Chapter 32 Chapter VII

Di Gong and Tao Gan dressed up like two poor scholars.On the head is a green gauze soap cap, and on the feet are square flat shoes.A blue cloth gown, a brown cloth gown.It's also like Mr. Mengguan.Enjoy the street view all the way, and slowly turn around to Huata Temple. Let’s say that day is the birthday of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and people who burn incense and make wishes are extremely crowded.For a while, the ladies and gentlemen were noisy, and the tourists were like ants, and there were piles of fragrant cars and jade wheels.The temple market is also prosperous, and there are many stalls selling joss sticks, clay puppets, wooden fish, and Buddhist beads.Dura, a juggler performing arts, performed, surrounded by crowds of people.There are more than a dozen class stalls in a row for asking about hexagrams and fortune-telling.

Di Gong saw that the towering mountain gate was engraved with six golden characters as big as "Jianbao Zhuangyan Temple".Inside the mountain gate, there are green pines and verdant cypresses, planted on the left and right, with a heavy stone path in the middle, which is very neat.The huge candles in the temples and Buddhist halls are burning high, shining like daylight. ——I couldn't help cheering secretly. "There are so many people here, where can we find any traces? It's like finding a needle in a haystack." Tao Gan said. "Let's go around the flower pagoda first and look at the bottom of the wall." Di Gong also felt confused.

The two turned to the flower pagoda courtyard to have a look, and they couldn't help admiring.The majestic tower body is solemn and solemn, the eaves reflect the moon, and the bells are sobbing.There are Xihui Buddha bones hidden in the pagoda, which are cherished by the monks, and they are like arched walls.This pagoda adds a mysterious atmosphere. ——Thinking that Liu Daoyuan might disappear here, Duke Di could not help but shudder.The two of them took a closer look at the three brick walls, but there were several cracks, and they didn't see any tricks for a while. Di Gong and Tao Gan turned out of the courtyard and just stepped into the threshold of the Guanyin Hall when they suddenly heard a woman speaking with a Central Plains accent beside the censer outside the hall.Looking back, she turned out to be a kiln sister in red and green, with thick rouge on her cheeks.Standing next to her was a skinny godmother who was talking about pilgrims.

Di Gong said: "Tao Gan, you go around the hall first, I will come later." He walked towards the woman and cupped his hands. Seeing that the woman is an old Confucian, she dislikes being poor and poor, so she loves to talk to her and ignores her.The godmother snatched: "Fifty copper coins, the room is in the Cuixiang Pavilion outside the west courtyard." Di Gong asked in a Beijing accent: "Miss is from the north. I just hate Guangzhou women who are pickled and dirty, and their teeth are all yellow." The woman is said to be a blessing, and Yaoyao Tiaodiao replied: "The little girl is from Yingqiu County, Qingzhou."

Di Gongdao: "Is it possible to have a word with the little lady?" The godmother laughed and said, "It's all the same when talking, holding tea, and waiting at night, fifty copper coins." Di Gong took out a bunch of copper coins from his sleeve, exactly one hundred.Disassemble the half string and hand it to the godmother. The godmother took it, smiled and said: "Sister Xiang, let this guest go." Di Gong and Sister Xiang said: "Come with me. There is a tea booth outside the Sixth Patriarch Hall. Let's go there and have some tea." " Sister Xiang smiled sweetly and followed Di Gong to the Sixth Ancestor Hall.

Mr. Di dragged Sister Dingxiang into the tea booth, and the doctor of tea brought two cups of pearl flower tea.Di Gong paid the reward and asked Sister Xiang to sit down.Then he asked: "The old godmother doesn't look like a person from the north, but is she related to you?" "It's not relative. It's just that the little girl sold herself to her and called her grandma." "Are you trafficked from Qingzhou?" Duke Di asked again. "It's a long story, and the guest officer can't bear to listen. I have been sold out a few times. ——My mother just bought me from someone in Shuishang last month, and she is trying to repay her kindness."

"How do you say you want to repay your kindness?" Duke Di was puzzled. Sister Xiang said: "The little girl has been resold several times. The most painful thing is to be a daughter-in-law on the water. They are the most insignificant and lowly people. The government expressly forbids intermarriage with people on the shore, and they are not allowed to live in Guangzhou. Shuiqu spent time on a broken boat. For generations, they were driven and killed like insects. They also had to pick up foreign customers overnight, humiliated in every possible way, and had no place to complain. The brothels in the city never received foreign customers. I'm lucky too. ——My mother treats me well, and I give all the money I earn to her, and I am willing."

Di Gong gave the remaining fifty copper coins to Sister Xiang. "Today I just want to send a message to Sister Xiang." "I don't know what the officials and guests want to ask? As long as the little girl knows, she can say it." Sister Xiang took the copper coins and put them in her arms. "I have a friend who is also from the north. Two days ago, I said that I would come here to burn incense and make a vow, and we agreed to meet in front of the Guanyin Hall today. Who knows that I haven't found him yet, and I am anxious. ——Sister Xiang often works here , I don’t know if I’ve seen it or not?”

"Your friend is young and handsome, with a dignified appearance and a Guanzhong accent. It's just that his clothes are shabby, and he is better than you. I'm afraid it doesn't look like it." "Exactly. It's the Guanzhong accent. Could it be that Sister Xiang has seen him?" "Yesterday evening, I was wandering outside the mountain gate. I also went up to talk to you. Because the accent is rare, so please pay attention to it. ——He seems to be in a hurry to find someone. It turns out that it was just the appointment with the guest officer." Di Gong was surprised: "Did you see him again today?"

Sister Xiang shook her head. Di Gong thanked: "Today is destined, we will meet again another day. I have a friend who is waiting for me in Guanyin Temple." Sister Xiang raised her eyes and asked timidly, "Can we go to Cuixiang Pavilion over there? It's still early." Di Gong said with a smile: "You go back quickly. Isn't it planned to hold tea and talk?" Sister Xiang looked at Di Gong gratefully, kowtowed again and again, and then retreated. Suddenly there was a "Shhhhhh" from the crowd, and a large ornate sedan chair was carried straight to the white jade steps in the apse.

Di Gong hurried forward to follow up and have a look.Just in time Tao Gan came up to greet him.Then he asked: "I don't know who came to the temple to burn incense and worship Buddha?" Tao Gan said: "It's Mr. Liang Pu. I just heard from a little novice that Mr. Liang Pu agreed to come to the temple to play chess with Abbot Huijing." Di Gong said "Yes", and seeing Liang Pu getting off the sedan chair, he looked around and hurried in to the abbot. "Master, be careful, he will recognize me. ——When I was talking to the little novice just now, he poked his head out of the car window, probably he has recognized me. Recognizing the master will cause trouble." "It makes sense. I have found out that Mr. Liu did come here at dusk last night, as if he was meeting someone. ——In this way, he may still be hiding in this temple, or be imprisoned. Otherwise, the cricket is not would have escaped easily." Di Gong and Tao Gan wandered around the temple again, not even letting go of the latrines and stoves.It's just that the gate of the flower pagoda is closed, and climbing is not allowed, so it is impossible to enter. ——Gai A month ago, a pilgrim said that the arhat in the cloud was recruiting each other, and he jumped from the top of the flower pagoda to his death.Huijingtu ordered the gate of the pagoda to be closed, not to let good men and believers in for the time being, fearing that others would follow suit. ——Now the pagoda gate is locked, and an old Toutuo is specially assigned to guard it. Di Gong was a little suspicious, and stepped forward to strike up a conversation with Old Toutuo.After a few words, he asked the old man if he had ever seen such and such a person. Old Toutuo replied: "The poor monk was just ordered to guard the gate of the pagoda and not let idlers in. He has never seen the person the almsgiver said." Tao Gan asked with a smile, "Could it be that the master of the temple broke the rules and was imprisoned in the pagoda?" Old Toutuo sneered: "It's hard to think about the benefactor. This pagoda is a sacred body, how can it allow foul people to live in it." Tao Gan nodded and said: "We came from the Central Plains to burn incense in the pagoda. If we don't climb the flower pagoda, we are afraid that we will come here in vain and live up to our original vow. My Buddha is merciful, how about allowing us to go up and have a look?" A handful of copper coins to go. The old Toutuo said angrily: "This is absolutely impossible, the donor must be prudent. The temple is a clean place and must not be defiled. The donor has money, so he buys joss sticks and burns them himself. Otherwise, if he accumulates them, he will give a few barrels of sesame oil as alms." Tao Gan had no choice but to take back the copper coins, and said embarrassingly, "It doesn't matter if we go in and have a look." Old Toutuo said: "In the past, everyone could climb the pagoda. We were afraid that we would also fall from the top of the pagoda, and we would not be able to collect the corpses. There are still two corpses waiting to be cremated in the temple. They were all carried by poor people." , is also a charitable cause of our temple.” Di Gong was startled: "Dare to ask Master, can you take a look at those two corpses?" "Amitabha, why do you suddenly want to look at the corpse again? - Go and see it by yourself, no one is guarding it. It is in a one-story house in the vegetable garden outside the east courtyard wall. If it weren't for the auspicious day of Guanyin Bodhisattva today, it would have been burned early in the morning. It was carried away last night. Here comes the ownerless corpse." Di Gong asked about the journey, and hurriedly went around the monk's room to the east courtyard.Tao Ganchao's robe followed closely. When the two reached the wall of the east courtyard, there was no one guarding them, but there was an iron lock as big as an arm on the door.The wall is so high that it is inconvenient to climb over. Tao Gan said: "I still carried the 'Pepsi Harmony' with me back then. It has been useless for more than 20 years. I don't know if it will work." He looked around for no one, and quickly took out the key called "Pepsi Harmony" from the cloth bag in the middle of his robe, inserted it into the keyhole, twisted it back and forth, and the lock opened.He unlatched the door again and came out of the vegetable garden. Sure enough, there was a one-story house in the corner of the vegetable garden, and it was pitch black.The bungalow door was not locked.Di Gong stepped forward and pushed it away, and there was a gloomy smell of rot and mildew.Tao Gan went to the bag and took out the flint and a piece of candle, and lit it. On a long table in the room, two mat-covered corpses were squeezed tightly.Duke Di lifted up the mat to look at his face, and saw that it was an old beggar with a gray beard.Another piece of reed mat was lifted, and Tao Gan held up a candle to light it. ——As expected, it was Liu Daoyuan's pale face!There seemed to be a hint of a smile in the calm. Duke Di was shocked.He ordered Tao Gan to uncover all the mats, and he examined the body carefully.The strange thing is that there is no wound, blood, cord marks, or purple stasis on the whole body. ——Except for the cold and slightly rotten corpse, there is no trace of abnormality. Tao Gan shook Liu Daoyuan's tattered clothes and trousers, but dropped a crushed gold and silver wire cage box, the small door of which was open. Di Gong lost his voice and said: "It's the cage where Lord Liu raised the golden bell. ——Sure enough, he was killed by the villain in this temple." Tao Gan said: "The matter has come to this, what can we do?" Di Gong immediately ordered Tao Gan to take the famous post that he had engraved on the official seal to pass on the abbot Huijing to come here immediately to listen to the order. —He had to reveal his identity. Xu Yu Huijing, wearing a scarlet red wedding gown, followed Tao Gan to the bungalow in the vegetable garden.Followed by several older monks. Huijing paid homage to Duke Di, bowed together, and said, "Neglect." Duke Di ordered Tao Gan to throw all the monks out of the bungalow, and waited all the way outside the wall of the east courtyard. Di Gong asked: "Master Huijing, who is this corpse? Do you know?" "The poor monk really doesn't know who the deceased is." Hui Jing glanced at Liu Daoyuan's body, and kept saying "Amitabha." "How did this corpse get brought to Guisha?" Duke Di asked sharply. "Master Hui Di, our temple has always had charitable acts of incineration of corpses. There are unowned wild corpses in all directions, and the poor and powerless died, and they were all carried to our temple to be burned. These two corpses were carried by the patrol of the yamen last night. , Dao is a poor beggar found in the wilderness. It was only because of the birth of Guanyin, so the fire was not lit. It is planned to be incinerated tomorrow." "Brought by the patrol in the yamen? - Well, you can go back. I will come to the temple to investigate this matter at any time." He also ordered Tao Gan: "Go back to the yamen of the Governor's Mansion and ask clearly what happened to this corpse. Then find the inspector and Wu for detailed questioning, and I will also have a look at the autopsy by Wu." Di Gong raised his head and said loudly: "The deceased was an important member of the official's personal entourage. He died in Guangzhou for no reason. This case needs to be tried seriously and should not be neglected. The Huata Temple is hard to get rid of its ties, but luckily it was not burned. All the monks in the temple are quiet Waiting for the Yamen to investigate." Huijing secretly groaned in her heart.