Poor monks do not break the precepts

The Hermitage Villa ushered in the New Year's Eve amidst the busy schedule, and the whole family was celebrating. Everyone seemed to have swept away the unhappiness of the whole year.And this day was extremely overwhelming for Xu Sheng. After staying in Wuwangya for 25 years, he couldn't adapt to such an overly lively environment.I went out early in the morning to meet Ayu, and learned that her family happened to be in a town less than half a day away from the villa, so I sent her home for a reunion, and gave her a few days off, and then hid in the guest room to watch the film for a long time. letter.

It wasn't until the afternoon when Huai Mingmo and Ji Boru came to pull people, but they had no excuses to push them away, so they had no choice but to go out.He is used to wearing plain monk clothes, although he is not in the Buddhist temple now, his clothes are still mainly white and gray, which is very unsuitable for this festive day.On the other hand, Chen Xiang has always loved red, which looks conspicuous on weekdays, but now it is very appropriate.

The reunion dinner is indispensable on New Year's Eve. Ji's family is not like those Zhong Ding Ming restaurants have strict rules, and men and women must have different seats, and a screen is placed in the middle to avoid suspicion.The whole family has not liked this for a hundred years, so according to the usual practice in previous years, the master and servant share the same room, but this year it is too inconvenient for the master's family to squeeze together at one table, so Bai Zhaorong made the decision to set up two tables.On the other side, they were chatting and joking as usual, only the younger generation at this table, everyone seemed to have not minded the previous conflict, although you talked to each other, but after all, it was not as warm as before.

Ji Deqin is especially obvious, he often whispers to Di Feng, occasionally responds to Ji Deen, and rarely even greets other people politely.As for Di Feng's eye circles were reddish, she seemed to have cried, but she still knew the general situation, so she didn't just respond with a forced laugh and chat.

The old lady Ji turned her head and said with a smile: "Girl Feng, it's your first time to celebrate the New Year in the villa. I'm afraid you're not used to the rules in the villa, so don't mind."

Di Feng smiled slightly, shook her head and said: "Don't worry, old lady, I've already asked Aunt Rong, and she said that old lady is the kindest elder, so please don't be cautious."

"This girl will always please me and speak nice words to me." The old lady Ji pointed to Di Feng, and then said to Bai Zhaorong: "You found a good wife for Deloitte, don't be lazy, there are two more I'm counting on you too."

"Mother didn't give you the gift of thanking the matchmaker." Bai Zhaorong smiled, and while speaking, his eyes fell on Huai Mingmo, "There is no gift of thanking the matchmaker, so I won't do anything."

The old lady Ji hurriedly waved her hand to attract the mother behind her, who put a lot of red envelopes on the wooden plate in her hand, pretending to be angry and said: "You can grab as much as you can, so you don't have to mutter in your heart that I am a stingy old lady."

Bai Zhaorong covered her mouth and waved her hands with a chuckle: "I don't dare to monopolize the gift of thanking the matchmaker. He hasn't given the third brother's share yet."

An Jingyue is a thin-skinned bride, she blushed after hearing this, but Ji Duorui who was beside her was very dissatisfied and said: "I fought for this myself, I will not pay for it."

All of a sudden, the room was bursting with laughter, one after another, everyone was joking with each other, and the respectable stewards on weekdays all paid their respects to the old lady in advance, and the atmosphere was very lively.Chen Xiang sat at the same table with Xin Li and the others, and smiled while listening to them teasing each other. This was the first time she looked back on New Year's Eve, and it felt even more fresh.

Huai Mingmo noticed that Xu Sheng beside him was often silent, and he turned his head and asked in concern: "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable?"

Xu Sheng smiled and said: "No, some are not used to it, and some..." Envy, Xu Sheng didn't say the last two words, his expression was a little downcast.

"I'll be with you in the future, and you'll get used to it after a few years." With hundreds of pairs of eyes around him, Huai Mingmo restrainedly patted the back of Xu Sheng's hand.

These words are like the first ray of spring breeze suddenly blowing in the frosty cold of deep winter, as if there is a warmth flowing through the dry heart, the tip of the nose is sore, and Xu Sheng is silent for a long time.

After a long time of commotion, Mrs. Ji is old after all, and no matter how well-maintained her body is, she can't stand up to the wind and frost of the years. Just after Xu Shi, she asked her mother to help her back to rest in the house.

The master didn't care, but the house slaves knew each other well. As soon as the old lady left, everyone dispersed, leaving only a few able ones waiting in the side hall.Ji Nian had a drink with his siblings first, and seeing that it was late, he also went back to the house.

Without the presence of stern elders, the atmosphere of watching the new year became more and more active. Ji Deen and Ji Boru picked up the jug and ran to the other table, dragging Ji Duorui and others to order the wine, and refused to stop after drinking a few jugs.

This side drank vigorously, while Xinli ran outside the house with a novelty Chen Xiang to set off fireworks.

I don't know where Luo Chen got a lot of fireworks, there are as many as ten boxes, starting from Haishi, it can be set off for more than two hours.Zang Li looked at the sea of ​​flowers in the night and clapped her hands excitedly. Chen Xiang also looked up, completely attracted.

"What are you thinking?" Standing against the railing, Huai Mingmo touched Xu Sheng's sleeve with his elbow.

Xu Sheng looked at Chen Xiang for a long time, and seemed to feel a little guilty, "When you are young, let her accompany me on Wuwangya, and live with the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha, I have wronged her."

The fireworks were brilliant in the dark night, and there was some noise around, Huai Mingmo leaned close to Xu Sheng's ear and said, "But without you, what would Chen Xiang's fate be like now? There are gains and losses, and Chen Xiang doesn't regret being with you when I think about it."

Looking at the backs of the two young people, Mr. Ji raised his glass and pressed it to his lips. He didn't move for a long time, his expression was complicated but extremely firm.Bai Zhaorong followed Mr. Ji's gaze, stretched his eyebrows, and said with a flat smile: "This wonderful monk is not as difficult as the rumors in the world. I see him treating Mingmo very well."

Ji Deqin had a grudge in his heart, and he didn't want to get along with his younger siblings, so he simply sat with the elders in the family. When he heard Bai Zhaorong's words, he couldn't help frowning, and said with disgust: "Two big men get tired of being together all day, what does it look like?"

Mr. Ji's face was a little displeased immediately, and he said calmly: "They are like-minded, it's okay if they get closer."

As Ji Deqin got older, but his eyesight was getting worse, he didn't notice Mr. Ji's expression at all, and wanted to say a few more words.Di Feng secretly pulled her husband down, and said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Princess Pingning and my uncle can talk quite well, if the two of them are destined, they will be in harmony in the future."

After talking with Ji Boru the day before yesterday, Mr. Ji had already made up his mind, so he said: "The fate is deep and the love is shallow, so why force it." After saying this, Mr. Ji felt a lot more relaxed. She turned her head to Bai Zhaorong and said: "Mother, that I'm afraid you're going to be perfunctory first, and when the imperial concubine visits her relatives, I'll have a deep talk with her, and then go and tell the truth."

Bai Zhaorong nodded with a smile, and readily agreed: "I know, don't worry."

The four people at the next table were enjoying their drinks. When they first heard about this, they stopped touching the wine at the same time, and turned around to look at Mr. Ji in surprise.Ji Duorui shook the jug, and the old god teased on the ground: "I said at that time, and I was scolded by the second sister afterwards, which one is not what I said now."

Ji Sushan looked at Ji Duorui with a gentle smile, which caused most of Ji Duorui's alcohol to disappear, and the smug smile on the corner of his mouth froze.Since he was a child, he liked to follow behind this second brother, so he knew Ji Sushan better than anyone else, the person he dared not provoke the most in the whole villa was this second brother.

In the middle of the night, firecrackers exploded everywhere, and the juniors came to greet the elders one by one. Shen Changlin also led the stewards in the villa to visit the New Year. The front hall was noisy for a long time.It didn't take long for many bowls of dumplings to be sent from the kitchen. I was supposed to be restrained, so I ate only a few copper coins.

Everyone huddled around Xu Sheng for a while, and Ji Boru didn't treat Xu Sheng as an outsider, and chased after Xu Sheng to gain blessings, but Xu Sheng's lightness kung fu is so good, he took a few people behind him around the Hermitage Villa After several laps, no one could touch the hem of his clothes.In the end, it was Huai Mingmo who came forward and stopped him, trying to persuade Xu Sheng to let those few good things happen, and each of them should touch him.

After the commotion, when Mr. Ji returned to his yard, Ji Deen invited his brothers and sisters to watch the new year in his yard until dawn.He dragged and dragged Ji Deqin back to his courtyard. He originally wanted to mediate the conflict, but he didn't want to bring a heavy rain to the small courtyard.Instead of being able to persuade the two brothers to reconcile, Huai Mingmo and Ji Deqin had a big fight. Fortunately, Di Feng was there to persuade Ji Deqin so that his yard didn't get smashed into pieces.

Looking at the back of his brother leaving in a huff, Ji Deen sighed and said: "I said you, so it's not easy to be perfunctory."

Huai Mingmo's chest heaved violently, he took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and Fang said slowly: "He looks just now, I can send him away?"

"Interesting..." Xu Sheng murmured thoughtlessly, "It's really interesting."

Xinli knew the most, and just about to ask Xu Sheng, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind, his eyes rolled, and he also laughed, and said to himself: "Why does it have to be Princess Pingning?"

Luo Chen was impatient, and asked before others: "What charades are you two playing?"

Huai Mingmo understood, and knew that it is not appropriate to talk too much at the moment, so he said vaguely, "I don't know what kind of benefits Princess Pingning gave them, but they just blindly say good things to her."

"The Di family and the Duke of Ning's family are family friends. Sister-in-law Di seems to be good sisters with Princess Pingning when she was in her boudoir." Ji Boru said with a smile: "In the inner houses of the people in the capital, there are many quarrels between sisters-in-law and Di. Maybe my sister-in-law has seen this kind of thing a lot, so I think you can find a woman she gets along with as a younger brother and sister."

After Ji Deen drank the hangover soup, he waved away all the maids in the room, leaving only a confidant to serve in the ear room.After all the outsiders left, he uttered the words he had been holding back, and there was a slight dissatisfaction with Ji Deqin in his words, "Don't worry about his bad temper, I don't know what's wrong with him recently, he is very angry. Just now he choked the second aunt Two sentences, thankfully my father is not here, otherwise he would have to watch the New Year in the ancestral hall."

Without waiting for others to ask questions, Ji Deen slowly told the story of what happened not long ago. He was born to be good at telling stories, and he said it vividly. He saw the blank faces of the people around him, and it took him a while to react.Everyone sitting here could see Huai Mingmo's thoughts, so naturally no one would say anything disappointing, which would only make Huai Mingmo unhappy, but Xu Sheng curled his lips in disappointment, and muttered to himself: "Really pity."

Huai Ming was so angry that he forgot all the curse words, his face was flushed, he got up in a hurry and nearly tripped over the stool, "Let's go."

There was silence in the room, and the remaining three people waited with big eyes and small eyes. The excitement and anger of the New Year's Eve have become so boring that no one can arouse their interest.After a while, Xu Sheng saw Chen Xiang coming back, he seemed to be looking for him for something, so he also left the small courtyard with an excuse.

Xu Sheng walked out of Ji Deen's courtyard, did not go back to his guest room, and immediately took Chen Xiang to Wanting Hall.The owner of the Wanting Hall seemed to have expected it beforehand, and had sent Zheng Fengnian to wait outside the door, and when he saw Xu Sheng coming, he immediately led them to the main room.

"If you have something to say to me in private, just give me a hint." Huai Mingmo put down the scroll in his hand, and said with a straight face, "You'll be happy to get me mad."

Xu Sheng shrugged his shoulders, strode over to Huai Mingmo's side, seeing him lying comfortably on the imperial concubine's couch, he sat on the chair Zang Li had just sat on.The stove next to the couch warmed the bowl of half-drinked medicine, he took it up and smelled it for a while, with a slightly worried face, he asked with concern: "Are you feeling unwell?"

Xinli explained: "In the past, every time after the New Year's Eve, the young master always got sick. Later, the medicine king made a prescription, and the medicinal materials were mainly warming and tonic. Not that dangerous."

Huai Mingmo listened to the crisp sound of bowls and spoons colliding, and said with a smile: "I told them that after taking Yuqiongsheng, they are much better, but they are too nervous, insisting that I follow the usual practice."

Xu Sheng blew the decoction in the warm spoon, and handed it to Huai Mingmo's lips, "Why do you think Yu Qiongsheng is a holy medicine? You have been deficient for many years, and you can recover if you don't take care of it for a few years?"

He was obviously drinking bitter medicine, but Huai Mingmo looked like he was tasting sugar water right now, his brows were stretched with a smile on his face, and the goosebumps of the people around him fell all over the place just looking at him.After drinking half a bowl of medicine slowly, Huai Mingmo wiped away the medicine stains on his lips with a handkerchief, and then said, "What did you come to see me for?"

Seeing Xu Sheng's gesture, Chen Xiang said with a bit of pity in his voice: "Mother and son of Liu Shen's family are both dead, no one is left alive."

"How could it be?!" Huai Mingmo stood up and said in astonishment: "According to the time, Liu Shen's body should have been delivered to that mansion yesterday evening, and the whole family will be gone in the evening?"

Xu Sheng stretched out his hand to support him, winked at Xinli, waited for someone to fetch the cushion and put Huai Mingmo on it, and then said: "During the night watch last night, the water went out, the mother and the child did not escape because they were trapped in the house, After the fire was extinguished, the servants of the Di Mansion found the bodies of the two of them."

Xin Li sneered again and again, not believing it at all: "Is this news from Di Mansion?"

"Yes." Chen Xiang said again: "The first person who said that was Liu Shen's uncle, who is now working in the Di Mansion, and he claimed to be there at the time. He said that the reason for the accident was that Liu's mother was so sad that she fainted from crying and accidentally knocked over the fever. He happened to be by the door at the time, so he escaped and wanted to find someone to put out the fire, while the youngest son wanted to carry Mother Liu out of the house, but unexpectedly the fire spread so fast that the mother and son were trapped in the house and could not escape .”

Luo Chen sneered and said: "Who are you lying to? You are lying to a three-year-old child. How could it be such a coincidence? Besides, since the person fainted, he didn't help and save his sister-in-law with his nephew first, but left the mother and son to yell at others Help? It doesn’t make sense either emotionally or rationally.”

Huai Mingmo asked in surprise, "Did the master of Di Manor believe it?"

Chen Xiang nodded with a sad gaze and replied: "It seems that he believed this, he allocated a sum of money to let that uncle pay for the funeral, and he didn't intend to investigate."

Zang Li tilted her head, listened to them in a daze, and asked for a while, "Why did you kill them?"

Zheng Fengnian had been silent on the sidelines for a long time, and seeing that Xu Sheng didn't understand the reason, he calmly said, "Nurse Chang hid a letter in the lapel of her clothes. Nanny Chang and Nanny Liu both had children in the same family. The maid next to Mrs. Wang, the two are as close as sisters. Presumably Mrs. Chang knew the truth about Liu Shen's tragic death, so she wrote to tell Mrs. Liu, but unexpectedly..."

Intercepting Zheng Fengnian's words, Xu Sheng said in a deep voice: "I don't want this letter to become a reminder for her old sister."

"She knew the truth, and she didn't tell it that day, why did she tell that Liu Shi?" Luo Chen was really confused, "This Liu Shi is just a servant in the Di Mansion, if he knows the truth, he will make a fuss at most. But here is my own sister, and there is just a son of a family, no matter what, Di Shi's elder brother can't judge the case fairly."

Xu Sheng said lightly: "It's hard to get over it, she must have seen what happened in the courtyard that day, but she couldn't stop it. In order to make myself feel better, I wanted to tell the truth and feel less guilty."

Touching his chin with his fingertips from time to time, Huai Mingmo whispered: "If this is the only thing in the letter, this Madam Liu will not lose her life."

"What if there is the truth about Di Wang's illness and death in the letter?" Xu Sheng said slowly, as expected, everyone in the room couldn't sit still, all shouted in surprise.

At this time, the small kitchen brought sweet soup to them as usual, and when they got back, Xu Sheng said again: "Have you never suspected the cause of Di Wang's death?"

Xin Li felt a little ashamed, scratched his head and said: "I did doubt Di Shi before, but there was no major incident in the village at that time, so I couldn't find out, so I was negligent. I also saw your reaction when you saw Di Shi last time, I guess I had a good suspicion, but before I sent someone to investigate secretly, the incident with Liu Shen happened."

Luo Chen said eagerly: "Don't change the subject, let's talk about what happened to the Di Wang family first?"

Seeing a room full of people straining their ears waiting to hear the follow-up, it was a pity that Chen Xiang didn't have the ability to tell a story, so he just said, "Poisoned."

"The symptoms of poisoning are obvious, so it's impossible for Uncle Di not to notice it." Luo Chen waved his hands in disbelief.

Hearing that there are many medical books in Tao Pavilion, Huai Mingmo will read them in his spare time. He does not know as much about medicine as Xu Sheng, but he is not completely ignorant. He immediately figured out the key point, "This poison is not that poison. There are a lot of foods that should not be used too much, as eating too much will cause poisoning."

"That's right." Seeing that Huai Mingmo looked a little tired, Xu Sheng got up and wrung a piece of hot handkerchief for him to apply to his face, and said slowly: "She used the extracted white fruit juice, mixed it into the tonic Di Wang took. Excessive consumption will cause high fever and headache, accompanied by symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea. Ordinary doctors will think that it is caused by bad eating. After repeated two times, this old lady's body can't bear it, and her body gradually collapses. "

"No wonder there was news of Di Wang's chronic illness." Huai Mingmo's face was sullen, and he understood after a while: "When she came to the villa that time, she found that Di Feng had something wrong? Di Feng also knew that she had been seen through, so she left Is it handy?"

Xin Li still had a lot of things that he couldn't figure out, so he hesitated and said, "Since Di Wang found out that Di Feng is different, why didn't he say it?"

Zheng Fengnian has no heirs yet, and he brought up Zang Li single-handedly. He has some experience of being a parent, and said with a light smile: "It's just suspicion, without substantive evidence, how could Mrs. Di say it directly. What if she made a mistake? , make things big, and later find out that I was suspicious, wouldn't it hurt the relationship between mother and daughter."

No matter how much it is said, it is everyone's guess, and the reason for it is unknown after the person passed away. Thinking that Di Feng was usually gentle and rainy, he was treated very well by his predecessors, he was filial and respectful to his elders, and he was gentle and caring with his peers. Snake-mouthed, his strikes were shockingly savage.

Huai Mingmo sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. After staying up late into the night, he became more and more tired and a little sluggish. "We don't have any conclusive evidence to expose her right now, so we have to guard against it first, but I'm afraid we won't be able to guard against it."

Xinli paced around the house restlessly, stopped for a few steps, and walked restlessly, "Ninety percent of the yard is occupied by people she brought, so it's really difficult to keep an eye on them all."

"Be safe and don't be impatient, there are still a few days before the old lady Ji's birthday. It hasn't happened, there is still room for it." Xu Sheng looked disapproving, and said with a smile: "Let's discuss it after Nanny Chang comes to see me. "

Calculating that the time was about the same, without further explanation, Huai Mingmo didn't stay with the guest, and personally sent the person outside the door, the two stood silently for a while.Walking through the moon gate, Xu Sheng saw the figure squatting in the back corner of the wing room. It was a crime to wait outside the house in the middle of the night in this weather. The man shivered with his knees hugged in the cold, but he didn't dare to move, for fear that he would be discovered if he made any noise.

Xu Sheng quietly walked out of the guest room, and said with a light smile, "Mother Chang, come in and have a cup of hot tea to warm up."