Two days later, Li Bing, the prince of the Holy Tang Dynasty, accompanied by the officials of the East Palace, went to the White Horse Temple outside Luoyi City to offer incense as scheduled.

Before leaving, Murong Xue made an excuse, saying that because of the discussion of various plans for the governance of Jinhe recently, important official documents in the imperial capital have been exchanged frequently, so Ziwei Palace must leave people on duty, and force Shan Tingxian, the Huangmen squire who originally shouldered the duty of guard, to take care of his family in the city.

Murong Xue, as the Zhan Shi of the East Palace, is the head of all the subordinate officials, and his instructions are naturally good, although Shan Tingxian is not happy in every way, he can only watch Murong Xue take Lao Jianhua and seven or eight guards to set off with Prince Hu.

The crowd rode horses or cars, and with little effort, they came all the way to the historic monastery outside the city of Luoyi.

The presiding abbot of the White Horse Temple, whose legal name is Monk Chen, had received a notice from the government the day before, saying that His Royal Highness the Prince came to the incense in person to sweep the sacrifice for the first queen, so he led the monks out of the mountain gate before dawn and greeted him outside.

At this time, seeing the arrival of the imperial car, Elder Lichen stepped forward quickly, proclaimed the Buddha's number, and greeted Li Bing and the others, Li Bing hurriedly returned the salute politely, and then walked into the temple under the guidance of Chen.

Luoyi White Horse Temple, like the Great Ci'en Temple in the imperial capital, belongs to the royal temple, and all expenses are supported by the imperial court. In addition to the usual fees, the emperors and royal nobles of the past dynasties would also give additional gold and silver to the temple to enrich its treasury, so temples such as the White Horse Temple or the Temple of Mercy and Grace rarely receive ordinary pilgrims on weekdays, and it seems very quiet.

Accompanied by all the eminent monks, Li Bing came to the Daxiong Treasure Hall, according to the Buddhist rituals, he offered incense and candles, chanted the mantra of Blissful Rebirth, and worshiped his mother, Empress Huilin.

By the time all the rituals were over, I didn't realize that it was almost noon.

According to custom, the prince had to stay in the temple and finish his vegetarian diet before leaving for home. While the kitchen was still preparing a meal, Lichen invited Li Bing and a group of subordinate officials to the meditation hall behind to taste tea.

Everyone sat down in the house, chatting while eating tea, and the topics were all around the Buddhist scriptures and Zen principles, whether it was the prince Li Bing, or Murong Xue, Lao Jianhua, they were all full of poetry and books, and they were no strangers to the Buddhist classics, and Lichen was a monk who had attained the Tao, and he had a deeper understanding of this.

Murong Xue saw the opportunity and asked Chendao: "Elder, I heard that your temple has countless collections, including the "Dongshan Dharma Gate Notes" written by Master Daoxin of the Four Ancestors and the "Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra" written by Zen Master Shenxiu, I wonder if it is true?" ”

Hearing this, he smiled slightly, nodded and said, "Amitabha, what the donor asked, it is true." These two supreme classics are the treasures of the temple of the temple, and they are stored in the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion at the back at this moment. ”

Li Bingchong believed in Buddhism, studied Buddhism since childhood, and was very religious. At this time, when I heard Monk Chen's words, I suddenly became interested: "Oh? Master, I wonder if the disciple has the opportunity to see the Buddha's treasure? ”

"Good, good, good," Lichen of course also likes the princes and nobles who are devout in Buddhism like the prince, and said happily: "Since His Royal Highness opened Chrysostom, that is the fate, and the old man will go to get the classics and ask His Highness to read them." ”

Murong Xue applauded in her heart, and hurriedly said, "Elder, please slow down." Your Royal Highness, Lord Lao, as the crown prince washes horses, is in charge of the East Palace Economic Bureau, it is better to let him accompany the master, and by the way, see what other classics there are in the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion, you can invite them together. ”

Li Bing couldn't help but wonder a little when he heard this, although Lao Jianhua officially worshiped the prince of the East Palace Bureau to wash the horse, but the so-called scriptures of the scriptures refer to Confucian classics such as Legalism, not Buddhist scriptures, so it seems a bit nondescript to let him go on this trip.

But then again, as an official who is specifically responsible for the cultivation of arts and sciences in the East Palace, it is indeed time for Lao Jianhua to do things like this to find books and read books.

Therefore, he didn't pay too much attention to it, and nodded his head.

Seeing that the prince agreed, Lao Jianhua had nothing to say, so he quickly got up and bowed his hand, said yes, and left the meditation room with the abbot master.

When Lao Jianhua went, Murong Xue couldn't help but get nervous. According to the plan he agreed with Tao Yuan, the raid on Lao Jianhua was likely to happen on the way to the Hidden Scripture Pavilion. Therefore, Murong Xue continued to chat with Li Bing, while quietly paying attention to the movements outside.

Sure enough, after only a few moments, there was a sudden sound of fierce fighting behind the meditation hall without warning. All of a sudden, shouting, scolding, footsteps, and the sound of weapons striking were incessant.

The guards guarding the side of the meditation room immediately blew up Mao, and protected the prince Li Bing, as if facing a great enemy. Murong Xue rushed to the door of the meditation room and looked at the situation through the window lattice.

At this moment, his mood is a little complicated.

Obviously, the chaotic and noisy movement outside did not conform to the plan of action that Tao Yuan had introduced to him before. According to the idea of the Reverse Scale Division, the raid on Lao Jianhua should be carried out under very secret conditions, and the master attacked, short and powerful, and took it down cleanly before the thief reacted and called for help.

But the current situation sounds like a scuffle!

Murong Xue couldn't help but secretly become anxious, and an ominous premonition instantly enveloped his heart.

What's going on? Tao Yuan: Why did they make such a loud noise?

At this moment, although the crown prince Li Bing was still sitting in the same place, the expression on his face had become very solemn. Li Bing clutched the armrests of the chair tightly with both hands, his eyes kept sweeping over the guards around him, and finally looked at Murong Xue who was standing at the door, his expression was quite shocked.

Apparently, the crown prince was scared.

Murong Xue wanted to go over and comfort Li Bing for a few words, but he himself couldn't tell what the situation was outside, let alone judge whether the prince's safety was still under control. If there is really any accident, he and a few guards alone may not be able to protect Li Bingzhou.

After about a pillar of incense, the sound of fighting and shouting in the back finally subsided.

Not long after, two people came from a distance outside the door of the meditation hall, and it turned out to be Lao Jianhua and Shan Tingxian!

Lao Jianhua came back unharmed, which really surprised Murong Xue, and Shan Tingxian, who was supposed to stay in Luoyi Ziwei Palace to wait, also appeared in the White Horse Temple at this time, which made him feel that things were not good!

The two of them strode closer, crossed the threshold of the meditation room back and forth, and both nodded slightly towards Murong Xue at the same time, and then came straight to the crown prince Li Bing, Shan Tingxian knelt down on one knee and said loudly: "Your Highness Qiqi, there were assassins in the temple just now, and Weichen and others fought hard to strangle them, disturbing the holy car, please forgive Your Highness." ”

When Li Bing heard him say this, he was shocked and hurriedly asked, "Aiqing, where did the assassin come from?" What's going on out there? ”

Shan Tingxian elaborated: "Your Highness, a total of eighteen assassins have been found so far, and none of them have escaped the net, all of them have been given results by Weichen and his brothers. As for their origins, it is not yet known. ”

"Eighteen, there are so many?" Li Bing was surprised: "Didn't you catch the live mouth?" ”

Lao Jianhua explained beside him: "Your Highness, those assassins are all strong in martial arts, and it is really not easy to capture them alive. Two of them were wounded and captured, but at the last moment, they both secretly swallowed the poison hidden in their mouths and committed suicide in fear of sin. ”

Hearing this, Li Bing nodded silently, and then looked at Shan Tingxian strangely: "Aiqing, weren't you ordered to stay in Ziwei Palace before?" Why did you come here again? ”

"Your Highness forgives your sins," Shan Tingxian hurriedly replied: "Not long after His Highness set off this morning, Taifu came to Ziwei Palace. When he heard that Weichen was in charge of staying behind, he was furious on the spot, and reprimanded that no matter how important the official documents of the imperial capital were, it was not as important as the safety of His Highness, let alone leaving Weichen there to take care of the house, just send a clever chamberlain. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's golden body must not be missed in the slightest, otherwise he will take the heads of Weichen's entire family to ask for guilt. In this way, Weichen had no choice but to lead a large number of guards to accompany the White Horse Temple. ”

Lao Jianhua continued beside him: "Fortunately, thanks to the urging of Master Taifu, Shan Shilang and the others were able to arrive in time and detect the traces of the assassin. Otherwise, if those outlaws find an opportunity and hurt His Highness in the slightest, I will be responsible for waiting for ten thousand deaths. At present, all the assassins have been subdued, and hundreds of guards have protected the White Horse Temple, and His Highness is safe. ”

Li Bing listened to Lao Jianhua's words, thoughtfully for a while, then looked at Murong Xue next to him, and said coldly: "Murong Zhan matter." ”

"The minister is here." Murong Xue was slightly startled, and her heart was beating suddenly.

Li Bing's tone was a little cold: "It seems that you are still far less thoughtful than Mrs. Xie." Before, you left Tingxian on duty in Ziwei Palace, and he blasted Tingxian out of Luoyi City to escort him, and between this stay, a large number of outlaws and assassins happened to appear, which is really a coincidence. ”

Murong Xue heard the dissatisfaction in the prince's words, and hurriedly knelt down and bowed to the ground: "Your Highness forgives your sins, it is indeed the minister's inconsiderate and improper arrangement, please punish Your Highness." ”

Li Bing ignored Murong Xue who was lying on the ground, turned his head and asked Lao Jianhua, "How is Master Lichen?" Are there any injuries? ”

"Your Highness, please rest assured, the abbot of Lichen and the monks in the temple were not injured, but they were inevitably frightened." Lao Jianhua replied lightly.

"What a sin!" Li Bing patted the armrest and got up angrily: "The death day of the queen mother was stirred up like this!" Hongu must not rest on his laurels. Tingxian, this palace has ordered you to be responsible for investigating this case, and within ten days, find out the identity and purpose of the assassin, and report the details of the case to this palace! ”

After that, Li Bingyi flicked the sleeves of his robe and walked out of the meditation room angrily, and Lao Jianhua, Shan Tingxian and others hurriedly followed behind, leaving Murong Xue kneeling alone.