Tang riddles

This lunch was very quiet, and everyone had their own concerns, and they all felt a little overwhelmed.After the meal, everyone sat down in the front hall again, and discussed again while having tea, but there was still no result.About three quarters before the beginning of the new year, Shen Sui and the others got up again, and under the leadership of Master Miaoyin, Yuan Hui, Yuan Qing, Yuan Tong and other monks, they left the abbot's courtyard and headed for the Pagoda of Mercy.The Charity Pagoda is the second scene of the crime. Master Shanyin died on it, and the method of death was strange, which troubled Murong Fu even more than the death of the abbot.

Along the way, Murong Fu and Qin Zhenxing were at the forefront, while Shen Sui, Du Yan and Wei Han walked side by side, closely following behind, and the three of them kept discussing the case.Mainly Du Yan, Wei Han and Shen Sui told the details of Shan Yin's death. Shen Sui occasionally asked questions, but most of the time he listened quietly.

"Who is this good cause?" Shen Sui asked.

Wei Han was quite aware of such things, and explained: "Shanyin is one of the eight deacons of Ci'en Temple and a monk on duty. He is responsible for assisting the precepts academy in monitoring the precepts of the whole temple, and implementing rewards and punishments. It is said that he was a monk at the age of 24. He served in the imperial army before, and he has good kung fu. Later, he made military achievements and entered the officialdom. He has been honed for several years. He is very strict with others and himself, and he is very strict. He is also very intelligent and very Buddhist. Yuan, who has been ordained for 16 years, has accumulated a lot of prestige among the monks of Ci'en, and became the monk of Ci'en."

"What's the reason for him to become a monk?" Shen Sui asked again.

"It's not very clear. He never mentioned anything before he became a monk. I checked the files of the Sixteenth Imperial Army, but the strange thing is that I didn't find him, and I don't know if he really served in the Imperial Army. At first he The place where he received his precepts was not the Ci’en Temple, but the White Horse Temple in Luoyang. A year later, he came to Chang’an, handed over the precepts and entered the Ci’en Temple, and worshiped Master Miaopu as his teacher. Not long after, his monk status was transferred to Ci’en.” Wei Han said.

"So, he and the abbot are in a master-student relationship?"

"Exactly. As you can tell from his name, the master of Miaozi's generation, the disciples of the disciples who have taken in are the Shanzi generation, and the descendants of the Shanzi generation are the Yuanzi generation. Currently, Ci'en is only the three-character generation. The monks are the main ones, and the next generation with the word 'ke' are all young novice monks, no more than 12 years old." [Note]

Shen Sui nodded, turned his head to look at the scenery outside the corridor, his eyes were dark, as if he had already guessed something.

At this moment, they had passed through the abbot's courtyard and arrived outside the west tower courtyard.After passing the gate of the west pagoda courtyard in front of you, you will be standing under the famous Big Wild Goose Pagoda.There are many rumors about why this tower is called the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.The most credible is that Master Xuanzang saw a wild goose pagoda in the Indra Siralou River and Mountains in the Magadha country in the Western Regions. There is a legend about wild geese throwing themselves to enlighten the Hinayana disciples there.Therefore, imitation, based on the ambition made in the early years of the whole year. "Wild Goose Pagoda" refers to the Wild Goose Pagoda in Magadha, and the word "big" is added in front of it, which refers to Mahayana Buddhism.The pagoda enshrines a large number of Buddhist relics, Bayeux Sanskrit scriptures and eight gold and silver Buddha statues brought back from the Western Regions, which are very precious.

A group of people waited to step through the courtyard gate, all of them couldn't help looking up at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.The ten-story brick pavilion-style tower looks square and square in appearance, with edges and corners.According to Master Miaoyin's introduction, this architectural style is called stupa, which is the style of Buddhist pagodas in the Western Regions.Later, the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty was integrated into it, so that the Big Wild Goose Pagoda could be coordinated with the overall architectural style of Chang'an City.The whole tower is composed of three parts: the tower base, the tower body and the tower brake. The ten-story tower has coupon doors on all four sides of each floor.

It is worth mentioning that there is also a stone gate at the base of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and there are exquisite stone Buddha statues and brick couplets on the lintel frame.There are steles embedded on both sides of the south gate on the first floor. The west niche is written from right to left, engraved with "The Preface to the Holy Teaching of the Great Tang Tripitaka" written by Taizong himself and Chu Suiliang in handwriting, and the east niche is written from left to right, engraved with The "Preface to the Holy Religion of the Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty", written by Gao Zong's relatives and handwritten by Chu Suiliang, is known among the people as the "Two Saints and Three Unique Monuments".In addition, you can also see the pictures of "Xuanzang's negative book" and "Xuanzang's translation of scriptures", which are exquisite, so that future generations can have a glimpse of the demeanor of this eminent monk decades ago.

These days, because of the kindness that has been blocked, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which used to be crowded with many people, is empty and very lonely.The green brick floor in the west tower courtyard is damp, and the snow has been swept away almost completely. It is actually cleaner than the abbot's courtyard.Shen Sui was a little helpless, the most important thing in this case was the traces, but after ten days, what she wanted to see had disappeared.

The south gate on the first floor is the main gate used to enter and exit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda on weekdays.The remaining three doors on the first floor have been rarely opened since the completion of the pagoda. They have been locked almost all the year round, and have not been opened recently.Shen Sui walked around the tower for a while, and carefully looked at the locks of the other three doors. There was a layer of dust on them, and the locks were already rusted, even rusted together with the door knocker, and there were indeed no traces of opening them.

"Is this south gate locked every day?" Shen Sui asked.

"Every day it is opened at the beginning of the day, and it is locked at the beginning of the year. It is like this every day." Master Miaoyin replied.

"Is it the same on the day of the incident?"

"Exactly, the key to the lock of the Wild Goose Pagoda is kept by the poor monk himself, and the poor monk opens and closes it himself every day. Day after day, year after year, the poor monk is very familiar with it and will not remember it wrong. On the day of the incident, the poor monk was locked as usual. After that, until the morning, the poor monk never opened the south gate, and the key was always kept close to the poor monk. After discovering that his nephew Shanyin had an accident, the poor monk rushed to the tower as soon as possible , to open the tower lock, at that time the lock was clearly locked well, without any signs of damage or opening.” Miaoyin explained in detail that this incident had troubled him for a long time, such evil things happened on the sacred wild goose pagoda, Even if the monks are clean and uncontested, their hearts have been greatly shocked.

Shen Sui stood at the door and thought for a while, and suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her, so he hurriedly said:

"Everyone, please enter the tower." After saying this, she shook her head amusedly to herself, and the people behind her followed her, as if she had become the host and everyone else was her guests.This kind of unintentional anti-customer-oriented thing really happens to her quite often.

Stepping into the south gate, one can see that the walls of the first floor are densely packed with name boards. Shen Sui couldn't help laughing and said:

"Drinking from the Qujiang River and inscribing the name of the Wild Goose Pagoda, it's really a sight."

What she said made Murong Fu and Qin Zhen's eyes twitch.Qin Zhen couldn't laugh or cry, but Murong Fu felt a little contemptuous in his heart. "Drinking in Qujiang River and inscribing names in Yanta Tower" is the treatment for Jinshi and the second degree.Both Qin Zhen and Murong Fu were Jinshi-born, and both had enjoyed such treatment.However, Shen Sui passed the examination of Ming Jing, and did not pass the Jinshi examination.When Murong Fu said this, it was a bit sour and sarcastic in Murong Fu's ears.

But in fact, no one really knows whether Shen Sui's heart is really sour.When she said this, maybe she just sighed, or maybe there was another deep meaning.Listening to different people's ears will have different interpretations.Shen Sui himself was leisurely watching the many nominations hanging on the wall.The monks in Ci'en Temple are very good at doing things. The inscription boards on this wall have been sorted out. Some look old and some are brand new. However, all those hanging in conspicuous places are popular officials in the court today, including Qin Zhen and Murong Fu's name.Shen Sui was not in a hurry at all, and carefully looked over one by one, Zhang Ruohan followed behind her, she looked wherever she looked, as if she wanted to find some clues from the name boards she had seen.

Shen Sui had noticed Zhang Ruohan's actions a long time ago, but he always kept his body sideways to avoid meeting her eyes.From outsiders' perspective, these two people seem to have no intersection, but maid Wu Ya keenly sensed that they seemed to be fighting secretly.You come to block, you hit me to avoid, my wife is taking the initiative to attack, but that Shen Sui has been slippery all the time.

"The poetry boards in the Holy Land used to be there, and several county feasts were held in Qingge." Zhang Ruohan stared at a certain inscription board, and her elegant voice sounded soothingly, but she didn't know who she was talking to, and why she had to read this poem.

Shen Sui turned around, walked up one level, and uttered a sentence in a rambling manner:

"The one-hundred-acre garden is half covered with moss, and the peach blossoms are completely covered with cauliflower."

Murong Fu was at a loss when he heard that, if Zhang Ruohan saw these inscription boards, he was inspired and recited a poem.The poem that Shen Sui read was really wrong.This is Liu Mengde's poem, Shen Sui recited the first half of the line, and the second half is more famous: Where does the Taoist who grows peaches go?Liu Lang from the past is here again today.This poem is a lyrical and unrestrained poem written by Liu Mengde after he was promoted again after being demoted.

Murong Fu smacked carefully, and felt that Shen Sui seemed to be expressing another meaning.This kid is not interested in the first sentence, but in the latter sentence.It's not that the former Liu Lang is here again today, but the former Shen Lang is here again today.What is the origin of this Shen Sui?Or is he just expressing his pride after failing to get a Jinshi in the past, but now being reused?snort!The villain succeeds.

Even so, he still hopes that this "little man" can solve the case quickly, otherwise everyone will not have a good time this year.

Zhang Ruohan's thoughts were completely different from Murong Fu's. For a moment, a very surprised light flashed in her eyes, and she almost couldn't maintain her indifferent face; for a moment, she became more puzzled, her eyebrows frowned, and she seemed a little hesitant after thinking hard.

"San Niang..." the maid Wu Ya reminded in a low voice.As soon as Shen Sui went upstairs, everyone followed, and now they were left alone on the first floor as master and servant.

"Wu Ya, let's go out." Zhang Ruohan said, with a bit of fatigue in his tone.

"San Niang? Aren't you going to follow me?"

"It's okay, just wait outside the pagoda. There won't be anything special in this pagoda." After saying that, she turned around first and walked out of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Wu Ya hurried to catch up, and asked strangely, "Why did San Niang say that?"

"Mysteries are all outside the pagoda." After saying this meaningful sentence, this elegant and indifferent Buddhist monk stood pretty under the pagoda, slowly moving the beads in his hands, closing his eyes and silently reciting Buddhist scriptures, and did not speak again.Duliu Wuya stood on the side scratching his head, not understanding what his wife was talking about.

The author has something to say: [Note] The alphabetical ranking of monks in temples is a matter after the Yuan Dynasty, and it should be limited to Shaolin Temple.Generally known as "Seven Crosses of Shaolin" and "Seven Crosses of Shaolin Poems", it was established by a master named Fuyu in Shaolin Temple during the Yuan Dynasty: Fuhui Zhizi feels that if you understand the original circle, you can realize it.Zhou Hongpu Guangzong, Daoqingtong Xuanzu.Pure and true as the sea, Zhan Ji Chun Zhen Su.The virtues are eternal, and the body is always strong.The heart is bright and deep, and the nature is bright to learn from Zong Zuo.The heart is righteous, kind and happy, and I sincerely wish to save the original.Xue Ting is the mentor, leading you to Guixuan Road.At present, the highest seniority in Shaolin Temple is the master of the prime generation, that is, the No.30 generation.De, Xing, and Yong characters are relatively higher in seniority.The current abbot Shi Yongxin is a monk of the Yongzi generation.And the monks of Yan and Heng are the most.This article draws on this setting to make it easier for everyone to distinguish.

Poetry in the text - "Revisiting the View of Xuandu" by Liu Yuxi (word Mengde)

The one-hundred-acre courtyard is half covered with moss, and the peach blossoms are all clean, and the cauliflower is in full bloom.

Where did Tao Taoist priests go? The former Liu Lang came again today.

Liu Yuxi is a poet in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, born 60 years after the time node of this story.The use of his poems here is not a mistake, but intentional.Therefore, his name was not directly mentioned in the article, but relatively unfamiliar words were used.