The sky is bright and clear, and the Xuanmiao temple at the foot of Xuanmiao Mountain outside the city is filled with incense and the sound of chanting is endless.
The Taoist temple has obviously been renovated, and there are many cars and horses parked in front of the door.
After the morning class, the temple leader walked out of the hall, followed by more than a dozen faithful men and women, who bid farewell respectfully.
"Good people, please come this way."
Two Taoist boys had already said this, holding out their hands to guide the way.
"The refreshments are ready."
Everyone chatted and laughed and followed the child to the back hall, while many men and women waiting on the other side came forward and saluted the master one after another.
"Today's tea is ready, everyone come with me in the order arranged." Two children came up from the back and said.
The men and women were overjoyed and got up one after another to follow.
Guanzhu Sun stood in the corridor and looked at the Taoist temple. The floor tiles were newly laid, the trees were surrounded by bricks and stones, and all the dead leaves had fallen. There were three children sweeping the corners with brooms.
Today's Xuanmiao Temple is full of incense and crowded with people, and is no longer as deserted as it used to be.
Guanzhu Sun shook the fly whisk and walked out. When he walked out of the gate, there were already many people on the mountain road. Because of the reputation of Xuanmiao Temple, there were more people visiting Xuanmiao Mountain, and there were also many people selling baskets outside Xuanmiao Temple.
Got up.
This is a nearby villager who makes cakes, hot tea, soup, and dried fruits for sale. After all, Xuanmiao Temple’s dim sum and tea are not available to anyone who wants to eat them at any time. People who are tired from traveling will sell some to relieve their fatigue. This gives the people in the nearby villages
More opportunities for livelihood.
"Good morning, fairy lady."
"Hello, fairies."
When they saw the temple owner coming out, people bowed respectfully and said hello.
This kind of scene is casual and comfortable. It seems to have existed for a long time. Even the temple owner himself cannot remember that about a year ago, their fairy girl from Xuanmiao Temple rarely even stepped out of the door to avoid being harmed by the small Xuanmiao Temple on the mountain.
And being scolded and stoned.
The owner of the temple returned the courtesy with a smile, and followed by two children towards the mountain. From a distance, he saw the small temple hidden among the rocks and trees.
"Guanzhu."
The two fairy girls opened the door and greeted him with greetings.
The visitor looked up at the plaque and stepped in.
"It's been a storm these days. Has my house been burned down?" she asked.
"Burned." Fairy Girl smiled, "The bedding is smoked every day."
The viewer nodded, and as soon as he walked into the courtyard, he heard shouting from outside the door.
"Master, Master!"
The five people looked back and saw a Taoist boy running in panting, carrying a straw basket on his back.
"Didn't you go into the city? Are you back so soon?" a fairy asked in surprise.
The Taoist boy put his hands on his knees and was out of breath.
"Master, Master, I'm back..." she said.
The five people frowned and looked at her.
"No, no, Master, Mrs. Cheng is back." The little boy calmed down and stood upright, saying happily.
As soon as these words came out, except for the two new children, the owner of the temple and the two fairy girls all looked overjoyed.
"Really?" they asked in unison.
"It's true, I heard it when I was buying rice. I even went to the door of Cheng's house to inquire. He said he came back yesterday. Now everyone is talking about it." The child said happily, "I didn't even care about the rice.
Buy it and run back quickly."
What is everyone talking about?
The viewer looked a little surprised.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Tell me, you're not a fool..." said the little boy.
The viewer laughed.
"Does this need to be said?" she said, flicking the fly whisk and turning around.
It wasn't originally.
The sky was bright and the tranquility in Mrs. Cheng's yard was broken.
"Mother, mother."
Cheng Liuniang's voice sounded outside the door.
On the couch in the back room, Mrs. Cheng put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes.
"Mother, that fool came to you yesterday...Hey, mother, why do you look so ugly? Are you sick? Why aren't you getting up yet?"
Cheng Liuniang said, moving a few steps forward and reaching out to touch her mother's forehead.
"No." Mrs. Cheng said, pushing her hand away, "I'm tired."
The child just came in yesterday, and she felt very tired.
Mrs. Cheng Er muttered in private that Mrs. Cheng was making trouble to leave home again. She almost didn't sleep all night last night.
"Mother, what did that fool say to you yesterday?" Cheng Liu Niang asked.
"You're not looking for me, you're looking for your father." Mrs. Cheng said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the servant woman came in and said that Mrs. Cheng Er and Cheng Jiaoniang were here.
"Tell them, the eldest master hasn't come back yet," Mrs. Cheng said.
Not long after, Mrs. Cheng came in with a smile.
Cheng Liuniang sat up straight and her eyes fell on Cheng Jiaoniang behind Mrs. Cheng Er.
I don’t know what good food I ate. He is obviously only a year or two older than me, but why is he taller than Mrs. Cheng?
"Sister-in-law, I'm not here for the sake of the master." Second Mrs. Cheng sat down and said, "I want to take my daughter to see the old lady."
Mrs. Cheng sneered in her heart and looked at Mrs. Cheng.
The old lady is my mother-in-law, and she is also your mother-in-law. If you want to see her, you can see her. Do I still care about you?
But she only said this in her heart. She knew that once she said this, Mrs. Cheng would immediately take this fool to see Mrs. Cheng.
Doesn’t Mrs. Cheng Er know that Mrs. Cheng has reached the point where she can’t even listen to this fool? She will be furious at that time, and when Mrs. Cheng becomes furious, Mrs. Cheng will definitely push her away in aggrieved and fearful way.
to yourself.
My sister-in-law asked me to come to see her...
She must have said it aggrievedly, and then it was conceivable that what was waiting for her was Mrs. Cheng's angry curse.
But if she says she won't let you go, she can tell this fool that it's not me who doesn't let you go, it's the aunt who doesn't let you go, and she doesn't like you.
In short, no matter what she says, in the end the good person is her and the bad person is herself.
Mrs. Cheng looked at Mrs. Cheng with a complicated expression.
It's really strange, why did she think this sister-in-law was gentle and amiable before?
"No need to go." Mrs. Cheng said calmly.
Sure enough, Mrs. Cheng Er turned her head to look at Cheng Jiaoniang.
"Let's wait until it's more convenient." She whispered with some comfort.
Cheng Jiaoniang's expression was calm and noncommittal.
Mrs. Cheng sneered in her heart, Do I still care about the happiness and anger of a younger generation like you? If you are really not stupid, you should know who you should please now.
Who is the family you want to marry? Who can really help you live a better life in your husband's family? Stepmother and aunt are both mothers, but their affection is different.
"My dear, don't be sad. The old lady doesn't like to see people. I'll wait until your aunt asks about it."
After leaving Mrs. Cheng's place, Mrs. Cheng did not forget to continue talking.
Cheng Jiaoniang nodded.
"Go ahead, madam." She said, looking around, "I want to take a walk by myself."
Mrs. Cheng Er was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
"Although the house is not big, you can still look around. I'll accompany you." She smiled.
Cheng Jiaoniang turned to look at her.
"I want to take a walk by myself," she said.
This kind of attitude and words are really rude, but the strange thing is that Mrs. Cheng Er didn't feel humiliated for a moment. It seemed that this woman's attitude was quite natural and she didn't feel violated at all.
"Okay, okay." Mrs. Cheng Er nodded and said, "Oh, ask your sister to take you around."
Banqin frowned.
"Madam, my wife said she herself..." she said.
"You just came back and you are not familiar with her at home. Let her accompany you, and you sisters will become familiar with each other." Mrs. Cheng Er said with a smile, and without waiting for them to say anything else, she urged the maid to call someone.
Banqin wanted to say something else, but Cheng Jiaoniang shook her head at her and walked forward.
Banqin then rushed to the second lady, bowed and saluted, stopped talking, and followed her.
"Mother, you see she is really yin and yang." Cheng Liuniang said, sitting up and approaching Mrs. Cheng, "Mother, don't let her live at home, and go to the Taoist temple."
Mrs. Cheng hummed, reached out and pinched her forehead without saying anything.
"Mother." Cheng Liu Niang saw her mother's perfunctory behavior and waved her sleeves in disapproval and shouted, "Kick her out quickly, or I won't be able to go out to meet people."
"Okay, okay, she's about to go out, and she won't come back this time." Mrs. Cheng said helplessly after being quarreled.
"Really?" Cheng Liuniang asked.
"Really, really, you go out to play quickly and let me rest for a while. Mom, I really can't stand it anymore." Mrs. Cheng waved her hand and said.
Cheng Liu Niang then left with satisfaction. Not long after Madam Cheng lay down in the inner room, the maid outside the door came calling again.
"Mrs. Wang is here."
Mrs. Cheng was startled, especially when she saw Mrs. Wang who came in and looked completely different from yesterday.
"What's wrong with you? You look so bad? You just ran away for a day yesterday. If you have something to tell me, why are you here?" she asked repeatedly.
Tingzhou is half a day's walk from here. It was already dark when she returned home yesterday, and now she came here again. She had gone out before dawn, so no wonder she looked so bad.
"If I don't come again, I won't be able to survive." Mrs. Wang waved her hand and said.
Mrs. Cheng hurriedly asked someone to fetch a black lacquer pen, and Mrs. Wang leaned on it to catch her breath.
"What happened?" Mrs. Cheng asked anxiously.
"Sister, our family was almost scared to death last night." Mrs. Wang said, "Seventeen, he...he..."
As she spoke, she raised her handkerchief to wipe her tears.
Mrs. Cheng was so frightened that she sat upright.
"What's wrong with him?" she shouted.
"He almost died." Mrs. Wang said.
"What's wrong? Is he sick? Is he sick? He's tired, right? I told him not to let him go to the capital, but you didn't listen..." Mrs. Cheng suddenly cried, "My son..."
Seeing her like this, Mrs. Wang didn't even bother crying and rushed to comfort her.
"It's okay, it's okay. Fortunately, I was rescued in time," she said.
"Come here, prepare the car. I'm going to go home and see Shi Qi..." Mrs. Cheng wiped her tears and stood up.
Mrs. Wang hurriedly stretched out her hand to stop her.
"Sister, sister, no need, you don't have to go see him, you just need to promise me one thing, he will be fine at Seventeen," she said.
Mrs. Cheng looked at her.
"What's the matter? Tell me quickly, don't say one thing, I will agree to a hundred things." She said hurriedly.
Before they finished speaking, another servant girl ran in from outside the door, interrupting their words.
"Madam, madam, someone is here to see you." She said with a strange look on her face, holding a post in her hand.
"Who is it?" Mrs. Cheng said angrily, "He's missing."
She still has the confidence to see everyone but not everyone in Jiangzhou City.
"The visitor said it's the Qin family in Beijing." The servant said hesitantly. She didn't recognize the words on the post, and she didn't remember the long list of names the visitor reported. She just thought that Beijing should be very powerful.
People.
Qin family? Don’t recognize it, Mrs. Cheng waved her hand angrily.
"But the Qin family in the princess's residence?" Mrs. Wang took her hand and looked at the servant woman and asked.
Princess mansion?
Mrs. Cheng still knew the meaning of the word "princess" and was stunned when she heard it.
"Bring it to me and see." Mrs. Wang stretched out her hand and said.
The maid hurriedly brought it over. Mrs. Wang opened it and looked at it with an expression of shock and disbelief.
"Really?" Mrs. Cheng asked, "Who is that person? Is he looking for the master?"
The servant woman's expression became even weirder.
"No, they said they were looking for Cheng Jiaoniang's parents," she said.
She didn't even realize who Cheng Jiaoniang was at first, but she only realized it after the servant reminded her.
"Looking for her parents?" Mrs. Cheng asked in surprise. She immediately smiled, named Cheng Jiaoniang, and said what else could be done by asking her parents. Naturally, it was related to this little lady's marriage.
I knew this was coming.
"Is it arranged by the Zhou family? Let them wait..." Mrs. Cheng said with a snort.
The servant girl responded and left.
Mrs. Cheng turned to look at Mrs. Wang, who looked a little dazed.
"What's wrong?" Mrs. Cheng asked, then smiled again, "Don't worry, little shrimp can't cause any big trouble."
Mrs. Wang came back to her senses and smiled a little forcedly.
"It's still important that our family is seventeen." Mrs. Cheng continued, "What did you just say you wanted me to promise?"
Mrs. Wang looked at her and her expression changed for a moment.
"Promise...this month...we will arrange the marriage between Shi Qi and Cheng Jiao Niang." She said slowly and with difficulty. (To be continued)
