Yiningfang, Xiuxingli, Huxinting Pavilion.
Cui Yuanzao slowly ground the tea cakes, sifted them, poured water into the tea cauldron, and waited for the water to boil.
Opposite Cui Yuanzao sat Zen Master Wu Xin. The Zen Master closed his eyes and recited sutras.
There was only the sound of boiling tea.
"Are they competing for concentration?" Standing outside the pavilion, Lan Yin secretly bit her ears with Ling Cong.
"About so." Lingcong replied with a smile.
He already knows Mrs. Yang's character. It's really, well, very complementary to Lang Jun. She is a lively character.
Seeing that Lingcong didn't want to talk much, Lan Yin closed her mouth and listened to what Cui Yuanzao said.
Finally the tea reached the third boil, "Master, please drink tea."
"Thank you, Donor Cui."
"Master, does he know where Wang Shang is?"
"Amitabha, I really don't know." Zen Master Wuxin put down the tea cup and called out the Buddha's name.
Cui Yuanzao remained calm and said, "Master, you must know that I could have taken you to Dali Temple to investigate the case. It is only because I believe in the master that I invited the master to come to the house to talk. Why don't you give me a clear path?" "
Zen Master Wuxin closed his eyes and recited sutras. After a long time, he replied: "The poor monk has a delusional mind. If he knows everything and says it, can he still get rid of his fault?"
"nature."
"This matter started from half a year ago. The saint believed in the faith, and it was time for the imperial court to suppress the rebellion in Zhaoyi Town. Duzhilang of Hubu cleverly set up a name to collect money and food from the temple. Zhao Jinggong Temple was in dire straits on the left and right, and the situation became worse and worse." Zen Master Wuxin looked lonely, Look at the catkins floating in the wind on the shore of the lake.
Cui Yuanzao silently handed him another cup of tea.
"For this reason, the abbot wanted to ask someone to renovate the "Hell Transformation" mural, hoping to attract more pilgrims, but he was short of money and couldn't find a suitable person. At this time, I happened to be giving porridge at Beitianfang and saw a person painting and calligraphy It was very good, so I paid attention, and that person was Wang Shang."
"Is there a Beitian Square in Chang'an No. 108?" Lan Yin was confused, so she quietly whispered to Lingcong outside the pavilion.
Lingcong looked at Madam Yang in surprise, wondering, why didn't she even know about Beitianfang? Could it be that the monastery where he was fostered since childhood was isolated from the outside world?
Lingcong glanced at Cui Yuanzao and saw that he remained calm, so he explained to Lan Yin: "Beitianfang is not the name of the place. It is a place where the imperial court used to house the orphans, the elderly, the poor and the sick. The monks were appointed as Beitian recuperators, and each of them Big monasteries will send monks to treat patients and give alms.”
Lan Yin nodded repeatedly. It seemed that Zen Master Wuxin had compassion, so how could he kill someone? It’s really puzzling!
"The poor monk introduced Wang Shang to the abbot and suggested that Wang Shang be invited to repair the murals. However, the abbot only agreed to provide him with food, accommodation and a small amount of money, and was not allowed to disclose it to the outside world. Therefore, only the poor monk and the abbot knew about Wang Shang in the whole temple. "
"Why is this? How is it done?" Cui Yuanzao asked.
"Later, the poor monk learned about the abbot's plan. The abbot planned that once Wang Shang repaired the murals, he would package the place as a miracle to attract pilgrims. Therefore, before Wang Shang came to repair the murals, rumors about the strange phenomena in the East Zen Temple began. He left the Eastern Zen Monastery, so only poor monks can come into contact with Wang Shang on weekdays."
"No wonder, I found traces of another person besides Lu Qian in Dongchanyuan, but the novice monks in the temple seemed to know nothing about it. Since the abbot had this plan, why did he invite another Lu Qian?" Cui Yuanzao said again. Zen Master Wuxin changed his cup of tea.
"This is also the fault of the poor monk. As my relationship with Wang Shang deepened, Wang Shang told me that the grudge between his master Huangpu and Lu Qian happened to be the same as that of Wu Daozi and Huangfu Zhen. He had always suspected that his master Huangpu was the target of Lu Qian. Harmful. After I heard this rumor, I told the abbot, but unexpectedly, the abbot had another idea."
"He wants to ask Lu Qian to repair the murals, so as to arouse rumors and attract pilgrims? But asking Lu Qian to repair the murals will cost a lot of money, right? Is the abbot willing to do so?"
"This is also strange. Lu Qian doesn't want any of it."
"Impossible, you lied. Lu Qian told me that Zhao Jinggong Temple paid him five thousand guan." Lan Yin heard Wu Xin's nonsense outside the pavilion and immediately said angrily.
"I don't dare to speak falsely." Wuxin clasped his hands together and called out the Buddha's name.
Cui Yuanzao glanced at Lan Yin lightly. Lan Yin calmed down and took a step back silently.
"I apologize to the Zen Master on behalf of Mrs. Yang and ask the Zen Master to continue."
Cui Yuanzao made Wu Xin take a look at the lady, and then continued: "Because Lu Qian didn't need money and was willing to repair the murals, the abbot wanted to drive Wang Shang away. The poor monk couldn't bear it and kept him in the East Chanyuan. For a while, I didn’t expect that he would do something like that.”
Zen Master Wuxin raised his head and glanced at Cui Yuanzao, and continued, "The poor monk did not know about this matter earlier than Cui Pingshi. I didn't know what Wang Shang had done until the day Cui Pingshi came to Zhao Jinggong Temple. He told me that maybe Lu Qian was He was so frightened to death that he asked me to do a favor and let him go into Dongchanyuan again and retrieve the device on the roof. It turned out that during the days when I kindly took him in, he secretly secretly I dug a hole in the roof of Dongchanyuan and installed the device privately. I originally wanted to scare Lu Qian, but I didn't expect that Lu Qian was scared to death."
At this point, Cui Yuanzao roughly figured out the context of the matter.
That day, he went to Zhao Jinggong Temple, so Wang Shang did not dare to act rashly. At night, Wang Shang secretly went to the roof. They did not expect to be discovered by them, but he still retrieved the concave and convex mirror, and with the help of Zen Master Wuxin, at dawn , escaped from Zhao Jinggong Temple.
"Master, have you never seen a concave-convex mirror before?" Cui Yuanzao said.
"Never."
"Then the person who asked about the use of concave and convex mirrors in the West Market is the master?"
"He is indeed a poor monk. Wang Shang told me that he did not mean to kill Lu Qian and asked me to help him. I wanted to know if what he said was true, so I went to the West Market to ask about the use of the concave-convex mirror and found that As expected, this thing can only magnify, shrink, and focus light, but it cannot be used as a murder weapon, so I decided to help Wang Shang."
"Has Wang Shang told the master about the origin of the concave-convex mirror?"
"Wang Shang didn't tell me in detail. He just said that he got it in exchange for paintings."
When Cui Yuanzao heard this, he not only frowned. The concave and convex mirror is worth five thousand gold. Can Wang Shang's painting be worth this much money?
"Does Master know where Wang Shang is hiding now?"
"I don't know. We agreed not to see each other again."
"Master Wuxin, I have one final question. Why did you mislead us into doubting the abbot?"
"Perhaps the poor monk has delusional thoughts. The poor monk really cannot agree with the actions of the abbot. How can a Buddhist temple only focus on money? Are these disciples of the Buddha who are so kind and compassionate?" Zen Master Wuxin closed his eyes and clasped his hands, and kept turning the beads in his hand. .
The spring breeze was still a bit cold, blowing on the lake surface. The pavilion in the center of the lake was silent, except for the orioles still chirping on the willow trees by the lake.
———
Watching Zen Master Wuxin leave, Lan Yin couldn't help but ask: "Do you believe what he said is true?"
"I believe it." Cui Yuanzao slowly walked out of the Huxin Pavilion with his hands behind his back.
"Why? Lu Qian obviously told me that Zhao Jinggong Temple would pay him five thousand guan?" Lan Yin said unconvinced.
"Based on the situation of Zhao Jinggong Temple, the temple does not have the money to pay Lu Qian to Five Thousand Guan."
"The strange thing is why Lu Qian lied to me?" Lan Yin murmured.
"Yes, I also want to ask you, why did he lie to you? Under what circumstances did you meet?" Cui Yuanzao looked forward and said lightly, as if he didn't care about Lan Yin's answer.
Lan Yin turned her head to look at Cui Yuanzao and said coldly: "I didn't lie to you. I did meet him on the road. There's just one thing I didn't tell you."
Cui Yuanzao turned his head to look at Lan Yin. Her expression was cold. Cui Yuanzao suddenly felt that maybe he shouldn't force her to say, "You don't have to say it if you don't want to."
"It's okay. I met Lu Qian at Tongguanyi. He was beaten by a high-ranking disciple named Cui Yuanpeng on some pretext. I rescued him. After that, he begged me to send him to Chang'an and promised to pay me a fee after the incident was completed. Qian Guan." Lan Yin looked at Cui Yuanzao provocatively.
Cui Yuanzao lowered his head and coughed in embarrassment. He knew that Cui Yuanpeng was usually arrogant and domineering, but he didn't expect it to reach this level, nor did he expect to be seen by Lan Yin.
"Cui Yuanpeng is indeed my cousin. He insulted Lu Qian. I don't know the inside story and I can't defend him. But if Lu Qian asked you to escort him to Chang'an just because of an accidental conflict with Yuanpeng, don't you think it's making a fuss out of a molehill? Yet?"
"Why would Cui Yuanpeng cause trouble for him along the way?" Lan Yin said unconvinced.
"Have you met Cui Yuanpeng on the way? In fact, according to your time, Yuanpeng is going to Luoyang."
"Lu Qian wouldn't know that Cui Yuanpeng went to Luoyang. He was afraid of his retaliation and asked me to send him to Beijing. Isn't it normal?"
Cui Yuanzao shook his head and looked at the catkins wandering around, "I still find it very strange. All Lu Qian's behavior is very strange. Why does he travel thousands of miles to repair the murals without taking a penny? Could it be that he is crazy about Wu Daozi's "Hell Transformation" ? And Lu Qian is also from a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River. He should also know that the dandy children of high families are not very talented. Not to mention whether Cui Yuanpeng is on the same road as him, even if he is on the same road as him, will Yuanpeng still find trouble? Is it worth spending a thousand dollars to hire you? Unless he foresees that his life is in danger."
The more Lan Yin listened, the more frightened she became, "You mean he knew he was going to die?"
Cui Yuanzao shook his head. The case was becoming more and more complicated. There was a lot of fog. The origin of the concave-convex mirror in Wang Shang's hand became a mystery.
The concave and convex mirrors were originally a pair. The one in his hand should have come from the Daming Palace. It was leaked out of Daming Palace through Ma Yuanzhi. Could it be that the one in Wang Shang's hand also came from Daming Palace? Then wouldn’t this case involve the palace? If this is the case, should he continue to investigate?
"What's wrong?" Looking at Cui Yuanzao who fell into silence, Lan Yin couldn't help but wave her hand in front of his eyes, "What did you think of?"
Cui Yuanzao came back to his senses and forced a smile, "I was wondering where Wang Shang is hiding now?"
"Mr. Lang, there is news from the bad handsome man. According to the store owner, someone with a similar face to Wang Shang has been found." Lingcong suddenly hurried out of the screen wall.
"Okay, let's go now."
"But Wang Shang is dead."
