Chapter 1337 Do You Believe It?
The four of them were talking animatedly when Daoxu ran over from the front hall. He happily greeted Manbao and the other two, then grabbed the tea in front of Daohe and took a sip.
His face was wrinkled with pain, but he didn't care. After putting it down, he said, "I've been talking so hard that my throat is about to smoke. Brother, why are you so leisurely here?"
Daohe said, "Master and I don't talk much."
Daoxu snorted, then looked at Manbao and the other two happily, "Is the capital city fun?"
Manbao nodded, "Not bad."
Daoxu was filled with envy, "I wish I could go to the capital too."
Daohe said, "There is no money in the temple."
Traveling far away costs a lot of money, and not everyone can do it.
Bai Shan said, "If you want to go, you can come with us. We have carriages and horses, and we can take care of you on the way. But have you decided where you want to go after you arrive in the capital?"
Daoxu was stunned and said, "I was just talking, I'm not going there."
Daohe also refused on his behalf, "When he has mastered the skills, he can go out naturally. Even if he wants to go now, the masters won't let him."
Speaking of this, Manbao went in to find Qian and took out the wrapped book for Daohe, "This is the book you were looking for earlier. We found it in a bookstore in the capital."
Daohe took it, opened it, looked at it, and asked, "How much is it?"
Manbao didn't refuse, and directly quoted the price, "Two taels and two cents."
Daohe nodded, took the book, stood up and went back to the house to get her the money.
Daoxu stood by, dumbfounded. "What kind of book is so expensive? It's almost eight cents a copy."
Bai Shan said, "A book on the analysis of Zhuangzi, a book on the commentary of the Book of Changes, and an article on the interaction between heaven and man. This is a handwritten copy that we found among a pile of old books. If we bought the printed engraving, a copy of the analysis of Zhuangzi would cost two taels of silver."
That’s why books are expensive. Two books can be exchanged for a cow.
Especially for books that are not very popular, because the cost of a single edition is too high, the selling price is usually also relatively high. Some commonly used books are relatively cheaper.
For example, a carved edition of Zhuangzi costs only nine coins per copy, but the prices of various versions with different interpretations vary because the translators and annotators are different. Some of the translated and annotated copies are even unique and hidden copies, which are only kept in the libraries of some aristocratic families and may not even be seen.
The two translations and annotations that Bai Shan and his team found for Daohe are still circulating on the market, so they are not too expensive. Some rare copies of the translations and annotations may be sold for thousands of taels.
The kind where one book can buy you a house in the capital.
Dao He gave the silver to Man Bao. Dao Xu looked at it and subconsciously touched his arms and said, "Brother, do you have any money?"
Daohe shook his head, "No more."
He glanced at Daoxu and said, "Don't always spend your money on food. Save some so that you don't have to ask your masters for money even when you need to buy pens and ink in the future."
Daoxu rolled his eyes at Manbao and said with a chuckle, "Manbao, have you experienced anything miraculous recently? I heard from some wealthy families in the county that you even treat the nobles in the palace. Is that true?"
Bai Shan frowned and stood in front of Man Bao and said, "What do you want to do?"
Daohe poured himself a cup of tea and said with a smile: "Just ignore him, he just likes to do some weird things now."
Daoxu disagreed and said, "Manbao and I are complementing each other. Brother, Uncle Shoucai has said that when we practice Taoism, we are not only completing ourselves, but also completing others and even all things in the world."
He pointed at Manbao and said, "People outside think she is the reincarnation of a fairy. It's good for her, her family, and our Taoist temple. Isn't this a blessing for others, for us, and for the lay Buddhists outside?"
Manbao pointed at his nose and asked, "What does this have to do with me?"
"Why not?" Daoxu said quickly, "Don't you know that since the news of your reincarnation spread, the incense business in our Taoist temple has increased significantly?"
Manbao nodded. She knew this, but wasn’t that something that happened several years ago?
"Ever since your biological father's deeds became known, our Taoist temple has become even more popular. It's even spread to the neighboring county. There's even a master who offered money to donate a statue of the Heavenly Lord..."
Manbao and the other two opened their mouths in surprise. Why would rich people believe such obvious lies?
Bai Shan thought about it carefully. In fact, there was nothing wrong with Manbao's reputation as the reincarnation of a fairy. She had Uncle Zhou by her side.
Come to think of it, this matter became known because of Aunt Qian.
Bai Shan's eyes moved and he fell into deep thought. It seemed that the people in the Zhou family were not completely unaware of the strange things happening to Manbao.
He looked up at Daoxu, then at Daohe, and asked with a smile, "Don't you two believe that Manbao is the reincarnation of a fairy?"
Daohe and Daoxu: ...
Both of them are three years older than Manbao, and were picked up and raised by the masters from outside.
In fact, the two of them have known Manbao longer than Baishan. Before she could walk, Qian carried her up to worship Laojun, asked their master to help her with her illness, and also asked for talismans in their temple.
So, who doesn’t know who? They grew up together. Who would believe that she is the reincarnation of a fairy?
Most importantly, what do they do?
They are Taoists themselves, okay? Even if it is reincarnation, it is them. How does Zhou Man look like a Taoist fairy?
Daoxu was choked and speechless for a moment. Daohe was silent for a moment, then looked at Bai Erlang with a smile and asked, "Bai Cheng, do you believe that Zhou Man is the reincarnation of a fairy?"
Bai Erlang looked at Manbao like he was a treasure, and shook his head in disdain, "I admit that she is smarter than me, but she can't be a fairy."
He pointed at Bai Shan and said, "If she is a fairy, then Bai Shan, who is as smart as her, must be a fairy child. There are many people in the capital who are as smart as them. They are all reincarnations of fairies and fairy children. There are too many reincarnations of fairies in heaven, right?"
Daohe looked at Baishan with a smile. This was how they felt.
Manbao muttered, "I didn't say I was the reincarnation of a fairy."
Bai Shan said to Daoxu, "Look, if you don't even believe it yourself, how can you make people outside believe that Manbao is the reincarnation of a fairy, and that your Taoist temple has great merits and can take care of the fairies who have come down to earth on behalf of Laojun?"
He said, "You want to make money from this, it's difficult!"
Manbao threatened him, "Be careful, or you'll be exposed and beaten up."
"It's okay if you get beaten, but don't implicate Manbao." Bai Shan said seriously, "If you want people to believe that Manbao is the reincarnation of a fairy, you must first believe it yourself. You see, the master of Qingguan is convinced that Manbao is the reincarnation of a fairy."
Daoxu was stunned when he heard this. "I, I just want to earn some pocket money."
There are only a few sources of income for a Taoist temple, and theirs is even more limited because the surrounding villages are very poor. In the past, apart from receiving food when people came to worship, most of the time they relied on performing rituals to make money, and they also had to farm themselves.
The next chapter will be around 6 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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