Chapter 10 You're really too wicked

  Everyone, it's not easy to write a new book, so I'm begging you to collect it and give me some flowers, okay?

  That monk saw Yun Zheng's anger rising, but he didn't take it to heart. After being "challenged" repeatedly, even the Buddha would get angry, let alone young Yun Zheng? So he remained extremely calm and even had a dignified demeanor as he clasped his hands together and said: "Amitabha, my Buddhist name is Zhong De, so I'll use my Buddhist name as the topic for this first verse: 'Ten miles of famous flowers, how about cultivating virtue?'"

  A simple couplet, obviously just a trivial matter of opening one's stomach, this kind of small thing would naturally not be placed in Yun Zheng's eyes. Almost without any consideration, Yun Zheng opened his mouth: "Building a vast and magnificent mansion is not as good as cultivating oneself."

  The thirteenth princess smiled, Shen Da Gongzi nodded secretly, the Qin siblings were surprised and delighted, and Lin Xi laughed like a yellow weasel who had found a chicken.

  Lin Sheng was somewhat annoyed, his own side had provoked first but failed to hold down Yun Zheng, and now he was losing face. And then that good-for-nothing Second Brother suddenly sent this bald donkey over to stir up trouble, what kind of thing was this? However, if Second Brother really wanted to join forces with him to deal with Yun Zheng, it wasn't a bad choice either.

  Lin Sheng was clear that from the current situation of the Great Wei Empire, the Yun family would definitely not stand on his side. This was because his power base came from his maternal uncle's family, the Leng family. If he wanted the Yun family to join his camp, with the Yun family's strength, they would definitely not be willing to submit to the Leng family. On the other hand, if he were to heavily rely on the Yun family instead, his own foundation might not be preserved.

  The gap between the Yun and Leng families was indeed quite large: The Leng family's direct lineage had 39,200 people in the seven guards of Chengdu, with a total of 78,400 troops under their command within their jurisdiction. Their main task was to defend against the Tubo and Dali kingdoms. In contrast, the Yun family's direct lineage had 67,200 people in the twelve guards of Yan Yun, with 134,400 troops under their command within the provinces of Ji and Jin. The total strength of their army reached 200,000, with their main task being to defend against the Great Wei Empire's greatest enemy, the Liao kingdom.

  The Dali is generally quite honest and has no possibility of offending the border, and Tubo has been quiet for nearly twenty years. Therefore, Lin Sheng also has some doubts about the actual combat capability of the Lengjia Army at present. On the other hand, looking at the Yun family, let's not mention the distant past, just from the time when Yunlan defeated the main force of the Liao army seventeen years ago, to now, in these seventeen years, there have been four battles with more than 100,000 people on both sides, and seven battles with 30,000 to 50,000 people on both sides. The rest are not counted. The Yun family relied on its 200,000 soldiers to block the powerful Liao state at the peak of its national power outside the Great Wall, which is even more difficult than the second military family in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Zhou family, who resisted the Western Xia and Tubo in the west. After all, Tubo has been quiet for too long, and the power of the Western Xia is limited.

  The Yun family's strength is too powerful, and Lin Sheng can't afford to pull them over even if he wants to. Judging from the relationship between Yun Zheng and Lin Xi, it's likely that the Yun family will become a strong backing for the Sixth Master's party. In this case, he had no choice but to suppress them, which is why he clashed with Yun Zheng as soon as he arrived today.

  As for the Crown Prince, his actual foundation of power naturally lies in the great righteousness and name division, as well as the remaining feelings of Emperor Wan Chang towards the late Empress Gu. Additionally, there is the response from the literary group of the Gu family, his maternal relatives, within the court. His biggest problem lies in not having the support of any one of the four major military families: The Leng family doesn't need to be mentioned, the Yun family currently seems more inclined towards Eldest Uncle, and the Jiang family of the two Guangs has always been neutral with their main force being their naval fleet, so there's no hope there either. Therefore, among these four families, the one most likely to be used by him is only the Zhou family, which dominates the Guanzhong region. The Zhou family's direct line, the Guanzhong Jiuyi, has 50,400 people, plus an additional 100,800 troops from the remaining garrisons within their jurisdiction, for a total of 150,000 soldiers. Due to constant battles with Western Xia, their military strength is also not bad. Moreover, the most advantageous point is that the Zhou family and Yun family have never gotten along. Considering these circumstances, it's only logical that the Crown Prince would suppress Yun Zheng in exchange for the Zhou family's good feelings or even support.

  So when the Crown Prince sent this monk to intervene, Lin Sheng was not pleased in his heart, but for the sake of the bigger picture, he decided to endure it for now: at present, two strongmen were vying for dominance, but if the Yun family really joined forces with Old Six, wouldn't that become a three-way standoff? Once the situation became complicated, anything could happen, and that would be unbearable. Lin Sheng didn't need to think much before deciding: first join hands with Old Two to take down Old Six, then talk later.

  So, Lin Sheng didn't say much more, and Heng Xuzi saw that Lin Sheng wasn't speaking, secretly rejoicing that he had unexpectedly gained an advantage. Out of caution, he quickly racked his brains to come up with a few more difficult ones.

  Zhongde knew that this couplet wouldn't stump Yun Cong, and the next line was already set in his mind. He smiled and said: "When I came to Luoyang, I passed by the Yellow River and happened upon a sentence: At the south bridgehead, two crossings like arrows, weaving brocade in the middle of the river."

  Yun Cong slightly furrowed his brow, paced back and forth a few times, pointing west: "The western shore has a tower that resembles a pen, writing heavenly articles directly in the sky."

  "Good antithesis! Good meaning! Good momentum!"

  Zhong De also nodded in agreement: "Yun Gongzi is indeed a talented and sentimental person." After thinking for a moment, he continued: "The right path is shown to Zhou Xing, the precious trees with golden chains are all over the ten directions, the fragrance of incense and the sound of Sanskrit chanting."

  Yun Cong sneered inwardly, so what if you're good at wordplay and think you can stump me with Buddhist scriptures? You've got it wrong, back when I was in college, I was known as the "King of Miscellaneous Books", although my skills were all superficial. After some thought, he said calmly: "The Awakened King opens the pure land, testing the four directions, wind, water, and moon, the dew is bright like a pearl."

  Lin Xi quietly approached the thirteenth princess and lowered his voice to ask, "Thirteen sister, don't you think it's strange? Yun Zhong that kid has been a jinx since childhood, when did he ever read any Buddhist scriptures, yet he can actually exchange couplets with a monk?"

  The thirteenth princess gave him a sideways glance: "When did Brother Zuo read books, must he report to you first? Rarely seen and strange."

  Lin Xi rolled her eyes and muttered: "Girls are indeed more open-minded."

  Zhongde and the monk walked back and forth for a moment, then said in a low voice: "The sound of wind, water, insects, birds, and Buddhist chanting, all together with 360 days of striking bells, no silence is not quiet."

  Yun Congxin raised an eyebrow: "Long verse? Ha, I'm good at long verses! After a moment's thought, he said in a low voice: "The color of the moon, the color of the mountains, the color of the grass, the color of the trees, the color of the clouds and mist, plus the color of 48,000 peaks, all colors are empty."

  Zhong De's face turned gloomy, his eyebrows deeply furrowed, and he wanted to think of a next couplet. However, Yun Zheng coldly said: "The first couplet you used your Buddhist name as the couplet to show harmony, this young master won't hold it against you. But afterwards, you've already come up with three couplets, all of which have been matched. This young master can't keep playing with you forever, your chance to set a topic has already expired."

  Zhong De didn't expect Yun Zhong to suddenly strike like this, and was momentarily stunned. But what the other person said wasn't unreasonable either, it couldn't just go on like this forever, right? He could only bitterly smile and say: "Young Master Yun is right, I overstepped my bounds."

  Yun Cong's mouth curled up in a cold smile: "Zhong De and the monk, this young master is magnanimous and generous. Today, I won't make things difficult for you by giving you a question. Instead, I'll just give you a couplet to reflect on. Listen carefully - the top line is: The sun sets, leaving only a hint of fragrance, sweeping away worldly thoughts in an instant. The bottom line is: The stove is cold, and the fire has gone out; one must tie up their desires tightly."

  Zhong De was taken aback, not expecting such a turn of events. He could only hold back his anger and say: "Thank you, Cloud Gongzi, for the couplet." After saying this, he thought of the last couplet that Yun Zheng had given him: "The sun sets, leaving behind a lingering fragrance; sweep away worldly thoughts, and firmly rein in your desires." It seemed like there was something not quite right about it, but at the moment, he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, and felt extremely stifled.

  Zhong De just wanted to bid farewell and leave, but heard Shen Da Gongzi suddenly burst out laughing, pointing at Yun Zheng, laughing so hard that he was gasping for breath: "Yun brother, haha, you... really have your own way! I, Shen, admit defeat! Haha!"

  Yun Cong saw it and knew that Shen Zhu had already understood first, and laughed: "Generally generally, the third in the world."

  Everyone around was puzzled, Yun Zhēng's couplet was obviously a maxim, warning the monk to be less worldly and not to have crooked thoughts. What's so funny about that?

  The thirteenth princess couldn't help but ask: "Shen big brother, what riddle are you trying to say? Hurry up and tell us so we can hear it!"

  "This is not Shen Mou's riddle, but Yun Laoxiong's riddle. Everyone look, the fragrance character has fallen, isn't it the 'he' character of grain? The ordinary heart character, remove that one point, isn't it a few characters?"

  The thirteenth princess was taken aback and nodded, saying: "That's right, what about it?"

  "What is the character with 'he' on top and 'ji' at the bottom?"

  The thirteenth princess smiled and said, "Of course it's a 'bald' word - ah?" Her heart moved, and she exclaimed in surprise: "You're saying that the sentence behind, 'the stove is cold and the fire is exhausted', is actually a 'door' word. If you add the 'horse' word from the phrase 'must tie up the horse's intention' to the top of the house, it becomes a 'donkey' word. Connecting them together from front to back is - bald... donkey!

  Everyone was stunned at first, then burst into laughter together. Even Lin Sheng and his friend Heng Xuzi, as well as the middle-aged scholar, couldn't help but laugh out loud. The 13th Princess laughed so hard she almost fell over: "Heng... Young Master Yun, you're really too wicked!"

  Yun Cong hastily humbled himself: "Where, where, polite, polite, the princess is overpraising." However, although his mouth was polite, his face was full of smiles, and it was clear that he didn't feel "overpraised" at all.

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