As night fell, Zhu Ping'an, Liu Mu and Liu Dadao rode their horses into the Linhuai Marquis Mansion before curfew.
At the same time, the Baiyun Temple in Xicheng District of Beijing was brightly lit. In sharp contrast, the gate of Baiyun Temple seemed a bit deserted.
The temple gate was empty, with only the door frame but no door. There were still traces of rotten vegetable leaves, fruits, eggs, etc. on the door frame that had not been thoroughly washed clean. There was also a line of faint words left on the temple wall: "Buddha is born from the heart. If there is Buddha in the heart, everything you see is Buddha. If there is cow dung in the heart, everything you see turns into cow dung." It was unknown what kind of ink was used. The monks of Baiyun Temple washed it more than ten times but failed to wash it off completely.
At the gate of Baiyun Temple, two monks stood holding sticks, their eyes sparkling as they looked around, guarding against the return of those scoundrels who had "looted the walls" during the day.
Today, my front door was smashed and I haven't had time to replace it yet.
On the day of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's enlightenment, more than a hundred eternal lamps offered by believers were burning in the various halls of Baiyun Temple. In each hall, there were several monks sitting on cushions, meditating and chanting.
These brightly lit Buddhist temples are scattered in an orderly manner at both ends of the central axis of Baiyun Temple, extending in depth with numerous halls and pavilions. There are also several courtyards built around the halls and pavilions, which are sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, scattered in an orderly manner.
Among these courtyards, the courtyard built around the Great Compassion Pavilion is the place with the best scenery and the most complete furnishings in the entire Baiyun Temple. It can be said to be the essence of the entire Baiyun Temple.
This quadrangle is where the lay Buddhists of Baiyun Temple stay and where distinguished guests are entertained.
At this time, the courtyard of Dabei Pavilion was brightly lit, and bursts of hearty and Zen-like laughter and chatter could be heard.
In the main room of the courtyard, a table of exquisite and sumptuous vegetarian food was set up. Six people were sitting around the table. Sitting at the head of the table was an official in seventh-rank official uniform, who was over 40 years old, with a righteous face and an air of official authority. At this moment, he was stroking his beard, smiling, and letting out a hearty laugh.
This man is Liu Dengwen, a well-known seventh-rank Censor of the capital. Censor Liu was born into a family of officials, or more precisely, a family of censors. His father was the Censor of Liaodong when he retired, and his uncle is now the Censor of Salt in Changlu.
The name of the Imperial Censor Liu was Liu Dengwen, and the word Dengwen was taken from the "Dengwen Drum" by his father. The Dengwen Drum was one of the duties of the Imperial Censors of the two capitals. It can be seen that his father hoped that he would inherit his father's career.
Censor Liu did not disappoint his father. He passed the examination for a scholar at the age of 25, passed the imperial examination at the age of 35, passed the imperial examination for a Jinshi at the age of 40, and was appointed as the Shuntian Supervisory Censor at the age of 41. With the help of his father and uncle's connections, and Censor Liu's own efforts, he soon became famous in the censor circle.
Censor Liu was good at seizing opportunities and had a keen political instinct. He selectively impeached many people in the capital and soon became famous. Among the censors in the capital, Censor Liu was one of the famous ones.
Although Censor Liu was only a seventh-rank official, he was quite well-known and influential in the capital city where throwing a brick could hit two or three sixth-rank officials.
Firstly, it was because Censor Liu was the Supervisory Censor in Beijing. His official position was not high, but his power was considerable. He had the power to inspect the Beijing camp, supervise the villages, the imperial examinations and the military examinations, inspect the Guanglu, inspect the granaries, inspect the inner treasury, the imperial city, the five cities, and take turns to impeach officials who violated the law and were incompetent to the emperor. Secondly, it was because of Censor Liu's connections and his personal popularity.
Speaking of which, the relationship between Censor Liu and Baiyun Temple began six years ago. At that time, Censor Liu was forty years old and had just started working as an official in Beijing.
He passed the imperial examination at the age of thirty, became a Jinshi at the age of forty, and held an official position. It can be said that Liu Yushi was at the peak of his life. However, he had one regret, that is, he married at the age of eighteen, took a concubine at the age of twenty, divorced his wife and married another at the age of twenty-five. Now he has been married and established a family for more than twenty years, and has three concubines, but has no son, not even a daughter.
Six years ago, Censor Liu's wife heard that Baiyun Temple was very popular and that all wishes would be granted and effective, so she came to the Guanyin Hall of Baiyun Temple to worship Buddha and make a wish.
Once, twice, and even the third time, to show his sincerity, he fasted for three days in Baiyun Temple and knelt before the Buddha statue for three days.
It is said that sincerity can bring good luck. Liu Yushi's second wife moved Guanyin, and soon after he went back for the third time, Liu Yushi's first wife became pregnant. Although the son was born half a month premature, his physique was no worse than other full-term children, on the contrary, he was very strong.
As a result, Censor Liu became connected with Baiyun Temple. He was a frequent visitor to Baiyun Temple and could be considered a "lay Buddhist" there.
Censor Liu's wife also often came to Baiyun Temple to burn incense and fulfill her vows, praying for the safety of her child.
Last month, Censor Liu's wife became pregnant again.
This time, Censor Liu came to Baiyun Temple to fulfill his vow.
The person sitting next to Censor Liu was also an official, also a Supervisory Censor, named Wang Dongfang. His reputation was not as good as Censor Liu's, but his network of contacts was no less than that of Censor Liu. The two of them served in the Censorate together and had a good relationship. They often exchanged poems, wine, and memorials to the emperor. When you impeached someone, I would sign my name on it.
The remaining four were monks. The one sitting opposite Censor Liu was the abbot of Baiyun Temple. The one sitting next to the abbot was the eminent monk Manjusri who came to Baiyun Temple to hold a general Buddhist ceremony. The other two were deacons of Baiyun Temple.
"Haha, Master Manjusri's sign of 'Zhu Ping'an and dogs are not allowed to enter!' is a good example." Censor Liu stroked his beard and smiled slightly, "For Zhu Ping'an, who blasphemed the Buddha and called for killing, this is the way to deal with him."
“Amitabha, if I don’t go to hell, who will? ... I just didn’t expect to implicate the Baiyun Temple. This makes me feel quite uneasy.” The eminent monk Manjusri chanted the Buddha’s name, put his hands together, and said to the abbot of Baiyun Temple with an apologetic look on his face.
“There is no Bodhi tree, nor is there a mirror stand. There is nothing originally, so where can dust gather? The door is there and it is not there, filth exists and it does not exist. Why should you be attached to this, Master?” The abbot of Baiyun Temple smiled slightly.
"Good, good. It is because I am obsessed with appearances." The eminent monk Manjusri made the Buddhist seal with his hands and nodded with a smile.
"Abbot, Master, you are very profound in Buddhism, but we cannot stand this. Zhu Ping'an is a scholar, but he is not strict in his internal affairs and has no sense of shame. He even let a woman take the lead and ordered the servants to come to our Buddhist holy land and make trouble. Not only did they smash the temple gate, but they also wrote dirty words on the temple walls and the main hall to insult our temple."
A deacon from Baiyun Temple who was sitting at the bottom said indignantly.
"That's right. Zhu Ping'an bullies others by taking advantage of his power. He relies on his official authority to bully us powerless monks and insult our Buddha." Another deacon of Baiyun Temple was also indignant.