The first day of the Dharma Conference did not start well, and hundreds of people disappeared out of thin air. For the officials in charge of the Dharma Conference, although they managed to get by in front of the emperor, there must be no mistakes in the next few days.
Fortunately, the places where the Dharma meetings are held are not high, and many of them are inside large halls, so the variables should be smaller.
The management of these mages is actually relatively loose. Although they are all recorded in the statistics, they do not restrict any personal freedom. If there are some rituals that should be attended before the start but do not arrive, they will be deemed to have abstained.
Yes, it is obviously a Dharma assembly to pray for blessings and eliminate disasters, but it has a certain nature of competition and selection. After all, Emperor Yuande wants to select an expert for canonization.
But after all, it is a water and land ceremony, and the so-called competition cannot be a fight, so how to show one's specialness and how to show that one is "higher" than others during this period is also a science.
After the rain stopped, the remaining mages followed the court's arrangements and returned to the posthouse one after another.
When everyone else was about to walk away, a young monk holding a Zen staff stood in front of the steps of the altar, looking at the entire altar with a solemn expression.
The monk has straight facial features, red lips and white teeth, a face like mutton fat but not feminine. He is wearing a cassock and a bamboo hat on his head. His posture is as straight as the Zen stick in his hand. After looking at the altar for a long time, he leads the Buddha with one hand.
"Wonderful Ming King Buddha..."
"The master is really born with a good skin!"
The voice beside him sounded so suddenly that the monk couldn't help but tremble in fright. Although the voice was gentle and gentle, it came too suddenly.
Ji Yuan didn't know when he was standing next to the young monk, and he was talking with a smile. The monk's startled reaction was a little beyond his expectation, and it was also interesting.
The monk looked at Ji Yuan beside him and also performed a Buddhist salute.
"The donor also said that it is just a skin and does not need to be worn."
"Yeah, but when the skin is as big as the master's, forcing people to look differently is actually a kind of look."
Ji Yuan bowed his hand in return and casually said a certain theory about some connection on the Internet in his previous life. In fact, it can be regarded as an expression of his true feelings. After all, it is too far-fetched for others to treat a person like this monk as ordinary.
The monk was stunned for a moment and returned the greeting to Ji Yuan again.
"Wonderful Ming King Buddha! The donor can see and see through it. It is the little monk who has taken the form."
The clouds in the sky had almost dispersed by this time, and the sun shone on the ground of Gyeonggi Prefecture again. Ji Yuan looked around and saw some pedestrians who had appeared one after another, and some who had heard or seen the place at the Fatai before. Something might have happened, so I was thinking of something fun to watch.
"Master, why did you come to participate in this water and land ceremony?"
Ji Yuan asked softly.
"Only pray for blessings and disaster relief!"
The monk did not pronounce the Buddha's name, but responded respectfully.
Ji Yuan didn't say whether he believed it or not, let alone expressed any opinion. He just nodded at him, then turned and left.
The monk kept watching the plan disappear from sight, then looked at the Dharma altar over there, wiped the sweat on his forehead, picked up his Zen staff and left quickly.
'It's better to go back to the inn where you are staying quickly. '
. . .
In the next so-called nine days and ten meetings, the people of Gyeonggi Prefecture will not only hear the sound of chanting sutras and chanting Dharma near each Dharma platform of the Dharma Assembly, but also often see some magicians "performing Dharma" on the streets.
Because the venues of each deputy Dharma platform are not large, the remaining nine guilds are located in different locations in the capital, with different batches of masters taking turns to practice Dafa. This also makes it convenient for some officials and their subordinates, such as the chief registrar, to carefully observe each master.
In this process, it is very important to be able to show your hands directly at the Dharma conference.
At the same time, in order to "stand out" more easily in the water and land ceremony, some mages will also try their best to "unintentionally" show their holiness in Gyeonggi City.
Some people choose to hang out with dignitaries during their breaks, others choose to set up stalls in the busy market to tell fortunes, and some even deliberately make some extremely weird behaviors to attract attention.
This is very new for the monks of Yuhuai Mountain who rarely go out to the mountain. Not to mention them, Ji Yuan, Lao Long and the ghosts and gods of the Gyeonggi Prefecture are also watching with the mentality of watching the fun.
Accountant Yuan was drinking tea at the window on the second floor of Qingye Building. Sitting opposite him was Longzi Yingfeng, and sitting facing the window on one side was Longnu Yingruoli.
Downstairs is a "Dharma stall", set up by an old master with a celestial spirit. The Dharma stall is set up on a small cart, and there are many notes posted on it.
The note roughly stated that it could be used to measure fortunes and solve problems, and that only those who were destined to sit down would take care of it. Those who were not destined to receive the gold would not accept it. Then it also said that if it did not work, no money would be taken. If it worked, and there was no money to pay, I would sincerely thank you. Can.
Anyway, I really want to do that.
Ji Yuan just drank tea and listened to the sound of storytelling coming from the first floor. Sometimes he would look outside.
"Uncle Ji, the old man down there is just a dying guy. He has extremely shallow moral skills. At most he has some sense of energy and some martial arts and minor skills. Why did you choose him? You can't win against my father with him!"
Finally, Long Zi couldn't help but ask, and Long Nu had the same expression. At first, they thought there was another hidden master underneath, so they patiently looked left and right to observe carefully. Long Zi even pretended to be in the middle. After a change, I went to the stall to check out the reality, but I was naturally disappointed.
Ji Yuan and Lao Long made a bet, each picking one or two of the remaining mages to see who would stand out in the end. Long Zi and Long Nu came to join in the fun.
"Hey, the good-looking ones haven't arrived yet. Here they are, keep an eye out."
While Ji Yuan was talking, a woman and an honest man walked up the street below and walked straight towards the mage's stall.
"This is the one in charge!"
"Oh oh oh!"
Na Jiji responded a few times, walked to the stall, looked around, then knelt down with a thud, and the women next to him also knelt down next to him.
"Thank you, Master, for saving us~~~~"
The man seemed dull, but his voice was loud. The pedestrians around him were startled.
The mage behind the stall immediately stood up and walked around the stall to help the two of them.
"Why do you two need to pay such a big gift? Please come quickly!"
"No, Master, you have shown kindness to our family, but you are not willing to accept the money my mother-in-law brought. You have no way to repay your kindness, so you can only kneel down to thank me!"
"How can this be done? How can this be done! Get up!"
The master used his hands to pull up the man and the woman. They wanted to kneel down again, but they were unable to fight against the master's strength.
Many people were talking about it, wondering what the master had done to make the couple so excited.
"Hey, I won't accept the money, and I won't let you kneel down. Master, how can we repay your kindness~~! Dear fellow villagers, tell me how we can repay you!"
The busybodies gathered around said this in passing.
"Master, what have you helped you with?"
"Yeah, just tell me." "Just tell me."
When the man saw that the master had returned to the stall with a sigh and a shake of his head, he told his mother-in-law what had happened and how the master had helped them resolve their misfortunes. There was also a bit of fantasy in it, which made people around him wonder. Tsk-tsk.
In the end, the couple left with a lot of gratitude. After more than half an hour, another old woman came to express her gratitude. She also helped without taking any money. After that, a young woman came to express her gratitude. The master only accepted ten copper coins. .
After looking at it for a day, when the mage left the stall, in addition to simply telling the fortunes of curious people, about four or five people came to thank him, and only collected money once.
After the mage closed the stall and left, Long Zi and Long Nu looked at each other, the former looking at Ji Yuan.
"Uncle Ji, did I make a mistake?"
"Haha, no, let's go, I haven't finished reading yet."
Ji Yuan stood up, paid for the tea directly, and led Long Zi and Long Nu out of the street. His figure faded as he walked, and after a while he arrived behind a sparsely populated shack in a certain square.
"Hey, Master, how did I perform?" "Not bad, not bad!"
"And me, where's mine!" "Here!"
"Thank you, master, thank you, master!"
…
When Ji Yuan arrived with Long Zi and Long Nu, he saw the same people who had come to express his gratitude before, taking money from the master's hands, which were all broken silver and Datong Bao.
"Is this okay?"
Long Zi stared at this scene blankly, then turned to look at Ji Yuan.
"Uncle Ji, among mortals, he wants to deceive the king, right? Aren't you afraid of beheading?"
Ji Yuan smiled, left a few words and turned to leave.
"So similar to Emperor Yuande."
Long Zi frowned and looked at Long Nu.
"Little sister, do you understand?"
Ying Ruoli also frowned and thought for a moment, then looked at the mage who was taking money out of the purse again. Although he had an immortal spirit, he was also thin and old.
"Uncle Ji may be saying that this person is no longer afraid of beheading for the sake of being 'official'."
"Well, then our father will lose?"
Long Nu glared at Long Zi angrily.
"The one our dad chose was really capable. How could he lose? I think compared with Uncle Ji, our dad cheated!"
"That's a draw!"
Long Zi smiled and turned to leave.
. . .
August 30th is the birthday of Emperor Dazhen Yuande, so this day is also the Wanshou Festival.
The entire palace was decorated with lanterns and colors, and there were busy palace people everywhere inside and outside the palace. The imperial dining room and some related locations had started preparing for this day earlier.
On this day, the ministers also tried their best to exercise restraint in the morning meeting. Unless it was very important and urgent, they tried not to report anything that would make the emperor unhappy.
After the political discussion phase passed quickly, all the officials in the palace became quiet.
Emperor Yuande looked at the old eunuch beside the dragon chair.
"Xuan Dharma Masters, come in."
The old eunuch bowed slightly and nodded, then took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
"Xuan, the great masters of the Water and Land Dharma Association enter the hall~~~!"
There were also palace people outside the palace repeating it loudly.
"Xuan, the great masters of the Water and Land Dharma Association enter the palace!"
After three rounds, under the gaze of the ministers who faced the outside of the palace, a eunuch led a small group of people through the palace gate and entered the main hall.
Some of the officials squinted, some smiled, some snorted, and some were curious.
Among the people who came in were monks, Taoists, old and young, and even an old beggar in tattered clothes. There were sixteen people in total.
The emperor looked down with squinted eyes from above.
A group of people stood still and saluted above.
"See your majesty, long live your majesty!"
"No gift!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
It must be said that upon closer inspection, all the mages were in high spirits and had calm faces, at least none of them showed timidity. The most eye-catching one was naturally the old beggar. There was nothing I could do about it, he was just too out of place.
"Yan Aiqing, who is the master you highly recommend?"
The words often come out to the public, holding the gui and saluting.
"Your Majesty, the ministers recommended Mr. Lu to be the Holy Spirit, and this is the one for him!"
The person Yan Chang was pointing at was actually the beggar, which also surprised some officials in the court who had long regarded him as a treacherous minister.
Emperor Yuan De looked at Yan Chang and then looked at the beggar carefully.
"What magical powers do you have?"
The old beggar took a step forward. He was not as lazy as usual. He cupped his hands towards the emperor and said something that had nothing to do with the emperor's question.
"Old beggar, I am planning to accept two disciples on a whim. One has suffered all the sufferings in the world since he was a child, and the other will enjoy all the glory in the world when he is old. I feel that this water and land ceremony may be an opportunity. I ask Your Majesty, if you are willing to give up your Ha Long Chair?”
"Bold!" "Bold!"
"Mr. Lu, what are you talking about? Please apologize to Your Majesty quickly!"
"How dare you offend your Majesty!"
"Ren..." "Ren..." "Ren..."...
The officials around him glared angrily, and Yan Chang broke into a cold sweat. Even the mages subconsciously stayed away from the old beggar, and the Ouchi guards were even more tense.
Sitting high on the dragon chair, Emperor Yuan De suppressed his anger and asked coldly.
"So you have a way to live forever?"
The old beggar frowned and thought, then shook his head and answered.
"There is no immortality."
"Then you can achieve the power and wealth that exceeds the position of the emperor, and the freedom that exceeds the dignity of the nine-fifth emperor?"
I thought that since the old emperor was eager to seek immortality, even though it seemed inappropriate to ask him, the other party should also respond seriously, but some things went against his wishes. The emperor seemed not to tolerate even the slightest disobedience...
The old beggar's face turned pale.
"I'm afraid it's not possible to be this kind of carefree."
"Oh, then what's the solution if only a few people get down from the throne, the position of emperor is suspended, and there is no one to deal with major national affairs?"
The old beggar's face was expressionless.
"The country cannot live without a king for a day, and Dazhen may become powerful, so he will naturally give up the throne to the prince, and the emperor has reached his age."
Emperor Yuande glanced at the princes, and as his anger surged, he thought a lot in his heart. At this moment, he laughed angrily.
"Hehehe... Hahahahaha... Yan Chang, is this the person you recommended?"
"Your Majesty! I deserve death for my crime! I deserve death for my crime!"
The Taichang was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground. He kowtowed and did not dare to get up.