Chapter 023｜Venerable Master Puzhao

The person Hua Qingfeng caught was none other than Xie Kangtu.

Among the crowd, the one who was most surprised was Gao Sheng Dao.

This Hua Qingfeng had sworn allegiance to him, yet now it seemed that this person served Xiao Mohe.

As he thought, Hua Qingfeng placed Xie Kangtu on the ground, clasped his fists and saluted Xiao Mohe, "Hua hereby pay my respect to the Grand General."

 Xiao Mohe returned the salute, ''Mr. Hua and Venerable Puzhao, you are both experts. Though Wushan Fisherwoman skilled in strategizing, she never anticipated that Hua Qingfeng would follow her every step of the way.

 Mr Gao, you should understand by now that Great Chen is full of talents and experts, and when you set out from Chang'an, we already knew your whereabouts like the back of our hand. Therefore, it's better to make peace."

Gao Sheng Dao shut his mouth. By then, he was clear that his actions were like child's play in front of a battle-hardened general like Xiao Mohe.

Hua Qingfeng made another salute, bowed his head and said, "Even though I held Boat Owner Xie, another guy still escaped ... Wushan fisherwoman's entourage was so powerful, I am deeply ashamed!"

 Xiao Mohe walked over and patted Hua Qingfeng's shoulder, "Mr. Hua, that little guy is insignificant, boat owner Xie is the big fish." This said, he squatted down and looked at Xie Kangtu: "If Boat Owner Xie wants to leave, you can directly tell me, why sneak around and use this "sound east to strike the west plan" to escape from the secret passage?"

Wen Zhongyuan's face was in red and white. It was only then that he realised that this Xiao Mohe had been quite experienced in battles, and it was absolutely impossible to hide it from him.

Things had come to this point, he had no choice but to say: "The person was released by me, there's no need for you to beat around the bush If you want to destroy my mountain village, you can order it now, I have nothing to say!"

 Xiao Mohe laughed: "Zhongyuan and Boat Owner Xie are close friends, It's understandable that you want to help your old friend to escape. However, in addition to harbouring the criminals, Boat Owner Xie is also guilty of hiding the shipbuilding drawingsdrawings and to plot mischief! Mr. Hua's abilities are not matchable in the world to fly over the walls to spy on secrets and to create mechanical control device that no one else, so it's futile for you to deliberately create a diversion."

Li Jing then secretly regretted. Hua Qingfeng ostensibly obeyed Gaosheng Dao and cooperated with Xiao Mohe in a ruse, but secretly he was actually Xiao Mohe's henchman, Xiao Mohe let him leave to track Wushan fisherwoman. He could not match in Wushan fisherwoman martial arts, but he was quite skilled and ruthless in scheming. What Wen Zhongyuan said in the room was certainly overheard by him.

Hua Qingfeng's ape eyes rolled, "Mr. Wen has installation the secret Mechanical control device passages, and I have already walked through them several times back and forth. Boat Owner Xie determined refused to admit that he had the Wang family's shipbuilding drawings, But in the face of close friends, he naturally was willing to tell the truth."

Xie Kangtu said, "Indeed, I have been hiding the shipbuilding drawings, but I will never give it to the person who killed my boat company's brothers and chopped off my legs! If you want to kill or slice me, do as you wish!"

 "Chopping off Boat Owner Xie's leg was done by the Sui army, and killing the brothers of the boat company was ordered by Mr. Gao, so naturally, the shipbuilding drawings can't be given to an enemy." Xiao Mohe washed himself clean, "But I have always been courteous and respectful to the boatowner, and the boatowner's branch along the river also needs to co-operate with the Chen government in order to last long. If you would teach me of the shipbuilding drawings, I will guarantee that you will revive the boat company, increase your official rank, and it will not be difficult to appoint you as a county governor."

Li Jing thought to himself, "In the end, isn't it you, Xiao Mohe, who orchestrated this behind the scenes? Boat Owner Xie is upright man , how could he fall for your tricks?

However, Xie Kangtu said, "I am honoured by the Great General's overhelming love, how dare I disobey? I dare not dream to be a county governor, as long as Great Chen agrees me to do business in Chen, it would be fine. As for contributing the drawings, all that is needed from Great General is to behead this monkey on the spot!" Saying this, he pointed at Hua Qingfeng.

Hua Qingfeng laughed loudly, "Do you think the Great General will believe you? I don't care enough to die, but you must hand over the shipbuilding drawings first."

 Xiao Mohe said, "A thousand armies are easy to find, but a general is hard to find. Mr. Hua possesses exceptional skills, why would I kill him? Besides, the boat owner has been captured, and I'm afraid it's not up to you if you don't hand over the shipbuilding drawings."

Xiao Meiniang said, "Great General, you certainly believe that everything is under control, however, I'm afraid Mr. Wen doesn't think so."

"Oh?" Xiao Mohe laughed, "Could it be that Brother Zhong Yuan thinks that just because we are all on your estate, you can do whatever you want?"

Wen Zhongyuan said, "Great General Xiao, I am originally from Liang State, just like Boat Owner Xie, I am merely making a living in Chen State. This manor, as well as the Jiangdu and Lushan shipyards, are nothing but worthless possessions to me." Then he said to the Wen ShiHong, who was standing by with his sword at the ready: "Shihong, my son, a man should always take loyalty and righteousness as the first, the Liang State treats us Wen family well, now although it is declining, but as a bannerman s, death is not a big deal! Are you ready?"

Wen Shi Hong bowed and said, "Reporting back to father, all the men and horses have been summoned, just waiting for father's order."

"Good!" Wen Zhongyuan drew his sword in his hand and said coldly, "Great General Xiao, you have two hundred men and I have five hundred house guards. Tonight, you and I are each on our own, and this is the end of our friendship!" Saying so, he waved his sword to cut off a sleeve.

 Xiao Moheo stood upright, not moving a muscle. He looked at Wen Zhongyuan and shook his head, ''Brother Zhongyuan cut you robes and broke our friendship, I am deeply sorry! Although you have five hundred guards, my two hundred men are all capable experienced fighting soldiers, who are willing to die in battle for the state of Chen, and we will never lose to you! You've only ordered guards and horses, but you've neglected the skilled Kongfu masters in this hall. I have Mr. Hua and Venerable Master Puzhao, even if you can withstand my hundred moves, who can deal with them?"

Mage Puzhao recited "Amitabha Buddha" and suddenly struck out. The crowd saw a blur and saw his palms grabbing at Wen Shi Hong. Wen Shihong took out his sword for stabbing, and fought with Puzhao. Puzhao had big force on his palm, while Wen Shi Hong waved his sword fast and steady, in a moment they fought quite as counterpart. Xiao Mohe could not stop nodding: "Zhongyuan brother, you raised a good son, he really is a young hero ..." Before he finished his words, Wen Zhongyuan shouted and swiftly stabbed at Xiao Mohe. Xiao Mohe said "good" and strokeback with his sword. Lai Huer's body moved like a ghost, and attacked Xiao Mohe from the side. Xiao Mohe, fighting against the two of them, was still barely managing. At this moment, Puzhao was forced back three steps by Wen Shi Hong and hit Xiao Mohe. Xiao Mohe held Puzhao with his left palm; and stopped Wen Zhongyuan's sword with his right hand, and dodged from Lai Huer's attack.

At this critical moment, Venerable Master Puzhao's right elbow sank and stroke Xiao Mohe's left ribcage. With a muffled sound, Xiao Mohe fell to the ground and sprayed a mouthful of blood. Hua Qingfeng wanted to come to his rescue, but was blocked by Lai Huer. Wen Zhongyuan stepped forward and snatched his sword; Wen Shihong drew out his ox tendons rope and quickly tied him up.

This change was greatly unexpected by Li Jing. However, what was even more unexpected to him was that Lai Huer walked straight to Hua Qingfeng and simply said, "you make the first move!"

Hua Qingfeng let out a loud shout. Holding up a black umbrella, he thrust directly at Lai Huer. Lai Huer quickly dodged and swiftly stabbed back swards three times. The two of them fought together in the hall, and it was difficult to distinguish between them. Gradually, Hua Qingfeng moved towards the door, and suddenly hit the hall door with a palm and leapt out. Lai Huer followed Hua Qingfeng closely like a shadow, fought all the way down, gradually their sounds faded, apparently when Hua Qingfeng sawXiao Mohe was captured, he first fled; Lai Huer knew Xiao Meiniang was safe, so he chased the enemy away.

It was at this time that the sound of blades clashing resounded outside the house, and the shouts of killing grew louder and louder. Wen Shi Hong walked out. Not long after, the noises outside also gradually disappeared.

Wen Shi Hong returned to the hall again and reported to his father, "The leading lieutenants learnt that the Great General was well and had ceased their attack; only eleven were wounded and four were killed in battle."

Wen Zhongyuan nodded his head and said, "Hong, why don't you pay your respects to your master."

Wen Shihong knelt down and bowed three times to Puzhao, saying, ''Master, previously due to the compelling circumstances, I dared not meet you. Please forgive me, dear Master, "

"Get up." Puzhao helped Wen Shihong up, "Shihong, you've admired Guan Yu, the great general in Three Kingdoms,since you were a child, do you know what is his most admirable point?"

Wen Shi Hong said, "Reporting back to the Master, Guan Yu is loyal and righteous, even if he dies, he will never betray!"

Puzhao said: "Exactly. However, the most admirable thing about Guan Yu is that he guarded the land of Jingzhou, enduring humiliation until death! Your father has worked hard in his business for his whole life; do you know what he is for?"

Wen Shi Hong said, "Father's ambition is to defend Jingzhou, to allow the people to live in a peaceful and orderly world."

Puzhao said, "Jiangling is Jingzhou, and Jingzhou is Jiangling. Liang has endured humiliation for more than twenty years, our goal is to restore the territory of the former state!"

Xiao Meiniang held A Yue in her arms and bowed to Venerable Master Puzhao, "Meiniang pays my respects to Fourth Uncle Ancestor ..."

Wen Zhongyuan also bowed down and kowtowed, "Your servant Wen Zhongyuan, pays respects to Lord of Wuchang..."

It turned out that this Master Puzhao was named Xiao Zhan, as the fourth son of Xiao Tong, the Zhaoming King of the Liang State,. and was appointed as the Lord of Wuchang County. In the third year of Liang's Cheng Sheng (554 A.D.), the Western Wei Dynasty overtook Jiangling, and Xiao Zhan disappeared. Unexpectedly, over twenty years later, he became Venerable Master Puzhao.

"Amitabha Buddha!" Puzhao chanted the Buddha's name in a low voice and closed his eyes slightly. After a long time, he opened his eyes and said, "There is neither Xiao Zhan nor Lord Wuchang in the world. The poor monk's name is Puzhao, I am only a Buddhist disciple. Xiao Mohe, your father Xiao Lang, has been in charge of Shixing County and has done a lot of good work. He named you 'Mahe', which means 'Great Wisdom' in Sanskrit, hoping that you will have great wisdom and could tell what is right and what is wrong. However, judging from what you have done, you have killed too much and have not much wisdom. You are of the Xiao Clan lineage, can't you realise that?"

Xiao Mohe was born with great power, before he was twenty years old, he rode alone on horseback and charged through the midst of thousands of troops, as if entering an empty land then he led the army to repeatedly win the northern enemy, making him extremely conceited. Tonight when he was fighting against three masters of Wen Zhongyuan, Lai Huer and Puzhao and was surprised attacked, he didn't believe he was inferior, but Puzhao's elbow let him understand that, even combating with Puzhao alone, he would be defeated within twenty moves.

He half-kneeled on the ground and cupped his fists, ''Mahe hereby greet Your Highness Lord, I have never forgotten that I am a descendant of the Lanling Xiao Clan. It's just that the world is like a chess game, it's not up to me.

Now that I have sworn my loyalty to Chen State, I have to serve my lord faithfully. This time I came to the west, it is precisely to promote the friendship between Chen and Liang, and I also beg Your Highness to let go of what has already happened and help facilitate this matter."

Venerable Puzhao said, "In the future, don't mention the word 'Lord', it is better to call me Puzhao.

Mr. Wen as the case, fighting is not necessary, please let go of General Xiao, we go to Jiangling together forholy judgment of our King." This said, he put his hands together, and whispered softly, "Amitabha."

So they rested that night. The next morning, after having breakfast, they each prepared to go to Jiangling. Li Jing found that after last night's change, the situation had changed greatly, the journey to Jiangling was first led by Xiao Mohe but now it was controlled by the Venerable Master Puzhao.

 Xiao Mohe was still leading the "escort", but he was no longer able to control the forces - although there were only fourteen monks led by Venerable Puzhao, their strength could not to be underestimated;

Wen Zhongyuan had 300 strong men accompanying, leaving behind Wen Shihong to lead 200 people to take care of the aftermath, and it seemed that he was determined to abandon his family business and pledge loyalty to the State of Liang; Xiao Meiniang, Zhang Ke, Qing Ni, and A Yue travelled in the same carriage, and Wen Zhongyuan specially arranged a wide four-wheeled carriage; Li Jing still travelled in a carriage with Xie Kangtu and Gao Sheng Dao. However, the carriage was much more comfortable than the previous one.

Along the way, the troop maintained strict discipline, and marched along the river towards Jiangling. Some passes were steep, making them impossible to travel in any other way than right through the towns. After experiencing the failure at Jiangxia Mountain, Xiao Mohe lost his arrogance and became cautious in both speech and actions.

Li Jing thought Xiao Mohe's journey to the west was with significant mission, he could not take the slightest failure, and master Puzhao was the elder one in Xiao's clan, he was so powerful and unpredictable, non one dared to make any bold move.

Gao Sheng Dao knew that he could not get out unless the Liang King pardoned him, so he also kept shut.

Xiao Meiniang always asked Li Jing to serve medicine after meals, but in fact it was just for show. Li Jing was naturally happy to get along with Meiniang, and every time he took the medicine seriously, even Puzhao nodded his head when he saw it.

 On several occasions, when he was resting, Puzhao asked Li Jing about some Buddhist principles, and Li Jing answered the questions fluently. So Puzhao was no longer suspicious. He did not know that the Li family believed in Buddhism, and their male children must study Buddhist scriptures, making them more learned comparing to the ordinary temple monks.

After four days of travelling, they finally arrived at the west bank of Jiangling. Looking across the river, Jiangling City , built along the river according to the mountains, was as majestic and lofty as a dragon coiled, with dark grey ancient walls showing experience of winters and falls. The procession had just stopped, when they saw that there was already a team of neatly arranged men and horses by the river. A twenty-four or twenty-five year old youth wearing a golden crown and an apricot yellow python suit, with a face like a crown of jade and with beautiful eyes twinkling like stars approached, clasping his fists and bowing to Venerable Master Puzhao, "Grandson Xiao Cong, greeting to Imperial grand-Uncle."Puzhao lifted him up and bowed with folded hands, "The Crown Prince made me shamed. Previously there has been a letter submitted to the king, poor monk Puzhao has converted to the Buddha, the world no longer has Xiao Zhan."

Xiao Cong could only say, "Venerable Puzhao has worked hard all the way, disciple Xiao Cong was ordered by my father to come and greet you and the Chen ambassador, Great General Xiao, Mr. Gao from Sui State, 'Jiangxia Mengchang' Mr. Wen, and Jiangzhou boat company's Boat Owner Xie." Saying so, he greeted the aforementioned people one by one. Li Jing saw that every move he made seemed to have gone through a thousand refinements, and that he had the right amount of control, so he couldn't help but secretly admire him.Xiao Mohe, Gao Sheng Dao, and Wen Zhongyuan made a bow deeply to Xiao Cong; Xie Kangtu was physically inconvenienced, so he clasped his fists and saluted.

Only when he had finished saluting did Xiao Cong go to greet Zhang Ke: "How are you, the prince's maternal uncle?" Zhang Ke wanted to kneel down and bow, but Xiao Cong held him back, then turned his head to Xiao Meiniang and smiled, "Is second sister's illness recovered?"

Xiao Meiniang was never afraid of this big brother and immediately smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern. If I hadn't met monk Seng Can and had this medicine boy serving me all the way, I'm afraid that my illness would hardly make any improvement."

Li Jing hurriedly took a step forward and made a bow deeply to Xiao Cong, "Little man Mu Li, pay my respects to the Crown Prince. I was instructed by Master Sang Can to serve the Princess in taking her medicine, and I am greatly honoured to pay my respects to the Crown Prince of Liang today."

Xiao Cong was about to help up, Puzhao said: ''This young man followed master Seng Can since childhood, his Buddhist education is really good! Along the way I talked to him about the Buddhist scriptures, he answered my questions quite fluently. Crown Prince, the Liang State believes in Buddhism, if the he is willing to stay in the Liang State, he will be able to light up the Buddhist studies ..."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing hurriedly said, "I was ordered to serve the Princess, and when the Princess's old illness heals, I have to go back to Sikong Mountain to serve my master."

Venerable Master Puzhao said: ''Ordinary people talk about knowing each other, and Buddhists talk about Dharma fates. When you were travelling on the boat in Jiangzhou, you were mindful of the deceased's grief and suffering, and your heart is very benevolent! As you have come to Jiangling, please enter the city to rest for a while."

When Xiao MoHe saw this monk so wordy, he was extremely unhappy, especially as PuZhao deliberately hided his identity to be hired as abbot,, was appointed as the abbot of the temple, it's obvious cheating. What was the most abominable, he sneaked to hit him and made him lose face,! But Puzhao was the Liang King's fourth uncle, at this time he was in their territory, and he could not win him by fighting either, so he had to temporarily tolerate.

So the crowd took boats to cross the river. The river below Jiangling City was very wide, and boats floated in the water like withered leaves. However, as Liang navy was well-trained, when men and horses traveled on the boat, they did not feel the slightest swaying. Ten boats were sent together and soon they arrived under the city of Jiangling, and then passed through the water city. Li Jing saw that, this city was about four feet high and two feet thick, all made of great stones. The water city had heaving waves in great pools. It was really a majestic and amazing solid city.

The gates of the inner city were opened. Li Jing, still carrying Xie Kangtu, followed behind Xiao Meiniang and entered the city after Xiao Cong. He saw that the market was clean and tidy, and the people came and went as usual, not looking at the Crown Prince's carriage, but going on with their business.

After passing the Vermilion Bird Gate, they arrived at the Imperial City. The city guards opened the gates. Except for the soldiers led by Xiao Mohe, the guards led by Wen Zhongyuan, and the fourteen monks who stayed in the welcoming pavilion outside the Imperial City, the rest of all entered the Forbidden Palace.

After passing through the long corridor of the forbidden palace, they arrived at the red steps in front of the Taiji Hall. A long voice came along, "Invite - Special Envoy, Servant of the King, and Great General Xiao Mohe from Chen State, to enter and meet the King."

 Xiao Mohe hastily removed his sword and handed it to the guards in front of the palace, and tidied his attire and entered the hall to pay respects.

Li Jing and the others stood outside the hall, and the sound of Liang King and Xiao Mohe answering each other was faintly heard in their ears, but it was extremely vague.

When the crown prince greeted them, he placed Pu Zhao in the foremost position, but upon arriving at the Taiji Hall, they placed the foreign envoy first. This seemed chaotic and disordered, but in reality, Liang King was strictly following the system of the time.

After half an hour, Crown Prince Xiao Cong quickly walkied out and said to the crowd, "Passing Father's oral edict, please come inside, all of you together."