The Master Futai the cell leader mentioned was Zhuang Yuqing, the prefect of Songjiang, whose ancestral home was Hui'an, Fujian Province.
It seems that Zhuang Futai also has compassion in matters that do not need to be decorated with political achievements.
In Hui'an, like Longxi County in Zhangzhou, a group of "self-grooming girls" who make independent living began to appear at this time.
When Zhuang Futai heard Huang Zunsu and Mr. Han talking about Zheng Haizhu's identity, he did not show any surprise or resistance. Zheng Haizhu was therefore already planning. Under the rule of his relatively enlightened parents, he should actively take Songjiang Mansion as his own.
Serve as a testing ground for women’s participation in foreign trade.
Zheng Haizhu was thinking and slowly walked through the cell following the intermittent meowing of the cat.
Although the illumination provided by the setting sun was poor, Zheng Haizhu could still make out that the few female cells outside were empty.
Not surprising. In this era, civilian women had a pitiful living space, little freedom of movement, and the crime rate was naturally much lower than that of men.
"Sister He..." Zheng Haizhu stopped outside the cell where the condemned prisoners were held and whispered in a low voice.
Beside the wooden fence, a civet cat squatted in front of the water basin, staring at Zheng Haizhu with its head raised, but it quickly stood up and stepped aside tactfully to avoid being hit by the iron chain.
The nun wearing a flat-topped hat threw herself at the fence from the depths of darkness.
Her movements were swift, but her expression was the same as when she saw Zheng Haizhu on the street just now.
At this moment, because she was so close, Zheng Haizhu was able to see her face more clearly.
The beauty of her facial features is secondary. The key is that her eyes are bright and bright, and there is a faint heroic spirit between her eyebrows. She is not as numb and dull as a grassroots woman, but she also does not have the quiet and solemn look of the masters of the Taoist nunnery.
"How do you know my name before I became a monk?"
After once again confirming that there was only one prisoner in this cell, Zheng Haizhu approached the nun and stared at the nun: "Sister He, Mr. Zhang of Shanyin asked me to come in, that is, the great monk."
"Ah," Sister He exclaimed softly when she heard the affectionate nickname "Great Monk", and her expression was immediately replaced by surprise, "The eldest son has come to Songjiang?"
"Yes, he and Mr. Yanke came to see you."
"That girl, who are you?"
"My surname is Zheng, and I live in Huating County. Mr. Zhang helped my good friend, so I got to know him. Today, during the application period, I led the way to Jiulian Temple for Mr. Zhang."
Zheng Haizhu looked at the other party calmly, but she was as precious as words. She only briefly explained her source and waited for Sister He's reaction.
After a brief pause, Sister He called directly: "Miss Zheng, I didn't kill anyone. Please save me, two young masters!"
Zheng Haizhu nodded: "Sister, please keep your story short. The prison boss will ask me to avoid you at any time."
Sister He immediately sped up her speech: "After noon today, I was talking to Mr. Yang's servants, and suddenly I heard Carpenter Ye screaming in the Zen room that he had killed someone. We hurriedly went to the Zen room to see, and we saw blood all over the floor. I was frightened.
I hurriedly went to report to the official, then ran to the street, but was stopped by the official and drove me back to the nunnery. They insisted that I killed Mr. Yang, saying that they found my handwriting on his body and that I was still on his wrist.
The prayer belt in the nunnery.”
Sister He talked about it for a while, but in the end she didn't have a clue.
Zheng Haizhu then took advantage of her breathing to focus on the important point and asked: "You don't know about the blood all over the floor in your house? What is that carpenter Ye doing in your nunnery? Why did Mr. Yang's servant come to you? Yang Did the official find the master's body somewhere else?"
Sister He composed herself and replied: "The wooden door of the Zen room dedicated to our ancestors was broken. I asked Carpenter Ye to repair it. Since it had not been repaired yet, he asked not to touch it without permission. My two disciples were not there, so I did not go in to clean it. Carpenter Ye said yesterday that he was going to Qingpu to do some urgent work and would come back in a few days, but he suddenly appeared today for some unknown reason. He did not enter through the main entrance of the nunnery. Besides, Mr. Yang, he is from Huizhou. He met me at the bookstore and is willing to help me. I printed books. Mr. Yang returned to Songjiang to discuss business, and he asked me about engraving books a few days ago. Today his servants came to the nunnery and said that Mr. Yang had not returned home all night. Later, when the official arrested me, he told me that Mr. Yang's The body was fished out of the creek behind the nunnery..."
She suddenly stopped again, hesitated for a moment with a mixture of anger and sadness, and said to Zheng Haizhu word for word: "I did not kill anyone. If I suffer this unjust lawsuit, I will really kill Mr. Yang." Aren’t people just free from the world?”
…
The last crimson cloud on the horizon disappeared into the night. Zheng Haizhu walked out of the corner of the county prison cell and walked quickly into the shadow under the camphor tree.
Zhang Dai came up to greet him and said softly: "Just now I ordered my servant to go back and inquire about the situation. There were originally two little nuns living in the nunnery, only thirteen or fourteen years old. In the past few days, I went to the house of two nuns, Tan Yue, in Huating County. I accompanied her while copying scriptures and chanting Buddha's name, but she did not stay at Jiulian Nunnery. By the way, the servants also found out that Sister He went to Yingtian Mansion to take the exam at the beginning of the month."
During the Ming Dynasty, Buddhist ultimatums were issued by the Ministry of Rites. Because temples and nunneries were exempted from corvee taxes, Emperor Taizu stipulated that the court should issue a fixed number of ultimatums every year, and monks and nuns must pass the examination of the Ministry of Rites before applying for ultimatums. In the Wanli period, the discipline was abolished , as long as a well-connected fake monk bribes officials at all levels, he can obtain an ultimatum, build a fake temple, and put his property in the name of the temple.
Zheng Haizhu understood what Zhang Dai meant and nodded: "You want to say that Sister He is a bhikshuni who follows the right path."
"Yes, even though she lost a loved one, her words in the letter she wrote to my family last year were calm and upright, and she invited my mother to stay at Jiulian Temple for a while. It shows that she has understood the saying that 'happiness comes from suffering, and results come from causes'." She would never have the behavior of seducing first and seeking wealth later as mentioned by those traffickers and lackeys. Unless, unless the dead Huizhou merchant had done something evil and provoked her to accidentally kill him during the resistance..."
"No, Mr. Zhang," Zheng Haizhu said resolutely, "Sister He just now took the initiative to tell me that Mr. Yang is a gentleman. He is a frequent visitor to several Qingliu bookstores here. Whenever he comes back to Songjiang, he goes to the bookstore to buy unsaleable publications. Helping the shop owner with turnover. When Sister He was in Suzhou, her employer had a little daughter who loved to read "The Peony Pavilion" and left thousands of book reviews. Unfortunately, the girl died of illness, and her parents thought it was because "The Peony Pavilion" had been exhausted. She loved her daughter's hard work and wanted to burn the book review manuscript in anger. Sister He secretly replaced the manuscript and came to Songjiang to publish it in a book. When she was worrying about printing money, she met Mr. Yang in the bookstore and he asked to read the manuscript. After that, he immediately donated money generously and was willing to provide money, and he did not do anything beyond the rules after that."
Zhang Dai listened to this with bated breath and murmured: "This is very similar to Sister He's temperament. Although Sister He is a maid born in the family, she has been smart and scholarly since she was a child. My mother likes her and lets her serve me.
He and his third brother were studying and writing in my Zhang School. Sister He has always admired talented people. My mother had already helped her find a marriage to a wealthy tenant farmer, but she fell in love with the poor painter and devoted herself to it.
Married. She and the young lady who commented on "The Peony Pavilion" must be in the same boat."
