Chapter 352 Seeking Purity Where is Purity
Longcui Temple.
The third young lady, Jia Tanchun, carefully gathered her sleeves, revealing a section of her fair wrists, then she picked up the Xuancheng purple brush and wrote on the paper with great speed, finishing a ci tune of "Xijiang Yue" in an instant.
Seeing the ink stains full and thick, with a faint fragrance wafting into her nose, Tanchun poured some warm water into the brush washer while praising, "I heard that you are an expert at mixing incense, but I didn't expect you are also so accomplished in making ink."
"My master is an expert in this area. I have only learned the basics. Now I have managed to make a few usable pieces simply by using good materials."
Miaoyu said indifferently, and then stepped forward to carefully examine Jia Tanchun's calligraphy. After a while, she suddenly shook her head and said, "You have been coming to my nunnery so often recently, why is it that the anger in your heart has not only not been relieved, but has become even more intense?"
Jia Tanchun paused in washing her brush, but then she smiled as if nothing had happened: "I went to the Qingxu Temple to listen to an opera yesterday. It was so noisy all day. Isn't my mind getting restless?"
Seeing that she was unwilling to speak her mind, Miaoyu sighed and stopped asking any more questions.
In the Rongguo Mansion, the person who had the most contact with Miaoyu was the fourth lady Jia Xichun, followed by Daiyu, Baochai and others - and Jia Tanchun and her were at most nodding acquaintances, and they had no regular interactions.
It was not until after the "Five Ghosts Nightmare" incident, when Aunt Zhao was imprisoned in a small ancestral hall to chant scriptures to atone for her sins, that Tanchun suddenly became interested in the Rongcui Temple. She came there almost every day and gradually became familiar with Miaoyu.
It was really difficult for her. Her own mother had done such a thing. Not only did Mrs. Wang become more distant, but the people below her also took her less seriously. Tanchun was a strong-willed person and would never show weakness in front of others...
Thinking of this, Miaoyu could not help but sigh secretly, took out a red lacquered sandalwood wooden fish from the closet, sat cross-legged on the bright yellow cushion, and said, "I am going to chant the 'Purifying Heart Mantra' for two quarters of an hour. Do you want to join me?"
"Of course..."
"Is Master Miaoyu in there?"
Just as Jia Yingchun was about to respond, she suddenly heard a maid outside shouting in a loud voice, and was somewhat surprised: "How come there is a vulgar person visiting your place?"
Miaoyu also frowned, then stood up calmly, took her whisk and went out. Seeing the old woman peeking out from outside, she put her hands together and said, "Donor, please ask me to come out. I wonder what you have to say?"
"I dare not, I dare not."
The old woman also returned the greeting, rubbing her hands and laughing, "How can an old woman like me give you any advice? It was Lord Sun from Shuntian Prefecture who sent someone to say that the good deed you predicted in advance will soon be born."
When it came to words like "merit" and "enlightenment", the old woman became even more awed, obviously thinking they were some supernatural things.
But Miaoyu immediately realized when she heard this. It must be the nun in the house of confinement who is about to give birth to a child!
Suddenly, the scene of Zhishan carrying the stillborn fetus and forcing it into her arms emerged in her mind. Her originally calm face suddenly showed mixed emotions.
After finally suppressing the urge to vomit, Miaoyu reluctantly bowed to the old woman and said, "Thank you for coming to deliver the message."
"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it!"
The old woman waved a palm-leaf fan with both hands, and when she saw that Miaoyu had no more instructions, she took her leave and left obediently.
After the old woman left the courtyard, Jia Tanchun came out of the Buddhist hall and looked at Miaoyu's troubled face. She whispered, "Why don't you just not go? It's so dirty to take care of children. How can someone as clean as you be able to endure it?"
Unexpectedly, Miaoyu became more determined after hearing what she said. She shook her head resolutely and said, "Fake compassion is at least 'compassion'. If I can't even do this fake compassion, what's the point of practicing Buddhism? What's the point of seeking the Tao?"
Having said that, he resolutely turned back, packed up his things, and hurried out of Longcui Temple.
Jia Tanchun watched her go away from the door, then turned back to look at the half-closed temple door of Longcui Temple, and couldn't help muttering: "Even if you devote yourself to Buddhism, how can you feel peaceful? In the end, you still have to run around in this world."
"Girl, girl!"
She sighed and walked back to Qiu Shuang Zhai. Unexpectedly, she had only walked a few steps when she saw her personal maid Shi Shu hurriedly approaching her and said anxiously, "Go back and take a look. The Third Master insisted that you go and rescue the concubine. We said a few words to him and he started to smash the guys in our room We couldn't stop him!"
Upon hearing this, Tanchun stamped her feet in anger and said angrily, "This evil fellow who bullies the weak and fears the strong, dares not say a word to the master and the mistress, but just keeps bullying me!"
As she spoke, she turned and ran towards the bushes beside her.
Under the bewildered gaze of the secretary, Tanchun broke off a bramble and held it in her hand, not caring that her white palm was almost pierced by the thorns and bleeding. She gritted her teeth and said fiercely, "Let's go! Today, I will let Third Brother Huan know what it means that an elder sister is like a mother!"
Let’s not talk about how Tanchun got angry with Jia Huan in Qiushuangzhai.
Miaoyu arrived at the gate of Shuntian Mansion by carriage. Just as she was about to tell the accompanying nun to come forward and announce her identity, a clerk came up to her and said, "Is Master Miaoyu from Longcui Temple here? My master has told me that if you are here, you should go directly to the house arrest and wait!"
After saying this, Miaoyu ordered the driver to go around to the back street of the government office. When they entered the confinement place, they saw four big monks guarding an old monk with a kind face, who was chanting scriptures in the corner.
Miaoyu felt that the monk looked very familiar, but she couldn't remember who he was.
Just as he was hesitating whether to go up and say hello, he suddenly saw the bamboo curtain of the gatehouse next door raised, and Sun Shaozong came out. He raised his chin to the old monk and explained: "That is Master Lechi, the head monk of Fayuan Temple. You should have heard of his name, right?"
Master Liao Chi of Fayuan Temple was a famous eminent monk in the capital, and Miaoyu naturally knew him.
Seeing Sun Shaozong's nonchalant look, as if the harsh comments at the beginning did not come from him, Miaoyu could not help but sarcastically said, "If it weren't for the Zen Master Liaochi coming in person, Miaoyu might not have the honor to see the honorable face of Master Sun here, right?"
This was actually quite surprising to her. How could Sun Shaozong, a fifth-rank governor, come in person to visit just because a slutty nun gave birth to a premature baby?
The reason why he appeared here was naturally to give face to the foolish monk.
Sun Shaozong was not annoyed by her revealing his 'snobbish' face. He just smiled and said, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Little nun has become more self-aware."
This was a subtle criticism that Miaoyu's status was not high enough for him to personally greet her.
If it were in the past, Miaoyu would have definitely continued to argue with him, but now she just snorted coldly and asked with her hands clasped together, "I wonder where the woman is now? Is she in any danger?"
"Well, they have already moved her to the main room, and hired two midwives. It's still unclear whether she is in any danger..."
"It's born, it's born!"
As Sun Shaozong was talking here, a burly female jailer ran out of the main room and shouted at the top of her voice, "A girl was born!"
"Amitabha."
When he heard that the baby was a girl, Monk Liao Chi chanted the Buddha's name, slowly stood up from the ground, and led his four disciples to the two people. He first bowed to Sun Shaozong, and then smiled at Miaoyu and said, "Excuse me, are you the lay Buddhist Miaoyu from the Longcui Temple?"
"It is this little girl."
Miaoyu always regarded herself as a nun in front of others, but in front of this foolish monk, she obediently called herself "little girl".
"Amitabha."
Monk Liao Chi chanted the Buddha's name again and said solemnly, "The layman is very compassionate. I am relieved that the child can be taken care of by the layman. However, all living beings have their own aspirations. The layman does not need to force her to be a monk or a layman in the future. He only needs to guide her to be upright and follow fate."
"Miaoyu carefully followed the Zen master's teachings."
Miaoyu responded respectfully.
Sun Shaozong on the side couldn't help but complain in his heart, what is this 'whether you are at ease'? Why didn't Fayuan Temple come forward to take charge before Taoist Zhang proposed to adopt the child?
However, he also had an expression of 'benefiting a lot'. He and Miaoyu respectfully sent the foolish monk out, and then turned back to inquire about the condition of the nun and the baby girl.
