Spring River Flower Moon Night: Set of 2 Volumes

Chapter 40 Spring Banquet (3)
Wang Zijin glanced at it and knew it was the "Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra", so he dipped in thick ink and copied it stroke by stroke.

While he was copying, intermittent coughs could be heard from the thin wooden door behind him. It seemed that the lady was really dying, and her life was dying.

"All dharmas are empty and empty, neither born nor destroyed."

This situation made him feel deeply that life is as dewy as electricity, fragile and perishable when he copied these words, and he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.

As time passed, the setting sun gradually disappeared, and the surroundings became dark.

Seeing this, Zhu Yu closed the book and said with a smile to the prince: "Thank you so much for your help, my servant, I will send you out now, and I will trouble you to come over tomorrow evening."

"Why does it have to be evening?" Prince Jin wondered, "Isn't daytime better?"

"Because my daughter can only rest in the evening, and during the day she has to wash up and take medicine, so it's not convenient to meet the young master."

Wang Zijin understood what she meant as soon as he heard it. A girl in a boudoir should not show her face casually, let alone meeting a strange man at her own home?

He smiled apologetically, and walked out of the alley with Zhu Yu.

Nothing strange happened that night, and even when he vigilantly looked back, he found no suspicious shadow behind him.

It seemed that it was really just a nightmare, and he was really worrying too much.

Besides, what can a girl who is sick and weak and is about to die, a maid who has no strength to restrain a chicken, do to herself?

He secretly laughed at his stupidity, casually ate a bowl of noodles on the side of the street, and then went back to the inn to rest.

The next day I still didn't see Fei Xiao coming back, and I don't know what party he went to, but it took three days.

Wang Zijin sat alone in the house until noon, then wandered slowly to the street to buy some rice, noodles, meat and vegetables, and walked towards the dilapidated street.

When he came to the alley, it was dusk when the sun was setting, and Zhu Yu was already standing at the entrance of the alley, waiting eagerly.

Wang Zijin gave her some daily necessities that he just bought, just like yesterday, sitting at the desk and copying Buddhist scriptures under the magnificent light of the setting sun.

He still didn't see the sickly girl today, but from time to time there were one or two painful groans from the room behind him, which made him feel sad.

Several times he even wanted to open the thin wooden door to see what happened, but since Zhu Yu was by his side, he had no choice but to restrain himself.

I finished copying the "Heart Sutra" yesterday, and today Zhu Yu took a copy of the "Diamond Sutra".Wang Zijin copied and copied, and began to feel that something was wrong.

The first two pages of this book are indeed the contents of the "Diamond Sutra", and the back is a twisted and weird text, like a snake. He stared at it for a long time, but he didn't recognize any of them.

"This, is this also a Buddhist scripture?" Wang Zijin pointed to the words on the page and asked, "Which country's language is this? Why don't I know any of it?"

"This book was stolen from the master's study by the maidservant. Please don't worry about it. You can continue to copy it. It may be written in Tianzhu characters." Zhu Yu looked at the books on the table, but frowned, as if not care.

"Just copy it like this?"

"Yes, it doesn't matter, as long as you follow the example."

After Zhu Yu said that, he couldn't argue, so he just shook his head, picked up his pen and continued writing.

It was probably because it was too boring to watch him copying books all the time. After a while, Zhu Yu was busy with housework.In the narrow living room, only Wang Zijin was left alone, writing Buddhist scriptures against the sunset in the sky.

Strange to say, those distorted characters were very difficult to write at the beginning, but after copying about a dozen characters, he had already mastered the tricks and was able to write fluently.

Time passed quickly, and in the silent dusk, only the rustling sound of writing echoed in the small room.

After an unknown amount of time, the sky gradually turned dark, but at this moment, Wang Zijin heard a light click behind him.

He stopped writing and looked back curiously, but he didn't see anything unusual.

So he continued to write with confidence, but this time he had just copied two words, and there was another clicking sound behind him, this time the sound was much louder than the last time, and he was startled immediately.

He looked back, and saw that the thin wooden door had been pulled open a gap.

"Girl? Miss Zhu Yu, is that you?" Wang Zijin looked curiously through the gap, and saw that the window was closed in the narrow room, it was pitch black, and there was a thin figure lying on the ground. live.

Thinking of what he saw in his dream that night, he shivered out of thin air with fright, quickly closed the door, and copied the book pretending to be nonchalant.

Fortunately this time he just copied another word, Zhu Yu walked in with a smile and made a pot of tea for him.After he finished drinking the tea, it was already dark, and Zhu Yu sent him to the entrance of the alley just like the day before.

In Yangzhou City at night, the lights are just on, and the candles are shining.

He wandered alone in the street for a while, then walked towards the inn.Unexpectedly, he had just stepped on the wooden stairs of the inn when he heard a long creaking sound behind him, as if someone was following him slowly.

He looked back vigilantly, and saw an old man with luxurious clothes and wrinkled face standing on the stairs behind him. The old man seemed to catch his gaze, and smiled at him when he raised his head.

For some reason, the old man's smile didn't seem strange, but it made him feel extremely frightened for a moment. He hurriedly nodded to the old man in a panic, and walked quickly back to his room.

However, the old man had no intention of catching up, and was still standing on the stairs, refusing to leave for a long time.

六

What exactly is going on?

Although this kind of old man in brocade clothes can be seen everywhere, but for some reason, Wang Zijin always felt that his face was very familiar, and he looked exactly like the old man he saw in his dream that night.

That night he tossed and turned, unable to sleep no matter what, thinking back on what had happened in the past few days, apart from going to Zhu's house to copy a short scripture every day, there was nothing suspicious about it.

However, the Zhu family was poor, with only one master and one servant dependent on each other.There is not even a single extra decoration in the room, but how could he be calculated?

He thought of Zhu Yu's friendly smile, and the thin body of the girl lying in the small dark room, and for some reason, he did not want to doubt them no matter what.

At this time, Fang Fang missed Fei Xiao for the third time.Whenever he encountered a difficult situation before, Fei Xiao would be the first to jump out to resolve it for him, but this time Fei Xiao was so calm that she didn't even move a little bit.

Maybe it's just mediocrity?If she is in danger, Fei Xiao will definitely not let it go!
Only then did he feel relieved, and fell asleep peacefully in a daze.

In the evening of the next day, Wang Zijin went to Zhu's house as scheduled to copy scriptures for Zhu Yu.It's just that this time after copying the thick scripture, Zhu Yu took out a new scripture, which was actually densely packed with strange words.

Wang Zijin asked her several times, but she still couldn't tell the reason, and finally just excused her illiteracy, and ran away with an excuse.Only the prince was left alone, sitting alone in the small living room.

He could only shake his head and let out a long sigh, picked up the pen and continued to copy those weird characters.I don't know how long it took to write, and suddenly there was a rustling sound from the hut behind me.

"Is it a girl from the Zhu family?" Wang Zijin put down his pen, walked over curiously, and said in a soft voice, "A man and a woman can't kiss each other. If the girl needs anything, please just tell me. I will find someone for the girl."

"Help... help..." A faint cry for help came from the room, the voice was weak, almost groaning.

"Girl? Are you okay?" Wang Zijin felt anxious, pushed open the sliding door, and looked into the room curiously.

In the dim room, the girl who was lying on the ground was struggling to sit up. Her long hair was draped over her shoulders and her cheeks were thin. Under the half-light, she looked like a skeleton.

"You, what's wrong with you?" Wang Zijin walked in cautiously, looking at the girl in surprise.Her facial features were exactly the same as those seen a few days ago, but her skin was dull and sunken, her cheeks were sunken, and she was no longer as glamorous as before.

"Brother, help me..." As soon as she saw Wang Zijin's figure, a light of hope appeared in her eyes, and she desperately stretched out her hand towards him.

"If you have any difficulties, please feel free to tell me." Wang Zijin took a step forward and held her hands tightly, feeling cold to the touch, dry and thin, no different from dead branches.

"Take me out of here quickly..." she said with difficulty, "there are many people lingering here...they all want to eat me..."

"Don't, don't talk stupid!" Wang Zijin pretended to laugh a few times, "Look, is there anyone in this room? Why can't I see anyone?"

"He, they are all there..." The girl stretched out her hand with difficulty, pointing to a wooden table at the end of the room, "I know, they are coveting my life every night, waiting for me to die..."

Wang Zijin looked in the direction of her finger, and saw a dozen large and small wooden signs neatly arranged on the wooden table, exactly the same as what he saw in his dream that night.

When he saw these wooden signs, he was frightened and broke into a cold sweat.

At this moment, there was a sound of opening the door from the yard. He didn't dare to stay any longer, shook off the girl's hand, ran out of the room quickly, sat at the table, and pretended to be serious about writing.

But only he knew that even the right hand holding the pen was trembling slightly.

"My lord, thank you so much." Zhu Yu smiled at him when he saw this, "But today may be the last day. After copying this book, you will never use it again."

"Huh? So fast?" He thought of the dying girl in the room, and always felt that there were many mysteries in this matter.Although he already smelled the danger, he was unwilling to leave the girl behind and left alone.

"Because I guess, the girl may not survive tonight..." Zhu Yu said, her eyes flushed, and two lines of tears flowed down her cheeks, "The Buddhist scriptures you have copied for me in the past three days, Mr. Wang, are enough. I really don't want Prince Wang to be involved in this matter, so let me send the girl away by myself."

"You, your girl, are you really just sick?" Wang Zijin hesitated for a while, and finally squeezed out such a sentence.

"Ah? Why did you say that, Young Master?" Zhu Yu wondered, "Could it be that you have seen the girl just now?"

"No, no, how could I break into the girl's boudoir?" Wang Zijin waved his hands again and again, and said to Zhu Yu awkwardly, "If you can find me, please tell me."

"Your Majesty has already done everything you need to do for us, how can I bother you?" Zhu Yu smiled at him, "It's just that our family is poor and we can't repay you in this life. You can only repay your kindness in the next life." .”

Wang Zijin was tactfully rejected by her, and he couldn't say anything more, so he had to leave disgruntled.As usual, Zhu Yu eagerly sent him to the alley.

It was late at this time, and the sky was full of bright stars.Wang Zijin remembered what happened in the evening, and he had no intention of resting, he could only linger on the side of the street with his head down.

It wasn't until he was hungry that he found a small restaurant at random, intending to eat some food to satisfy his hunger.

"Guest officer, please come in quickly, I'll open a big table for you right now!" Seeing him, the enthusiastic shop waiter seemed to have won a big deal, smiling all over his face.

Wang Zijin was in a trance, didn't hear what he was saying at all, and sat down in the shop, only to find that he was sitting at a large table that could accommodate more than a dozen people.

"Hey, Xiaoer, did you arrange the wrong seat for me?" He shouted loudly, "I eat alone, how can I use such a big table?"

"Huh? I just saw more than a dozen people behind you, guest officer, why did you disappear in a blink of an eye?" Xiaoer was also confused, and hurriedly changed seats for him.

"What dozen of people? I'm really crazy about money!" Wang Zijin cursed secretly while eating, while looking at the dark sky, he secretly made up his mind.

No matter what tonight, he will go to Zhu's house again!
Seven

That night when the moon was in the sky and the birds were sleeping and the flowers were sleeping, Wang Zijin sneaked out of the inn and walked towards the dilapidated small street.

With the faint moonlight, one can see that the old and dilapidated houses on both sides of the street are shrouded in hazy night fog, which are very similar to what they saw in the dream that night.

It's just that Wang Zijin was blinded by his strong curiosity at this time, and he didn't realize this at all.

He walked briskly all the way, walking forward in a hurry, and soon came to the narrow alley, the alley was pitch black, only a faint yellow light at the end.

He hesitated for a while at the entrance of the alley, but thinking of the sickly girl who asked him for help in the evening, he still walked in step by step.

It wasn't until he reached the door of Zhu's house that he noticed that the bright color was actually a dim yellow oil lamp, hanging upright above the door.

He looked up at the oil lamp above his head, and his heart tightened.

Because Zhu's family was poor, in order to save money, they didn't even light the lamps at night.Could it be that he came late, the girl is already dead?
Wang Zijin was anxious, couldn't help stretching out his hand to push the door, but unexpectedly the door was unlocked, it creaked lightly and opened in response.

He stood at the door, looking at the small courtyard under the moonlight, feeling confused.

How is this going?How could a family with only two female relatives stay open at night? !Are they waiting for the arrival of the guests?
The more he thought about it, the more curious he became, and he tiptoed across the courtyard and came to the living room.

There was no one in the living room, and there was a piece of white paper on the wooden table, which was filled with distorted words, which were exactly the Buddhist scriptures he had copied during the day.

"Miss Zhu? Miss Zhu, are you there?" Wang Zijin couldn't hold back any longer, and whispered.

"Ahem..." As if responding to his call, there were intermittent coughs in the room.

(End of this chapter)