Chapter Eleven: The Gathering of Monks
These two shouts came out, and the golden iron sound inside the wall stopped abruptly. Then, Lu Zhishen burst into a loud laughter: "That big monk, is really great!"
Another loud voice immediately retorted in anger: "You're quite a clever monk, but unfortunately you're helping the tiger to do evil, spit!"
Gao Jian stood on the wall, listening anxiously, his heart burning with urgency. Just now, in the brief exchange of blows, although the time was short, it's likely that none of those who fought were ordinary people. Now, under the cover of night, their moves became even more ruthless and vicious. But he didn't know if anyone inside had been injured or seen bloodshed. If that beautiful young girl had been hurt, wouldn't that be a pity?
In a flurry, he rushed to assist with a few steps, and with one leap, he climbed over the wall. At the bottom, Xu Guangzhong supported him with a push from his feet, and Gao Qiang's whole body felt light, flying over the wall in the darkness like a large bird, his posture was very beautiful, and it goes without saying that he felt great. However, although the feeling was good, the official's brain had not yet rusted, and in mid-air, he shouted loudly: "Please, everyone, stop and listen to me!" This shout was necessary, as soon as Yang Zhi and Shi Xiu jumped over the wall, they began fighting with a loud crash, and the place where several people were fighting must have been close to the corner of the wall. If he had not clarified his identity first, it would have been extremely dangerous.
As expected, he shouted and landed safely on the ground. Except for his left foot stepping on a lump of earth, which made his landing posture not elegant enough and unable to show off his shape, everything else was satisfactory. Of course, Kou's image had to be taken care of, so he immediately opened the white paper fan in his hand with a "slap" sound, fanning himself a few times in front of him, blowing his collar flying, and standing proudly with one hand behind his back. With Xu Guangzhong also jumping down and standing behind him, Kou's entrance was quite impressive.
They waited for a while, but no one responded. Gao felt bored and took a look at the situation in the garden. He saw that his three men were standing in a triangular formation, surrounding several Ming Cult members in the middle, apparently having the upper hand. The sturdy man Shi Bao and the Buddha-like Deng Yuanjue stood back-to-back with knives and staves in hand, leaving a small gap between them. The girl and the handsome young man sat on the ground, obviously one of them was injured, but under the dim moonlight, it was unclear who it was.
These loud shouts and the sound of fighting had obviously alarmed the monks of the Daxiangguo Temple, and there were faint voices outside the garden, occasionally hearing "Amitabha" clearly. The light from the torches was also very bright. Gao Qiang saw that things were not going well, these Mingjiao disciples escaped from Zhao Ting's mansion, no matter what, they were notorious thieves, if they did something in front of so many monks, it would be bad.
However, the monks of this Daxiangguo Temple were not unfamiliar with each other. High-ranking officials quickly came up with a plan and ordered Xu Guanzhong to guard the garden gate, saying that High Commissioner's heart was suddenly moved by the Buddhist scriptures tonight, and he followed Master Zhishen to come here again to cultivate good karma and understand the Buddha's teachings. If they could gain something, it would be because of their great fate with this place, and on another day, they would rebuild the golden statue of the Buddha and hold a grand ceremony for 49 days. This was the way to bribe monks. High-ranking officials intentionally raised their voice slightly when speaking, so that the several Ming Cult members could hear clearly, lest there be any misunderstanding and violence erupt.
Indeed, Xu Guangzhong was efficient in handling matters. In the past, when he spoke at the garden gate, things were done quickly and effectively. Those monks were all perceptive and had sharp eyes, and some of them had already caught a glimpse of the familiar figures of High Official Li and Lu Zhishen from afar. They also heard about the good fortune that Xu Guangzhong was bringing, and immediately remembered the silver, money, and cloth that High Official Li had donated when he came to invite Lu Zhishen back last time. The lamp oil they got in exchange hadn't been used up yet, and the monks' robes made from the donated materials were still being worn. This time, it seemed like another windfall was coming their way, so they didn't care about what this nobleman was doing sneaking into the temple at midnight. All the monks entered a state of great joy, some clapping their hands or stomping their feet, and "Good! Good!" could be heard everywhere. They all returned to their quarters, eager to resume the beautiful dreams that had been interrupted earlier, or went to the Buddha's altar to strike the wooden fish a few times and recite a few rounds of "Upon seeing that the five aggregates are empty, I transcend all suffering".
Xu Guanzhong dispersed the crowd of monks with his words, turned around and closed the garden gate, and made a hand gesture to Gao Qiang from afar, indicating that everything was taken care of. As they heard the sound of people outside the wall gradually fading away, the few people on this side let out a sigh of relief together. Although Gao Qiang didn't want to attract attention, those Ming Cult followers had been fleeing for half the night and were already trapped in this small vegetable garden, so it was better that this group of people showed up instead of being surrounded by a crowd of monks.
Seeing the several Mingjiao disciples still having a suspicious look, Gao Qiang first came up with a self-introduction: "Several gentlemen, I am Gao Qiang, and I have the pleasure of meeting you. The other day, we met briefly outside the east gate of Bianjing City, and unexpectedly, we meet again here today. It's really a fortunate encounter! As for how... (sigh)!" Recently, Gao Qiang had been socializing with cultural figures such as Cai Jing and Zhao Mingcheng, and his speech was tinged with a bit of acidity. These two sentences already sounded somewhat melancholic.
But little did he know that his flirtatious glance was wasted on the blind man, and no one else seemed to catch the hint. Only Shi Bao, the burly man, spoke up in a low tone, "Sir, you've tracked us down all this way; what's your intention? Why don't you just come out and say it?"
Gao Jianyi's face changed, and he hastily changed his tone, laughing: "You gentlemen must not suspect that on that day I had a chance encounter with this young lady at the Imperial Academy. I heard her recounting all sorts of grievances about the Ten Great Families, and my heart was quite unsettled. Although I myself have no official position or fame,
Also had the heart to serve the imperial court and eliminate this evil policy, wanting to risk death for the young lady's petition, but the young lady that day believed Zhao Mingcheng's clever words and entrusted this great matter to such a minor person, while I was not destined to interact with several of you.
That girl let out an "ah" and was immediately deceived by this nonsense. Originally, if this had been said a few days ago, she wouldn't have believed it, but after being chased by the people from the Zhao residence all night, shouting and killing, she really hated that guy Zhao Mingcheng to death. Hearing what High Official Li said, she felt extremely disdainful of him and was very pleased in her heart.
However, this girl is not a brainless person. Having just been taken advantage of by the Prime Minister's son, she naturally had to be more careful with the Commander-in-Chief. The thoughts of high-ranking officials are indeed difficult to fathom. So she only let out an "ah" and then remained silent, her big eyes staring at Gao Gang, waiting for his next words.
Gao Gong saw that his straightforward approach was ineffective, so he immediately changed his strategy and spoke again from the perspective of what these people cared about: "Although I may not have won Miss's trust, my concern for the common people has not diminished in the slightest. On that day, I mentioned this matter to my father, and today on the court, my father and several close ministers jointly petitioned, and the imperial family sympathized with the common people, and had already issued an edict to stop casting and using the ten-cash coin."
"Is this true?!" The one who spoke out wasn't the beautiful maiden, but rather the handsome young man. This caused the official to feel disappointed once again, only for the words that followed to bring him great comfort. He then heard the maiden exclaim in surprise: "Brother, be careful of your wound!"
This sentence raises two questions: Firstly, if this girl and Fang Tian Ding are siblings, then there's no need to worry about Luo Fu having a husband, and it seems that saving the beauty has some benefits; Secondly, since Fang Tian Ding is injured, the beautiful woman is safe and sound, wonderful!
Gao Qiang was overjoyed, while the young man on the other side struggled to get up, supporting himself with one hand on the shoulder of the girl beside him. He asked Gao Qiang, "Sir, regarding what you just said about the government's decree to stop minting and using the ten-cash coin, can you tell us more about it?"
Gao Fang then repeated to the emperor what his father had said at home in the evening, adding some embellishments, such as how the heavy taxes brought all sorts of hardships to the people, which reached the heavens. This was heard by the empress and she asked a certain uncle from the Imperial Censorate to memorialize the facts, which made the imperial court feel ashamed; also, there were some treacherous parties in the court who wanted to advocate for this evil policy, but fortunately, Gao Fang's father and several uncles stood up for justice and refuted them one by one, dispelling the treacherous party's arrogance, allowing the imperial court to clearly understand the various evils of the ten percent tax.
They were originally good at speaking, and these few people were born as ordinary people from the remote areas of Jiangnan. They had limited knowledge of court affairs, and they had just been severely rebuffed by Zhao Gong, who had high hopes for them. When they heard Gao Fu and others arguing with the "treacherous party" in the courtyard, they couldn't help but feel tense. When they heard how the "treacherous party" was sinister and unreasonable, they couldn't help but grit their teeth. Finally, when they heard that the officials had accepted the advice and would no longer cast large coins, replacing them with small flat coins for the people, they couldn't help but show joy on their faces. As for who the "treacherous party" was, Gao didn't mention a word, but he subtly inserted Zhao Ting's name into the conversation, and a dirty trick was quietly played out.
The young man clasped his fists and said, "In that case, the several million people of Jiangnan are all grateful for the great kindness of Commander Gao and his son. I, a humble commoner, would like to thank you first." As he spoke, he turned around and bowed down, but his movements were somewhat stiff and awkward, clearly due to his injury. The young woman beside him helped support him, but did not dare to dissuade him, and also bowed down with him.
Gao Jianxin was overjoyed and hastily made a gesture to support him from afar: "Is this strong man injured? Please get up quickly, the strong man has traveled thousands of miles to plead for the people's lives, truly a righteous hero, I admire you extremely." Why did he only make a gesture from afar? It was because that big fellow Shi Bao stood with his knife at the ready, not willing to yield an inch. His dark face and cold gaze, combined with the gleaming knife, were enough to make Gao Jianxin weigh his trustworthiness in the other's eyes, and he didn't dare to approach recklessly within this distance.
But then the young man bowed twice and stood up again, saying: "However, I don't know why you came here in the middle of the night, and your honorable relatives have kept us commoners waiting. What is your intention? Please speak clearly." Although this young man was injured, he was obviously the leader of the group, and the other three were silent, looking only to him for guidance.
Gao Qiu had not spoken yet, but on the other side, Lu Zhishen burst out laughing and said with a wave of his staff: "Don't misunderstand, young fellow. This official is actually a disciple of mine, and tonight he heard that several of you were being pursued by the treacherous party, so he rushed over to discuss with me how to rescue you, and then chased after you all the way here."
It's unknown whether it was a natural feud or if he hadn't warmed up yet, but as soon as Lu Zhishen finished speaking, Deng Yuanjue swung his staff and said: "You Buddhist monk dare to speak such nonsense, aren't you afraid of the Buddha punishing you? If you truly intended to save him, why did you chase after him in the middle of the night without saying a word and attack with your weapon first?"
Lu Zhishen heard this and couldn't help but break his vow of abstinence from anger: "You bald donkey, if I hadn't thrown a stone to ask the way earlier, just now you would have probably fallen into your trap. And yet you say that I was the first to draw my weapon? Come on, come on, let's fight again for three hundred rounds!" The nine iron rings on his staff rang out as he raised all four arms, and under the moonlight, the two bald men clashed once more.
