The rain knocks on the window at ordinary times, and continues until early morning.
Cen Yunchu woke up early to put on his morning makeup and smelled his favorite lilac in the rain through the Xiang bamboo curtain.
The lilacs that had been beaten by the rain no longer had the unbridled intensity and became quiet and calm. It was an elegant fragrance that was comparable to that of empty valley orchids.
Fulan brought a jacket over and said, "Girl, wear thicker clothes when going out today. The weather is wet and cold, so you need to be prepared to catch a cold. The carriages and horses are ready outside, and everyone following you is waiting."
"It's just an incense, don't let too many people follow you!" Cen Yunchu said.
"The second master is worried," Linxi said with a smile. "The worst we can do is ask them to wait outside the door. If we don't ask them to follow us, it won't work."
Cen Yunchu also knew that since the incident at Yaowang Temple, his father had been particularly concerned about this.
"Pudu Temple is in the city, so there is no need to worry." Cen Yunchu stood up and changed his clothes and said, "The current host there, Master Jingfan, is Chunjun's old friend, a very upright monk."
Even though she said this, Cen Yunchu also knew that her father was just worried.
The rain was still falling, thinly and densely. Fu Lan opened his umbrella, and Linxi helped Cen Yunchu out of the door and onto the carriage.
Cen Yunchu told his family that he wanted to pay homage to the Bodhisattva before getting married. This was a common practice, so no one objected.
By the time we arrived at Pudu Nunnery, the raindrops had become like cow hair, and my clothes were slightly damp, so there was no need to hold an umbrella.
"You can just wait outside the door. You don't have to follow us all," Linxi said to the other servants, "so as not to make a noise and ruin the peace."
In addition to her and Fulan, two mothers-in-law and two little girls followed in.
Jingfan, dressed in gray monk robes, saluted with one hand when he saw Cen Yunchu, and Cen Yunchu returned the salute with his hands folded.
"Master is so kind, I'm here to worship the Bodhisattva." Cen Yunchu said.
"Donor, please come in. There is no one in the Buddhist hall, so you can go and pay homage." Jingfan turned around and led the way.
When they arrived at the entrance of the main hall, the women and little girls stayed in the corridor, and only Fulan Linxi followed them in.
Cen Yunchu offered incense, bowed to the Bodhisattva, stood up and said to Jingfan, "I want to look around and pay my respects. Can you please do that?"
"It's up to the donor to do as he pleases. The poor nun will not rejoice. The Maitreya Dharma in the side hall is solemn. The donor must not miss it." Jingfan smiled slightly and walked out.
When Cen Yunchu took a walk in the nunnery, he saw moss marks on the bluestones and fallen flowers on the ancient trees, which indeed gave off the smell of dust.
When he arrived at the door of the side hall, Cen Yunchu turned his face slightly, and the two maids retreated.
She stepped across the high threshold, and the wind blew up the apricot-yellow curtains on both sides of the Buddha statue. The smell of incense mixed with the cold and damp smell spread everywhere.
Cen Yunchu walked a few more steps, and the door to the side hall slowly closed.
The Buddhist lamp on the incense table becomes brighter, and the glass lamp is crystal clear, not stained by blemishes.
Two people walked out, a man and a woman.
When a man emerges from the mundane world, he is like a jade that becomes a spirit.
The woman was in her thirties, and her facial features were similar to Cen Yunchu's.
Although she is no longer in her youthful years, she is still so beautiful that people cannot take their eyes away.
"Ah Chu," the woman looked at Cen Yunchu with a smile on her face but tears in her eyes, "You think exactly the same as I do."
This woman is Cen Yunchu's biological mother Dai Mingzhi, and the man next to her is Ke Wangchen.
Guji
Dai Mingzhi's mother and son came to Beijing specifically to marry Cen Yunchu.
Ke Wangchen told Cen Yunchu when he left last year.
"Mom, how have you been all these years?" Cen Yunchu stretched out his hand to hold Dai Mingzhi, "Is this journey hard?"
Dai Mingzhi's tears rolled down, like pearls bursting out of jade: "After all these years, you don't blame me at all?"
She and Cen Tong reconciled and separated. Cen Yunchu was only one year old and could not remember anything.
As a girl, without her mother by her side since she was a child, you can imagine how miserable she is.
If Cen Yunchu blamed her, she would have no complaints.
After all, children are the most innocent compared to their parents.
"I just miss you often," Cen Yunchu also had tears in his eyes. "For so many years, my father has taken me all over the country, but I have never been to southern Sichuan. It's not that I don't want to, but I don't dare."
Cen Tong could not let go of Dai Mingzhi, otherwise he would not even accept a concubine.
But he also knew that the fate between the two of them was over and they could no longer force it.
Broken ties can only increase sadness and worry.
After listening to Cen Yunchu's words, Dai Mingzhi's heart was filled with knots, he held his daughter in his arms, and burst into tears.
She and Cen Tong have not seen each other for seventeen years, but looking at Duan Yan's beautiful daughter, she knows how much effort he has put in over the years.
He raised his daughter well, taught her to read and write, took her to travel around, and even taught her not to hate herself.
Dai Mingzhi felt sweet and bitter in his heart, and could not say a word except crying.
Ke Wangchen stood aside and waited until the two of them had cried enough before saying, "Sister, you can't cry too hard, otherwise you'll have to go back and be seen by others, and you'll have to ask questions again."
Although Dai Mingzhi is Cen Yunchu's biological mother, her current status is very embarrassing. The Cen family will not let her in, and she cannot send Cen Yunchu out of the palace in an upright manner.
That's why we chose to meet here, so that we can avoid the eyes and ears and still be able to talk to each other.
"Mother, you and Wangchen are here, what about Uncle Ke?" Cen Yunchu asked.
"He should go to Beijing to report on his duties this year, but when it comes to autumn, we will come first. Everything has been settled, and it will be more convenient for him to arrive." Dai Mingzhi's current husband, Ke Yutang, is the governor of southern Sichuan.
Mingzhi takes great care of her.
He was nearly fifty years old, and he didn't want to go anywhere else when he came to Beijing this time. After all, Ke Wangchen was already seventeen years old, and he could no longer delay his marriage or his future.
"Mom, where do you live now?" Cen Yunchu asked.
"The Ke family's house in Beijing has been taken care of by the old family for so many years. Even though we came back, we still live here." Dai Mingzhi said, "Most of the furniture is still complete, and it is enough to add some household items."
"You haven't been fooling around these days, have you?" Cen Yunchu asked Ke Wangchen with a smile, "Now that I'm living in the capital, I should be more restrained. No one can treat you like you are in southern Sichuan."
"My mother has talked about me so many times along the way, and you still talk about me." Ke Wangchen sighed, "I guessed that I would not have a good life in the capital. If it weren't for watching you get married, I would be happy to be mine in southern Sichuan.
Idle clouds and wild cranes.”
"Everything else is paid off. There is only one thing I want to remind you, never get into any romantic debts." Cen Yunchu said, "If these noble women in the capital fall in love with someone, they will risk their lives, so you have to take care of yourself."
"Brother-in-law of the Chen family has grown up in the capital since he was a child, and hasn't he been safe and sound until now?" Ke Wangchen chuckled, "If you are worried about me, you might as well worry about your brother-in-law."
"Mom, look at him." Cen Yunchu had never acted coquettishly with his mother since he was a child. Now he showed his true feelings after meeting for the first time. "I'm doing it for his own good. It's just that he doesn't appreciate it. He's still teasing me!"
"Wang Chen is really shameless. Let's ask around and marry him a powerful wife in two years and make him docile." Dai Mingzhi hugged his daughter and said, "Let's see if he is still poor and talkative.
