Chapter 285: The Four Forces in the Shenlong Temple
Chapter 285 The Four Forces in the Shenlong Temple
"Thank you sir."
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, then respectfully took the fragrant mutton soup with both hands, picked it up and took a sip.
In his heart, he was not at all surprised that Zhang Yanyi could see through his "disguise" or appear here.
As he felt the mutton soup enter his mouth, he couldn't help but recall that it was in this shop that he walked out of the palace and met Zhang Yanyi.
When we meet again now, it is truly like “mountains and rivers meet each other”.
"Sir, I am so miserable because of you hiding this from me."
Zhao Duan put down the soup bowl, touched the corner of his mouth and smiled bitterly.
The old Taoist priest, who is tall, with narrow eyebrows and ruddy face, is still dressed like an ordinary old man.
Although he also appeared in public in the morning.
But it seemed that he used some magic and was not worried at all about being recognized by outsiders.
He will hand over the cake with a smile:
"Eat the cake, eat the cake. Haha, there's no need to talk about the past. I haven't held you responsible for your disrespect, so don't hold on to it."
Haha, you’re probably afraid that I’ll bring up your dark history of getting something for free… Zhao Duan complained, but didn’t mention it again.
Just thinking about it still feels like a dream.
"Sir, is Jin Jian okay?" Zhao Duan tried to start the conversation.
Zhang Yan glanced at him and smiled:
"You are such a playboy. You just came out from the palace with the saint and you are already thinking about my disciple."
Zhao Duan didn't know whether to laugh or cry:
"Please don't scare me. I am loyal to Your Majesty, and heaven and earth can bear witness to that. I have nothing to do with Priest Jin Jian, and we are just friends."
Zhang Yanyi was obviously mostly joking.
Seeing him rushing to explain himself, she found it interesting and casually asked the empress how she would deal with him.
Zhao Duan mumbled a few words to get by, saying that everything was arranged by His Majesty.
However, he didn't know that the old man opposite was one of the very few people who noticed that this matter had nothing to do with the empress.
However, Zhang Yanyi did not expose him and just believed him.
Speaking of Jin Jian, his injuries were not serious. He would be back to normal after a few days of rest. At least he was much better than the unconscious monk Tianhai.
Speaking of Shenlong Temple, Zhao Duan couldn't hide his curiosity:
"Sir, there is one thing I don't understand. Why did the monk in charge of discipline at the Shenlong Temple force me so much today and would rather offend the imperial court?"
He originally wanted to ask Zhenbao, but Zhenbao walked too fast.
Just ask Lao Wang... bah, Lao Zhang.
Zhang Yanyi was not surprised.
Holding the pancake in one hand, he dipped it in the soup bowl and said:
"This involves the three forces within the Shenlong Temple."
"Oh? I'd like to hear the details."
The old Taoist priest did not hide it from him and explained casually:
“In our Tianshi Mansion, there is a thousand-year-old lineage, all of which are centered around the ‘Tianshi’, and all inheritance is passed down from master to disciple.
Although there are many priests in the Tianshi Mansion who specialize in alchemy, talismans, etc., they are not the core of the Tianshi Mansion.
Well, you can roughly understand it as, Tianshi Mansion is a place where many small Taoist sects gather together to live.
Among them, my Heavenly Master lineage is the strongest, and is the leader respected by this Taoist temple and all Taoist sects in the world."
Hmm, it sounds like a loose alliance... The Heavenly Master is the leader, and the others gathered around, who also consider themselves priests, are the "members" of the alliance...
Zhao Duan understood it in a way that was familiar to him.
Zhang Yanyi:
“Therefore, in the Tianshi Mansion lineage, there are only a few people in each generation.
For example, in this generation, it is roughly me and six disciples. But the Buddhist sect is different, it is much larger, not to mention the difference between the Buddhist sect in the Western Regions and the Buddhist sect in Dayu. "
“Just looking at the Buddhism in Dayu, with Shenlong Temple as the main altar and all monks in the world united as one, it is an extremely large sect.
Nowadays, the strongest faction in the temple is the abbot’s group headed by Xuan Yin.
In addition, there are two factions led by Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and Mahavairocana Master. Together, these two factions are powerful enough to compete with Xuanyin. "
Hmm...it sounds like a temple.
Xuanyin is the empress, Longshu and Dajing correspond to the "Li Party" and the "Qingliu Party" respectively... Zhao Duan asked curiously:
"What about the Prajna Bodhisattva of Jizhao Temple? Which sect does he belong to?"
Zhang Yan glanced at him and shook his head:
"Prajna calls herself a sect and leads nuns, but she does not participate in the fight."
Well... no wonder the old nun moved out to live alone... Zhao Duan suddenly realized.
Zhang Yanyi continued:
"Among them, Nagarjuna is the strongest, and he also covets the position of abbot of Xuanyin."
Zhao Duan asked curiously, "Is greed useful? Can he beat Xuan Yin?"
Zhang Yan smiled:
"Of course he can't win. But Xuanyin is old and will die sooner or later, while Longshu is younger, so he naturally wants to compete for the next abbot.
What's more, Xuan Yin might not die early unexpectedly, but the successor he liked to cultivate was probably Bian Ji.
Therefore, Nagarjuna has been constantly forming cliques and factions over the years, cultivating his power. The head of the Discipline Hall and Tianhai are both from Nagarjuna’s faction.”
My goodness...are they planning to stage a coup in Buddhism?
Zhao Duan exclaimed that it was amazing.
If we compare it with the "Xuanmen Coup", Xuanyin is the old emperor, Bian Ji is the crown prince, and Nagarjuna is the second prince.
hiss……
In this case, doesn't the old nun Prajna, who just watched from the sidelines, correspond to the Third Princess?
Zhao Duan's thinking is divergent.
Zhang Yanyi:
"In order to gain prestige, Nagarjuna placed his bets on this Buddhist-Taoist duel. If Tianhai wins, he will become the candidate for the future 'celestial being' that everyone hopes for.
In this way, Nagarjuna's school will benefit greatly.
Xuanyin knew this very well, but he was devoted to the great cause of the integration of Eastern and Western Buddhism, and was worried about internal division, so he was more tolerant. But you ruined it. "
The old Taoist looked at him jokingly and said:
"Your sudden appearance seems to have suppressed Buddhism, but in fact, it has made Nagarjuna's years of painstaking preparation go to waste.
They put so much effort into Tianhai, but only picked the fruits for you. How can you not be angry?
More importantly, this will help the Xuanyin sect regain its status..."
Zhao Duan was so smart that he understood it immediately and said in surprise:
“So, the head of the Discipline Hall took the opportunity to cause trouble for the sake of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and deliberately provoked a conflict between the Shenlong Temple and the imperial court?
Because the one who is in charge of Shenlong Temple is still Abbot Xuanyin, so Abbot Xuanyin must bear the wrath of the court... Is that old bald donkey using the court to suppress Xuanyin?"
Zhang Yan smiled and said, "This young man is teachable."
Good guy!
Zhao Duan grinned, finally resolving the doubts in his mind. He didn't expect that there were so many twists and turns here.
He analyzed on his own:
“Sir, you know this, and I’m sure your Majesty knows this too.
So... Your Majesty deliberately delayed sending Mochou to Shenlong Temple to put pressure on it, just to leave some space for Xuanyin to deal with the head of the Discipline Hall himself... In this way, the conflict between the two Buddhist sects was deepened?
On the contrary, if the imperial court were to deal with the situation, the two factions would stand together because they had a common enemy...
This is not what the court wants to see.
And first make them break up in internal strife, force Xuan Yin to take action, suppress the head of the Discipline Hall, and then go to the court to punish the entire Shenlong Temple.
It can both maintain the dignity of the court and magnify internal conflicts... Great! "
Zhao Duan figured out the whole thing in an instant and felt suddenly enlightened.
Suddenly I realized that it was no accident that Zhenbao could sit on the throne.
Although it seems that he has always been helping me.
But in fact, whether it was the series of actions that the empress had taken in the past six months to build the "Xiu Wen Hall" or the clever provocation of the contradictions in the Shenlong Temple...
All of this shows that when Zhenbao was cut open, he was actually black... Wow, that's amazing.
"Thank you sir for clarifying my doubts."
Zhao Duan smiled and thanked him sincerely, then changed the subject and said:
"Speaking of which, although I am acting on behalf of the royal family this time, I am also doing a small favor for the Tianshi Mansion. You see..."
He stretched out two fingers and rubbed them, looking embarrassed.
Zhang Yanyi's smile froze slightly, and he frowned and said:
"I suddenly remembered that the heavenly book drying in the yard has not been put away yet, so I will leave now and see you again when there is a chance in the future."
After saying this, without waiting for Zhao Duan to speak, his figure turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.
Zhao Duan: “…”
Is this thing really a heavenly master?
I clearly haven’t mentioned the conditions yet... Zhao Duan patted his butt helplessly, stood up, and was about to leave with the horse.
But he was suddenly grabbed by the boss who ran out of the shop:
"Sir, you haven't paid the bill yet."
"...those two bowls of soup noodles were given to me by the old man just now..."
The boss held him tightly and said unhappily:
"He said you'll pay the bill, sir. Does that mean you want to eat for free?"
"..."
Zhao Duan gritted his teeth and uttered two words:
"Old! Zhang!"
……
evening.
Zhao Duan, feeling depressed, rode his horse straight to Zhangtai Garden, ready to attend the celebration banquet tonight.
(End of this chapter)