Chapter 224: Should I Help You Carry the Divorce Papers?
The second day after the Beginning of Winter, it rained.
It was the first heavy rain since autumn, falling right into winter.
The mountains were veiled in rain.
Yet, Jiang Changtian still went out.
He brought a little thing along—his little daughter, clutching a sword and wearing a black cloak.
The little girl said every day that she wanted to roam the pugilistic world and uphold justice.
She must have read too many storybooks.
When a woman roams the pugilistic world, where does she go to relieve herself when nature calls?
Sleeping in the open and eating in the wind, her skin would suffer, getting tanned and dark.
Walking so much would make her feet big and her legs thick.
Furthermore, living a nomadic life, she would have to carry her own luggage; after carrying a full pack for a long time, her shoulders would broaden and her hands would become calloused.
Most female martial artists are robust, dark, and thick-set, even sturdier than men, with an appearance that makes it hard to distinguish their gender.
Looking nothing like a woman.
However, Jiang Changtian did not tell his daughter this; people must always have dreams.
Let her be.
If she really wanted a pugilistic world, he could build one for her.
The rain stopped by nearly noon.
The road, however, was very slippery.
Jiang Mianmian walked very carefully.
The soles of her shoes were a bit too slippery at this moment.
Jiang Mianmian was a bit worried about Father, even though Father was sometimes so handsome that she forgot his age.
But thinking about it, in this ancient era, Father was definitely considered middle-aged or elderly.
Jiang Mianmian walked a few steps, then turned back and called out, “Father, slow down.”
“I am fine, watch your own step.”
Then, with a whoosh, Jiang Mianmian slipped.
She fell down, landing right on her bottom in the mud.
The black mud was particularly conspicuous, but it didn’t hurt.
Jiang Changtian hoisted his daughter up and said, “Watch the road when you walk, don’t look at Father.”
“It didn’t hurt, not at all,” Jiang Mianmian laughed.
It had given Pang Ya quite a fright.
Pang Ya wanted to carry her mistress on her back, but Jiang Mianmian wouldn’t allow it.
Zhang Weibiao wanted to carry the old master, but Jiang Changtian also refused. “Thanks, but I’m not old.”
Usually, if Mianmian wasn’t going out, Zhang Weibiao would accompany Jiang Changtian. Mainly, because he looked robust and fierce—if he belonged to someone else, people would be terrified, but since he was their own, it felt very safe.
Mianmian scrambled up, took Father’s hand, and continued forward.
Fortunately, the muddy road was only a short stretch; it must have been a landslide earlier, which was why there was so much mud.
The path ahead was covered in grass; stepping on the grass made it less slippery.
It was just that after walking for a long time, the hem of her skirt and her shoes would get wet.
The grass was pressed into the ground, but after the person in front passed, it slowly stretched back up. As time healed it, very quickly, one could no longer see the traces of the pedestrians.
When the muddy road ended, Jiang Mianmian pulled out her sword again—oh no, she drew her sword. This posture was also quite important; it had to be cool, and she had to be careful not to cut the people around her.
There was an angle to it, after all. If the angle wasn’t controlled well and she couldn’t pull it out on the first try, it would ruin the coolness.
If the movement was too wide, it was easy to accidentally injure a comrade. Before even striking at the enemy, one’s own comrade would be -1.
Whether her swordsmanship was good or not, Jiang Mianmian didn’t know, but she had already initially mastered the Great Art of Showing Off: drawing the sword.
Jiang Mianmian drew her sword and began hacking at the flowers and grass by the roadside.
However, it was already winter, so there were fewer flowers and more grass.
The sword slashing through the grass made a swish, swish, swish sound, which was very pleasant.
She was like a diligent trailblazer, swinging her sword non-stop.
Originally, Jiang Changtian was in a bad mood about going to the temple because he had to see his older brother.
But looking at little Mianmian in front of him, covered in mud, swinging her sword happily with a smile on her face, Jiang Changtian’s hard, dark heart softened and brightened involuntarily.
He listened to her unconsciously providing sound effects for her own sword.
“Huo! Ha!”
The corners of Jiang Changtian’s mouth were already upturned.
There were originally many temples in Jingzhou.
There were also two super-large temples, Shangqiu Temple and Guizhen Temple.
Since Shangqiu Temple was gone, Guizhen Temple leaped to become the largest taxpayer in Jingzhou. The taxes paid by Guizhen Temple alone were enough to support the urban construction of a Prefecture City.
Guizhen Temple was not only proactive in paying taxes, but many people, envious of the strong men who were always working out at the temple gate, had returned to secular life to work out together and get hyped up.
Guizhen Temple not only actively paid taxes and actively contributed literate, strong talent to society, but also actively returned excess land. After all, with fewer people, they certainly didn’t need that much land—taking from the people, returning to the people.
The taxes from Guizhen Temple supported the urban construction of a city.
The land returned by Guizhen Temple supported half the population of a city.
Crucially, as the largest temple, it had set an example itself; shouldn’t the hundred or so large and small temples beneath it follow suit?
May the Buddha have mercy, well done, well done!
And because of this, Commander Jiang was affectionately known in the Jingzhou Buddhist circles as Old Demon Jiang.
The affectionate Commander Jiang brought his little daughter to a small temple in the mountains.
Upon arriving at the temple gate, he saw a tall, long-haired man holding a broom and sweeping the floor.
The area at the temple gate was neither big nor small.
But after the Beginning of Winter, there were many fallen leaves.
After the rain, the floor was very wet, and the fallen leaves stuck to the ground, making them very difficult to sweep away; the more one swept, the tighter they stuck.
He still swept it, one stroke at a time.
It seemed that the goal was not important; what mattered was the process.
The sweeping monk’s main focus was on sweeping gracefully; whether it was clean or not was unimportant.
The little monk in the temple heard that someone had arrived and prepared to come out to take a look, but when he saw Jiang, Jiang, Old Demon Jiang, he wished he could immediately close the temple gate and turn around and run away.
He went to report to the abbot.
The little monk was scolded by the abbot: “Others call him Old Demon Jiang, but since he came to Jingzhou, apart from Shangqiu Temple being gone and the great monks of Guizhen Temple losing weight, the common people have all gotten fatter. What does that have to do with our small temple? We used to be so suppressed by Guizhen Temple and Shangqiu Temple that we didn’t even look like a proper temple. Now it’s actually better; occasionally there are even pilgrims, much better than in the past. Do you want to eat greasy leftovers or do you want to eat clean food made by yourself?”
The abbot adjusted his kasaya and went out to welcome the visitors.
Jiang Changtian watched his older brother wearing an old, washed-out monk’s robe, sweeping diligently, and he spoke up: “Big Brother, I am going to the capital, and I have come specifically to say goodbye to you.”
Jiang Huaisheng continued sweeping.
“Mother and Wan’er have already arrived first. I heard that Wan’er is even pretending to be a goddess, acting like she can predict the future. Big Brother, you know me; I hate anything to do with ghosts and gods the most in my life. Don’t worry, when I get to the capital, I will help you teach her a good lesson.”
Jiang Huaisheng continued sweeping.
“I heard that sister-in-law has become Heir Han’s concubine. Come to think of it, Big Brother, you still owe her a divorce paper. Sister-in-law needs to divorce you first before she can remarry. Marrying directly is definitely wrong, even if he is the Emperor’s nephew. The Emperor did wrong in this matter. When I arrive in the capital, if there is a chance, I will definitely seek justice for you. But Big Brother, you have become a monk now, and monks are detached from the four elements. Big Brother, have you written the divorce paper? I can help you carry it.”
Jiang Huaisheng continued sweeping, scrubbing hard at a leaf on the ground in front of him, having already shredded the leaf with the bamboo broom.
The abbot walked out.
He was a thin old man.
“The demon entrusts…”
Oh no, a slip of the tongue.
“Amitabha.”
“Lord Jiang has come, and I failed to welcome you from afar. May I ask what the purpose of your visit is?” the abbot asked respectfully.
“I am here to visit my Big Brother. He has become a monk in your temple, but there is one thing you are doing poorly. Even though he is my Big Brother, since he has become a monk, he should act like one. Keeping his hair and beard is improper. The Imperial Court has issued regulations and laws that do not allow Buddhist temples to accept lay disciples as affiliates to take the opportunity to evade taxes.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Donor Huaisheng has great wisdom. We have already chosen an auspicious day and are preparing to tonsure him. We never accept lay disciples here; we always pay taxes according to the population, and we absolutely never evade taxes.”
Commander Jiang asked, “Which day is the auspicious day?”
The abbot pinched his fingers to calculate and said, “Today.”
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