I really wanted to end today's banquet early and come down to have a good chat with the woman whom Miss Du called Tubo Bodhisattva. Meng Xinghe sat bored and seemed a little absent-minded, and Miss Du next to him was not as annoying as before. Meng Xinghe was stumped by several questions, and looked very thoughtful.
Seeing that the woman came to the palace without asking any questions, she asked Li Shimin for a few Buddhist scriptures, presented the Tubo Zanpu as a tribute to the Emperor of Tang Dynasty, and quietly left the hall as mysteriously as when she came.
Next came the pilgrimage from the countries in the Western Regions. However, compared with every year before the trip, the tribute this time seemed to be much thinner. Li Shimin did not care about more and less tributes, but the Turks reduced their tribute every year. It was clear that Gradually not taking the contract signed back then seriously made Li Shimin feel deeply sorry for the thorn in the Turks, even though he didn't say it publicly, and he obviously wanted to send his army north again to fight.
After all the envoys had paid their respects, Li Shimin ordered the palace officials to prepare a grand banquet in the palace to entertain the envoys from all over the world.
The king and his ministers have fun together, which is undoubtedly drinking and eating meat, watching singing and dancing. Meng Xinghe does not like these high-grade enjoyments as much as before. He feels that it is better to go home and listen to the audience, where his wife plays the piano and flute. Miss Du was not comfortable with this kind of situation, so she asked Li Shimin to leave, and Meng Xinghe naturally asked for the responsibility of protecting the flowers.
Seeing that the two of them had decided to go, Li Shimin said graciously: "Go ahead, I will order someone to inform you later if something happens."
Meng Xinghe had wanted to leave for a long time. After receiving the emperor's order to leave, he quickly exited the hall with the wind at his feet.
Outside the palace, Meng Xinghe saw Master Li Tang coming towards him. He waved to Master Tang, who came to Meng Xinghe obediently.
"Mr. Meng, what are you doing with your subordinates?" Mr. Tang glanced at Miss Du next to Meng Xinghe. It seemed that what was said outside was true. Mr. Du, the minister, had indeed married his daughter to Meng Xinghe. Not to mention, if you look carefully, These two people do look like a couple, even their expressions and movements are similar.
Afraid that Tang officials would think too much, Meng Xinghe replied: "By the way, Mr. Tang, the Tubo envoys live at Siyi Pavilion."
"To the east, next to the Turkic envoys,"
Knowing the location, Meng Xinghe said nothing and walked directly to that side. Miss Du originally wanted to go with him, but thinking that Meng Xinghe might be looking for the Turkic Tara Bodhisattva, she simply decided not to follow Meng Xinghe. Eat that inexplicable jealousy.
It's good for Miss Du to take the initiative not to be a follower, so that Meng Xinghe doesn't have to worry about what weird things will happen to her if she meets the breakthrough envoy later, and she won't be scared to death. Meng Xinghe is particularly excited about seeing her old friend. He walked three steps at a time and then two steps at a time, and in a short time he arrived at the door of the Tubo envoy.
Out of courtesy when meeting for the first time, Meng Xinghe knocked on the door first.
After three beeps, the door opened for him. The person who opened the door for him was a woman wearing Tubo costume. The woman didn't seem to speak Chinese, and she just kept looking at the strange man Meng Xinghe.
"Girl, are you Tara Bodhisattva here?" Seeing that the woman was about to close the door, Meng Xinghe stretched out his hand to stop her and said, "Please go in and let me know that a man named Meng Xinghe is here to visit."
Not understanding Chinese, the Tibetan woman showed a sweet smile, shook her head apologetically, and prepared to politely close the door and refuse the guest.
Language communication is indeed a barrier. It would be great if Du Baike was here now. Maybe she is proficient in Tubo. Meng Xinghe did not dare to break in. Although the Seyi Pavilion was his decision, he could not forcefully break into the envoy's room. middle.
Just when Meng Xinghe was at a loss what to do, a pleasant voice suddenly came from the side room, and then a woman wearing a colorful running skirt walked out. The woman was very delicate, with lips as thin as paper, and eyebrows as thin as willow leaves. Pan's pair of bright, apricot-shaped eyes are particularly lively. Two pieces of white porcelain tooth-shaped jade serve as earrings, and his whole body is filled with restrained nobility.
"I don't know what Master Shangshu is here for," the woman glanced at Meng Xinghe. She was very familiar with the official ranks of the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, she knew what kind of person would dare to wear the python robe that Meng Xinghe was wearing. She didn't expect that she couldn't He had only left Chang'an for more than a year, and yet such a young man appeared unexpectedly, and he even served as minister. It seemed that he had missed many good things in Chang'an this year.
Finally, someone came who could speak Chinese. Meng Xinghe smiled and said, "Miss, can your Tubo Tara Bodhisattva be here?"
"Girl," the woman was amused for a while after hearing this. She didn't expect that although this person was a minister, she didn't see what the identity of the clothes on her body represented. She really doubted whether this person's appointment as a minister was a guessing game. of.
"My name is Li Xueyan." Seeing that Meng Xinghe was not a villain, the woman said her maiden name quite heroically. Hearing that Meng Xinghe was looking for the Tubo Tara Bodhisattva, Li Xueyan said embarrassedly: "Tara is not in the hotel. , I have already gone to Xiangguo Temple to talk to Master Tripitaka about Buddhism in detail. I’m afraid I won’t come back here again. If you want to find her, go to Xiangguo Temple.”
"She went to Xiangguo Temple," Meng Xinghe said to himself, glanced at Li Xueyan, and said without further ado: "My lord, Meng Xinghe, I took the liberty just now, so I won't disturb you anymore. I'll say goodbye." Meng Xinghe left immediately without stopping. .
Before Li Xueyan could react, she could no longer see Meng Xinghe. She secretly thought that this man was so strange, how could he be so decisive in doing things. She wrote down the three words Meng Xinghe in her heart, and suddenly felt that he could replace Du Shangshu at such a young age. She actually had a lot of curiosity about him, Li Xueyan thought in her heart, I'm afraid there must be many legendary things about him, otherwise how could he be the prime minister at twenty.
"Hey, I should have known that I shouldn't have gone to Tubo last year," Li Xueyan pouted and regretted. The Tubo woman beside her smiled redly and spoke in Tubo language that only the two of them could understand. After hearing this, Li Xueyan suddenly realized and pinched The Tubo woman's face said: "Thank you, Xiao Sang, I'll go home and ask for clarification."
The woman nodded vigorously, and Li Xueyan waved at her and walked out with some pride.
Meng Xinghe came out of the Siyi Pavilion. He just learned from the woman Li Xueyan that Tubo Tara went to Xiangguo Temple to talk to Master Tripitaka about Buddhism. Thinking of Master Tripitaka, Meng Xinghe suddenly thought of the painting he had done in front of Xiangguo Temple not long ago. I met this man some time ago, and he seemed to ask me to draw a portrait of Guanyin for him.
Haha, this is a good excuse. Meng Xinghe finally has a reasonable reason to go to Xiangguo Temple to meet the Tubo Tara Bodhisattva.
Asking Wang Guinian to take him to Xiangguo Temple, Meng Xinghe walked in familiarly and casually called the little novice who was sweeping the floor over, "Where does Master Tripitaka live?"
"West Wing, please come with me, donor,"
Meng Xinghe followed the young novice to the west chamber. In front of a quiet Zen courtyard, Meng Xinghe saw a young monk who was knocking wooden fish with Master Sanzang that day. The young novice ran over and said to him: "Enlightenment" Senior Brother Neng, this benefactor meets with the host,"
The young monk, who was called Wu Neng by the novice novice, saw that it was Meng Xinghe and knew that the master had asked him to draw a statue of Guanyin before. Wu Neng walked to the Zen room and knocked on the door lightly, saying: "Master, Master Meng is here."
"As soon as I said it, I'm here. Donor Meng is indeed destined to be a Buddha," Master Tripitaka's voice sounded in the meditation room: "Wuneng, let Donor Meng come in."
Wu Neng didn't seem to like why his master was so loving to this layman. He obviously felt that Meng Xinghe had robbed his master of his love for him, so he was not very polite to Meng Xinghe and said: "My master lets you in."
Meng Xinghe pushed the door open and walked in. Directly across from him was Master Tripitaka in cassock. He was sitting in front of a futon and talking to Tara Bodhisattva who was sitting in a five-color prayer flag. When he saw Meng Xinghe come in, Tripitaka stopped talking. After Meng Xinghe sat down, he continued to talk with Tara Bodhisattva about the sutras and the Buddha.
Meng Xinghe couldn't understand a word of the Buddhist scriptures he taught. They were all about Buddhism about good and evil, beauty and ugliness, love, hate, and hatred. Meng Xinghe's attainments in this area were negative. It was like listening to a book from heaven. Instead, the one sitting inside the five-color prayer flags, Tara Bodhisattva, who did not want to show his true face to others, listened very seriously. In some places, he and Tripitaka even consulted each other and expressed their opinions.
After they finished talking about what seemed to be the Hinayana Buddhist scriptures, the two of them stopped talking about Buddhism. Meng Xinghe finally walked out of those profound Buddhist sounds. He suddenly felt comfortable and had to say to the two of them: "Master Tripitaka, and me. Who is this Bodhisattva next to me? According to me, a layman who still has seven emotions and six desires, it is better to read thousands of books than to travel thousands of miles, and to travel thousands of miles is not as good as reading countless people. Buddhism requires the universal salvation of the world. At that time, Patriarch Bodhidharma was able to practice asceticism for countless times. After ten years of practicing under the bodhi tree, I finally achieved the right result. This also tells future practitioners that they have to endure all the hardships in the world before they can truly become saints and become Buddhas. His mind was filled with those Buddhist scriptures. However, when he saw Master Tripitaka and the woman in the prayer flag looking at him, Meng Xinghe felt embarrassed and said, "I'm just messing around. Just listen to it and continue talking. That's it." Hinayana Buddhist scriptures, and Mahayana Buddhist scriptures,”
His words made the two of them look at him in even more surprise.
"How does the donor know that there are Mahayana scriptures in the world?" The question was from Master Tripitaka. He also mentioned in some ancient Buddhist scriptures that there is a supreme Buddhist method to the west that can save the souls of the dead and pray for blessings for the living. He once traveled westward to pray for blessings. He has never asked for the Sixteenth Palace in the Western Region. Now that he heard Meng Xinghe mention it, he is even more sure that there is such a Buddhist dharma in the world. If he can ask for it, he will have done a good deed for the people of the world.
Meng Xinghe knew about Mahayana Buddhism, so he couldn't tell Master Tripitaka that he saw it from Journey to the West. Hey, Journey to the West. Meng Xinghe suddenly thought of these three words. What is the name of the protagonist above? By the way, Tang Sanzang, Meng Xinghe was suddenly speechless. Could it be that he was talking about the person in front of him?
He is Tang Sanzang. Meng Xinghe looked at the Master Sanzang in front of him. It should be him. No wonder he cares so much about explaining the Buddhist scriptures. It turns out that he is the one who was sent to the West by Li Shimin to fetch the scriptures. However, looking at him, it seems that he has not yet fetched the scriptures. When it came to Mahayana Buddhism, Meng Xinghe said with concern: "Master Tripitaka didn't know something. Thousands of miles southwest of Chang'an, there is a place called Tianzhu. It is said to be the birthplace of Lord Buddha Sakyamuni. There is Mahayana Buddhism there. ,"
"Amitabha," Master Tripitaka sighed after listening to Meng Xinghe's words: "In the past, poor monks went to the sixteen countries of the Western Regions to search for several years without success. Now they realize that they have gone in the wrong direction. Now, after listening to Meng Xinghe's words, today When I get up, the poor monk will go west to Tianzhu to seek the supreme scripture for me, the Tang Dynasty."