Chapter 215 Trapped in Qingxin Temple
When the old lady saw that Xiao Jun was afraid that Mengxi would suffer in Qingxin Temple and forced her to write a divorce letter and let her go despite her hand injury, she was moved. While comforting her grandson, she was afraid that the night would be long and she sent someone to forcibly take Mengxi away.
The old lady had a selfish motive for not letting Xiao Jun write a divorce letter and let Mengxi leave at this time. That is, Mengxi could not leave the Xiao family until the second master recovered. Even if the old lady divorced Mengxi, she would use her to the point where there was nothing left.
If Mengxi knew what she was thinking, he would definitely kick her to death. She is now the famous owner of Yichuntang, so who is afraid of her!
After hearing what the old lady said, Mengxi was also stunned. Second Master was so anxious to write a divorce letter, was it to prevent her from suffering in Qingxin Temple? With this thought, she looked up at Second Master, and saw that he was looking at her worriedly. She was flustered, avoiding his sight, and her eyes fell on his stiff right arm, which didn't look like he could write. She pushed away the hungry tiger-like women who pounced on her, and stared at them coldly. The two women couldn't help but take a step back and turned to look at the old lady. Mengxi stepped forward, bowed to the old lady and said:
"Mengxi will follow the old lady's instructions and will go there first."
After saying this, he didn't look at the crowd anymore. He straightened his chest, supported Zhixia , and walked out slowly. The two old women followed him out.
"Xi'er..."
Hearing the second master's call, Mengxi paused, then walked out again with steady steps.
The eldest wife, with a pale face, looked at Mengxi's back, with a hint of viciousness in her eyes. Anyone who hinders Jun'er from becoming the head of the family must die!
…
Qingxin Temple is located in the southwest of the Xiao Mansion. It is connected to the Xiao Mansion by a small gate. Although it is independent of the Xiao Mansion, its foundation still belongs to the Xiao Mansion. It was only built outside the mansion because the Xiao family members feared it was unlucky to build a temple inside the mansion.
Qingxin Temple never receives outside pilgrims, and all the incense in the temple is supplied by the Xiao Mansion. It is the place where . It is a three-courtyard building dotted with rocks, trees, flowers and plants. A long corridor connects the entire courtyard. In the front is the Buddhist chanting hall, and on both sides there are east and west meditation rooms.
Qingxin Temple is presided over by a female teacher named Yun Qian. All the wives and concubines of the Xiao family who were divorced and whose families were not powerful enough to take them back were sent here to practice. Compared with the hustle and bustle of the Xiao Mansion, this place seems particularly quiet and lonely. Behind those green lamps and ancient Buddhas, there are countless lonely and long cold nights.
Since Mengxi still held the title of Second Wife and the old lady had given instructions, Yun Qian did not dare to treat her badly and gave up her own east room for the three of them, master and servant, to live in.
After taking care of everything, Yun Qian responded to Second Madam's question and gave a detailed introduction to the situation here. Seeing that Second Madam didn't say much, she arranged for a few maids to come and serve her, and then she withdrew.
The next morning, after Mengxi burned incense and worshipped the Bodhisattva in the Buddhist hall, he returned to the East Zen Hall. Zhidong was cleaning the house. When he saw Zhixia coming in with the second grandmother, his eyes turned red and his lips moved, but no sound came out. He just lowered his head and continued to wipe the table.
Not noticing Zhidong's abnormal behavior, Mengxi sat down on the embroidery cushion. She looked up and saw Zhidong was still wiping the table. Was it that dirty? It seemed that she had been wiping it since they entered the room. She said to Zhidong:
"Don't wipe it. The things here are not as good as Xiaoxiangyuan, but it is the cleanest place in the Xiao family. I have been chanting sutras all morning and I am hungry. Let's set the table for dinner."
"Second Grandma..."
After hearing what the second grandmother said, Zhidong raised his head, screamed once, and then he couldn't say any more, and tears fell down.
Mengxi and Zhixia were both shocked. Zhixia couldn't help but ask:
"What's wrong so early in the morning? Who made you angry? Why are you acting like this? Are you going to let Second Madam have her meal?"
"My fault, there was sand in my eyes just now, please don't take it to heart, Madam."
After hearing what Zhidong said, Mengxi knew that she had something to say. Seeing that she didn't say anything, she didn't force him to ask. She just said lightly:
"Let's set up the meal"
Seeing Zhidong standing there motionless, Mengxi did not make things difficult for her and motioned Zhixia to serve the meal. Seeing Zhixia was about to leave, Zhidong said:
"Just now when Second Grandma was worshipping Buddha, breakfast was delivered."
"It's delivered! Where is it? Second Grandma has been talking about it for a long time, but you still haven't put it up."
"Second Madam, look, do you think the rice is edible..."
After hearing Zhidong's words, Mengxi and Zhixia followed Zhidong's gaze and looked towards the window. After just one glance, even though Mengxi was calm, she couldn't help but tremble with anger.
This was not a meal for human beings. It was a large bowl of thick porridge with vegetable leaves in it, almost like swill. Two hard steamed buns looked like they could kill someone. Mengxi even wondered if they were props used in modern movies. A plate of black pickled radish was cut into pieces, each with a chubby head. It was hard to eat.
Of course, I can't eat it.
"This is feeding the pigs! Second Madam, please wait, I will go find Mr. Yun Qian and ask clearly."
Zhixia was walking out while talking, but before she reached the door, she was stopped by the second grandmother:
"return!"
"Second Grandma..."
"At least I haven't been divorced yet. People here don't have the guts to do that. Someone must have arranged it. Maybe they are waiting for us to find them so that we can embarrass ourselves. Calm down."
After hearing this, Zhixia came back to sleep and stood aside with a worried look on her face. Seeing Second Madam sitting there in deep thought, she sighed and said:
"Second Madam shouldn't have disobeyed the old lady yesterday, you wouldn't have suffered this punishment."
"If you don't disobey her, will you be able to leave this house? As the saying goes, you can't be a man if you are at ease, and you can't be at ease if you are a man."
"But, but, we are weak in the Xiao Mansion after all. Yesterday, I heard from the maid who was ordered to take care of us that the old lady was furious and ordered the family rules to be prepared. I don't know why she didn't use the family rules and just sent us here to reflect on our mistakes."
"Didn't I ask Li Du to bring people to wait outside the mansion? If the old lady had used family rules, Zhidong would have immediately gone to take them into the mansion, displayed the Yichuntang sign, and had them leave forcefully. It was because she didn't use family rules that I took a step back. It would be best if we could leave the Xiao Mansion peacefully. At least I won't be harassed by the Xiao family for the rest of my life. If I can live a quiet life, it's worth it to suffer some grievances now."
After hearing what Second Grandma said, Zhixia shook her head, sighed, and said quietly:
"I know that Second Madam wants to leave the Xiao Mansion, but in my opinion, Second Master had feelings for you, and now we are separated like this. I feel sad for you and Second Master."
"It is because I know that the Second Master has used his feelings that I would rather expose my identity as the owner of Yichun Hall and confront the old lady, and leave. I am destined to have no fate with the Second Master. If I continue to waste time and really fall in love with him, I am afraid I will be heartbroken."
"Second Grandma..."
"The Buddha said that life in the world is like being in the midst of thorns. If the heart does not move, the person will not move rashly. If the heart does not move, there will be no harm. If the heart moves, the person will move rashly, hurting his body and bones, and thus experiencing all kinds of pain in the world. Second Master is suffering because his heart is moved. Do you also want me to suffer like him?"
"Second Grandma is right, it's only two years..."
"Go find that copy of Midnight Anthology"
It is said that if you don't let your heart move, you won't get hurt, but why did your heart ache when she said this? Seeing Zhixia wanted to say more, she quickly changed the subject. She really didn't want to face this.
When Zhixia heard Second Madam asking for a book, she remembered that she had not brought the book with her, and she quickly said:
"Yesterday, there were two maids watching and they were very urgent. I only packed up Second Madam's daily necessities and didn't bring anything else. I am thinking about this matter now."
Mengxi listened, thought for a moment and said:
"We can't have this meal. You and Zhidong should go to Xiaoxiang Courtyard now, find Hongzhu, and bring back all the things that were left behind. The most important thing is to bring the pigeons in the backyard so that you can contact Zhiqiu and Li Du. If anything happens, they can take care of them. Also, contact the servants that Li Du sent into the mansion and ask them to find a way to deliver meals to us every day. No matter what, we can't mistreat ourselves."
Seeing that Zhixia and Zhidong were both out, there was really nothing to do, so Mengxi went to Yunqian to find a copy of "The Three Lives Karma Sutra" and started reading. As she was reading, Zhixia and Zhidong walked in angrily.
Mengxi saw it, stood up and asked casually:
"what happened again"
"Second Madam doesn't know..."
Zhidong spoke too quickly and just when he was halfway through his words, Zhixia stopped him with a look. Mengxi saw this, put down the book and looked at Zhixia.
Meeting the Second Mistress's gaze, Zhixia lowered her head guiltily. After a long while, she spoke:
"I followed Second Madam's instructions and went to Xiaoxiang Courtyard with Zhidong. But when we reached the gate, we were stopped by the gatekeeper. She said that the First Madam had ordered us not to leave the courtyard. We said we were just going to get something and that if we were worried, we could send someone to follow us. But the gatekeeper refused to let us go and kept saying nonsense..."
Shit, isn’t he under house arrest? If that’s true, and he can’t communicate with the outside world, he’ll be at the mercy of others!
After hearing this, Mengxi stood up and paced around the room. This was something she had not expected. Yesterday, the old lady did not say to restrict her freedom. Besides, she was a weak woman, could she run away? If they were afraid that she would run away, they could just put her under house arrest. There was no need to control the two maids as well. What was they trying to do?
With the old lady's temperament, there is no need to do such a thing. It must be the eldest lady who did it secretly. What does she want to do? Isn't she afraid that this matter will be reported to the old lady?
Thinking that they were really isolated in Qingxin Temple and something was done here, by that time the matter would be done, and the old lady would not be able to do anything to the eldest wife. She had been married into the Xiao family for two years, and the grudges of the past two years had made the eldest wife hate her till death, especially now that she had become a stumbling block for the second master to ascend to the position of head of the family. The almost crazy look of the eldest wife flashed before her eyes, and a thin layer of cold sweat seeped out of Mengxi's forehead.
Stopping, Mengxi looked at Zhixia and Zhichun and said:
"During these two days, you should all stay busy. Go around here and look for ways to get out except for the main gate. Secondly, try to bribe a few people here who can come and go freely. Don't feel sorry for their money. Ask them to send a message to the pillar on the door and try to contact Li Duzhiqiu. Also, ask around to see if the old lady knows about these things."
"I understand. I will do it right away."
Zhixia and Zhidong responded and walked out. Just as they reached the door, Zhixia remembered that Second Grandma didn't have breakfast in the morning, so she turned around and asked:
"Second Grandma's breakfast?"
"Let's do these things first. Send the food out and dump it. If you don't eat for one or two meals, you won't starve to death. But if you are really trapped here, you will have no way to survive. Oh, by the way, you two remember, when you go to other rooms, you are not allowed to touch the food or drinks. From now on, all food and drinks must be checked by me before they can be used, understand?"
"Second Grandma..."
"Remember, we are trapped here. Without outside help, it would be in vain if we died."
Zhixia and Zhidong's eyes turned red. They responded quickly, turned around and walked out quickly.
