Chapter 158 Longcui Temple
In the magnificent Rongguo Mansion, two housekeepers were killed during an audit, and one was even killed by an eighty-year-old servant.
The grudges, love and hatred, and right and wrong involved in this story are enough to make future generations imagine a bloody eight o'clock drama!
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, it would naturally cause a heated discussion. In the end, even Emperor Guangde was alarmed and issued two edicts in succession.
The first decree was to urge all the maternal relatives to act within their means and not to be extravagant for the purpose of visiting the imperial parents - however, more than half a year had passed and most of the repairs had been done, so this decree was purely hindsight.
Of course, the Rongguo Mansion and other aristocratic families had to submit a petition to apologize in fear and trepidation.
As for the second decree, it was because of the 86-year-old loyal servant's vow to protect his master until his death, so he specially summoned all the old men over 70 years old in the city to the palace for a banquet on the day of the emperor's birthday.
Of course, not all old men are qualified to enter the palace to celebrate birthdays.
In order to prevent the old men from being overly happy and causing a few of them to die accidentally, turning a happy event into a funeral.
The Ministry of Rites issued a special document, requiring Shuntian Prefecture to strictly control the screening and exclude those who were about to die. Only those who were considered to be in good health were allowed to enter the palace to attend the birthday banquet.
This is the classic case of 'the emperor opens his mouth and his subordinates run around'.
After receiving the order, officials at all levels in Shuntian Prefecture immediately began to search the city for doctors - whether the patient was old and strong or dying, naturally it would depend on the doctor's opinion.
In addition, this was also a preparation to shirk responsibility. If someone really died in the palace, the doctor could be used as a scapegoat.
After finally completing a physical examination for all the elderly men in the capital, the matter of arranging defenses had become imminent.
As a result, all the officials in Shuntian Prefecture had to work overtime.
By October 13, all matters from top to bottom had finally been settled. Han Anbang and Jia Yucun made an exception and allowed everyone to take a day off in turn so that they could have enough rest to prepare for the Emperor's birthday festival on October 17.
Of course, this "everyone" refers to officials of certain ranks. Those low-ranking clerks and yamen runners are not so lucky and still have to continue doing their jobs.
Sun Shaozong's ship is on the second list of people on leave, which is October 14th.
Because Ruan Rong has been pregnant for nearly seven months, she has become increasingly anxious recently. She prays to God every day, hoping to give birth to a son.
In order to help her relieve her emotions, Sun Shaozong planned to take her and Xiangling out for some entertainment during the day off.
However, after the court session was dismissed on October 13, we returned home and discussed for a long time, but we still couldn't decide on a definite place.
This was because all the places Ruan Rong mentioned were either Buddhist temples or nunneries, and it was obvious that she was still planning to go there to pray for a child .
Sun Shaozong had suggested going out for fun How could she agree to go to a temple?
Just when the stalemate was at hand, Shi Liu suddenly brought a card, which was an announcement that the Jia family's villa for visiting relatives was officially completed. Jia Baoyu then sent someone to deliver an invitation, inviting Sun Shaozong to go and see the new things tomorrow.
“That’s right!”
Sun Shaozong immediately came up with an idea: "Haven't you been wanting to visit your godsister for a long time? Why don't we go to Rongguo Mansion together?"
Not only Ruan Rong was satisfied with this proposal, but Xiangling was also very excited.
After all, she had lived in Rongguo Mansion for some years, and all her good friends were there - especially now that the Xue family had moved out, she had nothing to worry about.
No words were spoken that night.
Early the next morning, Sun Shaozong had people lay several layers of cotton mattresses in the carriage, until stepping on them felt like sinking into clouds, and then he personally escorted Ruan Rong onto the carriage.
As for Xiangling, she sat in another carriage with Shiliu and Furong.
They arrived at Rongguo Mansion at a leisurely pace and saw Jia Baoyu waiting outside the door.
After just a dozen days of not seeing him, he seemed to have changed a bit. His temperament was much calmer than before, and even his favorite bright red clothes were changed into a low-key black.
"Second brother."
He stepped forward and bowed, but Sun Shaozong was not in a hurry to get off the horse. Instead, he leaned forward and smiled, "Your sister Rong has also come along. She is not feeling well right now. Let me help her get off the carriage first, and then I will come to look for you."
Having said that, he personally drove the carriage to the front yard where Lady Jia was.
When they arrived at the second gate, he carefully helped Ruan Rong out of the car, and watched Ruan Rong and Xiangling being welcomed into the car by several maids. Then he turned back to the main gate to meet Jia Baoyu.
He looked Jia Baoyu up and down for a long while and couldn't help laughing: "You look even more handsome if the baby fat on your face is gone. Just looking at your face, I'm afraid only Liu Xianglian can compare to you."
"Liu Xianglian?"
"Well……"
Sun Shaozong then remembered that he had never met Liu Xianglian, so he casually said, "He is the son of an old friend of mine. He has been getting along very well with Feng Ziying recently. I'll introduce him to you if there's a chance."
"Since he is my second brother's friend and he is on good terms with Brother Feng, I must get to know him better."
As Jia Baoyu spoke, he raised his hand to let him in and said, "Second brother, how about we go to the other courtyard first?"
"I just wanted to see what your garden looks like."
The two of them chatted and laughed, and then entered the Grand View Garden.
Baoyu pointed out the scenery one by one, explaining why this place was called "Winding Path to a Secluded Place", why that place was called "Qingfang", what "The Phoenix Comes Here" meant, and what was so special about "Daoxiang Village"...
He came up with all kinds of allusions in every detail.
"They say you don't like reading, but I think they're wrong about you."
As Sun Shaozong was talking, he suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Where does Mr. Jiao live now? Don't forget to take me over to say hello later."
That day, he took Jiao Da through the government office. Along the way, Sun Shaozong and the octogenarian had a very pleasant chat.
Jiao Da had repeatedly lamented that if the descendants of the Rong and Ning mansions could have three times the ability of Sun Shaozong, they would not have been deceived by a group of scoundrels.
Jia Baoyu paused, shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly, "Old Man Jiao said he was from the East Palace and refused to move here no matter what. Now he has returned to that farm - but for the sake of the West Palace, he has been appointed as the manager and two honest men have been assigned to serve him."
This was not unexpected by Sun Shaozong. With Jiao Da's contributions, if he had been willing to be more flexible, he would not have ended up in his current situation.
"That's right."
Jia Baoyu suddenly pointed to a palace not far ahead and said, "There is a strange person living in the Longcui Temple. Since you are here, you must not miss it."
Having said that, he waited for Sun Shaozong to arrive at the Longcui Temple and gave instructions to the little nun guarding the gate.
Soon, a young nun with long hair came out of the temple gracefully. She had her black hair wrapped in a white gauze, and her eyebrows and eyes looked like those in a painting. She held a green jade whisk in her hand and wore lotus-soled black boots...
From a distance, it really looks like the Bodhisattva Guanyin has descended to the earth.
But Jia Baoyu introduced: "This is the famous 'divine judgement' Lord Sun in the capital. Brother Sun, this female Bodhisattva is called Miaoyu. She is first-rate in Buddhism, talent, and poetry!"
