When Yang Ning heard the words "Huainan King", he was slightly shocked and asked: "Have you ever served the Huainan King?"
Zhenbi said: "I stayed in the Huainan Prince's Mansion for two years. In fact, I mainly served the Prince of Huainan."
"The Crown Prince of Huainan?" Yang Ning asked curiously: "Since you are the imperial chef, how come you went to the Huainan Prince's Mansion? Now that you have arrived at the Huainan Prince's Mansion, why did you come to the Daguangming Temple?"
There was a look of sadness on Makabe's face, and he sighed: "If it weren't for the master, I'm afraid I would have died long ago."
"master?"
Young monk Zhenming knew that Yang Ning didn't know many things in the temple, so he explained: "Brother Zhenbi is a disciple of Uncle Jingshan. Uncle Jingshan is in charge of the purchasing of Wuguantang and various warehouses in the temple."
"That's it." Yang Ning said: "Brother Mabi, you said that you would have died long ago before entering the Daguangming Temple. Where do you start talking about this?"
Makabe said: "Junior brother Qi doesn't know. I was originally working as a servant in the imperial kitchen in the palace, and I am quite talented in cooking. The master chef in the imperial kitchen thought that I was quite talented, so he taught me personally and took great care of me. . I remember that time when the Holy One gave a banquet in the palace, I made a Qunfang Zhai, which was all vegetarian. After the King of Huainan tasted it, he said that I made it well and insisted on seeing me."
"I understand." Yang Ning said: "The King of Huainan must have thought that you were a good cook, so he asked the Holy One to send you there."
"Junior brother Qi is indeed smart." Makabe sighed: "I'm not bragging. If I had stayed in the palace, I wouldn't be what I am today. Even if I wasn't the master of the imperial kitchen, I would at least be the second master. The King of Huainan greatly praised my craftsmanship. , His Majesty could tell his thoughts at a glance, and before he could speak, he asked me to go to the Huainan Prince's Mansion as an errand, and I... I naturally can't resist the order."
Yang Ning nodded slightly.
The emperor had been appeasing the king of Huainan, and was very kind to the king of Huainan. In the eyes of the emperor, there was no difference between a cook in the imperial kitchen and a fly. Since the king of Huainan liked him, it was only a matter of words to send him away. .
"When we arrived at the Huainan Prince's Mansion, there were many people in the kitchen of the Prince's Mansion." Mabi said: "Although I am the royal cook in the palace, when I arrived at the Prince's Mansion, I was the junior...!" He showed an angry look: "Those guys don't like me. They always found fault with me, and I didn’t know until that time that the King of Huainan liked me precisely because I was good at vegetarian dishes. The prince in the palace only eats vegetarian food three times a day, without any trace of meat."
Yang Ning asked curiously: "The dignified prince of Huainan, with rich clothes and fine food, does not touch the smell of meat?"
Makabe lowered his voice and said: "I didn't understand it at first, but later I found out that the prince might have been entangled with dirty things. In order to seek blessings from the Buddha and get rid of the evil spirits on his body, he began to eat vegetarian food since he was a child. I am good at vegetarian food, so King Huainan let me enter the palace and be responsible for three meals a day for the prince."
"Haunted by ghosts?" Yang Ning said with a smile: "How is this possible? Not to mention whether there are ghosts in the world, even if there are ghosts, where is the palace? They are royal relatives and nobles, and the palace has its own royal aura. No evil spirit dares to enter."
"That's what they say, but it's true." Makabe gestured and said softly: "I have seen with my own eyes that Prince Huainan is sometimes possessed by ghosts, and he will run around like crazy in the palace, and He was full of nonsense, and sometimes he even held a sword in his hand. Once when I saw him going crazy with my own eyes, he almost killed a servant of the palace with a knife...!" Although things had changed, there was a trace of fear on Makabe's face.
Yang Ning looked at his expression and knew that what this guy said was probably true. He frowned and said, "Is the Prince of Huainan a lunatic?"
"No, no, absolutely not." Makabe said with certainty: "He only becomes crazy when he is possessed by a ghost. The prince is usually a humble gentleman, kind-hearted, and good to his subordinates. He is a good person." He smiled bitterly: "If the prince is not possessed, it would not be a chore to serve him all the time. Although he is the prince's prince, he is not picky. Even if the servants are a little negligent, he will laugh it off and not care."
"Then how did you come to Daguangming Temple?"
Makabe showed an angry look again and said: "It's not just those people in the kitchen. I stayed in the palace for two years. The prince and the prince were very satisfied with me, and later promoted me to be the second chef in the kitchen. I remember that time, the prince Suddenly he began to be possessed by evil spirits again. King Huainan somehow invited a master... who is my current master, Master Jingshan. The master went to the palace to chant sutras to drive away ghosts for the prince...!"
Yang Ning smiled and said: "It turns out that the masters of Daguangming Temple also know how to exorcise ghosts."
Makabe was a little embarrassed and said: "I made a vegetarian meal that day and sent it over, but... But there was a chicken head in the vegetarian meal...!" Looking at Yang Ning, he explained: "It was a big rooster whose head was chopped off alive and placed on the meal. The box was bloody, and when I opened it, the prince was frightened, and the prince was very angry and ordered me to be beaten to death."
Yang Ning said: "Of course someone in the kitchen is deliberately trying to harm you."
"Yes, there are people who want to kill me." Makabe said angrily: "The King of Huainan is very smart. He should know that even if I have 10,000 courages, I would not dare to put chicken heads in the lunch box, but he was very angry at the time. , insisted on punishing me for my crime. Fortunately, the master was present and told the King of Huainan that he thought I had a connection with Buddhism and wanted to take him to Daguangming Temple to worship Buddha and practice meditation. The King of Huainan had no choice but to give the master face and agreed to let me leave. Then I picked up one. Destiny comes."
Yang Ning said: "If you really want to say that, Master Jingshan is really life-saving for you."
"Yes." Makabe said with emotion: "So I followed the master into the mountains. The master knew that I was good at cooking and asked me if I would like to work in the Five Grain Hall. My life was saved by the master. Since the master asked, Of course I am willing. Since then, I have been working in Wugutang until today...!"
Yang Ning didn't expect that Makabe had such an experience before, so he gave a thumbs up and said: "No wonder the food you cook tastes not bad. It turns out that you have stayed in the imperial dining room."
Makabe's eyes showed a bit of excitement as he said: "Junior brother Qi, I'm not bragging. I have been practicing in the Five Grains Hall for these years. I have been in contact with vegetarian dishes day and night, and my cooking skills have greatly improved. I really want the imperial chefs in the imperial dining room to come." If they compete with me on vegetarian meals, I may not lose to them.”
"I believe this." Yang Ning said, "But Senior Brother Mabi, since you are talking openly to me, I have a few words that I don't know whether to say or not."
"you say!"
Yang Ning said: "You have been ostracized and bullied before, and even almost lost your life. Now that you have personal experience, why bully other brothers in this Daguangming Temple? They all go to the mountains to practice and get together. , it’s all fate, in fact, there is no need to separate each other.” He glanced at the little monk Zhenming and said, “I’m very surprised, why do you want to target Zhenming?”
Makabe was even more embarrassed. He looked at Zhenchi and said, "Junior Brother Qi, this... this is our fault. This will never happen again... in the future."
"You haven't answered my question yet." Yang Ning said, "I'm asking you, why are you targeting Zhen Ming? Is it because he is young?"
Makabe hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Actually... it was actually my master and... and Uncle Jouchun who had some conflicts. I heard people said that when I was young, Master Jouchun embarrassed my master several times, so...!"
Yang Ning said: "I guessed that's what happened. I said Brother Mabi, this is the Daguangming Temple, known as the best temple in the world. Buddhism is universal. Even if we are cooking, we should have time to read two Buddhist scriptures. Pure and pure I'm afraid they themselves have already forgotten the grudge between Master Hejing... and your master. Fortunately, you still remember it in your heart. It's really inappropriate for monks to still be competitive."
Mabi raised his hand and scratched his forehead, and said: "Junior Brother Qi is right, it's not our fault. From now on... it won't happen in the future. Junior Brother Qi, don't take it to heart. Yes, Junior Brother Qi wants to stay." Practicing on the mountain, or just practicing here for a short time?”
Yang Ning said: "Why do you ask this?"
"Nothing, nothing, just starting from tomorrow, I will send someone to bring you meals." Makabe smiled and said: "Isn't Junior Brother Qi recuperating on the mountain? You are inconvenient, I will specially cook sick meals for you, so you don't have to go back and forth. .”
Yang Ning thought to herself that this was certainly not a bad thing, and smiled: "This... Isn't this good? Are you doing something special?"
"It's okay." Makabe immediately said: "I will arrange it, I will arrange it." Xiang Zhenming, a young monk, said: "Junior brother Zhenming, if senior brother did something wrong in the past, don't take it to heart. In the future, I'll make sure you're well fed with the food." Xiang Yang Ning said with a smile: "Junior brother Qi, please take your time. It's dark, so it's not good to disturb you here. We'll talk later when we have a chance."
He really wanted to know what was going on, so he led Zhen Chi out of the house, and even carefully closed the courtyard door before leaving.
Young monk Zhenming sat down opposite Yang Ning and said, "It turns out they gave me very little food because the master had a quarrel with Master Jingshan back then."
"Every effect must have a cause." Yang Ning said: "Nothing happens without a reason. But your master always seemed to make their master look bad back then, which is considered very good." He lowered his voice and asked: " Young senior brother, have you always taken care of me since I got here?"
Little monk Zhenming nodded and said, "Yes, what's wrong?"
"Oh, I remember lying on that bed when I woke up." Yang Ning turned around and pointed to the bed behind her, "You seem to have said that I lay here for two days and two nights."
"Yes." Little Monk Zhenming said, "Master brought you here personally. At that time, Master's uncle had already helped you heal your injuries. Before you woke up, you were recuperating in the hospital. Master went down the mountain that night. Palace, before leaving, I asked the young monk to take good care of you, and teach you the Qing Sutra when you get up... The young monk did everything according to the master's instructions."
"Then... did you find a package on my body?" Yang Ning hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously: "It's wrapped in black cloth, with drawings inside, can you see it?"
Young monk Zhenming shook his head and said: "No, Junior Brother Ning, have you lost something? There are no outsiders here, and the young monk has not touched your things."
Yang Ning knew that this young monk should not lie, and he was even more depressed. He secretly wondered who took those sword pictures. Could it be the old monk who treated him