Early in the morning, Yang Jian, the head of Zhou Dynasty's mission, was invited to the palace to discuss the marriage.
Princess Ashina left the palace for the first time and took two maids to the inn where she found Shuzi who was packing her luggage.
Ashina was startled when she saw Shuzi tidying up. She stepped forward and asked, "Is sister about to leave?"
Shuzi looked at her and said with a smile: "Since your matter has become clearer, we will naturally leave. Is it possible that you need us to escort you to your wedding?"
Asuna held her hand and sighed: "Yesterday, my father insisted on letting me marry to Northern Qi. This morning, my mother told me that he had changed his mind."
Shuzi clapped her hand and said seriously: "In that case, you can wait with peace of mind. The marriage is a major event between the two countries, and there will be a large army to protect you when you go to the Imperial City of Great Zhou."
"Why is this?"
Ashina had an unreal feeling and couldn't help but ask: "You said my father will not change his mind tomorrow?"
Shuzi thought for a while and sighed: "It was possible, but the storm that blew yesterday should be able to change your father's mind, right?"
Asuna was startled, this was something she had never thought of.
It wasn't until Shuzi reminded her that she went through the scene that happened last night in detail.
He couldn't help but sigh quietly and said: "It's really not as good as God."
As he was talking, Xiaohu's voice came from outside the door: "Sister Shuzi, Sir is about to leave."
Upon hearing this, Shuzi quickly took Asuna's hand and went out.
Looking at the master and the apprentice who had finished cleaning up, they laughed: "Brother is really a god, Ashina's trouble is solved."
Ashina stepped forward to congratulate Li Xiuyuan and asked softly: "Sir, won't you stay in the capital for a few more days?"
Li Xiuyuan shook his head, looked at her and replied gently: "Now that it has been resolved, we can meet again in the imperial city in the future."
Shuzi leaned in Asuna's ear and told her the address of the imperial city.
Then he took her hand and smiled: "Maybe I can go into the palace with my other brother to see the empress?"
Asuna's little face suddenly flew up with two red clouds, and she said softly: "It's a long time coming. Sister, don't talk nonsense and make people laugh."
The group of people arrived outside the inn. The coachman had already hitched the carriage and was waiting for the three people who were about to leave.
Li Xiuyuan looked at Ashina and said quietly: "Since God's will has been decided, don't be impatient next time."
Xiaohu grinned broadly and said, "Next time I see you again, I will have to salute you!"
The two maids behind Asuna couldn't help but giggle when they heard this. If Asuna turned around and glared at the two of them, they were so frightened that they hurried to hail the carriage back to the palace.
Shuzi gently hugged Asuna and said softly: "To be honest, my sister has finally found a good home."
Ashina shook her head and said solemnly: "I want to practice with my sister."
A gust of wind blew up the yellow sand on the ground. Shuzi urged Ashina to get on the carriage first.
Looking at the carriage slowly leaving, Shuzi and Li Xiuyuan sighed and said, "Thinking about it, Shuzi met Zhang Liang back then. It was a good marriage..."
Li Xiuyuan shook his head, got on the carriage, looked at her and replied: "You two are destined to be a good match. Don't be too greedy."
Xiaohu pulled Shuzi into another carriage, looked at her and said with a smile: "Sister, please don't make your husband angry."
Shuzi was stunned for a moment, and then she remembered that she had watched the prosperity of the world fade away all her life, but her brother was still alone.
Looking at the capital gradually disappearing behind her, Shuzi sighed quietly.
Looking at Xiaohu, he said: "My brother is a god in the sky, how can we mortals compare to him?"
…
When a group of three people came to the grottoes outside Dunhuang City, Li Xiuyuan learned from Huiming that the fat monk had left the void three years after he left.
Shuzi took Xiaohu's hand to look at the words he had carved on the stone wall.
Li Xiuyuan came to the Buddhist hall and sat down, making tea and discussing Taoism with Huiming.
I haven't seen him for nearly six years. Huiming, who abandoned the throne back then, has gone from being a mortal to the realm of golden elixir.
I think the fat monk spent a lot of effort, not to mention Hui Ming himself.
Once you have the courage to live towards death, the difficulties in cultivation are no longer suffering.
For Huiming, his previous life has been like a dream since he left the imperial city, not to mention that after practicing Buddhism for several years, he has already seen a higher realm.
No one else knew about his situation, and he couldn't tell others. Only Li Xiuyuan's sudden arrival gave him hope of breaking through.
However, Li Xiuyuan poured cold water on him.
Looking at him, he said seriously: "Practice is inherently contrary to nature, and it is like taking poison that makes you want to stop. Since you have practiced Buddhism, you should understand the truth."
He can help Huiming break through the situation, but he must also let him understand that cultivation is not an easy task and he cannot blindly rely on the power of external things.
Otherwise, you will have no choice but to die of old age in this world throughout your life.
Thinking of the fat monk who had left, Li Xiuyuan sighed leisurely.
He said seriously: "Your master was supposed to leave this world six hundred years ago, but because he could not find Ruyi's successor, he delayed it again and again until your arrival..."
During the Qin Dynasty, Li Xiuyuan gave the fat monk the opportunity to ascend, just like he gave Zhang Liang's master, the mysterious old man.
However, in order to fulfill his master's instructions, the fat monk did not hesitate to give up the opportunity to ascend and waited in the grotto for hundreds of years.
At worst, he will have to sit here for the rest of his life.
Hui Ming also mentioned this principle to his master, but when he heard Li Xiuyuan mention it again today, he had a different feeling.
While making tea, he smiled bitterly and said: "The practice of Buddhism is the same as the practice of Taoism. It is a very difficult thing. Disciples should bear this in mind."
Li Xiuyuan smiled faintly: "Actually, you don't need to practice hard. After all, these years have passed, and you have already understood it clearly in your heart. You just need to slowly grind it with water to break through it."
"Think about how many years the Emperor of Qin conquered the world and unified the six kingdoms, and how many years he finally ruled? Not to mention the Han Dynasty after that. The changes in the dynasty were just a matter of spring and autumn."
Thinking of this, Li Xiuyuan was most proud of Xiaohu.
If Xiaohu can't see through it, he won't be able to let it go.
In the end, I am afraid that like Zhang Liang, I will disappear in the long river of time. How can I be like Shuzi, waiting for her return?
Just at this time, Shuzi took Xiaohu into the Buddhist hall.
Li Xiuyuan poured the spiritual tea for the two of them, pointed to the little tiger with Huiming and said, "My disciple's father was the king of Dunhuang City during the Qin Dynasty. Later, he was the king of the Han Dynasty and unified the desert..."
"However, in the end, he was more decisive than you and gave up the wealth and honor in the mortal world to practice in Tianshan Mountain. Otherwise, he would have disappeared in the long river of time."
Having said this, Li Xiuyuan touched Xiaohu's head and sighed.
He smiled and said, "Sir, I never want to praise you because I'm afraid that if you become proud, you won't bother to practice. Come to think of it, you are my most proud disciple!"
Xiaohu chuckled and couldn't help but ask: "Where's Sister Shuzi? Where's Brother Xiaohei? Where's this great monk?"
Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said: "Shuzi is my sister, Xiaohei is my brother, I don't care too much about their practice, and the great monk's master is the fat monk back then..."
Xiaohu then remembered that he hadn't seen the fat monk in an unknown amount of time.
Thinking of every detail of that year, I couldn't help but sigh and said: "I didn't expect that the fat monk would become a god like the master."
Li Xiuyuan thought for a while, looked at the two of them and said, "I'm going to live in the grotto for a few days. If you two are bored, you can go to Dunhuang City to play."
Shuzi smiled, looked at Xiaohu and said, "Take me for a walk tomorrow."
But Xiaohu wanted to go home and see the courtyard where he lived with his mother. Since his husband wanted to stay here, he naturally wanted to go home and see it.
Then he looked at Li Xiuyuan and said with a smile: "Xiaohu went to the city to buy some food and came back."
…
People were flying in the sky. Xiaohei and his two younger sisters, who had left the Northern Qi Imperial City, were already on their way back to the Great Zhou Imperial City.
The shop at No. 17 in the Imperial City closed its door and asked the couple who had been helping to go back from time to time to help.
A group of four people rented two carriages and slowly left the imperial city of Northern Qi.
For the queen of Da Zhou, Xiao Hei could not actually complete her mission.
Because the old shopkeeper spent money to entrust others to collect information on the Imperial City of Northern Qi over the years, he didn't worry about it at all.
The most proud thing was just helping Da Zhou solve the crisis in Danzhou City. Qing Yu was still with him at that time.
But now Qingyu has become the disciple of the old Taoist priest.
Not to mention, Gao Yue'er, a county commander in Northern Qi, was also deceived by him into following an old Taoist priest to practice in the Imperial City of Zhou Dynasty.
These two things are the most proud things for Xiao Hei.
Of course, what I am most proud of is saving the two little guys Qingqing and Yaner in Shekou.
This was also the reason why he often woke up laughing in his dreams. Even in his dreams, he never thought that he would be able to follow his brother to Dazhou and have two more sisters.
After Nirvana, and after experiencing Bai Ling's departure, Xiao Hei's state of mind became much more mature.
When passing by the Baiyu Temple in Liangzhou City, he ignored the shouts of the two sisters and coaxed them to go shopping in Liangzhou City.
So he avoided the trouble of re-opening the grudges with Baiyu Temple.
The four of them just rested for a day in Liangzhou City and then continued towards Da Zhou.
In Xiao Hei's words, it's time to return home, and he doesn't want to cause any more trouble on the road.
It's not that he is afraid, but he is just as afraid of trouble as his brother.
After leaving Liangzhou City, Qingqing began to think about what Xiaohei had told her over the years, the important event about her and Yan'er's life experience.
】
Since Yan'er listened to the story told by her sister, she has also been thinking about when to visit her mother again.
Only the old shopkeeper sighed secretly in his heart, thinking that this has passed, why do you need to mention it again?
However, he didn't know that Xiao Hei had promised the she-wolf that when he left, he would bring the two little ones back to see her.
No matter what happens in the future, at least he must fulfill the promise he made back then.
After running all the way, the four of them were quite tired. Fortunately, they bought a lot of food in Liangzhou City. With food, the two little guys would not clamor to go outside.
Qingqing now spends an hour in the carriage every day teaching her sister to read. Fortunately, Yan'er had heard her sister read before.
Now it was her turn to read, and she wasn't so resistant.
As long as she is with her brother, she seems very quiet, let alone when her brother wants to take her to live in a new place.
The yearning for the unknown can always give the little girl some hope and make her temporarily forget about boring things like reading and writing.
Unknowingly, the group of people came to the mountain forest where Xiao Hei met his two sisters.
Xiao Hei asked the coachman to drive the carriage to the back mountain. He wanted to rest here for a day and let the two little girls stay with their mother for another day.
After all, if you leave this time, you will probably never come back again.
The old shopkeeper would never interfere with Xiao Hei's decision as long as the three of them had nothing to do. In his opinion, it would only delay their trip for half a day at most, and they were not in a hurry at the moment.
The driver drove the carriage to the back mountain. Xiao Hei asked them to walk the horses and feed the grass, and he took his two sisters to the mountains.
In the distance, the old shopkeeper lit a fire beside the carriage and planned to boil water for tea.
The old tree that was broken back then has sprouted new buds. Xiao Hei and the two little girls stood silently in front of the sealed cave.
He sighed softly and said, "Senior, I brought your two daughters to see you."
