Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 358 Hanshan Temple outside Jinling
Today is also the beginning of the month,

The sun shines brightly at the thousand-year-old Hanshan Temple.

The temple gate is wide open,

A lot of people have gathered at the foot of the mountain. Many pilgrims and people from all over the place come here early to wait, hoping to grab the first incense on the day of offering incense and hoping for good luck. People come here to pray for blessings, and there are also many wealthy businessmen and foreigners. , I want to get my children to be named on the gold medal list, so I throw ingots of silver into the merit box, and it is not an exaggeration to spend a lot of money.

inside the temple,
Outside the Main Hall, there were actually so many pilgrims lining up, waiting to go in to burn incense and worship Buddha.

At the foot of the mountain of Hanshan Temple, carriages have long been parked, and many servants and guards are all staying here, waiting for the master of the house.

The road up the mountain was crowded and overcrowded. People from all over the country came together to burn incense and pray for good luck this year.

all the way,

Zhang Jinyu saw a crowd of people at the foot of Hanshan Temple in the distance. This scene was comparable to going to a market.

"Yingbian, what day is it today and why are there so many people?"

Ningbian looked up and saw that it was indeed crowded at the foot of the mountain. After thinking that today was the beginning of the month and a day to worship Buddha, he responded,

"Back to Lord Marquis, today is the first month of the month. It is the day when pilgrims offer incense to the Buddha and pray, so there are a lot of people."

Zhang Jinyu said "hmm" and thought to herself, it's not that there are many people here, it's just too many people. I wanted to come here quietly to offer incense, but it seemed that I came at the wrong time.

When there are so many people, there is a mixture of fish and dragons. People with bad intentions are hidden among them, so you can't tell them apart.

The place still had to be cleared, so Zhang Jinyu ordered as a last resort,

"Ningbian, take the brothers to clear the place first and make way for me. The pilgrims who have already entered should go down the back mountain. They can come back after we are done."

"Yes, Lord Hou, the last general will go here."

Ningbian pinched the horse's belly, accelerated the horse's speed, ran to the front, picked up a battalion of men and horses, and started running down the mountain.

"Drive, drive!"

The horses sped up, and the rumble of horse hooves sounded, startling the birds in the forest on both sides of the road.

Of course, it also attracted the attention of the servants and boys who were waiting for the master of the house down the mountain road.

"Hey, look, there are so many people on horseback coming over there."

I saw an older coachman standing on the carriage looking to the north and shouting,
Everyone around them stopped to watch, and suddenly a young junior shouted,
"Come on, those are cavalry, the army is coming,"

Everyone around was shocked, but they wanted to run away, but no one in front or behind said anything. If the owner of the house didn't come, he would have left privately.

I was afraid that if the master knew about it, he would have no good fruit to eat, and would be sold after a beating, so after panicking for a while, I took a few steps back and stayed quietly, leaving a road in the middle.

at this time,

Ningbian led the cavalry from the Pioneer Battalion to the foot of the mountain, and immediately drove the waiting carriages and miscellaneous people to the south. Many people had no choice but to drive the carriages and lead the horses towards the south, but they drove the south The official road was blocked.

"Everyone dismounts, and there is a sentry every ten steps, all the way to the top of the mountain. You, the commander of the battalion, will take the people up first to drive them away."

"Yes, General Ning."

General Ning saw that there were still many people climbing on the way up the mountain, and he impatiently asked General Ying Qian to lead people up to drive them away.

Ying Qianzong immediately took the order, dismounted with a large number of soldiers behind him, and asked those left behind to keep an eye on the horses. Then he led his brothers and rushed up from the bottom of the mountain. Anyone who was on the mountain road would even kick them. Hit and rush up.

Soon the entire mountain road was cleared, but there were so many pilgrims in the temple that Ying Qian was embarrassed for a while.
"Mr. Qian, why are there so many people? What should we do?"

"Blow the whistle and ask General Ning for help. There are too many people. I'm afraid it won't be easy to drive them away."

Yingqian had no choice but to whistle to General Ning for help. Ningbian, who received the signal from the bottom of the mountain, looked up at the top of the mountain suspiciously and saw Yingqian standing on top gesturing. There were not enough people.

"All of you, go up. There must be too many people to drive away. Come over and take a look."

"Yes, General Ning."

A large number of soldiers behind them dismounted and ran up to the top of the mountain.

Seeing the reinforcements coming, General Ying Qian led his troops into the temple. As soon as they reached the main entrance, Zhike monk from Hanshan Temple immediately blocked the way, clasped his hands together, and said the Buddha's name.

"Amitabha, dear military lords, Hanshan Temple is a place where we can worship the Buddha. Today is the day when the Buddha offers incense in the temple, so it is best not to disturb him. If you are here to offer incense, you should worship the Buddha sincerely. "

Mr. Ying Qian didn't believe in any gods. God, the Lord Marquis's order was a very big deal. He glared at the monk in front of him fiercely and warned him,
"I advise you to be acquainted with each other. I have received orders from the Marquis and am responsible for clearing away the idle people. Please get out of the way."

I thought I would scare the monk in front of me, but I didn’t expect that the monk Zhike would not retreat but advance, and said the Buddha’s name again.
continued;

"Amitabha, what the military master said is wrong. All living beings are equal. They are all pilgrims who come to the temple to offer incense. Everything has a first-come, first-served basis. The donors are shouting here and trying to break into the temple with weapons and weapons, fearing that they will attack evil spirits. Being empty and quiet is detrimental to your moral character."

Seeing that what the monk said was true, Mr. Ying Qian smiled instead.
"I have said so much, but I don't understand. So you are talking about damaging your moral character. I am outside the customs and have killed dozens of Jurchens. I have killed hundreds of bandits and bullies. Just recently, I was in Yangzhou. After killing more than a thousand members of the Wang family, how can I become a Buddha? Haha."

"Amitabha!"

The monk Zhike was so frightened that he recited a Buddhist name, and then realized that the officers and soldiers who came were under the command of Marquis Luo Yun. Their faces were pale, but they blocked the door and did not take a step back.

Ying Qian was so angry that he kicked Zhike Monk away. The monk lay wailing and rolling on the ground.

"Bah, be shameless. Go in and drive people to the gate of the back mountain." "Yes, Mr. Qian."

The soldiers behind them swarmed into the temple and drove the pilgrims everywhere. The people were so frightened that they fled back to the mountain. Even the pilgrims who had spent the night in the Jushi Forest were woken up.

The Taiping Sect members who were still sleeping soundly were also awakened by the noise outside. The hall leader opened the quilt and cursed;

"Grandma, after finally getting some sleep, it started to make noise outside,"

"That's right, the person is dead, why are you crying?"

The incense owner was unforgiving, and Zuo Feng felt unhappy in his heart. He got up to change his clothes, walked to the door, opened the crack in the door and looked outside. He saw that the pilgrims who came to offer incense were all running towards the back hill in panic. Around the main hall, there seemed to be officers and soldiers driving away. After a closer look, the soldiers' armor looked familiar, but it was broken. Marquis Luo Yun turned around and said hurriedly;

"Quickly, get up and get dressed and prepare to evacuate. The soldiers under Marquis Luo Yun are here and are driving away the pilgrims."

After hearing this, the hall masters jumped out of bed, got dressed in a hurry, buttoned the wrong buttons, put on their shoes, ran out, and followed the crowd towards the back hill.

"Exceptor, this is really evil. Is it possible that Marquis Luo Yun has a clairvoyant eye? How come he always goes wherever we go?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Let's go to the back mountain first and wait until we find out what's going on. He must be here to offer incense. It's just a coincidence."

Zuo Feng urged several people, but he never believed that the Marquis knew the whereabouts of him and others. If he had known, his group would have been arrested long ago, and they could still wait until today.

A few people who didn't know why ran to the back mountain and immediately separated from the crowd. They took advantage of the many paths in the back mountain to dodge and hid in the dense forest of the back mountain.

in the monastery,
The monk Zhike ran to the abbot's interpretation room in panic.
"Abbott, abbot, something serious has happened."

Abbot Xuanci, who was chanting sutras and knocking on the wooden fish, did not answer.

Zhike Monk was anxious and shouted again;
"Abbott, abbot, something big happened. The army broke in and drove away the pilgrims. What should I do?"

"Amitabha."

Abbot Xuanci raised one hand in front of his chest and recited the Buddha's name. Then he put down the wooden fish in his hand and looked at Zhike Monk outside the door.
"I know, let's wait until the rightful owner comes and tell them to drive them away."

"This...is, Abbot."

The monk Zhike had no choice but to step back and wait outside the door. Abbot Xuanci continued to read the scriptures, as if the things outside had nothing to do with him.

The main hall, in the open space in front of the hall,

Mr. Ying Qian looked at the front yard with satisfaction. All the pilgrims had been driven to the back hill. It was indeed much cleaner. An empty house is an empty gate. How could it be called an empty gate with so many people? The old bald donkey dared to lie to me.

Then he yelled at the brothers around him,

"Please be careful. Don't wait for the Marquis and the old lady to come. Some unsighted outsider will bump into the Marquis. Be careful not to eat him and walk away."

"Yes, Mr. Qian!"

down the mountain,

The carriage escorted by Zhang Jinyu arrived at the foot of the mountain, then looked at the winding mountain road, approached the carriage window, and said,
"Mom, we've arrived. The mountain road is not easy to walk on. Look!"

Mrs. Wang sat in the car, opened the curtains, and looked outside. From the foot of the mountain, the mountain road paved with bluestones, although winding, was smooth.
"Nothing, just take a walk. I haven't been here for a long time."

After saying that, he took Lin Daiyu's hand and got out of the carriage.

Seeing that there were soldiers guarding the surrounding area, I felt relieved.

"Everyone, come out and go up the mountain."

The women each put on a cloak, got out of the car and walked towards the mountain road.

Zhang Jinyu and Ning Bian followed with soldiers. It was okay at first. The few people walked quickly. When they reached the middle mountain road, they walked slower and slower. Even Zhang Jinyu's legs were a little sore.

Looking to the side of the mountain, you can see the forest that has been pruned a long time ago, which is pleasing to the eye. Not to mention being a monk who has nothing to do all day long, working for free is quite neat.

The girls supported each other, mainly because Lin Daiyu was out of breath, and Qin Keqing was also holding on to her waist, feeling unable to do what she wanted.

Lan Yue'er and Lan Shu'er didn't feel much, and each of them supported the other. On the contrary, Mrs. Wang and Yang were in high spirits.
"Come, drink some water."

Zhang Jinyu took out several water bags from behind and handed them over. They had been prepared a long time ago. None of the women said they were thirsty. Only Lin Daiyu took them and took a few sips.

Mrs. Wang saw that Lin Yatou was so tired and asked,
"How about taking a break before leaving?"

"Thanks, mother, no, it's getting late!"

Lin Daiyu shook her head stubbornly and hugged her parents' spiritual tablets tightly.

"Nacheng, Yue'er, Shu'er, you two are supporting Lin Yatou, Yang Yatou is supporting Ke Qing, let's continue walking."

After saying that, the group of people continued to walk to the top of the mountain. As quickly as they said it, the mountain road behind them was relatively gentle, and they walked up in one breath without taking a break.

When we got to the top,

At the end of the mountain road, there is a gate tower with a Buddhist relic and lotus pattern, which is quite majestic.

Mrs. Wang bowed in front of the door, just like the old mother of the White Lotus Sect sitting on the lotus, and she was in awe.

(End of this chapter)