The First Volume: Longing for Chang'an The First Chapter: Buddha's Words

  "A rich girl prayed to the Buddha to see her crush again, so the Buddha let her become a stone and cultivate for 500 years, just to get a chance to see him rush past on a bridge; then she became a big tree and cultivated for another 500 years, just to let him rest under the tree for a while... What are you praying for?"

  A young man with skin darkened by the sun knelt on a cushion in front of a golden Buddha statue, his hands clasped together, but he chatted with a woman kneeling beside him.

  Before the young man entered the Buddhist hall, this woman was already kneeling here. She wore a hood on her head, a tight-sleeved and high-collared long gown, with long trousers and high-waisted boots, dressed in men's clothing, but she didn't intend to disguise herself as a man, for her face was obviously made up with powder and rouge, her eyebrows were painted like willow leaves, and her thick lips were coated with crimson lip color, making her look extremely charming. This tight-fitting men's clothing accentuated the beautiful curves of her body even more.

  Women in the Tang Dynasty often disguised themselves as men, and the reason was probably like this.

  The hall is spacious, and although the monks are reciting sutras in the same room, it sounds like they're coming from a distant place; "Dong dong dong..." The sound of knocking on the wooden fish is the accompaniment to the recitation. The whole "music" seems hazy and serene.

  In the fourth year of Xianheng in the Tang Dynasty, Crown Prince Zhang Hua built a temple on his former residence, and this is the Qianfu Temple. It has been 38 years since then until now in the second year of Jingyun. The Crown Prince Zhang Hua who built the temple had long passed away, and Wu Zetian who put him to death also passed away like that. In these years, the situation was turbulent with constant changes in government, and the people in the imperial court came and went one after another, but only this ancient building of Qianfu Temple remained unchanged.

  Things have changed, people have moved on.

  Green tiles and white walls, decorated with swallowtail eaves stretching far and wide, surrounded by swirling incense smoke, the outside world's hustle and bustle is kept at bay, the temple gradually becomes secluded, slowly developing into a purely Buddhist temple.

  The woman kneeling on the cushion with her eyes closed in prayer heard someone speaking, so she opened her almond-shaped eyes and turned her head to take a look. The two were obviously familiar with each other, and the woman put her index finger in front of her crimson lips, making a soft "shh" sound, and said in a low voice: "The Buddha is above, be quiet, let's talk later."

  The woman's voice is soft and soothing, with a slow rhythm, very pleasant to listen to.

  The young man stopped talking, clasped his hands together in a Buddhist greeting and bowed several times, then hastily stood up, turned around and walked out.

  It was probably because the man came quickly and left even faster, which was somewhat unexpected for the woman, so she felt a little strange in her heart. She also hurriedly bowed several times and got up to chase him out.

  As soon as they walked out of the Buddhist hall, it was a courtyard with a straight-latticed window corridor. This was originally the prince's mansion, and the layout still retained its old style. The woman looked around, the courtyard was quiet, except for the new sprouts of willow branches swaying gently in the breeze, as if there was no movement at all, not even a single person.

  For some reason, a hint of loss flashed through her heart. What was she losing? The man from earlier wasn't even someone important to her. It's really unknown what she was losing. Sometimes people's hearts are just inexplicable.

  Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind: "Buddha said, you have cultivated for 1,000 years and still cannot obtain the marriage destiny with him, do you want to continue cultivating?"

  The woman turned her head, furrowed her brow, and pouted, saying: "Mysterious and mysterious, this kind of play is not boring... Xue Qing doesn't have to go on duty today, how did she come to Qianfu Temple? What a coincidence."

  The young man known as Xue Qing was none other than Xue Chongxun, the eldest son of Taiping Princess and Wei Guogong, the Grand Minister of Tang Dynasty.

  The woman in front is Yuwen Ji, the fiancée of Feng Yuanjun, a colleague of Xue Chongxun and the younger brother of the eunuch Gao Lishi. The Tang Dynasty was open-minded, many women were willing to go out and socialize, and with this relationship, Xue Chongxun knew her.

  They occasionally met and had another relationship, Yuwen Nu was known as the female god of medicine in Chang'an, her medical skills were quite good, she often used unconventional methods to cure some difficult diseases; while Xue Chongxun's Taichang Temple had a department called Taiyi Shu, which managed imperial physicians. Yuwen Nu was not an imperial physician, but she had dealings with the Taiyi Shu. Once Emperor Li Dan (father of Crown Prince Li Longji) suffered from a severe headache, and the imperial physicians were at a loss, Yuwen Nu entered the palace and cured him with just one needle.

  Yuwen Ji asked, and Xue Chongxun said: "You also know that normally affairs are handled by Feng Er Lang, I don't usually take care of them. Moreover, today is the day when my brothers and I pay respects to our mother, so we came over from An Yi Fang. Since it's still early, and Qianfu Temple is nearby, I just happened to drop by for a stroll."

  When it came to his mother, Princess Taiping, a faint, almost imperceptible worry flashed across Xue Chongxun's eyes.

  After the coup last year, Wei Empress, Princess Anle, Shangguan Wan'er and others were all killed, Crown Prince Li Dan was restored to his position, resulting in today's situation: Crown Prince Li Longji and Princess Taiping each have their own party, accumulating strength and waiting for an opportunity to strike, the situation has already become irreconcilable... The outcome is very dangerous for Xue Chongxin, the eldest son of Princess Taiping, perhaps it will happen in a year or two.

  Perhaps Xue Chongxun was not devout enough to Buddha, the incense and wooden fish in the temple could not bring him even a moment of peace, and the struggle would always linger in his mind. He secretly sighed and bowed his fist: "It's almost time, I'll take my leave."

  "Wait." Yuwen Ji stopped him and asked, "You didn't finish what you were saying about the Buddha earlier. Is this really in the Buddhist scriptures?"

  "It's true." Xue Chongxun said solemnly.

  Yuwen Ji Dao said: "The Buddha asked a young girl who had cultivated for a thousand years whether she still needed to cultivate, what did she say?"

  Xue Chongxun smiled and said, "She said it's not necessary."

  "It's meaningless." Yuwen Ji was somewhat disappointed, it seemed that women all had "obsessions" too.

  Xue Chongxun said: "At this time, the Buddha let out a sigh of relief and said that another man had been cultivating for 2,000 years just to take a look at you... do you understand?"

  Yuwen Ji's face turned slightly red, and after a moment of contemplation, connecting the fact that she was Feng Yuanjun's fiancée and the scene where they prayed in front of Buddha earlier, she thought to herself: Is he teasing me about something?

  Yuwen Ji said: "I feel like you're different from before, it's really strange."

  "What's different?" Xue Chongxun felt a slight tension in his heart.

  Yuwen Ji said: "In the past, you... forgive me for speaking bluntly, at that time I thought the court should have made you a military officer, not the Taichang Duke... Now? You're actually quite thoughtful."

  Xue Chongxun said with a pretended calm tone: "We originally don't see each other often, how can you know what kind of person I should be?" He raised his head to glance at the sun, which was already setting in the west. At this time, going back to the Gong Princess's residence and paying respects to his mother would just be in time for dinner. So he said: "I really have to go."