Chapter 43 Who remembers the spring breeze carrying the past, the flowers blooming again once more? ...
The sun shines brightly, and a gentle breeze blows. On the polo field by Jinming Pond, colorful flags flutter and the air is filled with the lively chatter of people.
A polo match between scions of a prominent family.
Feng Chen, dressed in light blue riding attire, looked young and wore a thin spring robe. He reined in his horse and leaned against the slanting bridge.
After the fierce battle, his temples were covered in a light sweat, and his clothes fluttered, revealing his youthful spirit.
Feng Chen leaped off his horse and took the water bag handed to him by his attendant. Just as his fingertips touched the opening of the bag, he suddenly paused, as an image of a young girl chanting sutras in the Great Buddha Hall inexplicably flashed through his mind.
What was she muttering to herself at that moment?
Human beings are born of love and desire, which gives rise to sorrow; from sorrow comes fear. If one is free from love, what sorrow or fear is there?
He unscrewed the water pouch, took a sip, and then closed it again, his movements unusually slow.
Since that day, he never went to see her again. Even when traveling in Bianjing, he would avoid the entrance of Huayun Pavilion whenever he had to pass by, and deliberately take a longer route.
Mu Hualin rode over and saw him standing there in a daze. She frowned and said, "What are you daydreaming about? The next match is about to start!"
Feng Chen looked back and suddenly said, "I'm not going on stage. You can go first."
Mu Hualin noticed that something was wrong with his expression, so she called out to the crowd, "You guys start the game, I'll be right back!" After saying that, she pulled Feng Chen aside and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? You look so pale."
Feng Chen opened the water pouch again and took a sip, his tone indistinct: "I've encountered some strange things recently, and I've also met a strange person."
"Oh? Tell me about it." Mu Hualin became interested.
Feng Chen opened his mouth, but then shook his head.
The girl's figure, the chanting of the mantra for untying knots, and my own absurd guess—all tangled together in my mind like a jumbled mess.
I don't know where this love began, but why does it grow so deep?
He changed the subject and asked, "Yuan Huang, before I recovered from my illness, did I know anyone besides you and Chao Guang?"
Mu Hualin was taken aback, then laughed and said, "You forgot? When you were a child, because of your special destiny, your family sent you to Wudang Mountain to cultivate. You had a serious illness during that time, so it's normal that you can't remember many things. You might suddenly remember them one day."
Upon hearing this, Feng Chen stopped asking questions. He rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling his thoughts were in turmoil and his head was getting more and more aches.
Unable to shake off his worries, Fengchen poured out his heart to the ball. Today, he was in exceptional form, dominating the course as if it were empty. With his club in hand, he exuded an aura of dominance. The colored balls seemed divinely aided by him, and his opponents suffered defeat after defeat, all looking disheveled. Cheers rose and fell from the sidelines, making him seem like a young general, full of vigor and pride.
The dull pain in my heart finally subsided a little.
As the sun set, Feng Chen rode off to bid him farewell, his figure gradually disappearing into the distance. In the twilight, only Mu Hualin remained standing silently, gazing at the setting sun in a daze.
A little over a month ago, he traveled to Jiangzhou. Remembering that Wen Shiqin was also there, he invited him to go with him. He later learned the whole story of how he lost his memory. Mu Hualin could have told him the truth about his amnesia, but Cen Wanting asked him to.
Cen Wanying discovered that the hairpin she had used to express her feelings, as well as all the gifts she had given to Wen Shiqin in the past, had been kept by him. She had a big fight with him and only then realized that Wen Shiqin had someone else in his heart.
Now, he has a new life, has lost all his memories, and is well-matched with Cen Wanying. Could there be a more blessed marriage than this?
She, a woman of such noble birth, actually humbled herself and knelt before him, saying, "With him, Wanying has no other desires in this life. Please grant me this one wish, cousin."
To get the one she loves, Mu Hualin kept it a secret from him. Could there be anything more absurd than this?
have.
Ever since Su Jinxiu listened to the sutra at the Daxiangguo Temple, she seemed to have gained some enlightenment from Zen. At that time, the incense smoke swirled around her, and the sutra entered her ears. She felt light and airy all over, as if she had cast aside worldly thoughts and was about to ascend to immortality.
From then on, she became obsessed with burning incense and worshipping Buddha, and even set aside a quiet room in Huayun Pavilion to enshrine the Buddha statue, where she would stay whenever she had free time.
That day, Ying Bumei sought her out for a discussion. Pushing open the door to the meditation room, he was immediately enveloped by the fragrance of sandalwood. Looking up, he saw Su Jinxiu kneeling on a prayer mat, holding prayer beads and chanting sutras with her eyes closed. He couldn't help but tease her, "Where did this little nun come from, actually coming to Huayun Pavilion to practice?" As he spoke, he reached out and touched her hair, "Tsk tsk, this isn't very sincere. Why don't you shave your head? Why are you practicing with your hair still on?"
"Tsk." Upon hearing this, Su Jinxiu frowned, looked up at him, and said with a hint of displeasure, "In front of Buddha, you should show some respect."
Ying Bumei squatted down beside her, his smile fading, and asked softly, "Without him, you're so heartbroken? You're even considering becoming a nun?"
“No, no.” Su Jinxiu raised her eyes, her gaze calm and undisturbed. “This relationship was fleeting for him, and for me it was just a brief moment in my life. My current worship of Buddha is not for this reason, but simply to find a place of faith to express my feelings.”
Such a statement is no different from saying nothing at all. If one could truly see through it and resolve it, why would one need to kowtow and beg the Buddha?
Ying Bumei curled her lips and stopped asking questions, saying only, "There is something I need to discuss with you today."
"A negotiation?" Su Jinxiu asked suspiciously. "Are you trying to set me up again?"
"If I ever bully you again, may I be struck by lightning!" Ying Bumei swore.
As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden clap of thunder sounded outside the window, and a torrential downpour began.
"hehe."
They had intended to keep each other company, but the weather was not cooperating, so the two simply leaned against the door and watched the rain.
Ying Bumei lightly waved his feather fan and suddenly said, "Now I am a Taoist priest and you are a nun, so we are quite a match."
"Amitabha, Amitabha!" Su Jinxiu seemed to have heard some blasphemous words and hurriedly recited two Buddhist chants as if she were avoiding a flood or a ferocious beast.
After Ying Bumei finished recounting his schemes, Su Jinxiu frowned and said, "I'm not sure I can pull it off."
"As long as you believe in me, that's enough."
Su Jinxiu scoffed, showing no mercy: "I certainly don't believe you for saying that."
Upon hearing this, he was not annoyed at all. Instead, he chuckled softly, stood up, and said, "Come with me to a place."
The two of them each held an umbrella and walked out. As they passed under the corridor, Su Jinxiu saw that the hollyhock buds were drooping pitifully from the rain, so she subconsciously stretched out her umbrella to cover them.
But then he moved the umbrella back and walked away silently.
Hollyhocks don't bloom until early summer, which inevitably reminds her of the time last summer solstice.
Ying Bumei led Su Jinxiu through a winding path, which she had initially thought was leading to some secret realm, but in the end they still entered a pavilion in Huayun Pavilion. Just as she was wondering what was going on, she pushed open the door and saw a red carpet rolled up beneath her feet, and above her eyes, a vermilion silk curtain hung in front of the door.
She looked at Ying Bumei in confusion, and he simply said, "From now on, you can trust me completely."
Su Jinxiu approached with some skepticism, and the moment she lifted the curtain, petals rained down from the sky. Looking up, she saw a group of embroiderers gathered in the pavilion, including old acquaintances from the embroidery alley. She didn't know why they were there, but the elaborate arrangements resembled the grand coming-of-age banquet of the county princess.
"I've brought you a phoenix crown that's even more magnificent than the county princess's."
After Ying Bumei finished speaking, he was about to put the Nine Phoenixes Facing the Sun and Pearl Crown on her head. Su Jinxiu felt that it was extremely precious and quickly dodged to the side.
Ying Bumei, however, refused to give an explanation: "Today is your birthday, so I gathered your friends to celebrate for you, but I didn't expect you to forget."
Su Jinxiu was taken aback upon hearing this. After thinking back carefully, she realized that she had stopped celebrating her birthday after her grandmother passed away in the modern era. After arriving here, she paid even less attention to it and had even forgotten that today was her big day.
How did you know?
Lan Shexiang, who was standing to the side, replied with a smile: "Qiaoniang, you mentioned it to me when we were chatting earlier."
Su Jinxiu stood there stunned, while Ying Bumei pulled her to perform a simple coming-of-age ceremony: "That day I saw you envying others who had a coming-of-age ceremony, so today I will make up for it for you."
Looking at Ying Bumei, and then at her relatives and friends, Su Jinxiu felt a lump in her throat and almost burst into tears.
Ying Bumei quickly covered her mouth: "It's bad luck to cry now. Wait until the ceremony is over before you cry."
She was already sobbing: "How can you do this... on my birthday... I can't even let myself cry..."
She insisted on crying, so she cried her heart out, crying so hard that her heart almost came out. Afterwards, she felt as if she had been cleansed of a deep poison, and her whole body felt relaxed.
She then enthusiastically led everyone in making hot pot, the aroma of the spicy beef tallow broth spreading for miles.
Since then, Su Jinxiu only goes to worship Buddha on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month as usual, no longer spending every day in the meditation room as before.
The same rain fell on the open-air stage of Mingyufang.
On stage, the Hu woman danced gracefully in the rain, her wet hair and skirt clinging to her body, adding a touch of wild allure, making her incredibly charming in the misty rain.
At the banquet, Fengchen drank one glass of wine after another, but a strange emptiness lingered in his heart.
It was as if something important, someone important, or a significant day had been forgotten, but no matter how hard he tried to recall, all he could find was a vague blank.
Mo Ci, a trusted servant bestowed upon him by General Feng, dismissed the dancing girls serving him and stepped forward to whisper a reminder: "Young master, it is not advisable to drink too much. You are about to take office as commander. If you are caught drinking and making merry here before you take office, and someone reports you, it will be a great loss."
Feng Chen glanced at him, then looked at the dancers on the stage, his voice slightly dazed: "What day is it today?"
Mo Ci was taken aback for a moment, then answered truthfully, "Young master, the seventh day of the fourth month is not a special day."
A note from the author:
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