Chapter 109: Protecting the Venerable (3k)
"Your Highness, Princess Shouyang is here."
Ever since she "threw away her weapons and armor" that night, Princess Chenliu stayed in bed in her mansion for a whole day before she recovered. These days, whenever she saw the cowardly cat in her arms, she felt so angry that she didn't even have the mood to watch the good shows happening in the uterus these days.
Due to the insistence of Prince Qinghe Yuan Yi, the incident involving Princess Lanling ended with the complete defeat of her husband Liu Hui.
Liu Hui was not angry about the tragic death of his concubine. Too many women had died secretly in the mansion over the years. In fact, Liu Hui had no feelings for these two women.
What made Liu Hui angry was that the two women were beaten to death by Princess Lanling even though they were pregnant. Because of Princess Lanling's fertility problems, Liu Hui still has no children.
Liu Hui really couldn't stand Princess Lanling anymore, so he first wrote a letter to request a divorce, and then brought the case to Empress Dowager Hu on the grounds that Princess Lanling had murdered the descendants of King Song.
Liu Hui's plan was good, but unfortunately he met Qinghe King Yuan Yi.
At the suggestion of Qinghe Prince Yuan Yi, Empress Dowager Hu issued an edict agreeing to the divorce of Princess Lanling and Song Prince Liu Hui.
Immediately afterwards, Empress Dowager Hu issued another decree, stating that Emperor Xiaowen had granted Liu Hui marriage, which was why Liu Hui inherited the title of King of Song as a concubine's son. Therefore, after the divorce, Liu Hui's title of King of Song would be deprived and he would be demoted to a commoner.
Since Liu Hui was a commoner, his descendants were not of the bloodline of King Song. Princess Lanling had only killed two slave girls and their unborn commoner children. Empress Dowager Hu only ordered the reduction of her fief of 200 households in Tangmu, which was considered a punishment for Princess Lanling.
In contrast, Liu Hui, who lost his concubine and son, was deprived of his title of King of Song and was driven out of the palace, becoming the biggest laughing stock in Luoyang.
Despite such a great show, Princess Chenliu did not go into the palace to watch it. She was truly exhausted that night.
However, Princess Chenliu did not go to watch the play, but someone reported the plot developments to her every day. The person who came today was Princess Shouyang Yuan Juli.
Actually, Princess Shouyang is the cousin of Princess Chenliu.
The father of Princess Shouyang was Prince Yuan Xie of Pengcheng, a senior official of the royal family who assisted Emperor Xiaowen in his reforms.
Prince of Pengcheng Yuan Xie was the younger brother of Emperor Xiaowen. He was also a member of the royal family who strongly advocated moving the capital to Luoyang. He was also the commander-in-chief of the reconstruction of Luoyang City at that time. He was the minister of state left by Emperor Xiaowen to his son Emperor Xuanwu after his death.
However, King Pengcheng Yuan Xie failed in his struggle with Emperor Xuanwu's uncle, the powerful official Gao Zhao, and was poisoned to death by Emperor Xuanwu.
When he was young, King Pengcheng Yuan Xie was a famous handsome man in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and his daughter, Princess Shouyang, was also a famous beauty in the whole Luoyang.
In addition, Princess Shouyang has a younger brother, Yuan Ziyou, who also inherited his father's appearance and temperament. He has a very close relationship with the current little emperor. He was named the founding duke of Wucheng County and accompanied the little emperor to study in the palace.
Empress Dowager Hu was a person who was obsessed with looks. No matter if a man or a woman was good-looking, they would always be favored by her.
Princess Shouyang's appearance was extremely outstanding among the women of the royal family, and her younger brother Yuan Ziyou was also handsome, so Empress Dowager Hu often summoned Princess Shouyang to the palace, and she could also get first-hand information from the palace at the first time.
After recounting the "big drama" in the palace in the past few days, Princess Shouyang noticed that Princess Chenliu was tired, so she asked, "Sister, are you feeling unwell?"
Princess Chenliu couldn't help gritting her teeth when she thought of the "culprit" who had harmed her. When she heard her sister's concerned greetings, she remembered the scene that night and her face suddenly turned red.
"Did Sister catch a cold?"
Princess Shouyang stretched out her slender hand and just as she touched Princess Chenliu's forehead, Princess Chenliu suddenly grabbed her hand and said, "I'm fine!"
Princess Shouyang was still looking at her imperial sister with concern. Upon closer inspection, she found that Princess Chenliu looked quite good, except that she was lying on her side on the bed. She even looked more radiant than the last time she saw her.
Could it be that the princess is not sick, but has encountered some bad things?
Princess Shouyang has a gentle personality, which makes her an outlier among the domineering and crazy women of the Northern Wei royal family. Her father is a gentleman and she has been well-read since childhood. She looks so pitiful that even Empress Dowager Hu couldn't help but take care of her.
Princess Shouyang thought of the rumors in Luoyang City today, and said to Princess Chenliu: "Sister, I heard that there are 'ghost soldiers' causing chaos in Luoyang City today. Did you encounter some evil creatures?"
"Ghost Army?"
"Yes, this ghost army was armed with armor and attacked several places in Luoyang, but the patrol officers could not find any trace of them. They disappeared without a trace after committing the crime. People in the streets said they were the ghost army. Some said they were the wronged souls of the Luoyang Imperial Army of the Jin Dynasty seeking a reward!"
Lu Zhu shuddered after hearing this, but Princess Chen Liu said, "There is no such thing as a ghost army, but I did encounter a 'dirty thing'!"
Princess Shouyang said quickly, "Sister, you must go to the temple to pray! We have nothing to do today, shall we go to Yongning Temple?"
"Yongning Temple?"
Princess Chenliu suddenly said, "You haven't been to Yongning Temple enough, let's go to Longhua Temple today."
"Longhua Temple? Where is Longhua Temple?"
"It's in Jianyang. I heard that temple is very effective."
Princess Shouyang has always been a good girl. Even when she went to a Buddhist temple, she only went to the royal temple. Princess Chenliu said again: "Don't bring your princess's guards. We will pretend to be the wives of ordinary people in Luoyang and go to Longhua Temple to have a look."
The Princess of Shouyang was finally persuaded by Princess Chenliu. Lu Zhu brought two sets of ordinary clothes for girls in Luoyang, found an ordinary carriage, took a few personal guards, and headed towards Longhua Temple.
But when their carriage had just arrived at Longhua Temple, they saw a group of monks with sticks guarding the temple rushing out of the temple and heading out of the city.
"Sister, what is this?"
Princess Chenliu also looked at the direction where the stick monk went in confusion. She called Luzhu to get off the car to find out what was going on. After a while, Luzhu got on the car and said:
"Your Highnesses, the Longhua Temple's temple fields outside the city have been surrounded by the Yulin Army, and these stick monks have gone to help fight for the fields."
"what?"
Although Princess Shouyang lost her father at a young age, she had many brothers and sisters in her family, and she was also outstanding in appearance. She was loved by her family and had never experienced any hardships.
After the new emperor ascended the throne, Gao Zhao was defeated, and the Pengcheng Palace, which had been suppressed by Gao Zhao, regained its glory. His younger brother Yuan Ziyou became the emperor's companion, and Princess Shouyang herself was also loved by Empress Dowager Hu.
So Princess Shouyang looked like she was out of touch with the world. She simply could not imagine that the compassionate Buddhists would go outside the city with weapons to fight for the inheritance?
But Princess Chenliu was different. She knew all the ins and outs of Luoyang. There were too many filthy and dirty Buddhist temples in Luoyang, and fighting over inheritance was just a daily routine in these temples.
But when Princess Chenliu heard about the dispute over inheritance with the Yulin Army, her heart skipped a beat. Could it be him again?
When Princess Chenliu thought of this, she said to Luzhu, "Let's follow these monks and go outside the city to have a look!"
Princess Shouyang originally wanted to dissuade them, but she had never seen people fighting over property, so she couldn't help her curiosity and followed Princess Chenliu to the outside of the city.
The leader of the stick monks was Tan Fang, the receptionist of Longhua Temple. Although he was called the receptionist, he was the fourth most important person in the temple and was responsible for the work of "welcoming and seeing off".
In addition to welcoming distinguished guests, it is also the duty of the receptionist to see off unwelcome guests. When Tan Fang received a request for help from the farm outside the city, he was furious. How dare the Yulin Army surround the farm of Longhua Temple?
Tan Fang immediately ordered a hundred monks with sticks to rush towards the farm outside the city.
The carriages of Princess Chenliu and County Lady Shouyang followed Tan Fang's stick-wielding monk and soon arrived at a farm in Luoyang City.
However, unlike the dispute over property that Princess Chenliu had imagined, there was no armed fight on this farm. Instead, a group of farmers holding farm tools surrounded a monk in a linen gray robe and were listening attentively to him explaining Buddhist scriptures.
A group of imperial guards were standing guard on the side, and Princess Chenliu saw the familiar figure at a glance.
It really is that guy!
Why is that guy arguing with Buddhism again? Wasn't Longhua Temple built with funds donated by their imperial guards?
Tan Fang, with a group of monks, was also stunned when he saw this scene? What about the fight for the inheritance?
Why is it different from previous inheritance disputes?
Seeing Tan Fang coming, the farm manager immediately stepped forward and said, "Uncle Master Tan Fang!"
"what is going on?"
The farm manager pointed at the monk in sackcloth and said:
"That monk has been sitting at the gate of the farm preaching since yesterday. Yesterday, only three or two lazy tenants went to listen. Today, all the tenants of the farm came out to listen to him. We wanted to drive them back to work, but we were surrounded by this group of Yu Lin!"
When Tan Fang saw the group of aggressive Yu Lin and then looked at the stick monk behind him, he immediately felt a little lacking in confidence.
But since this matter concerns the property of the Buddhist temple, Tan Fang could not retreat. He could only step forward and shout to the Yu Lin: "This farm was donated to our Longhua Temple by your Tunqiying. How can you regret it?"
The day before yesterday, people from the Tunqi Camp came to deliver a notice, saying that they wanted to take back the farmland occupied by Longhua Temple. However, the temple’s top brass, including the receptionist, did not take it seriously.
Longhua Temple is a temple donated by the Imperial Guards and has a great influence among the Imperial Guards. Then why are the ancestral tablets of many people in the Tunqiying still enshrined in Longhua Temple?
For a little bit of "disputed land", these Yu Lins didn't dare to take action. No one wants the tablet of their ancestors to be taken out, right?
But what is going on now?
This monk in a linen grey robe was sitting on the ground and preaching, and he actually attracted so many tenant farmers to listen. What exactly was he preaching?
Tan Fang gritted his teeth and went forward with the monk with the stick to find the leader of the Yulin brigade and argue with him:
"General Su! If you want to fight for the farmland, go to Henan Prefecture! Why did you surround my farm in Longhua Temple?"
Su Ze said calmly: "Who said we are here to fight for the inheritance?"
Looking at these guards around me, although they are not wearing armor, they are all holding weapons. It seems that they are here to fight for the inheritance, right?
Tan Fang said angrily: "Since you are not here to fight for the inheritance, please leave immediately!"
Su Ze pointed at the monk who was giving the sermon and said, "We are not here to fight for the inheritance, but to protect the Dharma for the Venerable."
Update 5k in the evening, posted first
(End of this chapter)