Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Staring at the two figures staggering up the mountain path, Wen Jiao sneered, "Mingxin, Suxin, you two hide. Master Abbot, please take the young monks away for a while. I want to have a good meeting with this old lady Zhang to see what she is up to by harassing Xuanzang these days!"

The donor of the temple was about to quarrel with another donor, and they were both female relatives. The abbot was afraid of something going wrong, so how could he avoid it? He wanted to refuse, but he was shocked to see Wen Jiao's cold expression, with a majestic manner that would not allow rejection. Wen Jiao saw him hesitate, and thought about it, and understood the other party's concerns: "Master is smart, I think he has guessed the relationship between Xuanzang and me, I will not make it difficult for Xuanzang. If you are still worried, how about leaving this little master here to watch?"

The abbot breathed a sigh of relief. The prime minister's daughter, Yin, gave birth to a son in her early years and became a Buddhist monk. This incident caused quite a stir in the Eastern Buddhist community. He was a little unsure before, but seeing how Mrs. Zhang had been pestering Xuanzang these days, and Mrs. Zhang's former daughter-in-law was willing to pay a large sum of money to get Xuanzang to chant, he vaguely guessed the relationship between the three. When he saw Wen Jiao chasing here, he became more certain. He immediately raised his head to Jingfa and Jingkong, and called Mingxin and Suxin: "Two female donors, please follow me."

Mingxin also saw the figure on the mountain path at this time, and his brows were knitted tightly. Suxin pulled him, and then he left hesitantly: "I heard that the old lady was also used to doing farm work in the past, and she is very strong. Miss, will she suffer any loss?"

Su Xin sneered: "Don't worry, the sword and boxing training that Miss has been doing with Madam Ye is not in vain. I just secretly gave the sword to Miss. If Madam Zhang really dares to fight with Miss, she will be scared to death."

The Madam Ye she was talking about was Ye Si Niang. Wen Jiao practiced hard with her every day and had already mastered several sets of boxing and sword techniques, so she could not afford to suffer any loss.

In front of the thatched cottage, Wen Jiao stared at the sword in her hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Since she started learning sword, Su Xin was even more excited than her, wishing that she would help her hold the sword even when eating and sleeping. When she saw Ye Si Niang, her eyes lit up. She didn't expect that she would bring the sword with her when she came to the Buddhist temple.

I'll find a suitable time to ask Ye Si Niang if she's willing to accept Su Xin as her disciple. It's rare that she's so interested.

Old Madam Zhang donated a large amount of money to the abbot of Jingye Temple and finally found out Xuanzang's residence from him. She finally climbed up, and before she could catch her breath, she saw a beautiful young woman standing gracefully by the bamboo fence, holding an ebony sword with a gold sheath in her hand, lost in thought. She was dressed in light green and pale yellow, and was as graceful and clean as a golden lotus swaying on the green waves.

How come there was a beautiful woman with a sword in the place where her eldest grandson was in seclusion? Old Madam Zhang was so shocked that she ignored the sense of familiarity when Fang Yi saw the other person: "Who are you! What do you want to do! Put down the sword!"

What a majestic old lady!

Wen Jiao looked sideways, her eyes filled with displeasure: "Who do you think you are, what are you doing here, and why do you order me around?"

Old Madam Zhang looked around and saw that there was no one around except a young monk of about seven or eight years old. The young monk was watering the flowers by himself and turned a deaf ear to the conversation between the two. She pointed at the food box in the maid's hand and said proudly, like a respectable official's wife: "I am the grandmother of Master Xuanzang, and the one in seclusion here is my grandson. I saw that he was living a hard life in the temple, so I asked my family to make some milk cakes and fruits to send to him to satisfy his craving. Who are you? Judging from your appearance, you seem to be from a wealthy family. Why are you wandering alone in the back mountain of this Buddhist temple?"

She was carrying a sword, what if she hurt someone? No matter where this girl came from, her family must be shady. I'll find out later and make sure E'er stays away from her.

He didn't even recognize his former daughter-in-law? Yes, her appearance had changed a lot in the past month, and the family members still felt strange looking at her every day, thinking that the tonic she took had worked wonders. Besides, Mrs. Zhang's impression of Yin Wenjiao was still stuck on the haggard lady who divorced Chen Guangrui a month ago. When she first saw her, she naturally didn't think it was the same person.

Wen Jiao narrowed her eyes and pretended not to know her: "So you are Master Xuanzang's family. I am honored to meet you."

During this month, Wen Jiao was completely transformed, but Chen Guangrui was almost skinned alive. The family's cash had been used up when buying the fifty acres of land, and Chen Guangrui had no money left. Wen Jiao only gave him one month to move, so Chen Guangrui had to sell the land again. He couldn't get a good price in such a hurry, so he hastily sold it for only 1,200 strings of cash and bought a small house in the eastern suburbs of the city, where he settled his mother and pregnant concubine. The life of calling slaves and maids was naturally unbearable. There was no place to live or support so many slaves and maids, so he sold them all at once, leaving only three maids and a cook, and his life became difficult.

In the court, Chen Guangrui could hear the censors impeaching him in various ways every day.

He failed to manage his household properly, and the servants and concubines stole property and ran away. He was obviously the victim of the theft, so why was he also implicated?

What about the white jade pot that was secretly accepted as bribes from foreign officials? It was obviously given to him by local officials because they saw that he was the son-in-law of the prime minister and wanted him to say a few good words in front of Yin Kaishan. What's wrong with him accepting it?

The Holy Emperor was very observant and knew that he had recently divorced Yin Kaishan's daughter. He was not uncommon for being blamed by many people, so he did not care when he heard the impeachment. When the group of censors showed him the accounts of bribes he had received, even the Emperor's face darkened, and he changed his rank from the fifth-rank Wenyuan Pavilion Scholar to the ninth-rank Hongwenguan Proofreader. He used to be able to attend court affairs, but now his annual salary is only about 20 stones, which is not enough to feed a mouse. It is impossible for him to make money by taking advantage of the power of others like he did when he was the prime minister's son-in-law. He can only bury himself in the pile of old papers to proofread and publish classics, and he is so cynical that he is almost crazy.

Mrs. Zhang felt sorry for her son and racked her brains to help him cheer up. After thinking about it, she realized that the crux of everything was the breakdown of Yin Wenjiao's relationship with him. What was the best weapon to maintain the relationship between parents? Of course, it was the child!

She found a merchant from the south and asked him to take a letter to Xuanzang. But the merchant said, "Master Xuanzang has come to Jingye Temple to stay, don't you know, old lady?"

It was really like someone brought a pillow just when she was sleepy. Mrs. Zhang was overjoyed and rushed to Jingye Temple.

Xuanzang must be persuaded to ask his mother for mercy and stop suppressing his father. If he can persuade her well, maybe his parents can get back together, and they can be reunited as a family like before. She will be able to close her eyes even if she dies immediately.