Datang: Hiding private money, exposed by Xiao Sizi

He glanced at the chessboard with only two white pieces, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly: "This is really interesting."

"The temple where Xuanzang spread Buddhism, the leader of Tang Buddhism, five thousand silver taels, a relic... Number one..."

Shen Lian smiled and took a big step forward: "Interesting, very interesting."

An hour later.

In front of the Huasheng Temple in Chang'an.

Shen Lian and the others dismounted, raised their heads and looked at the magnificent gate, the three large gold-plated characters "Huasheng Temple", and the endless stream of pilgrims coming and going. Shen Lian couldn't help but sigh.

Really rich, really rich.

It is dozens of times more magnificent than my own Changyuan Tea Shop!
Although the current state religion is Taoism.

Because Shen Lian had intercepted his wife at the Taoist temple, he also often went to several Taoist temples.

but……

No matter which Taoist temple it is, even the most famous Taoist temple in Chang'an City today, no matter its scale or luxury, it cannot compare with the Huasheng Temple in front of us.

Seeing this bustling gate and the magnificent buildings, if someone told Shen Lian that the state religion of the Tang Dynasty was Buddhism, Shen Lian would choose to believe it.

After all, the Taoist temple is much inferior to this luxurious Buddhist temple.

No wonder after the current Emperor Li Shimin, during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, the state religion of the Tang Dynasty became Buddhism. Shen Lian feels that there are already some signs of this happening.

Apart from anything else, the money is quite different.

At this time, pilgrims were coming and going at the gate of Huasheng Temple, and the incense inside was very strong.

As soon as they reached the gate and had not yet entered, someone stopped them and said, "Dear guests, would you like to burn incense?"

Xu Gou thought that since he had come to the temple once, it wouldn't hurt to burn some incense, no matter whether it worked or not. He asked, "Yes, we are here to burn incense. Tell me, how much is one stick of incense?"

The man's eyes lit up, and he said hurriedly, "This is the best incense. As long as you are sincere, the Buddha will definitely be able to sense it. It's also not expensive, only one stick of incense costs a hundred coins."

Xu Gou's eyes widened: "One hundred coins? Why don't you go and rob?"

His monthly salary was only a few taels of silver! He was still the highest-income person in Chang'an City.

One tael of silver is only about one thousand copper coins, and burning a few incense sticks costs one hundred coins...

This is crazy! Absolutely crazy!!
A stick of incense is so expensive!
The man was not happy and said, "How can you say it's robbery? The more expensive the incense is, the more sincere you are. Look at you, you are so stingy even when burning incense. You must have no good intentions. How can the Bodhisattva bless you?"

"you……"

The Dog was completely pissed off.

This person's words are really irritating.

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you from the temple? Are you selling incense here?"

The man looked at Shen Lian warily and said, "Do you care about me? If you want to buy, buy it. If not, get out of here. You look well dressed, but I didn't expect you to be a bunch of poor people."

"you……"

Xu Gou was so angry that he clenched his fist and was ready to teach the man a lesson.

Seeing this, the man suddenly shouted, "Someone is beating someone! Everyone, come and see, this person came to Huasheng Temple, not only did he not buy incense, did not pay respect to the Buddha, but he also beat people! He is blaspheming the Buddha and the Bodhisattva!"

Upon hearing this, the pilgrims around immediately gathered around.

Pointing fingers at Shen Lian and others.

They came here to ask for blessings from the Bodhisattva. If the Dog offends the Bodhisattva and he no longer blesses them, wouldn't he be in great trouble?

So, with the incense seller adding fuel to the fire, everyone was furious.

Some people with bad tempers rolled up their sleeves and were ready to fight with the Dog.

As one of the Twelve Shadow Assassins, Xu Gou is good at hiding and does not like to expose his existence so as to avoid being taken advantage of.

Therefore, he naturally couldn't really fight with these ordinary people. He looked at the incense seller with gritted teeth, and his whole body was shaking with anger.

Even though assassins are known for being calm, he was really angry!

Shen Lian patted Xu Gou's shoulder and looked at the arrogant incense seller. He said, "What can I do? Can you let us go?"

The incense seller saw that a reasonable person had finally appeared. He snorted and said, "Buy all my incense. This way, the Buddha will save face. I will also obey the Buddha's arrangement and let you go today."

Shen Lian glanced at the incense in his hand. There were not many, only eight or nine sticks left. It seemed that they were all sold out.

"There are too many. If I buy them, it will probably cost almost one or two taels of silver." Shen Lian said calmly.

Upon hearing this, the incense seller said arrogantly, "A lot? Let me tell you, not only do you have to buy all of these incense sticks, but the price has also changed. One stick of incense is two hundred coins!"

"You don't know, do you? I have someone in this Huasheng Temple. If you dare not buy, I only need to say one word and I will ensure that you can't set foot in Huasheng Temple! And these pilgrims will not let you go!"

He lowered his voice and said coldly in Shen Lian's ear: "So, young man, you and your people had better be sensible and don't make yourself uncomfortable."

Shen Lian has lived for nearly half of his life and has seen quite a few people and things, but this is the first time he has been threatened like this.

Suddenly, it felt a bit interesting.

He was also directly amused.

Shen Lian shook his head and continued, "You said you have someone? You don't know who it is? To be honest, I have to enter this temple today, and I don't think you can stop me at all."

The incense seller's face suddenly turned gloomy.

He said: "Don't refuse a toast and then drink a forfeit. My patience is limited!!"

"Let me tell you, Master Jiezhi of Huasheng Temple is my man. If you annoy me, you've angered him. Master Jiezhi won't tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. You'd better think carefully before making a decision."

"Master Jiezhi?!" Shen Lian really didn't know who this person was. Anyway, he felt that he was definitely not as famous as him, Shen.

Just the title of the No. 1 Scholar in the Tang Dynasty is probably enough to surpass this so-called Master Jiezhi, right?

Shen Lian understood and continued with a smile, "Really? Then please make way. Some people are fearless and brave, and I happen to be such a person. Please make way quickly, or... you can take me to meet Master Jiezhi in person."

"You..." The incense seller was suddenly furious.

He didn't expect that even though he had brought out Master Jiezhi, this young master would still dare to be so ungrateful.

From what corner did this guy come out that even Master Jiezhi of Huasheng Temple doesn't know him? ?
He was speechless!!

The incense seller said angrily, "Just wait, I'll go call Master Jiezhi now, and you just wait to be beaten out with sticks."

Just as he finished speaking, before he left, a sound suddenly came from the temple.

"Master Deyuan is here!"

"Master Deyuan's status is only lower than that of the host. Why did he come out?"

"It looks like he's here to greet someone."

"Who is so honorable that he would ask Master Deyuan to come and greet him personally?"

A noisy discussion suddenly broke out.

"Master Deyuan?"

Shen Lian was startled. Who is this?

But he seems to have a high status.

I just don't know who is better, Master Jiezhi, as mentioned by the incense seller.

The incense seller looked a little surprised at this time. Why did Master Deyuan come out in person?
This was the second most important person in Huasheng Temple, and it sounded like he was here to pick someone up. Who had the qualifications to ask Master Deyuan to pick someone up in person? Could he be someone from the royal family?
The man looked curiously and saw the crowd parting, and then some monks appeared in sight.

The leader was in his fifties, thin and looked quite serious...

Behind this man, six monks in their thirties followed out. They were all important figures in Huasheng Temple.

"Master Jie Zhi!"

The incense seller suddenly saw his own background among the six people.

He immediately looked at Shen Lian and said smugly, "Young man, your luck is very bad. Master Jie Zhi is here. Just wait and see. I will tell Master Jie Zhi about your disrespect to him. This time, you can't just buy some incense to solve the problem."

Shen Lian glanced at the man and was too lazy to speak.

Because he already knew who Deyuan was here to pick up.

As expected, he has the highest status here, and he was the one they specially asked Jingzhao Yi to be the lead person to solve the case, so... Shen Lian felt that there was a 90% chance that these monks were here to pick him up.

Therefore, what the incense sellers say about not being able to enter temples is really ridiculous.

Or rather...it's ridiculous!
When the incense seller saw that Shen Lian ignored him, he became even angrier!
He gritted his teeth. He had been doing well here because of Master Jie Zhi. If he didn't let these people know how powerful he was today, how would he survive in the future!

So he made up his mind that he would make Shen Lian and the others suffer.

But as he was gnashing his teeth, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Because the direction Master Deyuan and the others were heading seemed to be the same direction as where they were.

Moreover, Master Deyuan's eyes were looking straight in his direction. It was obvious that it was not a coincidence, but he was coming towards him.

why?
He felt that he was not qualified to have contact with someone of Master Deyuan's level, let alone be personally received by Master Deyuan.

Why?

Looking at the young man in front of him who was wearing a black robe, had a handsome face, and had an extraordinary temperament all over his body, suddenly, he had an absurd idea in his mind.

"No way?"

He looked a little panicked.

At this moment, Shen Lian sensed something, turned his head and glanced at him, with a smile on his lips, and that smile was a little sinister.

Finally, Master Deyuan and his companions arrived in front of Shen Zulai. He quickly put his hands together and said, "Amitabha, I greet Master Shen."

The six monks behind him also bowed to Shen Lian at the same time.

Including Master Jiezhi mentioned by the incense seller.

At this moment, the incense seller's eyes widened and his face froze instantly.

His mouth was so wide open, as if an egg was stuffed in it.

My heart skipped a beat.

It was the sound of heartbreak.

"you you you……"

He pointed at Shen Lian and was unable to utter a clear word for a long while.

My head was buzzing.

Master Deyuan, the person they came to pick up in person turned out to be the young man in front of them.

God!

What on earth had I hit upon?
Who on earth did I offend?

He suddenly felt dizzy, his legs went weak, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

He also broke the incense sticks, and it seems that they can't be sold...

The sudden collapse of the incense seller caused some exclamations.

Master Deyuan looked at the man strangely and said, "Are you okay? Do you want to go to the temple to rest?"

The incense seller was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he dared not go to the temple again.

Master Jiezhi also recognized this man at this time. He had arranged this man to sell incense at the entrance of the temple. Of course... he also wanted 50% of the profits every day.

This is his cash cow, but this person's situation is really not right at the moment.

He didn't know what was going on, and the distinguished guest was right in front of him, so he didn't know whether he should show up or not.

For a moment, I was stuck in a choice.

When Xu Gou and others saw this man's appearance, their eyes were full of disdain.

How could they not know what this incense seller was like?

He is used to acting recklessly in normal times, but today he met his own young master. He became wilful before the young master even made a move.

Live it!

Shen Lian glanced at the incense seller and chuckled, "Excuse me, is Master Jie Zhi here?"

Master Jiezhi was startled when he heard Shen Lian call out his name. He looked at the incense seller, then at the disdainful expressions of Xu Gou and others, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

No way.

Could it be that the incense seller offended you, Lord Shen?
He knew that the incense sellers usually forced people to buy their products by force.

Because he was making a profit, and those who were bullied were just ordinary people, he didn't care.

After all, you can also get real profits.

Could it be that today, he forced the sale again, and sold it to Lord Shen?
Thinking of this, Jie Zhi's legs also began to weaken.

His complexion also looked a little bad.

But Shen Lian called his name, and he couldn't play dead, so he could only bite the bullet and said tremblingly: "Little... Little Monk is it."

Shen Lian glanced at Jie Zhi, a fat man who seemed to have eaten a lot of delicious food.

Deyuan was a little confused about what was going on at this time, and asked hurriedly: "Lord Shen, what is this?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Shen Lian looked deeply at Jie Zhi and the incense seller and said, "It was this incense seller who told me that if I, Shen, did not buy all his incense, he would complain to his patron, Master Jie Zhi, and then Master Jie Zhi would beat me up and drive me away."

"So I want to confirm..."

He looked at Jie Zhi and said with a smile, "You're not really going to beat me, Shen, away with a stick, are you? I'm really a little scared."

When Jie Zhi heard this, his whole body trembled.

His teeth were chattering.

Jiezhi was about to curse the incense seller to death in his heart.

He hurriedly said, "Master Shen, you... don't listen to his nonsense. I don't even know this person. He is framing me."

When the incense seller heard what Jiezhi said, he subconsciously said, "Master Jiezhi, you have received money, how can you..."

(End of this chapter)