Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 53 Iron Kan Temple

The wind is gentle and the sun is warm, the mist is thick and the sky is full of clouds.
Yue Ling rode his horse to the foot of the West Mountain. At a glance, he saw believers who were going up the mountain to worship Buddha.

Beside the stone path, there is an old pavilion which is a bit mottled. Inside, there is a young monk beating a wooden fish, who seems to be a small abbot. In fact, it is just a temporary place for dignitaries to park their sedan chairs or store their horses.

After Yue Ling tied up the horse, he did not delay any longer and continued on his way up the mountain.

There were some sedan chair bearers walking back and forth on the stone steps, mostly carrying delicate ladies. In Yue Ling's opinion, carrying sedan chairs was definitely not as convenient as his own legs and feet.

After walking for a short while, Yue Ling arrived at the mountain gate.

Tiekan Temple is not the only temple in this mountain. Not far to the west, there is a Shuiyue Temple, which can be seen from where Yue Ling is currently.

According to the original book, Shuiyue Temple is a nunnery dedicated to Guanyin.

While the Jia family was mourning here, Qin Keqing's younger brother Qin Zhong had an affair with a little nun named Zhineng.

Yue Ling curled his lips, always thinking that this Buddhist temple with green tiles and red eaves only looked bright and beautiful on the outside, but who knows how much filth was hidden inside.

He let out a light breath and walked forward. After taking a few steps, he saw a group of people gathered at the door, seemingly watching something exciting.

Yue Ling was not a person who liked to join in the fun, but he wanted to go to the temple and could not avoid the crowd. When he approached, he heard someone crying bitterly, "No, we can't leave. Compensate for my sheep!"

"sheep?"

Hearing this word, Yue Ling stopped.

It is really a new thing that someone asked the temple to compensate for the sheep. No wonder so many pilgrims did not even burn incense and just came here to watch the fun.

You should know that the local terrain is mostly mountainous, and there is no flat grassland. The sheep raised by farmers are all goats, whose meat is tough and has a strong smell. They are not accepted by noble families at all, and are even inferior to venison.

Except for some people with special hobbies who use them to satisfy their hunger, for farmers, the most important thing is that they can produce milk to feed children. They are considered to be quite valuable livestock in the family.

For such a strong-tasting meat, farmers would actually come to the vegetarian Buddhist temple to ask for compensation?

Looking at the scene again, an old farmer in tattered clothes, with a pale face and thin body, was kneeling on the ground, begging a monk who was dressed in bright clothes, had a plump figure, and had fat on his face. Yue Ling would naturally stand on the side of the disadvantaged group.

Compassion for the poor and the weak is a virtue.

Seeing two monks with sticks coming out and isolating the farmers, the monk wanted to return to the temple.

Yue Ling took a few steps forward, pushed through the crowd, grabbed the monk's arm, and whispered, "You're leaving before you pay me back?"

The monk was held in Yue Ling's hand and could not break free. He had no choice but to turn around and look at Yue Ling with a bit of anger on his face, "Who are you? Don't act wild in front of my temple!"

Then he signaled to the monk beside him to send Yue Ling away.

The monk raised his stick to block, but Yue Ling immediately raised his hand and chopped the stick in half. The monk didn't even see Yue Ling's movements, and the stick in his hand broke into two pieces.

The monk retreated again and again, terrified inside. When he looked at Yue Ling again, it seemed as if he was facing a formidable enemy.

The scene became more and more lively, and the people around all cheered for Yue Ling.

The monk endured the anger and asked again: "Who are you, benefactor?"

Yue Ling tilted his head and pursed his lips to the old farmer who was kneeling on the ground beside him, saying: "Don't worry about who I am. Let's just talk about the poor family living at the foot of the mountain. They can't afford to raise a few animals. Since there are witnesses, someone carried the sheep up the mountain. There are only two temples on the mountain. Your temple must clear itself of suspicion, right? How can you just turn people away and send them away like this?" "His sheep was lost, let him report it to the authorities himself, what does it have to do with my temple?"

This is a typical case of people passing the buck and complicating things. Yue Ling has seen this many times.

How could the government handle the case for a commoner who had no one to rely on and lost a sheep in the mountains? Although the temple did not have a talisman to protect officials, it was backed by nobles from the capital, so even the government would not dare to offend them rashly.

In the end, big things will become small, and small things will disappear.

Yue Ling exerted force on his hands and pulled the monk back to his feet. "Report to the police? No need to go through so much trouble. You just need to let us go to the temple's kitchen to take a look and see if there is meat or not. We are all here to bear witness. If there is, we will pay you compensation. If not, it won't tarnish the reputation of your Tiekan Temple."

The people behind Yue Ling also raised their hands in support, shouting at the gate: "That's right, what's there to not watch?"

"Are you not letting me see it because you feel guilty?"

"..."

Seeing that the people were filled with righteous indignation and the commotion was getting bigger and bigger, the monk hurriedly sent someone to deliver a letter to the inner room.

He waved his hand in front of everyone, asking them to be quiet. "Don't make any noise in front of the door. I'm letting you in, but do you know who is eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures in the temple now? If you offend the noble, not to mention the sheep, you will lose your heads!"

The common people who didn't know the details were frightened and kept silent, but Yue Ling would not buy the monk's account. He grabbed the monk's collar and pulled him up.

"Even if you are the king of the world, you shouldn't steal other people's things!"

The big monk was not afraid of Yue Ling, and glared at him, "You little brat, just wait till you regret it. You have no idea who you are offending today! You still want to stand up for the weak and act like a hero at the gate of this mountain. Don't you think about how important you are?"

"Now you want to leave, but I won't let you go!"

There was a commotion in front of the mountain gate when another group of people walked out of the temple.

The first one was wearing brocade clothes and jade belt, with a crown on his head that half covered his face wrapped in gauze. His face was gentle and elegant, with an air of scholar.

Those who don’t know him would think he is a kind middle-aged man.

Yue Ling always thought that the person looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he was for a moment.

This person was probably the distinguished guest mentioned by the great monk. Some even looked like the abbot of the temple. An old monk with a thick beard followed the middle-aged man, wearing a golden robe and holding a Zen staff.

The old monk spoke in a loud voice, "Juenian, stop messing around. Why don't you retreat?"

After the old monk scolded him, the great monk named Jue Nian separated from Yue Ling. After giving Yue Ling a fierce look, he greeted the two people in front of him and retreated back into the crowd.

Although Yue Ling did not recognize these two people of high status, there were some acquaintances of Yue Ling in the team.

Wang Changshi walked out of the queue and whispered a few words to the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man's tense face gradually showed a smile.

"So, it's Commander Yue from the Qin Palace. I was wondering who would be so chivalrous and brave to offend the Iron Gate Temple. Since it's you, it's not surprising."

The middle-aged man did not intend to stop after praising him, and continued: "Needless to say, my second brother is well-known for his civil and military achievements. He also has capable ministers and counselors in his mansion, who take it as their responsibility to 'worry about the world before they worry about themselves, and be happy after the world is happy'. These are not empty words, and we can see a little from Commander Yue. Ordinary people, who would care about such trivial matters?"

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(End of this chapter)