Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1016 A Wake-Up Call: Revealing My True Self

In the next instant, Master Xuanzang gently wiped his hair with the razor, and a strand of jet-black hair fell directly to the ground.

In the main hall, King Li Ke of Wu looked at the drooping hair, and his whole body twisted in pain.

—Because, that hair is his!

The words of the monk Xuanzang, who wanted to ordain him, were not actually an excuse he came up with to escape.

He actually intends to shave his head and become a monk!

"Master, think it over!" Li Ke shouted loudly, struggling desperately.

They even had to roll on the ground—the scene of shaving their heads made it seem like they were performing a ritual to deliver the deceased.

However, Master Xuanzang was extremely strong, and no matter how much Li Ke struggled, he was firmly held down by Master Xuanzang.

"Abbot Yinshan, stop looking."

"Xuanzang has gone mad! You must stop him!"

Do you know what the consequences are of forcibly shaving a prince's head?

"Never before in human history has such a thing happened!"

With Xuanzang pressing his head down, Li Ke could only gesture with his eyes to Abbot Yinshan outside the hall, and then burst into curses.

After scolding him, Li Ke turned his gaze to the monk Xuanzang and began to plead.

"Master, spare my life! Spare my life!"

"I am fond of power and lust, and my six senses are impure. How could I possibly enter the sacred Buddhist temple?"

Li Ke first belittled himself, and then spoke with a threatening tone.

“Master, my parents are still alive. Wouldn’t it be unfilial of me to shave my head at this time?”

“Master, if news of what happened today were to reach Chang’an, you may be able to escape, but the entire family of Yinshan Temple will likely be executed!”

"Moreover, Buddhism has not yet flourished—Father Emperor has only promised you that after welcoming back the true Dharma, he will recognize Buddhism as the true Dharma."

"This Buddhism is not yet the true Dharma, yet you, Master, dare to forcibly convert princes and nobles—if Buddhism were to truly become the true Dharma, wouldn't later generations be forced to convert monarchs?"

"The Dharma Master's Buddhist teachings were profound, and his conduct was impeccable—but did the later leaders of Buddhism possess the same level of profound Buddhist teachings?"

"Even if Chang'an ignores what happened today, it will surely sow the seeds of disaster for Buddhism, leading to its annihilation."

"Master, please reconsider!"

"Think twice!"

Li Ke spoke very quickly—as if afraid that if he spoke too slowly, Xuanzang would shave his head completely bald with the razor in his hand.

Even if he escaped from Xuanzang's grasp at that point, his bald head would mean he was forever barred from the throne!
Upon hearing Li Ke's words, Xuanzang finally stopped wielding the razor in his hand.

What moved him was not Li Ke's threat, but what Li Ke said about the future!
Among humans, there is a tradition of succession from generation to generation!

What predecessors do, successors inevitably follow.

Just as Li Ke said, his actions today, if passed down to future generations, will surely be imitated by Buddhists.

Today, Xuanzang, based on many considerations, ordained this prince, but later generations may not consider so much—in fact, the cause-and-effect relationship may be reversed by later generations.

What if, at that time, a Buddhist leader of a certain generation wants to bring Buddhism to an unprecedented level of prosperity and wants to verify how prosperous Buddhism will be, and then actually plans to ordain that generation's emperor?
That would be a true catastrophe for Buddhism!
A catastrophe from which there is no escape!
After that, as long as the lineage of the human emperor and king remains, no matter how the five elements and five cycles change, the existence of Buddhism will become a complete heresy, and everyone will shout and kill it!
At that time, the status of Buddhist disciples who practice Buddhism in the human world will be even more humble and lowly than that of demons and ghosts!

"What a pity," sighed the monk Xuanzang, putting away the razor in his hand.

"Your Highness, the King of Wu, truly possesses wisdom."

The monk Xuanzang put away his razor and sat down in front of the King of Wu.

"Your Highness, the power in this world lasts for a mere hundred years or so."

Throughout history, countless emperors and feudal lords have ruled, yet how many have left their mark on posterity?

Xuanzang looked at King Li Ke of Wu in front of him with a face full of regret.

He genuinely wanted to ordain Li Ke.

Previously, the idea of ​​shaving one's head was indeed a temporary expedient.

But when he brought Li Ke to Yinshan Temple, he suddenly realized that shaving Li Ke's head was an excellent choice and a great opportunity!

For the human world and for the Li Tang dynasty, the greatest hidden danger at present is the struggle for the throne—the conflict between the Crown Prince and the Prince of Wu.

One who possesses great righteousness, yet is bound within the city of Chang'an.

With military power at his disposal and Chong'er (the ruler) in exile, the situation was like a fish leaping freely in the vast sea!
Such disputes, if not handled carefully, could affect the very lifeblood of this earthly dynasty.

Many insightful people in the world have seen this enormous hidden danger.

But here

Nobody can!

Even the current emperor couldn't do it!
To the emperor, both sons were equally precious; the crown prince and the Prince of Wu were his own flesh and blood. How could he bear to treat them both cruelly?

Therefore, even if everyone sees this hidden danger, they can only watch helplessly as it grows larger and larger.

As the forces surrounding the Crown Prince and the King of Wu grew stronger and stronger—almost to the point of splitting the very lifeblood of the dynasty in two.

Once this hidden danger erupts, it will inevitably affect the dynasty's vitality and its continuation—it will cause the dynasty's fate to end prematurely and bring about chaos sooner!

For a high-ranking monk like Xuanzang, who truly internalized Buddhism, he was someone you absolutely wouldn't want to see chaotic times arrive!

When Xuanzang was reading extensively, he was repeatedly struck by the horrors of a chaotic world!
In his view, even if a dynasty lasts forever, ensuring that one family or clan remains forever in a position of power, it is all worthwhile as long as it allows countless people to live in peace and prosperity, and prevents them from being killed in the chaos of war!
Therefore, Xuanzang was more anxious than anyone else about the hidden dangers within the Tang Dynasty—the more violently those hidden dangers would eventually erupt, the sooner chaos would arrive, and the sooner the people would suffer hardship and displacement!

It was precisely because he was subconsciously aware of this hidden danger that Xuanzang unknowingly arrived in Liangzhou—his journey to the west originally did not require him to pass through Liangzhou!
Just before that, Xuanzang suddenly realized the reason why he had unknowingly come to Liangzhou.

That was it; his instincts had already told him a way to resolve the dynasty's hidden dangers.

That's tonsure!
They used Buddhist teachings to influence the King of Wu, causing him to relinquish his earthly power and return to Buddhism.

Thus, the King of Wu lost his chance to vie for the throne, the turmoil of the succession struggle dissipated, and the dynasty's vitality was preserved, not wasted. At the same time, the Buddhist community could demonstrate the profoundness of Buddhism by guiding the King of Wu to relinquish power—how weighty is the highest power in the human world?
However, their Buddhist teachings were able to convert the King of Wu, leading him, who was only a few steps away from the highest authority, to relinquish his power and enter the Buddhist order.

Does the profound mystery of Buddhism need to be explained by others?

Upon realizing this, Xuanzang understood his true intention—to use Buddhism to enlighten the King of Wu.

This original intention was so powerful and so intense that when Xuanzang saw an opportunity, he almost forgot his other original intention.

That is why, earlier, Xuanzang disregarded the struggles and objections of King Li Ke of Wu and insisted on forcibly ordaining him.

That was his love for humanity, his love for the dynasty, and his love for the people, which surpassed his love for Buddhism—at that time, he only wanted to forcibly ordain Prince Li Ke of Wu, so that he would lose the possibility of competing for the throne.

At that time, Xuanzang was almost possessed by demons.

It wasn't until Li Ke started talking about future generations and the future that Xuanzang suddenly woke up, realized his mistakes, and realized that he was about to fall into demonic possession.

That is why Xuanzang felt such regret after putting down the razor.

It's both a pity that I didn't make everything a reality, and a pity that Li Ke really had a 'Buddhist affinity'.

Otherwise, how could he possibly give himself a 'wake-up call'?

At this moment, the words of the monk Xuanzang and King Wu Li Ke were once again heartfelt, expressing their desire to convert Li Ke, to persuade him to give up his struggle for power, and to maintain the vitality of the dynasty.

They wanted to spare these countless people from the suffering of war and displacement.

"Your Highness, King Wu," Xuanzang's voice slowly rang out.

"Kings cannot prolong their lives—while the lifespan of ordinary people is no more than a hundred years."

“From the pre-Qin period to the present day, the time span has been more than tens of thousands of years.”

"But how many of those kings and feudal lords have left their names behind?"

"Your Highness, the King of Wu, is well-versed in history. Surely you can tell me how many monarchs over the past tens of thousands of years have had their names recorded in history books?"

"Only a few dozen!" sighed the Venerable Xuanzang.

“Your Highness, if a monarch lives for a hundred years, then over the past tens of thousands of years, there should be hundreds of monarchs recorded in history.”

"But actually?"

"Your Highness, worldly power and beauty are but fleeting clouds."

"The Dharma, whether Buddhist or Taoist, is eternal."

"The mortal world will not remember the existence of most monarchs—but the registers of the Daoist and Buddhist sects record the traces of every disciple."

Upon hearing Xuanzang's words, King Li Ke of Wu's expression also became enlightened.

So insignificant!

They are so insignificant!
The emperors of the human world are already supreme and noble—but compared to those tens of thousands of years of dimensions, the existence of those emperors is really insignificant!
Throughout history, of the hundreds or thousands of monarchs, only a very few outstanding, or even absurd, have left a mark on human history—those who were mediocre, even as emperors, could hardly leave a trace in the history books.

At least, Li Ke could not find even the slightest trace of the monarchs who should have appeared in history books—a number that should be more than ten times the current number!
An overwhelming chill appeared in Li Ke's heart, almost engulfing him.

What good is the throne of an emperor, no matter how prestigious it is?

The emperor of this generation, his father, Emperor Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin), shone like the sun for eternity. Under the brilliance of the Zhenguan era, the emperors of the following generations, unless they could create greater achievements or destroy those achievements, would have no presence at all, just like the hundreds or thousands of monarchs who disappeared from the history books.

"Even if I win over Chengqian, can the achievements I have made surpass those of my father?" Li Ke asked himself.

This is extremely difficult!
If one wants to leave a mark in history, one cannot surpass one's father's achievements; otherwise, one can only ruin one's father's achievements...

"This is not the outcome I wanted!"

"I am vying for the position of Crown Prince because I am far more outstanding than my elder brother, Chengqian!"

Li Ke clenched his fist.

If he harbored thoughts of ruining the foundation, how could he possibly compete with Li Chengqian?

Moreover, that legacy still belongs to our family; it was something we fought for and are now passing on to our descendants!
Why ruin such a foundation?
but……

"It seems Your Highness has understood." Master Xuanzang clasped his hands together and smiled slightly.

“Your Highness, once the struggle for the throne begins, there is no turning back—and in the process, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of innocent people will be implicated.”

"But even if we win, what then?"

"Since Your Majesty's achievements have reached their zenith, it will be extremely difficult for future generations to surpass them."

"Your Highness risked your life and endured the cost of this struggle for the throne that damaged the destiny of the Tang Dynasty. Did you really want to remain unknown for over a hundred years?"

Master Xuanzang spoke with utmost sincerity.

"Your Highness, put it down. Whether you win or lose this struggle for the throne, all you'll get in return is obscurity after ten thousand years!"

"How about Your Highness and I travel together to the Western Paradise to seek the true scriptures? In terms of achievements, few in the mortal world can compare with His Majesty the Human Emperor. If we go our separate ways, when we return with the true scriptures, Your Highness's glory in the history books will not be inferior to His Majesty's."

"If Your Highness is still unable to let go of power and beauty at that time, there is also Indra in our Buddhist sect—the Buddha Emperor who is second only to the Heavenly Emperor."

"Its power is no less than that of the human world, and it is eternal and never ceases."

The voice of the Venerable Xuanzang slowly rang in Li Ke's ears, filled with a bewitching allure.

Li Ke was almost ready to agree to accompany Xuanzang on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures.

But it was at this moment that the officials, both high and low, outside Yinshan Temple finally caught up with them and arrived here.

"Your Highness, the King of Wu!"

"You stinking monks, get out of the way right now, or you'll all become dead monks!"

The sound coming from outside the door startled Li Ke awake.

Then, more images surfaced in Li Ke's mind.

What were the reasons behind his struggle with Chengqian for the position of crown prince from the very beginning?

(End of this chapter)