Chapter 252: Visiting the Temple at Night, Bodhisattva Smiles

Chapter 252: Visiting the Temple at Night, Bodhisattva Smiles

Chapter 252: Visiting the Temple at Night, Bodhisattva Smiles

The wind moved and the clouds shifted. The moonlight poured down like water, and the empress in the carriage looked extraordinary.

"Yes." Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then responded, picked up the hem of his robe and got in.

As the curtain fell, a round luminous pearl on an exquisite small square table in the center of the carriage turned from dark to bright.

The jade pot and cups on the table were illuminated, and the air was filled with a slight smell of wine.

"Your Majesty, have you drunk?" Zhao Duan sat down halfway and frowned slightly.

What he was referring to, of course, was not the drinking at the celebration banquet.

Xu Zhenguan picked up an empty cup with her jade hands, raised her neck and drank it all in one gulp.

Because she had her hair tied up, her fair neck looked "empty" today.

From this angle, Zhao Duan could see the delicate jaw and the rise and fall of the tight white neck as the wine slid into the esophagus after being swallowed.

"Pour the wine." The empress put down the exquisite cup and said softly.

Zhao Duan said nothing, but held up the jade pot with both hands and poured wine for her.

The carriage started moving, but the two were silent. The empress drank three cups in a row. Zhao Duan raised his hand to cover the wine pot and sighed:

"Your Majesty, heavy drinking is harmful to your health."

In the dim light of the night pearl, the female emperor, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe and a golden crown of the same color, stared at him expressionlessly and tried to snatch the wine jug.

But Zhao Duan escaped and advised earnestly:

"Your Majesty, I remember you said that you always drank by yourself when you were in a good mood.

I think this food made from fine grains should bring joy to people. If it does not bring joy to people, and they drink only to forget their worries, then they are just drinking to drown their sorrows.”

Xu Zhenguan's beautiful eyes still stared at him without emotion.

In the past, when she behaved like this, the palace maids and eunuchs would be terrified and would ask for whatever she wanted.

But Zhao Duan held the wine jug tightly, and looked her in the face with courage, his eyes extremely calm.

When their eyes met, he could not see the joy of eliminating the traitor in the empress's eyes, but only deep loneliness.

Xu Zhenguan raised his lips and sneered:

"If I were the previous emperor, you, a minister who dares to disobey the emperor, would be banished to the 'cold palace' no matter how great your achievements are."

Zhao Duan looked at him without any hesitation and said seriously:
"That is why Your Majesty is not the late emperor, and I dare to make direct criticisms."

He has extensive experience in understanding the thoughts of female leaders and knows how to show "consideration" at the right time.

Sure enough, Xu Zhenguan's eyes turned gentle, and the jade hand that was hanging in the air, grabbing the wine jug, slowly fell down.

The plump lips exhaled a breath of fragrant wine, leaned back slightly, and leaned against the car wall, with more moisture and warmth in the eyes:

"It would be great if there were more ministers like you in the court."

Zhao Duan put down the jade pot and smiled:
"Shouldn't this minister fall out of favor?"

A joke that was not very funny, but it just diluted the dull atmosphere in the carriage.

He knew that the Empress was like this because she was provoked by Wang Heng's confession... If Wang Heng denied everything, even if he kowtowed and cried, shouting that he was wronged...

The empress would not have many emotional fluctuations, she was just angry.

Although he holds a high position of power, he is no exception and there are many other important officials in the court who could be brought down.

But unfortunately...

"Tell me, how many people like Wang Heng are there in the court?" Xu Zhenguan suddenly asked in a low voice.

The tone... wasn't really asking for an answer, it sounded more like an exclamation, or a question to herself.

Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, instinctively feeling that this question was difficult to answer.

On the surface, this question is about who else is there, but in reality, the empress is hesitating about what attitude to take towards these traitors who are both hateful and not so hateful.

Of course, Zhao Duan could give a meaningless and nonsensical answer just to protect himself.

Historically, the eunuchs, who served the emperor like a tiger, had rich experience in dealing with such inquiries from the emperor anytime and anywhere.

Yet he finally said:
"When water is too clear, there will be no fish; when a person is too careful, there will be no followers. Your Majesty should be happy. People like Wang Heng have already felt remorseful. This shows that the time when everyone will be loyal to Your Majesty is not far away."

Xu Zhenguan looked at him with a little surprise, chewed over the words, and then said with a half-smile:

"That's not something a sly guy like you would say."

...I'm not a sly person, at least not now... Zhao Duan said righteously:

"Your Majesty, I will say whatever you want me to say."

Tsk... Xu Zhenguan snorted with a look of disgust, but his mood was relieved or comforted by his jokes.

"Let's not talk about this," Xu Zhenguan looked at the shaking curtain and said softly:
"Do you know where I am going?"

"I am stupid," Zhao Duan said with a silly look on his face, "I have made such a contribution, will Your Majesty reward me?"

Xu Zhenguan said unhappily:
"You are really good at taking credit. Isn't it your duty to complete your duties? And you are asking for a reward from me?"

Zhao Duan just smiled when he was scolded. Xu Zhen felt helpless when he saw his expression.

He gently touched his forehead with his fingers, and then said softly:
"This is the direction to Jizhao Temple."

Jizhao Temple... the nunnery near Shenlong Temple... the place where Princess Yunyang was confined... Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then reacted:

"Your Majesty, are you going to visit the eldest princess?"

Speaking of which, it has been quite a while since he slapped Princess Yunyang and threw her to a nunnery to chant Buddhist scriptures.

I almost forgot about this dissolute princess...

Xu Zhenguan said softly, "Yes," and said:

"She is my aunt after all. I should visit her once in a while."

Zhao Duan rolled his eyes and said:

"Why don't we send the princess home?" With his current power, frankly speaking, he doesn't care much about what happened in the past.

Xu Zhenguan didn't look at him and said:
"Given my aunt's temper, it has only been a few months, it is far from enough for her to change. It is good for her to chant Buddha's name over there."

It feels like sending one’s elders to an institution to treat internet addiction… Zhao Duan complained.

I realized that the reason why the empress went to visit was probably because of her uncle, Prince Jing...

He did not continue the topic, but asked curiously:

"I heard that there is a Buddhist Bodhisattva in Jizhao Temple?"

Xu Zhenguan said "yeah" and explained casually:
“In today’s Buddhism…let’s not talk about the Tantric Buddhism in the Western Regions, let’s just talk about the lineage of the Dayu Shenlong Temple. The most powerful one in Buddhism is the abbot Xuanyin, and below him are three Bodhisattvas who have reached the Great Perfection of the Worldly Realm.

The one in Jizhao Temple is Prajna Bodhisattva, who mainly practices the Three Unobstructed Abilities in Buddhism... The other two are Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and Mahakala Master... Prajna is the youngest of the three. "

"How young?" Zhao Duan asked curiously.

"Fifty-two."

...the fifty-two-year-old nun... Zhao Duan lost interest and imagined the image of Nun Miejue in his mind.

……

……

Jizhao Temple was not far from the banquet hall, and they arrived there while they were talking.

The carriage stopped at the door of the nunnery, and Zhao Duan followed the empress out of the carriage.

The nunnery in front of us is not very big.

Especially compared with the Shenlong Temple in the distance, which covers a large area and is brightly lit even in the night, it seems particularly inconspicuous.

There were only two lanterns hanging above the plain front door.

The eunuch knocked on the door and identified himself.

The nun who came to open the door was shocked. She clasped her hands together towards the empress and was about to go and report.

"There's no need to mobilize a large force. I'm just here to visit Yunyang and will leave later." The empress said gently.

The young nun who opened the door was too terrified to refuse.

He immediately made a gesture of invitation.

The empress left the others waiting outside the door and only took Zhao Duan into Jizhao Temple.

Under the cover of night, the nunnery is quite quiet, but the scenery is extremely elegant, with a sense of beauty of tranquility in the midst of bustle.

"Your Majesty, Donor Yunyang lives in the guesthouse in front. I will lead you there now."

The nun walked on the stone path, surrounded by well-tended flowers and plants.

Pointing to a lighted Zen room in front.

Xu Zhenguan looked over and asked softly, "How has she been these days?"

The plain-looking nun looked embarrassed:
"Donor Yunyang was the noisiest at first, throwing things all the time, and Prajna Bodhisattva couldn't stand it, so he talked to the donor and things got better.

But I also complained that the vegetarian food in the nunnery was not to my taste. I ate too little of the vegetarian food sent to me. As for the scriptures, the one I sent in a few months ago has not been replaced with a new one. "

Good man...how do you "talk"?

Is it a physical method? Zhao Duan was amazed, not surprised.

Xu Zhenguan sighed softly and said to Zhao Duan:
"I'll go take a look, so you don't have to go over there."

"I know."

Zhao Duan lowered his head and looked submissive, a little worried that Yunyang was making up a dirty rumor about him... but then he thought that the empress probably wouldn't believe it, so he felt relieved.

Watching the empress and the nun go away, Zhao Duan stood alone in the elegant and quiet courtyard.

I was bored and didn't dare to go far, but the atrium was quite large, like a small garden.

He took a leisurely walk in the garden just to kill time.

After walking for a while, I suddenly felt my ears move and heard a faint singing voice.

The melody of the song was quite strange. It was not the "elegant music" advocated by Dayu's music theory. Instead, it was more like "vulgar music" and had a slight flavor of Sanskrit.

"A peaceful place for Buddhism, who is singing so late at night..."

Zhao Duan became curious and turned to look back.

Guessing that Zhenbao would not be back for a while, he thought for a moment and followed the sound through a hanging flower door and a winding corridor, and entered a small courtyard.

After walking around a clump of loquat trees, Zhao Duan stopped and was stunned.

I saw a small pond in front of me.

There are withered lotus flowers in the pond, and the bright moon is reflected in the water, broken by the ripples.

Beside the pond, there sat a plump and graceful figure.

She was soaking wet, wearing a loose white dress. Her round, slender and tight legs were exposed in the early autumn night. Her calves were immersed in the pool water, and her bare feet were like lotus flowers.

Next to her was a fruit plate, and on the plate was a pure white jade vase.

While singing to the moon, she held a dark blue comb and gently combed her wet long hair.

Perhaps sensing that someone was watching him, the singing stopped abruptly.

The mysterious woman turned her head to look over, revealing a beautiful face that seemed to be shrouded by thousands of snow-capped mountains, and a pair of almost transparent eyes.

Between the woman's eyebrows, the lotus mark, the symbol of Buddhism, emits an eerie light in the moonlight.

"Ah……"

The woman, who looked to be in her twenties or thirties, had a plump figure, and her white, fleshy monk robes could barely cover her. She smiled sweetly:
"You are Zhao Duan."

Not far away, Zhao Duan was stunned, and a name almost subconsciously popped up in his mind:
Prajna Bodhisattva!

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(End of this chapter)