Shi Mingyue met Qin Zheng in a special reception place and did not let Hongyin leave.
Qin Zheng could only look at Hong Yin frequently, meaning that she was inconvenienced.
"Hongyin, you wait outside the door first. There's no need to close it." Shi Mingyue had to say this. In this way, Qin Zheng, a man, came to Prince Ling's Mansion openly, and the servants all saw him.
Hongyin was also very troubled by the matter between the two of them. After all, the young lady and Mr. Qin were childhood sweethearts, but then the young lady suddenly changed her mind.
Seeing Hongyin standing out, Shi Mingyue asked, "Why do you have to come to the palace to see me?"
"About the Buddhist treasures under Yongjin Temple," Qin Zheng whispered, "don't you want to know?"
"you say."
"I have two keys to open the bronze door."
Qin Zheng's words startled Shi Mingyue, "Aren't those two keys in the mouths of the black and white pythons? How did you get them?"
"I am the one with destiny. I was there the night the meditation room in Yongjin Temple collapsed. After the two snakes ran away, I followed them without thinking much. Unexpectedly, the two snakes discovered me, but did not attack me. Instead, they spat out the key in their mouths." Qin Zheng looked at Shi Mingyue steadily.
Shi Mingyue saw that he didn't look like he was lying, and wondered why he was her destined person.
"I felt strange after I got those two keys. Later, I learned that they were needed to open the bronze door. So I looked up the relevant texts and finally found out what the Buddhist treasures underground were." Qin Zheng's expression was serious. "You have read history books, so you should know He Jun, right?"
He Jun, Shi Mingyue looked at Qin Zheng and nodded. Of course she knew He Jun. He Jun was the fourth son of the emperor of the former Tianyun Kingdom.
The Tianyun Kingdom lasted for over four hundred years, ultimately falling two hundred and twenty years ago. Tianyun revered Buddhism, fostering a deep commitment throughout the court. Several emperors even abdicated in their fifties and sixties, passing the throne to their crown princes. Instead of becoming retired emperors, they ordained themselves as monks. By the time of the last emperor, Emperor Tianai, the nation had a population of approximately three million, but a staggering 800,000 monks, mostly young and able-bodied men who did not engage in agricultural production or military service. The numerous temples within the kingdom were not only tax-free, but also required state funding for their maintenance, resulting in enormous annual expenses. At the same time, enemy states frequently invaded the border, forcing Tianyun Kingdom to retreat, facing severe internal and external threats.
At this time, someone saw the problem and wrote a nearly 10,000-word memorial, detailing dozens of religious shortcomings and proposing solutions. However, after reading the memorial, Emperor Tianai became furious, believing him to be disrespectful to Buddhism. He punished the person by forcibly ordaining him as a monk and placing him under house arrest in a temple.
This person is He Jun, the fourth son of Emperor Tianai.
He Jun is truly a legendary figure. Born into a royal family, he was nurtured in Buddhism from a young age, gifted with intelligence and proficient in both civil and military skills. At the age of nineteen, he was disliked by his own father for a letter of remonstration, and was forced to become a monk.
However, he did not become discouraged. Instead, he devoted himself to reading the countless books in the Sutra Library at the temple. At the age of 25, he made a stunning debut at a Dharma conference, surpassing Master Wuchan, the foremost scholar of Tianyun Kingdom. This earned him the favor of Emperor Tianai again. The emperor, realizing his son had grown into a man of profound wisdom, was filled with pride. He also felt guilty for neglecting his son over the years, so he appointed He Jun as the Imperial Preceptor of Tianyun Kingdom, second only to the emperor himself.
But by then, the Tianyun Kingdom was in decline, only four years away from its demise. Perhaps He Jun had already sensed the fate of Tianyun, so he spent a year traveling the country preaching. Later, he returned to Ningguo Temple, Tianyun's largest temple, to practice Buddhism, and remained secluded from his home.
Later, the people of Tianyun Kingdom, frustrated by their nation's failure, rose in rebellion. The rebel alliance, after three years, finally reached the city of Shangjing. Emperor Ai, disheartened, committed suicide. Fu Bo, then a general of Tianyun Kingdom, was then crowned emperor as the leader of the rebel alliance.
Fu Bo is a ruthless man who is determined to wipe out the He royal family. When he arrives at Ningguo Temple, which was once the guardian temple of Tianyun Kingdom, he finds that He Jun, who was under strict surveillance, has disappeared and has been out of sight since then.
This was all Shi Mingyue knew about He Jun. She was shocked and asked, "Could the Buddha treasure be related to He Jun?"
Qin Zheng nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, the underground of Yongjin Temple is where He Jun hid back then. It's said that when He Jun disappeared from Ningguo Temple, he took away many rare Buddhist treasures from the temple, such as the Eight-Layered Treasure Box, the Golden and Jade Buddha Statue, the Twelve-Ring Tin Staff, and so on."
"You mean those Buddhist treasures are behind the bronze door, then why do you hide the key and not present it to the emperor?" Shi Mingyue thought that Qin Zheng was not a greedy person, so she was puzzled by his behavior of hiding the key.
Qin Zheng chuckled. "If it were me in my previous life, I would have handed over the key. But Mingyue, we both lived a second life. Don't you want to know why we were able to be reborn?"
"...Why?" Shi Mingyue had thought about it before, but how could such a fantastic thing be easily explained?
"Because one of the treasures He Jun took away was a prayer wheel, a unique instrument from a branch of Buddhism. Every rotation of the prayer wheel is equivalent to reciting a mantra. The more mantras you recite, the more devout you are to the Buddha, and you can escape the suffering of reincarnation."
Shi Mingyue questioned: "Even though I don't believe in Buddhism, I know that Buddhism doesn't believe in the rebirth of the soul, only reincarnation."
"Yes, but escaping the suffering of reincarnation also includes the rebirth of the soul. That's why I guess rebirth is related to the prayer wheel. Maybe this is why you and I have a connection with Buddhist treasures." Qin Zheng said slowly.
“Do I also have a connection with the Buddha treasure?”
Qin Zheng nodded and said, "Yes, I've seen the bronze door. The key requires two people to insert and turn it at the same time, so come with me to open the bronze door."
Shi Mingyue didn't understand: "But why did you open the bronze door? What did you want to do with those Buddhist treasures? We have been reborn, and it is also an opportunity from heaven. We should just live well. If you do this, once you are discovered, you will be charged with stealing Buddhist treasures, and you will be sentenced to death."
"Why should I be afraid of death? I've already died once. Why would I continue to work for the imperial court? Besides, if I've found the prayer wheel, if it truly possesses supreme power, why should I stay in a corner? Now that I've been reborn, why not follow my heart?"
What Qin Zheng said was simply shocking. Shi Mingyue was silent for a long time, thinking that she was no different from him in trying to change history and defy fate.
"Do you want to go with me?" Qin Zheng asked finally.
Shi Mingyue didn't want to go. She had lived a happy life until now. In her long relationship with Fu Yueli, she had gradually fallen in love with him. His love for her was like a gentle spring breeze, moistening everything silently, and she was gradually drawn to him. Their relationship had been smooth and unruffled, yet it was deeply engraved and unforgettable.
She was afraid of all the uncertainties. She remembered what Fu Yueli had told her before she left, "Don't go anywhere. Stay home and wait for me to come back."
So, she refused Qin Zheng: "I won't go." She wanted to wait here for Yue Li to come back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
