Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 139 Miaoyu is in trouble
Miaoyu ran back to the Muni Temple in panic and embarrassment, and quickly went to her shelter in the backyard, still feeling frightened and regretful.

If I had known that I would encounter such an unlucky young man today, I would not have left the hospital to appreciate the plum blossoms and the snow.

Miaoyu was worried, thinking that if this young man really had evil thoughts about her, he would probably continue to harass her. This man had already followed her into the Muni Temple.

The abbot of Muni Temple is an old nun with the Buddhist name Huichen.

Muni Temple is not a large temple, and there are no distinguished guests above the level of princes and princesses among the pilgrims, but there are still some distinguished pilgrims.

This means that as the host, Hui Chen often needs to personally welcome guests and often visit wealthy families.

For an abbot like Hui Chen, it is not enough to just practice meditation, she needs to pay attention to her career and economy.

It was snowing heavily today, and no distinguished guests came to Muni Temple in the morning. Hui Chen did not have to go to any wealthy family, so he had some free time.

At this time, Hui Chen was sitting cross-legged in a quiet room. The room was quiet and the air was filled with smoke.

Just as Hui Chen's mind was entering into a state of meditation, he was suddenly startled by a knock on the door.

"It's snowing so hard, could it be possible that a noble person would come here on this snowy day?"

Hui Chen was suspicious and called out, "Come in."

A young nun gently opened the door, walked into the room, and said to Hui Chen softly, "There is a distinguished person outside who wants to see the head nun."

Hui Chen asked, "Whose lady is this?
The little nun replied, "It's not a lady, it's a dear gentleman."

Hui Chen was slightly surprised. Although she sometimes socialized with men, she had never socialized with any of her relatives. How come a relative suddenly came to Muni Temple to find her on a snowy day?
However, the three words "Dear Grand Master" made her dare not neglect him immediately.

The royal family titles of the Great Zhou Dynasty imitated those of the Ming Dynasty, but there were also some changes. From high to low, they were Prince, Prince of a County, Duke of a County, Duke of Zhenguo, Duke of Fuguo, and so on.

Similar to the Qing Dynasty royal family title system in Yuan Qingbai's previous life, the title of Duke is similar to that of Beile, and the title of Duke of a County is similar to that of Beizi.

Yuan Qingsang's current title is Duke, which is second only to Prince and Duke of a Duchy among royal family titles.

Hui Chen continued to ask the little nun: "Did this dear master tell me which branch of the royal family he came from?"

The little nun said, "I didn't say that."

Hui Chen nodded, immediately stood up and walked out of the quiet room.

……

……

Yuan Qingsang was sitting in a main room drinking tea with his legs crossed. The very posture of sitting and drinking tea revealed a bit of his dandy habits.

Seeing the old nun Hui Chen walk into the main hall, Yuan Qingsang did not stand up, but glanced at her and examined her carefully.

Hui Chen put his hands together in greeting: "Amitabha! I didn't know you were such a distinguished guest. I am so sorry for the disrespect."

Yuan Qingsang still did not stand up, and asked in a pretentious tone: "Are you the head nun of this Muni Temple?"

Hui Chen nodded: "That's right, may I ask which branch of the royal family your dear master is from?"

Yuan Qingsang looked arrogant and said, "My father is the old loyal prince, and I am the eldest son in the family."

Upon hearing this, Hui Chen suddenly realized that the old Prince Zhongzhi was once a powerful figure. He was the ninth brother of Emperor Chengtai and the ninth uncle of the current Emperor Tianlong.

Hui Chen became more respectful: "More than ten years ago, I had the honor of seeing your father once. At that time, he was the ninth prince. Your father was extremely brave and brave, and he had both talent and virtue. I admired him. Today, I saw that your temperament is quite similar to your father's in those days, which is really gratifying."

This statement is obviously intended to be flattering.

Yuan Qingsang has an ugly appearance and a bad figure, and is much inferior to the old Prince Zhongzhi.

Hui Chen, an old Buddhist nun, is quite good at flattering people.

This is also in line with the trend of the times.

The abbots of temples and monasteries in the capital are all more or less good at flattering others, especially the abbots of large and famous temples, who, after all, often have to socialize with important people.

Yuan Qingsang was not pleased with Yong Huichen's flattery. Although he also thought that his father was a man of extraordinary bravery, talent and good looks, he harbored resentment towards his father.

He had two main grievances: one was that he failed to inherit his father's hereditary title of prince, and the other was that he had been confined in the Prince Zhongzhi's Palace for several years.

Yuan Qingsang said impatiently: "Don't talk nonsense. Let me ask you, there is a girl with long hair practicing in this Muni Temple. Who is she?"

Hui Chen was puzzled and responded, "I dare not hide it from you, sir. There are four people in our temple who practice with their hair untied. Except for one who is over 40 years old, the others are still young. I don't know who you are referring to, sir?"

Yuan Qingsang said, "The girl I'm talking about is quite pretty, with a bun on her head and a moon-white cloak. I just saw her outside with an old maid and a little girl admiring the plum blossoms."

After hearing this, Hui Chen realized that this dear master was talking about Miaoyu.

Hui Chen did not respond immediately, but became alert. Based on Yuan Qingsang's words and actions, she speculated that Yuan Qingsang might have evil thoughts about Miaoyu.

Although Hui Chen seems a bit worldly, she is actually kind-hearted.

Hui Chen and Miaoyu's master, who was very good at performing innate numbers, were sisters from the same school. Hui Chen was the elder sister, and the two had a deep friendship. Before her death, the younger sister asked Hui Chen to take care of Miaoyu. If it weren't for Hui Chen's care, Miaoyu would not have lived peacefully in Muni Temple for more than two years.

Hui Chen doesn't want Miaoyu to be harassed by Yuan Qingsang, her dear master.

Yuan Qingsang saw Hui Chen hesitate and his face changed, his face was unhappy: "Why don't you reply to my question?"

Facing such a noble and powerful man, Hui Chen did not dare to speak falsely for a moment, so he said: "According to what the noble said, I think it might be Miaoyu."

Yuan Qingsang said, "Miaoyu? Please call her over so I can see her."

Hui Chen couldn't help but ask, "I wonder why the dear master is looking for Miaoyu?"

Yuan Qingsang said, "I'll talk to her in detail after I meet her first."

Hui Chen felt embarrassed and said respectfully, "Please forgive me, sir. Miaoyu has a very special background. She is from Suzhou. Her ancestors were scholars and officials. However, she was sick since she was a child. She bought many substitutes but none of them worked. So she became a nun and practiced Buddhism with her hair untied at Xuanmu Panxiang Temple in Suzhou."

"Two years ago, she followed her master to Beijing to pay homage to the relics of Guanyin and the palm leaf manuscripts. Because her master was my former senior sister, she stayed here. She is not a monk of the Muni Monastery, and given her family background, she has lived here for more than two years and has rarely seen pilgrims, let alone male guests."

"My dear lord, you are a noble and upright person, and you will surely understand my feelings. I hope you will forgive me. If you have any questions about Miaoyu, I will pass them on to you."

Yuan Qingsang's face turned pale and he became angry. He stood up and stared at Hui Chen with a deadly look. He said in a deep voice, "Don't make a fuss. I want to see her, how dare she refuse to see me! Or do you not take me seriously and deliberately neglect me?"

Without waiting for Hui Chen to respond, Yuan Qingsang sneered, "You should know that the Monks' Office is managed by Prince Yi Zhong. Prince Yi Zhong and I have a deep brotherly relationship. If I ask him to do something, he will agree to it."

Yuan Qingsang threatened in a deep voice: "Bring Miaoyu to me immediately. When I see her, if she is really the girl I met before, I will give you other instructions. Otherwise, I will call Prince Yi Zhong, and not only will you no longer be the abbot of this Muni Temple, but your certificate of ordination will also be lost!"

In the seventh year of Chengtai, the day after Emperor Jing'an passed away, Emperor Chengtai, in accordance with the earlier agreement with Emperor Jing'an, issued an edict allowing Yuan Qingliang to inherit his father's title of Prince Yi Zhong.

Yuan Qingliang thus became the second Prince Yi Zhong.

Yuan Qingliang and Yuan Qingbai have always been close, and Emperor Jing'an once told Yuan Qingbai to remain close to Yuan Qingliang, just like Emperor Chengtai and his ninth brother.

Because of this, and also in order to win the hearts of the royal family, after Yuan Qingbai ascended the throne, he gave Yuan Qingliang some power. For example, he put religious affairs such as the Monks' and Taoists' Records in charge of Yuan Qingliang.

The Monks' Registration Office was an official office in charge of the affairs of monks and nuns in temples.

Yuan Qingsang's current threat was not really just a bluff.

Yuan Qingsang did have a close relationship with Yuan Qingliang. Given Yuan Qingliang's virtuous and honest character, if Yuan Qingsang asked Yuan Qingliang to give an order to deal with Hui Chen but deliberately did not tell him the real reason, Yuan Qingliang would most likely agree.

Hui Chen was terrified when she heard the threat. She did not want to lose her position as the abbess of Muni Temple, nor did she want to lose her ordination certificate, which was the proof of being a monk in this era.

Hui Chen said, "Please wait for a moment, sir. I will go find Miaoyu right away."

After saying this, she walked out of the main room, looking worried, and walked hurriedly to the backyard and came to the house where Miaoyu lived.

Miaoyu was already worried that Yuan Qingsang had followed her into the Muni Temple and might continue to cause trouble for her. When she saw Hui Chen coming with a worried look on his face, she immediately thought that something was wrong.

Miaoyu deliberately asked: "Master, what advice do you have for us?"

Hui Chen asked awkwardly, "Did you go outside the courtyard to appreciate the plum blossoms today?"

Miaoyu nodded.

Hui Chen asked again: "Did you meet a dear lord when you were appreciating the plum blossoms?"

"A dear uncle?" Miaoyu's eyes widened. She guessed that Yuan Qingsang's identity was not simple, but she did not expect that he would be a distinguished uncle. She was surprised and said, "I did meet a young man. Could it be that the young man who looks to be in his twenties is a dear uncle?"

"That's right!" Hui Chen sighed, "Tell me what happened."

Miaoyu felt annoyed. With her noble and aloof character, she didn't want to mention Yuan Qingsang. She felt that saying more about this person would be a desecration to her, but she respected Hui Chen, so she had to say it under the current circumstances.

Then Miaoyu briefly recounted the incident in which Yuan Qingsang suddenly harassed her outside the Muni Temple.

After hearing this, Hui Chen frowned, sighed, and said, "This is bad, this dear master might have evil thoughts about you."

Miaoyu looked worried: "What does he want to do?"

Hui Chen immediately repeated to Miaoyu what Yuan Qingsang had just said to her.

After hearing this, Miaoyu became even more worried and regretted it very much. She secretly sighed: "If I had known this, I should have left Beijing earlier!"

Today she has decided to leave Beijing tomorrow and return to her hometown Suzhou.

Unexpectedly, it was already too late.

She regretted that if she had made up her mind to leave Beijing and return home in advance, and left Muniyuan in advance, even if it was only one day in advance, she would not have been suddenly harassed by Yuan Qingsang, her overbearing father-in-law today.

She regretted again that if she had not gone outside the courtyard to appreciate the plum blossoms today, she would not have met Yuan Qingsang and encountered this disaster.

Miaoyu was only a 19-year-old girl after all, and she had been a nun since she was young, so she had limited worldly experience. Now that she had encountered such an incident, she had lost her usual calmness and asked Huichen in panic, "I...what should I do?"

(End of this chapter)