Chapter 7 The rumors...are true!
The top floor of Feiyun Pavilion.
Yun Ji sat cross-legged with one hand placed on his chest, reciting scriptures, but his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and it seemed as if there was a fire burning in his body.
He had been feeling inexplicably hot since nightfall, and the more he drank, the thirstier he became.
He felt his pulse and found nothing unusual, just...blood surging.
Even if he consciously suppressed it, the image of Su Rui would still appear in his mind uncontrollably.
It's like a wild beast in a cage, hitting the cage again and again, trying to break free from all shackles.
"When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, he saw that the five aggregates are empty and was able to transcend all suffering. Shariputra, form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form, form is emptiness, emptiness is…"
"Jiangnan is beautiful, the scenery is familiar to me. At sunrise, the flowers on the river are redder than fire, and in spring, the river water is as green as blue ~ ah ~ ha ~ ah ~"
Yun Ji had not yet finished reciting the Heart Sutra when the sound of a melodious tune floated in from outside the window.
It was Su Rui's voice.
Instinct was faster than reason, Yun Ji turned his head and looked out through the gap in the window.
Su Rui was still wearing the same white dress, sitting on a small boat in the canal outside the pavilion, with a pair of white legs sticking out of the water, creating ripples.
As if she had noticed his gaze, she looked up and sang with a smile: "How could I not miss Jiangnan?"
The melodious and enchanting ending tone was like a bucket of oil poured on the fire that Yun Ji had suppressed. Suddenly, the flames raged and the cage seemed to be knocked open two inches.
Yun Ji gritted his teeth and waved his hand to close the window.
On the boat, Su Rui's little tune did not stop.
They sang one song after another, from Jiangnan folk songs to northern folk songs.
The monk guarding the pavilion's ears turned red from her singing, but there was nothing he could do about her.
She came here on the emperor's orders and did not break into Feiyun Pavilion. There was no meditation room here that required quietness at night, so she could sing whatever she wanted on the boat.
"Look at her wanton look, singing all kinds of obscene songs and lyrics. She actually thinks she can seduce people by singing. She must be mentally ill." Zhao Enen rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Stop talking, be careful not to let her hear you, your mouth is still swollen." The person next to him reminded in a low voice.
Zhao Enen gets angry when she talks about this mouth, and it still hurts now.
If today wasn't the second day, she wouldn't have seen Yun Ji yet, and she wouldn't have come here to wait like this.
If they didn’t see him, then they didn’t see him. Anyway, most people who came here couldn’t see Yun Ji.
But Su Rui saw it.
Not only did he climb into Feiyun Pavilion and see someone as soon as he arrived last night, but the time he was not in the room this morning was exactly when Yun Ji was giving a lecture. Now he looks so confident of victory, which makes people very angry.
It was fine that I couldn't beat her before, but now that she has fallen to the bottom of the mud, why should I be suppressed by her!
"I heard it, so I heard it. Why should I be afraid of a lowly slave like her!" Zhao Enen rushed to the canal and picked up a bamboo pole on the ground and poked the boat hard.
Su Rui's attention was always on the top floor of Feiyun Pavilion. She didn't see Zhao Enen rushing towards her. She was caught off guard and the boat shook violently, causing her to lose balance and fall into the water.
"Hahaha, someone has become a drowned rat." Zhao Enen clapped her hands and cheered.
She floated up from the water, with her black hair hanging down, tightly covering her face, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed. In the moonlight, she looked like a ghost in the water.
Zhao Enen was so frightened that her heart skipped a beat. She held on but didn't take a step back. She pretended to be calm and said, "What are you looking at me for? You fell down because you didn't sit firmly. Get up quickly, or you'll catch a cold and won't be able to sing."
"Oh, I forgot, you're wearing a white dress. It's soaked through, right? If you take it off, everything will be visible."
"But it's okay. You've been at the border for so many years, you must have been naked countless times. This time won't make a difference. You want to seduce people anyway, and this is more direct. So, people who have been slaves are different. If it were us, we would be too embarrassed."
The more Zhao Enen spoke, the more proud she became, and she didn't notice the changes underwater at all.
"You must have learned those little songs when you were a slave, using them to curry favor with people. They're even better than those on the Qinhuai River...ah!"
Su Rui suddenly reached out from the water and grabbed her feet. Zhao Enen was so scared that her voice changed.
Before she could kick her away, Su Rui grabbed her and pulled her down.
Zhao Enen was no match for Su Rui in strength, and in her panic, not only could she not break free, she also slipped and fell.
Before she fell into the water, Su Rui raised her hand and threw Zhao Enen's coat onto the boat, and with her other hand, she pulled Zhao Enen into the water and pulled her down.
Zhao Enen instinctively wanted to float up to ask for help, but every time she floated up, Su Rui pushed her down as soon as she opened her mouth. After several attempts, she drank a belly full of water.
The other women rushed over, but when they saw Su Rui's fierce eyes, they were afraid and dared not move forward.
The monks were unable to help and could only use bamboo poles to help.
But Su Rui had positioned them just short of the bamboo pole. Zhao Enen could see the pole was very close, but she couldn't catch it no matter how hard she waved.
The despair of hope being right in front of her but out of reach made Zhao Enen panic to the extreme.
Su Rui was like a ghost behind her, whispering in her ear with a smile: "What should I do? You are going to die."
Zhao Enen turned around in horror and met Su Rui's sinister eyes. She was so scared that her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
It's really scary.
Letting go of Zhao Enen and letting her be pulled away by the bamboo pole, Su Rui swam back to the boat by herself. While the people on the shore were busy rescuing people, she jumped onto the boat, put on Zhao Enen's dry coat, and took off her wet dress.
He continued to sit at the bow and sing as if nothing had happened.
But the way others looked at her changed.
No one dared to say another word, fearing that they would be the next one to drown.
Just like that, Su Rui sang until dawn.
He sang until his voice was hoarse, but there was no movement in Feiyun Pavilion.
The others looked at each other, thinking that they had waited for another night in vain.
Today is the third day, and they have to leave Fahua Temple at noon. Just like those who came before them, they returned empty-handed.
Just as he was lamenting the shattered dream of soaring to the top of the country, the door of Feiyun Pavilion suddenly opened.
Yun Ji came out with Buddhist beads hanging in his hand, his eyes fixed on the direction of the canal, and walked step by step through the crowd.
Seeing someone coming, Su Rui stood up from the bow of the boat and stretched out her hand towards Yun Ji with a smile.
Just when everyone was puzzled, Yun Ji actually reached out his hand.
Not to mention the women who came with Su Rui, even the great monks in Fahua Temple stared with their eyes wide open.
Over the years, Yun Ji has never been close to women. Even when female donors came to burn incense, he would just stand far away and rarely speak. Not to mention that most of the female donors who came to serve him had never seen Yun Ji's face.
In the past six months, only a handful of people have touched the corner of Yun Ji's clothes, and the only one he has looked at directly is Su Rui.
This was already an exception, but she didn't expect Yun Ji to take the initiative to reach out to her.
Could it be that that ridiculous rumor... is true!
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