Chapter 23 Body and Hair

Wang Gui's mission lasted for more than half a month and finally made some progress.

Zhu Gaoxu bolted the door of his study and sat at his desk, writing furiously to reorganize what Wang Gui had written, because the eunuch's memory was too chaotic. Wang Gui stood by his side, bowing and answering Zhu Gaoxu's questions from time to time.

When the commander-in-chief Zhang Xin goes out and when he goes on duty or leaves duty, these basic situations are of no concern.

"He goes to visit prostitutes, but has never been to a brothel?" Zhu Gaoxu asked without raising his head.

Wang Gui said, "He hasn't been to a brothel in the past few days. He doesn't seem to like crowded places. He always goes to an alley in Zhonglou Street to find a regular prostitute."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, wrote the words of this passage in bigger letters and marked them with emphasis.

It was not uncommon for officials to visit prostitutes in that era. It was not until the Xuande period when severe crackdowns were launched that people began to restrain themselves.

In his report, Wang Gui also wrote about Zhang Xin's mother's activities. She had been to Lingquan Temple in Xishan twice to burn incense and worship Buddha; and she had been to Renshou Pharmacy in Renshoufang four times to take Zhang Xin's mother's pulse and get medicine.

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "What medicine did Zhang's mother take?"

Wang Gui looked unhappy and stammered, "I forgot to check..."

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly raised his head, looking unhappy. Wang Gui suddenly said, "Although I don't know what medicine she took, I do know her symptoms. She has migraine on the left side of her head, dizziness, and often wakes up from dreams at night."

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "Are you sure?"

Wang Gui couldn't help but nodded, "It's been hot lately, and the old injury seems to have recurred on my lower body, so I'm not very comfortable. That day, I went to the pharmacy in Renshoufang and picked up some medicine. The slave said, 'That old woman just now has some medicine.'" "Fuxiang, what's wrong with you?" The doctor in charge told the servant! "

"Very good!" Zhu Gaoxu put down his pen, stood up and paced back and forth in front of the bookshelf.

After a while, his movements suddenly became faster, and he sat down again and continued to write rapidly. He wrote a lot of words, marked Arabic numerals, and drew some arrows.

He wrote for a while, then raised his head and glanced at Wang Gui, "Wang Gui, you don't have to stay here anymore. Go shave your head, get a set of worn-out monk clothes, and come back to resume your life."

"Slave...slave, you want to shave your head?" Wang Gui blurted out with a sad face.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at his face, his tone slowed down, and he comforted him with kind words, "Although the body, hair and skin are protected by parents and cannot be damaged casually, but you have even cut off your balls, why do you care about your hair? If you shave your hair, you will not wear a top at all. The hat will grow soon!”

Wang Gui lowered his head, quietly touched his crotch, and replied, "Yes."

Seeing his pitiful look, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but add another sentence, "Since Mother Zhang believes in Buddhism, in two days it will be June 19th, the day when Guanyin Bodhisattva becomes a monk. Mother Zhang will definitely go to the temple. This is a rare opportunity." , we have to meet her for a while."

Wang Gui said hurriedly, "My slave, I obey."

Zhu Gaoxu stayed in the study for a while, and when he saw the sun setting outside the door, the sun was no longer so hot, so he decided to go out. He walked out of the front hall and saw that the person on duty today was Wei Da.

This handsome middle-aged man with a stubby face was bored and listened to the drumbeats at twilight hour. When Zhu Gaoxu arrived, he hurried out to greet him.

Zhu Gaoxu had a total of three civil and military generals under his "direct line". In comparison, the two military generals were more reliable than the civil officials because the middle and lower-level military generals had fewer connections.

Zhu Gaoxu then said, "Captain Wei, come with me for a walk."

"I have obeyed your order!" said Wei Da.

Zhu Gaoxu did not change his clothes and was still wearing the thin grey robe he wore at home. He then casually said, "You can call me Master Hong later ."

"Yes." Wei Da responded with a fist clasped again.

They went to the stable, picked out two horses of the worst quality, and led the horses out.

When Zhu Gaoxu arrived at the gate tower, he jumped on his horse and headed straight for Zhonglou Street. When they arrived at Zhonglou Street, Zhu Gaoxu realized that this street was close to the former "poor man's market" and that the people living nearby were not rich.

He wandered around casually, and at this moment, a wine shop at the entrance of the alley caught his attention.

The entrance of this tavern is well-renovated, but the location is really bad: it is close to the main street, but the direction of the door is in a small alley with few pedestrians! In addition, there are not many rich people around, but the decoration is high-end. Who would want to go there? They just want to find a shabby and cheap place.

Zhu Gaoxu and Wei Da walked around to the door. He looked around and saw that it was just as he expected... The sun had already set and it was dinner time, but there was not even a single customer at the door of this tavern! How could this business be successful?

"Hey, sir, please come in!" the waiter greeted him enthusiastically, with a white towel draped over his shoulders and a smile on his face.

Zhu Gaoxu handed the reins to the waiter and walked in with Wei Da.

Inside was a hall, and there was even a pavilion with a wooden ladder leading up. The shopkeeper behind the counter also greeted us with a smile, but his smile looked very forced, even uglier than crying.

"We don't want to eat." Zhu Gaoxu said directly, "Boss, are you going to sell this shop?"

Zhu Gaoxu observed his expression while talking. The shopkeeper was surprised at first, then blushed, and soon opened up, "This shop of mine is rented, but I bought things myself, it's very good..."

Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him impatiently, "I think it's good too. It's next to the street and the location is very good! Please name a price."

"Eight hundred strings of banknotes! If you use copper coins, only one hundred strings." The shopkeeper stretched out four fingers and stared at Zhu Gaoxu.

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu clapped his hands.

The shopkeeper suddenly stamped his foot, looking very regretful, and said, "The rent is not full, you have to make up for it!"

Zhu Gaoxu asked about the rent and immediately paid it with Ming Dynasty treasure notes, then wrote the contract, signed and stamped his handprint. He signed: Hong Bin.

A deal was completed in less than an incense stick of time! Zhu Gaoxu immediately took over the management of the wine shop and issued the first business strategy: everything remained the same, but the price of all wine and food was increased tenfold!

Thus, a table of food and wine could be sold for 200 strings of cash, and four tables could buy the store.

Zhu Gaoxu said to the waiter and the chef proudly, "As long as we sell four tables, we can make back our investment quickly."

"Great! Manager Hong is indeed great!" The cook gave a thumbs up seriously.

Zhu Gaoxu did not stay for a moment, and asked the waiter to lead the horse out, and left the tavern with Wei Da. At this time, the voice of the cook came from inside, "It's over, we have to find other work as soon as possible." "Let him pay the wages before leaving!"

There were only two days left until June 19, but Zhu Gaoxu had to set out on June 18, and the preparation time was very tight, because he knew that some devout pilgrims would go up the mountain the night before to burn the first incense stick.

...In the early morning of June 19, Zhu Gaoxu and Wang Gui, who was wearing monk's clothes, had arrived at Lingquan Temple.

Lingquan Temple is an ancient temple built during the Song Dynasty, and is still very popular. Before dawn, the outside of the temple is already brightly lit, and the black smoke and ashes from the burning incense and candles are everywhere. When the wind blows, it fills the sky and hits your face, making it hard to open your eyes.

Zhu Gaoxu and Wang Guiru wandered around the buildings like tourists, and they had already found Zhang's mother. But there were seven or eight men and women around Zhang's mother, so he didn't dare to act rashly, so he walked around at a distance, looking for an opportunity.

As the sky gradually brightened, Zhang's mother and others came to a bustling place, which was where they had vegetarian meals.

Although it was early in the morning, it was very lively. Servants from the temple, pilgrims and all kinds of people gathered here to eat, and cooks and business people were shuttling between them. It was now the most lively place in the temple.

But Zhang's mother and her group did not stay in the dining hall, but went straight through a gatehouse and came to another less chaotic place. This was also a place for vegetarian meals, but the temple was divided into different levels, and people with high status and high incense money could not eat with a mixed group of people.

Zhu Gaochi took a look at the room Zhang's mother had entered, and saw several people standing outside the door, so he returned to the dining hall with Wang Gui. Zhu Gaoxu asked Wang Gui to buy some porridge, steamed buns and pickles, and then he sat down and started to eat.

Wang Gui stood nearby, looking stunned, but he didn't dare sit down to eat.

Zhu Gaoxu chewed the bun in his mouth for a while and swallowed it. He reached out to pick up a bowl of porridge and raised his head. "Here, bring it in. Don't worry, I won't eat it all by myself. I'll leave a portion for you."

Wang Gui said, "I dare not, I dare not."

"Go." Zhu Gaoxu urged in a deep voice.

...Wang Gui had a bald head with six "incense scars" dotted on it with black ink. He walked through the hallway with a bowl of porridge in his hand and went to the vegetarian room.

As expected, the servant at the door just glanced at his head and had no intention of stopping him. Wang Gui pushed the door open with the porridge in his hand and closed it behind him.

"Wow, it's going up so fast." said Zhang's mother.

Wang Gui made a one-handed salute and placed the porridge on the wooden table. "Please wait a moment, benefactor. The other food will be served soon."

Zhang's mother nodded indifferently, counting the Buddhist beads in her hand.

Wang Gui walked to the door, then suddenly turned around and asked, "Donor, have you been having headaches on the left side of your head recently, feeling dizzy, and having trouble sleeping at night and having many dreams?"

"Ah?" Zhang's mother raised her head immediately, "How did the monk know that?"

Wang Gui walked back upon seeing this, frowning as he studied Zhang's mother's face, "Your face is filled with evil spirits, someone in the family has offended the king's aura from the north!"

Zhang's mother was surprised and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Amitabha!" Wang Gui closed his eyes and chanted, "The secret of heaven cannot be revealed..."

Zhang's mother immediately took out a small ingot of silver from her bosom and placed it on the table.

Wang Gui shook his head and said, "What use is there for me to have material possessions? But you worship Buddha, and you have a kind face... Buddha is compassionate, and I am taking the risk of saying one more word. The more you offend the king, the greater the disaster. I am afraid that your whole family will suffer a bloody disaster!"

After Wang Gui finished speaking, he turned around and left without taking the silver.

...When Zhang's mother came to her senses, she hurried to the door, opened it, and looked around. Where was the monk?

After a while, the person who delivered the food came, but he was not a monk. When Zhang's mother asked him why, the person who delivered the food said, "The person who delivered the food must not be a monk."

Mother Zhang looked back at the table and saw the bowl of porridge was still there. Otherwise, she would have thought that she had not seen any monk just now.