Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 141: Sun Tianlinyu in Yuanzhao Garden
"Old nun Huichen, obey your order!"

Hui Chen kowtowed reverently and accepted the order.

Immediately, Hui Chen bowed solemnly to Su Yin and said, "I, the old nun, greet Master Su. May I ask, Master Su, why does the emperor favor the Muni Temple and me?"

Yuan Qingbai had already sent people to secretly keep an eye on Miaoyu and Muni Temple, and the person he sent was Su Yin.

For this reason, Su Yin deliberately became a pilgrim to the Muni Temple with his wife, and often interacted with Hui Chen.

Hui Chen thought that the reason for such a happy event today was probably because Su Yin recommended her to Emperor Tianlong, so she asked this question.

Su Yin smiled and said, "It was indeed me who recommended the nun to His Majesty."

Hui Chen was extremely grateful and bowed again: "Thank you, Master Su, for your kindness."

Su Yin then looked at Yuan Qingsang and asked with a smile, "Why are you here, dear lord?"

Yuan Qingsang was feeling anxious, but he pretended to be calm: "I came to Muni Temple today to donate money and incense."

Su Yin was slightly surprised. He was not close to Yuan Qingsang, but he understood Yuan Qingsang's temperament and knew that Yuan Qingsang had always been domineering and overbearing. The late Emperor Chengtai described him as "stupid by nature and never knew how to lead others".

How could such a person as Yuan Qingsang come to a small nunnery like Muniyuan to donate money and incense? And on such a snowy day?
Su Yin felt strange, but did not intend to ask. He was not close to Yuan Qingsang, and he came to Muni Temple today with important matters assigned by the emperor.

Su Yin looked at Hui Chen again: "Do you understand the emperor's order, Master?"

Hui Chen hurriedly said, "I have listened to the imperial edict, but I wonder if Master Su has anything else to tell me? For example, how many nuns should I select from this nunnery to accompany me? Can monks with hair be selected? When will we move to the Grand Buddha Hall in Yuanzhao Garden?"

Su Yin asked, "How many nuns are there in the Muni Temple now?"

Hui Chen told the truth: "Including the old nun, there are 35 nuns practicing, including three nuns with hair. There is also a nun named Miaoyu with hair. She comes from Xuanmu Panxiang Temple in Suzhou. She has been practicing in this nunnery for more than two years. Master Su has heard of her."

Hui Chen mentioned Miaoyu in this way deliberately, hoping to take this opportunity to bring Miaoyu to the Great Buddha Hall in Yuanzhao Garden, so that Miaoyu can get rid of Yuan Qingsang's harassment and avoid this disaster.

Su Yin said, "The order of the Holy Lord is to select twelve people from the Muni Monastery to live in the Great Buddha Hall of Yuanzhao Garden. Please ask the nun to bring eleven people with you. Monks with hair can be selected."

"The monk Miaoyu is from a family of scholars and officials. She is knowledgeable in both scriptures and writing. She may be favored by the Empress Dowager. You can take her with you."

Hui Chen was secretly delighted, but pretended to be calm and looked at Yuan Qingsang.

Yuan Qingsang was dumbfounded: "..."

He wanted to speak to stop it, but he hesitated and did not dare to speak.

Because he was guilty, he was afraid that the fact that he had forced Miaoyu to death today would be known by Emperor Tianlong Yuan Qingbai.

He knew that Yuan Qingbai had never been close to his cousin from the royal family, and that they had even had a grudge against each other when they were young.

He also knew that Su Yin was both an imperial guard and Yuan Qingbai's cousin, and had served Yuan Qingbai for many years.

If he stopped Hui Chen from bringing Miaoyu into Yuanzhao Garden now, Su Yin would definitely ask the reason, and Su Yin would know about his forced demand for Miaoyu today, and then Yuan Qingbai would know about it.

Seeing Yuan Qingsang's expression change but not daring to speak, Hui Chen was even happier and said to Su Yin, "In that case, I will obey your command!"

Su Yin nodded, continued to explain a few related matters, and then led the guards and eunuchs away.

Yuan Qingsang was full of anger, but he did not dare to harass Miaoyu anymore, nor did he dare to suppress Hui Chen. After all, Hui Chen was about to move into the Great Buddha Hall of Yuanzhao Garden as the abbot, and would be able to see the Empress Dowager and the Emperor frequently in the future.

"Even if you move into Yuanzhao Garden, don't tell anyone about what happened between Miaoyu and me today, or I will not forgive you!"

After merely threatening Hui Chen once again, Yuan Qingsang left in embarrassment and anger. When he was leaving the gate of Muni Temple, he accidentally fell down due to slipping on the snow, which made him look even more embarrassed.

……

……

The backyard of Muni Temple.

Miaoyu was staying in her own residence, accompanied only by two servants, Nanny Meng and Xuemei.

The atmosphere in the residence was depressing.

Miaoyu looked very sad, and Nanny Meng and Xuemei were both terrified.

There was a cup of tea on the coffee table, which Miaoyu had poured for herself.

The teacup she used was a green jade bowl that she usually used to drink tea from.

The water for making tea is the snow water she collected from the plum blossoms in Panxiang Temple in Xuanmu, Suzhou more than two years ago. For more than two years, she has been reluctant to use this snow water and has always kept it in a flower jar and buried it in the ground.

Just now, when she returned to the backyard, she immediately ordered Madam Meng to dig out the snow water in the flower jar, and ordered the maid Xuemei to boil the water. She took out the poison herself, and then poured a cup of tea herself and put the poison in the tea.

She had already made up her mind to die. If Yuan Qingsang really wanted to kidnap her today, she would drink this cup of poisoned tea and die completely.

She had a serious mysophobia and wanted to do it in a clean way even if she wanted to commit suicide.

In her opinion, suicide is horrible, death by accident is also horrible and difficult to kill by accident, and hanging is also horrible and troublesome.

Although death by poisoning was also horrible, it was better than cutting one's own throat, hitting one's head against another, or hanging oneself. At least the poison was taken by drinking tea, which she always regarded as an elegant thing, and she used her usual tea set and snow water collected from the plum blossoms in Panxiang Temple in Xuanmu, Suzhou.

At this moment, Miaoyu walked outside the house under the eaves and looked at the snow scene in the backyard.

The backyard of the Muni Temple in front of me is covered with silver, with jade trees and branches, and snow-covered paths, which makes it more ancient, quiet, and profound. However, although the snow scene is beautiful, it is cold and harsh, just like Miaoyu's mood at the moment.

"Am I going to die here at the age of nineteen in this life?"

Miaoyu sighed in her heart and looked melancholy.

She was afraid of being violated by Yuan Qingsang, and also afraid of dying young in this Muni Temple, but if she had to choose only one, she would rather choose the latter.

Suddenly, Miaoyu saw the host Hui Chen walking quickly on the snow. When Hui Chen came closer, she found that Hui Chen had a happy look on his face.

"Miaoyu, there is great news!"

As Hui Chen spoke, he walked towards Miaoyu.

Miaoyu's eyes flashed, and she asked, "What's the good news?"

Hui Chen immediately told the story of how he was ordered to bring Miaoyu to live in Yuanzhao Garden.

Miaoyu couldn't help but be overjoyed after hearing this.

Given her noble and aloof character, under normal circumstances, even if the emperor ordered her to live in the Great Buddha Hall in Yuanzhao Garden, even though she would obey the order, she might not be willing to do so in her heart.

Now she felt grateful for having escaped from death.

Hui Chen couldn't help but sigh: "It's just as your master said before his death. You will naturally get your results if you stay here in seclusion. This result is just as you and I thought, it's good!"

Miaoyu lowered her head in silence, agreeing deeply in her heart and admiring her master. Her master was truly an expert in performing innate divine calculations!

Nanny Meng and Xuemei were also very surprised. After Hui Chen left, the two servants, one old and one young, were busy congratulating Miaoyu. Xuemei couldn't wait to pour out the cup of poisoned tea.

Miaoyu said, "The green jade bowl has also been thrown away. It is no longer used."

In her opinion, the green jade bowl that had held the poisoned tea had been contaminated and was no longer clean.

Xuemei couldn't resist Miaoyu's temper, so she decided to wash the green jade bowl and keep it secretly.

This green jade bowl is worth a lot of money.

……

……

Yuan Qingbai doesn't know yet that Yuan Qingsang forced Miaoyu to marry him today. If he knew, he would probably sigh again that it seems that he is destined to have a connection with the golden hairpin in the original novel.

If he had not issued the decree in time, and if Su Yin had not arrived at the Muni Temple in time, Miaoyu would probably have committed suicide today, and the world of Red Mansions would have lost such a golden hairpin in the original novel long ago.

In addition, Yuan Qingbai had long had the idea of ​​punishing certain members of the royal family, including Yuan Qingsang, but he needed to wait for the right opportunity to act.

The stern and harsh Emperor Chengtai would not act rashly when it came to punishing members of the royal family.

Back to the topic, after discussing with Empress Dowager He, Yuan Qingbai decided to invite dozens of nuns to live in Ritianlinyu in Yuanzhao Garden.

"Ritian" is a Buddhist term, which refers to the residence of Vairocana Tathagata in Buddhism.

"Linyu" is a beautiful name for palaces, temples and monasteries.

Ritianlinyu is a scenic spot in Yuanzhao Garden, located in the southwest area deep in Yuanzhao Garden. It is a place with sparse willows and clear streams, and the scenery is elegant.

Ritianlinyu is a large Buddhist hall and a royal temple with two rows of central buildings and two rows of western buildings. Each row has two floors and seven rooms on the upper and lower floors. The front and rear buildings are connected by a three-bay hall. On the east side there is a Dragon King Temple dedicated to the Dragon King, named "Ruiying Palace".

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, twelve nuns from the Muni Temple, including Hui Chen and Miao Yu, were the first to move into the Ritianlinyu in Yuanzhao Garden.

That afternoon, Miaoyu, who had just moved into Ritian Linyu, couldn't help but come to the plum forest in the Ritian Linyu scenic area.

Yes, there is actually a plum forest in the Ritian Linyu Scenic Area, and it is composed of hundreds of red plum trees, which is spectacular.

The heavy snow from yesterday has not melted yet. This plum forest is surrounded by ice and snow, and the cold fragrance is overwhelming. The red plum blossoms are covered with snow and blooming in the cold, which makes their charm even more obvious.

Miaoyu strolled in the plum forest, admiring the plum blossoms while sighing in her heart: "What a wonderful place."

Although she had just moved to Ritianlinyu today, she already loved this place, especially the plum forest in front of her. She felt that this place was like a paradise on earth, making people linger there.

Miaoyu sighed in her heart: "I heard that this 'Ritian Linyu' is only a corner of this garden. This corner is so beautiful, how magnificent must the huge Yuanzhao Garden be?"

She wanted to visit Yuanzhao Garden and explore the beauty of this number one garden in the world. However, she had just moved in today and it was inconvenient for her to leave the Ritian Linyu scenic area. Moreover, Yuanzhao Garden was heavily guarded, so the range of activities of the nuns in Ritian Linyu was limited.

"I heard that the current emperor is young and brave, and is proficient in both civil and military affairs. I wonder if I will have the chance to meet him?"

Miaoyu pondered secretly.

She heard from Master Huichen that in a few days, when spring comes, the current Emperor Tianlong will most likely accompany the Empress Dowager to move from the Imperial Palace to Yuanzhao Garden. Master Huichen also said that they, the nuns who live in Tianlinyu, will most likely see the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and other noble ladies in the inner palace, and perhaps even the Emperor Tianlong.

Miaoyu has never wanted to see men.

But she still couldn't help but be interested in the current Emperor Tianlong and wanted to meet him...

(End of this chapter)