Rise From the Humble

As night fell, Zhu Pingan, Liu Mu, and Liu Dadao rode their horses into the Linhuai Marquis Mansion before the curfew.

At the same time, the Baiyun Temple in the Xicheng District of the capital was brightly lit. In sharp contrast, the gate of Baiyun Temple was a bit depressed.

The temple gate is empty, with only a door frame but no door. There are still traces of rotten vegetable leaves, fruits and eggs that have not been thoroughly washed on the door frame. There is still a shallow line on the temple wall that reads "Buddha is born from the heart, and there is something in the heart." "Buddha, everything you see is Buddha; your heart is cow dung, everything you see turns into cow dung". I don't know what kind of ink was used to mix it. The monks of Baiyun Temple washed it more than ten times but still couldn't wash it out completely.

At the entrance of Baiyun Temple, there were two monks standing with sticks in their hands, with bright eyes, looking around, guarding against the coming of uninvited guests during the day.

After the door was smashed today, I haven't had time to replace it.

On the day when Guanshiyin Bodhisattva became enlightened, more than a hundred everlasting lamps worshiped by believers were burned in various halls of Baiyun Temple. In each hall, there were several monks sitting on futons, meditating and chanting sutras.

These brightly lit Buddhist halls are distributed in an orderly manner at both ends of the central axis of Baiyun Temple. They spread out in depth and have many palaces and pavilions. There are also several courtyards built around the palaces and pavilions, sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, in an orderly manner.

Among these courtyards, the courtyard built around the Dabei Pavilion has the best scenery and the most complete furnishings in the entire Baiyun Temple. It can be said to be the essence of the entire Baiyun Temple.

This courtyard is where Baiyun Temple provides accommodation for lay people, and is also where Baiyun Temple entertains distinguished guests.

At this time, the lights in the courtyard of Dabei Pavilion were brightly lit, and there was a burst of hearty and Zen-like laughter.

In the main room of the courtyard, a table of exquisite and sumptuous vegetarian dishes was set up. Six people were sitting around the table. Sitting at the head of the table was an official wearing a seventh-grade official uniform. He was more than forty years old and had a long hair. He had an upright face and a sense of official power. He was stroking his beard, smiling, and letting out a hearty laugh.

This person is Liu Dengwen, the well-known seventh-grade supervisory censor in the capital. Liu Censor came from a family of officials, or to be more precise, from a family of censors. His father was the censor of Liaodong when he became an official. His uncle is now Changlu's salt inspector.

Liu Censor's name is Liu Dengwen, and the word "Dengwen" is taken from his father's "Dengwen Drum". This rotating Dengwen Drum is one of the responsibilities of the two capitals to supervise the Censor. It can be seen that his father hopes that his son will inherit his father's legacy.

Liu Yushi did not disappoint his father. He was selected as a scholar at the age of twenty-five, passed the imperial examination at the age of thirty-five, passed the Jinshi examination at the age of forty, and became the censor of Shuntian at the age of forty-one. With the help of his father and uncle's connections, as well as Liu Yushi's own efforts, he soon became famous in the Yushi circle.

Liu Yushi was good at seizing opportunities and had keen political intuition. He selectively impeached many people in the capital, and he soon became famous. Now among the censors in the capital, Liu Censor is considered one of the most famous ones.

Even though Liu Yushi is only a seventh-rank official, he is quite famous and influential in this capital where throwing a brick can hit two or three sixth-rank officials.

Firstly, it is because Liu Yushi is in Beijing to supervise the Yushi. His official position is not high, but his power is not small. He has the power to inspect the capital camp, supervise Linxiang, inspect the general examination and martial arts examination, inspect Guanglu, inspect the warehouse, and inspect the inner treasury. , the Imperial City, the Five Cities, the right to ascend, hear, and drum on a rotating basis, and enjoy the power to directly impeach officials who violate laws and disciplines and are incompetent to the emperor; secondly, it is Liu Yushi's connections and his personal popularity.

Speaking of which, the relationship between Liu Yushi and Baiyun Temple began six years ago, when Liu Yushi was forty and had just become an official in Beijing.

In the year when he was established, he won the imperial examination, in the year when he was not confused, he was a Jinshi, and he was in an official position. It can be said that Liu Yushi reached the peak of his life at that time, but Liu Yushi had one regret, that is, he married a wife at the age of eighteen. He took concubines, divorced his wife at the age of twenty-five and married another. Now, more than twenty years after starting a family, he has three concubines, but he has no children, not even a daughter.

Six years ago, Liu Yushi's wife heard that Baiyun Temple was very popular with incense and was very effective in responding to requests, so she came to the Guanyin Hall of Baiyun Temple to worship the Buddha and make a wish.

Once, twice, and even to show sincerity, the third time I fasted for three days in Baiyun Temple and knelt down in front of the Buddha statue for three days.

Sincerity is said to be true, Liu Yushi's wife moved Guanyin. Shortly after returning for the third time, Liu Yushi's first wife became pregnant. Although the son was born half a month prematurely, his body and bones are no worse than those of other full-term children. On the contrary, he is very strong.

From this, Liu Yushi became connected with Baiyun Temple. Liu Yushi was a frequent visitor to Baiyun Temple and could be regarded as a "lay scholar" of Baiyun Temple.

Liu Yushi's wife also often came to Baiyun Temple to offer incense and fulfill her wishes to keep her children safe.

Last month, Liu Yushi's wife was pregnant again.

This time, Liu Yushi came to Baiyun Temple to fulfill his wish.

Sitting next to Liu Yushi is an official and a supervisory censor named Wang Dongfang. His reputation is not as good as Liu Yushi's, but his connections are no less than Liu Yushi's. Both of them are officials in the Metropolitan Procuratorate. We have a good relationship. We often sing poems, wine, and songs. When you impeach someone, I will sign up for you and so on.

The remaining four are all monks. Sitting opposite Liu Yushi is the abbot of Baiyun Temple. Sitting next to the abbot of Baiyun Temple is Master Manjusri, an eminent monk who came to Baiyun Temple to conduct Buddhist teachings. The other two are all monks. He is the deacon of Baiyun Temple.

"Hahaha, Master Manjusri's sign that says 'Zhu Ping'an and dogs are not allowed!' is a good moral statement." Liu Yushi stroked his beard and said with a smile, "I'm yelling at Zhu Ping'an for blaspheming our Buddha." This is the only way to kill someone."

"Amitabha, if I don't go to hell, who will go to hell? I just didn't expect to implicate Baiyungui Temple, which made the poor monk feel quite uneasy." The eminent monk Manjusri recited the Buddha's name, clasped his hands, and said to Baiyun with an apologetic expression on his face. The temple abbot said.

"The Bodhi tree has no tree, and the mirror is not a stand. There is nothing in the first place. Where is the dust? The door is not there, and the filth is not there. Why should Master be obsessed with this." The abbot of Baiyun Temple smiled slightly. .

"That's good, that's good. It's the poor monk who has taken the form." Master Manjusri, the eminent monk, pinched the Buddha's seal with his hand and nodded with a smile.

"Abbot, Master, your Buddhist teachings are profound, but we can't bear this anger. It's in vain that Zhu Ping'an is still a scholar. He is lax and shameless at home. He actually allowed a Taoist woman to come forward and instruct her slaves to come to our Buddhist holy land to run wild and fight. Not only did he smash the temple door, but he also painted some obscene words on the temple walls and the main hall to insult our temple."

A deacon from Baiyun Temple sitting at the bottom said indignantly.

"That is, Zhu Pingan bullies others by relying on his official authority to bully us powerless monks and insult our Buddha." Another deacon of Baiyun Temple was also indignant.