Chaos in the Eastern Jin Dynasty

Chapter 65 Camellia in Buddhist Temple (1)

The next day.

After the rain, Jiankang seems to have been washed by water, and the dampness from last night remains on the bluestone pavement.

As soon as the morning sun shines today, faint water vapor evaporates like smoke, fascinating the eyes of the world...

His mother's chronic heart disease has also become Guan Ziyang's heart disease, so today he took Qing Chan and Wei Yiqing to Dong'an Temple to look for Zhi Daolin.

Dong'an Temple is ten miles west of Jiankang City, and the three of them rented an ox cart to go there.

The driver's name was Niu Er, and he was seventeen or eighteen years old. Because the family cow gave birth to two calves in the year he was born, others said this was a good omen, so he was named Niu Er.

He is very talkative. Apart from introducing the origin of his name, he is also going to introduce the names of other brothers in the family.

Guan Ziyang quickly stopped him.

"Brother Niu, the two sisters in my car like to be quiet, why don't we talk later?"

Niu Er was also considered clever, probably understood the meaning of the words, replied with a hmm and stopped talking.

After a while, Wei Yiqing and Qingchan dozed off in the car, but Guan Ziyang got bored instead.

Trying to sit cross-legged and meditate for a while to practice internal energy, but the ox cart was bumping so badly that I couldn't practice meditation.

Well, why don't you listen to Niu Er's brother's name...

"Brother Niu, are you from Jiankang?"

As soon as Guan Ziyang took the initiative to talk, Niu Er quickly replied: "Well, I grew up in Jiankang, my family has no land, and the whole family relies on raising cattle for food."

"Do you know that there is a monk named Zhi Daolin in Andong Temple?"

"You talk about Zhi Gong, so how can you not know him? Apart from his profound Buddhist teachings, Zhi Gong is also a master of Xinglin. He treats our poor people without taking any money. He only needs to listen to his lectures in Andong Temple for three days. The people in Kang respectfully call him the miracle doctor of the three classics."

Niu Er paused and asked, "Could it be that one of you, my lord, is sick?"

Guan Ziyang replied: "It's my mother. She is far away in Fuling. I came here to seek medical treatment. I hope he can go to Fuling to treat my mother."

"Hey, that's not a coincidence. Last month, Zhi Gong lost the 'Ya Tan' with the eminent monk from Chang'an. He was punished and banned from leaving the temple for ten years. What should we do?"

Guan Ziyang was dumbfounded when he heard it.

"Isn't it so coincidental? It's only a month away!"

Guan Ziyang said: "It's already here, so I have to meet him first. If it's true that you said that you are not allowed to leave the temple for ten years, then I will have to bring my mother to Jiankang."

Niu Er said angrily: "The wicked monk in Chang'an, you are so unreasonable, you are in vain to be an eminent monk!"

"Brother Niu, do you know what happened?"

"That's natural. I was also sending a pilgrim into the temple that day. I was in the temple when Zhi Gong had a chat with the evil monk from Chang'an."

Then, Niu Er told Guan Ziyang what he had seen and heard in the temple that day.

The monk from Chang'an was called Seng Yuan, and when he came to Dong'an Temple, he wanted to have a talk with Zhi Gong.

Sengyuan came here admiringly, and Zhigong naturally agreed. At the beginning of the elegant talk, the two confronted each other, discerning the meaning of Buddhist scriptures.

As a result, Seng Yuan saw that he was defeated, so he raised a bet. The loser would study scriptures in the temple for ten years and was not allowed to leave the temple.

Zhi Daolin didn't want to gamble, so the monk Sengyuan closed his eyes and meditated.

Zhi Daolin quickly followed suit.

As a result, after a stick of incense, Zhidao Linkou sprayed a mouthful of blood.

Seng Yuan quickly said: "Since you lost to me, you can sit in this Dong'an Temple for ten years of meditation." After speaking, he laughed and left.

Zhi Daolin then told the presiding officer of Andong City that he would retreat in the Buddhist monastery for ten years.

After listening to Niu Er's narration, Guan Ziyang understood in his heart: "This is not a loss of elegant talks, but a loss of Qing talks, and Zhi Daolin was also injured."

Buddhist martial arts are different from other martial arts.

Confucianism is qi, which is internal force, Taoism is essence, also called mantra power, and Buddhism is god, which is called mind power.

Outsiders may see the two of them sitting still in meditation, but in reality they were fighting with each other with their thoughts. In the end, Zhi Daolin was injured and lost, so he had to retreat for ten years.

Along the way, Guan Ziyang asked Niu Er about Dong'an Temple.

Knowing that this Dong'an Temple is still a royal temple, the current Empress Dowager Chu Suanzi, who believes in Buddhism, will come to this Dong'an Temple once or twice a month, so this Dong'an Temple is also the most popular temple in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Half an hour later, the ox cart arrived at the gate of Andong Temple.

Guan Ziyang gave Niu Ertong money and asked him to wait for him in the temple.

On weekdays, from Jiankang to Andong Temple, he would have to pay more than a dozen Wen. Guan Ziyang made such a generous move, Niu Er smiled from ear to ear, and agreed again and again.

"Even though my son is doing business in the temple, if you don't come back, I will definitely not leave." Niu Er said.

This Andong Temple deserves to be called a royal temple, it is extremely luxuriously built, even the roof tiles are made of the same glazed tiles as the imperial palace.

From a distance, Andong Temple in the sun looks like it is shining with golden light.

Guan Ziyang brought Wei Yiqing and Qing Chan into the temple, led by the Zhike monk.

Guan Ziyang went straight to the gate of Zhi Daolin's retreat.

The Zhike monk said: "Mr. Zhi is here. If you have anything to ask him, you can talk to him outside this room first."

"As for Zhi Gong's meeting or not, it depends on your luck."

So Guan Ziyang went to the door and said, "Disciple Guan Ziyang from Fuling Hexi is here to pay a visit to Duke Zhi."

……

There was silence in the house.

Guan Ziyang said again: "Disciple Guan Ziyang from Fuling Hexi has come all the way from Sichuan, and he can still see the eminent monk."

……

There was still no response from inside.

The Zhike monk said: "Benefactor, it seems that Zhigong doesn't want to see Keke today. If you really must see him, you can stay in this temple for a while and come back tomorrow to ask."

Guan Ziyang said: "Will he be willing to see guests tomorrow?"

The Zhike monk replied: "There is a chance, but it is not certain. Last time a pilgrim came to Zhigong for treatment, and he waited for seven days before finally seeing Zhigong."

Guan Ziyang's heart is not good, and he can't even see him face to face. I'm afraid this Daolin is a bit difficult to invite!

Wei Yiqing said: "Junior brother, why don't we stay here for two days at Andong Temple, and we come to see each other every day, we will see each other one day."

"Auntie's illness has not lasted for a day or two, so there's no need to rush."

Guan Ziyang nodded and said: "There is no other way, okay."

So the three lived in Dong'an Temple under the leadership of Zhike monk.

The next day, the three of them came to see Zhi Daolin again.

There was still no response from the room.

Guan Ziyang said in his heart: "The old bald donkey is not small, I will bear with you for seven days, if you still don't see me in seven days, for the sake of my mother, maybe I will have to force it."

In the afternoon of that day, Guan Ziyang was wandering around the temple when he bumped into a young eunuch who came to inform the people of Andong Temple that the Empress Dowager Chu Suanzi would enter the temple to worship Buddha and appreciate camellias tomorrow, so he came here to tell all the monks in Dong'an Temple to get ready.

Chu Suanzi is still very familiar with Guan Ziyang, who was born in the Department of History. This woman came to court three times, supported six emperors, and served as regent for 40 years.

It can be said that they are one of the few "emperor women" in Chinese history, and they are also emperors.

Wei Yiqing and Qing Chan were very excited when they heard that Chu Suanzi was coming, Wei Yiqing said: "Junior Brother, let's take a sneak look at the Regent Empress Dowager tomorrow!"

Guan Ziyang was also full of curiosity about this legendary woman, so he said to Qingchan: "Qingchan, you don't have martial arts, so stay in the Zen room when the time comes, don't go with us, lest you be discovered."

Qing Chan could only nod in disappointment.

(End of this chapter)