In the early morning of March 17, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), on the mountain road outside Shande Temple.
Yue Yue Chengfang held the money given by Taiyuan Xuezhai in her arms, hummed the songs she had learned from the officials in Kyoto, and walked briskly down the mountain on wooden shoes.
"It's true, the old man. I drank too much and asked me to go down the mountain to buy hangover medicine. Why can't I just give it up with tea..." Although Yue Yue Chengfang was complaining, he still liked to enjoy the scenery in the early morning.
Walking in the mountains and forests.
"The previous benefactor who was suffering from chronic illness and came to pray for health every few months seemed to say that there is a new town at the foot of the mountain in the west?" Yue Chengfang remembered what happened before and looked to the west, "If that's the case
, there is no need to make a special trip to Puyuan Castle."
What the sick benefactor said was true. Before he even reached the Fuji River, Kagome Chengfang encountered the small town that stood on the mountain. Although the town was small, there were many people and it was bustling with merchants and merchants. It was quite lively. However, it was peaceful.
But there were also people acting arrogantly - at a glance, Yue Yue Chengfang saw three or four strong men with sticks bullying a vendor who was setting up a stall.
The vendor was thin, poorly clothed, and looked like an outsider, so he was driven to set up a stall on the muddy ground next to the road. It had just rained in Suruga, and he sat in the dirty mud with a bed in front of him.
There was a shabby little rug on which were placed seven or eight trinkets made of bamboo strips. The craftsmanship was not very good.
"Hey, Xiaoqirou, don't give me a toast or a fine drink. I owe you the maintenance fee last month, and you don't want to pay it this month?" The leader raised the short stick in his hand and pointed.
The vendor, who was called Kochiro, asked, "Do you still want to hang out here?"
"Please, sir, please be accommodating. We are really in a tight situation lately and business is not doing well..." Xiaoqilang looked embarrassed and leaned down to beg.
"How do you expect the business to be good with this piece of shit like you?" The leader looked at Xiao Qilang's gadgets with disdain and spat on them with disdain. Then, as if he still wasn't relieved, he stepped on them and took those few gadgets.
A bamboo rabbit, the most delicately made among the gadgets, was crushed under his feet. Kochiro exclaimed, stood up and wanted to hug the leader's leg, but he was completely annoyed. The leader raised his hand and hit Kochiro with a stick.
He was hit in the face, knocking the person directly to the mud, and his nose was bleeding.
"From now on, I will come here every day. If you can't hand me over, just come here." The arrogant leader spit in Xiaoqirou's face, and left with a few others laughing. But Xiaoqirou finally recovered.
Looking at the trampled bamboo rabbit, tears were already welling up in his eyes, and he clumsily used his scarred hands to restore the broken piece that was beyond repair at first sight.
Yue Yue Chengfang couldn't bear it, but he had no intention of conflicting with these strong men. He had a sensitive status, and if he used his power to suppress others in Suruga, it would inevitably cause displeasure to his brother and mother. So he touched the purse in his arms,
After buying the hangover medicine, he planned to use the remaining money to buy all the goods from this vendor. He looked in the direction where the strong men left, but suddenly he was in a trance.
Although there are poor people like Xiao Qizilang on the street, there are also many happy families: a pair of young parents take turns holding their children, and the children in their arms stretch out their hands to buy the windmill from the vendor; a father carries his child on his shoulders.
On his shoulders, he could see the jugglers across the crowd and listen to the children's happy laughter; a farmer was carrying his hoe, while his daughter was carrying a small basket with farm tools, jumping and following her father.
; A half-year-old child took a bite of the pastry in his hand, and then stood on tiptoes to feed his mother a bite. The mother had a smile on her face, but she waved her hand away and let the child finish it by himself...
Yue Chengfang couldn't hide the envy in his eyes. He also tried to capture the happy moments between himself and his family in his memories, but it was all in vain. The few memories related to his parents that he could recall were not pleasant either -
—
"Mom, the baby doesn't want to be sent to the temple. The baby swore that he would never compete with his elder brother for his father's position. Can you please not send the baby away? The baby wants to stay with his parents forever..."
"Teacher, when will my parents come to take me back?"
"Teacher, when will my father and mother write to me?"
"What...my father...has passed away...why are you notifying me now? I haven't seen him for the last time...are you so worried about me going back to fight for power?"
"Huh? Back to Suruga? Why go back? This Kyoto is so free and easy! Mother, does he still remember that he has me as his son? Brother, does he still remember that he has me as his younger brother? Yep."
"Whatever, if they don't come to see you, they won't come. Old man, don't talk about this all day long, I don't care. Imagawa family? What does that have to do with me? My surname is not Imagawa, 'the world is Miao', it's amazing."
Love is what it is."
…
However, Yue Chengfang's childhood was not all gray. The old monk Taiyuan Xuezhai, who was always smiling but not serious, added a lot of color to it——
"From today on, you are my disciple. Master will protect you. Don't worry. If you don't understand anything, you can come and ask Master. If someone bullies you in the temple, you also come and talk to Master. Master will take care of you."
Fix him up."
"Disciple, I heard that you like to play Cuju very much. I was passing by the city and I brought one to you. Oh, oh, oh! Don't grab it, and remember not to let other young monks in the temple see it, otherwise you should say that you are
The teacher is partial."
"Chengfang, look what this is? How about it? If you like it, I'll bring it to you next time."
"Huh? I didn't expect you to be so interested in Waka, calligraphy and painting. This is quite similar to your parents... Oh, oh, oh, oh, ok, let's not mention them, don't mention them."
"You kid, where did you get the flower and bird pictures? Could it be that all the monks in the academy are all your masterpieces? I just took away three of your books last month! Now is the time for chanting sutras and practicing martial arts. You are not allowed to do this all day long.
Flowers, birds, wind and moon!”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "You brat, what did you draw on my teacher's Buddhist scriptures? Damn it! Don't run away if you have the ability! Stop for my teacher!"
…
He was so absorbed in thinking that Yue Yue Chengfang couldn't help but smile. But when he came back to his senses, he found that the purse he had just held in his hand had disappeared, and the hawker who was sitting in the mud was also missing. He turned around and looked.
, and found that the hawker was running out of the town in a hurry.
Xiaoqilang ran all the way back to the shabby thatched house in the mountains, looking back again and again to make sure no one was chasing him. Yes, how could that well-maintained rich man possibly outrun him on the mountain road? What's more, he was still wearing wooden shoes.
Then, Xiao Qilang dared to open his wallet and take a look at the money inside, but he was suddenly frightened. He had never seen so much money in a small bag of broken silver in his life.
He hurriedly opened the door and went in. His mother on the hospital bed struggled to raise her head when she heard the noise. After coughing a few times, she asked: "Xiaoqirou, why are you back so early today..."
"Mom, everything is sold out and I've made money. I'm going to get some medicine for you right away." Xiaoqilang had something in his heart and didn't dare to look directly at his mother. Instead, he ran directly to the only table in the house and picked up the medicine.
The medicine prescribed by the doctor before has to be taken away.
"Why didn't you get the blanket back?" The mother realized that Xiaoqirou had brought something missing. "We only have that precious blanket at home. You lost it. What will you use to set up a stall in the future?"
"This..." Koqirou was speechless for a moment, he was stunned and didn't know what to say.
"You kid..." The mother noticed the weirdness of Xiaoqirou at a glance and looked at her child a few times. "Could it be that you went to steal or rob?"
"How dare you!" Xiao Qilang was shocked when he heard this. Sweat instantly broke out on his forehead and he shook his head repeatedly.
"It's fine if you don't have it, but don't embarrass your father who is no longer here... Your father was open and honest throughout his life, and he never did anything bad until his death... Ahem, cough..." Before the mother could finish her words, she coughed heavily again.
I got up and coughed up blood this time.
Worried, Xiao Qilang hurriedly stepped forward to help his mother lie down, and then turned to go out, but the door was pushed open again. He saw a talented young man carrying wooden shoes, leaning on the door frame, panting, and complaining.
Saying "I'm so exhausted, I really can't do anything" - it was none other than the man who had just had his wallet stolen by Koqirou.
"Shichiro, are you really going..." When his mother saw this situation, she already understood in her heart. Her face turned red with anger, and she was about to yell at him. However, before she could say anything, she coughed loudly. Kochiro was instantly ashamed.
He was so ashamed that he almost knelt down.
However, Yan Yue Chengfang glanced at the situation at Xiao Qilang's home and the expressions of mother and son, and she probably understood in her heart. He did not ask for money, but rather embarrassedly made up a lame excuse to rescue Xiao Qilang:
"Um...I'm a walking monk passing by! I'm disturbing the donor's purity! Excuse me..." Yue Yue Chengfang waved the wooden shoes in her hands and was about to ask for alms, but she accidentally saw her dirty feet and felt sick, so
He blurted out, "Is there a place to wash my feet?"
"Walking monk..." Xiaoqilang's mother looked at the young man in front of her with some disbelief, who looked like he had not been polished by the slightest bit of wind and frost, "I want to wash my feet..."
"Master, wait a minute, I will lead you to a nearby stream!" His mother didn't know what was going on, but Xiao Qilang already understood that the kind-hearted young master was trying to smooth things over for him, and hurriedly pulled Yue Yue Chengfang out of the door.
As soon as he went out and hadn't gone very far, Xiao Qilang immediately knelt down to Yue Chengfang and couldn't pull him up no matter how hard he tried.
"Thank you for your kindheartedness, young master, for helping me save my face in front of my mother!" Xiao Qilang kowtowed to Yue Yue Chengfang a few times, slapped himself hard several times, and at the same time took out Yue Yue Chengfang's purse from his arms.
, lowered his head, held it in both hands and handed it over.
"The little one was obsessed for a while and stole the young master's property, but he didn't spend a penny. Please take it back, sir! If the young master wants to vent his anger, please give him a punishment. The young one will suffer! I just ask the young master not to arrest the villain for policing.
The place of worship, otherwise there will be no one to take care of my mother at home! May the Lord be merciful!"
Xiao Qilang felt a weight on his hand, and his purse had been taken away by Yue Chengfang. But then there was a small sound, and then he felt a handful of broken silver falling into his hand. Xiao Qilang raised his head in disbelief.
I went there and found that Yue Yue Chengfang was putting the empty purse into his arms, but all the money in the bag was left to him.
"Your Majesty seems to be ill. Let's go find a better doctor to get some medicine and buy some food to replenish it." Yue Yue Chengfang snapped her fingers lightly and said with a smile, "You're welcome, take it and use it."
Well, I am not a person who is short of money. You are also a mother, so you are excusable. Remember, this will not happen again."
After saying that, without waiting for the dumbfounded Koqirou to thank him, Yue Yue Chengfang pretended to float away in a cool manner, leaving only a handsome back. However, before he had gone a few steps, Yue Yue Chengfang ran back with a look of embarrassment on his face.
.
"Well, leave me some money to buy hangover medicine, and tell me where the creek is by the way. I really need to wash my feet."
Yue Chengfang came to the nearby stream and muttered "It's so dirty" as he carefully washed his clay-covered feet. After putting on his wooden shoes, he carefully took out the purse in his arms and inspected it.
He made sure that the first birthday gift he received from Taiyuan Xuezhai when he was a child was not damaged. If it weren't for this purse, he would not have bothered to chase it so far.
Just when he was about to return the same way, he suddenly found a group of knights riding horses and hurriedly turned back in front of him. The leader was none other than Taiyuan Xue Zhai's confidant Xiao Yuan Zhenmi.
"Sir, why did you come here? It took me a long time to find you? Please mount your horse quickly and follow me back to the temple."
"What's wrong?" Yue Yue Chengfang put her purse back into her pocket and asked without knowing why.
"Yudaidian (Shou Guini, the mother of Yue Chengfang) suddenly came to Shande Temple at noon and asked to see the young master by name."