Chapter 235: Becoming a monk means returning to secular life

Ganye Temple is located in Chongdefang, southwest of Chang'an City. It is a royal temple and is usually used to resettle the royal family's sonless concubines. In the 23rd year of Zhenguan, after Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, Wu Meiniang became a monk here and spent the most sad trough of her three years of life.

Today, Ganye Temple welcomes a new nun, Li Jingyan, the princess of Pingyang of the Tang Dynasty. In history, there are many princesses of the Tang Dynasty who became monks and nuns. Almost every emperor has a daughter to become monks, but most of them have gained a free identity for the same purpose, rather than truly admiring the Buddha's teachings.

As soon as the sky was dawn, Li Jingyan went out. She did not wear any makeup, and the sun shone on her body in plain clothes and white skirt. Her face was black like black jade, her eyes were as gentle as an antelope, and her cheeks were slightly clear and thin. There was originally a vitality of hope between her eyebrows and eyes, but now it was covered with a layer of anxiety and sadness.

Li Jingyan went out and walked through the back door, low-key but not staring. She was a light carriage without a maid serving her, only a curtain was always with her, and her father, who was leaning against the door and staring at her far away, refused to look back for a long time.

Li Jingyan bit her lips white from time to time, leaned her head weakly against the car window, and looked at the sky blankly, looking sad and lost.

She almost became a monk in Yangzhou, but when she took this step back, she never had this idea again. She just wanted to quietly savor her hard-earned happiness, but there was a storm hidden in her happiness. This time she stepped into the ancient Buddha again.

"Are you worried that the fake will come true?" Lian'er saw Li Jingyan's melancholy.

"I don't know what I'm worried about. I feel a blank in my heart. The future is difficult and confused. It seems that I can't see a way out. I, I'm a little scared."

Li Jingyan sighed slightly, "Sister Lian'er, do you think Li Lang is back today?"

"He might come!" Lian'er smiled reluctantly. In fact, Li Qing was so busy that he didn't even have time to eat in the past few days that she arranged for Li Qing to make a living. According to him, today will be the first party, so how could he have time to come?

"If Li Lang really can't come, what if I'm there?"

Yan'er held Li Jingyan's hand, feeling that her hand was extremely cold and was still trembling slightly. Although she was only a few months older than Li Jingyan, she was like an elder sister at this moment, hugging Li Jingyan's shoulders tightly, passing her body temperature to her, and said firmly: "Don't be afraid! I will stay with you until we go home together."

The carriage turned a corner, left Zhuque Street, walked along the wall of Anyefang. After walking a few miles ahead, you will reach Chongdefang. Ganye Temple is located in the northeast corner of Chongdefang.

Suddenly, the speed of the carriage slowed down significantly, as if someone was blocking the road ahead. Li Jingyan, who was leaning against the car window, looked forward in surprise. There was a wide and straight road ahead, with only a few passers-by walking aside. There were no special circumstances. But when she was about to put her head back into the car window, she suddenly became stunned. Just hundreds of steps behind her, there were two or three hundred cavalry guards following in small steps. Just between the cavalry, Li Qing was wearing a blue robe and long smile, and Li Jingyan felt a burst of soreness in her eyes. She leaned on the cushion and closed her eyes. Tears of happiness finally rolled out from under her long eyelashes, and the knot that made her most worried was untied.

"Li Lang didn't forget me, he was right behind!"

Ganye Temple is a place where female nuns practice meditation, especially involving many harems, the man was even more insulated from entering. Several eunuchs and the host of Ganye Temple were waiting at the gate. Princess Pingyang's carriage slowly approached and the car door opened. Li Jingyan stepped out of the car door with the support of the curtain. Her slender jade feet finally stepped onto the temple that made countless women heartbroken. She looked up and saw that the temple was large in scale. Under the reflection of the sun, the glazed tiles shone brightly, and painted a layer of gold on the roof of the entire temple. The gate of the temple was old and mottled, and the vermilion paint had peeled off. There was no one inside. It looked dusk. Only a few wrinkled old nuns stood at the door with their hands together, looking at the young and beautiful princess of Datang with sympathy in her eyes. A strand of black hair was seen under the monk's hat.

Li Jingyan suddenly felt panic. She grabbed Jian'er's hand tightly and looked back suddenly. Li Qing stood a hundred steps away and looked at him. His eyes were soft and full of confidence. Li Jingyan's heart was a little calm. She let go of Jian'er's hand and walked towards the host of Ganye Temple.

"Master, she is Princess Pingyang who came to become a monk under the order. She has been sent here. Please ask the Master to write here, so we can return to the palace to reply to the order."

A eunuch opened the handed over booklet in a hurry and handed over the red ni box.

The host of Ganye Temple is an elderly nun. She has been in Ganye Temple for fifty years and has experienced many vicissitudes. The years have worn off her characteristics of women. She does not wear a monk's hat, and her bare head is dazzling and clear in the sun. Her sharp eyes shot directly into the heart, making her look extremely ferocious.

She has seen countless wealthy girls evolve from ice and snow to chicken skin and crane hair. She has long been as hard as iron, and no longer has a trace of sympathy. Today is Princess Pingyang's practice of guilt. The emperor's orders are ambiguous. She only said that she has been practicing with a sense of karma for the time being, but she has not clearly defined the deadline for her practice. She has seen many similar edicts. This is the emperor's contradictory mentality. She wants to let these women go once, but she also hopes to make mistakes and let them practice forever to protect the royal face. Unable to understand Lao Ni naturally understands the emperor's heart. She looked at this pure and beautiful girl, known as the number one beauty of the Tang Dynasty royal family, and sneered in her heart. Since she has arrived here, did she think she was just coming for an outing?

She casually pressed her handprint on the booklet, saying that she had accepted Li Jingyan. After several eunuchs left hurriedly, she glanced at Li Jingyan and made a hoarse and old sound, like a gong-beating.

"Since you have arrived at Old Ni, you are no longer a royal princess, but just an ordinary little nun. You must not put on royal airs, listen to them, or be arrogant and rude. Have you heard it?"

Seeing Li Jingyan silently, she did not answer her tribute, and she felt even more jealous. Seeing that her hair was like a waterfall and her white clothes were out of dust, she took the razor with her left hand and touched her head with her right hand, and said coldly: "You knelt down. The rule of entering Ganye Temple is to break the three thousand dust relationships first, and then enter the temple." This is the most effective way to deal with women with noble status. As long as they shave off their black hair, their spirits will collapse.

Li Jingyan was shocked. Her father originally told her that she had been practicing for three months, but why did she change again? She instinctively retreated and avoided the dry hand like a ghost claw of the old man.

"Didn't you say you can practice with your hair? Why do you need to shave my hair?"

Nanwu's face darkened, "This is a royal temple. Old Ni only listens to the emperor's imperial edict. The imperial edict does not say the word "hair", so you must lose your hair!" She shouted in a short voice, and more than a dozen tall and fat female nuns walked out of the temple and rushed towards Li Jingyan with great momentum.

At this moment, the eyes were blurred in front of him, and two powerful arrows shot towards him, rubbing the left and right ears, and nailing them into the wall. She then found three men standing a hundred steps ahead, a young man in blue robe smiling, and behind him, one soldier standing with a long bow and the other holding a steel crossbow, his eyes cold as snow, exuding murderous intent. Old Ni turned around and looked at the trembling tail of the arrow, and touched his ears again. His face turned dead gray, his legs became weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

The sound of horse hooves gradually sounded, and a large group of cavalry surged from both sides of the temple. After a moment, they surrounded the gate of Ganye Temple like an iron bucket, and surrounded the curtain and Li Jingyan in the middle. More than a dozen tall and fat female nuns were so scared that they retreated repeatedly, but the gate of the temple was blocked and no one could go back.

"Who are you? This is a royal temple, and you must not act here!" Nan Wu was seated up by two old nuns, and his voice trembled to the young man in the blue robe who was smiling.

Li Qing walked up slowly, squatted in front of her, looked up at the sky, then looked at the ground, and smiled and said, "This is not Ganye Temple. Ganye Temple is still two meters away. At most, I am just a passerby."

He pointed at Li Jingyan, shook his head and sighed, "A beauty like a fairy wants to accompany the ancient Buddha forever. Even the Buddha Lord couldn't bear it, so he ordered me to draw my sword to help and come and stop it!"

"Do you know who she is, and why did you become a monk? Are you so bold and unafraid of offending Longyan and punishing you?" Nanwu didn't know Li Qing, but just thought he was fascinated by Li Jingyan's beauty, and his throat rang a little, but when he touched the cold eyes of Wu Xingsu and Li Fei Shouyu, his tone immediately softened, "This is Princess Pingyang, I will become a monk under the orders, so don't cause trouble."

Li Qing laughed, "Who will believe your words? Then where is your imperial edict? Let me see, if it is true, I will leave immediately!"

Seeing Li Qing pretending to be a ghost, the curtain next to him was secretly amused, so he turned around and laughed in a low voice to Li Jingyan, "Do you think this old nun really brings out the imperial edict?"

"I don't know either!"

Li Jingyan shook her head. She was relieved that Li Lang came forward to save her, but she was also worried about him. If this matter was reported to the palace, Li Lang would be scolded by the emperor.

Nanwu suddenly understood what he passed by. The young man was clearly coming for Li Jingyan. She immediately remembered the rumors about the marriage between the two Lis, and pointed at Li Qing and said, "You, are you Li Qing, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Not bad, it's me!"

Li Qing smiled slightly: "I remember that the imperial edict only ordered Princess Pingyang to become a monk at Ganye Temple. She did not say that she could not return to secular life, nor did she limit the time limit for her to become a monk. It would be fine for ten or eight years, or even for a lifetime, right?"

I was afraid in my heart, but I didn't know what Li Qing meant, so I had to follow his words and nodded.

Li Qing smiled, "Since ten or eight years can be done, then becoming a monk will not be considered an order for a while. Since she has become a monk, she will be residing now and follow me. Master, you won't object, right?"

He took out another cabinet ticket from his arms and threw it gently on her, "This is two thousand incense money, which is considered a fate between Princess Pingyang and Ganye Temple."

"This one doesn't work!"

As soon as Lao Ni finished speaking, arrows from Wu Xingsu and Li Fei Shouyu shot at her one by one. The soles of her feet, legs, waist, and faces, dozens of arrows shot around her. Finally, Li Fei Yuanli's big axe was gently placed on her bald head, and the sharp axe blade made a stinging pain on her head.

"Old thief, my governor respects you. Don't want to toast and not eat and punish you! If you don't believe me, I will chop you with an axe."

Nanwu was almost scared to faint. She forced herself to keep a little awake, and fought with her upper and lower teeth, "Pure Ni, please return to secular life!"

"The master is so sincere, and Li Qing doesn't listen to him, and seems disrespectful to the master."

Li Qing smiled happily, stepped forward and shrugged at Li Jingyan, spread his hands and said, "The host must be dead and you will return to secular life. It seems that you have no fate with Buddha, let's go!"

Li Jingyan and Yan'er looked at each other, and their smiles bloomed on their faces at the same time. They held hands and ran towards the carriage quickly, like a red cloud and a white cloud flying under the blue sky.
Chapter completed!