Zhu Yunwen and his entourage came to the Xingsheng Temple ten miles outside the city under the leadership of Yu Marquis of Pingzhang Mansion, only to see that this temple was built with carved beams and painted buildings, golden and brilliant, much more magnificent and spacious than the general jungle, Zhu Yunwen and others felt a little strange, and it was not good to ask more.

The abbot of Qingde, the presiding officer of the temple, had already learned the information, and led a group of monks to greet him outside the mountain gate.

The abbot of Qingde led Zhu Yunwen and others into the temple, all the way to introduce, here is the Tianwang Palace, there is the Guanyin Pavilion, and finally came to the Daxiong Treasure Palace, Qingde bowed three times to the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha who is about several zhang high and glittering, and got up and said to Zhu Yunwen: "Master Kongwen, how is my Xingsheng Temple compared to the Jiming Temple of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Zhu Yunwen clasped his hands together, bowed to the Buddha in the hall, and bowed three times, saying: "The luxury and beauty are too beautiful." ”

The abbot of Qingde was first surprised that Zhu Yunwen did not kneel down and worship the Buddha, and asked: "Don't you monks of the Ming Dynasty worship the Buddha, how can you be called a disciple of Buddhism?" ”

Huang Zhan explained: "Abbot Qingde, we are a school of Zen Buddhism, pay attention to the clear mind, point directly to the hearts of the people, the Buddha is in the heart, worship or not, and there is no obstacle. ”

After hearing this, Qingde shook his head, after all, the other party was a guest from afar, and it was inconvenient to say more, so he continued Zhu Yunwen's words: "Master Kongwen really has good eyesight, we are the emperor's family temple, since the establishment of the Chen Dynasty, this big temple has been built, and it has been more than 170 years, and it has been expanded for generations before it has today's scale." Look at the Buddha statue on top of this hall, it is the Emperor Taishang who gave up 10,000 taels of gold and made it into gold leaf, so that it became what it is today. ”

Zhu Yunwen saw his triumphant appearance, but he really didn't want to say more, and walked out of the hall.

Everyone came out, Huang Zhan didn't want to be cold, and deliberately asked: "Since it is the emperor's family temple, the relationship between the abbot of Qingde and the royal family is also quite deep?" ”

When the abbot of Qingde heard this, he was even more energetic, and his eyebrows danced: "That's natural, my layman's surname is Chen, and he is the son and nephew of the emperor, the emperor originally planned to come here after the abdication to cultivate his self-cultivation, but the state affairs are busy, and he can't do without him, so he temporarily lives in the palace, and he said that he will definitely live here in the future and spend the rest of the year." ”

While speaking, Qingde led everyone to the backyard, in the middle is a three-story pavilion, the lowest floor is the residence of the abbot and the deacons, and the upper two floors are used for books. The east and west two three-entry courtyards are the residences of monks.

Qingde led everyone into the West Cross Courtyard, came to the last entrance, and said to Zhu Yunwen: "This place is quite secluded, I heard that Master Kongwen is coming, so I vacate this courtyard so that you can cultivate." There is a separate door in this courtyard for you to enter and exit. ”

Zhu Yunwen clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you Abbot for taking care of me, I am very grateful." ”

Qingde waved his hand and said: "Where did Master Kongwen say, you are Li Xiang's distinguished guest, that is, our Xingsheng Temple's honored guest, you can live with peace of mind, everything you need has been prepared, if there is anything wrong, just open your mouth." ”

Suddenly, at this time, there were bursts of bells in the distance in Thang Long City, endlessly, like a burst of tightness, after Qing De heard it, his face changed greatly, Zhu Yunwen experienced the death of his father and ancestor, and knew that it was the death knell of the emperor's death, and the temples everywhere had to ring 30,000 times since the day of the great mourning.

Qingde hurriedly bid farewell to Zhu Yunwen and hurried away. After a while, news came from the temple that the emperor had died. The monks in the temple have changed into black monks' clothes, chanted scriptures and prayed in the scripture hall, wishing the emperor early to ascend to Bliss.

After a few days, the day will be the first shift, the monks in the temple have done evening classes, about to fall asleep, suddenly heard a faint sound of shouting and killing, Zhu Yunwen and others were taken aback, thinking that someone was going to be unfavorable to themselves, and hurriedly ran out of the courtyard to check the movement, only to see that the monks in the temple were also suspicious, scurrying around, and said: "Something happened in Thang Long City." ”

Zhu Yunwen and others climbed the scripture building with the monks in the temple, and looked in the direction of Thang Long City, only to see the end of the black sky, the fire was soaring to the sky, and there were faint shouts and cries, Zhu Yunwen saw that the abbot of Qingde was also watching not far away, and hurriedly squeezed over and asked: "Abbot, what happened in Thang Long City?" ”

Qingde shook his head and said: "The old man doesn't know, it must be a major change in the city, and the left and right will know at dawn." ”

A little monk next to him was quick to speak, and said, "Then it goes without saying, it must be Li Guoxiang who is slaughtering the Chen clan." ”

The abbot of Qingde angrily reprimanded him: "Little age, what do you know, don't talk nonsense, go to bed quickly." ”

Saying that, the abbot of Qingde drove a group of monks downstairs and asked them all to rest and not meddle in their affairs.

The abbot of Qingde said to Zhu Yunwen Zhengse: "Master Kongwen, this is our internal affair, and it has nothing to do with you, let the master laugh, and ask the master to rest early, tomorrow the old man still wants to learn Buddhism with the master." ”

Zhu Yunwen saw that this matter had nothing to do with him, so he put his mind at ease and returned to the backyard monk's room with a few apprentices.

Zhu Yunwen sighed to the apprentices: "As a relative, this Li Xiangguo is deeply trusted by the emperor, and when he thinks of serving the country, how can he kill and slaughter the clan?" ”

Huang Zhan snorted and said: "In the world, there are few people who become kings of Zhou Gongfu, and there are many usurpers who usurp the Han Dynasty. Li Xiangguo did this, nothing more than trying to usurp the throne. ”

When Wang Shu heard the word usurpation, he almost jumped up, and said indignantly: "Master, I didn't expect this Li Xiangguo to be a despicable villain, a white-faced traitor, so what do we do under his disciples, it's better to leave, I can be ashamed to be with this person." ”

Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and said, "After all, this is the internal affairs of Annan, and I can't wait to interfere." Let's take a look before we decide. ”

Zhang Shixing suddenly made a silent gesture, blew out the oil lamp on the table in one breath, and everyone hurriedly shut up, and sure enough, there was a slight sound of footsteps in the dark night, stopped outside the window, and stayed for a long time before leaving.

Zhang Shixing whispered to everyone in the dark: "Since Li Xiang has settled us here, he will inevitably send people to keep an eye on our movements, and we must all be cautious in what we say and do in the future." ”

Everyone hummed softly, and Zhu Yunwen said softly: "Everyone go to sleep, and we'll know what's going on tomorrow." ”

Suddenly, there was a rapid knock on the door in the dark night, which seemed to come from the corner gate of the backyard of Xingsheng Temple.

Zhang Shixing said to everyone: "Master, two senior brothers, you wait here, don't move, I'll go out to check the movement." ”

As he spoke, he gently opened the door, saw that there was no one left and right, and walked up to the wall with an arrow, bowed down, crossed the ridge through the room, and hid in a corner of the backyard wall, checking the movement at the corner door.

I saw a little monk carrying a lantern, leading a person behind, it seemed to be the abbot Qingde, coming to the back corner door,

The little monk put down the lantern, stepped forward and just took off the latch, the corner door was knocked open, two young people rushed in, and one in front grabbed the abbot Qingde's hands and shouted, "Abbot save me." ”

Qingde hurriedly pushed him away, took a step back and said, "Silence, you don't have to wake up the monks of a temple, it's too late to leave." I can't take you here, so go somewhere else. ”

The young man said with a crying voice: "The old thief of Nali slaughtered our Chen clan tonight, I finally escaped from the city, you are my clan uncle, you don't take me in, who do you let me go to?" ”

The abbot of Qingde pushed the young man out and said, "If I take you in, all our monks will be buried together." Let's go. ”

When the little monk saw Master do this, he also helped push the other young man out.

As he spoke, the two young men were pushed out of the door, and the little monk inserted the latch again, and the two young men slammed their fists against the door while weeping bitterly.

At this time, there were horses' hooves at the mountain gate, as if a soldier had arrived, and Qingde hurriedly shouted outside the door: "You guys go quickly, just because I haven't seen you tonight." ”

The two young men wiped their tears from their sleeves and turned to leave.

Zhang Shixing saw this scene in his eyes, and couldn't help but greatly stimulate the chivalrous heart in his heart, he jumped off the wall, caught up with the two young people, patted them on the shoulders and said, "Wait." ”

As soon as the two young men turned around, they saw an unknown big man standing behind them, thinking that it was a catcher who came to arrest them, and the two raised their fists to hit Zhang Shixing, shouting: "Good thief, look at the boxing, we will fight with you." ”

Zhang Shixing didn't dodge, he came to hug the moon in his arms, held the fists of the two of them in his hands, and with a slight force, the two of them screamed in pain, and the young man who was talking to Qingde gritted his teeth and said: "If you want to kill, you will kill, what kind of ability is it to torture Xiao Wang?" ”

Zhang Shixing let go of his hand a little and said, "Who are you two, you are recruited from the truth, otherwise I will not be polite to you." ”

The person who called himself Xiao Wang raised his head and said, "Xiao Wang Chen Tianping is the son of Chen Xian, the king of Zhuangding. If you want to kill or chop, listen to it. ”

Another young man looked slightly younger than Chen Tianping, and he also raised his head and said to Zhang Shixing: "I am Ruan Kang, the companion of Xiao Wang Chen Tianping, if you want to kill or chop, listen to it, you let go quickly." ”

Zhang Shixing didn't let go, and continued to ask, "What happened in Thang Long City tonight?" Why did you two get here? ”

That Chen Tianping immediately lowered his head when he heard this, and said with a crying voice: "Tonight, that old thief Li used the excuse that Taibao Chen Yuanxin, Zhuguo Chen Rijun, Taibao Chen Yuanxin, Zhuguo Chen Rijun, General Chen Qizhen and others intended to rebel and wantonly kill our Chen clan, I escaped from the city under the cover of General Chen Qizhen, and came to defect to Qingde, the abbot of Xingsheng Temple, who knew that he refused to take him in, so he was caught by you, who are you, and what is the intention of arresting us?" Want to ask for credit? ”

Zhang Shixing saw that what he said was true, so he let go of his hand, bowed down and said: "Under is the lay disciple of Daming Jiming Temple, Kong Zhi, who came to Annan with the master, and placed an order here, and met the little prince by chance, I am really fortunate to have three lives, and the Buddhism is compassionate, and I will try my best to save you from ascending to heaven." ”

When Chen Tianping heard this, he was surprised and delighted, and hurriedly stepped forward to hold Zhang Shixing's hands, as if a drowning man had grabbed a straw, and said eagerly: "Really, you can save us, that's great, I will be grateful in the future." ”

Zhang Shixing said: "You don't have to thank each other, you do what you do." ”

As he was talking, he suddenly heard a noise in the Xingsheng Temple, as if soldiers had entered and were searching for something.

Zhang Shixing hurriedly dragged the two of them into the woods next to them, carried them up to the height of the big tree, told them not to make a sound, hide here, and he would come to them again after a while, and then jump off the tree and run back to the Xingsheng Temple.

He jumped back into the courtyard, and in the darkness, a person suddenly stepped forward and grabbed his hand and said, "Senior brother, where have you been, why have you been there for so long?" ”

Zhang Shixing fixed his eyes and saw that it was Senior Brother Huang Zhan.

He was about to answer, suddenly the small courtyard door was slammed, Zhang Shixing motioned Huang Zhan to go back to the house, tidied up his clothes, stepped forward quickly, opened the courtyard door, and suddenly a group of soldiers broke into outside, holding torches high, swords and guns dazzling, surrounding him.

Then a person walked in outside, with eagle eyes and sharp jaws, dressed in a military uniform, and looked Zhang Shixing up and down and said, "Who are you, why are you dressed as a layman?" ”

Zhang Shixing was just about to answer, but the abbot of Qingde also followed into the courtyard, and said with a smile to the general: "Li June, there are four monks from the Jiming Temple of the Ming Dynasty living here, they are the distinguished guests of the Prime Minister of Li Guo, and they came to my Annan to travel, and the old man specially arranged it here." ”

Zhang Shixing clasped his hands together and bowed to the Li military envoy and said: "Under is the lay disciple Kongzhi of the Jiming Temple of the Ming Dynasty, who has not yet been shaved, and after a while, he will officially convert to Buddhism. ”

The Li military envoy turned to Qingde and said, "What about the other three? ”

Zhang Shixing said: "My master, my brother is asleep. Do not disturb. ”

Qingde was so anxious that he stomped his feet and said, "You stupid goose, when are you gone, don't call them up to talk back." ”