remembered that the concubine in the palace was wearing thin clothes and was afraid that she might catch a cold, so she warned Chaolu and Ninglu:
"You stay here, I'll take the clothes to the concubine and come out."
After saying that, she lifted her skirt and turned to walk into the side hall.
The candlelight in the hall was flickering in the draft, and the twenty-four glass lamps cast swaying light and shadows on the wall, making the flying sleeves of the flying fairy in the painting of the Rebirth Mantra seem to be moving.
The eight novice monks continued chanting with their eyes closed, the wooden fish beating rhythmically. Even her entrance didn't bother them in the slightest, their eyelids still fixed, their minds absorbed in the Buddhist ritual.
Xiyan's eyes swept across the empty kneeling mat in front of the Buddha statue, and she was startled:
Just now, the concubine was clearly kneeling in front of the Buddha statue, and she was not seen coming out of the temple gate. Where did she go?
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