Chapter 18: Buddha and Dog Fart

  A hot bath and a good night's sleep are the most effective ways to relieve fatigue. When he opened his eyes in the morning, Zhao Zhen felt refreshed and invigorated.

  First, she unwrapped the white cloth strip wrapped around her foot and looked at the wound that had already begun to heal. She picked up a small porcelain bottle and said softly, "Things from the Wang Fu are indeed good, very effective."

  A bottle of trauma medicine made Zhao Zhen have a slightly different view of Fu Li, a woman who knew how to care for people, even if she was a bit proud, wasn't too bad.

  It's just that the timing of the maid's arrival was very inappropriate, and more importantly, she didn't even knock on the door, which is really too much.

  Zhao Zhuang didn't want to mind the servant girl's rude behavior, but the consequence of pushing open the door was that it directly led to a sudden exposure of spring light, and his many years of chastity were thus revealed in an instant by someone of the opposite sex, losing all his innocence!

  What made a robust young man toss and turn, with his mind racing, was that the little brother under his body stood up several times at night, looking up at the sky.

  Having suffered such a great loss, the little girl didn't show any sign of apology at all! What's the point of running away and putting on an act of screaming?

  That sharp cry naturally attracted a lot of attention, the monks from Puzi Temple and the guards from Wangfu all rushed over. The shy Suer was unable to speak out the truth, so he could only claim that he saw a mouse and was frightened.

  A weak woman being afraid of mice seems reasonable, the monks at Puzi Temple believed it, but the guards at Wangfu did not.

  Would a brave and daring girl like Suer be scared by a mouse? The guards of the Wang Fu looked at each other in doubt, glaring fiercely at Zhao Zhuang, apparently questioning whether he had bullied Suer.

  Especially that icy face, early in the morning, Zhao Zhuang found a cold gaze staring at himself as soon as he went out, making his heart feel hairy.

  Does it matter? Not friendly at all!

  The girl's face was icy cold, with a murderous look in her eyes, Zhao Zhen saw her several times, as if she wanted to take action, but finally endured it.

  Could she also know martial arts? Wu Lang was a top-notch master, and in this regard, he could see some clues. Zhao Zhuang couldn't help but reevaluate, and the strength of Fu Li County Master might be more formidable than what he saw.

  "Sorry, Xiaoxiao, about last night..."

  "No wonder they call it a brothel, it's actually a den of thieves!" Suer cursed loudly and stormed off.

  It's really like this, isn't it? It seems the fault doesn't lie with me. Following the good tradition of a good man not fighting with a woman, I apologized sincerely, but what I got in return was this kind of attitude...

  It's really a cold world; where there is a master, there must be servants!

  Zhao Yun smiled and grumbled a few words, seeing Fu Li County come out, immediately shut his mouth, this woman must be more difficult to deal with, speaking ill of her behind her back would have serious consequences.

  Unexpectedly, the young lady today did not dress up as a man, but wore mourning clothes. Her long black hair was covered, her slender figure was hidden, but her pretty face and temperament could not be concealed.

  Although not wearing makeup, she still looks elegant and refined, with a noble temperament that cannot be concealed. Adding to this is her mourning attire, which has an even more unique charm. As the saying goes, "beauty or not in mourning clothes", it's probably this feeling!

  Seeing Zhao Cong staring at himself, Fu Li's eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure, and he said in a low voice: "Today's transcendence is about to begin. Since the queen mother has entrusted you to burn the reincarnation curse, let's go together!"

  Traveling with a beauty, Zhao Zhuo is delighted to see her success.

  ……

  ……

  In the mortuary hall of Puzi Temple, monks have begun chanting sutras for the deceased.

  Qin Dakang, accompanied by his wife and concubines, cried to the point of nearly dying, but not a single tear was shed. What sorrow is there to speak of? He disregarded his elderly mother's burial, put on a showy display, took advantage of the opportunity to collect money, and then buried his niece in a pit. It's likely that only someone as despicable as Qin Dakang could do such a thing.

  The Buddhist ceremony has been going on for over a month, and the monks in the temple are already fed up... It's just routine, reciting scriptures every day. However, recently it's been quite special, Princess Wei sent someone to burn scriptures to fulfill her filial piety, so they have to make it more grand. For this reason, Qin Dakang also used his connections, and invited over a dozen influential people to come and pay their respects, just to put on a show.

  Today is an opportunity to show off, let everyone feel the power of King Wei's brother-in-law. Also thanks to Lv Qiu's reminder, that little monk was asked to recite sutras and pray for blessings in public, and then he could boast about it, saying that a high-ranking monk had been invited from Bianliang to pray for blessings and so on. As for the problem of the young age of the little monk, it was directly ignored by him.

  The abbot of Puzi Temple, Yikong Fashi, was helpless and furious, as the pure land of Buddhism had been turned into a place filled with evil spirits, arousing his indignation!

  Excited Qin Dakang didn't care about these things. Seeing the late-arriving Fu Li and Zhao Zheng enter, he loudly introduced them: "This is the Seventh Young Mistress of the Wei Wangfu, this is the Precept Color Monk from the White Cloud Temple in Bianliang."

  Furui furrowed her brow, completely ignoring the people around her and walked straight up to the incense. After all, she was only a 15 or 16-year-old girl and didn't want to show off too much, but her uncle had brought so many strange men to flaunt, it was really detestable.

  Zhao Cong then took out a copy of the "Incantation for Rebirth", burned it in front of the spirit, this was the intention of Princess Wei and also his reason for staying in Luzhou.

  Qin Da Kang said, "The Dharma Master of the Precepts is from a famous temple in Bianliang. Today's super-degree will be presided over by you!"

  Uh...

  The experience of helping the dead is indeed there, it was that night when I went to Han Tong's house, but on that day more people came to do forensic medicine, and the experience of reciting scriptures to help the dead was completely absent.

  "Uh, Master Qin, isn't this inappropriate? The monks from Pujisi Temple are present, how can I take over the cooking?"

  "Ah, you're a high monk from Bianliang, naturally you're different from the rest. Let's see what you've got?" Qin Dakang's attitude was very sincere, seemingly quite expectant.

  Zhao Cong's face suddenly turned black, what's the difference between reciting scriptures and crossing over? He pretended to be sincere and said: "The little monk's Tao is shallow, really can't do anything."

  Qin Dakang's face changed instantly, and he was certain that Zhao Zheng was not giving him any face. He coldly snorted: "You came at the order of Princess Wang, and now reciting scriptures to help the deceased is on behalf of Princess Wang to show filial piety to Old Madam, don't you want to?"

  "Is Master Jieyan unwilling or does he not understand?" A middle-aged man came with Li Shoujie.

  Furui turned her head and took a look, then recognized the person as Liu Jichong, Li Yun's confidant. Her gaze fell on Qin Dakang again, and she knew that her foolish uncle had been used once more.

  As expected, Qin Dakang said loudly: "How can the monks of Bianliang not understand the chanting and salvation? Mr. Liu is joking!"

  "Is it?" Liu Jichong turned around and looked at Zhao Zhuang, smiling: "Please, Monk Xie Se?"

  Zhao Zhuo Ruo still didn't understand what was going on, then he really had mixed it up for nothing. Wasn't this design just forcing himself to reveal his true form?

  Facing everyone's gaze, Xiaose Hou Shang was neither happy nor sad, neither urgent nor impatient, and said in a soft voice: "Really, the monk won't?"

  "What?" Qin Dakang suddenly blew up, the big talk had already been said, now it's not working to show off, and coming up with a cold joke was too embarrassing.

  Liu Jichong said indifferently on the other side:

  Aren't you a high-ranking monk from Bianliang? How can you not recite sutras? "The Rebirth Mantra", "The Sutra of the Original Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" should be familiar to you, right?"

  "Sorry, I really don't know!" Zhao Zheng replied very calmly.

  "How is that possible? Are you or are you not a monk from the White Cloud Temple? How could a high-ranking monk sent by the princess not know how to recite scriptures?" Qin Da Kang's face contorted in rage, his features twisting together in an almost comical manner.

  Liu Jichong's eyes were cold and gloomy, his tone strange and eerie: "What? Are all the famous temples in Bianliang filled with such trash? Or is someone impersonating a princess's messenger?"

  "Yes, Furin, what if someone impersonates you with ulterior motives?"

  Fuli didn't understand the purpose of this play. Maybe she could maintain it by helping, but she didn't. She also wanted to probe Xiaohe Shang and see what kind of person he was and what his skills were. So she just said lightly: "Let's listen to how the little master explains it first?"

  "What's going on?" Qin Da Kang roared in anger, his face filled with rage.

  Zhao Zhuang said: "Three years ago, I almost starved to death on the streets of Bianliang. I was taken in by the White Cloud Temple, but because my talent is dull, I can only do miscellaneous chores in the temple. Therefore, I don't understand how to recite scriptures. In the temple, whatever dirty and tiring work there is, it's all left for me to do."

  "The princess saw the handwriting, that's the queen's handwritten scripture, right? It was indeed offered to the Buddha in front of the White Cloud Temple for several days. Then she ordered me to send it to Luzhou, but most of the temple monks felt that the journey was too long and were not very willing. However, since it was the queen's order, they couldn't disobey, so this bitter task fell on my shoulders."

  Qin Dakang cursed: "It's your honor to be sent to deliver scriptures, what a miserable thing?"

  Zhao Zhuang took the opportunity to say: "Although this monk has not studied Buddhism, he has been in the temple for a long time and has listened to the morning bell's Sanskrit sound. He has learned one word 'sincerity' through his ears and eyes, and knows that when entrusted with something by others, he must be loyal and true to it, so he dare not slack off."

  "Bullshit!" Liu Jichong cursed, clearly disbelieving. He had already determined that Zhao Zhuang's identity was suspicious and wanted to take coercive measures.

  Zhao Cong smiled and said: "The master regards me as dog fart, but I regard the master as a Buddha."

  "Baiyun Temple is indeed a famous temple in Bianliang, even a young monk can understand such profound Buddhist teachings." Puzi Temple's Yikong Fashi sighed: "Preceptor Jiesheng has a pure heart and mind, although he doesn't understand the Buddhist scriptures, he already has a Buddha-like nature. At such a young age, he already has a mindset like that of a Buddha, so he treats others as Buddhas. Given time, he will surely become a high-ranking monk who has attained enlightenment. And as for Mr. Liu's mindset... Ah, Amitabha!"

  Zhao Cong was speechless. He casually borrowed a phrase from Fo Yin to Su Shi, and he became a high-ranking monk? Is it really his fate to be a monk in this life?

  No, no, it's a matter of principle, no room for negotiation.

  Liu Jichong's face suddenly turned red, following this logic, his own heart was also dog fart...

  Yi Kong, this old bald donkey, usually doesn't speak a word, but now he jumps out to stir up trouble. Just as he's about to blow his top, he hears the bright and clear laughter of Lu Qiu Zhongqing coming from the doorway: "The master's words are indeed correct, it seems we were blind."

  Liu Jichong saw that Lü Qiu Zhongying's hand was on his shoulder, opened his mouth but didn't say anything, and turned to leave. Lü Qiu Zhongying forced a smile and said: "Sorry for the disturbance, please forgive me, Princess and young master, I'll take my leave!"

  Li Shoujie reluctantly took a last look at Fu Li, then followed Qu Chongqing out the door.

  Zhao Cong saw the situation and said loudly, "Young Master Li, Heaven has a benevolent virtue of giving life. I hope you will not gallop your horse recklessly in the bustling streets again. If innocent people are hurt, it would be an unforgivable sin! This monk helped you once, but cannot help you a second time!"