She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

Early the next morning, before the roosters crowed, there was a hurried knock on the peasant woman's door.

Hengzhi slept with A'ao in his arms as usual.

Just because of this noise, it’s hard to fall asleep.

Judging from the noise coming from the next room, the peasant woman must have hurriedly wrapped herself in clothes and then stumbled out of the door.

He also took the shovel behind the door.

Ah-yi went to bed late last night and was so sleepy that she couldn't even open her eyelids. "Then let's go check it out? We all take shovels, what if it's a bad guy?"

Hengzhi said this because he heard the sharp sound of a shovel scratching the ground. The wooden handle of the shovel was very long, and the peasant woman was not strong enough, so she dragged the ground.

"I'll go out first. Put on your clothes and come out later." He then put on his outer robe and stood up. He remembered to tuck the quilt in for her before leaving.

Ah'an didn't even have pajamas on, so she quickly followed out despite the early morning chill.

The expected scene of punishing evil and eliminating evil did not happen as expected. Instead, the peasant woman and another woman were seen hugging each other and crying, while Heng Zhigan stood aside.

"What's going on?" A'ao walked up to him and asked.

She looked towards the two people, crying so hard that it was hard to interrupt her.

Heng Qi explained to her in a low voice, "Do you remember yesterday when the peasant woman told us that her daughter was married off to Jiannan Road and she hadn't seen her for ten years? It was just a coincidence that she ran back home early this morning and saw her."

Ah-yi opened her mouth in surprise, "How could such a coincidence happen in the world?"

Who said no.

"Mother! For the entire ten years, my daughter has not had a single day of peace. I have been planning for several years just for this day!"

Even when she was crying, A'ao could vaguely see her delicate features and her haggardness.

It seems that she suffered a lot in her husband's family.

After the two of them finished crying, the peasant woman quickly took her daughter to meet the people.

"Sir, Madam, I'm sorry to bother you." The peasant woman wiped her tears and said, "This is my daughter Fanglian. I just mentioned her yesterday and I saw her today." There was some hesitation in her words because her daughter was not living a happy life, so there was not much joy in meeting her.

Fang Lian was stunned. It was only then that she saw two strangers in her home. She bowed her head obediently and said, "Hello, both of you."

Family disgrace is never made public. With the two of them standing here, I'm afraid the mother and daughter would not be able to say anything private.

"Ah, don't disturb me. We were just about to go up the mountain, so it was a coincidence that we met." Ah'ao was still a little sleepy, so her mind was not clear and she didn't have any skill in speaking. She just said this in a dry voice, and the four of them were at a loss as to what to do.

Hengzhi held A's arm and said goodbye, "Thank you for staying overnight. My husband and I want to go to Qingyuan Temple early to burn the first stick of incense, so we won't bother you any more. I'll come to visit you again when we go down the mountain."

When they were so far away that they could no longer see the courtyard with smoke rising from the kitchen, Ah-yi sighed, "Fanglian looks like a pitiful person. She was forced to marry far away and was kept under the care of her husband's family. She couldn't come home to visit for ten years."

Hengzhi is a man, men hold power in this world, and women always bear the moral code. He felt that he had no right to judge the suffering of men over women, so he could only remain silent.

"If she was really bullied by her husband's family, it would be better if she could divorce." A'ao said without thinking.

I did a lot of hard climbing yesterday, and my knees felt a little sore when I woke up this morning.

Ah-yi supported her knees with her hands, and thought of what Heng-chi had just said, "We'll be at Qing-yuan Temple soon, so why don't we really go and burn the first incense? Otherwise, it would be too uneconomical to leave early."

Hengzhi leaned against a nearby tree and said, "Okay."

He had always been good at following her wishes and always enjoyed doing so.

It just so happened that he also had something he wanted to ask for.

There are people who believe in gods and Buddhas, and there are people who sneer at them. Hengzhi is the latter most of the time. Whether he was a prince in the past or a prince now, he believes more in the results of his own hard work.

When it didn't rain, they would find ways to divert water and build canals; when there was an epidemic, they would purchase medicinal materials and provide free medical treatment and medicine in the city.

It is always more reassuring than kneeling in front of a Buddha statue every day and praying for world peace.

But he is also a mortal, and when mortals are born into this world, they have hopes and desires.

When we face our own desires, we may live more soberly.

However, the two people, who had never been good at concentrating on worshipping Buddha, still felt a little at a loss after being politely invited into the hall by the monks and knelt awkwardly on the cushions.

I don't know where to put my hands.

"Uh... Master, we have come from far away. Our hometown is remote and there are few Buddhist temples. We are new to your temple and I wonder if there are any rules for burning incense?" A'ao quietly raised her head and asked.

The young monk looked young, as if he had entered the Buddhist monastery early in life. He was pale and thin, wearing a simple monk's robe, with his hands clasped together, a rosary hanging from his neck, and a peaceful expression.

"Don't worry, my two donors. If you are sincere, your wish will come true. There are no rules."

His voice sounded ethereal and distant in the empty hall.

Ah'ao was suddenly touched and turned to look at Hengzhi beside her.

She was wearing a smoke-blue casual suit, with her sleeves tied tight as usual. With a few steps, her figure looked like a crane. With her eyes closed, she held up three incense sticks that she had lit herself to her forehead. The half of her face that was exposed showed her high nose bridge and thin lips that she had been familiar with for a long time.

In her mind, she slowly recounted how he kissed her hair and forehead in every quiet night, but then she realized that her random thoughts in front of the Buddha were inappropriate, and hurriedly collected her mind and closed her eyes.

There is a tall Bodhi tree in the courtyard of the Buddhist temple.

It is said that it was planted by a monk when the temple was founded. Today, it is a towering green tree with luxuriant branches and leaves, and is decorated with red ropes thrown by pilgrims seeking marriage.

Next to it was a desk with writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as a red rope two fingers wide.

Ah-yi was the first to ask, "What did you pray for when you burned incense just now?"

"Good weather, and you."

"Business is booming."

They looked at each other and were both amused by each other's reserve.

Ah Yi picked up a red rope and was a little puzzled. "This red rope is so light, how can I throw it up and get it to hang?"

Hengzhi didn't answer, but handed her a pen and said, "Write first, and I'll tell you when I finish."

This would be a red string specially made for praying for marriage, so there was nothing else to write, except sweet words like long-lasting, harmonious and beautiful. Ah-yi searched for poems in her mind, not wanting to write these clichéd words.

Finally, I wrote the line from Zheng Feng: "The wind and rain are dark, and the cocks are crowing. Now that I have met a gentleman, how can I not be happy?"

Hengzhi covered the note he had written very tightly, so that Ah-yi could not see it at all. He took out a copper coin from his pocket, passed the two red strings through the square hole, and tied them together.

Ah-yi was amazed, "You really have a way."

"How high?" Hengzhi looked up at the treetops, took a few steps back, and looked for the best position to exert force.

The higher the ball is hung, the stronger the marriage will be. In order to have a good start, people often try their best to throw it onto the highest branch.

With such a tall Bodhi tree, no matter which branch is hung on it, she will be happy.

"Of course it's the tallest one!"

Even so, A'ao still spoke excitedly.

Hengzhi glanced sideways, and really picked the tallest branch, raised his hand and threw it gently. With his strength, the copper coin and red rope were thrown out, and easily found the lush branch and hung on it steadily.

Ah's eyes followed the bright red color until it disappeared into the new green branches and leaves.

Hengzhi had no selfish thoughts on the red string. He had thought of tying the two red strings together since he entered the temple. Now that they were tied together, her wish was also his.

"As she wishes." He muttered to himself.

The vegetarian food at Qingyuan Temple was very good, so the abbot invited them to have a vegetarian meal and they did not set out to go down the mountain until the afternoon.

"The bamboo shoots here are very delicious. Just stir-frying them like vegetarian food can also have such a flavor."

They quickly walked back to the peasant woman's yard, where they stopped to chat.

But even though they were at some distance, they could still hear the quarrel.

This time, I'm afraid it's not just the peasant woman and Fanglian, there are also two men's voices.

Could it be that Fanglian’s husband’s family followed after them?
Ah-yi was a little worried, "Let's go take a look?"

Hengzhi was not in a hurry, but pulled out a dagger from his bosom and chopped down a bamboo beside him. In a few strokes, he cut off the horizontal bamboo leaves and the prickly bamboo joints, and cut it into an ordinary climbing bamboo stick, which he handed to Ah-yi.

"Just in case, take it and protect yourself, don't rush in."

She said this as if she was a very reckless person.

"We've been through enough life and death together, this is nothing." She was obviously dissatisfied. She frowned slightly and pursed her lips, making her cheeks bulge.

Hengzhi looked at her with a smile, freed a hand, and rubbed her cheek with his knuckles, "Follow me closely."

When we arrived, we found out that the people quarreling were a peasant woman, her husband, and their two children.

Fanglian was crying again, but this time it wasn't because she missed her father and brother. Instead, her eyes were red and her face was angry.

"Don't even think about it! Ten years ago, you were such a useless person that you married your daughter to such a faraway place to be a concubine to a fool just for a little bit of money! Concubine!" The peasant woman was so angry that her face turned red, and she kept pointing at the man's face. "Now that the fool is dead, the husband's family wants to bury their daughter with him. How wicked! My daughter finally escaped with her life, and you actually want to send her back to hell for that little bit of compensation? Bah! Unless I die!"

The man was not to be outdone, and he glared and yelled, "So what! The girl your son was engaged to died a long time ago, and now people say he is unlucky in marriage, and he still has no family. If it wasn't for the extra money, and at least a wife to carry on the family line, I wouldn't have done this!"

Then, he directed his anger at Fanglian, "You've been married for ten years! You've already given birth to two children, how dare you come back to your parents' home? You know that once you marry into your husband's family, your life and death will be decided by them. This will only cause trouble for your parents."

The hunter and his son collected their prey, had dinner in the town at the foot of the mountain, sold the venison and fur, and planned to return to the mountain as soon as possible to rest for a few days.

Unexpectedly, just as they put down the bowl, several people came towards them and surrounded them.

(End of this chapter)