Spring is warm and fragrant

Chapter 172
Pilgrims who come to Anguo Temple in summer will come before the sun rises, trying to cool off in the morning.

When the carriage from Duke Chu’s mansion arrived at the foot of the mountain, the smoke above the kitchen of Anguo Temple had just fallen. The carriage stopped, and Mrs. Tai woke up from a doze. The maid waited on her to tidy up and slowly got out of the car. Outside, Mrs. Chu had already Come and help mother-in-law.

Mrs. Chu's dowry was rich, and she was very filial to Mrs. Tai after entering the door, and her words and deeds could not be faulted in the slightest.As for Mrs. Tai, after the eldest daughter-in-law passed away, there was a second daughter-in-law beside her who could discuss matters, and the daughter-in-law was so sensible, so the relationship between the daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law was very harmonious.

Sitting in a sedan chair, facing the cool mountain breeze in the morning, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went up the mountain refreshed.

The Duke of Chu's mansion is about twenty miles away from Anguo Temple, but they are rich and noble, and the maids and servants prepare the hard work, and the masters only need to get up early to dress up, and they can catch up on sleep after getting in the carriage, so they can afford it early in the morning.Poor people don't have a horse-drawn carriage, so they are generally reluctant to make a fuss, and would rather get up later and go to the gate of the city to share a mule cart with other people. Therefore, Mrs. Tai and the others can only see a few pilgrims on the road when they arrive at the mountain gate. They are all nearby villagers. .

"It's been a while." Mrs. Tai climbed up the steps, looking at the distant scenery.She is over 60, but usually takes good care of herself and is very healthy. In order to show her sincerity in worshiping Buddha, she insisted on climbing the stone steps in front of the temple by herself.

Mrs. Chu carefully supported her mother-in-law, and said softly: "Mother values ​​the fourth grandson so much, and she came to pray for him on a hot day. I will tell Yinyin later, she must be moved and cry." Princess Qing's boudoir name is Yinyin .

Mrs. Tai immediately said: "Don't tell her about this little thing, she is in confinement, don't worry her." Of the three granddaughters, Mrs. Tai really likes the eldest granddaughter Princess Qing the most, after all, she is the first in the family Girl, the eldest granddaughter is also well-educated, and she is the most outstanding of the three granddaughters in terms of talent and bearing.The second granddaughter Chu Yingmei is beautiful...

Thinking of Chu Ying's weak temper, Mrs. Tai sighed softly, thinking that she would have to ask the Bodhisattva to give her a good grandson-in-law.Although she is biased, Mrs. Tai sincerely hopes that all three granddaughters will marry well.

At first, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were still in the mood to chat, but gradually lost their strength. When they climbed to the top of the steps, Mrs. Tai's old face was flushed, and her forehead and nose were covered with sweat.Mrs. Chu was a little stronger, endured the soreness of her legs, and served Mrs. Tai first.Mrs. Tai was panting heavily. When she looked up, she accidentally found a pair of mother and son kneeling beside the bluestone road leading to the gate of Anguo Temple. With their heads down, they could only see their faces clearly.

Mrs. Tai calmed down for a moment, and curiously asked the Zhigu monk who specially entertained them, "That's..."

The Zhike monk turned around and saw the pair of children, mother and child. He explained with compassion: "The benefactor went to Beijing to find her husband. She ran out of money on the way and asked the abbot to take him in. The abbot was merciful and arranged a guest room for her for the time being. The Buddhist Pure Land is not suitable for long-term shelter of a female benefactor. The host authorized her to put up a notice to find her husband here. Maybe someone will recognize her husband. It is a pity that the female benefactor knelt for three days in a row and there has been no news so far. If there is no news tomorrow, the temple will also Had to send her down the mountain."

After listening to Mrs. Tai, she didn't feel any fluctuations in her heart. She had heard too many such pitiful things.However, when passing by the pair of mother and child, Mrs. Tai still couldn't help looking over, and saw that the mother was in her early twenties, wearing a light green muslin dress that was washed white, she looked very good, with a fair complexion , red lips, eyes...

Probably feeling her gaze, the young woman looked up at her, her pair of peach blossom eyes were bright and beautiful.

Mrs. Tai was stunned for a moment, watching the young woman lower her head timidly and quickly, but the eyes of the eldest grandson's wife appeared in front of her eyes, and when she observed the young woman carefully, her face was actually three points similar to Lu Mingyu, if you add those eyes...

Mrs. Tai couldn't help feeling a little emotional, she didn't expect to meet such a person.

After watching the young woman, Mrs. Tai took a step forward and went to see the child.The boy was wearing gray cloth clothes slightly newer than her mother's, and looked about seven or eight years old.When Mrs. Tai looked over, the boy was already looking at her curiously, and his eyes met. The boy did not shrink back like his mother, but continued to look at Mrs. Tai... the jewelry on her head without blinking.

When Mrs. Tai saw the appearance of the boy, her heart trembled suddenly, and she stared at him in disbelief.With a fair and clean face, jet-black and watery eyes, how does this pink and jade-carved child look exactly like the second grandson in my memory when he was a child?
Mrs. Tai subconsciously turned to her daughter-in-law.

Mrs. Chu was even more shocked than her mother-in-law. Her eyes were glued to the boy's face and she hadn't come back yet. When the boy saw her, he finally showed a trace of timidity and uneasiness. He lowered his head and shrank away from his mother.

Mrs. Tai, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chased him involuntarily, and then, at the same time, they found the wooden board in front of the young woman.A piece of white paper was pasted on the wooden board, on which the woman's story was simply and clearly explained: "Dong, a civilian woman, lived in Jingzhou, her husband's surname was Shi Mingqian, and she was a son of a merchant in the capital. She was separated eight years ago. Anyone who has heard of her Let me know."

Looking at the man's name and identity, Mrs. Tai secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Her family is not a businessman, and her grandson's surname is not Shi... Just as the idea came up, something flashed through her mind. Mrs. Tai looked at the man's face again. Name, Shi Qian, Shi Qian, could it be Shi Qian?
With doubts, looking at the young woman's birth in Jingzhou, Mrs. Tai suddenly remembered something. The second grandson went out to study for two years and also went to Jingzhou. age……

Mrs. Tai didn't dare to think about it any more.

"Mother, let's go to burn incense first." Mrs. Chu also came back to her senses and looked away, she said to her mother-in-law with an unnatural expression.

Mrs. Tai nodded, and the group walked forward slowly.

After the people left, Dong Yue'er quietly raised her head and stared at the luxuriously dressed women with envy in her eyes. She suddenly thought of Uncle Zhou's plan. Tomorrow, after kneeling down and pretending to be looking for relatives, she can go to the Duke of Chu's mansion to recognize her relatives. Once she succeeds, she will also live a good life with good clothes and good food, Dong Yue'er has hope again in her heart.

"Brother Run, sit down for a while." Dong Yue'er knelt down by herself, and turned her head to ask her son to sit down.

Brother Run nodded, and obediently sat cross-legged next to his mother, his eyes also looking at the direction Mrs. Tai and the others left.Since last year, Uncle Zhou has taught him a lot of things. Brother Run has learned it very seriously and remembered it firmly, because Uncle Zhou said that he will have a good life with his mother if he remembers it well.

As the sun rose gradually, pilgrims passed by them one after another. Some of them showed kindness and threw some copper coins to them.Dong Yue'er put away all of them, put them away, and found a small ball of paper stuffed in the middle of a copper coin.Dong Yue'er raised her head in surprise, looked left and right, but didn't find any familiar figures, she frowned, picked out the ball of paper and opened it quietly.

Uncle Zhou taught her to read, not many, but she knew all the characters on the paper ball.

The ball of paper said, let her be prepared, she may see Mrs. Tai today.

Dong Yue'er was also a bit perceptive, remembering the two nobles she met in the early morning, she vaguely guessed something.Dong Yue'er's heart was pounding, but when the two noble ladies passed by their wives again calmly and went down the mountain, Dong Yue'er's shoulders drooped suddenly, it turned out that she was thinking too much...

"Mrs. Dong, my wife may have news about your husband, but it's not convenient for her to tell you in detail here. Would you like to come with us?" A forty-year-old lady dressed in commoner squatted down and stared at her inquiringly. road.

Because this person didn't look like he was in the same group as the previous lady, Dong Yue'er didn't think of Mrs. Tai at all, and thought that the other party really had news about Chu Sui, so she immediately became excited and asked excitedly, "Really?"

The forty-year-old woman nodded repeatedly, "It's absolutely true, your husband's name is Shi Qian, right?"

Dong Yue'er's eyes became brighter, and she stopped doubting immediately, and took her son back to the guest room to pack up her things, and followed her down the mountain.

(End of this chapter)