I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 78 Trouble in the Temple
An hour later, Tang Zhao achieved his goal as he wished and generously gave Master Qingning the recipe for making brine.

Master Qingning was overjoyed and hid the pottery jar carefully in his monk's robe. After watching Tang Zhao and the other two leave, he took a shortcut to the front mountain with the pottery jar in his arms.

In the Shanyuan Hall, a group of monks were busy preparing vegetarian meals for the pilgrims staying overnight in the temple.

When Master Qingning arrived, the monks all greeted him, "Master Qingning."

Master Qingning smiled and nodded, then walked around the monks to the stove and said to the monk who was wielding an iron spoon to stew tofu, "Send the vegetarian dishes to each wing tonight, and add an extra dish of fried tofu."

******
In the north wing, Bai Rouyin finished embroidering the last bamboo leaf and picked up the silver scissors in the embroidery frame to cut the embroidery thread.

The navy blue purse was embellished with bluestone and green bamboo. Bai Rouyin took it in her hand and looked at it carefully. For some reason, she always felt that the embroidery of the purse was not to her liking.

"My daughter's needlework was taught by the former imperial court's head female official. Not only in the northwest, but even in the entire Dayu, there are few girls who can surpass you."

The wife of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery took the purse, her heart filled with pride. "It is truly a blessing that Yang Zhui can marry a woman as kind-hearted and virtuous as my son."

Most of the dissatisfaction in Bai Rouyin's heart disappeared.

Yes, it was Brother Yuanye’s fault that he couldn’t marry her. No, it was Gu Ci’s loss, not hers.

Bai Rouyin raised the corner of her mouth slightly and put the blessing of peace she had prayed for during the day into her purse.

"Madam, Miss, the vegetarian meal is here." Lian Qiao took the vegetarian meal and placed it on the table one by one.

"Huh? There's an extra vegetarian dish today." The wife of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery washed her hands and sat at the dining table. She picked up the chopsticks and picked up the yellow vegetarian dish and put it into her mouth.

Her eyes lit up, "It's tofu."

Bai Rouyin turned her hand that was originally reaching for the dish and picked up a piece of wood ear mushroom.

"This tofu is fried really well, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, without even a hint of that nauseating meaty smell," the wife of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery kept boasting. She then asked the young novice monk serving the vegetarian meal, "Did your temple add any new and delicious seasonings?"

The young monk shook his bald head and clasped his hands together, "No, I just used the incense oil donated by donor Tang to our temple."

Donor Tang? Bai Rouyin frowned, "Is it Princess Zhaoshan?"

"It is Donor Tang."

"I didn't expect Princess Zhaoshan could cook," the wife of Marquis Zhongyong praised her but remained noncommittal in her heart.

The daughters who are pampered by aristocratic families will marry into families of equal status and become mistresses in the future. Although they will cook for their husbands, they usually just say a few words. There are many women who don't know which way the kitchen door faces after being married for several years.

After all, there are servants to do the rough work like cooking and washing clothes.

Princess Zhaoshan, a princess of high rank, actually lowered her status and entered the kitchen. It turned out that she was raised on a farm and had no idea about the etiquette and rules of the aristocratic family.

The wife of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery thought about it and picked up another piece of fried tofu.

Bai Rouyin stood up suddenly, "Young Master, is Master Qingning here?"

The young monk was frightened and took a step back. "Master Qingning is in the east wing."

Bai Rouyin lifted her skirt and walked out.

"Rouyin, where are you going?" Seeing her daughter's unstoppable pace, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's wife turned and scolded, "Hurry up and catch up! If anything happens to the young lady again, I'll make you pay!"

Lian Qiao thought of Fuling's fate, nodded hurriedly, picked up the cloak on the shelf and chased after him.

The wife of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery had someone help her put on her cloak and walked a little behind. When she arrived at the east wing, many pilgrims had gathered to watch the fun.

A woman's charming voice loudly questioned, "Jing'an Temple claims to not kill animals and only serves vegetarian food, but the vegetarian dishes they delivered today were fried in animal oil! Master Qingning, you must give the pilgrims an explanation!" "Is animal oil no longer considered animal food, or have Jing'an Temple changed their rules, or are they deceiving us pilgrims?"

The wife of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery was startled and quickly pushed through the crowd and stepped forward. Only when she saw that it was not her own child who had gotten into trouble this time did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Bai Rouyin stood beside Gu Xuan and quietly pulled her sleeve, "Sister Xuan, stop talking."

"Why didn't you say it? Did I say something wrong?" Gu Xuan's voice grew louder as she spoke. "Last winter, when the northwest was hit by a snowstorm, I kindly donated dozens of kilograms of pastry to Jing'an Temple to help it overcome the difficulties."

"But Master Qingning politely declined, saying that Buddhism doesn't kill animals and is just a vegetarian. Animal oil is made from pork, which also involves killing animals!"

"No matter how I tried to persuade him, he refused to accept my offer. In the end, he even turned me and the dozens of kilograms of pastry I donated away away!"

"It's only been a short time, how come they're eating oil now? And they're even making vegetarian meals and serving them to pilgrims! Jing'an Temple's reputation has changed so quickly!"

Bai Rouyin pulled her arm hard.

Gu Xuan looked at Bai Rouyin's timid face, and her anger grew even more intense. "Everyone says Jing'an Temple is a pure Buddhist place, but who knew it was also a filthy place full of filth and dirt? The Buddha is now surrounded by flatterers who flatter the powerful and bully the weak."

The ladies and young ladies who were surrounding her exclaimed in surprise, wondering if Miss Gu Qi had gone crazy to dare to say such rebellious words in the land of Buddhism!

Master Qingning's expression remained unchanged. He chanted the Buddha's name slowly before saying, "Donor Gu, in this Buddhist place, please be kind in your words and refrain from committing sins."

"Who is the one who committed the evil? All the pilgrims present here saw it clearly!" The old monk's nonchalant attitude poured oil on Gu Xuan's anger.

"Old bald donkey, you must explain to me today why the donated sesame oil can be eaten, but the pastry I sent deserves to be stopped outside the mountain gate!"

"If you don't give me a satisfactory explanation today, I will burn down this shabby temple of yours!"

Master Qingning clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, benefactor, please listen to what I have to say. Jing'an Temple's prohibition of killing and eating meat was established by the first abbot. We monks dare not disobey."

"Therefore, Jing'an Temple cannot accept the cakes donated by donor Gu."

Ha! Gu Xuan sneered, "Then how do you explain this plate of fried tofu? Could it be that it wasn't fried with animal oil?"

"Amitabha, Mr. Gu hit the nail on the head," Master Qingning said, "This plate of fried tofu is fried in oil, but not animal oil, but soybean oil."

Bai Rouyin looked up, "Soybean oil?"

"Yes, it's oil extracted from soybeans."

Gu Xuan was stunned and immediately said, "You are lying!"

"Monks don't lie."

"Ha! No lies? Even a three-year-old knows that oil is made from fat. Master, are you trying to say that some extraordinary person in this world has developed a method to produce oil without fat?"

Master Qingning said frankly, "Yes."

Gu Xuan laughed even louder. "Master, are you kidding?" She looked at the ladies present. "How can you believe such a ridiculous statement?"

The ladies looked at each other and exchanged glances. Naturally, they didn't believe it.

The person who can develop a recipe for extracting oil without using meat is not a human, but a god.

Zhao Zhao: Oh, I became a god?
Author: Modern civilization illuminates you and me.

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(End of this chapter)