webnovelfull Chapter 398 The Crown Prince Dies 4
Chapter 398 The Crown Prince Dies 4
Wang Jinyi had long been accustomed to this kind of surveillance-style protection, and ignored it and concentrated on copying:
...The Buddha told Mahakasyapa and his great disciples, "Kasyapa, you have well explained the true merits of the Tathagata. The Tathagata has countless and boundless merits. Even if you talk about them for countless millions of kalpas, you will never be able to exhaust them all..."
Suddenly, the bells in the temple rang loudly. All the bells in the temple rang. Wang Jinyi looked up and looked around in surprise. Yuqing said softly:
"The prince has passed away. This is..."
"funeral!?"
The sudden sound of the bell was dull and long, instantly breaking the tranquility of the temple. Everyone in the Prajna Hall was still confused, and Wang Jinyi hurriedly packed up and prepared to leave.
There was obvious sadness on Ding Yi and Ding Er's faces. Two young men in half-worn short jackets appeared behind them at some point.
After looking at each other, they all made up their minds and wanted to rush back to Yunshuitang before the temple became too busy.
The servants of each household at the gate of the main hall have already taken action, running around to ask questions.
The monk in charge of reception hurried in and raised his voice:
"Dear donors, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has passed away. From now on, all lectures and teachings will be suspended in this temple!"
There were cries of surprise in the Prajna Hall, and some pilgrims whispered, "How can this be possible? I came all the way from Qingzhou to listen to the Dharma..."
"Please forgive me, benefactor."
The monk in charge of reception clasped his hands together and said calmly:
"Next, the temple will chant sutras for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. From this moment on, the temple gates will be temporarily closed. We hope that all donors will leave the temple as soon as possible."
After saying this, he lowered his head and began to recite scriptures silently.
The novice monks in the corridor entered the hall carrying bamboo baskets and quickly removed the incense, candles and fruit plates on the altar. The colorful banners in front of the Buddha statue were also removed.
The gilded decorations on the top of the Buddha niche were covered with plain gauze, the red silk knots next to the candlesticks were quickly replaced, and even the incense holders on the altar were changed from vermilion lacquer to plain ceramic.
Wang Jinyi led his men hurriedly back to Yunshuitang. Along the way, the temple was solemn. White flags had been raised, and the sound of chanting the Lotus Sutra to liberate the souls of the dead was heard in the main hall.
The once solemn and magnificent Buddhist temple lost its colors in an instant, leaving only a solemn and dignified gray. Even the statues of the gods lost their compassionate smiles and lowered their eyes in silence for the deceased.
The sound of bells accompanied the pilgrims as they left the mountain gate. In less than an hour, Yunshui Hall became quiet.
Wang Jinyi returned to the guest room and continued to copy scriptures silently, but he replaced the "Lotus Sutra" with the "Diamond Sutra".
The man who was tortured by radioactive substances and was extremely weak, had a glaring red on his pale face...
I can't help him, so I can only copy a few volumes of scriptures and burn them for him. It's worth it that he came to rescue Beining when his life was at stake. This is my small token of my gratitude!
The monk in charge of reception and the novice monks began to clean the guest rooms, but when they came to the courtyard where Wang Jinyi lived, they were stopped by Ding Yi. So they were the only ones left in the entire Yunshui Hall.
After 49 days, the temple became a huge altar.
Between the morning bells and evening drums, three hundred monks dressed in black robes were divided into seven shifts.
In the main hall, the scent of agarwood mixed with cypress seeds lingered in the copper furnace, and twenty-four eternal lamps were lit day and night, dyeing the plain white banners into a hazy halo.
The sound of monks chanting the Lotus Sutra in unison filled the caisson between the beams.
At night, through the paper window, one can clearly see the monks copying the Ksitigarbha Sutra on plain silk with cinnabar in the dim light of the Zen room...
On the morning of the forty-ninth day, the ritual reached its climax.
Hundreds of monks walked around the temple holding seven-treasure lotus lanterns, the flames of the lanterns flickering in the morning mist.
Wang Jinyi followed the crowd to the main hall, where the abbot threw a yellow piece of paper with the prince's birth date into the fire basin. As smoke rose, thirty-six bells rang, shaking the copper bells on the eaves...
After the ritual, the gates of the temple were opened and a sudden downpour of rain came to the Pure Land Temple.
Wang Jinyi stood under the eaves of Yunshui Hall, looking at the water leaking from the Milky Way, feeling filled with emotion.
Life and death are common to all creatures in this world. Even if you are an emperor, you are just a passer-by. The only thing that can comfort you that your life has not been in vain is your feelings.
The men and women in this world have thousands of entanglements, but what they ultimately want is perfection.
What is my own perfection? ——Love what I love, and be with you...
Under the eaves, Wang Jinyi hummed inappropriately. Ding Yi and Ding Er stared at this abnormal girl, but the low humming still reached their ears:
...the one who looks up
Loneliness and sigh in my heart
oh the brightest star in the night sky
can you remember
once walked with me
figure lost in the wind
I pray to have a transparent heart
And eyes that shed tears...
I'd rather all the pain stay in my heart
I don't want to forget your eyes
give me the courage to believe again
Oh, go beyond the lies to embrace you...
The singing became clearer and clearer. Although the voice was not loud, it was pleasant to the ears and touched people's hearts. Everyone silently guessed that this was Miss Wang's singing poetry in remembrance of the prince.
Only the sisters Feng and Feng, who had rushed back from a day of sleeping in the open air, knew that the young lady would sing this song when she was in a bad mood.
"Miss, Sister Feng (Feng Mei), I have accomplished my mission. The crisis at Beiyu Pass has been resolved. I am reporting to you!"
The two of them bowed respectfully...
Chen Sanlang has been staying at the Taifeng head office in Bac Ninh City for more than a month with two accountants.
Both checking the accounts and verifying the inventory had been done more than three times, so much so that the shopkeeper thought that the young lady suspected that she was stealing and that was why she checked the accounts repeatedly!
But there are indeed some parts that cannot be approved by the Beining head office, and I can’t explain it clearly.
That was when the young lady asked her to contribute money and food for the city defense. Later, she sold all the food in stock to the common people in Bac Ninh at a fair price. In order to calm the people, she also held various games in front of the store. The rewards of corn and sweet potatoes...
Hey! These were all ideas from the young lady during the siege, but now she is not here, there is a deficit in the account, and there is no signature from the young lady, and there is no one other than myself who is in charge. At that time, in order to keep it confidential...
The shopkeeper was so frightened that he spoke faster and explained incessantly.
"Mr. Chen, I can guarantee that Miss knows all these accounts, but Miss left in a hurry, and I didn't have time for Miss to review and sign them, but I dare to swear..."
The shopkeeper's face turned green with anxiety, and he was completely confused. He didn't know how to start defending himself. In all these years, he had never had any unclear accounts.
Chen Sanlang pushed the teacup towards the shopkeeper and said:
"Boss, don't worry, let's explain the matter slowly.
Which boss told you to embezzle Tai Sheng's materials? Is there any written record of your instructions? Think about it and tell us in detail. "
As he spoke, he did not forget to glance at the two accountants who came with him. They nodded vigorously to show their approval.
"We need to understand these things clearly before we can report them back, right?"
The shopkeeper agreed with this and thought that Mr. Chen was a man of great sense of justice.
Little did he know that Chen Sanlang had been collecting couplets for the huge vertical painting - The Brightest Star in the Night Sky - since he saw it in front of the store.
It was confirmed that this was still the store Wang Jinyi opened to find herself...