Xiling Yue felt very frightened: "Father, what do you mean by this?" ”

"Called the Father-in-law." Xiao Zhiwu corrected her and smiled again, "Don't be afraid, it's about Yi'er." ”

"What's wrong with Brother Yi?"

"Li Sikong said in the letter that he wants them to get married next spring, and it is almost October, and Yi'er can't delay any longer." Xiao Zhiwu hesitated a little and held her hand, "Good boy, I know you are also uncomfortable, but our Xiao family has been an imperial businessman for a hundred years, relying on the word 'integrity'." If you want to repent of marriage, where will the Xiao family's reputation go? The world will scold us for being ungrateful. ”

Xiling Yue had already accepted this arrangement, and a smile barely appeared on her face: "You don't have to worry about me, I have a sense of proportion." ”

Xiao Zhiwu breathed a sigh of relief, and the worry between his eyebrows disappeared for most of the time: "Then you persuade him for me, don't be reluctant, let him agree." ”

Xi Lingyue nodded: "Brother Yi said, he will help me go back after investigating this case." ”

"I hope so!" Xiao Zhiwu raised his eyes and looked at his son again, his eyes were full of worry, but he didn't say anything more, and the time didn't allow him to say more.

Under the attention of everyone, Xiao Zhiwu embarked on the journey back to his hometown, he wanted to go back to revitalize his ancestral industry and reopen Jinxiuzhuang. The rain became heavier and heavier, and the carriage traveled farther and farther, and finally took away all the time of Xiling Yue in the past eighteen years, and it could never be chased back.

"Yue'er, go back!" Guo Yan knew that she was reluctant, and persuaded in a low voice.

Xilingyue nodded, retracted her gaze, and walked out of the ten-mile pavilion with an umbrella.

Guo Yan is a person who attaches great importance to etiquette, and this time he sent Xiao Zhiwu out of the city with three carriages, he rode one alone, Xiling Yue was also a single one for his daughter's family, and Guo Zhongting and Xiao Yi shared one.

Seeing that Guo Yan and the three of them had already gotten into the car, Xilingyue also stepped on the wheel, and was about to sit in, when she suddenly heard an eager neighing of horses in the distance, and then the two carriages rushed over from the rain, stepping on the muddy ground one after another, splashing her with muddy water.

When the coachman saw this, he immediately shouted: "Who is so rude? But the rain was too heavy, and his shout was instantly drowned in the wind and rain.

Fortunately, the other party knew the courtesy and hurriedly stopped the carriage, and Xilingyue found that the first carriage was sitting, and the second carriage was pulling goods.

I saw a gray-robed bhikshuni walk out of the car at the beginning, accompanied by the coachman, walked up to Xiling Yue, folded his hands and apologized to her: "Amitabha, the poor nun was careless for a while, and the carriage collided with the female Tanyue, I hope you will forgive me." ”

Xilingyue looked at it and saw that this bhikshuni was not young, in his seventies, but he was vigorous in his movements, his voice was also loud, he looked very energetic, and he could still see the grace of his youth between his eyebrows.

Since it was an unintentional move by the monks, she didn't want to worry about it, so she waved her hand and smiled: "You are serious, there is no need to worry about small things." ”

However, the bhikshuni still did not let go, and said, "The female Tanyue's dress is precious, and the poor nun is willing to pay compensation." ”

While the two were talking, the wind and rain became louder, and Guo Zhongting saw that Xilingyue was delayed in getting into the car, so he came over to check the situation. Seeing that it was a small accident, he also said arrogantly: "It's just a piece of clothing, and the teacher doesn't have to worry about it." ”

Seeing that the weather was getting worse and worse, the wind was howling, the rain was pouring down, and several people could no longer hold their umbrellas, the bhikshuni finally gave up the intention of compensation, said goodbye to the two, and said before leaving: "If the female Tanyue changes her mind, she can go to the Qingxiu Garden at the entrance of the back street of Anguo Temple to find someone." Poor Nifa is called 'Zhenluo'. ”

"It turns out that you are here to mourn for Venerable An Cheng." The next day, Xiling Yue met Master Zhen Luo again at Anguo Temple, only to learn why she hurriedly entered the city yesterday.

"Yes, the poor nun has lived in Luoyang for a long time, but he didn't expect to learn the news of An Cheng's murder three days ago, so he hurried here and wanted to burn incense on his first seven days." Master Zhen Luo's face was sad.

"Then are you going back to Luoyang?"

"Don't go back, the poor nun is originally from Chang'an, and now that he is old, it is time to return to his roots."

Xilingyue could hear that Master Zhen Luo wanted to die in Chang'an. It can be seen that the monks are not all empty, once they encounter a major event of death and burial, they still want to return to their hometown and be buried in their hometown.

Only then did Xiling Yue remember that when she first met Venerable An Cheng, he had just returned from a trip abroad, and he had brought back thirty boxes of old things for Master Zhen Luo. It can be seen that Master Zhen Luo has been planning to return to Chang'an for a long time, but it just happened to coincide with the death of Master An Cheng, and the plan was advanced.

"How did you come to know Venerable An Cheng?" Xiling Yue couldn't help but ask.

"It was at the Dharma meeting in Luoyang the year before last that the poor nun and Venerable An Cheng hit it off at first sight, and it can be regarded as a year-old friend." Master Zhen Luo was very sad, "Poor Ni is much older than him, I never thought that he would ascend to Bliss first. ”

"Please mourn." Xiling Yue can only be so comforted.

In the midst of the sadness, a young novice suddenly came to call for the cremation ceremony of Venerable Master An Cheng and invited them to go to the tower to observe the ceremony. Xiling Yue helped Master Zhen Luo to the tower together.

Today is the eighth day of Venerable Ancheng's death and his funeral rites. At that time, the founder of Buddhism, Shakyamuni, proposed cremation before his death, and took his relics from the ashes to build a pagoda for storage, and since then, the monks have taken Shakyamuni as an example, and the method of cremation has spread.

The Venerable Master An Cheng was also cremated. Although his case is not clear, the first seven have passed, and the body has been examined, so there is really no need to continue the mortuary. Anguo Temple decided to cremate him on the spot, preserve his ashes, and wait until the next time the Tang envoy was sent to the court, and then bring his ashes back to Fusang for burial.

The remains of the Venerable Master An Cheng were stored in a small tower, and his real body was not visible. After a solemn ceremony, Zen Master Guangxuan personally lit a fire and burned the corpses in the tower. In addition to Xilingyue, Li Chengxuan and other former friends, Jiang Wei was also present, and the major monasteries in Chang'an City also sent highly respected monks to mourn, and even the Ministry of Rites also sent a foreigner to show the importance of sending Tang envoys to learn monks.

The fire burned the entire clay tower red, and the smoke curled up, and the sky over Anguo Temple was full of fire. Fortunately, it had just rained heavily in Chang'an yesterday, and it was moist and clear, so as not to make the temple smoke and fire. After burning like this for two hours, the fire finally gradually went out, indicating that the funeral ceremony of Venerable An Cheng had come to an end.

The monasteries praised Anguo Temple for its generosity and compassion, and Zen Master Guangxuan went to the guests in a wave of praise. Xilingyue, Li Chengxuan, Xiao Yi, and Guo Zhongting also met with Jiang Wei and continued to discuss the situation.

Since Jiang Wei agreed to cooperate, he has shared the evidence he has collected one by one, without concealing anything. Four days ago, Xi Lingyue and others had gone to Dali Temple to check the evidence, and did not find anything abnormal, and the murder weapon left at the scene was just an ordinary kitchen knife, without any special marks. Therefore, several people wanted to take the opportunity of An Cheng's funeral to go to the Eastern Zen Monastery to find clues, and Jiang Wei agreed.

(End of chapter)