Jiang Yuebai smiled and said, "I escaped from Zuixianlou by myself at first, and ran to the mountains where I met a passing female... heroine who saved me. Later, I joined her sect and learned some skills. This time I came out to travel, so I came back to take a look."
Shen Jinghao was suspicious, but did not ask any questions. She just nodded and asked Jiang Yuebai to sit in the hall. She personally poured her a cup of tea and served it to her with both hands.
"Shen Jinghao thanks you for saving my life."
Jiang Yuebai stood up and held her hand, "It's just a small favor, not worth mentioning."
Shen Jinghao insisted on bowing, "Not only to thank you for saving my life, but also to make amends for my careless words that caused you to be sold out and almost lose your life."
"Good fortune and misfortune go hand in hand. If I hadn't had the misfortune that day, I might not have met that female hero later, and there wouldn't be today. So I have never blamed you. I am only grateful to you for teaching me how to read and understand reason."
Shen Jinghao shook his head, "No, I was too young back then. I wanted you to be favored by the Lin family, but I ended up hurting you. Today, I was plotted against by the Lin family because of a compliment from the right prime minister. Now I know how much I hurt you back then. Now all this is my retribution!"
Jiang Yuebai sighed and said, "There's no need to talk about the past. Do you need my help to escape from here right now?"
Shen Jinghao thought for only a moment and then nodded vigorously.
"Cheng Lang and I share the same ideals. He has been running around trying to find a solution for me for more than a year. I made an agreement with him that he would wait for me at the Taoist temple outside the city."
"Although I am nearly thirty years old, I still want to take the imperial examination. I can't be a female general like the God of War of the Yun Kingdom, but I also want to work hard to fight for a higher status for the women of the Yun Kingdom."
Jiang Yuebai took out the silver and money he had taken earlier, thought for a while, and then rummaged through the storage bracelet to find three low-level Qi-nourishing pills, and gave them to Shen Jinghao together with the detoxification pill.
"You only need a little bit of the detoxification pill to detoxify most of the poisons in the world. The same goes for the Qi-nourishing pill. Take a little bit every day. It will be good for your body. These are my gifts to you."
"You are going to overcome all difficulties and become an official in the court. You should take good care of your health first. When you are in better health, you can try to practice martial arts."
Shen Jinghao took the purse and medicine bottle with gratitude in his eyes.
Boom!
There was a roar of thunder between heaven and earth, and a ray of silver light suddenly struck down, breaking the old tree in the yard and starting a fire.
Shen Jinghao trembled all over, not knowing why.
Jiang Yuebai rolled her eyes. The evil spirits in this place didn't strike her down when they were causing trouble. She was saving people, but they used thunder to scare her. God was really a thief!
"Master, this is God's signal for you to break down and then stand up again. Your career will surely be as prosperous as the fire on the tree!"
"Really?" Shen Jinghao was full of doubts.
"Please pack your belongings first. I'll go deal with the doorman."
Jiang Yuebai took the lightning-struck wood in the yard, knocked out the servant at the door, sat on the threshold of the house, and used the best part of the lightning-struck wood to carve a dagger.
This thing is useless to her, but it is very useful to mortals. The aura of heavenly thunder on it can deter evil spirits and bring good fortune and avoid disaster.
"Look at you. You said that you are not allowed to interfere with the fate of mortals, but you personally sent the lightning-struck wood to avoid misfortune and bring good luck. You are hypocritical and even worse than Zhao Tiezui."
Boom!
"What? Do you think the lightning-struck wood you gave me is not enough? Otherwise, just chop me down!"
Jiang Yuebai raised his hand to the sky, the thunder dissipated, and the world was silent.
Shen Jinghao came out carrying a bag, dressed in men's clothes, and gave Jiang Yuebai a helpless smile.
Before leaving, she went to the widow of the Wang family at the entrance of the alley to say goodbye, and then left the city with Jiang Yuebai.
"Master, I suddenly have a question I want to ask you."
Shen Jing lowered his hat and carefully avoided the shops belonging to Lin on the street. "Ask."
"Then I am offended. You are a virtuous person who is well-educated and sensible. But at this moment, I feel that you are not as ignorant and fearless as the widow of the Wang family. We are both widows. She obviously doesn't care about worldly prejudices. She dares to fight back when she has hatred, resentment and injustice."
"But what about you? Even if you are not facing a big family like the Lin family, but just ordinary people, you would not be disrespectful in public like the widow of the Wang family. Your morality has become a bondage. So, is being educated, wise and virtuous a shackle to some extent?"
"The peddlers and hawkers compete for money and weight to make a living, but this also limits their horizons. For poor families, studying can change their fate and broaden their horizons, allowing the descendants of poor families to break free from the countryside and see the vast world."
"Just like the scholars playing chess and drinking tea in the pavilion, what they care about is no longer the poverty of their own family, but the poverty of the world. It is because of the words of the saints that the world has become more broad and brighter."
"The bright road seems obscure, the advancing road seems retreating, the easy road seems similar, light also has darkness, retreat is sometimes progress, the seemingly flat road is accompanied by ruggedness, everything has both positive and negative sides, we cannot just look at one side, morality is a very high level of cultivation, it is definitely not a shackle."
Jiang Yuebai nodded thoughtfully, "What is the true highest morality?"
Shen Jinghao raised his eyes to look at the setting sun in the sky, and said in a deep voice, "Great wisdom is like foolishness, great skill is like clumsiness, great sound is silent, and great image is invisible. Perhaps one day, I will become a different kind of queen, but my current state of mind is not enough, and I need to read more books."
Jiang Yuebai suddenly understood and his pupils contracted.
"Husband, grandma is old and her teeth are not in good condition. Let's buy her some soft food."
"Then buy more. The kid at my eldest brother's house hasn't grown any teeth yet, so he needs to eat soft food."
A couple passed by Jiang Yuebai, and she remembered what was said in the "Dayan Sutra": the starting point and the end point of all things.
Infants are just learning to speak, and the elderly are old and speechless. People often say that old children are like old children, and the older they get, the more they return to their childhood. Life goes from nothing to something and then back to nothing.
Reading makes you from dullness to wisdom, and finally to great wisdom.
Great skill appears clumsy, great sound appears silent, and great elephants are invisible. They are all a process from nothing to something and then back to nothing.
The former is a confused nothingness, the latter is a nothingness that enlightens the heaven and earth. One is original, the other is... Tao!
Jiang Yuebai's sea of consciousness shook. The small bud hidden in the pure white world deep in her soul grew taller under the purple air in the sky, laying the foundation for her to touch the top of the avenue.
"Thank you for your guidance, Master. I have come here to thank you and benefit a lot from it."
Monks always look down on mortals, but they don't know that there are wise people in the mortal world. Just like what the Supreme Elder said, the Tao is everywhere in this world. She should put aside the arrogance of a monk and learn from others with an open mind.
Later, I will buy a few more books written by saints on earth and read them.
After renting a carriage at the city gate tower, Shen Jing didn't want to waste Jiang Yuebai's time, so she said goodbye.
Jiang Yuebai handed her the lightning-struck wooden dagger and said, "I heard that Lin'an County has been in turmoil recently. Master, keep this thing close to you. It will keep you safe. Also, here is a letter. Please give it to the abbot of the Taoist temple outside the city."
There are monks from surrounding immortal sects in charge of Taoist temples in various places. She wants to find someone to come and ask about the missing children in Lin'an County.
The letter was written in Taoist cloud seal script, which ordinary people could not understand.
Shen Jinghao put away the lightning-struck wooden dagger and the letter, glanced at the driver behind him, and whispered, "I heard about the disappearance from the servant who was guarding me. I suspect it has something to do with the Lin Mansion. After all, in the past six months, only the people in the Lin Mansion have been safe and sound."
"Moreover, there has been a rumor in the Lin family that one of their ancestors entered the immortal sect. The young lady of the Lin family who disappeared without a reason before was taken away by the immortal sect's ancestor. Since then, the master of the Lin family has been like a demon, seeking immortals and seeking the way everywhere. However, because the Lin family has connections in the court, the local government dare not enter the Lin family to find out the truth."
Jiang Yuebai didn't say much.
Shen Jinghao bowed and said goodbye, "Thank you for saving me today. I hope I can meet you again in this life. I will drink with you under the moon in the capital of Yun Kingdom."
Standing up, Shen Jinghao looked deeply at Jiang Yuebai, his eyes full of envy.
"I know, you are the immortal."
After saying that, Shen Jinghao stepped onto the carriage without hesitation to pursue his own path.
All debts are paid off, happy!
(End of this chapter)