Don't be clouded

Chapter 9

It has been two days since the Minister of Rites was assassinated and died.

The initial panic has disappeared in the capital, replaced by the peace and excitement of the past.

Ji Bieyun had dutifully served as Prince Xian's bodyguard for two days, but the prince didn't need him to wait around most of the time, so it was equivalent to giving him two days off.

He had never seen anyone take a vacation from the very beginning, but Prince Xian seemed to be considerate of others, so it was inconvenient for him to refuse again and again.

But in his spare time, he secretly inquired about Zheng Yu's network and sorted out clues.

Zheng Yu's style of criticism in the court was average, and there were a few courtiers who made good friends, but because of the court's prohibition of forming cliques for personal gain, he never violated the rules.Moreover, those few courtiers are not of high rank, and they have nothing to do with Lingzhou, so it is not worth digging deeper.

The only thing that caught Ji Bieyun's attention was a big man who had a relationship with Zheng Yu, the current prime minister, Fang Sui.

Fang Xiang and Zheng Yu are from the same hometown, and they have never shy away from meeting him in the court for so many years. They have a close relationship and often communicate with him.

The person who can instruct the Minister of Rites must be a big shot.

He suppressed his doubts and planned to investigate later.But on the afternoon of the third day, Prince Xian called over and asked him to go to Xuanqing Mountain with him.

Ji Bieyun followed Xu Yang who came to inform him and rushed out, while listening to Xu Yang explaining to him: "Xuanqing Temple is our Chaoguo Temple, and its status is important, so troops have been stationed to ensure safety. The person in charge of this happened to be right Wei, General Tang has been busy for the past two days, and a message came just now saying that he couldn't get away from the routine inspection, and entrusted the inspection to our prince."

General Tang was the military general I saw in the city tower that day, the one in charge of the right guard.

He knew it in his heart, and couldn't help feeling a little pity.

It was originally agreed to go to Xuanqing Temple to thank him after he settled down, but he didn't expect to go in this way.If you meet Guan Chen, I hope that monk will not dislike him for being insincere.

The chariots and horses left the capital from the Xuanding Gate in the south, walked along the official road for a mile, then turned to the eastward road, and went all the way to the foot of Xuanqing Mountain.

Ji Bieyun raised his eyes to look at the mountains, and felt a chill for no reason, perhaps because the Xuanqing Mountain was too quiet, which affected the mood of the people he went to.

After Prince Xian got out of the carriage, soldiers from the right guard first cleared the way.The prince raised his hand to stop them, told the soldiers to do what they should do, and then led the way up the stone steps.

The people who were driven away tremblingly returned to the mountain road, but they were always far away from them.Prince Xian focused on climbing the mountain, looked down at the steps under his feet, but said: "This mountain road was not built for me alone, and the Xuanqing Temple was not built just for the royal family. I can't see that kind of behavior."

Not afraid of being scolded, Xu Yang stepped forward and said, "My lord, the assassination case happened only two days ago. It's better to be careful in this troubled time."

Ji Bieyun carried out his duties as a bodyguard conscientiously, holding the ring-shouldered knife on his waist.He had a premonition that Xu Yang's words were thankless, and sure enough, Prince Xian glanced at Xu Yang when he heard the words, and then said: "The sun is a bit big, it's too hot."

Xu Yang was taken aback, "There are tree shadows next to it, it should be cooler."

"Okay, then go and stay cool." Prince Xian said coldly, then turned his head and left.

Ji Bieyun couldn't hold back, and burst out laughing.

Xu Yang realized that he had been scolded, and walked back to him with a speechless face.He took the water bag from his waist and handed it over, and said warmly, "Brother Xu, can you drink some water?"

"Brother Ji Xian is really considerate..."

Before finishing his compliments, Ji Bieyun said again: "This water is cold, it will be even cooler after drinking it."

Xu Yang's hand that took the water bag stopped for a moment, raised his eyebrows and scolded him: "Hey you kid!"

As he spoke, he raised his fist, as if to beat him.Ji Bieyun quickly raised his arm to block the blow, and gently pushed towards the opposite side.

"It's not easy to compete on the mountain road, Brother Xu, let's watch the road."

The Xuanqing Temple was built on the mountainside, their walking was fast, but it took half a day.In addition, Prince Xian ran into two dignitaries on the road and exchanged pleasantries, which inevitably delayed some time on the road.

When they reached the halfway up the mountain, Prince Xian was out of breath.

Ji Bieyun didn't have time to exercise his muscles and bones today, and his body became stiff after climbing the mountain for a while.

He slandered in his heart that Xuanqing was worthy of being a national temple, disdainful of the fireworks in the world of mortals, and he didn't care that pilgrims would retreat because of the difficulty of climbing the mountain.He even felt that Guan Chen had exactly the same aura as Xuanqing Temple, and he was indeed the chief disciple.

However, even if it is difficult to climb the mountain, the incense here is extremely strong.

The more people go up, the more people there, and when they see the shadow of the mountain gate, they can already see the smoke curling up in the Buddhist temple.The corners of the clothes of the faithful men and women sweep the threshold to the old, and the mottled walls are full of traces of time.

The soldiers of the right guard were stationed scattered outside the temple, adding a touch of chill, but a monk in gray and white straight robe stood still, dispelling the evil spirit with his own strength.

The monks are integrated with the ancient temple behind, which is a bit quieter than the static buildings.

Ji Bieyun raised his eyes and happened to meet Guan Chen's gaze, he smiled apologetically, and Guan Chen bowed slightly to him.

Prince Xian's voice interrupted their silent communication, "How is Xuanqing Temple recently?"

Guan Chen made way out of the way sideways, and replied after they approached: "Everything is fine, thank you for your concern."

The prince laughed sullenly twice, stepped into the mountain gate, and walked inside.

"Really, after the assassination of the Minister of Rites, shouldn't the incense here be more prosperous? Is it okay to be so busy?"

Guan Chen took a step back and followed behind, but happened to be shoulder to shoulder with Ji Bieyun.

He hadn't approached this monk for a long time, but for the first time, he smelled a dark fragrance from him. It was different from the smell of incense and sandalwood in the temple, and it was like some kind of incense that ordinary people would burn.

He slightly turned his head and glanced at Guan Chen, but the monk ignored his gaze, and said: "My lord knows things like a god, there are indeed many officials and family members among the pilgrims in the past two days."

"A group of things that have done something wrong." Prince Xian scolded with a smile.

Ji Bieyun realized that he had lost his mind, and quickly looked away.

After they entered, they were facing a very powerful and spacious building, which was the Temple of Heavenly Kings. The three-legged incense burner outside was filled with large and small incense burners, and many people knelt on the futons in the hall to worship.

When he arrived at Xuanqing Temple, he had a familiar feeling like coming home, but it was many times larger than Lingdong Temple, and every detail revealed royal majesty upon closer inspection.

I thought that Prince Xian was going to invite incense, but unexpectedly, the prince walked directly into the corridor on the right.

"I'm on official business today, so I won't be offering incense. Take me to the meditation room at the back to sit."

The prince had an order, and the group went to the back of the temple.Prince Xian led the way, followed by Guan Chen, several of their guards, and two or three people from the right guard. A large team blocked the narrow corridor.

Pass through the veranda, turn into a moon gate on the right, and there is a path leading to the depths of the mountain forest under your feet.

As the name suggests, Xuanqing Mountain hangs in the southeast of Chenjing like a quiet fairyland.Low stone railings were built on both sides of the path to prevent flowers, plants and trees from encroaching on the hard-won path.

After walking for a while, a group of courtyards appeared in the shade of the woods ahead.Guan Chen led them to one of the small courtyards, the prince only let Ji Bieyun and Xu Yang follow in, and the rest stayed outside the small courtyard.

As soon as Prince Xian entered the room, he let out a long breath and stretched his arms, "Your temple is so hard to come by, every time I come here, my hands and feet feel sore."

Guan Chen poured a cup of tea and passed it over, "Perhaps the prince should exercise more."

Prince Xian didn't care about this joke, but squinted at Ji Bieyun, who was standing with his head bowed, and asked, "Ji Yao, it doesn't matter if you climb a few more mountains, it seems that you slept well last night , didn’t kick the quilt anymore?”

Ji Bieyun was bored being a bodyguard for others, and he unconsciously stroked the handle of the knife on his waist, remembering the flat land on the edge of the cliff that he passed just now, with a wide view and beautiful scenery, it is quite suitable for practicing swords.

Was asked suddenly, but luckily he had been paying attention to the conversation between the two, raised his head and replied: "It was just a joke for a while, please trouble your lord to remember it."

The monk also looked at him, and after staring at him for a moment, he said: "Master Ji's eyes are a little blue, it seems that he didn't have a good rest a few days ago, but he was frightened by the chaos in Beijing?"

Ji Bieyun looked back, he felt that the monk did it on purpose.They have been together for so long, and the other party knows how brave he is, how could he be frightened by a murder case.

This guy also doubts himself?

No, he looks clean from the outside world, he is just an ordinary person who has just come to Chenjing.These two people are so obtrusive and eccentric, why on earth?

Could it be that he has a guilty conscience, is sensitive to everything he hears, and thinks too much for a while?

"When I first arrived in Beijing, I was not acclimatized." Guan Chen also poured him a cup of tea, and handed it to him, "Why don't Master Ji go to the poor monk to get some soothing incense later, and burn it at night. and sleep peacefully."

Last moment, he was pointing something, but now he is helping him to excuse.Ji Bieyun couldn't figure out what this person was thinking, so he stretched out his hand to take the warm teacup, lowered his eyes and said, "Alright, thank you, Master."

After entering the room, Xu Yang, who didn't say a word, quit, said "Oh", shook his head to Guanchen and said: "It's an old acquaintance anyway, even brother Ji Xian who just came has tea, but I don't. "

Guan Chen lowered his head and smiled, and took a new teacup.

"You wicked servant, how dare you make a show with Master Xuanqing Temple, do you want me to pour it for you personally?" Prince Xian had already drank the cup of tea, and threw the cup into Xu Yang's arms in a very chic manner. Xu Yang quickly reached out to catch it, and smiled cheekily at the prince.

Ji Bieyun is no stranger to the fact that master and servant often make such kind of jokes.He simply paced to Guanchen's side, watching how the monk made tea, and boasted a few words from time to time.

Just as the four were chatting and laughing, they heard someone enter the courtyard and knock on the door.

"My lord, the results of the joint trial of the three divisions have come."

Xu Yang opened the door, and there was another guard outside the door, who came to report the news from Beijing.

"Details."

"The third division has closed the case, it is said..." The guard paused, "Zheng Shilang committed suicide."

The author says:

It is estimated that this book will write at least 30 words, so the plot and feelings are arranged step by step. Please rest assured that the outline has been completed.