The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 655 Black and red are also red

Today, the Shence Marquis's residence is like a New Year's celebration; everyone is very busy.

Qian Cong was busy rehearsing with his troupe of actors, while Cai Jia was writing a novel with more than thirty cronies.

Cai Jia was originally just a son of a collateral branch of the Cai family in Xiangyang. It was only after the direct line of the Cai family surrendered to Cao Cao that his branch became the direct line.

Although their status had improved, their identity had not changed in time. Before Cai Mao surrendered to Cao Cao, his family had mainly dealt with people from humble backgrounds. Now, although their family status had improved instantly, they could not instantly abandon their connections from humble backgrounds, much less instantly integrate into the core circle of the gentry. After all, assimilation takes time.

Therefore, Cai Jia's friends were mainly from poor families. Poor families were not only scholars from the lower classes, but also those who ran shops and businesses, such as the Mi family of Donghai in the past.

Therefore, Cai Jia's friends come from all walks of life, and he can basically find the talent he needs in his circle of friends. If Cai Jia had the resource integration ability of Guan Xing, he could have accomplished a great career just by relying on this network of connections.

Cai Jia didn't have the ability, but Guan Xing did. Guan Xing had Cai Jia gather all his literate friends together, then gave each of them an outline to write a novel. He also opened a bookstore in the commercial street that specialized in selling novels, stipulating that the money would be split according to the sales of the novels, with the authors receiving 70% of the sales revenue. It was essentially a Han Dynasty version of an online novel platform.

Cai Jia and his cronies didn't care about this small amount of money for the time being. The reason they did this was firstly because they were really bored, and secondly because they wanted to show their face in front of Marquis Guan Xing of the Divine Strategy. In the future, they might be able to gain the Marquis's appreciation and get an official position.

To gain Guan Xing's favor, this group of people wrote with all their might, their pens practically smoking from the effort.

But what was Guan Xing, the Marquis of Shence, doing? He was in the backyard singing erotic songs with his wife and concubines.

In the backyard bedroom, Sun Luyu sat by the bed sewing tiger-head shoes for the child, while Guan Xing was surrounded by Sun Luyu's eight dowry maids, who were singing coquettishly: "I look east and west, but I can't find my beloved, my love. My love, where are you hiding? I'm so busy looking for you..."

Sun Luyu rolled his eyes at the sour song and said irritably, "Alright, alright, aren't you afraid of being laughed at in broad daylight?"

Guan Xing laughed dismissively, "So what? It's none of anyone else's business if we're playing at home. Besides, nobody usually comes to our house."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a voice called from outside the door: "Lord Shence, two eminent Buddhist monks, Kang Senghui and Mou Zi, are requesting an audience. Their attitude is not very friendly; it seems they have come to interrogate us."

“Uh…” Guan Xing was stunned.

Sun Luyu put down his needlework, touched his belly, and said, "Go on, stop fooling around here, or you'll corrupt your son."

Guan Xing left helplessly, but Sun Luyu quickly stopped him and said, "Wait, wipe the lipstick marks off your face. How can you go to see guests like that? And you guys, you're not allowed to hang on to your husbands all the time. You girls have no manners at all."

After scolding her husband and the maids, she had the maids help Guan Xing wash his face and change his clothes, and then pushed Guan Xing out the door.

Guan Xing strolled over to the front hall with a pigeon-toed gait, clasped his hands in greeting to Kang Senghui and Mou Zi who were waiting in the hall, and said, "This junior greets the two masters. Your presence is an honor to my humble abode."

Kang Senghui and Mou Zi exchanged a glance, then Kang Senghui stood up and bowed, saying, "This humble monk greets Marquis Shence. Marquis Shence, since you are a distinguished person and busy with other matters, this humble monk will get straight to the point. What grudge do we Buddhist sects have against you? Why did you write a book to slander our Buddhist sect?"

He had also read Guan Xing's "The Legend of the White Snake." The book portrayed Fahai, who came from a Buddhist background, in a way that was extremely hateful. He hadn't paid much attention to it at first, thinking it was just a novel and wouldn't change anything. However, he didn't expect "The Legend of the White Snake" to become so popular. In just one day, it spread throughout the streets and alleys, and even seven- or eight-year-old children were reciting it. As a result, Fahai also became the target of public criticism. Everyone who knew "The Legend of the White Snake" cursed Fahai.

If Fahai were just a personal name, they wouldn't care. But Fahai was a high-ranking Buddhist monk. For a high-ranking Buddhist monk to become a rat that everyone hates is a fatal blow to the reputation of Buddhism.

It should be noted that Buddhism has not yet developed to the point where magnificent temples and palaces are everywhere, as was the case during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Buddhism is very fragile now, has very little influence, and is in a very difficult state of survival.

The main problem was the lack of official support. In the past, when Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, and Zuo Rong, a powerful figure in Danyang, were alive, Buddhism did indeed flourish for a period of time. Later, Sun Quan also became a Buddhist and tended to vigorously develop Buddhism.

However, now that Tao Qian and Zuo Rong are dead, Sun Quan has surrendered to the Han and is keeping a low profile, and Liu Bei and his subordinates who have unified Jiangnan are more inclined to believe in Taoism and are not interested in Buddhism, the development of Buddhism has become extremely difficult.

The Buddhist community is already struggling to survive, yet Guan Xing still dares to slander it like this. What grudge could he possibly have? Is it really necessary?

Faced with Kang Senghui's questioning, Guan Xing calmly smiled and said, "Master, you misunderstand. I didn't mean to target Buddhism. It's just that the story needs a villain. It's purely for the sake of the plot."

Kang Senghui said with dissatisfaction, "If you need a villain, then use Buddhism as the villain. Why don't you use Taoism as the villain?"

Guan Xing said, "Yes, I wrote another book called 'The Legend of the Mermaid,' in which the villains are Taoists, and that old Taoist priest is even worse than the villain Fahai."

"Uh..." Kang Seng was taken aback and, after a long pause, asked in return, "Why should I believe you?"

Guan Xing didn't answer but shouted towards the door, "Go and call the guy who wrote 'The Mermaid' and have him bring the outline and his work."

Soon Cai Jia arrived with a young boy. Guan Xing took the books from their hands and handed them to Kang Senghui, saying, "Take a look for yourself."

Kang Seng and Mou Zi huddled together and quickly flipped through the pages; they were both numb by the end.

Damn Guan Anguo, you really treat Buddhism and Taoism equally, without any bias.

The two now believed that Guan Xing was only acting out of the script and was not deliberately targeting Buddhism.

So the two of them didn't know how to refute it. After a long pause, Mou Zicai said, "Why do you always target us outsiders? If you're so capable, why don't you portray Confucianism as the villains?"

Guan Xing said, "Yes, Cai Jia, go and call the author of 'The Butterfly Lovers'."

Soon, Kang Senghui and Mou Zi had another novel called "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" in their hands, and the two of them were completely speechless.

Kang Senghui, unable to vent his anger, could only sigh helplessly, "Lord Shence, you know the current state of Buddhism. It is still in the development stage and cannot withstand such turmoil. Could you please show some leniency?"

Guan Xing shook his head and said, "Master, you are wrong. The purpose of Buddhism is to spread the teachings and to get more people to believe in Buddhism. But before they believe in Buddhism, shouldn't we first let them understand Buddhism and know what Buddhism is all about?"

"Therefore, we should promote it vigorously. From this perspective, the popularity of 'The Legend of the White Snake' is also a good thing for Buddhism."

Kang Senghui, enraged, said unhappily, "You consider slander a good deed?"

Guan Xing shrugged and laughed, "Of course, black and red are still red, right? Take Buddhism for example, is it popular or not? If you had followed your propaganda strategy, would you have achieved the current results?"

Kang Senghui: "..."

Mou Zi: "..."

That makes some sense. A bad reputation is still a reputation; being infamous for eternity is better than being unknown.

The two were torn, unsure whether to oppose or support the idea.