In the small streets and alleys, there are temples and temples built across from each other. They are all in dilapidated condition. All they can see is: "
The window paper is in tatters and the roof beams are crumbling. The vermilion paint on the pillars has faded, and the door is half-blocked. There are missing corners on the stone steps in the small courtyard, and there are breaks everywhere between the fences. As soon as you enter, you will find straw under your feet as a futon and holes in the roof as skylights. Sanqing's body is stained with mud, and half of the Buddha's golden face is missing. The poor Taoist wields a bald fly whisk, and the poor monk wears leaky clothes. I ate the last meal in the bowl but not the next one, and I didn’t smell the fragrance of candles before God. Not to mention the ineffectiveness of supplications, this god cannot live in a miserable place. "
In front of the statue, the old monk and the old Taoist priest were sitting cross-legged. As long as they turned around, they could see each other. Because the doors of both houses were missing half a door, they could not be blocked.
But the little monk did not cross over, and he and the little Taoist priest were busy sweeping the floor and wiping dust. For no other reason than Qing Yi promised to come.
The old monk read the scriptures, smiled slightly, and shouted loudly: "Disciple, be diligent!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the old Taoist priest shouted: "Disciple, get angry!"
Immediately afterwards, the two old men turned to look at each other at the same time, with smiles on their faces, but their eyes collided like a bolt from the blue, and then they turned away and remained silent.
Budu and Zixiu have long been accustomed to their master's appearance. If it were them, they would have started fighting.
But today both of them have to do business first and have no time to pay attention to these fights.
After packing up everything in their dojo, the two of them sat at the gate and waited, looking at the street. It's a pity that Qing Yi never appeared.
"Balu, do you think Xiaobao won't come?"
"Bah, bah, bah, you little bastard is really a crow's mouth. Can you say a nice word?"
"Anyway, Xiaobao is here, so he has to come to the temple first."
"Why should she enter the temple first?"
"Watch!"
"temple!"
The two argued from sunset to late at night, and finally couldn't resist their sleepiness, so they lay down on the steps and fell asleep. The two old men waved their hands, and a quilt flew over and covered their disciples. They continued to meditate, not knowing whether they were asleep or awake.
Early the next morning, Budu and Zixiu were awakened by the sound of footsteps, and they quickly looked up. It turned out that it was not Qingyi who had been waiting all night, but the crazy woman who came every day.
This woman's clothes were in rags, her hair was disheveled, she hadn't taken a shower for an unknown amount of time, and you could smell the strange smell on her body from half a street away.
Budu and Zixiu covered their noses and ran outside.
The old woman ignored her and walked into the temple as if she had lost her mind. The old monk Wu Du in the temple stood up, clasped his hands in front of his chest, and silently recited the scriptures.
The mother-in-law knelt in front of the Buddha. She didn't know what to say or pray for, but she kept kowtowing.
After she finished kowtow, she got up and went to the temple opposite to kneel down for three times. She did this every day without falling.
Budu and Zixiu had been tired of her for a long time, but the two old men did not stop her and said the same thing: "The Buddha (Tao) is so vast, how can it not tolerate a crazy person?"
As long as the master is here, there is nothing the two little ones can do, but they both have to hide out every time she comes.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the woman entered the temple, Ye Ling came over from the street, holding Qing Yi's little hand.
Budu and Zixiu were overjoyed and rushed forward: "Xiaobao, you are finally here!"
"We have been waiting for you, let's go into the temple to talk!"
As soon as Zixiu finished saying these words, his expression changed again and again, and he thought to himself, "Oh no, that crazy woman hasn't left yet."
Not overjoyed, he deliberately said: "Then Xiaobao, go to the temple first, and come back to the temple later."
Zixiu glared at him, pulled Budu aside, and whispered: "What do you mean?"
Budu raised his eyes and said: "Usually you always say that I will fight with you, but this time I will let you go."
Zixiu turned around and smiled at Qingyi, then turned to Budu and said: "You know that the crazy woman has not left. Now that Qingyi goes in, if she is scared, how can she dare to go to the Taoist temple in the future? No, I will go to you first this time. In the temple, wait until the crazy woman is gone, and then come back to watch."
Budu said reluctantly: "That's all, we are classmates and friends, and I am a gentleman. I am worried about my friend's needs, so I will help you this time!"
Zixiu gritted his teeth and said, "Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome, you're welcome, as it should be."
"What are you two talking about?" Qing Yi stepped forward and asked when he saw the two of them sneaking around.
Budu and Zixiu quickly turned around and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay. Xiaobao, you go to the temple first. I will pick you up in a while."
"Yes, yes, let's go, Master is waiting!"
Xiaobao followed the two people forward, and Ye Ling followed behind, which was a bit strange. The two of them usually competed to show off in front of Qingyi, but why did they suddenly become more humble today?
If something goes wrong, there must be a monster, Ye Ling thought.
As soon as they reached the entrance of the temple, they happened to bump into the crazy woman walking out of the temple.
Who would have thought that when the crazy woman saw Ye Ling, her face suddenly turned grim, she rushed forward and grabbed Ye Ling and said, "Give me back my son and daughter-in-law! Give me back my son and daughter-in-law!"
Qing Yi was so frightened that her face turned pale and she hurriedly hid behind Ye Ling. Budu and Zixiu slapped their foreheads, and everything was over.
Ye Ling was not surprised, but reached out to push the hair away from the woman's face. After seeing her appearance, she blurted out: "Are you a neighbor of Brother Xu's house, Sai Da Chong?"
Isn't this crazy woman a big bug? Ye Ling didn't know why she ended up in this situation, and she didn't know why she wanted her son and daughter-in-law from him.
After spending a long time, Ye Ling finally sent Sai Da Chong home, and used Taoism to make her fall asleep, and then escaped.
After coming out, Ye Ling went to find a neighbor to inquire about the matter. The neighbor said: "Since Xu Guo and the others left, the Taiyue Mansion has said that they are rebels and want to arrest them. Who knew that the second son of the big bug would be arrested?" In order to covet her family's property, the daughter-in-law, Li Xiao, and her second son Li Xiao reported the big bug, her eldest son Li Sheng, and her daughter-in-law Ruilian to the government, saying that they had dealings with the rebels. The eldest son wanted to save himself My mother took the blame, but Sai Da Chong was released, and the eldest son and his wife are still imprisoned in the Taiyue Mansion Prison."
"After the big bug was released, she went to find her second son. Who knew that this beast not only refused to recognize her, but also came to beat her out? She was so anxious that she went crazy. She wandered around all day, but she had to go there every day. Then go to the ruined temple and temple to pray to the gods to bless her son and daughter-in-law."
"Alas," when he said this, the neighbor sighed: "Speaking of which, this big insect is getting retribution. At that time, the daughter-in-law Ruilian there was a filial child, but she couldn't look down on it. She changed her ways to behave like a monster. It's good this time, it's her own fault. But then again, why did Li Xiao and Ruilian have to suffer this crime if they didn't do anything harmful to heaven and earth? Even if God doesn't care, then Li Sheng falsely accuses his elder brother , and he doesn’t recognize his own mother. Such a creature, inferior to a beast, actually took his eldest brother’s place and entered the Imperial College as a prison student. What kind of world is this!”
After hearing the neighbor's description, Ye Ling understood the whole story. I felt a little guilty, after all, it was because of me that their family suffered.
But what is strange to Ye Ling is that he has been pardoned long ago and the wanted order has been removed. Why hasn't Li Sheng been released? There must be something fishy about this matter!
So, after Ye Ling went back to school to comfort the frightened Qing Yi, he got up and went to Taiyue City. He came to the gate of Taiyue Mansion and sounded the drum of injustice.
Immediately after being summoned to the hall, Ye Ling entered the hall and saw that the two teams of government officials all looked lazy. They were no longer as smart and capable as when Song Zheng was the governor of Taiyue Prefecture.
Not long after, a big fat man came out from the back of the hall, with his official clothes half open. He was wiping sweat with a handkerchief in his hand. He sat up and looked at Ye Ling.
Their eyes met, and both of them were shocked. After all, they were old acquaintances. The person sitting above them was the former Lord of Amaterasu City, Zhu Wanquan.
When Zhu Wanquan saw that it was Ye Ling, he waved his hand to signal the government officials to leave. Then he stood up and said with a smile: "Chief Ye Xian has arrived. Why not inform him early. Zhu will definitely go out to meet him. Chief Ye, please speak in the back hall." .”
The two came to the back hall and sat down separately. Ye Ling took the lead and said: "Master Zhu, you are too polite. I am just a commoner. Why should I be treated so politely by you?"
"What Ye Xianchang said is wrong," Zhu Wanquan said with a smile: "Ye Xianchang is the sworn brother of the Xu Dazhu Kingdom of the current dynasty. Even if he is a commoner, he can be compared to the first rank of the current dynasty! What orders does Ye Xianchang have? Please make it clear that Zhu will definitely comply."
Ye Ling did not bother with the unspoken rules of the officialdom and said: "I came here because I have a case that I want to ask Mr. Zhu."
"But there's no harm in talking!"
Ye Ling said: "I was wanted by the court and implicated many people, including Li Sheng, a former Imperial College student, and his wife Ruilian. I am no longer a traitor to the court, so why are the two of them still in jail?"
"This..." Zhu Wanquan hesitated slightly, and then said: "Chang Ye, may I ask what the relationship between these two people is to you?"
"It doesn't matter, I just met him a few times." Ye Ling answered honestly.
"In this case, I advise Ye Xianzhang to leave it alone," Zhu Wanquan said in a low voice: "There are many people watching behind this case. It is not up to me to decide the verdict. Even for Dazhu Kingdom, it is best not to It’s because he’s involved.”
"Oh?" Ye Ling raised his eyebrows, slightly displeased: "I'm not here on behalf of my elder brother, I'm just myself. Is Mr. Zhu thinking too much?"
"I have to think too much when I go to Kyoto!" Zhu Wanquan said helplessly: "Any official in Taiyue City is older than me. The people in this city are all the same as the ministers of the imperial court and the relatives of the royal family. You have something to do with it. Although I am a governor, who can I control? I can’t control anyone! As long as I can get away peacefully, thank God!"
Ye Ling smiled and said, "I met your previous Taiyue Palace Governor, and he was very different from you."
"That's right, that's right," Zhu Wanquan said: "No one in Daqian knows the name of Song Zheng and Song Qingtian, even the other eight dynasties have heard about it. It's a pity that Qingtian doesn't have many people. There is only one piece of sky, and that is the Emperor!"
Ye Ling didn't want to play riddles with him, so he asked: "Tell me what's going on with this case. Maybe I can help you think of a perfect solution from my elder brother!"
At this point, Ye Ling had to use Xu Zheng's identity to suppress others.
Zhu Wanquan was silent for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said, "Forget it, I'll tell you. Mr. Ye, do you know what the court is doing now?"
Ye Ling shook his head, and Zhu Wanquan said: "Reform! Do you know who is implementing the reform?"
Ye Ling shook his head again, and Zhu Wanquan said in a deep voice: "Li Taiyue! His best friend is Gu Tinglan, who used to offer wine at the Imperial Academy, was a great scholar at that time, and is now the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs!"
When Ye Ling heard this, he frowned, but after all, he had never been involved in officialdom, so he couldn't figure out the rights and wrongs here.
Zhu Wanquan took a sip of tea and said slowly: "Don't be impatient, Mr. Ye. It's a long story. I'll tell you slowly!"
