(13)
This temple is not located deep in the mountains and old forests, but is very close to Cangzhou City. Even so, it has still survived the ravages of war and changes in power to this day. Many classics have survived. Therefore, it has naturally become a place for self-cultivation and spiritual cultivation that the nearby people yearn for. place.
However, in fact, not only people who believe in Buddha come here, but many traffickers also like to go to Buddhist temples.
Because many of the people who are nominally practicing in monasteries are mostly lay practitioners who lead Buddhist practices. It is not difficult to notice this as long as you have lived here for a period of time.
Perhaps it was on a whim and because they were growing weary of the world that they resolutely abandoned their wives and children before coming, and obtained an ultimatum in order to get rid of everything in the secular world. After arriving at the temple, they found that they had even cut off the hair on their necks. Even the "blood and bones of my parents" couldn't bear it, so they stayed temporarily and made a farce.
These people usually have enough courage and wealth to squander it, and among them there are many children of aristocratic families who escaped from marriage, down-and-out businessmen hiding from debts, murderous gangsters, and hermits who are ignorant of the world. They each have different pasts, but now they all have a common identity, that is, the so-called monks - people who see through the origin and destruction of this life and cultivate a good relationship in the next life.
Although there are some people among them who suddenly have "enlightenment" and want to escape into Buddhism and end their worldly fate, the vast majority of leading practitioners are just coveting the convenience of a pure place of Buddhism.
As a result, the traffickers and lackeys took advantage of the business opportunities. Businessmen with a keen sense of smell will not ignore such an opportunity to make a fortune. Although Bai Feng has never been a businessman, he has discovered this clue very early: these people who practice in name are often more unable to withstand temptation than ordinary people.
The young swordsman had more than once witnessed the monks having fornications with the outside world on a high wall of the temple. Especially when it comes to the sale of wine and meat, you can sit on the floor and raise prices in the temple, but if you have enough money, you can even eat bear paws! Customers just need to stay on the other side of the wall and wait for others to come to their door.
Following the example of the other monks, Bai Feng prepared fine wine and delicious food in advance on the day of his next lecture under the Lotus Terrace, in order to implement the strategy of containing all the officials.
Things went smoothly at first. Under normal circumstances, the delivery person would not deliver wine and meat directly to the temple. After all, meat and fish are taboo in the temple. Anyone who witnessed it with their own eyes would feel bad about it. If someone catches you in the future and prohibits you from approaching the temple, your financial path will be cut off.
Therefore, rather than walking in openly through the gate, the delivery person seems to be more willing to let people with flexible legs and feet pass the things in through the high wall outside the courtyard, and then walk over the wall and disappear without a trace.
Bai Feng got the things that afternoon and immediately returned to the wing to prepare her seat. Of course, this was a secret gathering and would never be made public. For this reason, he quietly prepared two low tables, just big enough for the eight official eldest brothers to sit down.
In the evening, the gauze lanterns on the lotus platform were lit one after another. The courtyard and pavilion above were very spacious and could accommodate twenty or thirty people. The bucket-arch-shaped roof, the roof ridge and door pillars fixed with mortise and tenon joints, neatly arranged desks and mats, and a gauze lamp in front of each desk.
Through the window lattice on both sides, students can sit and listen to the lectures while experiencing the artistic conception of Buddhism.
Just imagine, reciting Buddha's name in the middle of a pond full of lotus flowers. What lingers in your nose is the strong fragrance of the flowers, what you see is tranquility and distance, and what your ears hear are the abbot's answers to your questions.
Even though the flower season has passed, the artistic conception will not diminish much. Traveling monks and believers from all over will definitely seize the opportunity to improve their Buddhist cultivation tonight.
The officer who was responsible for guarding Murong Yan and Mrs. Xiang watched them walk onto the lotus platform, and then planned to call the rest of his colleagues to complete the handover of posts and solve the problem of dinner together.
At this moment, the little brother named Niu Li ran up to them and said that wine and meat had been arranged in the wing, and all the other officers had gone, leaving only a few in front of them.
After saying that, Niu Li led the way back to the side room with great interest, pushed glasses and placed wine with the other eight officials, and chatted happily.
Bai Feng was cautious and only filled other people's glasses with wine. He only tasted a small amount and said, "This is all to reward the officials!"
Not only did the guards show no signs of suspicion, they also praised Niu Li repeatedly: "Brother, thank you so much. We ordinary people can't bear not eating meat for a long time."
After drinking several kilograms of wine from large bowls and eating several bowls of meat, these people were still not satisfied. They screamed and shouted: "If there is a woman who can sing a few songs and dance, it will be even better." Wonderful."
One of the officers grabbed Bai Feng's clothes and begged: "How about you go outside and find a woman? Brother, I haven't seen a woman for a long time and I feel itchy all over. Unlike you, Brother Niu, although Yao Gu's appearance is ugly, , but she is also a wonderful woman.”
Another person held up the wine cup and said in agreement: "Brother Niu is looking for a woman... Then let's go see how Mrs. Xiang is doing!" After that, he took another colleague with him, and the two of them still seemed to be under the influence of the wine. Trapped by drunkenness, they could only put their arms around each other to keep their bodies stable, and staggered out of the room.
Seeing this, Bai Feng hurriedly agreed to the errand and immediately went out to follow the two people who were going to Mrs. Xiang's place, lest the two guards ruin the original plan.
"You two officials, are you going to the Lotus Terrace?" Bai Feng said.
"Yes...Brother Niu? Why did you come here? Are you going to look for a woman outside?"
"My lord, this Buddhist temple does not allow prostitutes. They can't come in. Why don't I go call the lady back and sing a song for you?"
"Yeah... that's okay, then let's go together!"
The three of them supported each other and moved forward together. They were bumped into by the monks in the temple several times and made people roll their eyes a few times. However, this did not make the two guards feel guilty because they were not practicing Buddhism or Taoism. It is human nature to eat meat and drink alcohol.
Suddenly, they walked to the lotus stand. Bai Feng pointed to the bright light and said, "Look, Mrs. Xiang, Yao Gu, and the little maid Zichai are all here!"
Seeing that Bai Feng was so eager to point out the truth, this aroused the interest of the two officials, "Huh? I have never heard a monk preach in my life. How about we go and have a look?"
"No...isn't this bad?" Bai Feng said suspiciously: "You two have just been drinking for three rounds, and your faces are slightly drunk. If an accident happens, aren't you afraid that the Buddha will blame you?"
"Your grandpa and I don't believe in Buddha. Why are we afraid of what he will do? Come on, we will go to this lotus pond in the near future!"
After that, the two officers pushed away Bai Feng's support and walked directly onto the covered bridge path connecting the shore to the lotus terrace.
A moment later, two drunken men suddenly appeared from the night and walked swaggering to the place where the old abbot was giving lectures. At first, a few people just browsed randomly in the sea of books, and did nothing more extraordinary.
When they were young, Murong Yan and Mrs. Xiang, who were anxious and uneasy, watched two rogue-like officials sitting next to them, pretending to study seriously, flipping through the scriptures on the table a few times, and then began to interrogate them about what they had done just now.
Murong Yan replied very solemnly and peacefully: "What I just talked about are the ten hearts of the Buddha, which are the upright heart, the soft heart, the capable heart, the taming heart, the quiet heart, the pure and kind heart, the non-distracted heart, the careless love heart, and the broad heart. , Great Heart. With these ten hearts, a Bodhisattva can enter the second place of freedom from defilement."
Knowing that the other party was really earnestly praying to Buddha, the two officials were still not satisfied, because getting nothing was the most unprofitable result for them.
"You believe that you have spent so much money to reward us. Could it be that you are doing it so that you can be pure while reciting the Buddha's name?"
"That's true! How could the officials not see that the little girl sincerely bows to the Buddha and prays to God to bless Mrs. Xiang and Mr. Su for their safety?"
"You are a very arrogant woman!" The officer turned to Mrs. Xiang and asked, "Mrs. Xiang, I don't think you came here to escape. Could it be that someone here tipped you off? What's wrong with you? How can these little tricks fool us!"
"No, we don't. Lord Official, please don't disturb the Buddhist hall anymore." Mrs. Xiang answered with a trembling and fragile voice, covering her chest and looking like she was dying.
The old abbot left his seat at some point and walked up to these people and said: "Several donors, this is a pure place for Buddhism. Don't be anxious or angry. These two girls are just worshiping the Buddha sincerely and have no second thoughts." . If the two officials continue to cause trouble, I can only report the matter to the local officials and let them be punished."
Faced with the appearance of the old abbot, who was quite prestigious in Cangzhou City, the two young men immediately fell silent. Nuonuo retreated and returned to guard the door. Niu Li exchanged a few words with the guard outside the door, then hurried over, took his wife in hand to thank the old abbot for his good deed, and finally took Yao Gu back to the wing to complete the rest of the performance.
