During the imperial examination, all the temples and Taoist temples in the capital were extremely popular. Countless people went out of the city every day to burn incense and pray. Qian Xiuzhu also went to the temple to pay her respects. She was very greedy and wanted to ask for many things, but the head of the temple said that she was "cramming" at the last minute and it was not acceptable.
Qian Xiuzhu glanced at the head of the household and murmured softly, "What do you know? Our family has already been blessed with good fortune. We never prayed much before, so this time we'll just consider it a vow. I also want to go to the Taoist temple to pay homage to the Three Pure Ones."
She remembered the most difficult days in her previous life. She prayed to the gods and Buddhas every day, hoping that some passing god would hear her and show mercy.
Now she felt that she had achieved her wish.
Jiang Boliang thought of the strange things that happened to his wife and Miaomiao. He opened his mouth, but in the end, nothing came out. To be honest, until now, he still felt that this thing was not very real.
Qian Xiuzhu muttered to herself before the Buddha for a while before the couple boarded the carriage and headed home. On the way back, the sky, which had been gloomy for a long time, suddenly began to snow. Qian Xiuzhu was stunned and said with a worried look on her face, "How come it's snowing right after we worshipped the Buddha? Isn't it even colder for Erlang in the exam hall?"
Recalling the name of the temple, she decided not to burn incense and worship Buddha here anymore. She also realized that the money she had just added was not small, and she felt even more distressed, both for her second son's suffering and for the money she had spent.
"You're right. It's not good to cram at the last minute."
His daughter-in-law's affirmation did not alleviate Jiang Boliang's worries. His brows furrowed and then gradually smoothed out. Compared with his daughter-in-law, he had more confidence in his second son.
"Don't worry, Erlang is young and has plenty of Yang energy. Miaomiao also gave me a down shirt, saying it's very warm. I should be able to get through this."
Now that things have come to this, no matter how sad I am, there is nothing I can do. I might as well wait patiently.
The two of them sat in the carriage, talking in low voices, and from time to time they would lift the curtain to check the strength of the snow outside. For the umpteenth time, the coachman let out a loud "whoa" and the carriage stopped in a hurry. If Jiang Boliang hadn't held her, Qian Xiuzhu would have almost fallen headfirst.
After steadying his wife, the worry and anxiety in his heart turned into anger because of the sudden accident. He had always been kind to the servants in his family, but now his tone was filled with anger: "What happened outside?"
"Master, Madam, there is a young lady lying on the ground in front. I don't know whether she is dead or alive." The coachman's voice trembled slightly, and he was obviously very scared.
A woman lying on the ground not far away looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. She was dressed in linen clothes and lay motionless in the middle of the road. Her beautiful face could be vaguely seen.
Qian Xiuzhu looked outside and saw that there was indeed a person lying in the middle of the narrow road.
The light snow continued to fall, landing on the ground, on the weeds, on the bare branches and then quickly disappearing. The wind rustled the snow, and she turned her head away from Jiang Boliang with a feeling of pity: "Something must have happened in this girl's family. Do you want to..."
Halfway through her words, she remembered what Miaomiao had told her, and she calmed down in an instant, and the sympathy in her heart dissipated a lot.
"This girl looks pitiful, but it's not appropriate for our family to cause any more trouble right now." Jiang Boliang seemed to know what Qian Xiuzhu was thinking.
Qian Xiuzhu put down her hand, closed her eyes, and hardened her heart, as if to convince herself, "Just pretend you didn't see it. There are so many pilgrims in the temple. I think someone will notice this girl after we leave."
At this time, the groom's voice came from outside again, "Master, Madam, the woman moved a little, she must have woken up, do you need..."
Jiang Boliang interrupted him: "No need! Hurry home and don't stay any longer."
The groom found it strange. The Jiang family couple were extremely kind to their servants, and they rarely got angry with each other. But now they were acting a little strangely. What was going on?
Thinking this in his mind, he didn't dare ask more questions and rode his horse forward again.
When he passed by the woman, he heard a very faint cry for help, "Save me - please..."
Jiang Boliang and Qian Xiuzhu also heard the voice. They looked at each other and said nothing more.
They had seen a lot of misery on the road to escape famine, and had seen many people dying without helping. Apart from the discomfort at the moment, they felt relieved after going through that period of journey.
Qian Xiuzhu clasped her hands together again and muttered to herself for a long time. Jiang Boliang listened carefully and prayed to all the gods and Buddhas, asking them to forgive her sins.
Unable to bear letting his wife think too much, he came up with a quick wit, "Wife, don't be afraid. The girl's appearance is strange. Maybe our inaction is also the guidance of the gods and Buddhas."
Qian Xiuzhu thought about it for a moment, slapped her thigh, and agreed with it.
She glanced at the head of the household and said, "You are just trying to use the Buddha and Bodhisattva as an excuse."
Jiang Boliang smiled innocently and said, "Hehe, I've also read books and can read. I don't know what tricks that person has, but I can still tell if there are any tricks."
After the carriage had gone away, the woman who was left on the roadside slowly stood up, her eyes quietly looking at the back of the carriage in the distance, her eyes full of complexities. She struggled to get up from the ground, stood up slowly, gathered her thin clothes, and limped in the direction the carriage had left.
Her body was trembling in the wind and snow, and she didn't know if it was because of the cold or for some other reason.
After walking in the wind and snow for an unknown amount of time, the woman arrived at a bamboo forest with ease. She stopped in front of a small courtyard deep in the forest, pushed the door open and walked in.
The room seemed even colder than outside, but she didn't care. After lighting the charcoal fire and warming herself up a little, she carefully tried to check the injury on her leg, but found that the flesh and cloth at her knee had already stuck together.
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