GBP Chapter 121 Capture
Chapter 121 Capture
Lu Cheng touched his bulging purse and returned home, reeking of alcohol. He found the stove cold and cold, not even a trace of heat. The maids brought him some tea, and he took a sip and kicked them. "You're bringing cold water to your master, you blind fool! Where's your wife?"
The little maid was lying on the ground, holding her chest, her face pale with pain.
Peng Mo scolded, "Get out now." Then he stepped forward and said, "Master, the master said that the grandmother is ill and asked the eldest grandmother to go back to take care of her. She has been gone for two days."
"She's my family now that she's married into our family. There's no one left in her family's family. Call her back." Lu Cheng got angry. "Go now and call her back!"
Peng Mo walked a few steps outside and heard a voice from the inner room saying, "Come back." He immediately turned around and asked, "Master, do you have any instructions?"
Lu Cheng frowned, "Since she wants to go back, let her stay as long as she wants."
Mrs. Chen is already much better. She still has some hope for her son-in-law and is waiting for him to come to her house and say a few nice words to reconcile the couple so that they can live a good life.
After waiting for seven days, I finally got the news that my son-in-law was taking a concubine.
Mrs. Chen hugged her daughter, tears streaming down her face. "What a wicked thing! The old lady is bedridden, and he only wants to live a happy life. He doesn't even bother with his elders when they are sick."
Chen was quite calm. "Mother, since he is a frequent visitor to those places, it's just a matter of time before he takes a concubine."
Speaking of this, Mrs. Chen quickly wiped away her tears and said nervously, "My son, don't let him get you dirty." After that, she asked someone to invite a familiar doctor who specialized in women's diseases.
Chen's face flushed slightly. "Don't worry, mother. I haven't let him touch me for almost a year."
Mrs. Chen was shocked and angry. "You two are both in your early twenties, and you actually—"
"Mother, I don't like him. I feel sick when I see him." Chen no longer concealed her feelings and leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. "Mother, I want a divorce."
At night, the Chen family couple lay in bed and began to discuss. Chen Siye had guessed his wife's intentions after listening to her rambling. He waited patiently for her to finish before saying, "I agree to Siwen's divorce."
The next day, Mrs. Chen took her daughter on a carriage to Xishan.
"Marriage is no joke. I heard that the fortune-telling sticks at Qingping Temple are the most effective. I'll take you there to relax today." Mrs. Chen was in high spirits.
After respectfully offering a fragrant incense stick and shaking out a neutral fortune, Mrs. Chen handed the stick to the interpreter. The interpreter spoke slowly and deliberately, but in short, it came down to two words: "Let it go."
Chen placed the divination gold into a copper bowl on the side, clasped her hands together, and bowed. Then she and her mother found a secluded spot to sit down. It was early spring, and the grass and trees on the mountain were sprouting.
"Mom, it's just a fortune stick. It doesn't count." Chen comforted her mother in a gentle voice.
Mrs. Chen looked at her daughter's youthful face, tears welling in her eyes. "Your father and I only have one daughter like you. We wouldn't call ourselves a philanthropist, but we do do good deeds and give alms. Now that you're stuck in this predicament, how can I let you go?"
The more she spoke, the sadder she became, and finally she couldn't help sobbing softly.
Chen wanted to continue to comfort him, but she caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of her eye and turned to look.
I saw a woman with black hair, plain clothes, light complexion, and graceful appearance standing under an ancient tree not far away, holding Buddhist beads in her hands.
"The verse in the poem 'Wonderful Color King Seeking the Dharma' says, 'From love arises sorrow, from love arises fear. Madam, if you are in trouble, the fortune stick may reveal itself. It may seem like asking others, but in reality, you are asking yourself. What you let go of can be suffering or this fortune stick. It all depends on how you choose."
Mrs. Chen was stunned, but after thinking about it carefully, her worries disappeared and she said, "You are right.
The mother and daughter stood up and walked out. A young man in a blue round-necked robe with handsome eyebrows and a refined face came towards them. Mrs. Chen hurriedly pulled her daughter aside.
Chen looked back and saw him striding to the side of the woman in plain clothes she had just seen. However, the woman turned around and walked inside, ignoring the young man in blue clothes following behind her.
Mrs. Chen smiled. "They look like a young couple having a quarrel. When I was young, I had a quarrel with your father, so I would find a nunnery to stay in for a few days and wait for your father to come and pick me up."
Chen also smiled and said, "Mother, let's go back."
"No, I think what the lady said just now makes a lot of sense. Buddhism teaches us to let go. But there is a Taoist temple nearby. Let's go there." Mrs. Chen held her daughter's hand tightly, fearing that she would not go.
Chen looked at the Taoist temple in front of him. Compared with Qingping Temple, this temple was smaller, but also simple and exquisite. The pilgrims he met along the way all had smiles on their faces.
There was a large bronze tripod in the middle of the courtyard, with statues of the ancestors enshrined in front and on both sides. Mrs. Chen and her daughter paid homage to each of them one by one.
Only then did he arrive outside the front door, glanced briefly at the stalls selling talisman paper, incense, flowers and incense sticks, and then went straight to the stall for drawing lots and fortune-telling.
On the two-foot square table were several divination sticks and copper coins, and next to them sat a teenage girl with a pretty face dressed as a nun.
Madam Chen paused. The young Taoist priest seemed to notice their hesitation and smiled. "Today, I won't charge for fortune-telling. Madam, would you like to take a look?"
Chen found it interesting and sat down at the table. "What should I call you?"
"Our meeting is destiny. My name is Runhui." Lu Yun smiled. "Madam, are you asking about good fortune or divination?"
Chen performed a Taoist ritual and said, "Fortune-telling." Then she grabbed the stick box beside her and began to shake it.
With a "click", a bamboo stick fell onto the table. Mrs. Chen picked it up and looked at it, unable to hide her disappointment. "It's actually the next one." Mrs. Chen's mood, which had finally been cleared up, fell again. She forced a smile and said, "Thank you, young master. We don't understand this hexagram."
"Wait a minute." Lu Yun stuffed the divination stick into her sleeve and called to the two ladies who were about to leave. "Madam, man can conquer nature. It's just a small divination stick. I just prayed to the ancestors to invalidate it. How about asking again?"
Mrs. Chen thought it was a bit absurd. "Young Master, how can a divination be invalidated?"
Lu Yun sat upright, her expression serious. "There's a saying, 'A single word or two can reveal a profound truth, so why would we need thousands of tomes?'" "I believe you came from Qingping Temple. It must be because of bad fortune that you came to my temple. It seems fate, too, is determined by human effort. Isn't that what Madam is saying?"
Chen lowered his head in thought, "As the Immortal said, what is the purpose of this hexagram?"
The girl's eyes were clear. She raised two fingers and said in a pleasant voice, "Pointing to the way and asking for advice. Whatever you agree with is the pointing of the way, and whatever you disagree with is asking for advice."
"Everything depends on human effort." Chewing on these four words, a smile appeared in Chen's eyes. "What the immortal said is quite good. I will tell you another fortune." Grabbing the fortune stick box again, Chen shook it a few times. Mrs. Chen took the fortune stick before her daughter. The four words "excellent luck" jumped into her eyes, and she was immediately overjoyed.
If Buddhism emphasizes "letting go," Taoism emphasizes "taking on." Do your best to achieve your goal. Chen's enlightenment was suddenly revealed. "Thank you, Master, for your guidance."