Fanyin Temple is the most famous temple in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It is large in scale and majestic in appearance. There are green pines and cypresses and towering bodhi trees in the temple. It is crowded with pilgrims all year round.
Xie Nanjia accompanied her mother all the way to the Main Hall. In the hall filled with the smoke of incense, the sound of wooden fish and melodious Buddhist chants could be heard, and the monks closed their eyes and clasped their hands together, reverently reciting scriptures to save all living beings.
Mrs. Xie knelt on the mat, her expression solemn and she was muttering something.
Xie Nanjia listened attentively and heard that every word her mother said was a prayer for her, which made her feel sad.
On the way here, my mother said in the carriage that ever since my aunt found my cousin, she had dreamed about her for several days in a row, and she was too sad to fall asleep when she woke up, so she thought of coming to the temple to burn incense and pray for her.
The mother said that it was not that she was not happy for her aunt, but the thought that her daughter would never come back made her heart ache. She wished she could close her eyes and go with her daughter to save her from being alone and helpless over there.
Her mother's words were like sharp knives stabbing her heart again and again. Several times she couldn't help wanting to tell her mother the truth, but she was afraid that her mother would be frightened or not believe it and become distant from her.
Therefore, she could only comfort her mother with kind words, telling her to relax and look forward. Young Master Nanfeng had not yet started a family, and the little boy was still an infant and needed the lady's care in every aspect. She must not think in extreme ways.
After much persuasion and telling her many interesting stories about the little prince's daily life, his mother's mood gradually improved and she was no longer sad.
After worshiping the Buddha, there was still plenty of time, so Xie Nanjia suggested walking around the temple.
Mrs. Xie agreed and asked where Xie Nanfeng had gone as she walked out.
Green Shadow replied to her from the side: "Young Master said he was going to talk to Abbot Wuchen for a while."
"What can he talk about?" Madam Xie couldn't help laughing and said to Xie Nanjia, "He is the most impatient person. Before, when his sister and I came to burn incense, he refused to come even when we asked him to. Now, he is willing to come with me only because he sees that I am depressed."
Xie Nanjia didn't think her brother had the patience to listen to the scriptures and the teachings. She thought he must have found an excuse to go somewhere else and said with a smile, "Let him go. I will just accompany the Madam."
When Madam Xie heard her calling herself a servant, she took her hand and said softly, "There's no one else here, so you don't have to be restrained."
Xie Nanjia smiled and responded obediently.
The two of them walked in front, with Lu Ying and Aunt Yao following behind.
Madam Yao looked at the two people's backs and said to Lu Ying with emotion: "If the sleeves were taller, it would really look like our young lady was accompanying the mistress to visit the garden."
"That's right!" said Green Shadow. "It's really amazing how fate works between people. Madam got along so well with Xiu'er after only meeting her once. Xiu'er cured her of her illness with just a few words even though we tried to persuade her every day."
"It must be that the madam's piety moved the Buddha, so the Buddha sent Xiu'er to enlighten the madam." said Madam Yao.
Green Shadow is young after all, and is skeptical about these mysterious things, but no matter what, as long as her lady is happy, she will be happy too.
At this time, Xie Nanfeng was sincerely seeking advice in Abbot Wuchen's meditation room.
"Abbot, is there reincarnation after death? Will people be reborn? If so, will they have memories of their past lives? Is there any way to tell?" he asked in a series of questions.
Abbot Wuchen sat cross-legged on a cushion, his snow-white beard hanging down to his chest. He smiled and pushed the tea he had just brewed in front of him, stroking his beard and saying, "Amitabha, there is a saying that..."
"Abbot, please say something I can understand." As soon as he opened his mouth, Xie Nanfeng knew that he was going to recite Buddhist scriptures again, so he quickly clasped his hands together and asked.
Wu Chen laughed loudly, and then put away the serious monk's music.
He hit him on the forehead with a mallet and said, "You are such an ignorant boy. After so many years, you still haven't made any progress."
Xie Nanfeng rubbed his head and laughed, "I'm afraid I won't be able to make any progress in Buddhism in this lifetime, so please talk to me in colloquial language, okay?"
Wu Chen said, "What do you want to hear? You come to the monk and ask if there is reincarnation in the world. If I say yes, I have never seen it myself. If I say no, it is equivalent to completely denying my own beliefs. How do you want me to answer?"
"..." Xie Nanfeng was speechless, "Aren't you a high-ranking monk? How come you are stumped by such a small question?"
Wu Chen smiled and said, "It's not the problem that stumped me, but you. What I'm best at is playing the game of wits. If you don't allow me to play, I won't be able to do it."
"..." Xie Nanfeng was even more speechless, "So you usually lie to people?"
“It can’t be called a lie. It works if you believe in it, and it doesn’t work if you don’t believe in it.” Wu Chen said calmly.
"…" Xie Nanfeng was speechless, "Well, I came here for nothing."
"You can't come here for nothing." Wu Chen said, "I'll read your palm and touch your bones. It only costs one or two taels of silver."
“…” Xie Nanfeng stood up and left.
Wu Chen said quietly behind him: "From your face, it seems that your family will be reunited, but there is a bit of evil spirit on your forehead, so your family may be in danger. But you don't have to worry, there will be noble people to help you and turn danger into safety."
"..." Xie Nanfeng rolled his eyes at him and walked away.
Wu Chen watched him leave, chanted Amitabha again, and said to himself: "The secret of heaven cannot be revealed. I naturally cannot tell you what you are not supposed to know."
…
In the dead of winter, there was nothing to see in the temple except for the pines, cypresses and green bamboos. Mrs. Xie took a walk around and found it boring, so she sent Lu Ying to the abbot's room to find Xie Nanfeng and prepare to return.
While waiting for Xie Nanfeng, Madam Xie took out the longevity golden locket that had just been blessed in the palace from her sleeve pocket and handed it to Xie Nanjia, saying, "Take this back and give it to the young master. He is still young now, and it might be too tight if he wears it around his neck. So wrap it in red cloth and put it under his headrest for now. Wait until he grows up before wearing it!"
"Okay, I've got that." Xie Nanjia reached out to take it, but suddenly a gangster-like man jumped out from nowhere, snatched the gold lock away, and ran away.
"Hey..." Mrs. Xie was startled and exclaimed, "Catch him, catch him quickly..."
The guards hiding in the dark quickly jumped out to chase the man.
It happened suddenly and Xie Nanjia was a little confused. Before she could react, a crossbow arrow shot out from the bamboo forest on the side.
"Madam, be careful!" When Nanny Yao saw the arrow, she immediately rushed over to protect Madam Xie.
Another guard swung his sword to knock away the crossbow arrow and leapt into the bamboo forest to chase after him.
Xie Nanjia realized something was wrong and just as she shouted "Don't go", a masked man in black stabbed out from behind Mrs. Xie with a shining sword.
"Mother!" Xie Nanjia screamed and flew to save her mother, but unexpectedly the sword suddenly changed direction and stabbed straight into her chest.
In a flash, a dart tied with red silk flew over and hit the black-clad man's wrist exactly.
The man in black groaned, and his sword fell to the ground. He didn't dare to fight, so he jumped up and disappeared into the depths of the bamboo forest in an instant.
"Stop right there!" Not far away, two figures, one in blue and one in white, chased him into the bamboo forest.
Then a bright red figure flashed, and Zhao Jingyu appeared in front of Xie Nanjia. He pulled Xie Nanjia into his arms, and his voice changed with nervousness: "How are you? Are you hurt?"
"No." Xie Nanjia shook her head in shock. She didn't have time to thank him. She broke free from his embrace and went to see her mother. "Madam, are you okay?"
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
Mrs. Xie, supported by Aunt Yao, looked at Xie Nanjia in a trance: "What did you call me just now?"
Xie Nanjia was stunned for a moment, then said, "I called you 'Madam', what's wrong?"
Mrs. Xie seemed unwilling to give up and asked, "But I clearly heard you call me 'mother'?"
Xie Nanjia was startled. In her panic, she didn't know what she was calling out. Could she have really called out "mother"
"Madam must have heard it wrongly." She denied it flatly, feeling extremely flustered.
Mrs. Xie sighed in disappointment, and the light in her eyes dimmed: "Oh, maybe I missed Xiu'er too much and heard it wrong."
Zhao Jingyu, who was standing beside him, was startled and looked at Xie Nanjia thoughtfully.
Just now, he seemed to hear someone calling "mother", and he didn't pay attention to it before. After Mrs. Xie said "Xiu'er", he suddenly realized that this was a coincidence. Xiu'er was called Xiu'er, and the deceased Miss Nanjia was also called Xiu'er. Could there be any connection between these two Xiu'ers
While thinking, Madam Xie came over to thank him: "Thank you, Mr. Zhao, for saving me."
"It's just a small favor. Madam, you are so polite." Zhao Jingyu bowed and said, "Madam, you are not frightened, right?"
"Not bad." Madam Xie said, "Just now I saw someone chasing the thief. Is it the second young master's companion?"
Zhao Jingyu nodded, but before he could say anything, Cheng Zhiye and Zhou Yuncheng had already turned back.
"I didn't catch him. That grandson ran too fast." Cheng Zhiye said breathlessly, and he and Zhou Yuncheng greeted Madam Xie together, "Madam, you are not hurt, are you?"
"No, I'm fine." Madam Xie said, "I thought it was someone else, it turned out to be Master Zhou and Master Cheng. I really owe everything to you today."
"Madam, you are welcome." Cheng Zhiye held up a bright red plum blossom beside his temples, "Madam, do you know who the other party is and why they attacked you?"
"I don't know." Madam Xie shook her head. "At first I thought it was a robbery, but I didn't expect that the robber was just trying to distract my guards."
At this time, both guards came back. The first guard who chased out said that the man hit him with a golden lock as a hidden weapon and then ran away. The second guard said that he chased him to the bamboo forest, but the man was gone.
"It looks like they are experts who came prepared." Zhao Jingyu said, "We shouldn't stay here for long. Let's send Madam back first."
"But I..." Zhou Yuncheng was still thinking about finding Wu Chen to trick his mother. Then he thought that his wife's safety was more important, so he stopped talking and said, "Okay, let's send my wife back first."
Mrs. Xie saw that he seemed to have something else to do, so she smiled and said, "Don't bother the three of you. My Nanfeng is here too, so he'll be all right. You can go and do your own things!"
As they were talking, Xie Nanfeng and Lu Ying came over together. They were quite surprised to see Zhao Jingyu and the others, and asked, "Why are you here too?"
Mrs. Xie said: "Fortunately they came, otherwise you might be left without a mother."
"What do you mean?" Xie Nanfeng was confused.
The two guards explained what happened and knelt down to apologize: "It was our fault for not protecting the lady. Please punish us, sir."
Xie Nanfeng was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and regretted leaving his mother behind to go find the old monk alone.
With his previous violent temper, he would have turned the Fanyin Temple upside down, but right now his mother's safety was more important, so he could only catch the thief after sending his mother back home, and then bring his troops to investigate in detail.
So, at Zhao Jingyu's insistence, the group escorted Mrs. Xie back to the general's mansion in a hurry.
The three men knew that the General's Mansion would definitely discuss the assassination, so they politely declined Madam Xie's invitation to go in for tea, and sent the people to the gate before leaving.
Zhao Jingyu said that there was no point for Xie Nanjia to stay here, so he asked her to go back home with him.
Xie Nanjia was worried about her mother and didn't want to go back so soon, but Mrs. Xie thought it would be safer for her to go back with Zhao Jingyu. She couldn't find a suitable reason to stay, so she had to follow Zhao Jingyu.
As soon as she left, Madam Xie called Xie Nanfeng over and said excitedly, "Feng'er, your and your father's suspicions are justified. When the arrow was shot, I clearly heard her call me 'mother'."
(End of this chapter)