Chapter 366: Little Donor, You Should Have Been Dead
Yue Jian's sudden voice interrupted Rong Yue's words. Rong Yue quickly shut up and turned around to see the elderly Master Xin Deng walking towards her.
It was already late at night, and after leaving the main hall, everything was pitch black. The young monk beside Master Xindeng was holding a lantern, and he had a solemn and compassionate look. When he approached, he put his hands together and chanted "Amitabha" to the two of them.
Rong Yue was puzzled: "Why is the Master here?"
Master Xindeng looked up at Tang Ning and said, "I have something I would like to discuss with the county lady in private. Is that possible?"
Rong Yue's heart tightened and she subconsciously looked at Tang Ning beside her.
Tang Ning gave her a soothing look and said, "Aunt, please go back first. I have some Buddhist matters that I would like to discuss with Master Xin Deng."
Rong Yue hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Then be careful. Let Yue Jian and Hang Li accompany you. I'll wait for you to come back."
Tang Ning said "hmm", and Rong Yue nodded to Master Xindeng and left.
After she left, Tang Ning looked at Master Xin Deng: "Master, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"Little donor, you know I will come to look for you."
The little girl in front of him was young, and there was no surprise or astonishment on her face. She looked calm as if she knew he would come a long time ago.
Tang Ning was indeed not surprised. When she first met Master Xin Deng, she had a premonition that they would meet again. Her expression was gentle: "I don't know, but I feel that I have a connection with the Master."
Master Xin Deng smiled upon hearing this and said: "Since we are destined to meet, I will treat you, young donor, to a cup of tea."
Tang Ning did not refuse.
The little monk led the way with a lantern in front. Tang Ning followed Master Xin Deng to the back temple. The back temple was not as spacious as the front one, with houses and Buddhist halls scattered around. After walking up the stone steps and passing a particularly tall pine and cypress tree, they arrived at a quiet room. The little monk and Yue Jian were left outside.
The quiet room was filled with the aroma of tea, accompanied by a faint scent of sandalwood. Tang Ning watched Master Xindeng pick up the pot and pour tea.
The water in the simple teacup rippled, and the old monk opposite her looked gentle. She suddenly said, "I'm sorry that tonight's incident involved the temple."
Master Xindeng looked at her and asked, "Young donor, are you apologizing for framing the Second Prince, or for those lives?"
"Master really knows."
Tang Ning's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she tilted her head to look at Xin Deng across from her. She had only vaguely guessed before, but she didn't expect that he actually knew the truth. She looked at Xin Deng quietly: "Since the master already knew the truth, why didn't he make a move to stop it?"
Master Xindeng: "Why do you want to stop me?"
Tang Ning was stunned by his question and said after a while: "Don't they say that Buddha is merciful..."
Master Xindeng's expression was calm. "Although the Buddha is compassionate, he also has his moments of anger. Otherwise, there wouldn't be hell and reincarnation shackles for sentient beings. Besides, all beings are equal before the Buddha. Life and death are their own responsibility. Those who do evil will receive retribution. Why should I stop them?"
His eyes were still peaceful and compassionate, but the indifference revealed under that compassion made Tang Ning a little stunned. She had never thought that a monk who was famous and respected by the world would be like this. The indifference to human life in his words was shocking.
Tang Ning frowned: "If that's the case, why did you come to see me, Master?"
Master Xindeng looked at her intently and said, "I see the troubled times in you, the donor."
"Troubled times?" Tang Ning suddenly couldn't help laughing: "Master, are you going to say that I'm the enchantress who brought chaos to the country?"
Master Xin Deng shook his head. "Young donor, you were destined to die, yet now you are living peacefully. Your fate lines intersect, suggesting a rebellious nature. I don't know why this is so, but you are stained with both immense merit and untold sins. I have only seen one person like you in my life."
"who?"
"Emperor Taizu."
Tang Ning was stunned.
Master Xindeng looked at her and said, "When I was still a layman, I once met the young Emperor Taizu. At that time, he was destined to be rich and noble, yet clean. At that time, the world was in chaos, with various countries fighting each other, and the people were living in misery. It was not until Taizu ascended the throne, pacified the various countries, and the Great Wei became powerful. When I met him again, he was entangled with merits and sins of killing."
"Emperor Taizu was instrumental in founding the nation and slew countless enemies on the battlefield. It's not surprising that this happened to him, but why did this happen to this young donor? Such tremendous merits and sins of killing are not something an ordinary person could possess, let alone someone who should have been dead."
Tang Ning was stunned when he heard what Master Xin Deng said.
After she was reborn once, she knew that there were extraordinary people in this world. It was not surprising that Master Xindeng could see through her fate and said that she was originally a dead person, but what he said about merits and sins of killing made her confused and dazed.
Whether in her previous life or this life, she had never done anything earth-shattering.
How could she be the same as the astonishing Emperor Taizu?
Master Xindeng looked at Tang Ning, who looked dazed. "Little donor, your destiny has deviated from your original destiny. I see the signs of troubled times in you, but the fate of the Great Wei Dynasty is clearly not over yet. I am a little confused for the time being, so I want to seek your help."
However, the woman opposite had such a look of confusion on her face that she couldn't fake the confusion in her eyes when she frowned slightly.
Master Xindeng sighed softly, "It seems that I can't get an answer from you, young donor."
Tang Ning suppressed his doubts and looked up at him: "Master, why are you seeking answers? To stop the chaos?"
Master Xindeng shook his head: "Curiosity."
Tang Ning raised an eyebrow: "Curious?"
"I am also a layman."
At that moment, the mysterious aura of a high monk vanished, and the old monk's face actually showed some of the ordinary man's expression: "I have always felt that there must be some entanglement between the donor and me, but I have never seen you before, so how can I not be curious?"
Tang Ning suddenly laughed when she heard his words. She thought that Master Xindeng was particularly interesting. She tilted her head and chuckled, "That's a pity for the master."
The aggressiveness that she had originally expected was not there, and the various temptations did not appear. It seemed that Master Xindeng really came to see her in the middle of the night just out of curiosity. There was no tension in the quiet room at all. When the two of them were together, it was more like old friends who had not seen each other for many years reminiscing about the past.
Yue Jian stood outside, her mind tense. She didn't breathe a sigh of relief until Tang Ning came out of the quiet room more than half an hour later.
On the way back, Tang Ning held several Buddhist scriptures in his hands.
Yue Jian followed her and whispered, "Girl, what does Master Xin Deng want you to do?"
Tang Ning smiled and said, "Nothing much, just giving me some Buddhist scriptures."
The old monk kept saying that everyone's life and death were determined by fate, but he also gave her some Buddhist scriptures that encouraged people to do good and stop doing evil.
Yue Jian looked at the Buddhist scriptures in Tang Ning's hands, feeling somewhat bewildered. Why had Master Xin Deng gone through so much trouble just to give this girl Buddhist scriptures? She had thought something else had been exposed. Could it be that this girl was exceptionally intelligent?
Tang Ning walked forward holding the Buddhist scriptures: "Brother, have you made arrangements?"
Yue Jian said quickly, "Everything has been arranged. When the governor learns about the girl's situation, he will be so angry that his injuries will relapse. I will let Yue Fengcheng see it with his own eyes."
Tang Ning glanced at the night sky and said, "Let's go back. There will be more trouble tomorrow when we return to Beijing."
She took two steps and suddenly stopped.
"Girl?"
Tang Ning's expression was unfathomable. She reached out and touched the lotus hairpin in her hair. Wait, her so-called appearance of a troubled time, her merits and sins, could it be...
Brother?
"Girl?" Yue Jian was puzzled: "What's wrong?"
Tang Ning's expression kept changing, and it took a moment for him to recover: "It's okay, let's go."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
