Liaozhai Great Sage

"It was acquired by Southern Jinling."

Li Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes: "Which family is it? As far as I know, there are not many people who raise sheep in the south, but there is a merchant family surnamed Li who raises pigs, cattle and sheep, and there are quite a few of them."

The sheep dealer said: "I bought it from that family surnamed Li, and I'm going to the capital to sell it at a good price."

"How much do you pay for a head?"

"One tael of silver per head."

The sheep dealer said: "How is it? Do you have any questions? How come I don't know the price of the sheep I bought."

"Brother Li, why are you bothering with this sheep dealer over a sheep? Let's go to Xiangguo Temple as soon as possible. This sheep belongs to someone else, so let's return it to him." Zhu Yu said.

He was also very puzzled, why Li Xiuyuan felt sorry for a sheep and a sheep dealer.

Li Xiuyuan stood up and said coldly, "You are not a sheep dealer or seller of sheep at all. There are many lies. There are no goats in Jinling City at all, and the sheep of the Li family are not purchased for a tael of silver." , the lowest selling price is one or two or six dollars, and you didn’t come from the south to herd sheep at all.”

The sheep dealer was broken by such a little bit, and his face changed drastically, showing a state of anxiety, but then he argued: "Why do you care about where I bought my sheep? Should I pay it back?"

"Since you want to say this, then like this, a sheep in the capital is only three or five taels of silver, how about I buy your sheep for ten taels of silver?" Li Xiuyuan took out a silver ingot and said.

I thought the sheep dealer would agree, but I didn't expect him to refuse: "I won't sell my sheep, I won't sell you my sheep."

When he said this, the people nearby booed immediately.

"This man is very suspicious, and his words are full of flaws. He doesn't look like a sheep dealer, but a liar."

"That's right, even ten taels of silver refused to sell the sheep. There must be ghosts in my heart and a guilty conscience."

"Catch him and go to the government. There should be police from the six gates patrolling here. I'll call the people from the six gates to see if the sheep dealer is a liar."

Everyone talked a lot, the sheep dealer heard that he was looking for the arrester from the six gates, his face turned pale in fright, and he hurriedly changed his words: "Wait, wait, the sheep sold you, sold you, give me the silver!" The sheep will be yours."

"Didn't you say you wouldn't sell it before?" Li Xiuyuan said with a half-smile.

He had already seen that this person was weird, but it was hard to determine whether he was a liar or something.

"You are so nagging, do you want to buy it or not? If you don't buy it, return the sheep to me." The sheep dealer urged, looking very anxious.

Li Xiuyuan thought for a while, and didn't continue to confront him, so he gave him ten taels of silver. Since he said he wanted to buy it, he shouldn't count his words.

The sheep dealer didn't look back after taking the money, and he seemed eager to escape from here immediately, and soon disappeared into the crowd.

"There must be something wrong with this man leaving in such a hurry. Young master, you shouldn't have paid for his sheep. His sheep must have been stolen."

"We should let the arresters from the Six Doors quickly arrest him and go to the Yamen to confront him. Maybe he can catch a thief."

"It's so cheap for this thief. A sheep was sold for ten taels of silver."

When everyone saw the sheep dealer fleeing, they sighed again, feeling that Li Xiuyuan was at a disadvantage and should not let him go.

Li Xiuyuan, on the other hand, seemed to be pondering, and didn't care about the sheep dealer's departure.

If it's just stealing sheep to sell, it's just a trivial theft, but the sheep dealer like that just now is not a stolen sheep, because his previous attitude was very righteous and he didn't panic, but later he heard that he was going to the Yamen , It was necessary to call the police from the six gates, so he panicked.

Not a stolen sheep, but afraid of the government and the six doors.

Thinking about it this way, there is something wrong with this person.

suddenly.

Li Xiuyuan looked down, but saw the sheep standing beside him, surrounded by his legs, but it didn't look as panicked and arrogant as before, instead it looked very calm.

Especially the sheep's eyes showed gratitude.

Chapter 654 Worship Buddha

After the sheep dealer business is over.

Li Xiuyuan, Zhu Yu, Zhang Bangchang, Qian Jun and others came to the treasure hall of Xiangguo Temple.

On the way, Zhang Bangchang smiled and said: "Brother Li, why did you buy a sheep? We came to visit Xiangguo Temple. Look, the sheep you bought knows you now and has been with you all the time." What about behind him, you can’t even chase him away. Could it be that your righteous deed, Brother Li, touched this sheep and made it feel grateful?”

"Haha, if this is the case, it will be interesting. Brother Li may not be willing to eat it by then, so he has to take care of it."

"No one keeps a sheep by his side."

Qian Jun and Zhu Yu also laughed, they didn't mean to be sarcastic, they were just joking about it.

Li Xiuyuan just smiled: "I think this sheep has a spirituality. It doesn't run away from other places, but runs to this place of Buddhism. Maybe it's a kind of fate that can bring good rewards. And I think that sheep The dealer is weird, and none of his words are true, if I didn't want to waste time entangled with him, I might really take him to the Yamen to ask for clarification."

"Okay, okay, Brother Li, you are serious, so we won't talk about this matter with you. Come on, let's go to the treasure hall to burn incense and pray for blessings. It's a rare time to come. How can we not offer a stick to the Bodhisattva in the temple? What about incense?" Zhang Bangchang said.

Several people thought it was reasonable, so they entered the treasure hall together and lined up with other pilgrims, preparing to offer incense.

There are many Bodhisattvas enshrined in the treasure hall of Xiangguo Temple, such as Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva holding a vase, Manjusri Bodhisattva riding a lion, Puxian Bodhisattva sitting on a white elephant, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, etc. Among them, the Buddhist King Kong, of course, the one in the middle is the Lord Buddha.

Because there are so many pilgrims in the temple.

There were many pilgrims burning incense and worshiping Buddha in front of almost every Bodhisattva. Several people lined up and finally squeezed in front of the statue of Manjushri Bodhisattva, which was less crowded.

Li Xiuyuan watched many pilgrims kneel down and offer incense, but he didn't say a word, he just stood by and looked at the temple, not intending to offer incense.

"Brother Li, don't you offer incense and pray for blessings? This Xiangguo Temple is very effective. Many people have been sheltered after they came to Xiangguo Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. Although we scholars don't believe this, it is better than nothing. Praying for parents and elders is also a piece of cake." What an act of filial piety."

Zhang Bangchang said.

Li Xiuyuan shook his head with a smile and said: "No, I don't need it. My parents live a long and healthy life and live a worry-free life. I don't need to burn incense and worship Buddha anymore."

"Brother Li, this prayer should be regarded as a wish. Anyway, they have already come. How can anyone come to Xiangguo Temple just to see it? How can we do it without burning a stick of incense?" Qian Jun on the side also said.

Li Xiuyuan politely refused: "I'll just forget it, the master told me that no matter which temple I go to, I can't worship God or Buddha, otherwise something will happen."

"How can there be troubles in burning incense and worshiping Buddha? Your master must have fooled you." Zhang Bangchang didn't believe it.

Li Xiuyuan shook his head and said, "It's not about me, it's about the Bodhisattva in the temple."

"It's really nonsense. People who are so disrespectful to Buddha and have no respect for Bodhisattvas dare to enter and leave this important place of Buddhism. Are you really afraid that God will punish people like you?"

A pilgrim behind him couldn't help but blamed Li Xiuyuan: "If you don't burn incense and worship Buddha, then go out, don't talk nonsense in front of the Bodhisattva, if the Bodhisattva blames you, can you bear it?"

Li Xiuyuan glanced back, but he thought that the man was quite majestic, like an imperial court official, but he didn't expect that the imperial court officials also believed in Buddhism so much that they lined up to offer incense.

"Isn't this the magistrate?"

Zhang Bangchang recognized this person, and gave a salute with a smile.

This person is Fang Shengyu, the magistrate of the capital.