Chapter 429 if line - The helpful little monk
As the Chinese New Year was approaching, Yan Yu planned to go to Ciguang Temple in the suburbs of Beijing to pray for blessings.
Ciguang Temple is very famous in the area near the capital, and has always been very popular.
Many families come here to burn incense during the Chinese New Year.
Everyone in the Pei family is very busy. Pei Lingfeng and Pei Lingyun are busy with official duties, Wu Yingniang is busy with the opening of the new Black Mountain Restaurant, Pei Xuan is on duty in the Imperial Guard, and Pei Shu and Xue Yuzhuo will not be back for the New Year this year.
Yan Yu was also busy as the mistress of the Pei family, but she still insisted on going to Ciguang Temple to burn incense and pray for the health of everyone in the family, so that she could feel at ease.
The teachers in the mansion were on vacation, and the children were free too, so they went along.
Yan Yu's two children, Pei Zhaoyuan and Pei Qinghan, are ten and eleven years old respectively, and they also went up the mountain to pray for blessings in previous years.
Yan Yu was not worried about the physical strength of the two children, but Zhizhi and Xue Che were less than seven years old, so she was worried that the two children would not be able to handle it, and it would be bad if they fell while climbing the mountain.
"Zhizhi, Ache, it will be a bit tiring to go up the mountain. It's okay if you don't want to go." Yan Yu touched Zhizhi's face.
Zhizhi's eyes were full of excitement: "Aunt, I want to go, I want to go. I haven't climbed a mountain for a long time. I climb very fast and can climb with my hands and feet."
Xue Che: "Aunt Pei, I want to go too. I want to pray for the Xue family army."
Pei Zhaoyuan and Pei Qinghan also said, "Mom, we will take good care of Zhizhi and Ache."
So, Yan Yu took his two children, Zhizhi and Ache to Ciguangshan.
It snowed heavily a few days ago.
The weather is clear and sunny today.
A lot of snow has melted in the capital, but the snow on the mountains is still very thick.
When Zhizhi was going up the mountain, he would pick up two snowballs to play with from time to time.
This was her first time celebrating the New Year in the north. She had never seen snow before, so she couldn't stop playing as soon as she saw the snow.
Xue Che kept reminding Zhizhi:
"Zhizhi, your sleeves are getting wet."
"The snow is too cold. The chill is harmful to your health. Put it down quickly."
"I meant to put it on the ground, not in your pocket..."
Xue Che was really tired of what he said.
Zhizhi stuffed a piece of snow into Xue Che's hand: "Ache, please squeeze it. The snow is crisp and not very cold."
Xue Che wanted to say no, no, but he already had a ball of snow in his palm. He squeezed it twice, and it made a crackling sound.
A ball of fluffy snow was squeezed into ice.
Xue Che stopped nagging.
Because he also thought it was a bit funny.
Yan Yu originally wanted to stop the two children, fearing that they would catch a cold, but when he walked over and touched their foreheads, he found that they were sweating from playing.
Yan Yu was at a loss for words: "Okay, let's go up the mountain and have some tea first. Stop playing."
Pei Zhaoyuan and Pei Qinghan held Xue Che and Zhizhi's hands respectively, preventing their younger siblings from playing around.
When they reached the top of the mountain, they went into the temple to pray and had vegetarian food and hot tea.
Yan Yu also wanted to listen to the monks in the temple preaching.
A few children could not understand the chanting, so they played in the open space outside the temple.
Zhizhi said he wanted to make a person out of snow.
So the four children worked together to snowball.
A larger one was rolled to serve as the body, and a smaller one was used as the head.
When Zhizhi and Ache were pushing a snowball on their heads, Zhizhi failed to control the strength and pushed too hard, causing the snowball to roll a long way.
"My head!" Zhizhi hurried to chase it.
The snow on the ground was thick, and Zhizhi didn't run steadily and accidentally fell into the snow.
"Little donor, your head is still there, it's not lost." A childish voice sounded from above.
Zhizhi looked up and saw a little monk.
It has a round head and a round brain, as round as the Buddhist beads hanging around the neck.
The little monk wanted to reach out to help Zhizhi, but Zhizhi had already climbed up by himself very nimbly.
Xue Che also chased after him: "Zhizhi, are you hurt?"
"I'm not hurt," Zhizhi pointed at a snowball that had hit a rock not far away, "but it's broken. I have to roll a new one."
Then Zhizhi explained to the little monk: "I was talking about the snowman's head, not my head."
After she stood up, she found that the little monk was half a head shorter than her and obviously younger than her.
Zhizhi exclaimed, "Are you a monk too? Can you become a monk at such a young age?"
Xue Che: "Young Master must have been practicing in the temple since he was young."
The little monk put his two chubby hands together in front of his chest:
"Amitabha, of course I am a disciple here. I have a Dharma name, Wuzhen."
Zhizhi asked, "Master Wuzhen, why don't you go in and chant the sutras?"
Wuzhen was a little embarrassed: "I don't know how to chant the sutra yet. My brothers said that once I can, I can go. But if you have any questions, you can ask me."
Zhizhi asked, "Will you build a snowman with us?"
Wuzhen blinked, then nodded heavily: "Good, good!"
So the team making snowmen expanded again.
After they built the snowman, they picked up branches and stones to make arms and eyes for the snowman.
Xue Che said: "It's still a little bit off. I need to stuff a pair of shoes under my body so that it looks like I have feet."
"What's so difficult about this?" Zhizhi bent down and was about to take off her little shoes.
"No, you can't take off your shoes and step on the snow outside, otherwise your shoes and socks will get wet." Cousin Pei Qinghan stopped Zhizhi in time.
Wu Zhen's eyes lit up: "Wait a moment, little donors, I have a solution."
After Wuzhen finished speaking, he trotted away.
Wuzhen ran through the main hall, the corridor, the flat snow, and entered a small courtyard with a private entrance in the monks' quarters at the back.
In the small courtyard, the dead branches of the peach tree were covered with a layer of snow.
There is a window under the dead branches.
Inside the window, on the couch, Monk Mingdeng was chanting with his eyes closed.
Wu Zhen's forehead was covered in sweat and his steps were hurried.
Ming Deng didn't need to open his eyes to know it was his apprentice by the voice. He said:
"What's wrong with Wuzhen? Didn't your master tell you not to rush into anything?"
"Oh, you're running so fast, you might fall or step on some bugs on the ground."
Wuzhen was panting, with two blushes on his face:
"Master, I met a few small donors who needed help, and I was just about to help them."
Ming Deng nodded with satisfaction: "Helping others is a kind act."
He opened his eyes and saw Wuzhen running out with a pair of shoes in his hand. When he looked down, his shoes were gone.
Ming Deng was not pleased and jumped off the couch and shouted:
"Hey, Wuzhen! What are you doing with my shoes?"
"Come back, Gojin!"
"Master's shoes—!"
Wuzhen turned back while running and answered:
"Master, I go to help others for fun! I'll give it back to you after I'm done helping you!"
Wuzhen ran to find Zhizhi and the others with his shoes in his hand.
Zhizhi, Ache and others waited there for a while, and saw Wuzhen running back panting, holding a pair of black boots in his hand.
The boots were huge, bigger than the ones on several children's feet.
The boots are tucked under the snowman's body and are very conspicuous, as if the snowman has grown a pair of big feet.
Xue Che: "Master Wuzhen, where did these shoes come from?"
Wuzhen: "It belongs to my master."
Zhizhi: "Your master is so kind. He lent his shoes to the snowman."
Wuzhen nodded, and the flesh on his face trembled:
"My master is a very good person."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of Ming Deng was heard behind him.
"Wu Zhen!"
"Wuzhen, where did you hide my shoes?!"
Zhizhi turned around and saw a monk walking towards them.
At first glance, he looked like a very different monk.
Although they were all wearing dark grey monk robes, the material this man wore was obviously smoother and softer, and his aura when he walked was not like that of an ordinary citizen.
Wuzhen introduced him to Zhizhi and the others: "That's my master, his Dharma name is Mingdeng."
Pei Zhaoyuan and Pei Qinghan listened and opened their mouths slightly:
"Master Mingdeng?"
Zhizhi and Xue Che didn't react much because they were still young and had not been in the capital for a few years, so they didn't know about some of the things that happened in the past.
Pei Zhaoyuan and Pei Qinghan grew up in Chang'an and are now old enough to be governors.
They knew that the current emperor's younger brother, Prince Ding Murong Ji, had been practicing in Ciguang Temple for the past two years, and his Buddhist name was Mingdeng.
Murong Ji has been impatient since he was a child. When the empress dowager was alive, in order to make Murong Ji calm down, she asked him to recite Buddhist scriptures.
Later the Queen Mother passed away.
Murong Ji was sad for a moment and immersed himself in Buddhist scriptures.
After he recovered from his sadness, he insisted that he wanted to convert to Buddhism.
The emperor tried to persuade his brother several times but failed to change his mind.
The emperor then asked Murong Ji to go to Ciguang Temple to practice as a lay disciple, and he was not allowed to drink alcohol or eat meat, which would violate the oral precepts. If Murong Ji could survive three years without going down the mountain, the emperor would agree to Murong Ji's formal conversion to Buddhism.
If Murong Ji cannot endure the days of green lamps and ancient Buddhas on the mountain, then Murong Ji is not allowed to mention the matter of entering Buddhism again.
Murong Ji agreed readily at that time.
After he went up the mountain, the abbot of the temple refused to shave his hair, so he shaved his hair himself.
He became a lay disciple who looked very much like a Buddhist disciple.
Pei Zhaoyuan and Pei Qinghan quickly pulled their brothers and sisters to salute Murong Ji:
"Greetings, Prince Ding."
Mingdeng saw that he had been recognized, so he slowed down his pace and became more steady:
"Ahem, just call me Master Mingdeng. Whose family are you from?"
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