That was about four months ago.

On that day, the Bai family and the Ming family went to Fayuan Temple to make incense. Early in the morning, I arrived at the sedan chair alley outside the Xuanwu Gate, the carriage and horses entered from the south exit of the alley, and the host of the Fayuan Temple was already waiting outside the mountain gate.

There have been some pilgrims gathered outside the mountain gate, but after entering the mountain gate, there is a huge Fayuan Temple, but there are few people, only the sound of the wooden fish class prayer, which is extremely quiet. Bai and Ming are very curious: this Fayuan Temple is located outside the Xuanwu Gate, but it can be out of the inner city, and it has always been extremely fragrant, why is it so clean today?

Bai couldn't help but ask the host for advice. It turned out that up and down the Fayuan Temple, I heard that Mrs. Zhenguo was going to come to the incense, and she was very stammered, and today she actually closed the mountain gate, did not receive the rest of the pilgrims, and waited for Mrs. Zhenguo to leave, and then reopened the mountain gate.

When Bai heard this, he was greatly disturbed. Let's not talk about whether this will give people the impression of "relying on the power and domineering", just say that among the pilgrims of this Fayuan Temple, there are not a few relatives of princes and nobles and civil and military officials who seem to be like themselves.

So I euphemistically said this worry to the host. The host smiled and said, "Madam Wang'an, how can the small temple be so ignorant?" Grandmothers and wives of any family, when they come to the small temple to make incense, they have to greet them in advance -- they have all been arranged, and there is no other family today, and the lady can worship the Buddha with peace of mind. ”

The "grandmother and wife" in the host's mouth are naturally the "grandmothers and wives" of the princes' relatives and civil and military officials, and the relatives of ordinary officials are not in this category, let alone ordinary people.

That being said, Bai's heart. Still quite uneasy. I had this in mind. I couldn't stay too long, I bowed to the Buddha, and the two of Ming's people, respectively, took their own ladders, signed the merit book, and didn't receive the fasting feast, and said to the host that there was something at home, and they were going to leave.

The host can't stay. With an embarrassed look on his face, he said: "The little monk wants to accuse the two ladies - outside the mountain gate, there is a foreign monk and the same girl, pulling and pulling there, one scolding, the other crying, I don't know why?" Pilgrims and idlers watched the excitement and had already gathered in a large circle. Hehe, if it's someone else making trouble. Koji drove them away by himself, but ...... There's a foreigner in it......"

There was a pause. said: "I have reported to Shuntian Mansion, and the official mission has not yet arrived." If the lady leaves the temple now, it seems quite inconvenient to go to the mountain gate, uh, can you wronged the two ladies and go to this ...... Side? ”

It doesn't matter if you go through the front gate or the side door, but when Ming heard that foreign monks were bullying Chinese girls, he couldn't help but arouse his chivalrous heart and said: "Foreigners can't bully people!" Sister, let's go out and have a look! ”

Bai Shi hesitated, Ming lowered his voice, and said: "You are just afraid of causing trouble for him - according to me, if you do something wrong, you will get into trouble, if you do it right, there will only be benefits, where is the trouble?" ”

This is true -- if you do it right, you may have a reputation such as "Guan Beile is the master of the people."

Bai Shi made up his mind, nodded, and said, "Okay, let's go out and have a look." ”

The host didn't expect these two to have so many things, and thought to himself, you women's family, it's better not to go around this kind of, why bother? After hesitating for a moment, he didn't say the idea - Mrs. Zhenguo can be troublesome, but I can't be troublesome. Anyway, even if there is any trouble, it is not the trouble of Fayuan Temple, Mrs. Zhenguo must take care of this matter, and she doesn't have to stop it.

Before I walked out of the mountain gate, I heard the bustling laughter outside, and the voices were boiling.

Out of the mountain gate, sure enough, I saw the open space in front of the door, surrounded by a large circle of black presses, pointing and pointing in the circle.

Bai and Ming stood on the steps, looking condescendingly, there were a total of three people in the circle, the most eye-catching of them was a foreign monk in a black robe, tall, with a fluffy, long reddish-brown beard, patting his chest and feet, excited, muttering in his mouth, and he didn't know what to shout.

In front of him, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, with a big black and shiny braid, sat on her knees on the ground, wiping her tears and replying from time to time.

A middle-aged man in a green shirt, with an embarrassed face, rubbed his hands, the foreign monk said a few words here, the girl said a few words on the other side, and tried to keep his voice as low as possible - it looked like an interpreter.

The mountain gate was wide open, and the attention of the lively people was immediately attracted by the group of people on the steps: in the middle were two noble ladies with pearls and bright eyes, accompanied by several big monks wearing brocade robes, and a group of fierce servants in green clothes, arching guards in front and back, left and right, all of them were fierce and refined, their eyes were sharp, and the clear-eyed people knew that they were practicing the family at a glance.

The noise of the crowd involuntarily lowered and turned into whispers.

The host gave his hand to the Bai family slightly, and said in a lengthened tone: "This is Mrs. Zhenguo in Guan Beile Mansion, well, those people below, why are they quarreling endlessly and disturbing the purity of Buddhism?" ”

The discussion in the crowd was loud and loud.

The green shirt interpreter, her face first showed a look of shock, and then, the girl on the ground also reacted, she got up with a grunt, squeezed through the crowd of onlookers regardless of it, and rushed towards Bai Shi on the steps.

The two guards stepped forward and stretched out their hands to stop them, and the girl's whole body threw herself on the guard's arm, shouting loudly: "Madame, save me!" ”

Bai Shi was taken aback by her, came back to his senses, and ordered, "Let her come over." ”

The guard retracted his hand, and the girl knelt down in front of Bai's and shouted again: "Madame, save me!" ”

Although the girl's face was full of tears, she looked carefully, and her appearance was really delicate.

Bai Shi said again: "Please come over with those two too." ”

The crowd made a way, and the foreign monk and the interpreter walked up the steps. Monk Nayang had already known the identity of the Bai family from the mouth of the interpreter, although his mood was still excited, but his face had changed to a cautious expression, and he gestured with a cross in his right hand and said, "God bless you, honorable lady." ”

These two sentences are not correct and strange, but they can barely be understood -- they are Chinese.

On one side is a foreign monk, on the other side is a soil monk, this situation is quite strange, Bai felt slightly embarrassed, glanced at the host of Fayuan Temple, the big monk was full of smiles, a look of disdain.

Bai Shi put his mind at ease and bowed slightly to the foreign monk: "The master is polite." ”

This Tongyang monk pulls, scolds, and cries the girl, is Xiaorui; This foreign monk is the "priest" Zhuang Tony of the Xuanwumen Catholic Church and commonly known as the "South Hall".

*(To be continued......)