Chapter 232:232. The Stone of Huguo Temple (First Update)
Translator: 549690339
Deep into the night, Su Liang returned home, and Gu Ling was still awake.
“Duanmu Chen said that as long as I don’t marry a rebel in the future, our cooperation will be unbreakable,” Su Liang laughed lightly. “But he doesn’t know that the top rebel on Qian Country’s wanted list is in my house right now.
I hope your identity will be cleared soon.”
Gu Ling had a faint expression, “Am I that black now?”
Su Liang looked at Gu Ling’s pale face and nodded, “Yes, quite black. It’s the darkest under the lamp.”
“Tell a story,” Gu Ling said.
Su Liang continued with “Water Margin,” and Gu Ling began to draw again.
She accidentally caught a glimpse of a painting beside her, which clearly showed a scene similar to the Mother Demon fighting with Wu Song. The face of Mother Demon was very familiar, wasn’t it herself?
Su Liang was speechless, “Great God, if it’s because of the fight we had last night, that Mother Demon is me, but why isn’t Wu Song you?”
Gu Ling shook his head, “It’s just a random hand. Do you mind?”
Su Liang snorted lightly, “Mother Demon is not as pretty as me.”
Gu Ling nodded slightly, “Then it’s really wronged you, sorry.”
Su Liang: …What the hell!
But such a small matter, of course, it’s not worth getting angry about. Su Liang finished telling the two stories of the day and went back to her room to sleep.
After Su Liang left, Gu Ling picked up the painting she saw, and there was another painting underneath. The woman in the painting also had Su Liang’s face, and the man chopping meat next to her had Gu Ling’s face.
Gu Ling picked it up and murmured softly, “Wu Song and Sun Erniang are not a couple.”
The next day, Gu Ling brought up soy milk, tofu, and bean curd, and Su Liang joined him in making them. In fact, she only roughly knew how to make them, but she had never tried them before, and they succeeded the first time.
The two had a tofu feast at noon, and the taste was quite good.
“How about you be in charge of grinding soy milk in the morning?” Su Liang negotiated with Gu Ling.
Gu Ling nodded, “Okay.”
So it was settled. It wasn’t every day, but occasionally it was quite nice.
Because Nian Jincheng knew that “Ning Jing” wasn’t dead, he stopped Yang Yu from coming to the capital city to accompany Su Liang. This was because Su Liang didn’t need it, and they would both get tired acting along with Yang Yu, so there was no need.
Moreover, Nian Jincheng knew his identity and dared not return to the capital city easily. If someone recognized him, it would affect the people he cared about the most.
Su Liang received another letter from Yang Yu, in which she expressed her concern and longing for Su Liang, and talked about her current situation, mainly about her marriage to Nian Jincheng.
The feelings between the two were natural and developed smoothly. Yang Yu cherished it and hoped to get Su Liang’s blessing.
will get married next month, and it would be great if you could come.”
Seeing the end, Su Liang handed the letter to Gu Ling, but he shook his head, not intending to read it.
“Let’s attend Yang Yu and Xiao Nian’s wedding. I have never been to Yang Family,” Su Liang put away the letter, “What gift should we give them?” “Tea leaves,” Gu Ling said.
Su Liang really wanted to roll her eyes, “Can you be a little more creative?” “You going there is good enough, the gift isn’t important,” Gu Ling said.
“Even so, it still has to be given,” Su Liang thought for a moment and said, “Unfortunately, I’m not as skilled as you, otherwise I could carve something for them. Aren’t you going to give your brother a gift?”
Gu Ling shook his head, “No, he doesn’t lack anything, on the contrary, he should give me a gift.”
Su Liang: …Great God really is Great God, talking nonsense with such confidence.
While Su Liang hadn’t thought of what wedding gift to prepare for Yang Yu, Wan Hui’s family returned to the capital city.
Zhengzheng, who didn’t know about “Ning Jing’s” accident, arrived in the capital city and rushed to Su Mansion.
“Aunt! Ning Uncle! Zhengzheng is here!” Zhengzheng ran into the courtyard, his voice crisp and clear.
Standing at the entrance of the courtyard, Wan Hui and Lu Yu looked at each other and couldn’t help but sigh. The child didn’t understand the meaning of death, and they really didn’t know how to tell Zhengzheng about this matter. Su Liang’s voice came from the room, “Who is Zhengzheng?”
Zhengzheng happily replied, “Zhengzheng is Wan Zhengmin! It’s me!”
Su Liang pushed open the window and waved at Zhengzheng. The child shouted “aunt” and rushed into the room.
Wan Hui saw that Su Liang looked well and let out a sigh of relief, “Seeing Su
Mei is fine, I can rest assured now.”
Zhengzheng plunged into Su Liang’s arms, laughed and played for a while, then looked around for his Uncle Ning.
Being unable to find him, Zhengzheng asked Su Liang, “Where’s Uncle Ning?” Su Liang picked up Zhengzheng and placed him on a chair beside her, “He went to a faraway place.”
Zhengzheng’s little face was puzzled, “Where is ‘faraway’?”
“It’s a place very, very far away,” said Su Liang.
Zhengzheng was still confused, “When will Uncle Ning come back then? I miss him!
“I don’t know,” Su Liang shook her head.
Zhengzheng pouted, “But what should I do if I miss Uncle Ning?”
Su Liang took out the peach crisps specially made in Xunyang City and gave them to Zhengzheng, “Are they yummy?”
“Delicious,” Zhengzheng nodded his little head, “I want to eat them with Uncle Ning.”
Gu Ling, who was reading a book in the next room, let out an almost inaudible sigh and ate a piece of peach crisp silently.
Su Liang didn’t lecture Zhengzheng about life’s principles. He was still too young to understand. When he grew older, some things would become clear naturally.
It was absolutely impossible for Gu Ling to appear now. This was to protect Zhengzheng and protect Wan’s family. It hasn’t been easy for “Ning Jing’”s identity to disappear, and there must be no further complications.
The family of three brought a large suitcase filled with treasures that Zhengzheng had collected on his way home to the Wan House, all of which were meant for Su Liang and “Ning Jing”.
With a carpet laid on the floor, Su Liang and Zhengzheng sat amidst a pile of gifts. She smiled as she listened to Zhengzheng recount where each treasure came from, what they were for, and whether they were for her or Uncle Ning. The child, waving his arms and legs as he talked, was adorable.
“Aunt, how can we make sure Uncle Ning receives these gifts?” Zhengzheng asked Su Liang seriously.
Su Liang thought for a while and said, “I’ll find a way to send them to him.”
“Uncle Ning will definitely get them?” Zhengzheng asked expectantly.
Su Liang nodded, “Yes.”
Wan Hui’s family had a meal at Su Liang’s place and then went back home. Su Liang told them she would visit Zhengzheng the next day.
After they left, Su Liang sat on the carpet and sorted out the gifts from Zhengzheng.
The door opened, and Gu Ling walked in, took off his shoes, and sat down next to Su Liang.
Sensing that Gu Ling was not in a good mood, Su Liang knew it was because he couldn’t acknowledge his relationship with Zhengzheng, so she picked up his gifts and recounted Zhengzheng’s words one by one before passing them to him.
“This is a gem that Zhengzheng snatched from his uncle. If you look at it against the sun, you can see beautiful flowers!” Su Liang said, imitating Zhengzheng’s gesture, with her wrists together, hands cupping her face, and her head tilted slightly to one side, blinking and repeating, “There really are flowers!”
Feeling embarrassed, Su Liang quickly put the gem into Gu Ling’s hand, straightened up and coughed lightly, “You didn’t see anything just now, it was all an illusion.”
Gu Ling’s eyes flashed with a shallow smile, and he nodded, “Hmm, so silly.”
Su Liang pushed all the remaining gifts towards Gu Ling, ready to get up and leave, “They’re all here, you can look at them yourself.”
“Su Liang,” Gu Ling called her name, “I can’t meet Zhengzheng, and I really want to know what gifts he sent me. Please help me.”
Su Liang hummed, “I was being kind and considerate, but you laughed at me.”
Gu Ling nodded slightly, “It was my fault. ”
Instead of sitting back down, Su Liang turned to look at Gu Ling and said, ‘You just need to do that gesture I did when imitating Zhengzheng, that ‘flowers’ gesture, and I won’t hold it against you.” Gu Ling frowned, “It doesn’t suit me.”
“Do you still think I’m silly?” Su Liang countered. Gu Ling shook his head, “Absolutely not.”
“Then you do it,” Su Liang insisted.
Gu Ling put down the stone in his hand, brought his wrists together, and placed them at his neck.
Su Liang immediately found it amusing, sat back in her original position, and instructed Gu Ling, “Bend your fingers a little more. That’s right. Tilt your head. ”
“Which way should I tilt it?” Gu Ling asked with a frown.
Su Liang laughed, “Either way would work.”
Gu Ling tilted his head slightly to the right, and Su Liang signaled for him to follow her hand gestures.
Then, in an instant, he looked adorable, with a cute, cold contrast, full of charm.
Su Liang coughed lightly, “Almost, but most importantly, you need to say
‘flower’ while blinking your eyes.”
Gu Ling maintained his position, closed and opened his eyes, emotionlessly uttered two words, “Flower.”
Su Liang shook her head, “No, you need to have confidence, the kind of confidence that says I am the most beautiful flower in this world! Once more!”
Gu Ling put down his hand, sat up straight, and looked at Su Liang, “You and
Zhengzheng are the most beautiful flowers in the world, not me.”
Su Liang held her forehead, “Great God, are you intentionally flattering me so
I’ll let you off the hook?”
Gu Ling nodded, “Yes.”
Su Liang suddenly thought of something, her eyes lighting up, “It’s not impossible. However, Great God, you must give me a flower coupon.”
Gu Ling furrowed his brows, “What’s that?”
“On a day I feel upset and want to watch the Great God perform the flower act, I can use that coupon, and you can’t refuse.” Su Liang thought she was very creative.
“No.” Gu Ling shook his head. Su Liang pretended to turn around, “So, should I leave?”
Gu Ling frowned, “Fine.”
Su Liang sat back down satisfied and picked up the next gift to talk to Gu Ling about.
That night, before going to bed, Su Liang told Gu Ling a story as usual. When she was about to return to her room, Gu Ling handed her a small wooden plaque engraved with a cute little flower, and in the lower right corner, there was a small signature – three droplet-shaped patterns.
Su Liang raised her eyebrows, “Your name has three water droplets, mine has two. This is good, we can use it as a secret code later on.”
She accepted the wooden plaque, planning to look for an opportunity to use it later.
“Great God, where’s the little yellow hairpin I gave you?” Su Liang suddenly remembered.
Gu Ling simply said, “I didn’t lose it.”
“Why don’t you wear it?” Su Liang asked.
Gu Ling’s expression remained calm, “I’m currently operating in the dark, so my clothing and accessories shouldn’t be too eye-catching.”
Su Liang understood and took the flower card back to her room.
Gu Ling lay alone on the bed, his hands cupping his face, his head tilting slightly to one side, silently mumbling “flower” before frowning and saying aloud, “So silly.”
The following day, Gu Ling made soy milk early in the morning, and Su Liang made two types of bean curd, one sweet and one salty. Gu Ling tasted them both and liked them.
After leaving enough for Gu Ling, Su Liang took the warm bean curd on horseback to Wan Family’s house for Zhengzheng to eat.
Zhengzheng liked the sweet one, and he enjoyed eating the soft and fragrant bean curd.
Wan Hui took Zhengzheng to visit Cheng Yun at Huguo Temple and asked if Su Liang would join them.
Su Liang thought she hadn’t seen the little monk Cheng Yun for a while, so she agreed and went to Huguo Temple with them.
Lu Yu drove the carriage with only Wan Hui inside.
Su Liang rode a horse with Zhengzheng, whose little face excitedly looked left and right, showing no fear at all.
When they arrived at Huguo Temple, they saw Cheng Yun in the distance. Wan Hui released Zhengzheng’s hand, and the boy ran towards Cheng Yun with his little short legs, shouting, “Little Uncle Yun! Little Uncle Yun!”
Cheng Yun smiled and picked up Zhengzheng, allowing the little one to touch his shaved head.
Approaching noon, Cheng Yun invited them to the Vegetarian Hall for a meal.
Suddenly, a group of soldiers from the Forbidden Army appeared nearby. Su
Liang was surprised. The leader of the group was none other than Lin Bojun.
It seemed he had some urgent business, so he just nodded at Su Liang and continued to hurriedly lead his men towards the back mountain of Huguo Temple.
Su Liang, who was talking to Cheng Yun and Zhengzheng, asked, “Did something happen inside the temple today?”
Cheng Yun nodded, “Yes, something strange happened. Last night, a huge rock appeared out of nowhere at the back mountain. It was discovered by a senior brother early this morning, and Senior Pu Hui reported it to the emperor.”
Su Liang’s expression was hard to read. A rock falling from the sky? Was that so mysterious? Could it be some kind of divine message?
She wasn’t at all surprised, however, that the royal family would attach importance to this kind of event.
She asked Cheng Yun what the rock looked like and whether there were any inscriptions on it, but Cheng Yun said he hadn’t seen it.
This was just a minor incident to Su Liang who, besides her curiosity, had no other thoughts on the matter. After eating the vegetarian meal at Huguo
Temple, she said she would take a portion back with her to eat in the evening.
Wan Hui couldn’t help but feel distressed, thinking that it was because “Ning Jing” was gone, so Su Liang had to make do living alone.
Su Liang said she just thought the vegetarian dishes at the temple were delicious and that was all, nothing else.
What’s worth mentioning is that when they were going down the mountain, Zhengzheng, the lively child, noticed the little rabbit purse around Su Liang’s waist.
The kid just laughed and said “Auntie has a little bunny,” but Wan Hui looked surprised, thinking the purse didn’t look bought, nor did it look like something Su Liang would make herself. None of Su Liang’s friends seemed to would give her such a childish gift.
After descending the mountain, Su Liang bid Zhengzheng farewell and rode home alone.
The vegetarian dishes she brought back were for Gu Ling’s lunch. When Su
Liang mentioned the huge stone that had fallen from the sky at Huguo Temple,
Gu Ling said indifferently, “Nothing good.”
Su Liang agreed, “Nowadays it’s not a chaotic era and the people are relatively stable, the celestial immortals shouldn’t be so idle as to interfere with worldly matters. I think it might be that some people are deliberately creating a mysterious aura to achieve unspeakable goals.”
With that, Su Liang put the matter aside and asked about the poison master Gu Ling knew, asking if he could introduce her.
“I have never properly studied poison techniques and have only read some books on my own and explored. When I really encounter a tricky poison, I don’t have enough time to study and learn.” Su Liang said seriously, “I need a proper master.”
Gu Ling shook his head, “She won’t do.”
“Is it because of her skill or something else?” Su Liang asked.
“Neither will do.” Gu Ling said.
Su Liang frowned, “At least she is better than me. She can cure the poison from before.”
“For this matter, let’s think of another way,” Gu Ling said.
Su Liang nodded, “Alright.” Since Gu Ling said it wouldn’t work, it must really be impossible, no matter what the reason was.
Duanmu Chen went to the Imperial Palace today, intending to talk to Duanmu Yi about Su Liang and to persuade him to give up the idea of making Su Liang the crown princess.
However, just as he began speaking, the old eunuch reported from outside, saying that General Lin had returned from Huguo Temple, and Duanmu Yi immediately got up and walked out.
Duanmu Chen instinctively followed, but saw Duanmu Yi turn around and tell him to visit his mother, the Imperial Concubine, and discuss other matters later.
Duanmu Chen respectfully agreed, but found it strange, it seemed as if something big had happened, but he was completely ignorant of it.
Following Duanmu Yi’s orders, Lin Bojun transported the large stone into the Imperial Palace, covered from head to toe with thick black cloth. When he saw it in Huguo Temple, it was like that, with four solemn-faced warrior monks guarding it from the side.
“Everyone, withdraw. Don’t spread this news.” Duanmu Yi waved his hand.
Lin Bojun left with the Forbidden Army.
The heavily guarded inner palace was empty, and Duanmu Yi stood alone in front of the huge stone, slowly untied the ropes and pulled away the black cloth, revealing its true appearance.
The giant stone was about the height of an adult, oval in shape, lying horizontally on the ground, with flowing curves and a faint, jade-colored glow.
Duanmu Yi leaned in, touched the stone gently, and examined it carefully. On each side were several faint patterns and characters, as if engraved on the inner layer of the stone.
What Duanmu Yi saw first were two water droplet shaped patterns…
Duanmu Chen accompanied his mother, Imperial Concubine Xiao, to drink tea and then strolled through the Imperial Garden. He heard that Duanmu Yi had gone to Yuchang Palace and had not come out yet.
This made Duanmu Chen feel more and more strange, because to his knowledge, that palace had been unoccupied for many years. What was Duanmu Yi doing there for so long? Was he having a secret meeting with someone?
Imperial Concubine Xiao talked about Duanmu Yi’s recent fondness for a dish she made, but noticing her son’s distraction, she allowed him to go about his business and not accompany her.
“Did Father stay with Mother last night?” Duanmu Chen asked.
Imperial Concubine Xiao smiled and nodded, “Yes, he spent the night on this side recently.”
“Then, was there anything unusual when Father left this morning?” Duanmu Chen asked.
Imperial Concubine Xiao thought for a moment and said, “At that time, there was someone reporting something, I was far away and only vaguely heard that the eunuch who came to get your father mentioned Huguo Temple.” Duanmu Chen froze, Huguo Temple? What on earth had happened?
At this moment, inside Yuchang Palace, Duanmu Yi was writing several large characters on a pillar, “Phoenix,” “River,” “Mountains,” and the last two were
“Sul‘ and “Liang.”
Duanmu Yi tossed the brush down, letting ink splash onto his clothes, his gaze fixed on the two characters “Su Liang,” he murmured, “The Phoenix Star descends, whoever gets Su Liang, gets the world..”
