Reborn: The First Rank 'Madam'
Reborn: The First Rank “Madam” – C45

C45 – Meaningless

Dinner was still a table of vegetables, but luckily the cooking skills of the temple cooks were not bad, so it wasn’t hard to swallow. Zuo Shaoqing had something on his mind and ate solemnly and tastelessly, while Lu Zheng, who always preferred meat, ate a lot less than usual.

Zuo Shaoqing noticed that Zuo Shaoling had changed into a new set of clothes. There was even a blade of grass stuck in his hair. His appearance was clear and bright, and his eating speed was a lot faster than usual.

As the only woman in the temple, she was arranged to stay in the farthest room. Originally, the monks in the temple didn’t agree to have a woman stay for the night, but after she said whatever she wanted and begged, they reluctantly left.

After dinner, Zuo Shaoqing had an interesting evening class with the masters in the temple. Hearing the rhythmic knocking of the wooden fish and the plain chanting of the scriptures, Zuo Shaoqing actually made people’s hearts calm down like never before.

Zuo Shaoqing put his hands together and looked at the benevolent Buddha statue. He thought to himself: If he wasn’t struck by lightning in his previous life and didn’t go berserk, he would probably be converted to the Buddhist sect.

After all, his entire body was filthy and full of sins. Only this pure and quiet buddhist land could be washed clean.

“What are you thinking about?” A familiar male voice entered Zuo Shaoqing’s ears, pulling his mind back to reality.

He turned his head around and saw Lu Zheng standing in the hall with his back bent, staring at him with a fiery gaze, especially amongst the group of monks that were sitting.

“I’m wondering if Lord Buddha really does exist.” Zuo Shaoqing lowered his voice, he didn’t want to offend all of the monks in the Zen Temple because of one sentence.

Lu Zheng straightened his body and looked at the three man Buddha statue. With a snort, he said, “If there really was a Buddha, what would the army do?”

His words were arrogant and loud, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.

Zuo Shaoqing tugged on his sleeve, wishing that he could dig a hole and hide in it. He thought to himself: “Master Lu, even if you are arrogant, you still have to take other people’s feelings into consideration.”

Anyone who was stared at by dozens of sincere and innocent eyes would feel uncomfortable. Zuo Shaoqing didn’t want to be the center of attention anymore. He stood up, saluted everyone and pulled Lu Zheng out of the Great Hall.

Lu Zheng let him hold his hand, and his gaze paused on her slender white fingers for a moment. This really was a scholar’s hand, like a girl’s.

“Master Lu…” Zuo Shaoqing didn’t notice anything strange, he turned around and looked at him helplessly, “At least you should consider the feelings of the masters.”

Lu Zheng frowned in confusion, “I don’t understand why these so-called high monks who don’t join the army to represent the country have to be so compassionate of the heavens. What’s the use of that?”

“It is just a religious belief. You cannot deny that when civilians suffer from the fires of war and have no one to rely on, they have more motivation to survive than those who do not.”

Zuo Shaoqing knew that Lu Zheng didn’t like to mess around with fake stuff like this, so he said, “Just treat it as them seeking spiritual support.”

Lu Zheng didn’t dwell on the issue of whether the faith was good or not. Instead, he directly asked Zuo Shaoqing: “Then what is your spiritual Legacy?”

Zuo Shaoqing’s expression froze and the corner of his mouth twitched. His spiritual support? It was probably the hatred that had been supporting him all this time.

He had thought that after he had avenged himself and resolved his enmity, his life would begin anew. He still had a lot of ways to go, and he would not be at a loss just because he no longer had enmity.

“The spiritual sustenance of the later generation… I think that this late life is also someone who believes in the Buddha.” Zuo Shaoqing answered ambiguously.

Seeing the deep look in Lu Zheng’s eyes, Zuo Shaoqing’s heart skipped a beat. Then he saw the hand they had been holding.

He blushed all the way to his ears and quickly withdrew his hand. He lowered his head not daring to look Lu Zheng in the eyes, “I… This late birth was not intentional.”

Lu Zheng formed a fist with his hand that had lost its warmth. He let out an “En” without a care and walked past Lu Zheng.

Seeing that there was no one around, Zuo Shaoqing followed behind Lu Zheng spontaneously. The two walked in silence for a while until Zuo Shaoqing realized that they were moving further and further away from each other. He then stopped and asked: “Where are we going?”

“Murder and burial!” Lu Zheng replied with a cold tone.

Zuo Shaoqing paused for a second and then burst out laughing. The laughter penetrated the surrounding dense forest, causing the southern birds to flee in all directions in fright.

He really didn’t expect that Master Lu would actually joke around. This Lu Zheng was so beautiful that it was hard to not be tempted by him!

Lu Zheng didn’t stop him from laughing. Under the bright moonlight, he admired the face that was shining from the laughter. The youth was still young, but he already had quite an outstanding appearance.

However, Lu Zheng also noticed that in Zuo Family, no one seemed to have realized that there was something wrong with Zuo Shaoqing’s appearance.

Lu Zheng did not know whether a person’s appearance was outstanding or not partly because of their looks, and mostly because of their temperament. Zuo Shaoqing had always been subservient in front of Zuo Family.

And Zuo Shaoqing, who was in front of Lu Zheng, was initially well-informed and cultured, but was later exposed by Lu Zheng and gradually let go. Although there was still some fear and fawning on Lu Zheng in his bones, he was much more casual than when he was at Zuo’s Mansion.

Zuo Shaoqing’s superiority in appearance was slowly revealed.

Zuo Shaoqing smiled and noticed that the atmosphere was a bit weird. He felt a bit embarrassed, like he was laughing a silly laugh by himself. His laughter came to an abrupt end. He blinked his eyes and asked casually, “Master Lu… Why aren’t you leaving?”

“Are you done laughing?”

Zuo Shaoqing heard the ridicule in his tone and blushed. He stared at the ground with his eyes blinking, “It’s meaningless to laugh by yourself.”

Lu Zheng wanted to reach out and touch Zuo Shaoqing’s head. Zuo Shaoqing had a head of black hair that fell straight down to his waist. When the wind blew at night, his hair would also float along with the wind, occasionally sliding across Lu Zheng’s hand, making one’s heart itch.

He put his hands behind his back and turned to walk.

Zuo Shaoqing quickly followed him. The road became more and more narrow and steep, and the grass on both sides of the road was rustling. From time to time, he could see living things crawling under his feet.

Zuo Shaoqing was scared and followed closely behind Lu Zheng. He could see that this was the way to the top of the mountain. Most woodcutter hunters would not come up, so it was a bit dark and gloomy.

Today was the sixteenth, with the bright moon in the sky. He thought to himself: Could it be that Master Lu wants to admire the moon?

As for what Master Lu said about enjoying the moon being boring, Zuo Shaoqing ignored it after knowing that he had played a good game.