Volume II: The Case of the Red Lotus in the Ancient Temple Chapter 41: The Young Monk of Mingde
"But speaking of which, the Captain of the Punishment Brigade is very handsome. Even if you admit your mistake, I can't blame you." After Duan Ming finished speaking, he looked at Mingde: "Tell me, is it the Captain of the Punishment Brigade that you saw?"
"No, no!" Mingde shook his head repeatedly: "Although the two donors are quite good-looking, they are not the female donors that the monk said."
"You're a little monk, you can't even go down a single step." Duan Ming shook his head: "If you say yes, I will let you go, is it yes or no?"
"Amitabha, how can a monk lie if he doesn't lie?" Mingde said, "You will be burned alive by the Holy Mother of Red Lotus."
"Oh. Then what you little monk said is not a lie." Duan Ming said with a smile: "Old Xu, let him go."
After hearing this, Xu Shizhong let go of Mingde.
Mingde moved his arms, then clasped his hands and bowed slightly to Duan Ming and Xing Qianqiu: "Amitabha, thank you two donors."
"Why are you thanking me for letting you go?" Xing Qianqiu asked doubtfully.
"The little monk is not blind. You are the senior official here. If you don't agree, he won't do anything even if he says it." Mingde scratched his head: "So naturally I have to thank you."
"You little monk has good eyesight, I like it." Xing Qianqiu said with a smile: "Okay, you just told Mr. Duan that you really saw the female donor? Where was it? When did you see it? Why did you come to us?
Come to find me?"
"It was last night, around the time of Youshi, that the young monk saw a female benefactor wearing your clothes, wandering near the Main Hall, and then returned to the North Courtyard," Mingde said.
"Youshi?" Duan Ming frowned slightly: "The fire broke out yesterday at four o'clock in Youshi... But little master, how can you be sure that it was a female donor?"
"It's definitely the female donor!" Mingde vowed: "The female donor looks like a Bodhisattva, there's no way she can be wrong."
"Female Bodhisattva." Duan Ming nodded: "Then since you, a little monk, know that the other party is the female donor, why don't you shout and let someone catch her?"
"Amitabha, my merciful Buddha does not differentiate between men and women. The Brahmacharya Temple opens the door wide and welcomes all those who come to the Buddha. So what does it matter if it is a male or female donor? Why does the young monk need to shout?"
Mingde said.
"That's true." Duan Ming nodded: "However, I still have a question. You, a little monk, are sneaking around looking for a female donor. What do you want? Could it be that you are an evil monk? You have evil intentions.
?”
"Little monk, little monk..." When Mingde heard this, his face suddenly turned red: "Little monk just saw that the female donor was like a Bodhisattva, and felt that he couldn't get enough... Amitabha, Amitabha... the two donors, please don't tell Master Jingxin
Ah, otherwise the young monk will be beaten again."
"Well, Master Jingxin's Dharma is profound and very strict. The young monk is also stupid in nature and often makes mistakes, which always makes Master Jingxin angry..." Mingde said.
"That's good." Duan Ming replied with a smile: "If you answer my two questions truthfully, I won't tell Jingxin."
"Really? Please ask me, donor." Mingde's face was filled with joy.
"First, last night you followed the female donor to the North Courtyard. Did you see anyone acting suspiciously? Including the masters in your temple?" Duan Ming asked.
"This..." Mingde recalled carefully and said, "The young monk actually saw Master Mingli peeking around here. The young monk wanted to go to see him, but thinking about the young monk... the young monk did not dare to go."
"Mingli?" Duan Ming frowned. He had never heard of this name.
"Well, he is the manager of our Ming generation. He is very close to the two masters, Jingfa and Jingxin." Mingde said.
"Oh." Duan Ming nodded: "Is there anyone else?"
"That's not the case." Mingde shook his head.
"Then the second question, before Jingfa died, he said that he saw the Holy Mother of Red Lotus near the Main Hall on July 20th. She was wearing a red dress at that time." Duan Ming's eyes were fixed on Mingde's.
: "What do you think about this matter?"
"The young monk doesn't know." Mingde blinked his big eyes and shook his head: "The Holy Mother of the Red Lotus? Red?"
"Do you think it could be the female donor you saw last night?" Duan Ming asked in a different way.
"Absolutely not. That female donor looks like a Bodhisattva. How can people think she is the Holy Mother of Red Lotus!" Mingde said confidently.
"Then do you know who in this temple wears red clothes?" Duan Ming asked again.
"The donor is joking, we are a temple, how could it be possible..." Mingde suddenly thought of something, frowned and said: "Amitabha, monks don't lie. The young monk has indeed heard of one thing, but he just heard it.
It’s just words, it can’t be taken seriously.”
"It's okay, but it doesn't matter. If it's true or false, we have our own way to prove it." Duan Ming said.
"The young monk once saw Master Mingli going down the mountain to do some shopping and brought back two boxes of something called 'rouge gouache', which he said he wanted to give to Master Jingxin..." Mingde said, "I don't know anything else."
"That's enough." Duan Ming nodded and said to Mingde: "In that case, young master, please go back. Next time you come to my North Courtyard, just do it openly and openly, no need to be sneaky."
"Thank you, donor, thank you, donor!" Mingde said with joy on his face and left quickly.
"I will send someone to search carefully and find this 'female donor'!" Xing Qianqiu said solemnly.
"No need." Duan Ming shook his head: "Dingjing Department has already checked, but has not seen this female donor. This shows that this female donor is very capable. I'm afraid there will be nothing to gain if we check again."
Then Duan Ming looked at Xu Shizhong: "Old Xu, please go and bring Master Mingli here."
"Yes." Xu Shizhong glanced at Xing Qianqiu and then said.
"Mr. Duan, do you think the fire was set by Master Mingli?" Xing Qianqiu said solemnly.
"No, no, no..." Duan Ming shook his head: "Little Master Mingde made it very clear just now that he saw Mingli outside the hospital. If he didn't come into the hospital, how could he set the fire?"
"He didn't let him go? Then you brought him here?" Xing Qianqiu frowned slightly.
"Old Xing, you have to be more open-minded and don't use all your wisdom to trick me." Duan Ming patted Xing Qianqiu on the shoulder: "Master Mingli has been watching outside for so long, even Mingde found out
He doesn’t even know, maybe he will discover something?”
"You think Master Mingli may have seen the person who set the fire." Xing Qianqiu suddenly realized: "Mr. Duan, you can find Master Li, and I will go to Jingxin's place to search secretly."
"Yes." Duan Ming nodded: "Don't go to his room. Jingxin is very thoughtful and will definitely not put such things next to him, nor would he put such things very far away."
"Don't worry, I already have a guess in my mind." Xing Qianqiu nodded, and then left... This chapter has been completed!
