In the early morning of March 17, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), on the mountain road outside Shande Temple.
Mei Yue Chengfang held the money given by Taiyuan Xuezhai in her arms, hummed the songs she had learned from the officials in Kyoto, and walked briskly down the mountain on wooden shoes.
"It's true, the old man. I drank too much and asked me to go down the mountain to buy hangover medicine. Why can't I just give it up with tea..." Although Mei Yue Chengfang was complaining, he who loves to enjoy the scenery still likes to spend time in the early morning. Walking in the mountains and forests.
"The previous benefactor who was suffering from chronic illness and came to pray for health every few months seemed to say that there is a new town at the foot of the mountain in the west?" Mei Yue Chengfang remembered what happened before and looked to the west, "If that's the case , there is no need to make a special trip to Puyuan Castle."
What the sick donor said was true. Before he even reached the Fuji River, Meiyue Chengfang encountered the small town standing on the mountain. Although the town is small, it has a lot of people and is bustling with merchants and merchants. However, under the peaceful atmosphere, there were also people who were arrogant - Mei Yue Chengfang saw at a glance three or four strong men with sticks bullying a vendor setting up a stall. The vendor was thin and half-clothed, and looked like an outsider, so he was driven to set up a stall on the dirt floor next to the road. It had just rained in Suruga, and he was sitting in the dirty mud. There was a shabby rug spread in front of him, and there were seven or eight trinkets made of bamboo strips on it. The craftsmanship was not very good.
"Hey, Xiaoqirou, please don't give me a toast or a fine drink. I owe last month's maintenance fee, and you don't want to pay it this month?" The leader raised the short stick in his hand and pointed. The hawker, who was called Kochiro, asked, "Do you still want to hang out here?"
"Please sir, please be accommodating. We are really in a tight situation recently and business is not doing well..." Xiao Qilang looked embarrassed and leaned down to beg.
"How do you expect business to be good with this piece of shit?" The leader looked at Koqirou's gadget with disdain and spat on it with disdain. Then, as if he still wasn't relieved, he stepped on it and crushed the bamboo rabbit, which was the most exquisitely made among the gadgets. Koichiro exclaimed, standing up and trying to hug the leader's leg, but he completely pissed him off. The leader raised his hand and hit Xiao Qilang in the face with a stick, knocking him directly to the mud and causing blood to flow from his nose.
"I will come here every day from now on. If you can't hand me over, just come here." The arrogant leader spit in Xiaoqirou's face and left with a few others laughing. And Ko7chiro, who had finally regained his composure, looked at the trampled bamboo rabbit, but tears were already welling up in his eyes, and he clumsily used his scarred hands to restore the broken piece that could not be repaired at first sight. .
Mei Yue Chengfang couldn't bear it, but she had no intention of conflict with these strong men. He himself has a sensitive identity, and if he uses his power to overwhelm others in Suruga, it will inevitably cause displeasure to his brother and mother. So he touched the purse in his arms, planning to use the remaining money after buying the sobering medicine to buy all the goods from this hawker. He looked in the direction where the strong men left, but suddenly he was in a trance.
Although there are poor people like Xiao Qizilang on the street, there are also many happy families: a pair of young parents take turns holding their children, and the children in their arms stretch out their hands to buy the windmill from the vendor; a father carries his child on his shoulders. On his shoulders, he could see the jugglers across the crowd and listen to the children's happy laughter; a farmer was carrying his hoe, while his daughter was carrying a small basket with farm tools, jumping and following her father ; A half-year-old child took a bite of the pastry in his hand, and then stood on tiptoes to feed his mother a bite. The mother had a smile on her face, but she waved her hand away and let the child finish it by himself...
Mei Yue Chengfang couldn't hide the envy in his eyes. He also tried to capture the happy moments between himself and his family in his memories, but it was all in vain. The few memories related to my parents that I can recall are not pleasant either——
"Mom, the baby doesn't want to be sent to the temple. The baby swears that he will never compete with his elder brother for his father's position. Can you please not send the baby away! The baby wants to stay with his parents forever..."
"Teacher, when will my parents come to take me back?"
"Teacher, when will my father and mother write to me?"
"What...my father...has passed away...why are you notifying me now? I haven't seen him for the last time...are you so worried about me going back to fight for power?"
"Huh? Back to Suruga? Why go back? This Kyoto is so free and easy! Mother, does he still remember that he has me as his son? Brother, does he still remember that he has me as his younger brother? Yep."
"Whatever, if they don't come to see you, they won't come. Old man, don't talk about this all day long, I don't care. Imagawa family? What does that have to do with me? My surname is not Imagawa, 'the world is Miao', it's amazing." Love is what it is."
…
However, Mei Yue Chengfang's childhood was not all gray. The old monk Taiyuan Xuezhai, who was always smiling but not serious, added a lot of color to it——
"From today on, you are my disciple. Master will protect you. Don't worry. If you have anything you don't understand, you can come and ask Master. If someone bullies you in the temple, you also come and talk to Master. Master will take care of you." Fix him."
"Disciple, I heard that you like to play Cuju very much. I was passing by the city and I brought one to you. Hey, hey, hey! Don't grab it, and remember not to let other young monks in the temple see it, otherwise you should say that you are The teacher is partial.”
"Chengfang, look what this is? What do you think? If you like it, I'll bring it to you next time."
"Huh? I didn't expect you to be so interested in Waka, calligraphy and painting. This is quite similar to your parents... Oh, oh, oh, ok, ok, don't mention them, don't mention them."
"You kid, where did you get the flower-and-bird pictures? Could it be that all the monks in the academy are all your masterpieces? I just took away three of your books last month! Now is the time to chant sutras and practice martial arts. Don't do this all day long. Flowers, birds, wind and moon!”
"You brat, what did you draw on my teacher's Buddhist scriptures? Damn it! Don't run away if you have the ability! Stop for my teacher!"
…
Fascinated by the thought, Mei Yue Chengfang couldn't help but smile. But when he came back to his senses, he found that the purse he had just held in his hand had disappeared, and the hawker who was sitting in the mud was also gone. When I turned around, I saw that the hawker was running out of the town.
·
Xiaoqilang ran all the way back to the dilapidated thatched house in the mountains, looking back repeatedly to make sure no one was chasing him. Yes, how could that well-maintained rich man possibly outrun me on the mountain road? Besides, he was wearing wooden shoes. Then, Xiao Qilang dared to open his wallet and take a look at the money inside, but he was suddenly frightened. A small bag of broken silver. He had never seen so much money in his life.
He hurriedly opened the door and went in. His mother on the hospital bed struggled to raise her head when she heard the noise. After coughing a few times, she asked: "Xiaoqirou, why are you back so early today..."
"Mom, everything is sold out and I've made money. I'm going to get some medicine for you right away." Xiao Qilang had something in his heart and didn't dare to look directly at his mother. Instead, he ran directly to the only table in the house and picked up the medicine. The medicine prescribed by the doctor before is about to go out.
"Why didn't you bring the blanket back?" The mother realized that Xiao Qilang had brought something. "Our family only has that precious blanket. If you lost it, what will you use to set up a stall in the future?"
"This..." Koqirou was speechless for a moment, he was stunned and didn't know what to say.
"You kid..." The mother noticed the weirdness of Xiaoqirou at a glance and looked at her child a few times. "Did you go to steal or rob?"
"How dare you, kid!" Xiao Qilang was shocked when he heard this. Sweat instantly broke out on his forehead and he shook his head repeatedly.
"It's fine if you don't have it, but don't embarrass your father who is no longer here... Your father lived a magnanimous life and never did anything bad until his death... Ahem, cough..." Before my mother could finish her words, she coughed heavily again. I got up, and this time I coughed up blood. Worried, Xiao Qilang hurriedly stepped forward to help his mother lie down, then turned to go out, but the door was pushed open again. I saw a talented young man carrying wooden shoes, leaning against the door frame, panting, and complaining, "I'm so exhausted, there's really nothing I can do about it" - it was Mei Yue Chengfang who had just had his wallet stolen by Xiao Qilang.
"Shichiro, are you really going..." Seeing this situation, my mother already understood in her heart, her face turned red with anger, and she was about to yell at him, but before she could say anything, she coughed loudly. Xiao Qilang was so ashamed that he almost knelt down.
However, Mei Yue Chengfang glanced at the situation at Xiao Qilang's home and the expressions of mother and son, and she probably already understood. He didn't ask for the money, but rather embarrassedly made up a lame excuse to help Xiaoqirou:
"Um... I'm a walking monk passing by! I'm disturbing the donor's purity! Excuse me..." Mei Yue Chengfang waved the wooden shoes in her hands and was about to ask for alms, but she accidentally saw her dirty feet and felt sick, so He blurted out, "Is there a place to wash my feet?"
"Walking monk..." Xiao Qilang's mother looked at the young man in front of her with some disbelief, who looked like he had not been polished by the slightest bit of wind and frost, "I want to wash my feet..."
"Master, wait a minute, I will lead you to a nearby stream!" His mother didn't know what was going on, but Xiao Qilang already understood that the kind-hearted young master was trying to smooth things over for him, and hurriedly pulled Mei Yue Chengfang out of the door.
·
As soon as he went out and hadn't gone far, Xiao Qilang immediately knelt down to Mei Yue Chengfang and couldn't pull him up no matter how hard he pulled.
"Thank you for your kindheartedness, young master, for helping me save my face in front of my mother!" Xiao Qilang kowtowed to Mei Yue Chengfang a few times, slapped himself hard several times, and at the same time took out Mei Yue Chengfang's purse from his arms. , lowered his head and held it in both hands and handed it over. "The little one was obsessed for a while and stole the young master's property, but he didn't spend a penny. Please take it back! If the young master wants to vent his anger, please give him a punishment. The young one will suffer! I just ask the young master not to arrest the villain to enforce peace. The place of worship, otherwise there would be no one to take care of my mother at home! May the Master be merciful!"
Xiao Qilang felt a weight on his hand, and his wallet had been taken away by Mei Yue Chengfang. But then there was a small sound, and then he felt a handful of broken silver falling into his hand. Xiao Qilang raised his head in disbelief and found that Mei Yue Chengfang was putting the empty purse into his arms, but all the money in the bag was left to him.
"Your Majesty seems to be ill. Let's find a better doctor to get some medicine and buy some food to replenish it." Mei Yue Chengfang snapped her fingers lightly and said with a smile, "You're welcome, take it and use it." Well, I am not a person who is short of money. It is understandable that you are doing such a slutty thing because you are a mother. Remember, this will not happen again. "
After saying that, without waiting for the dumbfounded Xiao Qilang to thank him, Mei Yue Chengfang pretended to float away in a cool manner, leaving only a handsome figure behind. However, before he had even taken a few steps out, Mei Yue Chengfang ran back in a panic.
"Well, leave me some money to buy hangover medicine, and tell me where the creek is by the way. I really need to wash my feet."
·
Mei Yue Chengfang came to the nearby stream and muttered "It's so dirty" while carefully washing her clay-covered feet. After putting on his wooden shoes, he carefully took out the purse in his arms and checked to make sure that the first birthday gift he received from Taiyuan Xuezhai when he was a child was not damaged. If it weren't for this purse, he wouldn't have bothered to chase him this far.
Just when he was about to return the same way, he suddenly found a group of knights riding horses and hurriedly turned back in front of him. The leader was Taiyuan Xuezhai's confidant Xiao Yuan Zhenmi.
"Sir, why are you here? It took me a long time to find you? Please mount your horse quickly and follow me back to the temple."
"What's wrong?" Mei Yue Chengfang put her purse back into her pocket and asked confused.
"Yutai Dian (Shou Guini, Meiyue Chengfang's mother) suddenly came to Shande Temple at noon and asked to see the young master by name."
