Zheng Xiao Mistake: The Mistake of Rebirth Provoked the Cold Master

Does she recognize it?

How could she recognize the person who picked up Rong Yan?

Zhu Zheng couldn't help but wonder, "Who is it?"

"It's the one from Shengjing... what's his name... it's a very strange and difficult to pronounce name." Chong Hongzi thought hard and said, "What did you call him... yes, the Emperor..."

The emperor? Your Majesty?

...Gongyi Helu?

Zhu Zheng recognized this person, but she never expected to "recognize" him in this way.

"This distinguished guest from the Emperor and my senior brother are old acquaintances. They have a close personal relationship. Every autumn, he would go up the mountain to visit my senior brother in the name of praying for blessings." Chong Hongzi looked far away, "Cheng Yi appeared on such an afternoon."

Zhu Zheng digested it for a while, "In this case, this distinguished guest can also be considered as your benefactor."

Since this distinguished guest is the emperor, it is only natural for him to enter the court and become the Grand Tutor with the recommendation of Master Chongming.

It was so natural that Zhu Zheng was inexplicably disappointed...

"Benefactor?" Chong Hongzi suddenly sneered, interrupting Zhu Zheng's wandering thoughts. "If there hadn't been this greedy 'beneficiary' who cheated a promise in the name of youthful joking, Senior Brother would still be alive and well in this world, and Chengyi would not have left Yutian Temple."

Ever since he met Chong Hongzi, he always had a kind and smiling look on his face, but now his expression changed and he looked extremely serious with frowned brows.

"All souls are innocent, life and death are determined, I cannot escape the blame, and my death is worthy. This is the great principle of the world, but this 'distinguished guest' refused to believe a word of it." Chong Hongzi's tone was resentful and angry, "Thanks to him, not only has my foundation for half a lifetime of cultivation been destroyed, but my health is also getting worse day by day."

The master's words were mysterious, and he concealed the entanglements and causes and effects. Zhu Zheng didn't quite understand what he said, but she knew that this was not the time to ask questions, so she let the master continue.

"Forget it, forget it... The eternal affairs of the world are just like a game of chess under a pine tree." Chong Hongzi didn't know what he was thinking about. He looked at the distant sky and sighed heavily. "If I talk too much, my senior brother will be unhappy again. Let's not talk about those old things."

Then he looked at Zhu Zheng, "I heard from Ji Ying that you asked him a few questions about Uncle Chongming. You probably wanted to know why Chengyi became like this?"

Zhu Zheng did not deny it and nodded.

"Chengyi has a deep hatred for his life and has been taciturn and reserved since childhood." Chong Hongzi's eyebrows softened when he mentioned Rong Yan, and he spoke slowly, "But he is a child after all, and occasionally he reveals some youthful nature. My senior brother and I are very happy and are committed to raising this child to be more lively and cheerful."

"But since my senior brother became seriously ill, all these thoughts have become a bubble."

"I don't know where Cheng Yi got the whole story from, and he never smiled again. He spent the whole day in the medicine room studying medicinal herbs and Qi Huang, working diligently and silently."

"Brother Chongming is the best person I have ever met. He is kind and generous, polite and trustworthy. Even when his time was up and he had no chance of survival, he was still muttering about his broken promise and sent a letter to invite the 'distinguished guest' to the mountain to see him for the last time."

"Unfortunately, we encountered a snowstorm when we came here and the road was blocked. He was trapped at the foot of the mountain. My senior brother asked me to take two disciples to the foot of the mountain to pick him up."

"The snow was as thick as my waist, and it also stopped the flow of the hot spring on the top of the mountain. Ancient books record that there is a lotus at the bottom of the spring, which can be used as a medicine to prolong life."

"I didn't know Cheng Yi had something on his mind, so he took the opportunity to secretly go to the hot springs."

"When my brother saw that he had not returned at night, he went into the mountains to look for him."

"When I returned to the temple, I saw that Cheng Yi was not there, and neither was my senior brother. I immediately asked everyone in the temple to look for him, but after five days of searching, there was no news."

"Five days later, Cheng Yi returned to the gate of the temple with a Bodhisang Lotus in his hand and his master on his back, and fell on the threshold."

Hearing this, Zhu Zheng's heart tightened, "Master Chongming..."

"Senior brother is gone..." Chong Hongzi looked up, tears welling up in his old eyes.

Zhu Zhengyi felt a dull pain in her heart. During those five days and nights of heavy snow, when did he get lost? When was he found by his master? When did he have to watch Master Chongming... And what was his mood when he returned here in the end? She couldn't bear to think about it.

"Chengyi is a kid who has done well in all his subjects, except for one that he has never cracked."

"What is it?" Zhu Zheng asked.

Chong Hongzi closed his eyes and slowly gave an answer.

“How to lose.”

Zhu Zheng's heart felt like a cold wind suddenly blew into it. Entering the mortal world is a soul-stirring practice. The three pains of life are seeking but not getting, giving up but not wanting, and gaining but losing again. Every word and sentence is filled with the pain of separation from life and death.

But she is no different. She is also unable to see through it, learn from it, or let it go.

"Cheng Yi always felt that he was the one who killed his master. He sat quietly until the funeral was over, not eating or drinking, and not shedding tears. His eyes were so empty that it was scary."

"That 'distinguished guest' came to visit and gave him a letter, which was left by my senior brother."

"After reading the letter, he locked himself in his room for three days. When he came out, he told me that he was going down the mountain."

"I didn't stop him. I just changed his name before he left the mountain."

"My name is Rong Yan."

Zhu Zheng, who had been listening in silence, suddenly spoke up, "Let the heavens follow the way, and the universe will be full of impermanence."

This is a sentence from the Lanshi Sutra, which she had read when she was young and kept in mind.

There is an order of cause and effect, which is neither selfless nor impartial, neither righteous nor evil. Therefore, the laws of nature are followed and impermanence prevails.

"Chengyi is stubborn and persistent. I'm always afraid that he will be too stubborn and easily break." Chong Hongzi looked at Zhu Zheng with satisfaction. "The world is full of uncertainties. The fate he thinks he can control is like an ant trying to shake a tree. Don't always think of pushing yourself into a dead end."

Zhu Zheng's eyes darkened. It's not easy for an ant to shake a tree... But is going with the flow the way to survive? She even empathized with Rong Yan's idea of ​​not sparing anything. Isn't she also an ant trying to change the world...

"What's in the letter?" she asked.

"I haven't seen it." Chong Hongzi shook his head.

After a pause, he continued, "I only know that my senior brother promised to protect that person's country and life."

Zhu Zheng quietly tightened her skirt. The Yong Dynasty had been in turmoil for a long time. Almost every change of royal power was not peaceful, and the emperor and his subjects were all walking on thin ice.

Is this the reason why Rong Yan became the Prince's tutor?

He took on his master's unfinished business and went to a place where no one knew him, to assist a prince he had never known.

Protecting the country and its people is such a simple sentence...

If one day in the future, he found out that Gong Yixiu was a Shura who killed people without mercy and regarded human life as worthless, would he still insist on trying to catch fish in a tree and keep his old promise...

The wind blew away the clouds in the sky, and a lonely golden crow hung in the empty sky.

Zhu Zheng sat alone for a while, lost in thought for a long time, and suddenly asked, "Can I go see Master Chongming?"

*

Although it was daytime, the doors and windows of the memorial hall were tightly sealed, three thousand bright lamps were on, and in the middle stood a tall, long table with a tablet on it.

As Chong Hongzi led Zhu Zheng into the room, he shouted, "Brother, look who's here."

After that, he took a few steps forward, got closer to the tablet, and added in a low voice, "The little girl that Cheng Yi brought back with me, whom I mentioned to you."

The look was so serious that it seemed as if the tablet had two ears. Zhu Zheng recalled the days when she talked to her mother while holding the stone lion, and she was also so pious.

She bowed, performed the ritual, and lit another stick of incense.

"Master Chongming, my name is Zhu Zheng."

"Look, what a nice girl. I didn't expect that the old-fashioned boy would come to his senses one day." Chong Hongzi smiled with deep wrinkles on his face, muttering to the tablet, "I haven't seen him for a long time. He hasn't changed much this time. He's still taciturn and serious. He has grown from a little old-fashioned boy to a big old-fashioned boy."

After that, he turned to Zhu Zheng and said, "Xiao Zheng'er, please be patient. If he makes you angry, tell me and my senior brother, and let us help you vent your anger. Senior brother, take care of him when he is asleep, and I will take care of him when he is awake."

Zhu Zheng was originally feeling depressed, but upon hearing this, her eyes actually felt a little hot.

The master's tone was like that of an elder in her family who protected her family members, but she had never had such an elder.

Apart from her elder sister, she was not comforted or loved by anyone when she was a child.

When she saw the happy family life of other families, she could only secretly envy them in her heart. Sometimes, when she was so envious, she would secretly copy the uncles, aunts, grandparents, and grandparents of other families and regard them as her own in her dreams.

"Master Chonghong," Zhu Zheng blurted out, "Can I also call you Uncle Master?"

After asking the question, he felt a little regretful. Doing so was not only an overstepping of authority towards Master Chonghong, but also towards Lord Taifu. It was really rude.

"No." As expected, Chong Hongzi shook his head, "Don't call me uncle."

Zhu Zheng was stunned.

"Xiao Zheng'er." He raised his eyebrows and continued, "How about I take you as my disciple?"