The sun hangs high in the sky, and the sky is still that transparent blue.
The warm sunlight fell on Jinghu Villa, as if awakening the dormant spring, and suddenly the crisp chirping of cicadas could be heard all around.
The withered cicada has a solemn and majestic appearance. The light ball on the top of the Bodhi Zen staff on his back emits colorful light in the sunlight, and those lights seem to envelope the withered cicada.
He was clearly sitting in this yard, but to Fu Xiaoguan, the figure became a little blurry.
This really blinded his krypton gold dog eyes!
That bead must be an extraordinary treasure.
As the cicadas chirped a few times, a circle of light golden Buddha light suddenly bloomed from the dead cicada's body. It spread out like ripples, but quickly retracted.
Then, all the precious light on his body faded away, and so did the colorful light on the Prajna Zen staff.
He became extremely clear, like a white marble Buddha statue after being washed by spring rain.
He slowly opened his eyes, a ray of light flashed in his eyes, and then disappeared in an instant, and he became the handsome little monk again.
Ku Chan stood up, facing Fu Xiaoguan, clasped his hands together, and bowed: "I, Ku Chan, thank you for your kindness in guiding me."
…
…
Five carriages left Jinghu Villa.
Two of the carriages followed Wen Xingzhou to the Wen Mansion. One of them carried Fan Tianning and Ku Chan, who were going back to the Fan State Embassy, and the other carried Yu Wenyun, Dong Shulan, and Su Su, who were going to the Marquis' Mansion to pay a visit to the Second Prince Yu Yu. In the afternoon, they were going to Guanyun City to take a look around and confirm the issue of the shop.
In Fan Tianning's carriage, the two had the following conversation:
"Have you really entered Buddhism?"
"Well, after hearing that Bodhi Gāthā, my heart was moved, and I suddenly attained enlightenment."
"Tell me, what did you feel at that time? What kind of truth did you gain?"
The withered cicada opened its mouth, its eyes blank. What did I feel? What kind of truth had I attained?
He didn't know, he was just confused. Anyway, he now has internal strength. As for the process, it was confusing.
So he took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness, at that moment, it was as if I had been enlightened, as if a thousand-foot Buddha light descended from the sky, as if eight-sided Sanskrit chants rang in my ears, as if I saw the golden Buddha Kingdom, as if I listened to the Zen of three lifetimes and three worlds under that Bodhi tree!"
Fan Tianning opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word - so mysterious? Just because of that Bodhi Gāthā?
Is Fu Xiaoguan using poetry to express Zen and to spread the Dharma through Zen?
"Is there really a Bodhi tree?"
Kuchan had no idea, but he nodded seriously, "It's true!"
"Who was that person who was teaching Zen under the Bodhi tree?"
"...It should be the Buddha, but it looks more like Fu Xiaoguan... This may be the truth that appearance is determined by the heart."
"..." Fan Tianning glared at Ku Chan and thought to himself that if the sect leader heard what you said, he would spank you!
"Well, what about you? Could it be that you are the boy under the Bodhi tree?"
"No, I am a cicada on the Bodhi tree!"
Fan Tianning suddenly felt unwell. Kuchan grinned and thought to himself, what the hell, I didn't know anything and yet I ended up like this.
But in Fan Tianning's eyes, this smile was very profound, and he felt that the dried cicada, who had attained Buddha nature, even had this smile with all kinds of Zen meaning -
Or, should I become a monk too?
Look at the Buddha under the Bodhi tree who looks like Fu Xiaoguan, and look at the cicada resting on the Bodhi tree!
…
As a great scholar of the Wu Dynasty, Wen Xingzhou's mansion was not only much larger than Qin Bingzhong's, but also had many more people in it.
"My eldest son, Wen Canghai, is in the Hanlin Academy, my second son, Wen Xiuzhong, is in the Zhengshi Hall, and my third son, Wen Xingzhao, is in the Silijian. They haven't been separated, so I have more servants in this courtyard. I don't like staying in the front courtyard; it's too noisy. I'll take you to my study in the backyard; it's quiet there."
When a tree grows big, its branches split into families. Is it possible that there is no such rule in the Wu Dynasty?
Fu Xiaoguan didn't ask, of course. Wen Xingzhou seemed to see what he was thinking and said, "Living in Kyoto is not easy. The housing prices are expensive. They only get a small salary, so there's no way they can afford to buy a yard. So they just gave up the idea. This place is quite spacious and not too crowded right now."
Alas, so many things in ancient and modern times are all about money.
Fu Xiaoguan understood very well. He took Su Jue and followed Wen Xingzhou to the backyard and into the study.
There was a beautiful woman in the study. She was sitting at her desk, writing something. When she heard footsteps, she didn't turn around, but said, "Grandpa, I have reorganized this Neo-Confucian Code. Please take a look at it later."
"Xiruo, put it down first. I'll introduce someone to you. You can go and make some exquisite side dishes yourself later."
The woman turned around with a frown on her face and saw Fu Xiaoguan. She was immediately annoyed and said with a slight twitch of her lips, "Grandpa, I can handle my own problems. Can you please stop worrying about this?"
She thought that it was just like before, that her grandfather would always bring back a few young men he thought were very talented, and of course his purpose was to let her see them.
This boy is no different from those boys. He looks good, dresses appropriately, and behaves politely. But - these are not my type!
"It has nothing to do with that. He is Fu Xiaoguan from the Yu Dynasty."
Fu Xiaoguan?
Wen Xiruo was surprised and looked at Fu Xiaoguan carefully again, thinking that there was nothing strange about this young man who was praised by his grandfather as a literary saint.
As a sign of respect for the name, she stood up and bowed to Fu Xiaoguan, thinking that this person was worthy of me cooking a meal for him.
It’s about cooking a meal, not cooking for a lifetime!
Because Fu Xiaoguan is not Wen Xiruo's type either!
"Then I'll go to the kitchen...Mr. Fu, please spend more time chatting with Grandpa, talking about literary matters, and don't talk about me."
Fu Xiaoguan laughed and touched his nose: "Please don't worry about this, young lady."
"That's good."
Wen Xiruo walked out. Wen Xingzhou invited Fu Xiaoguan to sit down and sighed as he brewed tea. "I don't know what kind of man she wants to find. She is Canghai's eldest daughter. After she was born, Canghai's wife couldn't get pregnant again, so she was raised like a son. She developed the habits of a boy from a young age. Later, Canghai had a son and dressed Xiruo in women's clothes, but he couldn't change her personality back. It really gave him a headache!"
"In that case, I guess she likes a warrior."
"Well... I've looked for it, even showing her the martial arts champions of previous years." Wen Xingzhou shook his head. "She didn't like it. Well, forget it. Let's not talk about her anymore. I'll take the Neo-Confucian Code and ask you to take a look at it."
Fu Xiaoguan suddenly had an idea - Bai Yulian, who was running around in Fenglin Mountain, is now quite old. Wen Xiruo is very beautiful. If he could kidnap her and marry her to Bai Yulian... the two of them would be equally beautiful. If they had children, wouldn't they be as beautiful as lotus flowers!
Where should I start?
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