Chapter 705 Two Monks
Welcome guests.
A tavern that is a bit shabby but does extremely prosperous business.
Since the main customers of the tavern were peddlers from nearby, the sounds of shouting and yelling in the tavern's hall at mealtimes were loud enough to be heard two miles away.
But on the morning of the eighth day, the shop seemed much quieter.
There were quite a few fewer people, but mainly the old customers who usually talked loudly, all of them lowered their voices at the same time - and the ones who caused this situation were two monks, one old and one young.
To be honest, these two monks don't look like they have three heads and six arms. At most, the little monk is just more handsome.
There were only two plates of vegetarian dishes in front of them, and there was no violation of any precepts or etiquette.
But the problem is that this tavern is located near the main entrance of Qingxu Temple!
Even if the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism had not yet become apparent, it was still somewhat inappropriate for these two monks to run to the gate of Qingxu Temple to eat and drink.
However, facing everyone's sidelong glances, the two monks were contented, and they slowly savored their meal with a pot of freshly brewed liquor.
Seeing that the bowl of plain noodles was almost empty, the younger monk put down his chopsticks and commented with a smile: "This hot and sour bamboo shoots dish really has some skills. No wonder it was praised by Blood-eyed God."
The big monk did not respond to him. He silently finished his bowl of noodle soup, stood up and paid the meal with the shopkeeper. Then he turned around and put his hands together and said, "Amitabha, although this food tastes delicious, it is not something that monks like us should be greedy for. Disciple, follow me on the road."
Having said that, he kept his palms together and walked straight out the door.
Upon hearing this, the little monk immediately stopped smiling, put the package on the table on his shoulder, and followed with his palms clasped together.
The two walked one in front and one behind, the older one had a dignified look, and the younger one was handsome. Although they were walking in this prosperous Taoist place, attracting countless passers-by's attention, no one dared to disturb or stop them.
As they left the vicinity of Qingxu Temple, the two monks finally had fewer prying eyes.
"Master."
The little monk hurried a few steps and asked quietly: "Where are we going next?"
"Of course, I'll take a tour around the capital."
The older monk smiled and said, "It's a rare opportunity to have such auspicious snowfall. We have plenty of money to travel with you. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity to have some fun, wouldn't that be a waste of the Buddha's kindness?"
When the young monk heard what he said, some worry flashed across his face. He wanted to say something several times but stopped himself, but in the end he did not dare to question the old monk's decision.
At this moment, the old monk in front suddenly stopped and looked at a beggar in thin clothes not far away. He sighed with compassion and said, "How kind, how kind, in the capital, the best place, there are such pitiful people - Oh, I wish I had thousands of mansions to shelter all the poor people in the world."
After hearing this, the handsome face of the little monk became even more conflicted.
"Disciple."
The old monk pointed his finger and resolutely ordered: "Go and give him some copper coins, so that he can at least survive this winter."
The young monk hesitated for a long time after hearing this, but finally came forward, took out half a penny of silver from his belt and threw it into the broken pottery bowl of the little beggar.
"Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir!"
When the beggar saw that it was such a generous reward, he knelt on the ground with joy. Perhaps he was too excited, the pottery bowl cut his palm, and blood gushed out, dyeing half of his palm red in an instant.
But the beggar pretended not to hear and continued to kowtow excitedly to express his gratitude.
Seeing him crawling at his feet like a dog, the little monk looked disdainful but ordered: "Take it and buy some old clothes, so you won't get cold."
Having said that, he turned around and returned to the old monk.
When the two of them set off again, the little beggar was still kowtowing.
But the master and the disciple walked a little further, and the young monk stopped again and said hesitantly: "Master, this... this seems to be the way to the Dali Temple, right?"
"It's the way to the Dali Temple."
The old monk said slowly, "Master, I have heard that the scenery of the Dali Temple is the best among all government offices. Now that we are near it, if we don't go and see it, wouldn't it be like passing by a treasure mountain without entering?"
"But Sun Shaozong ..."
"Amitabha!"
A Buddhist chant suppressed all the noise, and the master and disciple set off again in silence.
…
Dali Temple.
After enduring more than half an hour of intrigue and meaningless morning meeting, Right Junior Official Li Wenshan walked out of the flower hall with heavy steps. Just as he was about to go back to his office to have some peace and quiet, Sun Shaozong caught up with him:
"Master Li, Master Li, please stay."
Li Wenshan stopped in response and slowly turned around.
Seeing Sun Shaozong's smiling face, he became even more unhappy and couldn't help but criticize him bluntly: "Lord Sun, although you took the initiative to recruit the case for the consideration of our Dali Temple, you shouldn't have directly bypassed the Lord Tingwei and reported it to His Majesty without even mentioning it!"
Although the official document transferring the "Heart-Eating Case" to the Dali Temple has not yet been issued.
However, Sun Shaozong had taken the initiative to point out this matter "in advance" at the morning meeting just now, and also revealed the news that in the future, it might be necessary to formulate "Military Marriage Regulations" in accordance with the emperor's order.
This naturally caused Wei Yi's strong dissatisfaction.
Although the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple was qualified to appear before the emperor alone according to the imperial law, he could not escape the charge of disrespecting the leader by not saying anything and directly appealing to the higher authorities.
As a result, the two of them had a very sharp confrontation at the morning meeting .
Although Li Wenshan is a well-known good man, he has always hated such "breaking the rules" things.
He had just forced himself not to join the battle, but now when they were alone, he couldn't help but start to accuse Sun Shaozong.
Sun Shaozong still smiled warmly, spread his hands and said, "How can Lord Li also wrongly accuse me? This time I came to the palace to see the emperor because of the death of my subordinate Zhang An. Since this is out of selfish motives, it is not appropriate to discuss it in the government office first."
"As for the case of Constable Wei in Daxing County, it was also implicated in this case. Brother Li should also be aware of this."
After this reminder, Li Wenshan suddenly recalled that when Sun Shaozong came to him to clear the way for the Zhang An case, he did mention some heart-wrenching mystery.
His attitude softened slightly, but he still criticized: "Even so, Lord Sun should be careful about his words and deeds. After all, Lord Tingwei has been in power for many years, no matter how..."
"Sir, Lord Sun!"
At this moment, Tang Weishan, the chief monk of the left temple, came over in a panic and shouted from a distance: "Two monks were killed and their bodies were abandoned on the black-sailed boat of our left temple!"
Wupeng boat?
Could it be the one I used a few days ago?
