Chapter 8: The Secret of Xiao Ming'an, the County Magistrate of Qingyuan
Fangjue Temple is located on a hillside in the eastern suburbs of Yunzhou City. Once outside the city, the mountains are covered in greenery, and Fangjue Temple is hidden among the greenery.
Ninety-nine stone steps are nothing to those who are devoutly trying to climb the mountain to worship Buddha. Yunzhu and Xiao Ming'an arrived at the true entrance of the temple without much effort.
"Alright, sister-in-law, go ahead and do your own thing. I want to go to the Marriage Hall over there to pray to the Two Immortals of Harmony and Union to find me a good husband. I also want to feed the koi in the backyard later. You know, Fangjue Temple is very efficacious in our Yunzhou. That's where Guanyin Bodhisattva resides. Go and pray to Guanyin who grants children. Who knows, you might get something soon!"
Once inside the temple, Xiao Ming'an seemed unable to wait even a moment longer and wanted to part ways with Yunzhu.
Yunzhu calmly observed her sister-in-law's expression, knowing full well that she was hiding something from her, but deliberately did not go along with her wishes, saying, "But I also want to go and worship the Two Immortals of Harmony and Union."
"You?" Xiao Ming'an asked in surprise, "You and my brother have been married for two years, why are you still praying to the two immortals?"
"Of course, I pray for harmony between husband and wife, and for the long term to continue." Yunzhu said earnestly and seriously, "It's only been two years. I want it to last for twenty or thirty years. You said that the Bodhisattva here is very efficacious. Since I'm already here, I naturally want to go and see it."
"..." Xiao Ming'an never expected that he would end up shooting himself in the foot this time.
She looked at Yunzhu with a troubled expression, her face full of reluctance, not wanting her to go to the Hall of the Two Immortals of Harmony with her.
Yunzhu pretended not to see anything, took Xiao Ming'an's arm, and walked forward.
Fangjue Temple is located outside Yunzhou City and has a history of over a hundred years. Like Xiao Ming'an, many people in Yunzhou City believe in Fangjue Temple, considering it to be the most efficacious in Yunzhou. As a result, for over a hundred years, the incense at Fangjue Temple has been very prosperous, with people coming and going in a bustling atmosphere.
The two went up the mountain discreetly today, without bringing many guards, and they all hid in the shadows.
After paying respects to the two immortals of harmony, Xiao Ming'an couldn't wait any longer and pushed Yunzhu towards other palaces.
"You go ahead, I'm going to stroll around the koi pond in the back. We'll meet at the temple gate in half an hour!"
Her true intentions were not what they seemed, and her attempt to cover up her true feelings was so obvious that Yunzhu couldn't ignore it.
Yunzhu, wanting to tease Xiao Ming'an further, said, "I've been here several times, but I haven't fed the koi here yet. Why don't I go with you to see the koi first..."
"No!" Xiao Ming'an finally firmly refused Yunzhu.
“If you have something to ask of the Bodhisattva but don’t rush to worship, that’s not sincere. You can’t do that!” she said emphatically.
Alright, Yunzhu finally had no other excuse to follow Xiao Ming'an. She confirmed with her again and again: "Then we'll meet at the temple gate later. Remember, don't be too playful and waste half an hour."
"I know!" Having achieved his goal, Xiao Ming'an's expression changed faster than turning the pages of a book. He chatted and laughed with Yun Zhu, then turned and ran into the crowd, disappearing in a flash.
Helpless, Yunzhu gave Ayan a wink, and Ayan immediately followed.
—
Yunzhu knelt before Guanyin Bodhisattva for a long time.
Although the Western Regions also worship Bodhisattvas, the practice of venerating Bodhisattvas is prevalent in the form of processions, where Buddha statues are carried by carriages and horses through the city. Now that she has arrived in the Central Plains, she naturally must adapt to local customs and follow the rules of the Central Plains.
Yunzhu was not greedy. Before Guanyin Bodhisattva, she only prayed that she and Xiao Mingzhang could have a safe and healthy child. She didn't care whether it was a boy or a girl. As long as it was a child with Xiao Mingzhang, she would be satisfied.
She also made a vow to the Bodhisattva that if her wish could be fulfilled within a year, she would definitely come back again to sculpt a large golden statue for the Bodhisattva.
When she walked out of the Guanyin Hall, Ayan had not yet returned.
Yunzhu looked around the temple and decided to wander around on her own first.
This was not Yunzhu's first visit to Fangjue Temple. After all, she had been in Yunzhou for two years, and Ying had brought her here many times before.
Fangjue Temple is located halfway up the mountain, surrounded by bamboo forests on all sides. Except for the long stone steps at the entrance, you can see lush greenery from anywhere else in the temple.
It is now late September, and some places at the foot of the mountain have already shown signs of yellowing, but Fangjue Temple seems to be completely unaffected. The green bamboo and cypress trees are still lush and vibrant, remaining perfectly still.
As Yunzhu strolled through the temple, she pondered what Xiao Ming'an was really planning today.
In truth, Yunzhu really didn't want to get involved in Xiao Ming'an's affairs unless she had no other choice. However, Xiao Ming'an's behavior today was so abnormal that she had to be on guard, which is why she sent Ayan to check on the situation.
From childhood to adulthood, Yunzhu never harmed anyone, but she also wouldn't let anyone treat her like a fool and openly harm her.
Ayan was her dowry maid who came with her from the Western Regions, but she was also her most loyal guard, more trustworthy and reliable than anyone else.
Now that Ayan was not around, Yunzhu could only take her two other maids, Feihong and Chuilü, and first take a stroll around the koi pond.
Sure enough, Xiao Ming'an wasn't by the koi pond. She looked at the shimmering koi in the pond and asked someone to bring her a bag of fish food.
Fangjue Temple is very popular with worshippers, and even the koi in the pond are fed so much that they are plump and look very auspicious.
Yunzhu didn't feed them much, afraid that if they ate too much, they wouldn't be able to catch their breath.
Behind the koi pond is a temple pagoda, and beyond the pagoda are the meditation rooms where the monks live.
Yunzhu once stayed one night with Ying in a meditation room on the mountain. The meditation rooms prepared by the monks for pilgrims and their own meditation rooms were located on different sides, separated by a courtyard.
Yunzhu wanted to go over and take another look. Just as she circled around to the back of the pagoda, she saw a child squatting in the corner of the wall, holding a white steamed bun and eating it.
The child was not dressed well; his gray clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in ages, the cuffs were frayed, and his shoes were tattered. Only his face was clean, and as for the steamed buns he was holding...
Needless to say, Yunzhu knew where the steamed bun came from.
Upon seeing Yunzhu, the child immediately and cautiously hid the steamed bun behind his back.
He tried to run away, but Yunzhu called him back.
"Wait a minute!" She stepped forward and said, "I won't report you."
It's not the fault of a child of this age to be displaced, nor is it the fault of him to end up stealing food in a temple.
Although the child stopped in his tracks because of Yunzhu's call, his eyes were still full of wariness when he turned to face Yunzhu.
Yunzhu then bent down and asked him as gently as possible, "Are you a beggar or a young monk from this mountain?"
“I’m not a beggar!” Yunzhu’s question was inappropriate, and the child immediately retorted, “I’m not a monk from this mountain either!”
"Then why are you eating here?" Yunzhu asked again. "Where are your family?"
"I'm from Qingzhou." Seeing that Yunzhu really didn't intend to report him, the child pulled out a steamed bun from behind his back, took a hasty bite, and continued, "Qingzhou had a locust plague this year, and we had no food at home. So my parents sent me to Yunzhou to find my brother. My brother is a constable in the Yunzhou government office, working for Prince Huan. I've come to seek refuge with my brother and ask him for some money!"
"So that's how it is," Yunzhou suddenly realized.
She had been kept in the Prince's mansion by Madam Ying for a while and had not had much contact with the outside world, so she was unaware that Qingzhou was currently suffering from a locust plague.
If she remembered correctly, Qingzhou and Yunzhou were not close to each other, with more than a dozen counties of varying sizes in between, as well as the two large cities of Jizhou and Luozhou.
Qingzhou... must be the territory of Xiao Heng, the eldest son of the current emperor of the Central Plains and the Prince of Sui.
"So, Qingzhou has no grain left this year?" she asked with concern.
“There are still some wealthier places, but our family is gone,” the child said.
Yunzhu nodded. He had traveled alone from Qingzhou to Yunzhou. This child had had a tough journey. When she looked closely into his eyes, she could even see a hint of courage and determination in them.
She liked this brave and determined child, so she asked him, "You haven't entered the city yet, have you? Would you like to come with me? I have a carriage, and I happen to know how to get to the Yunzhou government office. What's your brother's name? I can help you find him."
"You...?" The child looked at Yunzhu suspiciously, remembering the instructions his parents had given him about human traffickers before he left home.
But perhaps it was because Yunzhu was too beautiful, dressed so luxuriously, and spoke so gently, except that her appearance was not so much like that of a person from the Central Plains... The child thought that the human trafficker could not be someone like her.
He nodded slightly and followed carefully behind Yunzhu.
Yunzhu asked him many questions along the way, including about the locust plague in Qingzhou and his experiences on his journey from Qingzhou.
The child's journey has not been pleasant. In previous years, autumn was the harvest season for the family, but this year the entire harvest was destroyed by locusts. Without a harvest, the family had nothing, and he has been living a life of hardship and sleeping outdoors ever since.
Yunzhu felt extremely sorry for his plight. Remembering that she and Xiao Ming'an had prepared some tea and snacks in their carriage, she asked someone to take the child down the mountain to the carriage so he could have something to eat.
She had arranged to meet Xiao Ming'an at the temple entrance, so she couldn't go down herself for the time being.
Seeing the child being led down the mountain, Yunzhu turned around and bumped into Ayan returning.
She was slightly surprised and asked Ayan, "How is it?"
Ayan opened her mouth, wanting to say something but holding back. Meeting Yunzhu's curious eyes, she looked around at the bustling scene at the temple entrance with extreme vigilance and difficulty, and chose to pull Yunzhu to a less crowded place first.
Yunzhu followed her.
When they finally arrived at a place that Ayan felt was safe, she let go of Yunzhu's hand and told her what she had just seen.
"Princess, the Princess of Qingyuan has come to the temple today to meet her lover!" Ayan said indignantly.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Here I am! Don't ask me why my schedule is always so weird, even I don't know... *sobs* But updating in the middle of the night is still updating, so isn't that a form of stable updates?! (With certainty!!!!) [Sunglasses][Sunglasses][Sunglasses]
—
The text's account of Buddhist worship practices in the Western Regions originates from the biography of Faxian.
The locust plague in Qingzhou is based on the severe drought of 1640 during the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, when Shandong suffered from both locust plagues and drought. However, there will be artistic embellishments; it will not be a direct historical depiction.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
