The stupid son of Chongba

Chapter 11 Mother and son work together to defeat Lao Zhu
"Mom, what are you doing..."

“Ahem…”

Zhu Ju fell on his buttocks on the bluestone bricks and grimaced in pain.

"This... Little Orange, are you okay? Mom didn't mean it..."

Ma Xiuying didn't expect Zhu Ju to be so vulnerable, so she quickly bent down to support his shoulders and said apologetically,

"Are you hurt? Come, let me see where you're hurt. Is your butt hurt?"

As she spoke, she stretched out her hand and started to rub Zhu Ju's buttocks.

"Okay, okay, I can do it myself."

Zhu Ju's face turned red, he pushed his mother's hand away, gritted his teeth and scratched it twice himself, brushing off the dust.

"Why are you so delicate?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said with disdain,
"When I was your age, I was strong enough to withstand heavy loads. I could even fall off a roof without any problems. I could even fight tigers and leopards in the forest."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ju rolled his eyes and retorted:

"Yes, yes, you are thick-skinned, especially your face, which is thicker than a city wall. Who can compare to you?"

Zhu Yuanzhang: "!!!"

Ma Xiuying burst into giggles.

"You're right, your father is really thick-skinned. He even fought with tigers and leopards. Isn't he afraid of his boast being exposed?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned red.

"You two are in perfect harmony and work in perfect harmony!" he said unhappily.

Zhu Ju was about to speak, but suddenly he felt a slight heat and numbness in his chest. Before he could react, the strange sensation disappeared without a trace.

He subconsciously raised his hand and gently squeezed the red jade pendant through his clothes.

"Of course, Xiaojuzi and I are related by blood, so we are naturally in tune with each other and can understand each other immediately."

Ma Xiuying smiled brightly, turned to look at Zhu Ju and said,
"Little Orange, isn't that right?"

"That's right." Zhu Ju nodded repeatedly and laughed.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the mother and son with a helpless expression.

There are few people in this world who dare to challenge him, and those who have the courage to do so will basically be sent to hell.

But these two are special cases...

Since he couldn’t take his anger out on his wife and children, Lao Zhu immediately shifted his target.

"I'm not going to waste my time on you two! You and your bunch of bullshit!"

He pointed at Zhang Baiquan and ordered,
"I have already thought of how to deal with you. You can escape the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of life! If Peng Xuan doesn't show up, we will start with you, the disciples!"

"Gather all the Taoists immediately and follow our imperial carriage to Yingtian!"

Zhang Baiquan looked bitter.

"Your Majesty, there are still many things to do in the palace. It cannot be left unattended, and the incense of the Taoist Master cannot be cut off..."

"Can you..."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows.

"Do you think we are discussing this with you?"

He sneered,

"Allowing you to gather on your own is already a privilege! What, are you itching to be tied up with chains?"

Zhang Baiquan's face suddenly changed, and he hurriedly clasped his hands and said:
"As ordered, as ordered, I will go gather everyone right away..."

"But before I leave, please allow me to light three incense sticks in front of the Three Pure Ones statues and kowtow before I leave. As a Taoist priest, I cannot leave the Taoist master without saying goodbye..."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Baiquan bowed repeatedly, then trotted away to gather a group of Taoist priests.

After a while, the Taoists had lined up and stood quietly in front of the Sanqing Palace, each of them holding three incense sticks in their hands.

"These ox noses are quite pious." Zhu Yuanzhang shaved his teeth with a bamboo stick and said calmly,

"However, will the so-called Three Pure Ones really bless them?"

"People's destiny is always in their own hands. Instead of worshipping these imaginary gods and Buddhas, it is better to worship us. We are the masters of this world. We can make them live or die if we want them to."

These words are full of domineering power!

Old Zhu believes in destiny, but he also doesn't believe in fate.

He has always believed that destiny lies in himself, not in the hands of immortals, Buddhas, gods or demons!

"Oh, you'll be more obedient when you get older."

Zhu Ju curled his lips, turned to look at Ma Xiuying, and said with his head raised,

"Mom, I want to go burn incense too, are you going?"

Burning incense and worshiping gods was his favorite activity in the past.

If you ask him to get up early to attend class, he will most likely be late; but if you ask him to get up early to climb a mountain and burn the first incense, he may find himself squatting halfway up the mountain in the middle of the night!
"If you want to go, mother will naturally accompany you."

Ma Xiuying agreed with a smile.
"No matter what, you regained your sanity on Mount Sanqing. Maybe Daozu was watching over you."

"I once kowtowed and made a wish in front of the Three Pure Ones statues, and now it's time to fulfill my wish."

"Let's go together."

The mother and son stood at the back of the line, one in front of the other. Immediately, a Taoist priest presented them with three incense sticks and made room for them.

"Hum..."

Zhu Yuanzhang watched the two of them go to burn incense, and he stood there, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart.

After rubbing his feet twice on the bluestone bricks, he actually took a step forward.

Seeing the emperor coming, all the Taoists quickly moved aside, making way for the emperor in the blink of an eye.

Zhu Yuanzhang held his head high and chest puffed out, took big strides, crossed the threshold and entered the temple.

At this moment, Zhu Ju and Ma Xiuying had already stood in front of the statue, worshiping respectfully.

"The Tao is learned from the heart, and the false incense is passed down from the heart. The incense burns in the jade furnace, and the heart is in front of the emperor. The true spirit is looking forward to it, and the immortal is coming to the pavilion. The ministers are informed, and it reaches the nine heavens."

Zhang Baiquan finished chanting the blessing incense mantra, pointed at the incense in Zhu Ju's hand and said,
"Three sticks of incense, first put them in the middle, to pay respect to the Taoist treasure Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun; then put them on the right, to pay respect to the Sutra treasure Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun; finally put them on the left, to pay respect to the Master treasure Taiqing Daode Tianzun."

Zhu Ju looked delighted, and burned incense in turn according to Zhang Baiquan's instructions.

Although I burned incense frequently in the past, I never knew the meaning behind this ritual.

"The next step is to kowtow."

Zhang Baiquan continued,

"Buddhists practice the Namaskar salute, while Taoism practices the Fists of Honor salute. The left thumb touches the Laogong acupoint on the palm of the right hand, and then they are put together to form a Tai Chi shape, and then raised high, no higher than the eyebrows. Then bow down, with the left hand below and the right hand above, and place them on the prayer mat, and touch them with the forehead three times in a row, which is one bow and three kowtows."

"Repeat this three times, and it becomes the great ceremony of three bows and nine kowtows."

"Your Highness, take your time. Don't rush. Slowness is respect. Respect means one's mind is not distracted. Only in this way can one be sincere and reach the heaven and earth."

Zhu Ju nodded and did as he was told.

After three bows and nine kowtows, he was slightly out of breath, but he felt very happy both physically and mentally.

After these kowtows, he felt that his fate with the Taoist Master had deepened, and he was one step closer to becoming an immortal!
"I only knew how to kneel and kowtow before, but I didn't know there were so many rituals involved in worshipping gods."

Ma Xiuying was surprised and said,

"I've learned a lot this time."

As she spoke, she also imitated Zhu Ju and performed the ritual of three bows and nine kowtows to the three statues, chanting as she bowed:

"Thank you, Master Sanqing, for restoring my child's intelligence. May he be safe and sound in the future."

She did not pray for herself, but only for Zhu Ju. Zhu Ju felt warm at heart when she heard that. Seeing that she was a little out of breath after bowing, she hurried forward to support her.

"Mom is fine..."

Ma Xiuying smiled and held Zhu Ju's arm, then turned to look at Zhu Yuanzhang and said with a smile,
"Zhongba, do you want to come and worship as well?"

(End of this chapter)