The little monk got up and walked to the door, staring at the two figures walking away in a daze.
When a monk rings the bell every day, he has never felt any discomfort since he was a child, except that he would feel a little bored when his brothers woke him up early in the morning to ring the bell.
But since the master asked him to come out to receive pilgrims, he often felt sad because he had seen too many sufferings that secular people had suffered or would suffer in the future. Although he could point out a clear way for them, but more
At that time, I could only watch them suffer.
The Buddha said that he wanted to save all sentient beings, but when all sentient beings insist on jumping into the sea of suffering, even the Buddha himself can do nothing.
There is another thing that he cannot see through, which is the love between men and women. Almost 70% of the people who come to tell fortunes come to seek marriage, so what the young monk sees in the hexagrams is even more...
Most of them are the helplessness of love and love.
Dependent origination is extinguished, and conditioned origination is empty.
The little monk closed his eyes, gently held the rosary beads with both hands, and placed it on his chest.
"Amitabha! Why is the love relationship among people in the world so much more difficult than the scriptures in the scriptures..."
…
At night, Hanshan Temple, which had been noisy all day, finally became quiet. Apart from the monks walking softly, the only sound was the sound of frogs in the lotus pond in front of the Main Hall.
In front of the lotus pond, there are two chairs, one large and one small. At the moment, two bald heads, an old man and a young man, are lying in them.
"Master, after you have been the host for so many years, have you ever figured out the feelings of men and women in the world? Why can't your disciples understand it after watching it for so long?"
The little monk who told Ergou and the others' fortunes during the day was the younger of the two bald heads. It was really unexpected that he would actually be the disciple of the White Horse Temple.
"What's wrong? Could it be that my Qingfa disciple is also interested in mundane things?"
As the master, the abbot of Hanshan Temple, Monk Daosheng, looked at his disciple with a half-smile. He did not ask why his disciple would ask such an outrageous question, but rather seemed prepared to watch a good show.
"No, it's just that my disciple feels that he can point out the way for the world when he doesn't even understand something. So my disciple just wants to figure it out!"
The little monk waved his hands repeatedly with a very panicked expression. It seemed that he was still a little timid.
"real?"
"really…"
The little monk whose name is Qing Fa first said something with his chest raised and his head raised, and then he lowered his head and said something, even blushing slightly.
"Hahaha, actually, even Master has never been able to see through this matter."
"Even Master, you can't see through it?"
Qingfa's eyes widened suddenly, as if he was surprised that there was knowledge in the world that Master was unclear about.
"Yes! In fact, if you don't immerse yourself in this matter, you will never be able to see it clearly! Everything else in the world can be said to be clear to the beholder and confused to the authorities. Only this matter
, it’s just a fascination for bystanders, and even the authorities may not be able to figure it out.”
Having said this, the old monk Daosheng had an expression of reminiscence on his face, and then he laughed out loud.
"Actually, Master had the same questions as you when he was young. However, my Master was not as enlightened as your Master. He was a rigid old man and always told me not to have thoughts that could easily shake the Buddha's heart."
Daosheng stretched out his hand and patted Qingfa's little bald head gently.
"Buddha once said that you can meditate when you are sitting, and you can meditate when you are walking. One flower and one world, one leaf and one Tathagata. When spring comes, the flowers turn green, and when autumn leaves fall, the mind of infinite prajna comes from itself.
Here, speech, movement, and stillness are natural. If you feel that the temple is too boring and depressing to celebrate the Dharma, then go out for a walk. The Dharma is not necessarily all in the scriptures."
"And if you encounter an opportunity to experience love in the world on the road, just go to the world of mortals generously. Even if you can't get out in the end, it doesn't matter. Master will not blame you. As for those Buddhist scriptures and so on
, just take it seriously and keep it in your heart.”
The young monk Qingfa did not dare to take what his master said seriously, otherwise, his figure would appear in the toilet the next morning. If there was anything that made him more uncomfortable than chanting sutras, then
It's no doubt about cleaning the toilet.
But after thinking about it carefully, he always felt that he was at a loss. After pondering for a long time, an idea flashed in his eyes and he thought of a way. However, he was afraid that the master would notice it, so he suppressed his little thoughts and regained his composure.
"Master, my disciple really wants to go out for a walk."
"Hahaha…"
The old monk Daosheng laughed heartily. He had experienced these little thoughts of his disciples back then. How could he not understand this truth?
However, he did not expose his apprentice who liked to play tricks, but his laughter spread far away and broke the tranquility in the temple.
…
Since Ergou and the others left the capital, instead of being deserted, the capital has become increasingly lively.
The imperial examination in Dachu is scheduled to be held on October 28th every year. Now it seems that there are only about ten days left, but a large number of scholars are still seizing the last moment to rush to the capital.
Nowadays, the capital city can be said to be overcrowded. Almost all inns and even some farmers' homes are occupied by scholars who come to Beijing to take the exam.
The few hotels with one or two rooms still had to put up a sign that non-candidates were not allowed to stay in the hotel.
As for those merchants traveling from north to south, most of them failed to get guest rooms. It would be better if they were merchants from Dachu. If they couldn't find guest rooms, the woodshed would be able to make do.
And those barbarians and Turks who came from the mountains in the north and the grasslands in the east really had no choice but to sleep on the streets.
No hotel in the capital would receive them, no matter how high the price they paid, it would be useless. Now it is an annual sacrament in Da Chu. In the eyes of those hotel owners, you are uncivilized and uneducated foreigners.
What qualifications do you have to stay in a hotel?
But what are those scholars who are regarded as gods by the common people of Chu doing?
Scholars who did not have money at home to buy a ranking kept sending greeting cards to the homes of various princes and nobles, hoping that someone would appreciate their talents and gain opportunities.
Those who have some spare money at home but not enough to buy a place keep running around, hoping to get a place with the little money they have.
There are also those children of wealthy families who have bought their places with silver coins. They are looking for fun all day long. For a while, the business of Huimeng Tower in the capital and the boat painting by the Bian River was extremely good.
These people's families lack everything except money. They don't even have any requirements for whether they can be officials after getting the ranking. All they want is a fame.
There is also the last handful of scholars who have no money and are unwilling to curry favor. They have done nothing. They always naively think that there is some justice in the world and firmly believe that as long as their articles are
If they are good enough and knowledgeable enough, then the officials in the court will not pretend to be blind and cannot see them.
In fact, there are many such people every year, but every year they are drowned in the tide of scholars, and either never recover, or they join the ranks of buying rankings the next year...
In the Prince's Mansion, Su Ruyu and Chu Wushuang secretly cooked a small meal. The cook was captured from Chu Fusheng's Mansion. Not long after Ergou left the capital, the boy ran out of the capital to play somewhere else.
.
Therefore, Su Ruyu and Chu Wushuang thought that if their cook was idle, they might as well transfer him to the Prince's Mansion to cook for them!
"Xiao Yuzi, how are you? Do you have any thoughts about the number one position?"
Su Ruyu rolled her eyes at Chu Wushuang.
"You don't know what the imperial examination is? It's just a method used by aristocratic families to amass wealth. I'm afraid your Prince's Palace also has some share in it, and it's also used to coax those who only know how to read stupid books.
Idiot, look at it, the number one scholar the year before last was the son of the Cheng Yijie family of Shangshu Ling, and the number one scholar last year was the son of He Renan, the family of the central minister. So this year it is the turn of the son of the prime minister's family to be the number one scholar, right?
!”
Su Ruyu pulled off a leg from a salted duck and stuffed it into her mouth and said vaguely.
"So, just keep your knowledge deep in your heart and don't need to show it off deliberately."
Chu Wushuang took a sip of wine from a jade cup. This cup was modeled after Chu Fusheng's, but no matter how you looked at it, you felt that the prince was being arty.
"Then according to what you said, you have no idea about the number one position!"
Su Ruyu stopped chewing the duck leg and said with some disappointment.
"Actually, if you can really compete with the scholars in the world in terms of knowledge and so on, then even if you lose, it won't be a big deal, but now it seems that this is not possible!"
Chu Wushuang nodded after hearing this.
"Nowadays, the imperial examinations in Dachu are really chaotic. It seems that we will have a lot of work in the future."
"That's because you're busy, but don't involve me! You can't let me live a leisurely life."
When Su Ruyu mentioned this, she quickly distanced herself from Chu Wushuang, fearing that he would put some burden on her shoulders.
Besides them, there were two other people working on a small stove. In the mansion of Grand Master Lu Xiangrui, he and the newly appointed imperial envoy Lu Lingxuan were sitting opposite each other.
Compared with Su Ruyu's sumptuous dining table, Lu Xiangrui's meals seemed a lot shabby. Counting a plate of burnt peanuts, there were only three dishes to go with the wine.
Lu Xiangrui picked up a peanut and put it in his mouth, and asked aloud at the same time.
"Are you ready for the discount I asked you to prepare?"
"If I get back to the teacher, I have already prepared it and will hand it over tomorrow."
Regarding his disciple's polite and respectful gesture, Lu Xiangrui gave some words of advice.
"There is no need for you to be too polite. After all, you have now taken the position of imperial envoy. Although you are my disciple, we are now political partners."
Lu Lingxuan put his chopsticks on the edge of the bowl, and then raised his hand to Lu Xiangrui.
"The teacher has taught me carefully for many years, and the disciples dare not forget it for a moment. Now that I finally have this opportunity to do something for the people of the world, it is also given by the teacher. Besides, respecting teachers and respecting morality should be practiced by scholars of our generation.
It’s a rule, but Teacher, you are so rare.”
Lu Xiangrui smiled and took a sip from the wine glass, his face immediately turning red.
"If tomorrow's work can be successful, it will be regarded as a great achievement for our great Chu. Both you and I can rely on this to be famous throughout the ages."
Lu Lingxuan, who had always been gentle and gentle in front of the teacher, held the wine glass tightly.