Chapter 287: The Prefect
Today, Sang Yu sent Sang Yongjing and various things to Zhong's Teahouse, and planned to leave to go to Pearl Drink to see how the new guys are adapting.
The store will open tomorrow, I wonder if they are ready.
But just as she put the things away and told Sang Yongjing not to run around and to wait for her there if he had sold all the things, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure sitting upright on the second floor, wearing a double-breasted, wide-sleeved shirt with black edges.
Something was blocking her view and she couldn't see whether the other person's head was bald or not, but she could tell from the black edge of his clothes that he was a monk.
Monks also come to listen to "Journey to the West"? Do they think the story is full of Zen wisdom, or are they disrespecting the Buddha?
These two viewpoints are completely different. If it were the former, he might want to promote this storybook and expand the influence of Buddhism. If it were the latter... he might have ill intentions.
Sang Yu stood there with an uncertain expression, not knowing what the other party was thinking. Besides... she had never heard of a Buddhist temple nearby. Where did this monk come from?
"Yu'er, do you have anything else to do?" Sang Yongjing packed up the things so that they could be sold at any time. When he looked up, he saw Sang Yu who was in a daze.
"I won't go to the Pearl Drink store for now. I'll ask the waiter to go over and help pass on a message." Sang Yu felt that to be on the safe side, he still had to keep an eye on this side, at least to confirm whether the other party was a friend or an enemy.
"Ah? Why not go?" Sang Yongjing was puzzled. Sang Yu had just asked him to sell milk tea alone, so how could he change his mind in the blink of an eye?
Sang Yu nodded and gestured for him to look at the monk on the second floor. "I don't know where this monk came from. If he comes just to listen to the story, it's fine. I'm just worried that he might cause trouble for the storyteller and the shopkeeper."
After she reminded him, Sang Yongjing looked in the direction and saw the iconic monk's robe.
However, he was somewhat dismissive: "Our Journey to the West tells the story of a pilgrim seeking Buddhist scriptures. He is grateful to us for promoting Buddhism, so why would he start a fight?"
"You can't say that..." Sang Yu thought of the interpretations of "Journey to the West" by professors and experts in later generations. Although the Buddhism in the story seemed high and mighty, it was actually terrifying when you thought about it carefully.
It would be fine if the monk on the second floor couldn’t see it, but if he could, he would definitely make trouble.
"Dad, don't worry about this. Wouldn't it be nice for me to accompany you to sell milk tea?" Sang Yu didn't continue the topic.
"That's good, come and sit down." Sang Yongjing didn't dare to say anything bad.
Monk Fa Ming, who was sitting cross-legged on the second floor, was slightly plump and had a smiling face. At first glance, he looked like Maitreya Buddha.
Opposite him was also a person sitting cross-legged, but he was dressed as a middle-aged scholar and held a feather fan in his hand.
"Master Fa Ming, is Journey to the West really so useful?" The middle-aged scholar gently waved the feather fan in his hand twice and asked while looking at the gradually filling hall below.
Fa Ming's smile deepened, and he nodded slightly before speaking calmly, "Sir, from the days of the Hundred Schools of Thought to the current flourishing of Buddhism and Taoism. Although the current sage has never explicitly expressed his support for a particular sect, many officials in the court favor Taoism. If this continues, I'm afraid it will be detrimental to your advancement."
These words hit the nail on the head for Xun Zheng and Xun Wenyuan. Wasn't it because they admired Buddhism that the sage disliked them and that they were sent to Lingnan to serve as officials?
Although officials sent abroad often receive greater promotions and appointments after returning to Beijing, how could they receive better experience than being sent to a sparsely populated area like Lingnan, which is full of miasma? It was obvious that the saint was dissatisfied with his worship of Buddhism.
I'm afraid that when he returns to Beijing after his ten-year term is over, he will just be given a leisurely job and placed there.
"Don't worry, Your Excellency. This Journey to the West appears at the perfect time." Fa Ming lived up to the title of Zen master. His words always made people feel that they had hidden meaning.
Xun Zheng frowned slightly upon hearing this, as if something occurred to him. "Master, is this about promoting this storybook, gradually expanding the influence of Buddhism, and then swaying the sage's thinking?"
"Ah, Your Excellency the Prefect, that's wrong." The smile on Fa Ming's face faded slightly at the mention of the saint. "It's clear that the people simply thought Journey to the West was well-written, so they spread the story by word of mouth all the way to the capital."
Xun Zheng, who had many years of experience in court politics, immediately understood and nodded in agreement, laughing: "Hahaha, Zen Master is right, it was my fault. I will punish myself with a glass of tea instead of wine."
Sang Yu had no idea what the two were secretly planning. She just sat quietly downstairs selling milk tea, and from time to time she looked up at the big monk to see if he was making any moves.
However, after the storyteller on the stage finished his two stories yesterday, the monk still sat there motionless.
This made Sang Yu start to doubt whether he was judging others by his own standards.
It was not until the two storytelling sessions in the morning were finished and the monk did not make any fuss that Sang Yu finally felt completely relieved.
I just thought that the other person might be a wandering monk who came here to listen to the Buddhist stories after hearing about them.
But she still kept a watchful eye and watched the monk come down from upstairs and leave side by side with the scholar holding a feather fan beside him.
After a simple lunch, Sang Yu went to drink pearls.
When they got there, before Liu Mao could ask what happened this morning, she asked first, "Have you ever heard of any big shot in the city who has a monk with a feather fan beside him?"
There was no temple nearby, so the monks were probably from somewhere else, or they were specially invited by the scholar.
Although "Journey to the West" is now showing signs of becoming a hit, it is not yet known to everyone even in the nearby streets. In addition, given the current state of information blockade, it is impossible for people to come here specifically just to hear about it.
The identity of the monk is difficult to confirm, but the identity of the scholar is much easier to confirm.
Even though she had only met the other person once, Sang Yu could see that he had an extraordinary demeanor and carried the aura of someone who had been in a high position for a long time. He must have been an official, and a Beijing official at that.
With these prerequisites and combined with the local situation, Sang Yu already had a guess about his identity, but she still needed Liu Mao to confirm it.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished describing Liu Mao, she blurted out, "It's the prefect!"
After confirming that his guess was correct, Sang Yu was completely relieved.
A prefect who advocated Buddhism brought a monk to read "Journey to the West". No matter what their intentions were, as long as they did not cause trouble on the spot, it meant that they agreed with the story.
The rest of the matters had nothing to do with her, and she didn't want to discuss intellectual property rights with this high-ranking official who could decide the life and death of her family with a single word. Let him do whatever he wanted.
Anyway, the other party has many easier ways to make profits, and will definitely not compete with her for the meager profits from "Journey to the West". This is enough.
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