Chapter 285 The Four Forces in Shenlong Temple
"Thank you, sir."
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, then respectfully took the fragrant mutton soup with both hands and took a sip.
In his heart, he was not at all surprised that Zhang Yanyi could see through his "disguise" or appear here.
As he felt the mutton soup enter his mouth, he couldn't help but recall that it was in this shop that he walked out of the palace and met Zhang Yanyi.
When we meet again now, it is truly like “mountains and rivers meet again”.
"Sir, I'm so miserable because of you hiding it from me."
Zhao Duan put down the soup bowl, touched the corner of his mouth and smiled bitterly.
The old Taoist priest, who is tall, with narrow eyebrows and ruddy face, is still dressed like an ordinary old man.
Although he also appeared in public in the morning.
But it seemed that he used some magic and was not worried at all about being recognized by outsiders.
He will then hand over the cake with a smile:
"Eat some cake, eat some cake. Haha, there's no need to dwell on the past. I haven't held you accountable for your disrespect, so don't dwell on it."
Haha, you’re probably afraid that I’ll bring up your dark history of getting things for free… Zhao Duan complained, but didn’t mention it again.
Just thinking about it still feels like a dream.
"Sir, is Jin Jian okay?" Zhao Duan tried to start the conversation.
Zhang Yan glanced at him and smiled:
"You are such a playboy. You just left the palace with the Saint and you're already thinking about my disciple."
Zhao Duan was at a loss whether to laugh or cry:
"Please don't try to scare me. I am utterly loyal to Your Majesty, as heaven and earth bear witness. My relationship with Priest Jin Jian is pure and innocent; we are merely friends."
Zhang Yanyi was obviously mostly joking.
Seeing him rushing to defend himself, she found it interesting and casually asked the empress how she would deal with him.
Zhao Duan mumbled a few words to get by, saying that everything was arranged by His Majesty.
However, he didn't know that the old man opposite was one of the very few people who noticed that this matter had nothing to do with the empress.
However, Zhang Yanyi did not expose him and just believed him.
Speaking of Jin Jian, his injuries were not serious. He would be back to normal after a few days of rest. At least he was much better than the unconscious monk Tianhai.
Speaking of Shenlong Temple, Zhao Duan couldn't hide his curiosity:
"Sir, I have one question that I don't understand. Why did the monk from the Shenlong Temple press me so hard today, even choosing to offend the imperial court?"
He originally wanted to ask Zhenbao, but Zhenbao walked too fast.
Just ask Lao Wang...bah, Lao Zhang.
Zhang Yanyi was not surprised.
Holding the pancake in one hand, he dipped it in the soup bowl and said:
"This involves the three forces within the Shenlong Temple."
"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it."
The old Taoist priest did not hide it from him and explained casually:
"In our Tianshi Mansion, the lineage has lasted for a thousand years, and all of them are centered around the 'Tianshi'. All inheritance is passed down from master to disciple.
Although there are many priests in the Tianshi Mansion who specialize in alchemy, talismans, etc., they are not the core of the Tianshi Mansion.
Well, you can roughly understand it as, Tianshi Mansion is a Taoist temple where many small Taoist sects gather together to live.
Among them, my Heavenly Master lineage is the strongest, and is the most respected leader in this Taoist temple and among all Taoist sects in the world."
Hmm, it sounds like a loose alliance... The Celestial Master lineage is the leader, and the others gathered around them, who also consider themselves priests, are the "member faction" within the alliance...
Zhao Duan understood it in a way that was familiar to him.
Zhang Yanyidao:
“Therefore, in the Tianshi Mansion lineage, there are only a few people in each generation.
For example, this generation consists of me and six disciples. But Buddhism is different, much larger, and that's not even counting the Western Buddhist sects and the Buddhist sects within Dayu.
"Just looking at the Buddhist sect in Dayu, with Shenlong Temple as the main altar and all monks in the world united as one, it is an extremely large sect.
Nowadays, the strongest faction in the temple is the abbot's group headed by Xuan Yin.
In addition, there are two factions led by Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and Mahavairocana Master. These two factions combined are enough to compete with Xuanyin.
Hmm...it sounds like a temple.
Xuanyin is the empress, Nagarjuna and Dajing correspond to the "Li Party" and "Qingliu Party" respectively... Zhao Duan asked curiously:
"What about the Prajna Bodhisattva of Jizhao Temple? Which sect does he belong to?"
Zhang Yan glanced at him and shook his head:
"Prajna calls herself a sect and leads the nuns, but she doesn't participate in the fight."
Well... no wonder the old nun moved out to live alone... Zhao Duan suddenly realized.
Zhang Yanyi continued:
"Among them, Nagarjuna is the most powerful, and he also covets the position of abbot of Xuanyin."
Zhao Duan asked curiously, "Is greed useful? Can he defeat Xuan Yin?"
Zhang Yan smiled:
“Of course you can’t beat him.
But Xuanyin was old and would die sooner or later, while Nagarjuna was younger, so he naturally thought about competing for the next abbot.
Besides, Xuan Yin might not die early unexpectedly, but the successor he liked to cultivate was probably Bian Ji.
Therefore, Nagarjuna has been constantly forming factions and cultivating his power over the years. The head of the Discipline Hall and Tianhai are both from Nagarjuna's faction."
My goodness... Is this going to be a coup in Buddhism?
Zhao Duan exclaimed that it was amazing.
If we compare it with the "Xuanmen Coup", Xuanyin is the old emperor, Bian Ji is the crown prince, and Nagarjuna is the second prince.
hiss……
In this case, doesn't the old nun Prajna, who was watching from the sidelines, correspond to the Third Princess?
Zhao Duan has divergent thinking.
Zhang Yanyidao:
"To build up his reputation, Nagarjuna placed his bets on this Buddhist-Taoist duel. If Tianhai wins, he will become the much-anticipated candidate for the future 'celestial being'.
In this way, Nagarjuna's school will benefit greatly.
Xuan Yin was fully aware of this, but he was deeply concerned about the great cause of uniting Eastern and Western Buddhism, and fearing internal division, so he was tolerant. But you ruined it.
The old Taoist looked at him jokingly and said:
"Your sudden appearance may seem to have suppressed Buddhism, but in fact it has made Nagarjuna's years of painstaking preparation go to waste.
They paid so much to Tianhai, but only picked the peaches for you. How can you not be angry?
More importantly, this will help the Xuanyin sect regain its status..."
Zhao Duan was so smart that he understood everything immediately and said in surprise:
"So, the head monk of the Discipline Hall took advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble for Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and deliberately provoked a conflict between the Shenlong Temple and the imperial court?
Because the one currently in charge of Shenlong Temple is still Abbot Xuanyin, so Abbot Xuanyin must bear the wrath of the court... Is that old bald donkey using the court to suppress Xuanyin?"
Zhang Yan smiled and said, "This young man is teachable."
Good job!
Zhao Duan grinned, finally resolving the doubts in his heart. He didn't expect that there were so many twists and turns here.
He analyzed to himself:
“Sir, you know this, and I’m sure Your Majesty knows this too.
So... His Majesty deliberately delayed sending Mo Chou to Shenlong Temple to put pressure on it, just to leave some space for Xuanyin to deal with the head of the Discipline Hall himself... thereby deepening the conflict between the two Buddhist sects?
On the contrary, if the imperial court were to intervene, the two factions would be united because they would have a common enemy...
This is not what the court wants to see.
And first, he made them fight among themselves and force Xuan Yin to take action to suppress the head of the Discipline Hall, and then went to the court to punish the entire Shenlong Temple.
It can both maintain the dignity of the court and amplify internal conflicts...wonderful!"
Zhao Duan instantly understood the whole story and felt suddenly enlightened.
Suddenly I realized that it was no accident that Zhenbao could sit on the throne.
Although it seems that he has always been helping me.
But in reality, whether it was the series of actions that the Empress had taken in the past six months to establish the "Xiu Wen Guan" or her clever provocation of conflicts in the Shenlong Temple...
All of this shows that when Zhenbao is cut open, it is actually black... Wow, that's amazing.
"Thank you, sir, for clearing up my confusion."
Zhao Duan smiled and thanked him sincerely, then changed the subject and said:
"Speaking of which, although I am acting on behalf of the royal family this time, I have also done a small favor for the Tianshi Mansion. So, you see..."
He stretched out two fingers and rubbed them, looking embarrassed.
Zhang Yanyi's smile froze slightly, and he frowned and said:
"I suddenly remembered that the heavenly book drying in the courtyard has not yet been put away. I will leave now and see you again when there is a chance."
After saying this, without waiting for Zhao Duan to speak, his figure turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.
Zhao Duan: "..."
Is this thing really a Heavenly Master?
I clearly haven’t mentioned the conditions yet... Zhao Duan patted his butt helplessly, stood up, and was about to leave with his horse.
But he was suddenly grabbed by the boss who ran out of the shop:
"Sir, you haven't paid yet."
"...those two bowls of soup noodles were given to me by the old man just now..."
The boss held him tightly and said unhappily:
"He said you'll pay the bill, sir. Does that mean you want to eat for free?"
“…”
Zhao Duan gritted his teeth and uttered two words:
"Old! Zhang!"
…
evening.
Zhao Duan, feeling depressed, rode his horse straight to Zhangtai Garden, ready to attend the celebration banquet tonight.
(End of this chapter)
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