The next morning, Li Zhongqian was drunk again.

But he still remembered to buy some Thousand Layer Puff Pastry from Grandma Zhang for Li Yaoying.

Yaoying took the thousand-layer pastry and held up a bowl of sobering sugarcane juice to him: "Brother, I sent someone to bring Master Mengda Deva to the palace. He has come and is checking my mother's pulse."

Li Zhongqian uttered a vague "hmm", tilted his head back to drink up the sugarcane juice, fell back, lay on the felt mat, and fell into a deep sleep.

Yao Ying was both angry and amused. She knelt in front of him and patted him a few times.

Didn't wake him up.

"It's always like this. I promise, but I still drink a lot..."

Yao Ying muttered a few words softly, rolled out a hot towel, and washed the face and hands of the drunk Li Zhongqian.

Li Zhongqian always had a golden hammer in his hand, his hands were covered with rough silk cords, and there was a scar running across the palms of both hands.

After all these years, it’s still shocking to watch.

Yao Ying held Li Zhongqian's broad and thick palm, and her fingertips brushed across the fierce scar.

When these hands held the pen to teach her how to write, they were still a pair of skinny hands with long, thin fingers.

At that time, Li Zhongqian was gloomy and gentle, elegant and refined. He read thick scrolls with great scholars every day. He could write round, vigorous and thin seal script, and could also paint burnt ink landscapes.

Wei County has a mild climate. In spring, all flowers bloom. The plum blossoms in the courtyard are as white as snow, and the peach and apricot trees are beautiful.

A breeze blew by, and petals fell all over the steps.

Li Zhongqian was writing or reading while Yao Ying was crawling around on the felt mat beside him.

Sometimes he looked at the flying flowers in front of the corridor, sometimes he turned around and lay down on the desk, watching Li Zhongqian writing with curiosity.

Li Zhongqian picked up Yaoying, let her sit on his lap, held her chubby little hands, and taught her how to hold a pen.

He taught her to write her own name and to paint elegant orchids.

When Yaoying was five years old, it was late spring. Li Zhongqian pointed to the colorful fallen flowers in front of the corridor and taught her to recite word by word: "The guests in the high pavilion have left, and the flowers in the small garden are flying in disorder."

The next day after teaching the poem "Falling Flowers", Li Zhongqian returned to Jingnan to sweep the graves.

Yao Ying went to Li De's side.

It was autumn when the brother and sister met again.

Li Zhongqian, carrying a pair of golden hammers weighing hundreds of pounds, traveled thousands of miles alone, through a battlefield full of corpses and blood, to find the dying Yao Ying.

He was covered in wounds and blood, and he hugged his sister tightly.

"Xiao Qi, don't be afraid, my brother is here to pick you up."

The knife wound on Li Zhongqian's palm was left at that time.

From that day on, he never touched a book or a painting again.

He practiced hammering every day, and just as Xie Wuliang had said, his temper became worse and worse, and his temperament became more and more gloomy and manic.

His body became stronger and stronger day by day, and the hands that once held books, picked up flowers and wrote all day long gradually lost the slender and elegant appearance of a noble son and became what they are now.

Xie Qing's hands are more beautiful than Li Zhongqian's.

Yaoying sat there in a daze for a while.

She knew how people outside viewed Li Zhongqian.

They said he had killed countless people, was tyrannical and cruel, and had emptied out city after city.

Yao Ying persuaded Li Zhongqian.

On the battlefield, it's either you or I fight. Of course, we can't be soft-hearted, but massacring the city is still too cold-blooded.

Li Zhongqian chuckled and rubbed Yaoying's head.

Yao Ying thought he had listened to her, but the next day she found that the servants around her had been replaced.

Servant A said: Girl, the second young master is deeply loved by the people!

Attendant B said: Girl, please don't worry, the common people did not scold the second young master.

Yao Ying was so angry that she fell backwards: It was Li Zhongqian who came up with such a method of covering one's ears and stealing the bell!

Li Zhongqian, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly turned over, clasped his hands together, and tightly grasped Yao Ying's wrist.

Yao Ying was shaken by the pull, and came to her senses. She pried open Li Zhongqian's hands and cursed in a low voice: "Only the governor is allowed to set fire, and the people are not allowed to light lamps!"

The curtains swayed slightly, and Chunru's voice came from outside: "My lord, the master is coming out."

Yao Ying left the palace maid to look after Li Zhongqian and went to the west chamber.

Today, Mondadeva was wearing the black robes that were popular among monks in the Central Plains and the north. He looked neat and dignified. He walked out of the inner hall and put his hands together, saying, "Princess, the concubine did use the Brahman medicine."

Feng Yu, who was standing by, lowered his head, sweating profusely.

Yaoying's face darkened.

She knew that Concubine Xie's idiocy was incurable, so she invited Monda Deva to the palace not to cure Concubine Xie's illness, but to find out the cause of the illness.

Concubine Xie had a strange illness. When Yaoying was born, she was already in a state of paralysis. By then, Tang had died, but the Xie family was still prosperous, with no signs of collapse.

A few months ago, a Taoist priest examined Concubine Xie's pulse and expressed his guess: Concubine Xie might have taken Brahman medicine, which caused her mental disorder.

Feng Yu in the palace didn't know much about Brahman medicine, and Yao Ying didn't make the matter public for fear of alerting the enemy.

She invited Monda Deva into the palace just to confirm whether the Taoist's guess was true or false.

Mondadeva seemed to be completely unaware of the sudden change in the atmosphere, and said slowly: "The Brahman medicine used by the concubine should be an immortality medicine recorded in the Brahman Immortal Prescriptions. The poor monk has seen people who have taken this medicine for a long time. They can't sleep at night, can't rest during the day, have confusion, and have memory problems, which are exactly the same as the concubine's symptoms."

Yao Ying asked calmly: "Master, is there any way to cure it?"

Monda Deva shook his head, his face sad: "The poison in the elixir of immortality cannot be removed, and the concubine's illness is far more serious than any other person I have ever seen. It is difficult to cure her mental illness."

Yao Ying understood in her heart.

Concubine Xie cannot accept the fact that Xie Wuliang is dead. The Brahman medicine is the cause of the disease, and the bad news about the Xie family makes her completely crazy.

She went crazy, and Xie Wuliang has been alive ever since.

Yaoying closed her eyes and calmed her thoughts.

According to her order, the palace servants prepared gold, silver, silk, medicinal herbs, and several horses as a thank you gift to Mundadeva.

Xie Qingfeng went to the Council of State Affairs and brought back the approval documents signed by several prime ministers.

Yao Ying knew that Mengda Deva was eager to leave for the Western Regions, so she did not keep him for long. She presented him with a document and sent him out of the palace.

Mundadeva was stunned.

He actually didn't want to go to the palace to treat Concubine Xie.

When in Shu, Mengda Deva often dealt with high-ranking officials. Most of them were polite and graceful in their manners. They called themselves practicing Buddhists and were very keen on worshiping Buddha and discussing scriptures. However, they acted in a domineering, selfish and cruel manner and did not care about the lives of the lower class people at all.

When Mengda Deva left Shu, the dignitaries who had treated him as a guest of honor in the past immediately turned against him, forcibly detained him and his disciples, and killed his attendants to threaten him.

His determination to escape Shu and go to the Western Regions became stronger, but the supervisor of Da Ci'en Temple told him that without the passing documents, he would die in Jincheng.

In order to pass the paperwork, Mondadeva had to enter the palace at the risk of being detained by the Seventh Princess.

When the Seventh Princess asked him whether Concubine Xie's illness could be cured, he hesitated for a moment, but still told the truth.

Concubine Xie's illness is indeed incurable.

Mundadeva was worried.

To his surprise, the Seventh Princess was different from the powerful people he had met before. She did not lose her temper, did not anger him, and did not force him to stay to treat her mother.

As agreed, she happily let him go and even prepared a generous gift for him.

The huge stone that was weighing on Mundadeva's heart finally fell to the ground.

While I was relieved, I also felt regretful.

The Seventh Princess had a graceful face and clear eyes. When her gaze moved, it was like the clouds dispersing at sunrise, with brilliant light pouring down.

Have a connection with Buddhism.

Unfortunately, the princess does not believe in Buddhism.

Mengda Deva comforted Yao Ying: "Princess, everything is fate. It is not a bad thing for the concubine to be like this. Good and bad are mutually causal. Things in the world are impermanent. Just follow the cause and effect."

Yao Ying smiled.

She didn't understand the Zen meaning behind the master's words, but she was very clear about one thing: she would definitely find out who had poisoned her.

After leaving the palace, Mengda Deva solemnly said goodbye to Yao Ying.

Yao Ying followed his example and put her hands together: "The journey to the west is difficult and dangerous. I wish you a safe journey and everything goes well."

Monda Deva said, "Thank you, Princess."

Yao Ying remembered something: "The Buddhist disciple that the master wants to see is Tanmaraka, the monarch of the Western Regions Royal Court?"

Mundadeva was somewhat surprised and nodded, "That's right."

…

The royal court in the Western Regions is different from that in the Central Plains. There, divine power is more important than royal power. Tanmaraka is not only a highly respected son of Buddha, but also a secular king. He is a god in the hearts of the people in the Western Regions.

He ascended the throne at a young age and was initially just a puppet emperor controlled by aristocratic families. He was imprisoned by ministers in a Buddhist temple to practice Buddhism.

When Tanmarajika was thirteen years old, the Khan of Northern Rong led an army of 30,000 to raid the royal city.

The army led by the aristocratic families was no match for the Northern Rong. They abandoned their weapons and armor, and Emperor Cang fled.

Tanmaraka lived in seclusion in a Buddhist temple. When he learned the news, the temple had already been heavily surrounded.

The monks persuaded Tanmaraka to surrender, saying that he was a disciple of Buddha, and the Khan of the Northern Rong attacked the royal city in order to capture him alive so that he could command the Western Regions.

Tanmaraka was unwilling to be a captive of the Northern Rong, so he calmly commanded the monks who were loyal to him to escape from the royal city. He then summoned the scattered royal army and turned around to attack the Northern Rong army.

When the two armies were fighting, the Buddhist disciple Tanmaraka, wearing a crimson monk's robe, rode a horse and walked in front of the battle.

The robes are hunting, cool and gorgeous.

It was like a god descending to earth.

The monks and the army were inspired and burst out with amazing fighting power, charging forward without fear of death.

With only over 2,000 men, they drove the powerful Northern Rong army out of the royal court.

The invincible Khan of Beirong never thought that he would be defeated by a young boy. Thinking of the various bizarre legends about the birth of the Buddha, he was frightened and turned eastward to continue annexing other tribes on the grassland, not daring to easily provoke the royal court again.

The thirteen-year-old Tanmaraka defeated the arrogant Northern Rong with a smaller force and gained unprecedented prestige. He took advantage of the situation to seize back the royal power and establish his rule over the royal court.

Since then, the northern route of the Western Regions has been peaceful for ten years.

…

A few years ago, a monk from the Western Regions drifted to Shu by chance. Mengda Deva had contact with him for a period of time and heard him describe in detail the Buddhist country in the Western Regions in the yellow sand, so he knew the life of Tanmarakya.

Due to years of war, the Central Plains and the Western Regions have been separated for decades. Now the countries in the Western Regions believe that the Central Plains is still ruled by a unified dynasty.

The Central Plains knew even less about the Western Regions.

Mengda Deva never thought that Li Yaoying had also heard of the name of Tanmaraka.

In fact, Yao Ying not only knew about Tanmarajiva, but also knew that the monk would not live for many more years.

Perhaps it was a proof of the saying that great wisdom will inevitably lead to injury, Tanmaraka had been in poor health since childhood. When he was in his teens, he could go to the battlefield and lead the monks to fight, but soon he was bedridden, unable to get out of bed or ride a horse.

He is a devout monk who still lives in the Buddhist temple. As a Buddhist, he suppresses the ambitious families, balances the forces of all parties, and frightens the Northern Rong.

The Khan of the Northern Rong was afraid of Tanmaraka.

Li Xuanzhen was also afraid a few years later.

They all wanted to seize the northern route to the Western Regions in one fell swoop. The former was frightened by Tanmaraka and did not dare to attack the royal court for ten years, and the latter Li Xuanzhen also suffered repeated defeats.

Just as the legend goes, Tanmaraka is a son of Buddha, blessed by gods and Buddhas, and invincible.

The Northern Rong and the Wei Dynasty were helpless and could only wait for the day when Tanmaraka died of illness.

Tanmaraka knew that as long as he lived, the royal court would be at peace. Once he died, the people of the Western Regions would be trampled by the iron hooves of the Northern Rong. The strong men would be slaughtered, and the old people, women and children would be enslaved.

He endured the pain and suffering, and with his frail body he supported the stormy royal court, but unfortunately he died of illness in the end.

It is said that when he died, he was so tortured by illness that he was no longer human.

One month later, the royal court was destroyed.

Yaoying felt a little sympathetic towards Tanmaraka.

Being also frail and sickly, she was well taken care of by her brother and did not suffer much. However, Tanmaraka had to practice hard with his sick body. In just over twenty years, every day was torture.

Perhaps only a monk with a strong will like him could endure so much pain and torture that ordinary people could hardly endure.

She sighed silently in her heart, did not ask any more questions, said goodbye to Monk Mundadeva, and watched the master walk away surrounded by his disciples.

I don’t know whether the master can successfully meet Tanmaraka.

…

Princess Palace.

After Li Xuanzhen left last night, Zhu Luyun cried all night. When she looked in the mirror in the morning, her eyes were as swollen as rotten peaches.

The attendant whispered, "Princess, the prince stood in the yard until midnight last night before leaving."

Zhu Luyun's red and swollen eyes were filled with tears again. She cried, "What's the point of him staying up until midnight? I begged him to lead the troops to rescue my aunt, but he refused no matter what!"

The attendant coaxed him cautiously and said a lot of good things.

Zhu Luyun wiped away her tears: "Aunt is the only relative I have in this world, I must save her!"

She took out the letter that her aunt had asked her loyal servant to deliver to her, read it through, and made up her mind.

"Go to Yiningfang and tell the people of the Yelu tribe that I am willing to marry you!"

The attendant bowed his head in response, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

The author has something to say: Mundadeva: A doctor who was deeply hurt by the powerful and wealthy.

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Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Xiaopangdun, Baixiaomengzhou, Jizhiyan

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: Chengjian