Chapter 172: Encountering the Purple Gold Temple
October 25th was Sun Shaozong's day off.
There was a sporadic snowfall in the first half of the night. Although it was sparse, it never stopped for a moment. So early that morning, a thin layer of snow accumulated on the ground.
Originally, Sun Shaozong was absolutely unwilling to let Ruan Rong go out in such weather, but he had promised her a few days ago that she would go to pray to the gods during her day off, and it was extremely difficult to change his mind.
In the end, they had to compromise and chose the not-too-far Zijin Temple as their destination.
As usual, Sun Shaozong brought a few maids with him and wrapped the carriage with cotton mattresses to keep out the wind and rain.
After finishing the work, he was about to go back to the backyard to help Ruan Rong out, but on the way he saw two servants pointing and talking and laughing in the corridor.
This would have been nothing, but the direction they pointed to was exactly the courtyard where Yu Qian and the other two were.
Sun Shaozong stepped forward and asked with a smile: "What are you talking about so happily? Why don't you tell me so that I can have some fun too."
The two servants were frightened at first, but then they became bolder when they saw that he was very kind.
One of them was quick-witted and said jokingly, "Second Master, isn't it snowing? Butler Zhao asked us to go to the east courtyard to sweep the snow, but the guys were so protective of us that they wouldn't let us sweep it no matter what. Now they are holding the snow, touching it and licking it, like kids who have never seen the world."
"Really?"
Sun Shaozong's face suddenly darkened, and he suddenly raised his voice and said, "Where's Butler Zhao? Call him over!"
The two servants then realized that something was wrong, but they dared not disobey his orders, so they had to separate one of them and call Zhao Zhongji over.
When Zhao Zhongji arrived, Sun Shaozong pointed at the boy and said, "Tell the housekeeper Zhao what you just said. Remember not to change a single word."
The servant was already panicking, and after stumbling over and over he managed to learn the words, Zhao Zhongji came up and slapped him , and then kicked him into the snow!
"You bastard!"
Zhao Zhongji still looked at the boy with a frown on his face, pointing at his nose and cursing, "This is really outrageous. When did people like you appear in our mansion? How can you make random comments about how our brothers act?"
Having said that, he was about to start punching and kicking again.
Sun Shaozong raised his hand to stop him and said impatiently: "Alright, I didn't call you over here to see you swinging your fists - go and tell them later, and don't let them catch a cold because of their greed for novelty."
"The uncles and aunts in the south entrusted their people to the capital, which shows that they trust us. But the more so, the more we have to do our best!"
Zhao Zhongji nodded and responded quickly.
Sun Shaozong then returned to the backyard and carefully helped Ruan Rong onto the carriage.
As Xiangling's mother was not used to the dry weather in the capital these days, she did not follow this time. Only Shi Liu, Furong and a rough-handed old woman sat in the second car.
The two chatted for a while on the way, and Ruan Rong couldn't help but probe: "The master has been restless since he came back from the master's place that day. I heard that he just taught two servants a lesson. Could it be that the master really encountered some difficulties?"
"this……"
Sun Shaozong didn't know how to explain it for a moment. This matter was really too absurd!
Fortunately, seeing that he was in a difficult situation, Ruan Rong said considerately, "Forget it. Since it is not convenient for us women to know, you can handle it yourself. Anyway, with your ability, nothing should be difficult for you."
Is this difficult?
No, it should be said that this is not a difficult matter at all!
Forget it~
Anyway, nothing has been decided yet, so I'll think of another solution when the time comes.
No conversation along the way.
When they arrived at the Zijin Temple, there were not many people coming to worship in the snow, so Sun Shaozong spent some money and temporarily booked the main hall.
After entering the main hall, Ruan Rong knelt on the cushion and muttered something to herself. She then devoutly pinched three incense sticks and, with Sun Shaozong's support throughout, inserted them into the incense burner.
In just a few moments, Ruan Rong's forehead was already covered with sweat, so Sun Shaozong wanted to help her back to the carriage to rest.
But Ruan Rong had come out with great difficulty, how could she be willing to leave like this?
He glanced at the book of merits and virtues on the side and saw a copper stick tube pressing on it. He stepped forward and shook out a stick. However, the poem on it was so vague that it was difficult to understand what it meant.
"Pomegranate."
Ruan Rong called Shi Liu over and told her, "Go outside and ask which monk in the temple can interpret the divination most effectively."
Shi Liu took the order and went. Soon he came back to report that the person who was best at interpreting divinations in the whole temple was the abbot, Zen Master Yuanzhen.
Sun Shaozong had just heard of the name of this old monk Yuan Zhen from his adopted elder brother a few days ago. It seemed that he had quite a bit of prestige in the capital. If he could get him to say a few auspicious words, it would surely make Ruan Rong feel more at ease.
So Sun Shaozong helped Ruan Rong out of the main hall, called a young monk to lead the way, and went straight to Abbot Yuanzhen's meditation room.
Unexpectedly, just after passing the main hall, he bumped into several female relatives head-on. The leader was none other than Xue Pan's mother, Xue Wang.
It turned out to be a coincidence. Aunt Xue thought that there wouldn't be too many people in Zijin Temple today, so she went to ask old monk Yuanzhen for help in calculating an auspicious date for the wedding. If she could use the help of the seasons to change the woman's dissolute temperament, that would naturally be the best.
Now that they suddenly met face to face, Sun Shaozong was caught off guard and Aunt Xue's heart was beating wildly, wondering if this audacious lunatic had spies in her house.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that I ran into him here?
Only when she found out that Ruan Rong was pregnant did Aunt Xue feel relieved.
How could Sun Shaozong know what was going on in her mind?
Seeing that he couldn't avoid it anymore and the other party was an elder, he quickly handed Ruan Rong to Shi Liu and Fu Rong to take care of, and stepped forward, bowed and said, "My nephew greets Aunt Xue."
It was just a coincidence last time, so he naturally wouldn't stare at Aunt Xue this time.
After the greetings, he briefly introduced Ruan Rong's identity, without looking away the whole time, and there was no impoliteness at all.
Logically speaking, Aunt Xue should have been very satisfied with Sun Shaozong's good behavior, but for some reason, she felt a sense of loss.
She also secretly wondered whether he had restrained his evil intentions because he had a pregnant concubine by his side, or whether it was because she had been overworked recently and her face looked a little haggard and less attractive than that day?
If it's the former, it's fine, but if it's the latter...
"Meet Aunt Xue."
While I was thinking about these random things, Ruan Rong stepped forward and nodded slightly.
Aunt Xue finally reacted and said with a smile, "Since we are destined to meet here, why don't I accompany you to visit Master Yuanzhen so that we can take care of each other."
There was no reason for Ruan Rong to refuse, so she linked arms with Aunt Xue and led the maids and old women into the abbot's meditation room, leaving Sun Shaozong alone waiting outside.
