Aoyama

Chapter 207 Old Rules

"There is no self, no person, no sentient being, no life ..."

The Chen family's Buddhist hall was brightly lit with candles, and the smoke from the candles swirled around the beams.

In the Buddhist hall, the gilded Sakyamuni Buddha made the mudra of giving with his left hand and the mudra of giving with his right hand, with compassionate eyes and a solemn appearance. Chen Ji and Liang sat cross-legged and whispered, their mouths dry, their bodies and minds exhausted, their faces grim.

Outside the temple, servants, maids, and nannies gathered together, almost falling asleep while standing. Xiaoman saw that Chen Ji had gone out to pay his respects but had not returned yet, so she also waited outside the door, leaning against the wall, dozing off.

Outside Chen's house, a night watchman passed by, beating a gong, his voice high and loud: "It's dry, be careful of fire!"

child time.

When Liang's maidservant Dongzhi heard the night watchman's call, her mouth twitched slightly. This time, the greetings started before dawn at 11:00 in the morning and lasted until midnight, a full ten hours.

There are only twelve hours in a day. Who would take a whole day to pay respects? With such sincerity, even the Buddha should be invited down.

In the Buddhist hall, Liang secretly glanced at the two people beside her. She knew that they were young and strong, and she would definitely not be able to survive. If she was outlasted by Chen Ji here today, it would be a huge joke.

But she was the one who started this matter. It was not enough for her to read one volume of Buddhist scriptures, and she insisted on asking Chen Ji to read another one. In the end, she shot herself in the foot.

Liang thought for a moment, slowly put down the Buddhist scriptures, and said in a hoarse voice: "You two read first, I suddenly want to read the Diamond Sutra, it's not here, I'll look for it somewhere else."

Chen Wenzong nodded slightly: "Mother, please go."

Liang stood up and winked at Dongzhi outside the door: "Dongzhi, come over and help me look for it."

Dongzhi sighed and followed Liang to the side room, where Buddhist books were kept.

As soon as he entered the house, Dongzhi turned around and closed the door. Liang suddenly let out a breath and almost fell down on the chair.

Dongzhi knelt beside her, massaged her legs, and whispered, "Madam, why has Chenji changed his personality? When he came back last year, he was cowardly and obeyed your orders, but now he has become so cruel."

Liang frowned: "Did you notice it? I also felt that something was wrong with him, like he was a different person."

Dongzhi comforted her, "Madam, you can rest here. When they come, they will say that they haven't found the book yet. Can Chenji survive until dawn?"

Liang didn't have the energy to say anything more. She slowly closed her eyes and said, "I'm going to take a short nap. Please keep an eye on me."

In the Buddhist hall, Chen Ji glanced at the empty cushion beside him and suddenly asked, "Brother, I have a few questions after reading this, but I can't find the answers in the Buddhist scriptures. Can you please help me answer them?"

Chen Wenzong put down the scripture in his hand and said gently, "Tell me about it."

Chen Ji asked: "Is this world eternal?"

Chen Wenzong was stunned.

Chen Ji asked again: "Does this world have an edge?"

Chen Wenzong frowned and remained silent. Even though he had read all the Buddhist scriptures when he was young, he had never seen the Buddha answer these two questions.

However, Chen Ji knew from the beginning that Chen Wenzong would not be able to answer the questions, because these were two of the "Fourteen Unknown Questions" of Buddhism.

The so-called "Fourteen Unconsciousnesses" are the fourteen questions that people in later generations often say that even the Buddha was unwilling to answer. The word "Unconsciousness" is directly translated from Sanskrit, which means "unable to be clearly stated or described".

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Brother, don't you know the answers to these two questions?"

Chen Wenzong said calmly: "Brother, I am not very knowledgeable. If I think about it carefully, it seems that Buddha has never answered these two questions. I will look through the Buddhist scriptures again in the next few days to see if there are any answers in the Buddhist scriptures."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Brother, there's no need to be so troublesome."

Chen Wenzong was puzzled: "Third brother, do you have a way to solve this puzzle?"

Chen Ji said, "Why don't we go ask the lady?"

Chen Wenzong was stunned.

Chen Ji stood up and said, "Madam, you have studied Buddhism and will be able to answer these two questions."

After that, he walked to the side room and knocked on the door: "Madam, Chen Ji has some questions, please answer them for me."

Liang suddenly opened her eyes in the side room, and felt that Chen Ji's voice was like a ghost in the evil world. She had clearly hidden here, but he could still find a reason to chase her.

She looked a little dazed, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

Dongzhi looked at her worriedly and said, "Madam, should I send him away?"

Liang shook her head: "No need."

After that, she fixed her makeup, smoothed out the wrinkles on her body, and walked out the door holding a copy of the Diamond Sutra, smiling softly, "What's the problem?"

……

……

Footsteps were heard outside the Buddhist temple.

Chen Liqin frowned and looked at the servants and maids outside the temple: "What are you all doing here?"

Dongzhi bowed and immediately complained: "Master, the Third Young Master is so un--"

Xiaoman, who was dozing off, suddenly woke up and interrupted the conversation: "Master, the eldest and third sons are chanting Buddhist scriptures with the lady."

Dongzhi turned around and glared at her implicitly, and Xiaoman glared back without giving in.

Chen Liqin didn't notice these. He was looking at the three figures under the lights in the Buddhist temple and listening to the whispers in the temple. He felt that this was the long-lost warmth in the house.

When Liang heard Chen Liqin's voice, she breathed a sigh of relief and stood up to greet him: "The master is back."

Chen Liqin stepped into the Buddhist hall and said with a smile, "I'm going to inspect the riverbank today. You guys are in a good mood."

Liang was silent for a moment, then said hoarsely, "It's not really a refined hobby..."

Chen Wenzong explained, "Father, today my third brother and I came to pay our respects and then chant the Buddha's name with mother. My third brother seemed to have become interested in the meaning of the sutra, so we stayed with him and answered his questions. My third brother is very smart. He asked questions that even mother and I could not answer."

"Oh?" Chen Liqin did not ask what the question was, because he knew that what could stump Chen Wenzong would probably stump him as well.

He smiled and said, "Chen Ji, it's rare that you are interested in the classics, but you should read more of my Confucian classics. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are interconnected, and my Confucian scholars also have great knowledge. By the way, you should go to Donglin Academy in the spring next year."

Chen Ji bowed and said, "Master Chen, I don't want to be away from home for so long and so far."

Chen Liqin thought for a moment: "Then go to the Imperial College. I am familiar with the chief priest Yang Zhan, and it is not difficult to ask him to arrange a student status for you. However, there are only more than 50 doctors in the Imperial College, and they have to answer questions for more than 9,000 students. After all, it is not as good as Donglin Academy..."

Chen Ji understood that the Imperial College in the capital was a big pot, while the Donglin Academy in Luzhou was a small kitchen, and it was obvious which one was better.

However, he was already Hai Dongqing, the eunuch of the Imperial Household, a fifth-rank imperial guard in the inner court. Even ordinary county magistrates had to bow to him when they saw him. There was really no need for him to take the imperial examination.

At this time, Liang said hoarsely: "Master is about to leave his post and he is still inspecting the river bank. He must be tired. I will arrange for the servants to boil water for you and make a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup. Chen Ji, Wen Zong, you two can go back first."

Chen Ji saluted: "Yes."

When he was about to leave, Liang suddenly called him, "Chen Ji." Chen Ji turned around and asked, "Madam, do you have any other instructions?"

Liang sent Dongzhi to fetch three volumes of the Great Prajna Sutra and handed them to him: "I know you want to strike while the iron is hot, so take these three volumes back and read them. You are in full swing now, so you must not slack off. Tomorrow I will test your knowledge of the Sutra."

Chen Ji remained calm: "Thank you, ma'am."

"Go back and rest."

……

……

The moonlight was scattered all over the bluestone road. As the branches rubbed and swayed, black shadows were like waves hitting the blue bricks.

Chen Ji walked in front, and Xiaoman followed behind, yawning and holding three books.

When they returned to Mingquan Garden, Xiaoman asked curiously, "Sir, where are these three volumes?"

Chen Ji said exhaustedly, "I threw away the first and second volumes."

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"Ah?" Xiaoman was surprised: "Where's the third volume?"

Chen Ji fell on his back on the bed with a thud: "Throw the third volume away."

Xiaoman: “…”

She came closer and pretended to help Chen Ji take off his black boots.

Chen Ji was startled by her action and sat up again: "What are you doing?"

Xiao Man said as a matter of course: "Take off your boots, sir. I will go and boil some hot water for you to wash your feet. You can sleep well after you are warm."

Chen Ji retracted his legs and said seriously: "I told you that you don't need to serve me when you are around me, you just need to take care of yourself."

Xiaoman's eyes widened: "Master, do you despise me? Didn't I always do this before?"

Chen Ji had no choice but to explain: "I have been in the clinic for two years. I have gotten used to taking care of myself and don't need to be served."

Xiaoman was silent, and Chenji was also silent.

After a moment, Xiaoman said with emotion: "It seems that the young master has suffered a lot in the past two years."

After that, she took out eight silver peanuts from her sleeve and said, "Sir, the old rules apply."

Chen Ji sat on the bed, puzzled. What was the old rule? What was going on with these eight silver peanuts?

On the window frame, dark clouds meowed.

But Xiaoman said, "Today, Sister Liqiu came to me and said that someone wanted to buy your information for eight taels of silver a month, so I agreed as usual. Here, the eight taels of silver are all here. According to the old rules, I will take one tael and you will take seven taels. I also wanted to help you find out who the employer is, but Sister Liqiu is very tight-lipped and doesn't want to tell me."

As he spoke, Xiaoman muttered, "Sir, don't show off your wealth in front of others, or they will know that we are cheating people out of their money."

Chen Ji looked at Xiao Man with a half-smile: "This employer is too stingy, only giving eight taels of silver?"

Xiao Man said confidently without blushing or beating her heart, "It's just eight taels. It's much more generous than before. Before, I only gave eight hundred coins, and we lived a tight life."

Chen Ji did not argue with her. He took the seven taels of silver and said, "Go to the west wing and sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow to pay my respects."

Xiao Man suddenly got angry and stood up: "Madam used to use the excuse of paying respects to you to order you to serve tea and water. Now that you just came back, she has punished you to chant sutras in the Buddhist temple for a whole day. You are almost like a monk! Young Master, why can't you be tougher and not pay respects?"

Chen Ji carefully observed her angry expression and explained softly, "The Chen family values ​​rules the most. If we don't follow the rules, we won't be able to survive in the Chen family mansion."

Someone once said that immature people will die heroically for their ideals, while mature people will choose to live with humiliation and hardship for their ideals.

Chen Ji didn't know whether this sentence was right or not, but he had no choice now. Bai Long asked him to get close to the core of the Chen family, so he had to abide by the rules of the Chen family.

However, he had his own plans.

Chen Ji told Xiao Man, "Go to sleep."

Xiao Man said angrily, "Why sleep? Young Master has nightmares every day and I have to watch over you. You go to sleep and I will find time to catch up on my sleep during the day."

Chen Ji shook his head: "I don't have nightmares anymore."

Xiaoman was skeptical: "Really?"

"real."

"I don't believe it. I'll watch over you tonight and see."

……

……

The next morning, before daybreak, dark clouds raised their claws and slapped Chen Ji.

Chen Ji stood up slowly, looking refreshed.

The tiger's body is full of energy, and just a moment's sleep is equivalent to a whole night's sleep for others.

He turned around and saw Xiaoman sitting on a small stool guarding the charcoal brazier, nodding his head in a daze.

Chen Ji did not wake Xiaoman up. He just put on his clothes silently, walked past her, left the yard, and went straight to the Buddhist hall.

At this time, the cock had not yet crowed, and even the maids in the Qunfang Garden had not come out to walk around. The huge Chen Mansion was empty.

Chen Ji straightened his clothes, walked to the Buddhist hall and knocked on the door hard.

After a while, the door of the Buddhist hall opened, and Liang's hair was disheveled and her eyes were sleepy.

She looked at the sky, then looked at Chen Ji in panic: "What time is it?"

Chen Ji replied respectfully, "Madam, it's three o'clock."

Liang's fingers gripped the wooden door tightly: "Why are you here so early? Aren't you sleepy?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said sincerely, "Madam, sincerity is the key to success."

Liang: “?”

She opened her mouth but couldn't say anything for a long time, and almost lost her composure.

After a long while, Liang took a deep breath and said slowly, "Chen Ji, you are now eager to learn. You should focus all your attention on your studies. You don't need to come to greet me in the future."

Chen Ji smiled and bowed: "Thank you, Madam, for your consideration. Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)