Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 361
At the mountain gate of Panxiang Temple in Xuan Tomb,

A large number of soldiers ran towards the walls on both sides of the temple and looked around at the surrounding woods to see if there was anything unusual.

I looked around, but there was no one around.

Mrs. Wang couldn't help but asked aloud;

"Jinyu, what do you see?"

"Returning to my mother, my son felt something strange. In Hanshan Temple, the so-called offering of spiritual tablets was a matter of worship. My son did not believe in Buddhism and did not know if there was such a rule. But later, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the old abbot had something to say. I pointed here, Xuan Tomb Panxiang Temple Nunnery, all Buddhist disciples, both male and female, are monks, so I pointed it out in a subtle way if necessary."

Zhang Jinyu expressed her innermost thoughts, and Mrs. Wang nodded secretly. This is true. People in the White Lotus Sect all believe in the Immortal Mother. No matter they have differences, they are all brothers and sisters. The same goes for other sects, temples and Taoist temples. In this way, Buddhism is divided into men and women, which is particularly strange here.

"Suzhou Weaving is the official industry of the Zhen family. Since it belongs to their family, Jin Yu needs to be merciful if something happens to her. After all, we will still have contact in the future."

Mrs. Wang still remembered a trace of incense. Since it was enshrined by the Zhen family, she needed to give it some face.

"I know, mother,"

Zhang Jinyu looked at the mountain gate and nodded in agreement.

After a while,
The people who went to do the enumeration came back. Ningbian led the troops from outside the courtyard and looked carefully. There was nothing suspicious. It was just an ordinary temple. The dead branches and leaves on the back mountain were piled up deeply. No one had been there for a long time. , or cleaned,

"Master Marquis, we have surrounded the temple. We checked and found nothing around."

"Well, I didn't find it, so it's inside, so hit the door."

"Yes, my lord,"

Zhang Jinyu was not polite. Since he was not allowed to enter, he had no choice but to force his way in. You would know if he was a human or a ghost when you saw him.

Subsequently,

The armored men from the Pioneer Battalion gathered in a group and came to the mountain gate, then accelerated and rushed over collectively.
With a "boom", the door was hit hard and a loud bang was made. The little nun inside the door turned pale with fright and stood there at a loss.

Upon hearing the sound, the Master, together with two little nuns, hurried over, clasped his hands together, and shouted;
"Donors, please stop for now and discuss things slowly."

"stop."

Zhang Jinyu stretched out her hand to shout stop, then looked at the gate in front of the mountain gate and heard an obviously older voice asking;

"Which master is in charge of this?"

He stopped banging on the door when he saw people outside.

Master Shuiyue also calmed down and said the name of the Buddha.
"Amitabha, the poor nun Shuiyue Master Tai, should be the master."

Behind the door, Master Shuiyue actually lowered the bolt, opened the mountain door, and walked out.

I saw an outstanding nobleman standing outside, followed by his female family members. There were fierce armored soldiers on both sides of the door. There were also a large number of soldiers coming from a distance. I trembled in my heart. The person coming must have a high profile.

The person in front of me was polite, handsome and handsome. The Master felt a little at ease and said;
"I have seen noble people. Our temple is full of women. The benefactor can enter, but the soldiers may not be able to accommodate many people."

Zhang Jinyu looked at the people inside the door. They were indeed all women. She didn't see any traps, but she had to be on guard against others.
"Since Master Tai said so, I would like to bring fewer people with me so that they won't disturb the purity of your temple. That's good."

The Master hesitated for a moment and heard that the person calling himself a Marquis must be a Marquis. After weighing it for a moment, he had no choice but to nod in agreement and turned aside to invite Zhang Jinyu in.

Zhang Jinyu waited for a moment and winked at Ning Bian. Ning Bian immediately filed in with the armored soldiers behind him, looking around on guard.

After a while,
Ning Bian stood inside the door and shook his head. Then Zhang Jinyu stepped in and waved.

"Go, go in and have a look."

Everyone followed closely and walked in.

Once entering the temple,
Zhang Jinyu and others bypassed the huge Feng Shui wall at the mountain gate, and then walked through a main hall in front. Logically speaking, the main hall should be dedicated to Buddha or Guanyin, but when they came in, there was no one there. Instead, there were a lot of brocades and silks piled up.
Looking further back, there is a large garden. This is not a temple, but it looks like a garden. It is exquisite and exquisite, comparable to the garden in the old palace.

There are pavilions, pavilions, bamboo forests, rockeries, and strange rocks. There is even a low-lying pond, and even a small stone bridge with flowing water in the middle. They are all paved with sapphire-colored stone slabs. If you look closely, you can see that there are cloud patterns on it, like wonderland.

Everyone was overjoyed to see this scene. Zhang Jinyu stood on the stone bridge and marveled,
"It's really different. The temple can still have fun like this. It's eye-opening."

The interior of the temple is actually not small. From time to time, I saw one or two little nuns walking by. Master Shuiyue and the little nun who looked after the door tried their best to take Zhang Jinyu around to visit the temple inside. Everywhere they went, they were all impressed. He carefully introduced the origin of the Buddha statue to them.

Zhang Jinyu walked to the left side of the temple and saw a high tower with a layout similar to that of Hanshan Temple, so she asked;
"Master Tai, I have something to ask. My father-in-law and mother-in-law have recently lost their lives. Now Hanshan Temple has enshrined my father-in-law's spiritual tablet, but my mother-in-law has not yet gone. So I want to enshrine my mother-in-law's spiritual tablet in the temple. Is there a place to go?"

"Amitabha, the Lord's filial piety is very valuable. There is one right in front, the Moon Pagoda, which is a spiritual tablet dedicated to the pilgrim woman."

After hearing the words, everyone walked over. There was no one guarding the bottom of the tower. There was just a small temple with an incense cauldron for people to light incense. Lin Daiyu didn't really believe in gods and Buddhas, but she had no other choice. You can mourn your parents, and you can only burn incense and pray here according to Buddhist rituals.

Seeing a merit box next to it, Zhang Jinyu smiled and said;

"Master, there is an explanation for worshiping here. I see that the Moon Tower also has nine floors. How much merit does it take to worship on the top floor?"

Master Shuiyue glanced at the Marquis and saw that the merit box in front of her had not been used for a long time and replied;
"The donor can just give it according to his own discretion. There is no explanation for this. As for the wives of high-ranking officials and dignitaries on the top floor, ordinary people and wealthy families can only live on the lower five floors. There is no difference."

Zhang Jinyu took another look at Master Shuiyue. She really didn’t need any money. She was just competing for official position. Buddhism was indeed a good method.
"That's on the top floor. Mrs. Lin is the first wife of Master Lin, the censor of salt in the south of the Yangtze River. She is also the legitimate daughter of the Rongguo Mansion in the capital. It's not for nothing that I have worked so hard for Xuan Tomb Panxiang Temple. This is 1 taels of silver. The incense money needs you to serve it well."

Zhang Jinyu took out the banknotes from his arms and stuffed them directly into the merit box next to Lin Daiyu. Master Shuiyue and the two little nuns were in disbelief. The most people who came here gave them 1000 taels of silver, but there were so many today. As expected of a powerful family, I couldn't help but be more respectful.

When Master Shuiyue saw that Lin Daiyu had finished offering incense, she came over to take the spirit tablet and asked the little nun next to her to take it to the moon tower. She also asked another little nun to inform the abbot.

When Lin Daiyu saw her mother's memorial tablet being sent away, she couldn't help crying any longer, and the other girls came over one after another to comfort her.

The little nun quickly came to the abbot's room and shouted;
"President, presiding, a marquis came from the front and led troops in. He was very generous. He gave 1 taels of silver notes and enshrined the spirit tablets of the female relatives in the family on the ninth floor of the Moon Tower."

"Oh, there is such a thing?"

"Yes, Master Shuiyue is with me from the front."

The host immediately stood up and took the nun who was still practicing in the front yard to the Moon Tower. It was rare to see such a generous dignitary, and this person should not be offended. Since he was here to worship, just cooperate.

For the sake of money, after the host came here, he saluted Zhang Jinyu and his party.
"I have met the Marquis and all the donors,"

"You don't have to be polite, host."

Zhang Jinyu came even though he didn’t want to be the host. The letter was received quite quickly.
"Master Marquis, please wait a moment. The poor nun is going to open an altar to pray for the old lady."

"can."

Zhang Jinyu withdrew from the small temple gate, leaving Lin Daiyu alone. The so-called opening of the altar was actually nothing more than a set of complicated prayer rituals, a kind of inner comfort, mainly due to mystery, nobility, and solemnity.

Lin Daiyu sincerely worshiped the Buddha. Although it was cumbersome, she still followed it patiently.

Seeing that there was no free time inside, he came out and took a group of people to continue wandering in the temple. After looking at the surrounding temples, Mrs. Wang led the girls to the garden to enjoy the flowers. Wei Yong led the guards to follow, and Ningbian The soldiers of the Pioneer Battalion were left to wait for Lin Daiyu at the Moon Tower, and he followed the Marquis with his soldiers.

Zhang Jinyu was walking on the bluestone road, and suddenly thought about why the Xuan Tomb Panxiang Temple sounded so familiar. There seemed to be someone inside. She thought about the woman for a moment. She didn't know if she was a monk now or not. Her name was Miaoyu. It's okay to come and ask if you have anything to do.

Zhang Jinyu finally couldn't help it, grabbed a passing little nun, and asked;

"I would like to ask you, do you know if there is a nun named Miaoyu here in the temple?"

Unexpectedly, the little nun was so frightened that she froze there. No outsiders entered the Xuan Tomb Panxiang Temple all year round. Even if someone came in, they were all women. At this time, she was pulled by a handsome and unparalleled young and handsome man. She had already looked ashamed. Hong, at a loss.

When I heard him ask Senior Sister Miaoyu where she was going, she gave him a reply. She chanted the Buddha's name, broke away, and ran away.

Zhang Jinyu was also stunned. What do you mean?
I looked around, but no one came here. I had no choice but to go back first. Unexpectedly, just as I was about to leave, there was a misty piano sound coming from the Zen courtyard behind the rockery and running water not far away. It was the so-called Qin Dynasty. The zither plays a perfect tune, the jade pillars play a clear tune, the strings break according to the height, and the sound continues with the wonderful fingers. Just hearing the sound lingering around the beam, I would rather know that the face is like jade.

Naturally, Zhang Jinyu didn’t know what the music was, but he could still tell whether it was good or bad. The melodious sound of the piano, the twists and turns, must have been composed by everyone.

Out of curiosity, Zhang Jinyu turned around and looked for the sound. Sure enough, behind the rockery, there was a place with more beautiful scenery. She found a separate Zen courtyard with a small exquisite pavilion in the small pond in front.

Zhang Jinyu seemed to have found a wonderful place like a secret. She looked towards the pavilion, with the rising mist, and she saw a young woman sitting in the middle of the pavilion, wearing a white nun's palace dress, with a beautiful head. Her hair was floating down like water, and she was gently playing music inside.

What a beautiful scene.

Zhang Jinyu did not interrupt immediately. Instead, she listened quietly on the edge of the pond. For a moment, she calmed down and felt extremely comfortable. She opened her eyes and looked again. This woman's music and papermaking skills were probably unmatched by anyone in the world.

With this thought, I have an idea in my heart, good things can only be found but not sought.

(End of this chapter)