The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 201 Unexpected Fishing in Troubled Waters

On a summer morning, Xizhou City is a busy scene. Women go to the valley to fetch water with water jars in groups. Men take advantage of the cool morning to do some work in the shops or outside the city. Believers bring their They go to major temples to offer incense and pray for Buddha. Most of the idlers who have nothing to do and the businessmen who only get busy after the market opens at noon are bragging and chatting with their friends. When Pei Xingjian and Liuli came out of Qushui Square and headed north along the avenue, greetings rang out everywhere they went. Someone raised his voice and laughed, "Pei Changshi is so early today!"

Pei Xingjian smiled and nodded, "If you want to go to the Great Buddha Temple to offer incense, you should naturally go early."

Those who heard this sentence immediately opened their mouths, and when they saw that the basket of the small sandalwood bag that followed them really contained incense, incense, incense and other items, they even rubbed their eyes and stayed there.

It was only more than half a mile from Qushui Fang to the Great Buddha Temple, and they arrived there in a short time. When the two of them stood at the door of the temple, there were many people following them from a distance, and those who originally wanted to come quietly to offer incense today The believers stopped in surprise.

When the two novice monks at the door saw Pei Xingjian, their expressions suddenly changed. The younger one ran to the temple, and the other came up to him and saluted, "Young monk has seen Pei Changshi. I wonder what Pei Changshi is doing today." Expensive?"

Pei Xingjian’s voice was particularly gentle, “I visit the temple early in the morning to offer incense.”

The novice was stunned and looked up at Pei Xingjian. He was wearing a plain light blue round-neck robe and had a gentle smile. Behind him was his wife and maid, carrying incense and candles. He looked like he was here to offer incense. He was stunned for a moment. Then he stammered, "Chang, Chang Shi, please come in."

After passing through the vestibule of the Buddhist temple and before stepping onto the steps of the main hall, Master Juexuan, the master of the Great Buddha Temple, had already hurried out with two disciples. The young novice at the door hurriedly stepped forward and whispered back. Juexuan was stunned when he heard the word "Shangxiang", and then greeted Pei Xingjian with a smile on his face, "Pei Changshi and his wife are interested."

Pei Xingjian bowed and returned the courtesy, "I dare not bother Master to greet him."

Liuli also saluted. This was the first time she saw the famous Master Juexuan in Xizhou. His eyebrows and beard were all white, and every wrinkle on his slightly long face seemed to have the word "harmony" written on it. Although he has a small handwriting, his eyes are rare and clear for a person of this age, and he looks more like a monk than Master Xuanzang.

Master Juexuan didn't say much. He just led Pei Xingjian and his party into the main hall with a slight smile. The morning light has filtered in from the tall windows of the hall, and the oil lamps on the four walls of the hall are still emitting a warm light, adding a soft halo to the already magnificent murals. But without the bustling pilgrims in the past, the hall seemed a bit empty, and even the gold foil covering the walls seemed to have lost a bit of color. A dozen believers were offering incense and praying in front of various Buddhist niches. When they looked up and saw Master Juexuan coming in, they were all overjoyed, and then their eyes focused on Pei Xingjian behind the master.

Pei Xingjian seemed unaware and stood still in front of the Buddha statue. He turned around and took three sticks of incense from Liuli's hand. He lit the incense head on the candle on the left side of the Buddha statue. When the light smoke floated, he raised the three sticks to his eyebrows. , after three bows, he inserted the incense burner. The whole movement was smooth and meticulous. The subtle tense atmosphere in the hall suddenly relaxed, and everyone from the monks to the pilgrims had a smile on their face.

Liuli also lit up the incense. Master Juexuan took a step forward and was about to ask when Pei Xingjian smiled and said, "I heard that the bronze statue of the Great Buddha Temple began to appear yesterday. Pei came here today and wanted to do some meritorious deeds."

His voice was not loud, but everyone could hear it clearly in the quiet hall. Master Juexuan's eyes lit up slightly, he clasped his palms together and recited the Buddha's name, and said with a smile, "The auspicious time has not come yet. Chang Shi and Madam are not as good as each other." Would you like a cup of tea first?”

 Auspicious time? Liuli suddenly felt puzzled, but she didn't have much time to ask. Pei Xingjian smiled and thanked her. The group went out and walked around a small room into the east wing. It was the room Liuli had returned to. The curtain had not yet been lowered behind her. I could faintly hear the sound of people in the courtyard. It was probably the pilgrims who had been watching for a long time who finally poured in.

Master Jue He turned on the stove, lowered his eyes and started making tea.

Pei Xingjian smiled and said, "Thank you Master for your kindness. This scene reminds me of Chang'an. I have a cousin who became a monk at Daci'en Temple and worshiped Master Xuanzang. When I was in Chang'an, I often went to the temple. I went to have tea with him and met Master Xuanzang twice."

Juexuan's snow-white eyebrows twitched slightly, "Pei Changshi turned out to have such a fate with Master Xuanzang! When the Master passed by Gaochang, I also had the fate to listen to the Master's sermons. It's really..." His face was filled with laughter. There was an unconcealable yearning on his wrinkled face. After a while, he sighed and shook his head, "I am truly lucky to be able to listen to Master Lunyin with my own ears. I wonder if Master is in good health now?"

Pei Xingjian nodded and smiled, "I heard that Master has been translating scriptures day and night in the past few years. He suffered from two ailments due to overwork, but he is still healthy on weekdays."

Juexuan nodded and sighed. The two of them talked about the tea ceremony from Xuanzang. The more they talked, the more they became more and more speculative. When the hot tea was delivered to several people, they didn't know whether it was the sunlight coming in from the high window or the tea making process. When the charcoal fire was lit, Liuli felt that the whole room was getting hot.

Juexuan looked up at the sky and said with a smile, "The auspicious time will come in a blink of an eye. Does Tan Yue need to make some preparations?"

Pei Xingjian shook his head. Before he could speak, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the door. Someone replied from outside the curtain, "Your Majesty, Prince Qu has arrived at the gate of the temple."

Juexuan immediately stood up and glanced at Pei Xingjian apologetically. Pei Xingjian smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, Pei should also greet him." He also stood up and walked out.

When the group arrived at the entrance of the hall, Qu Chongyu was climbing the steps in a hurry. His robe was actually two points lighter than Pei Xingjian's. When he saw Master Juexuan, he immediately quickened his pace and stepped forward to bow deeply. , "Chongyu has met the Master."

 The wrinkles on Juexuan's face have relaxed a bit, "Your Majesty, why should you be so polite?"

In the temple, there were already quite a few believers waiting for the door of the west hall to open. When they saw Pei Xingjian and Qu Chongyu, they all saluted and started whispering among themselves.

Qu Chongyu smiled more humbly than before, "Chongyu should have come a long time ago. Yesterday I heard that your temple had another holy miracle, and my father specifically asked me to express my feelings." He smiled at Pei Xingjian again, "I never thought that, Chang Shi came faster than me. Is Chang Shi also a believer? Chongyu has never heard of it."

Liuli had been following Pei Xingjian silently. At this moment, she couldn't help but cursed in her heart: Damn peacock! These words were clearly meant to set a trap for Pei Xingjian. He said he believed in Buddhism. Why had he never come here to offer incense before? If he said he didn't believe it, wouldn't he have an ulterior motive for coming here so early in the morning? Juexuan also seemed to feel that this question was inappropriate. He raised his eyebrows and was about to say something. Pei Xingjian already smiled and replied, "Pei is stupid and dare not compare with the prince's kindness and wisdom. However, the Buddhist temple is one of the purest places in the world." Even ordinary people like us will occasionally feel yearning for it, so today we have missed the master’s good tea. I hope the master will not be displeased.”

Compassion? Wisdom bone? Qu Chongyu's face suddenly stiffened.

Jue Xuan said hurriedly, "What does the long history say? I can't ask for it." Seeing that Qu Chongyu wanted to speak, he hurriedly recited the Buddha's name, "You two, please wait a moment!"

The door to the west hall, which had been closed in the morning, suddenly opened. Liuli hurriedly took a closer look inside, only to see a piece of pure white thick silk covering the bronze Buddha. Dozens of monks were chanting in unison in the hall. According to the scriptures, a master held incense and prayed several times. Amidst the praises of the monks, the white silk was slowly unveiled, and the golden bronze Buddha suddenly revealed his true appearance.

Jue Xuan turned around and said, "Prince Qu, please, Pei Changshi, Mrs. Changshi please."

Pei Xingjian took a step aside and said, "The prince is here on behalf of the Protector, so I'd better invite the prince to offer this incense."

Qu Chongyu did not shirk, he smiled and bowed, walked into the Buddhist hall, lit incense and worshiped, and inserted the first stick of incense into the incense burner in front of the Buddha statue.

Liuli didn't care about anything else at this time, and just stared at the Buddha statue. However, she saw that the Buddha statue seemed to be very dry, with no traces of sweat or water. Just as I was wondering, Juexuan's voice rang out, "Chang Shi and his wife, please offer incense."

Liuli had no choice but to gather her thoughts, and followed Pei Xingjian to put on the incense again. After putting the incense in place, when she looked up again, she saw a layer of fine water droplets appearing on the Buddha statue close in front of her. Liuli couldn't help being surprised. The monks in the hall chanted the Buddha's name loudly, and there was a commotion outside. She couldn't help but look at Pei Xingjian, who was also looking up at the Buddha statue, with no expression on his face.

Qu Chongyu’s voice suddenly rang out, “Here comes someone!”

Liuli glanced back subconsciously, and saw a healthy servant walking in with a small box in both hands, and respectfully handed it to Qu Chongyu. Qu Chongyu walked slowly to the merit box, opened the lid of the box, and put the contents inside The shiny gold ingots were put into the merit box. He turned around and smiled at Xuanjue, "Master, this hundred gold is a token of piety from the Qu family."

Liuli couldn't help but let out an exclamation of "Wow" along with the onlookers outside the door. However, when she saw Qu Chongyu's eyes glancing at Pei Xingjian intentionally or unintentionally, she suddenly felt something in her heart: The few copper coins she brought were not enough. !

Seeing Qu Chongyu raising his eyebrows and about to speak, Liuli hurriedly took a step forward, raised her voice and smiled at Xuanjue, "Now that the prince's hair has been decorated with incense and his merits have been donated, it is said that all living beings are equal, so you should hurry up and let the people outside Believers also come in to burn incense and worship Buddha, and to bask in the light.”

Pei Xingjian was about to speak, but when she stopped him, the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

This was the first time she had spoken proactively since entering the temple. Xuanjue was startled, but the believers surrounding the door immediately responded, "That's right, that's right. The first incense was put on it, and I'm going to do it too." fragrant."

Liuli looked at Qu Chongyu with a smile, "Your Majesty, do you think so or not?"

Qu Chongyu bit his back molars before a smile appeared on his face, "What the madam said is true."

Xuanjue waved gently to the monk guarding the door. Several monks stepped back to both sides. People waiting outside to offer incense and worship the Buddha suddenly poured in. At this time, the water droplets on the Buddha statue had become the size of soybeans, especially The slightly sunken eye sockets were filled with water, as if they were about to shed tears. The believers who entered the temple suddenly had tears in their eyes. Those who offered incense and those who kowtow kowtowed. Many people turned around and put gold, silver, copper coins and other objects into the merit box. Liuli also took out two strings from the basket held by the small sandalwood. The copper coins were put into the merit box without attracting any attention.

From the corner of his eye, Qu Chongyu caught sight of this scene of fishing in troubled waters, which made his teeth itch. However, the hall was getting more and more crowded at this moment, and the smell became unpleasant in the sultry heat. He couldn't stand up, so he took a step back and smiled at Xuanjue, " Chongyu didn't want to disturb Master anymore, so he took his leave." He glanced at Pei Xingjian again, "Chang Shi, do you want to go with us?"

Pei Xingjian looked thoughtfully around the hall, smiled and shook his head, "Your Majesty, please, I would like to pay my respects for a while."

Qu Chongyu couldn't help but frown slightly. He felt that something seemed wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong, so he was stunned for a moment.

Thank you all, I originally wanted to add more updates before reaching 400 today. As a result, my proposal report was shot down by the tutor for the second time. The tutor invited me for an interview...and then let me go.

Alas, say nothing, go on the code word, 400 votes are more than 8 o'clock tonight. This is the last day. Everyone has a vote. Of course I’m happy to vote for me. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have one. I signed up for the subscription just for the sake of pink. Anyway, I, the tenth place, will fall down every time on the last day. I I'm very used to it, haha.

By the way, tomorrow, which is the beginning of the new year, the update will be at 8 o'clock in the morning - I was wrong, I shouldn't have made many classmates sleep later just to let myself go to bed before 12 o'clock... everyone should go to bed early!

 (End of this chapter)