The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 99

From the royal family to the common people, anyone who had enough money would come to the temple to offer sacrifices on this day. For example, several servants in bright clothes carried a large lotus-shaped basin in their hands, which contained flowers, various fruits and snacks, and various vegetarian dishes. That was the offering that the rich families sent to the temple on this day. Common people used small basins to hold noodles and fruits. These large and small basins filled the temple for offerings that night.

Even Wu Zhen would go to the temple obediently on this day, have someone carry a large basin of offerings, light a lamp for her deceased mother, and ask the great monk in the temple to recite scriptures for her mother and perform a ritual.

That year, Mei Zhuyu accompanied her to the temple. After arriving at the place, Wu Zhen suddenly remembered something and said, “You are a Taoist. Isn’t it inappropriate for you to come to a Buddhist territory? If you don’t like it, you’d better go back first.” 

That day, those Taoist temples would also hold memorial ceremonies. It didn’t seem right for a Taoist like him to come with her to attend a ceremony in a Buddhist temple.

Mei Zhuyu was looking at the neatly arranged large offering basins on the side. Hearing that, he shook his head and said, “No problem.” He had actually accompanied her there, and he didn’t reject the idea.

While the monks were still here, Wu Zhen turned her head and whispered in her husband’s ear, “Let’s go find a Taoist temple to perform a ritual later.”

Mei Zhuyu: “…”

Wu Zhen patted his shoulder, raised her eyebrows, and smiled, “I have to give you some face.”

Mei Zhuyu thought she was joking again, but after offering the Ullambana offering in the temple, she actually dragged Mei Zhuyu to find a Taoist temple.

(Ullambana Sangha Offering Ceremony is for Buddhist laity to offer a meal to the Buddha and the Sangha as an act of reverence.)

There were slightly fewer Taoist temples than Buddhist temples in Chang’an, but there were still quite a few. After walking around, Wu Zhen accidentally saw a Taoist temple hidden behind an alley. The two pine trees growing at the entrance looked strange, like two cranes standing with their heads held high. So she pointed at the Taoist temple and said, “Let’s choose this one.”

The temple looked ordinary from the outside, but it was full of wonders inside. It was like a treasure in the world. Once a person stepped inside, they would feel quiet and peaceful. Although they were in a busy city, they still felt out of the world. Wu Zhen liked it, so she generously wanted the temple’s people to perform a ritual. Perhaps because she was so generous, the Temple Master personally presided over the ritual.

The Temple Master was in his fifties, looked kind and honest, had clear eyes, and wore a simple and clean Taoist robe. He looked very neat. The young disciples in the temple were also very respectful and convinced of him. Wu Zhen watched the scene and felt that this man was also a Taoist with great skills.

After the ritual, Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu took a rest under a tree in the temple. Wu Zhen mentioned the Temple Master and joked with Mei Zhuyu, “You are all Taoists. Do you know the Temple Master? I think he is also quite accomplished. Although not as good as you, he seems to have visited famous mountains and practiced properly.”

Mei Zhuyu did not answer but turned his head to look, only to see the Temple Master walking towards the two of them with a smile, standing in front of them, and then suddenly bowed to Mei Zhuyu like a junior, calling him, “Junior Master Uncle.”

Wu Zhen: “…”

Mei Zhuyu nodded calmly at him, and the two of them exchanged a few polite words. When Mei Zhuyu led Wu Zhen out of the Taoist temple, Wu Zhen finally figured it out, “You actually know the Temple Master?”

Mei Zhuyu answered truthfully, “He is a disciple accepted by the Senior Brother in the temple in his early years. He only practiced in the sect for two years before leaving the mountain. I had never seen him before. But before I left the mountain, my senior brother knew that I was going to Chang’an, so he told me that he might have sent a letter to the abbot of the temple.” The reason he was able to recognize him might be because the methods of their practice came from the same source.

Wu Zhen shook her head and laughed, “I just randomly picked a Taoist temple, but it also has such a connection. It seems that the abbot came out in person not because of my generosity, but out of consideration for you, Junior Master Uncle. Oh, thank you so much today, Junior Master Uncle.” As she spoke, Wu Zhen jokingly bowed to her husband.

The seniority was there, even though Mei Zhuyu entered the sect late and was young, there were still many old Taoist priests who were much older than him who had to call him Junior Master Uncle. Mei Zhuyu was teased by Wu Zhen all the way and felt a little helpless, so he took her back.

Both of them had relatives to worship. In the evening, they put a large basin in front of the door and burned paper ingots for their deceased relatives. Yellow paper was folded into the shape of ingots, strung together one by one, and thrown into the fire to burn. Yellow paper was burned in the large basin here, and a rotating lamp stood at the door. When the wind blew, the lamp rotated and made a squeaking sound.

It was said that every time the lantern rotated, the deceased relatives were reaching out to turn the lantern to tell their family that they were back. As people who could see ghosts, both Mei Zhuyu and Wu Zhen naturally knew that this statement was not true, because they had never seen the ghosts of their relatives, but they still put up this rotating lantern.

The flame in the basin illuminated everything brightly, and the burnt gray and black paper scraps were caught by the wind and carried up to the sky by the flames. The rotating light whirred and made a sound as if someone was really touching it.

Mei Zhuyu and Wu Zhen stood at the door, watching the last trace of fire in the basin die out, just like the last ray of sunset in the sky died out.

The night of July 15th had arrived.

The moment the sunlight completely faded, Wu Zhen sighed. She looked up through the overlapping eaves and gazed at the sky in the distance. The sky, which had not yet completely darkened, was still bright in the eyes of ordinary people, but in Wu Zhen’s eyes, it was already shrouded in darkness.

It was really because the ghosts and monsters were running wild on this day and were too unrestrained. All the things that usually hide came out to make trouble by taking advantage of the remaining power of the Ghost Gate. Even if they didn’t intend to do anything bad, they had to come out to get some fresh air.

On that day every year, Wu Zhen had to work all night because the barrier between the world of ordinary people and the world of monsters and ghosts became very thin, and problems could easily arise if she was not careful. As a Cat Lord, she had to take responsibility and supervise the ghosts and monsters in Chang’an City to prevent non-human creatures from causing trouble on this day.

After flexing her wrists, Wu Zhen grabbed the man beside her and smiled at him, saying, “Come, I’ll take you out to play tonight.”