Fifteen years ago, the Baoan Temple was just a small temple in the mountains. Over the years, the Qing Dynasty Palace has often donated money to repair it. After many expansions, the Baoan Temple is not what it used to be. Wen Heng didn't come much, so he got out of the car and entered the meditation room first to meet with Abbot Huitong, and said, "The quiet place of Buddhism, I and other lay people visit rashly, and there are many nuisances, Master Wanwang is not guilty."
Zen Master Huitong replied, "My Buddha is merciful, and he can save all directions, so why bother. Lao Na has ordered the monks to clean up the premises of the Zen Institute.
Wen Heng thanked Zen Master Huitong, and he was led by a monk who knew the guest, and went to the guest house with his followers. This is a separate courtyard set up by Baoan Temple, which is specially used for foreign guests to stay, which is extraordinarily quiet. There is a very lush jujube tree in the courtyard, and its branches and leaves extend all the way to the outside of the wall. Autumn has passed, and there are still some dead leaves that have not withered on the branches.
As soon as Wen Heng entered the yard, he noticed the tree and stared at it for a long time. Fan Yang asked, "The prince has been looking at this tree, but is there something wrong?"
Wen Heng retracted his gaze: "It's fine. I just thought that it's almost winter, there are so many dates on the tree, it seems a waste not to cut them down."
The acquaintance monk who was leading the way heard the words and replied: "What the donor does not know, the birds have nowhere to look for food in winter, and they often die of starvation, so the abbot said to keep some fruits, the birds can eat, or they can survive the winter. ."
Wen Heng gave an "oh", nodded in admiration and said, "The great monk is merciful."
There is no good view in the Baoan Temple, and the guest rooms are also very rarely furnished. Apart from a few scriptures, there is nothing to entertain. When the guards went out to tie the horses, Wen Hengxian was very bored, so he had to pick up a book of the "Ten Virtuous Karmic Dao" and turned a few pages.
When it was almost noon, a monk packed up the fast food and delivered it. The Wangfu and his party had lunch in the courtyard. In the afternoon, Wen Heng went to Abbot Huitong to listen to the scriptures, and returned home in the evening. Although His Royal Highness is smart, he doesn't like to think about these boring things, and he endured dozing off in front of the abbot all afternoon. When he could go out, Fan Yang wanted to put on a cloak for him, but he waved his hand to avoid it: "No, I'll blow the wind for a while to wake up."
The two walked along the way and saw that although the Baoan Temple was built solemnly and grandly, the monks in it were pure and simple. They practiced hard work every morning and evening. Fan Yang sighed: "My subordinates often travel with princes and princesses. Many monasteries and Taoist temples in Beijing have become places for recreation, and monks and Taoists are not doing their jobs properly, but Baoan Temple still looks like a serious temple, and it has not changed over the years.”
Wen Heng said: "Cultivation of the mind is the top priority. The abbot is a comprehensible person, which is invaluable."
After speaking, he turned his head away and said with a smile: "I listened to the abbot for two hours, why is it that I speak in this tone. Don't recruit me, let me slow down."
Fan Yang followed behind him with a smirk. The two walked back to the guest house, and just after crossing a door, they suddenly heard a rustling sound. Fan Yang was still looking left and right, and Wen Heng had already walked towards the jujube tree in the courtyard.
Fan Yang's eyes were sharp, and he saw a gray cat in a tree branch, and he was alert. He held the handle of the knife with one hand, raised his voice and shouted, "Who is sneaking around there? Come out!"
Wen Heng hurriedly said, "Don't shout!"
However, it was too late to stop him. He was so frightened by him that the people on the tree jumped into the air and fell down with an "Ow".
He had a lot of jujubes in his pockets, and they all fell down like hailstones. The jujube tree was more than ten feet high, and Wen Heng was standing under the tree. Fortunately, that person was a child who didn't grow up, thin and light, so he didn't do anything for His Highness.
Even so, Wen Heng was knocked back a few steps by the powerful momentum and almost fell, Fan Yang hurriedly came to support him: "Prince!"
"fine… "
Before Wen Heng finished speaking, a long "goo" sound came from out of nowhere, and in the silence of the three, it seemed particularly clear and loud.
Fan Yang lowered his head to look at this, then at that, and asked, "Sir... Are you hungry?"
Wen Heng was too lazy to pay attention to him, so he squatted down and carefully let go of the person in his arms: "I'm sorry, I just scared you."
The child looked about ten years old, with sunken cheeks, unkempt hair, and tattered clothes with countless holes. As soon as he left Wen Heng's embrace, he fell to the ground, trembling uncontrollably, but still struggled. He crawled over to pick up the jujubes on the ground, ignoring the dust on them, and if they caught them, they would put them in their mouths.
"Hey, wait," Wen Heng chased after him and held his hand, "don't eat this."
He could feel the child's body suddenly froze, and murmured a vague "I'm sorry, I'll leave right now, don't hit me."
"… "
Wen Heng held his hand, let him look at the dates in his hand, and explained as slowly and clearly as possible: "If you don't hit you, don't be afraid. It's covered in mud, it's dirty, and you will get sick if you eat it."
The child whispered and insisted: "It's not dirty."
"Fan Yang." Wen Heng said, "Come here and wipe it for him."
Fan Yang replied, "Yes."
He was about to enter the room when the child was stunned for a moment, as if he finally understood what the two were saying, and suddenly burst into tears with a "wow".
Wen Heng had never seen someone cry so wronged, kneeling on the ground and wailing, while holding onto his hand and refusing to let go.
He must have suffered a lot, maybe he was desperate, maybe panicked and scared, but he didn't cry when he was discovered stealing dates.
"never mind."
Wen Heng shook his head, sighed, and picked him up from the ground: "Let's wash this too."
In Fan Yang's impression, the eldest young master Wen Heng is not a nosy person, and his compassion is very limited, at least he has never done anything to pick up beggars at home. This little thief somehow got into his eyes. Wen Heng not only moved him into the house himself, but also wanted to find out the origin of this person.
As far as he can see, this child is just a beggar living on the street. If he had a tragic life, every beggar on a street in the capital has different stories. If you want to talk about what he did, stealing the dates from the temple doesn't make him special. stand out. The only saving grace is that this child is good-looking. Although he is not very thin, he looks quite handsome.
But what's the use of looking good? Are their sons not good-looking enough
Fan Yang was at a loss, hearing Wen Heng calling him inside, pressing down his doubts and pushing the door in. Wen Heng handed over the child wrapped in a blanket and instructed, "Take him out to clean up, and eat dinner when it's ready, you don't have to wait for me."
The child had just cried a lot, and there was nothing to eat in the temple. Wen Heng fed him a few plain snacks, and coaxed him to take a bath first. He was afraid that he would be hungry again, so he urged Fan Yang to take it to dinner. He was so tormented by himself that his clean nature broke out, and he didn't even bother to eat. He had to bathe in order to feel comfortable.
Fan Yang searched for a handkerchief to wring out the child's hair. There was a table of vegetarian food in front of him. Although it was hardly rich and delicious, it was much better than shriveled dates. It stands to reason that he had been hungry for so long, so he couldn't help devouring it at this moment, but until Fan Yang finished wiping his hair, he didn't move his chopsticks. Although he swallowed from time to time, his eyes were always fixed on the direction of Wen Heng's bedroom.
Fan Yang couldn't bear it when he saw it, and said, "Shi... Young Master said, you eat first, you don't have to wait for him."
The child didn't answer, just shook his head slightly.
After washing his face, this child was like a mud monkey reincarnated. Although the rough red marks on his face blown by the wind would not disappear for a while, his lips were red and his teeth were white, his eyes were black and bright, and his eyebrows were as delicate as a little girl. Fan Yang observed his words and guessed that Wen Heng might have intentionally kept the child by his side, so he asked tentatively, "What's your name? Where do you live? Are your parents still alive?"
The child, like a tightly seamed clam shell, just shook his head.
"There's no need to ask if he doesn't want to say it," the door rang, and Wen Heng came out after changing his clothes, "It doesn't matter, we'll talk about this later. Why don't you eat?"
His eyes fell on the child at the other end of the table, and he smiled: "Waiting for me?"
"Fan Yang is also sitting," Wen Heng took his seat, picked up his chopsticks, and said, "Today, everyone just don't pay attention and eat."
Although everything is simple outside, but the master and servant do not eat at the same table, this rule cannot be messed up. Fan Yang's words of refusal were almost about to be spoken, Wen Heng raised his eyes and gave him a look, he hesitated for a while, but sat down hesitantly.
The temple is no better than the palace, and every day there are quantitative regulations. Originally, Fan Yang heard that Wen Heng was going to keep meals, because he was afraid that he would starve the prince, so he put his share here. I don’t know if Wen Heng was paying attention. Still want to let the child not have to be restrained, and also keep him together.
The child may be very hungry, and cooking rice is ferocious, as if the table full of tofu and cabbage is some kind of unique delicacy. Wen Heng had to remind: "Slow down, be careful of choking."
As soon as the voice fell, the chopsticks, which were slashing quickly, immediately stopped in the air.
The bird with a startled bow is nothing but this, Wen Heng knew it would be like this, sighed, and said as gently as possible: "Eat slowly, it's not that you won't be allowed to eat. Don't worry."
Fan Yang had no appetite. He sat on the sidelines and watched the interaction between the two, with a vague guess in his heart. Wen Heng was very thoughtful, and Fan Yang often had problems with him, so he always said straightly: "Is the son intending to take him in?"
Wen Heng didn't answer, but turned to the child and asked, "What do you think?"
In the dim yellow light, the translucent black eyes looked at him inexplicably, and his cheeks were still stuffed with food, like some kind of ignorant and vigilant little animal, making people wonder how to smooth their hair.
"I don't want to ask you about your origin. If you want, you can come to me and be a book boy. At least you can eat enough, and you don't have to wander around, starve and freeze, how about that?"
When Wen Heng said this, he was at least 80 percent sure. After all, the child was not stupid, he was treated well, and he knew what kind of life was better.
But he never thought about it, just such a sentence, I don't know which pain point it touched, and it tickled the child's tears again.
Huge teardrops rolled down his cheeks like a broken line. He cried silently, shaking his head while crying, as if someone had cut a piece of flesh from him in his life. Endure it, dare not cry out in pain.
Fan Yang watched helplessly as their prince's hand holding the chopsticks froze. Wen Heng turned his head and glanced at him for unknown reasons, and then looked at the crying child, with a trace of panic in his calm eyes, a little helpless, like a fool who accidentally knocked over a water basin: "Why are you crying? already?"