Chapter 68

Most of the world's famous temples are built between famous mountains and rivers, and the Jade Buddha Temple is no exception, located on the halfway of Zhongshan Mountain.

Although this Zhongshan is quite far away from Meishan Town, it is only a dozen miles away from Jiangyin Mansion. When Shanniang's boat docked at the wharf at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain, they saw that there were many soap-clothed servants swaying on the wharf, as if they were checking the appearance of pedestrians and boats. And because of the investigation, the boat on the dock was stranded, and Shanniang's boat couldn't line up at the dock for a while, so they had to wait on the sidelines.

Hou Rui and Hou Jue are all monkeys, where can they sit still, they ran to the deck early to see the excitement.

Hou Jue stretched his neck and looked at the shore for a while, and asked curiously, "Is this catching a fugitive?" ”

The boatman happened to be on the side, and couldn't help but sneer: "Where is the fugitive being caught, but it's just a ......" He suddenly paused, looked around vigilantly, and smiled at Hou Jue Hou Rui: "It's not usually like this, but because something happened in the city before, it's a little unpeaceful here in the past few days." ”

When the fifth master heard the words "not peaceful" in the cabin, he immediately stood up and summoned the boatman into the cabin to speak.

The boat family was originally found by Uncle Gui from the foot of this Zhong Mountain, so he was very familiar with this area, and after listening to the fifth master's question, he told the fifth master the whole story.

But it turned out that this matter had to start with Mrs. Lin's anger.

After the old lady found out that someone was fraudulently receiving money and goods, she felt that this should not be an isolated phenomenon, so she wrote to the people in the surrounding fundraising club, reminding them to check themselves. This was a good thing, but when it came to Jiangyin City, there was an accident. The prefect received an anonymous petition in the middle of the night, and someone sued the donation committee for deliberately deducting and misappropriating funds under the pretext of investigation. So the prefect took someone to seal the donation meeting, saying that he wanted to check the accounts of the donation meeting. I don't want the prefect to just take away the account books of the donation fundraiser, and he was touched into the government by Xiao Xiao that night and stole those account books. The prefect was furious, and immediately ordered the city to be closed and arrested, but after the failure was successful, he sent officials to investigate it strictly, which led to the scene on the shore.

"No, we've been checking the dock for two days, and it's delaying our business in vain." The boat boss sighed.

While the captain of the boat told what had happened, Shanniang kept leaning on the window and watching the officials on the shore check the pedestrians. Then she noticed that these people were focusing on the younger ones and not much on the older ones; Pay attention to the tall ones, and let the short ones go. The thief must have been a tall young man.

The fifth master didn't care who stole the account book, he only cared about safety, and hurriedly asked, "Is it still safe on the mountain?" ”

"Don't worry, sir," the boat boss laughed, "The prefect's wife is a lay disciple of Master Deyuan, the abbot of the Jade Buddha Temple, no matter how noisy it is, those black dogs...... Those officials and old men did not dare to make trouble in the temple. Besides, whether there is such a thing as stealing or not......"

It can be seen that this boatman is not a strict mouthful, and he once again leaked his mouth. He hurriedly stretched out his hand and slapped it on the mouth, and said with a sneer: "Master, don't listen to the little ones, the little ones are just a boatman, and they can know what is important." Even those officials and old men are just because of their hard work on weekdays, this is to take this opportunity to ask people for a few hard-earned money, and it will be okay if the master spends a few pennies when he goes ashore. ”

Although the boatman said that it was obscure, it was difficult to hide the suspicion of extortion by those officials. Hou Rui, a second-year teenager, immediately jumped up with righteous indignation and said angrily: "Do they dare to forcibly ask for bribes?!" The prefect doesn't care?! ”

Although the fifth master is the temperament of Xianyun Yehe, he knows some political affairs more or less than Shanniang and the women and children of them, so he sneered: "The upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked, maybe the old man will still take the lead from it, you can be as honest as our Meixian county order." ”

This Jiangyin Mansion goes up to the prefect and down to the county orders under its jurisdiction, only the Meixian county order to which they belong Meishan Town is honest and upright. And because of his integrity and honesty, he asked this county magistrate to do it for seven or eight years. This is not a good thing for the county magistrate, but for the people of Meixian County, it is a great blessing.

Shanniang tilted her head and said: "Doesn't the imperial court have a rule that the accounts of the donation association need to be filed in the county government at the same time?" Even if the account book of the fundraising association was stolen, there is always a copy in the county office, is it necessary to search everywhere with such a stirring of people? "She's been helping the fundraiser lately, so she knows a little bit about that.

"Yes," the fifth master also touched his chin and said, "Our old man, but the money in the oil pot can be scooped up." I have heard before that he had the idea of a fundraiser at the beginning of his tenure, but he has never been able to achieve his wish. Now that such a thing has happened, it is just the right thing for him to find the truth. Even if the account books were stolen, it should be okay in the overall situation, which one is he making trouble?! ”

Although the boatman was not strict in his mouth and was very timid, when he saw that the father and daughter were almost about to shout the word "corrupt official" openly, they hurriedly begged for mercy and arched their hands and said: "The sky is dry, the sky is dry." With that, he hurriedly withdrew.

Shanniang and the fifth master glanced at each other, and they all smiled.

Hou Rui, Hou Jue, and Mrs. Wu didn't understand, "What does he mean?" Hou Rui asked, "This is not autumn and winter, what do you shout 'dry weather'?" ”

Shanniang pursed the corners of her lips and smiled, "Isn't it called something 'dry weather, be careful of fire candles'?" The sailor tabooed the word 'fire', and the boss of the boat replaced it with this sentence. ”

After thinking about it for a while, Mrs. Fifth understood, lowered her head and covered her mouth with her sleeve and laughed. Hou Rui and Hou Jue still don't understand.

The fifth master shook his head, sighed helplessly, and said, "The weather is dry, be careful of the candle." Beware of the candles, don't talk about state affairs. ”

This is a reminder that has only quietly appeared on the walls of the teahouse in the past four or five years. But because five years ago, someone in the teahouse discussed a few words about the ruin of the harem and the betrayal of the lord, I don't know what to call the ear to report to God, the government failed to catch the person who was talking, so the teahouse owner was arrested, and finally sent to the bitter cold place outside the customs. People who do small business are timid, and as soon as this incident came out, those teahouse owners posted all kinds of warning words in the teahouse. At the beginning, they still openly posted "Don't talk about state affairs", but after being troubled by the officials a few times, they vaguely reposted the words "Be careful of fire candles" one by one. I didn't want to come to the boatman's house, but it was extended to "dry weather......

Whether in her previous life or in this life, Shanniang is like her Laozi, and she doesn't care much about political affairs. But in her previous life, Yuan Changqing had already become a cabinet scholar, and she always knew a little more about what she should know. And the one sitting on the dragon chair today is not a wise monarch, and the officials under his rule are naturally not clear. It is said that even the first emperor didn't look down on that one back then, but because he only had such a son, he had to be asked to inherit orthodoxy. Speaking of which, since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there has only been a crown prince, and there has never been an imperial grandson, but because of today, the first emperor made an exception when he was still in power, and set up the current crown prince as the imperial grandson. Therefore, no matter how much the later one is devoted to the four princes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can still sit firmly in the position of the East Palace.

When the family sighed with emotion, it was finally their turn to dock.

Xu knew that the fifth master couldn't help his temper, so Uncle Gui took the first step to take care of those "black dogs", and didn't ask the fifth master to confront those people directly. Therefore, the family also went to Zhongshan smoothly.

*·*·*

The Jade Buddha Temple is really not comparable to the small Meishan Temple on the Mei Mountain, standing at the foot of the mountain and looking up, you can see that from the halfway up the mountainside, until the top of the mountain, a piece of yellow walls of different heights and levels, as well as the cornices of the mountain hall that overlap and overlap. Look at the land area, it is as big as a dozen Meishan Temples.

Although it is only the seventh day of the first lunar month, the pilgrims who come up to burn incense and worship the Buddha on the mountain road can already see a lot. Many people are like Shanniang and their family, carrying suitcases and cages, thinking that they are also going to spend the night in the Jade Buddha Temple.

The fifth old man originally came to visit the mountain, so he smiled at the fifth wife: "I heard that the scenery is good all the way, why don't we go up slowly, call the soft sedan car to follow behind, and then take the sedan chair when you can't walk." ”

Mrs. Fifth pursed her lips and smiled: "The sincerity of worshipping the Buddha should be walked up step by step." ”

The five masters and five wives were in high spirits, and Hou Jue and Hou Rui were also inexplicably excited, but this made the lazy Shanniang difficult. Now she can sit and never stand, and she can lie down and never sit.

As if she knew what she was thinking, Mrs. Fifth turned around and smiled at her: "I just ask for a sincerity, you have always been weak, you don't need to learn from me." ”

The fifth master also turned around and laughed at Shanniang and said, "Don't be lazy, in the end, you can take two steps by yourself, and then you will be allowed to get on the sedan chair when you can't walk." ”

So the family looked at the scenery while slowly climbing up the stone steps up the mountain. Uncle Gui commanded the servants and went to the temple to settle down first.

When they went up the mountain, it was already past noon. The sun is just right at this time. The bright spring light spilled through the gaps in the branches and leaves, illuminating the floating dust as if it were shining with a layer of golden light.

The second master, Hou Jue, looked up at the sunlight that sprinkled down from the branches and leaves, and suddenly sighed like a little adult, and said: "Sure enough, it is a holy mountain, and before you enter the mountain gate, it makes people feel very different." ”

Uncle Hou Rui smiled "poof", looked at Hou Jue and said, "What's the difference?" Let me see. Yo, it's different, a Buddha tooth grows! - He made a joke about Hou Jue's tooth again.

Hou Jue was annoyed, and stomped his feet to chase after his brother. Hou Rui smiled and turned around and ran. Shanniang couldn't help but run two steps with her, and she was tired, so she stood there and shouted at the backs of the two: "Beware of planting teeth!" ”

"It's okay, they're going to fall sooner or later anyway." Hou Rui replied with a smile, while teasing some puppy and kitten, jumping back and forth to provoke Hou Jue, causing the little fat dun to jump again and again, but he couldn't catch up with Hou Rui. In the end, there was no way, and when he saw that the old lady happened to be over, he pounced directly on his wife and shouted aggrievedly, "Mrs." ”

Mrs. smiled and rubbed her fat head, and said, "Brother is playing with you." He raised his head and reproached Hou Rui, "I have the appearance of being a brother!" ”

Speaking of which, in the past, the wife was as polite to their brothers and sisters as the master was to the guests, and never said a word of reproach. Although he blames Hou Rui like this now, he looks more and more kind.

Although Hou Rui is a bit second, he has never been a person who doesn't know what to do, and his wife has said good things for him on the boat before, he stopped, turned around and stuck out his tongue at his wife, and sure enough, he stopped teasing Hou Jue.

Shanniang originally planned to take a soft sedan chair halfway up, but she looked at the scenery all the way, and joked with her brothers and brothers all the way, but she didn't feel tired. When she finally remembered the word "lazy", as soon as she looked up, the mountain gate of the Jade Buddha Temple was already close in front of her.

*·*·*

When Shanniang's family entered the three gates, a monk came out of the main hall. The monk first glanced up and down the family of the fifth master, then turned around and greeted Heshi behind them: "The donor has worked hard all the way. ”

Shanniang turned her head to look, and saw that behind their family, a family was getting down from the soft sedan chair. The family, one by one, wore non-silk and satin, and the heads of the female dependents were brightly inserted, so that Shanniang looked tired for their necks.

She raised her eyebrows and looked back at her family.

The fifth master originally had some Jin legacy, and he didn't pay attention to food and clothing, and he only wanted to be comfortable in everything. Therefore, the fifth master does not like those silks that are cold to the touch, and only prefers Songjiang cotton cloth that is not easy to take care of and easy to wrinkle. At this time, the old man was wearing a new placket with big sleeves and blue cloth straight, because he had to climb the mountain and support the fifth wife, the cotton straight shirt had already been tossed by the old man and was wrinkled. And the old man uninhibitedly tucked a corner of his robe, revealing two equally wrinkled trousers underneath, and a pair of half-worn thin-soled boots stained with mud - this one, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a lifting man, at most it is a down-and-out scholar.

Mrs. Fifth usually doesn't like to pay attention to those, she only wears an ordinary lake blue wide-sleeved gown, and only embroiders a circle of delicate auspicious cloud patterns with dark blue silk thread at the cuffs of her placket. Although there are a few pieces of jewelry on the head, they are not as big and heavy as the family heirloom jewelry, which is very low-key and inconspicuous.

As for Shanniang herself. But she wore a narrow-sleeved blouse with a straight collar — still her favorite vine purple, of course — and a knee-length white gauze armor with dark rhombic patterns. Except for a pearl headband, there is no ornament on the head.

Her brother Hou Rui has always been a monkey-like person, and no matter how good his clothes are, he can't wear a good look, because he jumped forward and backwards, and he was sweating at this time. Not only did he tuck a corner of his robe like the fifth master, but his two sleeves were also rolled high, and his dress didn't look much better than the coolies looking for work at the bottom of the mountain.

Among the few people, only Xiao Chubby Dun is still like a young master from a rich family. Xiaopang is wearing a dazzling purple brocade dress today, embroidered with an old-fashioned Wufu Tuanshou pattern with gold thread, and there is no shortage of gold locks and purses around his neck, and he looks like a local tyrant and wealth. It's just that although he is dressed like a rich boy, he holds Shanniang's hand tightly, except for a little maid like Wufu, there is no other person around him, which is like the one in the back, the front and back hugs, blocking the three doors.

The fifth master also saw the monk coming, but at that time, he was helping the fifth lady to cross the high threshold in front of the temple gate, and it was inconvenient to be distracted for a while, so he temporarily turned his eyes away.

When the old man turned around and wanted to talk to the monk who knew the guest, he found that they had already left their family and went to greet the rich and noble family behind them.

Even Shanniang saw that the monk was born with a pair of good eyes that were accustomed to wealth and nobility, how could the fifth master not see it? There was a sneer.

Shanniang suddenly turned around, squeezed her eyes at the fifth master, and said with a smile: "Master, I will make an absolute uplink, and the master will not be able to make a downlink." The upper link is: sit, sit, sit. ”

The fifth master laughed when he heard it, nodded at her with his hand, and laughed loudly in cooperation: "It's not easy, the next link is: tea, tea, fragrant tea." ”

When the father and daughter said this, neither of them turned on the volume, and this was a famous allusion, and at this time, not only the monk blushed, but the pilgrims who came in and out of the front hall heard it, and they all smiled.

Others understood that this was difficult for Xiao Hou Jue, so they pulled Shanniang's hand and asked, "What are you laughing at?" ”

Hou Rui pulled him over with a smile and said, "I'll tell you a story......

While he was telling the story, Uncle Gui came over.

After Uncle Gui saluted respectfully to the fifth master and the others one by one, he reported very neatly: "The old lady, the eldest girl, the second master have worked hard all the way, should we go back to the yard to rest first and then go out for a walk?" He said to the fifth master: "Master Dehui heard that the master is coming, and I want to ask the master to come over and talk about it." ”

Zhike monk Yuan also secretly hated this family of local buns to say sarcastic to him, and was thinking about how to find an opportunity to retaliate back, when he suddenly heard Dehui's name, he suddenly didn't dare to make a second - although this old monk Dehui only hung up a list in the Jade Buddha Temple, he had lectured to the Queen Mother, not to mention that he was still the senior brother of the abbot Master Deyuan...... The master's friend is not something that he can easily offend as a little monk.

When he was thinking about how to ask the fifth master for forgiveness, the fifth master had already forgotten him to the clouds.

The old man looked back at his wife, and saw that although she didn't say anything, he could still see that she was tired, so he said, "It's okay, let's rest for a while." Then he said to Uncle Gui: "You go and tell the old bald donkey that I will accompany my family for the past two days, and I don't have time to pay attention to him, tell him not to bother me, and I will go to him when I am free." ”

Shanniang suddenly looked at Mrs. Five. The fifth master is really worthy of the name of scolding the bald donkey in front of the monk......

The mother and daughter looked at the eyes of the fifth master together, and immediately made the fifth master laugh and explained: "That old bald donkey also likes to draw a few strokes, and he is a painting friend with me, but he is too bad at painting." He added, "I only heard him say that the scenery here is good, and I knew that the monks here were like this, so I didn't invite ......."

When the old man said this, the monk was still circling around. The fifth wife immediately glanced at the fifth master. At this glance, he suddenly asked the fifth master to accept those strange words, smiled, led by Uncle Gui, and went to the guest house with the fifth wife.

At this time, Hou Rui was still frowning and telling Hou Jue the allusion of "sit down, please sit down, please sit down". Shanniang pushed the two of them and smiled, "Talk while walking, don't just stand." ”

But as she spoke, she suddenly stopped, looked up and looked around.

"What's wrong?" Hou Rui asked.

"I didn't ...... It's nothing. ”

Shanniang glanced around again, then pushed Hou Rui, pulled Hou Jue, and chased the old lady away.

For a moment, she suddenly had the illusion that someone was watching her in the dark.