While Monk Huai Yi and Daoist Yi Zhuo were fighting, the entire funeral procession stopped there. The coffin had not been carried to its destination, so it could not fall to the ground. The strong men carrying the coffin were fine at first, but later on, they were exhausted and miserable. But at this time, the whispers of the crowd had already revealed the identity of this Great Master Huai Yi, so they did not dare to step forward to argue.
Monk Huai Yi was originally a monk halfway through his life, so he was ignorant and incompetent. It was just that he had been a monk for a long time, so he more or less knew some of the teachings of Buddhism. However, if he really wanted to argue with Daoist Yi Zhuo, he naturally wouldn't be his opponent. At this moment, Daoist Yi Zhuo was showing weakness, and he knew that he was afraid of his identity. Thus, he didn't argue with him anymore. Instead, he said rudely, "Old Daoist, tell me, between Grandpa Rulai and Grandpa Laojun, who is more powerful?"
The monk's words were neither fish nor fowl. Even Tathagata was respectfully addressed as grandpa. Fortunately, although he belittled Taoism, he dared not be too rude to Lao Dan, the Supreme Taoist Lord. Therefore, he addressed Lao Dan as grandpa.
Daoist Yi Zhuo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At that time, the immortals of Buddhism and Daoism had not been confused by so many novels. In Daoist mythology, there were no Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and in Buddhist scriptures, there were no immortals like the Three Pure Ones. How could he compare them?
Daoist Yi Zhuo stammered and couldn't reply. Monk Huai Yi said proudly, "From the looks of it, you admit that Grandpa Rulai is more powerful than Grandpa Old Lord?"
At this moment, more and more people gathered on the street to watch the commotion. Daoist Yi Zhuo knew that if he continued to argue, he would be the one to lose face in the end. He really didn't want to argue with this kind of unreasonable person anymore, so he just gave in and let him leave. Thus, he gritted his teeth and said, "Come to think of it, as Master said, Rulai's mana is more powerful than Lao Jun's."
Monk Huai Yi laughed out loud and said, "Since Grandpa Rulai is more powerful than Grandpa Old Lord, why are you still worshipping Celestial Venerable? Why don't you join my Buddhism and worship Buddha?"
"Ah?"
Daoist Yi Zhuo exclaimed, "How can we do that? Buddhism is Buddhism, and Dao is Dao. I am a disciple of Daoism, so how can I convert to Buddhism? "
Monk Huai Yi waved his hand and said, "What Buddhism and Daoism? Since Grandpa Old Lord isn't as good as Grandpa Rulai, let's invite Grandpa Rulai to sit on the first golden seat and Grandpa Old Lord to sit on the second golden seat. Buddhism and Daoism are one family, and everyone will be happy! Today, I will accept you as my disciple. Men, shave my disciple's head! "
Immediately a few monks rushed out, grabbed Daoist Yi Zhuo, snatched his Seven Stars Sword, took off his Five Mountains Daoist Crown, tore off his dark yellow robe, and pressed him to the ground. They even brought along a shaving kit. Monk Huai Yi personally took the razor and began to shave Daoist Yi Zhuo on the street.
Before long, the sage-like Daoist Yi Zhuo had turned into a bald old … novice monk. Because he had just entered the sect, he did not even have a burn scar on his head. Naturally, he was just a novice monk.
This scene not only dumbfounded the passersby, but even the funeral procession was tongue-tied. Xue Lian was still young, so when she saw Daoist Yi Zhuo, who had used the Seven Star Steps and brandished the Seven Stars Sword, turn into a bald monk in just a moment, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
At this time, there were already countless people snickering on both sides of the road. Monk Huai Yi called for a monk's robe and gave it to Daoist Yi Zhuo to change into. At this time, Daoist Yi Zhuo's two disciples were also pressed to the ground and had their heads shaved in a flurry. They had become two genuine novice monks.
Monk Huai Yi looked at them and said with satisfaction, "Mmm, they look much better now. You two continue with your ritual. Don't delay the burial of the deceased. Hongyi, Hongliu, you two follow them. Once they finish their ritual, bring them back to the White Horse Temple to see me. From then on, they will be part of the White Horse Temple. Hahahaha … "
Amidst the laughter, Monk Huai Yi leaped onto his horse and swaggered through the funeral procession with a whip.
Hongyi and Hongliu, the two green-robed monks, crossed their arms and stood in front of Daoist Yi Zhuo … Monk Yi Zhuo. They slanted their eyebrows and said, "Go on, go on. You have accepted their money, so you should at least do a good job at their funeral. Won't you ruin the reputation of our White Horse Temple?"
Daoist Yi Zhuo wanted to cry but had no tears. He had become a monk since he was a child and had been a Daoist his whole life. Now that he had mysteriously become a monk, he could only wave the Seven Stars Sword in shame and continue with the ritual.
Monk Hongyi said, "Hey, why are you still fiddling with the Seven Stars Sword? You are a monk now."
Yi Zhuo covered his face with his sleeve and whispered to him, "I am ashamed, I …"
Hongyi interrupted him, "Junior Martial Brother! There are fifteen of us now. You have just entered the sect, so you are ranked sixteenth. We are all from the Hong generation, so you are the sixteenth. You have to call us Senior Martial Brother. "
Daoist Yi Zhuo lowered his head and said with tears in his eyes, "Senior Martial Brother, I … I don't know how to chant the Buddhist Rebirth Mantra!"
Hongyi rubbed his nose and asked the monk beside him, "Hong Liu, do you know how?"
Hong Liu said, "Bullsh * t, how would I know how?"
He waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, do what you know. Continue with the ritual and follow us to see Master."
Daoist Yi Zhuo had no choice but to continue with the ritual.
A bald monk wearing a gray robe walked in the Seven Stars Steps and waved the Seven Stars Sword while chanting, "The Three Pure Ones, the Merciful Lord of the Three Realms, the Daoist Scripture Master, Great Heavenly Venerable Bao, under the auspicious light, Luo Feng, welcome the dead to the shore. The clouds have descended, the cranes have arrived, the dharma assembly has begun, the Eight Trigrams are hanging high … "
Under the shocked gazes of the passersby, a few monks chanted the Daoist Scripture of Salvation and led the funeral procession along Jianchun Street toward the Jianchun Gate …
…
Some of the commoners on the street did not know the identity of the monk, so they could not help but click their tongues in wonder and ask about it. Someone said, "Who is that monk? Why is he so domineering? He has many disciples, and none of them seem to be good people. That old Daoist is afraid of being at a disadvantage, so he tolerated it. However, the funeral is being held by Yang Langzhong's family. Why did he swallow his anger? "
"Heh! You're really ignorant and ill-informed! Didn't you hear that old Daoist call that monk Master Huaiyi? Didn't you hear that monk say that he came from the White Horse Temple? Who do you think he is? Hehe! "
"Aiya! Could it be … that monk is Xue Huaiyi? "
"Shh! Do you have the right to call out her name? What kind of person is he? Even the Empress's nephews, Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi, have to respectfully call him Master Xue. Not to mention that Yang Langzhong is already dead, even if Yang Langzhong was still alive, he wouldn't dare to point fingers in front of this master. "
As the crowd spoke, they revealed the story of the abbot of the White Horse Temple.
It turned out that the monk's surname was Xue, and his Buddhist name was Huaiyi. His real name was Feng Xiaobao. He was originally a Jianghu man who played with spears and rods and sold medicine on the streets of Luoyang. Because of his strong physique and handsome appearance, he later became Wu Zetian's gigolo by chance.
Wu Zetian was very happy to have such a young and strong man like Feng Xiaobao. However, as a man in his prime, entering and leaving the palace would inevitably cause criticism. Li Tang's royal family was either good Daoists or good Buddhists. It was common for eminent monks of both the Buddhist and Daoist sects to enter and leave the palace. Thus, Wu Zetian had an idea and asked him to become a monk.
With a decree from Wu Zetian, the abbot of the White Horse Temple in Luoyang gave his position to Feng Xiaobao. Wu Zetian herself attached great importance to family status. Her Wu family was originally a noble family in Guanlong. Because she loved Feng Xiaobao very much, she was afraid that he would be despised by others because of his lowly background. Thus, she thought of a way to change his name to Xue Huaiyi. This way, he would be connected to her daughter, Princess Taiping's husband, Xue Shao, and become a member of the Xue family. Xue Shao would also have to respectfully call him uncle.
This Xue Huaiyi worked for Empress Wu not only on the bed, but he also did a few big things. One of them was the construction of the "Ming Hall".
The "Ming Hall" was recorded in the Confucian classics as the place where the Son of Heaven set up the court. To Wu Zetian, the construction of the "Ming Hall" was not as simple as a building. It had a deep political significance. This huge project was designed and supervised by Xue Huaiyi. Of course, the specific design was naturally done by specialized craftsmen. Although Xue Huaiyi was ignorant and incompetent, he had many wonderful ideas.
Ming Hall was built in a grand, magnificent, and extraordinary manner. It was a total of thirty floors tall, and it became the largest palace building in the history of the Chinese server. Xue Huaiyi used less than a year to build such a huge building. Moreover, he also built an even taller "Heaven" behind the "Ming Hall".
How big and how tall was this "Heaven"? The "Heaven" had a total of five stories. By the time he reached the third story, it was already above the "Ming Hall". In the "Heaven", there was a large Buddha. It was built according to Wu Zetian's appearance. This large Buddha's little finger could hold dozens of people.
Many readers might have seen the glory of this large Buddha in the movie "Di Renjie and the Empire of Tongtian". And this large Buddha was placed in the "Heaven". It was easy to imagine how big the "Heaven" was.
Recently, Xue Huaiyi became even more powerful. At the beginning of the year, Wu Zetian appointed him as the Chief of the Xin Ping Road Army to fight against the Turks. Xue Huaiyi was just a medicine seller. The generals under him were not to be trifled with. When the Turks heard that the Tang army was coming, they avoided fighting.
Xue Huaiyi really wanted to fight with the Turks. However, after wandering in the grasslands for a few months, he could not find any trace of the enemy. He could only "return in triumph". Because of this contribution, Wu Zetian gave him the title of Second Rank Great General Who Supports the Nation. He became even more arrogant.
Perhaps it was because Empress Wu was busy with state affairs, she did not summon him to the palace for a long time. Feng Xiaobao dared to do other things, but he did not dare to "wear a green hat" on Wu Zetian. As a strong man, what else could he do? He could only summon a group of ruffians he was familiar with to the White Horse Temple to shave their hair and eat meat and wine every day.
Since he became a monk, he could not bear to see others grow their hair. He could not do anything to ordinary people, but he could not shave millions of people in Luoyang and make them bald. So he vented his anger on the Taoists.
Of course, Xue Huaiyi had other intentions. Although he looked rough, he was actually a very smart man. He knew that the Taoists were closely related to Li Tang's royal family and were protecting Li Tang. Empress Wu wanted to remove Li Tang's life, so she needed to promote Buddhism and suppress the Taoists. He did this to create support for Wu Zetian.
Because of this, ever since he returned to Luoyang, he rode the streets every day. As long as he saw a Taoist, he would catch him to shave his head and become a monk. This news had gradually spread. That Taoist Yizhuo, the head of Hongshou Monastery, had already heard about it. So when he saw Xue Huaiyi, he subconsciously wanted to hide. He did not expect that he would still fall into Xue Huaiyi's hands.
Yang Fan and Maqiao followed the crowd into the square. Along the way, they talked about Xue Huaiyi's anecdotes. Yang Fan did not think that he would have any interaction with this monk in the future, so he did not take it to heart. The only thing he wanted to find was the whereabouts of Miao Shenke.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
