Chapter 510: As bright as the moon at night shining on the jade forest, as brilliant as the morning glow reflecting on the pearl pond
"Stop arguing, I am Li Daoxuan."
Zhangsun Wuxi and Zhou Chang quickly bowed and saluted, saying, "We are here to see the Imperial Master!"
Li Daoxuan said calmly, "Your Majesty has appointed me as the leader of the Hibernating Dragons, in charge of matters concerning ghosts and gods. I have never asked about government affairs. One of you is the governor of Luoyang, and the other is the chief of Shangyang. What do you want to see me for?"
Zhang Sun Wuxi said quickly, "Master Bingguo, I heard that you broke into the White Horse Temple. I was worried about your safety, so I brought some people to help you!"
Li Daoxuan looked at him quietly and sneered in his heart.
He came neither earlier nor later, but just after he and Huichan had decided the winner. How could he not see this person's intentions?
Just a fence-sitter.
"Zhou Chang."
"I'm here!"
"As the chief of Shangyang, why did you come here?"
Zhou Chang wiped the sweat from his forehead, a hint of hesitation appeared on his thin face, and then he gritted his teeth and said, "Master, I have a maid who was possessed by an evil spirit and was sent to the White Horse Temple for exorcism. Now it has been fourteen days, and I want to see if she has improved."
Li Daoxuan smiled slightly and said , "She's just a maid. Is it worth it for you to go there in person?"
"Master, you don't know that the maidservant... has a very good relationship with my wife, like a sister."
Li Daoxuan looked at him quietly until the other party was sweating profusely and trembling with fear, then he spoke.
"The monks in the White Horse Temple are useless and cannot kill the evil spirit in the maid's belly. I will do it myself. Go back and don't ask about this matter anymore."
"yes!"
Zhou Chang lowered his eyes, sweat continued to flow, and he did not dare to look directly into Li Daoxuan's eyes.
Li Daoxuan looked at Zhangsun Wuxi again. He was a pot-bellied man with a fake smile on his face. It was obvious that he was a veteran in the officialdom.
"Master Changsun, I understand your intention in coming here. Over the years, the White Horse Temple has occupied fertile land and accumulated wealth. I'm afraid that this is not without the tacit approval of you, the governor of Luoyang."
Zhang Sun Wuxi immediately cried and said, "Imperial Master, I am helpless too. Huichan is so powerful that even the imperial court can't do anything about him. What can a mere provincial governor do?"
Li Daoxuan waved his sleeves and said, "Okay, I'm not going to hold you accountable, that's also your Majesty's business. But there is one thing that if you can help me with, I can say something for you in the memorial I write to your Majesty."
Zhang Sun Wuxi was in high spirits and said hurriedly, "Master, please give me your orders!"
"Over the years, the White Horse Temple has annexed a lot of land from the people. You are responsible for checking and returning the land to the people. If you do this well, it will be considered that you have made up for your mistakes."
Changsun Wuxi finally breathed a sigh of relief. What he was most worried about was that the Imperial Master would hold him accountable for his mistakes. Now it seems that the Imperial Master will eventually give face to their Changsun family.
"Please rest assured, Master. I will do my best to accomplish this!"
Looking at the backs of Changsun Wuxi and Zhou Chang, Li Daoxuan's eyes were deep.
Your Majesty has long been dissatisfied with Changsun Wuxi. After this matter is resolved, he should be dismissed and investigated. Before that, you might as well use him to distribute the land and benefit the people of Luoyang.
I believe that the other party will do his best to handle this matter for the sake of his own official position.
As for the so-called making up for one's mistakes...
Li Daoxuan sneered secretly. He did say that, but unfortunately it was His Majesty's business to reward and punish officials. He had no say...
"Go find Jiang Lian and tell him to send someone to keep an eye on Zhou Chang."
Li Daoxuan said to the soldiers on duty.
"promise!"
Zhou Chang was a suspicious person. A maid made him go through so much trouble and even established a relationship with Changsun Wuxi in an attempt to put pressure on him.
He also said that it was because the maid was his wife's good friend. If that was the case, why didn't his wife come to see if her friend was possessed by evil spirits?
After everything is arranged.
Li Daoxuan looked at his apprentice again and stretched out his hand.
The little girl, wearing a Taoist robe, came running over and took the master's hand.
"Changle, do you think I should kill Huichan?"
Li Daoxuan was preparing to teach his apprentice. As his disciple, it was impossible for her to be a carefree princess in the future, and Li Shimin also had high hopes for her.
Little Changle said without hesitation: "No, I think Master did the right thing!"
"Oh? Tell me why."
Changle thought for a moment and said, "The reason why Master didn't kill the old monk was not because he was soft-hearted, but because he didn't want to further intensify the conflict between Buddhism and the imperial court. Saving his life but destroying his cultivation is enough to shock the tiger and kill the chicken to scare the monkey!"
Li Daoxuan's eyes showed a strange look, and he asked, "Anything else?"
Changle continued, "The reason why Master arrested all the monks in the White Horse Temple and asked Father to decide their fate was not because it was troublesome, but because it was a gift to Father!"
Her dark, bright eyes seemed to sparkle with wisdom as she spoke methodically, "The monks of the White Horse Temple have been annexing land and amassing wealth. They have long lost the support of the people. Master has handed them over to the emperor so that he can restore the people's hearts and gain their popularity. This is what he loves most."
The most taboo thing in everything is to surpass the master in achievement.
If after the matter was done, the people of Luoyang only knew Li Daoxuan but not Li Shimin, what would the emperor think?
It would be fine if it happened once, but if it happened twice or three times, no matter how broad-minded Li Shimin was, there would inevitably be a gap between them. This is human nature.
Therefore, Li Daoxuan took the initiative to hand over these monks who had angered the people to the emperor for punishment, so that he could win the hearts of the people.
Throw me a papaya, and I will repay you with a jade.
This was an invisible tacit understanding between him as the imperial teacher and the emperor. Everything was implied, but he didn't expect that Changle, who was only nine years old, would notice it.
"How did you come up with this?"
Li Daoxuan couldn't help but ask.
Changle chuckled and said, "Usually I go to play with my father, but there are always ministers who come to talk to him about things, and I just listen from the side. After a long time, I have learned everything."
She raised her fair and tender face, her eyes full of pride, as if saying, look at how great I am.
Li Daoxuan stretched out his hand and scratched her small and delicate nose, and said with a smile: "What a clever little ghost."
No wonder the history books say that she was "endowed with wisdom and intelligence from the emperor, and received wise teachings from the emperor. She was as bright as the moonlight shining on the jade forest, and as brilliant as the morning glow reflecting on the pearly lake."
At the age of nine, she has already shown an extraordinary mind. How charming will she be when she grows up?
In history, Changle married Changsun Chong, the eldest son of Changsun Wuji, in the seventh year of Zhenguan. She died of illness at the age of 23. She died prematurely, which can be said to be a beautiful woman with a tragic fate.
Of course, in this life, her destiny has changed dramatically, and everything is possible in the future.
After receiving praise from her master, Changle started to skip and jump as she walked, like a happy little rabbit. She no longer had any of the grace of a princess.
…
Night falls.
In a clean Zen room.
Changle was wearing snow-white pajamas, her long ink-black hair scattered across her body, covering half of her beautiful and delicate face. She was lying on her side on the bed, having fallen into a sweet dream. Her long eyelashes were like grass covered with morning dew, quiet and moving.
Under the thin blanket, two little feet as white as lotus were revealed.
Li Daoxuan was sitting by the window, writing something. He would occasionally glance at his apprentice, shake his head and smile.
She seemed to be frightened by the monks in the White Horse Temple. She refused to sleep alone and acted coquettishly and cutely, insisting that Li Daoxuan stay with her.
Fortunately, she is still young. If she were older, we would need to consider the differences between men and women.
Even though they are master and disciple, they still need to pay attention to what they should pay attention to.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Daoxuan finally stopped writing and finished writing several letters.
He checked it again, and after making sure there were no problems, he blew on it gently, as if drying the ink.
However, the next moment, these pieces of paper floated up and automatically folded into the shape of a paper bird. Then they flapped their wings and flew out of the window, each flying in a different direction.
This is a small magic trick used in Longhu Mountain to send messages. It turns paper into birds and write brocade letters in the clouds.
Because it is a paper bird, it can fly day and night to the place or person he designates.
If an ordinary cultivator used this spell, he could only make the paper bird fly a few dozen miles at most. But with Li Daoxuan's cultivation level, it is very easy for him to fly tens of thousands of miles.
He wrote about the demon fetus in the letter, and all he had to do now was wait.
It's time to let Moro see what it means to have strength in numbers...
…
At night, in a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of Luoyang.
Under the broken Buddha statue, there lay an old man in tattered clothes with broken hands and feet. His eyes were empty, as if he had lost his soul. He lay on the ground motionless, and he didn't even react when a mouse crawled to his ear.
It took less than a day for him to go from being a high and mighty Yang Shen to being a waste who was even worse than a beggar.
The Buddha statue had only one eye left, which was looking downward, as if gazing at him.
The dilapidated Buddhist temple and the disabled abbot seemed to be announcing some tragic ending. If nothing unexpected happened, Huichan would die of thirst or starvation.
Suddenly, Huichan's lifeless eyes moved slightly.
The air around them became damp for some reason, and mildew appeared on the walls. An eerie atmosphere emerged, making people feel inexplicably cold.
There is a ghost!
Huichan was once a powerful Yangshen. Although his cultivation was gone, his experience was still there. He immediately determined that this Buddhist temple was the territory of ghosts, and now the ghosts were coming back.
Ruined temples in the mountains are often haunted.
If he was still a Yang God, there would be no need to be afraid, but as of now, he can be bitten to death even by a wild dog, let alone a ghost.
There was a trace of sadness in Huichan's eyes. He thought that he had spent his whole life slaying demons and eliminating evil, but in the end he died at the hands of a tiny ghost. What a joke.
A tiger in dire straits is bullied by a dog!
call!
The cold wind blew the door open, and then a trail of wet footprints appeared on the ground, getting closer and closer to Huichan.
If he were an ordinary person, he would naturally not be able to see ghosts, but Huichan was once a yang god and had cultivated the ability of clairvoyance. Even though he had become a cripple, his eyes were different from those of ordinary people and he could vaguely see the figure of a woman.
His long hair was disheveled, his face was pale, and he was wet from head to toe, dripping with water, as if he had just climbed out of a river.
It's a drowned water ghost!
Huichan was puzzled. Water ghosts usually live in rivers, so how could they come to this dilapidated temple?
But none of this matters anymore, as he is about to die at the hands of this water ghost.
The woman walked up to Huichan, staring at him with her dead eyes, and stretched out her swollen hands towards Huichan's neck, ready to strangle him to death.
"Amitabha!"
Huichan whispered a Buddhist name, closed his eyes and waited for death.
However, a crisp voice sounded.
"Huh? Is there anyone in there?"
Ta-ta-ta...
The sound of the bamboo poles hitting the ground was like raindrops, not chaotic, but rather had a certain rhythm.
Then a little blind beggar walked in. She looked about twelve or thirteen years old, with dirty hair and tattered clothes. She was in her prime, but she looked pale and skinny.
The little blind girl walked towards Huichan, holding the food she had begged for in her arms and stroking it.
After the little girl appeared, the water ghost stood obediently in the corner, looking at her quietly, without moving.
The little blind girl finally touched Huichan's bald head and asked in surprise: "You...you are a monk?"
Huichan didn't say anything.
The little blind girl took out the food she had begged for a day, gave him half and said, "You must be hungry, do you want to eat something first?"
Huichan looked at the black leftovers and wondered if this was something humans could eat?
However, when he saw the little blind girl chewing the food happily without wasting a single grain, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this all you eat every day?"
The little blind girl smiled and said, "Today is still good. Sometimes we can't get food, so we have to go hungry, or find some earthworms, cockroaches, etc. to fill our stomachs."
Huichan remained silent for a long time.
"Eat quickly, or your stomach will growl at night and it will be very uncomfortable!"
The little blind girl brought up the other half of the food like offering a treasure.
Huichan prepared himself mentally for a long time, but under the urging of hunger, he finally swallowed the food.
It’s so unpalatable!
The rotten leftovers were mixed with mud and sand, as well as a lot of black residue. Every bite was a torture to the taste buds.
He really didn't know why this little girl was eating so happily.
"Where are your family members?"
"They are all dead."
"…How did he die?"
"My mother said that my family originally lived in Ludaofang in the city and had dozens of acres of fertile land, but later the monks from the White Horse Temple took it away. My father was so angry that he fell ill and died."
Huichan was stunned for a long time before he continued to ask, "What about your mother?"
The little blind girl seemed a little disappointed and said, "After my father died, my mother took me with her. She was very kind to me. At that time, I could still see and she taught me to read and write."
"Later, I fell ill and became blind. In order to pay for my medical treatment, my mother worked so hard weaving cloth to earn money that she was too tired. On her way back from buying silk, she accidentally fell into the lake and drowned."
"Aren't you afraid living alone in this dilapidated temple?"
The little blind girl shook her head and pointed to the distance and said, "The lake is not far from here. If I live here, I can be closer to my mother."
After a pause, she continued, "I don't know why, but I always feel that... Mom is still by my side, accompanying me."
Huichan looked at the female water ghost. She seemed to be worried that her moisture would affect her daughter, so she hid far away in the corner and did not dare to approach.
Huichan suddenly felt a little blocked in his heart.
His mouth trembled slightly, and he said, "White Horse Temple... I'm sorry."
The little blind girl shook her head and smiled, "When my mother was still alive, she loved to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva and read Buddhist scriptures. She told me that revenge will never end and told me not to bear grudges."
"Mother also said that some monks in the White Horse Temple are bad, but Master Huichan must be good. He is our hero in Luoyang. If he hadn't guarded Luoyang for decades, we would have been eaten by demons long ago."
Huichan's pupils trembled, and an unprecedented complex feeling surged in his heart, and he couldn't calm down for a long time.
As the night deepens, the cicadas continue to chirp.
In the dilapidated temple, the little blind girl knelt devoutly in front of the broken Buddha statue, and her childish voice was heard.
"Buddha, please let this monk get better soon. He can't move and must be very worried. Maybe he has family members, and they must be very worried too..."
