Suddenly, there was a burst of noise, but it was the lamas mumbling something.
The loud noise made all the guests frown.
Qiuji said displeasedly: "Master Lianhua, can you be quieter?"
Padmasambhava said calmly: "Zazen Zen is about unifying the mind and not dwelling on external things. These sounds are a test. Only when you can overcome the external sounds can you consider real zazen. Otherwise, what is the difference between sitting in meditation? Does the master think so?"
Qiuji couldn't argue with Lianhuasheng, so he snorted and said nothing more.
Sitting in meditation is not very entertaining, and with such a group of lamas making a lot of noise, all the guests gradually left.
Seeing that there were fewer and fewer guests, Li Zhiying and the other two were afraid of being discovered by Wu Chengsi, so they also left.
In the blink of an eye, only Wu Chengsi and an old man in rich clothes were left outside the Zen room. This man did not kneel down when Wei Dongfu read the oral edict just now.
Wu Chengsi met this man several times when he went to court, but did not recognize him. When he asked someone else about him, Nie Ziyun replied: "Your Highness, this man is Xiao Kai, Duke of Song Dynasty."
Wu Chengsi was slightly startled and looked towards Song Guogong. It happened that Song Guogong was also looking at him.
After meeting their gazes, the other party smiled and nodded.
Xiao Kai was one of the subjects of Wu Chengsi's suspicion, and it was no accident that he came to Da Ci'en Temple.
Could it be that Da Ci En Temple is really related to the theft of the treasury?
Those lamas were still noisy "moo moo" non-stop.
Moreover, they only have ten people chanting sutras at a time, and ten more people will be replaced every once in a while. It seems that they will continue to chant sutras until the end of the competition.
Although I don't know if Xuanzang could stand this method of interference, Wu Chengsi couldn't stand it. He felt like there were a hundred flies buzzing around his head.
The sound affects both sides, especially the lamas who are closer to their own lamas, and Wu Chengsi cannot accuse them of being unfair.
After glancing at Xiao Kai, he made two earplugs with rags and decided to stay here.
After staying at the same place for another half an hour, Wei Dongfu had already led his people to stand far away. He had a life on his side and had to report the results of the competition to Li Zhi, otherwise he would have left long ago.
Wu Chengsi glanced at Xiao Kai again. Although he forced a smile on his face, it was obvious that he felt uncomfortable, but he refused to leave.
At this moment, a monk came flying from a distance, with a look of panic on his face.
Wu Chengsi saw that he seemed to have said something, and Qiuji's expression changed instantly. He also pulled the monk to a corner, and the two of them whispered something.
Wu Chengsi walked over quickly and said in a deep voice: "What happened?"
Qiuji hesitated and said, "This...that..."
Nie Ziyun said sternly: "How dare you not answer His Highness the King of Zhou's question?"
Qiuji gritted his teeth and said, "Back to Your Highness, a corpse appeared in the "Shangbao Hall" in the temple!"
Wu Chengsi's expression condensed. Sure enough, something happened again. He turned to look at Xiao Kai and saw him looking this way.
Wu Chengsi said solemnly: "Who died?"
The monk looked anxious and said: "Yes, he is a man in his thirties. The young monk does not recognize him..."
Nie Ziyun asked: "Where is the Shangbao Palace?"
Qiuji said: "This is the Imperial Zen Room, a special Zen room for His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Queen."
Wu Chengsi said: "Lead the way immediately!"
The Shangbao Hall is not far from the Zen room for the competition. Compared with the five exquisite monk houses, it is even more magnificent. It is more like a small palace than a Zen room.
The door of the room was wide open, and there were several monks guarding it. When they entered the room, they saw a middle-aged man lying on the floor in the middle of the Zen room.
This man was wearing linen clothes and had a dark face. He looked like an ordinary farmer.
However, Wu Chengsi noticed that his hands were white, tender and well-maintained.
The expression on the face of the deceased was full of fear and anger. He wanted to see the murderer before he died, and he probably knew the murderer.
At this moment, a man following Nie Ziyun shouted: "Ah! This seems to be our boss!"
Wu Chengsi was surprised and said: "Is he Cai Yang?"
The man stepped forward to identify it carefully for a while, nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, yes, I have been with my boss for more than ten years and I will never admit my mistake!"
Wu Chengsi fell into silence. After a long while, he ordered: "Nie Si Cheng, I leave this place to you."
After saying that, he strode out of the meditation room and walked all the way to the meditation room where the third competition was held.
The master behind Cai Yang was either the Xiao family or the Xue family, and the person who killed him was probably one of these families.
It is absolutely impossible for them to go to such great lengths and collude with the Tubo people just to deal with a small Cai Yang.
Although Wu Chengsi still doesn’t know what they want to do, he can no longer let the other party lead them by the nose at this time!
Since the Tubo people provoked this contest, their conspiracy is probably related to this contest.
In addition, Song Guogong Xiao Kai came to watch in person. He was so concerned about this competition, which shows that there must be something wrong with this competition.
Wu Chengsi decided to stop the competition!
As soon as I got close to the outside of the Zen room, I heard the lamas chanting sutras in the distance.
Wu Chengsi strode outside the Zen room, folded his hands and said loudly: "Don't even read it!"
The lamas did not listen and continued to chant sutras.
Nie Ziyun shouted: "His Royal Highness the King of Zhou has given an order to stop chanting sutras!"
Lianhuasheng stood up and shouted loudly in Tubo dialect. The lamas finally stopped. When Xiao Kai and Wei Dongfu saw what was going on here, they both came over.
Lianhuasheng frowned and said: "Dear Prince of the Tang Dynasty, please don't disturb this sacred competition."
Wu Chengsi said coldly: "A murder occurred in the temple, and you are all suspects. The competition is suspended. You can continue the competition after my investigation is completed!"
Pu Guang said: "Your Highness, King Zhou, according to the rules, the sitting meditation competition cannot be stopped midway!"
Wu Chengsi scolded: "Do you think that the face of your temple is more important than human life and more majestic than the king's law in your hearts?"
Puguang's face turned red and he did not dare to speak anymore.
Song Guogong stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, King Zhou, this competition is not an ordinary sitting meditation competition, but a competition between two countries. It is related to the face of our Tang Dynasty. What do you think?"
Wu Chengsi glanced at him sideways and said: "I suspect that some young people want to do some shameful things in the name of competition between the two countries!"
Song Guogong's face changed slightly and he said: "Your Highness, King Zhou, what do you mean by this?"
Wu Chengsi said calmly: "It means that someone took advantage of the competition to kill a person. Why, does Mr. Xiao think that this king has any other intentions?"
Duke Guo of Song felt a chill in his heart and said to himself, "No, this person has already become suspicious." He forced a smile and said, "I am just asking casually."
Lianhuasheng said with a bitter face: "Honorable Prince of the Tang Dynasty, you can terminate the competition if you want, but you must admit that your country has lost this competition."
Wu Chengsi said coldly: "I have made it very clear that if a murder occurs in the temple, you lamas are all suspects. Once your suspicions are cleared, we can continue the competition."
Duke Guo of Song interjected again: "His Royal Highness King Zhou, even if you say this, if it spreads in the future, our country will forcefully stop the competition. In the eyes of other countries, they will definitely think that we have lost."
Wei Dongfu said cautiously: "Your Highness, I think what Mr. Xiao said is reasonable. Your Majesty is also very interested in this matter. How about you let them continue the competition."
Puguang also prayed: "Your Highness, please let us continue!"
Wu Chengsi finally understood that Xiao Kai appeared here just to ensure that the competition went smoothly.
Naturally, he would not let him get his wish, and said coldly: "I will repeat it again and cancel the competition. I will explain it to Your Majesty later."
Xiao Kai said loudly: "In this case, it is better for Eunuch Wei to go to the palace to ask for your Majesty's instructions, and your Majesty will judge!"
After speaking, he winked at Wei Dongfu.
Wei Dongfu laughed apologetically and said, "Your Highness, King Zhou, let me go and wait for a moment." After saying that, he turned around and left.
Wu Chengsi frowned deeply.
Unexpectedly, Wei Dongfu actually sang harmony with Xiao Kai. Since he went to ask for the order, he could only wait, otherwise he would be disrespectful to the emperor.
He took a deep look at Xiao Kai, turned around and went to the upper palace.
Xiao Kai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said to Lianhuasheng: "Zen Master, please continue."
Padmasambhava nodded and shouted something in Tubo dialect, and the noise of lamas chanting sutras rang out again.
After Wu Chengsi walked away, Xiao Kai suddenly turned around and ran towards the outside of the temple. Although he was very old, his movements were extremely vigorous.
When he came to the gate of the temple, he finally caught up with Wei Dongfu, pulled him aside, and said with a smile: "Eunuch Wei, thank you very much just now."
Wei Dongfu snorted and said: "Mr. Xiao, His Highness the King of Zhou is not someone to be trifled with. This old slave disobeyed him for you this time. It will not be easy to please him in the future."
Xiao Kai smiled and said: "Of course I won't let Eunuch Wei do it in vain. As per the old rules, I will send you a box of good yellow tea as compensation tonight."
The so-called yellow tea is "gold". Wei Dongfu loved gold most in his life. He immediately smiled and said: "Master Xiao is too polite, so I will go and ask for the order now."
Xiao Kai said: "Wait a minute, I have one more thing to trouble Eunuch Wei."
"Master Xiao, please speak."
Xiao Kai said: "I hope that my father-in-law can go to ask for your Majesty's decree at half an hour in the evening."
Wei Dongfu frowned and said, "If I procrastinate, I'm afraid His Highness King Zhou will be blamed again."
"Add another box of yellow tea."
Wei Dongfu sighed and said: "Mr. Xiao, I am not a greedy person. Because of our many years of friendship, I can promise you this time. But I also want to remind you."
"Father-in-law, please tell me."
"Never make an enemy of King Zhou!"
Watching Wei Dongfu lead the people away, Xiao Kai touched his beard and sighed: "It's not that I want to be his enemy, but that he refuses to let me go."
Xiao Kai took a carriage and went straight to Xue Mansion.
When Xue Hui, the Marquis of Hedong, learned of his sudden visit, he hurried to the lobby and said, "Aren't you supposed to be at Da Ci'en Temple now? Why are you here?"
Xiao Kai said solemnly: "I will discuss the details with you later. Immediately send someone to inform Her Majesty Xianfei that your Majesty must agree to continue the sitting meditation competition at Daci'en Temple."
Xue Hui didn't ask any further questions, but called his nephew Xue Shao and ordered him to go to the palace in person.
After Xue Shao left, Song Guogong squinted and said, "Master Xue, your guess has come true. Wu Chengsi has already suspected us. He also went to Da Ci'en Temple today."
Hedong Hou's face sank and he said: "I knew it must be related to him."
Song Guogong frowned and said: "I feel like he seems to know our plan. After learning about Cai Yang's death, he immediately asked to terminate the sitting meditation competition, and also vaguely warned me that he knew we were doing something behind our backs."
The Marquis of Hedong smiled instead, with a very ferocious smile on his face.
"If he really knew the plan, he would never just warn you. In my opinion, he just noticed some clues and deliberately used words to test you."
Song Guogong nodded and said: "In this case, I will rush back immediately to avoid another accident."
In the Imperial Zen Room, Wu Chengsi stood motionless, seemingly listening to Nie Ziyun's explanation of the cause of Cai Yang's death, but in fact, his thoughts were running at high speed in his mind.
How Cai Yang died is not important, what is important is why he died here and at this time!
Why did he kill a monk from Daci'en Temple before, and why did he kill the stonemason?
In addition to Nie Ziyun and Feng Wu, Zhuge Nan was also in the room. He was originally investigating the Buddha statue in the back mountain, but he rushed over after learning about Cai Yang's death.
After checking, he came to Wu Chengsi and said: "Your Highness, Cai Yang's neck should have been broken and brought here. This is not the scene of a murder."
His conclusion is exactly the same as Nie Ziyun.
Wu Chengsi was silent for a while and said: "You all go out, everyone, go out, I want to stay here alone for a while."
Zhugenan was stunned for a moment, looked at each other with Nie Ziyun, nodded, and the two went out together.
Only Feng Wu didn't go out.
She walked to the table, poured a cup of tea, held it in both hands, and drank it in small sips.
After noticing Wu Chengsi looking over, he asked, "Do you want to drink too?"
Wu Chengsi smiled. After seeing Feng Wu's leisurely look, most of the worries in his mind disappeared. He smiled and said, "Okay, pour me a drink too."
This is a Zen room prepared for the emperor. Even if the emperor doesn't come, someone will clean the room, wipe the furniture, and prepare tea every day.
Wu Chengsi took the teacup handed over by Feng Wu and took a sip. Although it was not expensive tea, it tasted surprisingly good.
Wu Chengsi sat down cross-legged on the ground and said, "Feng Wu, come here, I want to discuss the case with you."
Feng Wu nodded, came to him, and knelt on the ground.
Wu Chengsi pointed at Cai Yang and said, "Do you know who he is?"
Feng Wu nodded.
"who is it?"
"The owner of the ten brocades, Cai Yang."
"He is also a member of a mysterious organization. The people behind this organization are probably the Xiao family or the Xue family." Wu Chengsi added.
Feng Wu nodded again.
Wu Chengsi sighed: "It can be said that everything started with this person. Let's first assume that he is a member of the Xiao family. Yang Xuan found out that this person had approached the King of Han and the King of Yue and bribed them to support the Liaodong War. This shows that the Xiao family
Intentionally promoting the Liaodong War."
Feng Wu nodded.
"According to the information provided by Zhang Jianzhi, the Xiao family, the Wei family, and the Xue family secretly colluded to do the next big thing, which should be to steal money from the treasury."
Feng Wu nodded again.
Wu Chengsi touched his chin and said: "They stole the treasury and supported the Liaodong war. What is the connection between them?"
Feng Wu suddenly said: "After I stole food once before, I couldn't help but want to eat it a second time."
Wu Chengsi was moved in his heart and said: "Are you saying that they want to use the Liaodong War to steal military pay?"
Feng Wu nodded.
Wu Chengsi thought for a while, shook his head and said: "No, my aunt has investigated the Liaodong War and there is no problem. When I was marching and fighting, I didn't find anyone withholding military rations."
Feng Wu stopped talking. It was rare for her to express an opinion, but it was rejected.
Wu Chengsi thought to himself and said: "But you reminded me that they were probably worried that the money in the treasury would be so low that it would arouse others' suspicion, so they promoted the war. Then others would think that all the money was used for the war.
Already."
Feng Wu nodded repeatedly.
Wu Chengsi added: "Xiao Kai found out that we were investigating Cai Yang, so he decided to kill Cai Yang to silence him. However, Cai Yang was very alert and ran away in advance."
After a pause, he frowned and said, "But I still don't understand why Cai Yang killed the monk and craftsman when he was clearly being hunted!"
Feng Wu asked: "What is the monk doing in the temple?"
"I've had someone investigate, and it turns out he's a very ordinary monk, responsible for cleaning the dust in the Zen room."
Feng Wu glanced at Cai Yang on the ground and said, "Could he pretend to be a farmer and hide near the temple, and then the monk and craftsman would find out his identity, and then kill them?"
Wu Chengsi shook his head and said: "If his identity is really discovered, he will kill him and silence him at that time. He will not wait so long -"
Suddenly, his eyes flashed and he said: "Wait a minute, I remember that the big shopkeeper of Shijindan said that Cai Yang hid in a den that no one knows. This den should be near Daci'en Temple."
Feng Wu tilted her head, wondering why he suddenly mentioned this matter.
Wu Chengsi's eyes were shining and he said: "Since it is a den, it must have been specially selected. And in order to facilitate him to hide his whereabouts, he will definitely arrange for a monk to take care of him in the Daci'en Temple."
Feng Wu was stunned and said: "You mean there are monks in the temple who are Cai Yang's subordinates?"
"That must be the case." Wu Chengsi stood up, opened the door, and said to Qiuji: "Master, go and gather everyone in the temple immediately and ask them to come here."
Qiuji hesitated and said: "His Royal Highness King Zhou, my master..."
"Master Xuanzang doesn't need to come."
Qiuji breathed a sigh of relief, agreed to leave.
Soon, everyone except Xuanzang gathered outside the Zen room. Wu Chengsi asked these people to enter the Zen room one by one to identify the deceased, and then carefully observed their expressions.
When the fourth group of monks entered, a young monk shouted: "Ah, I have seen this man. He once came to the temple to sell firewood!"
Wu Chengsi asked anxiously: "Who is the monk who received him?"
Guiji took the order and went out. When he came in, his face was a little pale and he said: "Your Highness, Junior Brother Hong'an is not outside. I have sent my disciples to find him."
Wu Chengsi was stunned for a while and sighed.
Hong An should also be dead.
Those three families probably also guessed that Cai Yang had subordinates taking care of him in the temple. Since they also killed Cai Yang, they would naturally not let Hong An go.
All evidence in the direction of Cai Yang has been cut off. Next, we can only wait and see whether Zhugenan and Nie Ziyun can find more clues based on the corpse and the scene.
At present, it is almost certain that the three families who stole the treasury are Xiao, Wei, and Xue. But this is just speculation, and there is no evidence yet.
However, Wu Chengsi was not helpless against them. Although Cai Yang's clues were cut off, there were still those imperial merchants who were closely related to the Wei family.
Some of them should be members of that organization like Cai Yang.
After a long time, Wei Dongfu finally came with the emperor's decree. Li Zhi had the decree, and the sitting meditation competition continued.
Wu Chengsi had been mentally prepared, but he was not disappointed.
Although Xiao Kai won for a while this time, he also exposed himself. Since he knew that it was the three of them who stole the treasury, evidence of their crimes would be found sooner or later.
After Wu Chengsi considered it, he left Da Ci'en Temple.
Before leaving, he told Nie Ziyun to keep an eye on every move of the Daci'en Temple for him, and to report to him immediately if there were any special circumstances.
He didn't want to spend any more time at Da Ci'en Temple. Instead of tracking down what conspiracy they were up to, it was better to go straight to Huanglong and obtain evidence of their theft of the national treasury.