Chapter 293: First Meeting
It was a snowy day.
Yet, the scenery in the temple was particularly beautiful.
White snow covered the red tiles of the temple, forming an excellent view.
The bells hanging from the corners of the temple eaves were frozen.
They were also covered in snow.
Everything was stark white.
The monks in the temple also put on hats.
For a moment, one could only tell if someone was a monk by their monk’s robes.
With hats on, some monks looked like handsome young men, while others looked like chubby squires.
Perhaps the monks in the temple walked more slowly, so the snow-covered ground was not dirtied.
There were only a few shallow footprints crossing each other.
On a snowy day, there weren’t many pilgrims coming to burn incense and worship Buddha.
Because seeking Buddha is generally not an urgent matter.
The Buddhist gates do not accept emergency cases.
There were few pilgrims.
When the Jiang Family arrived, it seemed very lively.
After ten days of the Dharma Ritual, the monks were already familiar with Mrs. Qin, as well as the young lady and young master.
It must have had something to do with the mysterious noble person in their temple.
Others couldn’t get in.
Even the abbot had to get permission to enter.
Yet this family came every day and had to go in.
They mooched food and drink and even took things back.
They had clearly only paid a fee of one thousand taels, but the scale of the Dharma Ritual was worth more than twenty thousand taels.
Every day, senior monks chanted the scriptures, and the elderly abbot even came to chant personally.
Qin Luoxia thought to herself that the monks in the capital deserved to make money; it really wasn’t easy for old monks of that age to have to come and chant scriptures.
In the village, people of that age were village elders and would have to be taken care of.
The capital was just different.
Yeah, just like her daughter said, it was too competitive.
Even old monks of that age had to come out to work.
Qin Luoxia felt that this temple was quite good and very reliable.
She decided that in the future, all matters, big or small, would be handled at this temple.
By the way, she could do it right away; she could ask the people in this temple to help calculate which day was an auspicious day suitable for marriage.
Jiang Changtian didn’t have any good feelings towards temples.
He didn’t know why.
Perhaps he naturally disliked bald heads.
He felt an inner resistance.
On one point, he was the same as his son Jiang Feng; he desperately craved liveliness, needed to live surrounded by people, and was afraid of being alone.
Monks were too lonely and widowed; spending all day knocking on wooden fish in front of wooden sculptures, such a life was too long and endless.
However, the scenery at Taia Temple was indeed good.
And the transportation was convenient.
Carriages could reach it.
The parking area was also very spacious.
There were a few stone steps at the entrance of the temple.
These were mounting stones, which were quite advanced; when the horse stopped here, one could dismount, and there was a high stone step to step down onto.
It couldn’t be like in the TV dramas where someone bent over for you to step on.
This kind of stone was very convenient.
Arriving at the entrance, they found that the Meng Family had just arrived and were getting off their carriage.
The two families merged into one and walked inside lively.
The two chubby children, as expected, were not shy at all, nor were they afraid of the cold weather.
They seemed very excited outside, making cooing sounds.
Meng Shaoxia even deliberately stretched the little cub out to let it get a bit of snow, then had his hand slapped by his Mother.
“Slap!”
“Dong!”
The temple bell rang.
Some snow on the pine trees at the entrance was shaken off.
Pine trees with snow reached their most perfect state.
Very upright and proud, yet pure white.
Everyone entered the temple gate together.
They first saw the Buddha statue at the very outside.
The Hall of Longevity.
It protected longevity.
Anyone in this family with children couldn’t help but bow.
Or those with illnesses.
When young, one seeks wealth, connections, and official positions, but when older, even if those have been obtained or not, one more urgently begins to seek peace, health, and longevity.
They bowed slightly before arriving at the Dharma Ritual Hall.
The monks didn’t know Jiang the Second’s family, but they knew the Meng Family.
The Meng Family were professional seekers of children.
Madam Meng and Old Madam Meng were also big clients of the temple.
They gave so much incense money that the monks were embarrassed to accept it.
They just took the money without doing the work.
Now it was good, they had brought two big chubby grandsons to fulfill their vows.
Regardless of whether they had put in effort or not, since you made a wish and you had your grandsons, you had to fulfill the vow.
The lady who came to hold the Dharma Ritual had an elegant and extraordinary appearance, and the two children were exceptionally good-looking.
They originally thought she was holding the Dharma Ritual for her husband.
But they didn’t expect a refined and handsome man to get off the carriage today.
It was actually her husband.
Qin Luoxia really had a knack for keeping secrets.
She liked to hide things.
Today, she specifically dressed her husband up well.
He was even more handsome than when he wore his official robes.
She started washing his hair and bathing him yesterday.
Jiang Changtian only thought it was because they were going to the temple.
If one needed to be more pious, one had to bathe and burn incense before going to the temple.
Today, it was cold, so she prepared a fur cloak for her husband, and his robe had a fur collar.
Qin Luoxia felt that her husband was best suited for the attire of a wealthy young master; the more magnificent, the better.
Although they were here for a Dharma Ritual and it was best to wear white, there were also magnificent whites.
The white satin surface could have intricate embroidery, and the cuffs and collar could be adorned with fur.
In terms of luxury, the capital was still advanced.
Qin Luoxia would also observe how others dressed when she went out.
She wasn’t idle at home either, arranging for clothes and shoes to be made for her family, so at least they wouldn’t be mocked for their attire.
When she was poor, she still dressed cleanly and neatly.
Now that conditions were better, she naturally wasn’t stingy.
Today’s Jiang Changtian was still the most beautiful Vice Minister Jiang in the imperial court.
Wearing casual clothes, he was even more refined and magnificent.
His face was that of a beautiful middle-aged man, with slight traces of time, yet it had even more charm and appeal.
It wasn’t that youthful feeling; after all, he was the Father of several children and had been promoted to a grandfather, so he couldn’t stay a youth forever.
Rather, it was the beauty of a middle-aged man with experience, demeanor, knowledge, and cultivation.
Elegant and graceful, seeing him made one forget the mundane.
Like a piece of fine jade, he had finally been polished.
Even mountains and rivers couldn’t cover his brilliance.
Even wind and snow couldn’t hide his appearance.
Jiang Changtian’s handsomeness was displayed even more thoroughly under his wife Qin Luoxia’s careful styling.
For some reason, walking into the temple, the thousand-year-old ancient temple, Qin Luoxia felt that this scenery was so suitable for her husband.
Jiang Mianmian also felt that Father’s outfit was very fitting for the temple, very photogenic, but unfortunately there was no camera, and she couldn’t paint this kind of landscape and figure painting.
Today was the last day of the Dharma Ritual.
The temple still arranged many monks grandly.
The Dharma Ritual was very complex, with drumming and clanging.
Jiang Changtian felt that this scale didn’t look like a price of one thousand taels.
He was quite familiar with the prices of high-ranking monks.
For a Dharma Ritual of one thousand taels, having five or six monks drumming and clanging for you was considered doing their duty.
The Meng Family, Old Madam Meng and Madam Meng, had also come.
Although they agreed to let the two precious grandsons go out, the two of them were still worried; anyway, they were coming to the temple, so they just came along; one can never be too polite to Buddha.
Large temples all had places for female family members to rest.
At this time, it was quite troublesome for women to go out; they needed special places to rest and use the restroom; it was impossible to go out and use public toilets, and their clothes were very complicated, so it was easy to get them soiled in outside outhouses.
Going to the restroom was always done with someone serving; there were maids to lift your clothes to avoid getting them dirty.
The Meng Family had a large room where they took their grandsons to tidy up and rest first.
Leaving Jiang Yu and Meng Shaoxia behind to help out.
Actually, there was nothing for the host family to do for the Dharma Ritual.
It was just that everyone was present to burn incense and bow together.
Zi Congheng felt very at ease.
Father seemed to like liveliness when he was alive, right?
After death, having a bunch of family members, and he was among them; in this way, he should really be able to rest in peace.
Today, there was no situation where the incense fell over.
Perhaps even if there were spirits, they were blocked outside the temple; after all, it was hard for ghosts to enter as there were too many local gods in the temple.
After burning the incense, everyone added a bit of sesame oil to the eternal lamps.
This ceremony was considered over.
Qin Luoxia finally said, “There is one more important matter today. I have found an important relative, and since the whole family is here, we will meet them together.”
Meeting the family today, Qin Luoxia did not rush in.
Instead, she let Mianmian go and tell them.
The place where Aunt lived was also strange; it seemed that others couldn’t get in.
Mianmian trotted over and found Grandmother.
She saw that Grandmother was in a refined mood, boiling tea on a snowy day, and on the stove were roasted sweet potatoes and some frozen persimmons and oranges for preservation; in any case, it was a scene very suitable for posting on social media.
Mianmian trotted up and lunged in front of Grandmother; she originally wanted to pounce into her arms, but Grandmother backed away several steps.
She panted and said, “Grandmother, Mother told me to come and say that she has brought Father for you to see.”
Princess Huiyun widened her eyes. In this freezing weather? Did they really dig him up? Or? Little Qin was even more ill than she was.
Princess Huiyun was also dressed in white today, like a fox in the snow, wearing a veil, revealing only a pair of eyes.
She bit the bullet and said, “Your Mother is really enthusiastic. Since you’re already here, it’s good to meet.”
Qin Luoxia accompanied her husband.
Following behind was a string of people.
Heavy snow, thousand-year-old ancient temple, wandering around.
Princess Huiyun saw the group of people in front of her, and seeing the man at the head, her heart suddenly stopped beating.
She had a dream, dreaming that her child did not die, but grew up, started a family, had a wife, sons, and daughters, and the whole family lived in harmony. Her child looked like her, but even more like his Father.
He was a jade-like gentleman of the human world.
He smiled more gently than Master Jingjue.
He was her child.
The eternal pain in her heart.
The cause of her illness.
The reason she had sought death countless times.
Whatever she did, she thought, let me die like this; if I die, I will be able to see my child.
But he was standing alive in front of her.
Princess Huiyun only felt her heartbeat stop, her breathing stop, but her tears could not stop. A huge sense of bitterness washed over her, and she felt a bit incredulous.
She worried that her illness was acting up. When it acted up, she couldn’t even recognize the people around her, mistaking them; she had several times mistaken others for Master Jingjue…
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