Chapter 677: Thoughts
Editor: Atlas Studios

Liao Wu glanced at Qi San and suspected that he was the talented person who set up the defense in the courtyard. Hence, he became even more cautious. After deliberating for a moment, he bent down slightly. “I apologize for alarming Her Highness and the little prince. Perhaps what happened in the east courtyard was a misunderstanding?”

“Misunderstanding?” Qi San snorted coldly and said, “You clearly knew that Her Highness was coming to pay her respects to Buddha. Since White Cloud Temple and Cleansing Water Nunnery have already cleared the area, why would Cleansing Water Nunnery’s east courtyard leave behind such dangerous persons? I don’t think that this is a misunderstanding, but that you have ulterior motives.”

Just as Liao Wu was about to explain, Mu Yangling asked, “The abbots and abbesses haven’t told me who the people in the east courtyard are.”

Liao Wu fell silent for a moment. Sighing slightly, Jing Xin looked up. Just as she was about to speak, Liao Wu said before her, “Let me explain. Our White Cloud Temple was the one who entrusted Cleansing Water Nunnery with this matter. They don’t know much regarding this.”

Jing Xin looked at Liao Wu gratefully.

Liao Wu looked at Mu Yangling and said, “Our White Cloud Temple has been established for more than 200 years. This isn’t considered particularly long for a temple, but it only managed to become one of the three major temples in Qiannan with the support of the main temple.”

“Oh? White Cloud Temple is a branch? I wonder which branch it is.” There were many temples called White Cloud Temple in the world, of varying scales.

“South Stream White Cloud Temple.” Liao Wu bowed slightly.

Mu Yangling raised her eyebrows. “In Dali?”

Liao Wu smiled. “I didn’t expect Your Highness to know that South Stream County is in Dali. More than 200 years ago, there was no Dali Country. The world was unified, and there was only Dali County. Due to the close ties between Dali’s Duan family and the then Governor of Qiannan, Liu Huazhi, I heard that the people of Qiannan were valiant and the Miao people were reluctant to be educated. Therefore, after some discussion, the two of them decided to use Buddhism as a means to educate them. At that time, Qiannan did not believe in Buddhism. The Han people believed in Daoism, and the Miao people had their own beliefs. This was different even among the Miao stockades, so it was very chaotic.”

Liao Wu said, “Although Dali was also harsh and barren, the people lived and worked in peace. It’s all because of Buddhism. Therefore, Liu Huazhi, the Governor of Qiannan at the time, had the thought of building a temple to educate the people. However, though the temple was easy to build, it’s rare for monks and nuns to preach Buddhism. Therefore, when Liu Huazhi begged the Duan family, the latter persuaded the South Stream White Cloud Temple and Cleansing Water Nunnery at the foot of the mountain to send 180 monks and nuns to stay in Qiannan. That was how the White Cloud Temple and Cleansing Water Nunnery here came about.”

Mu Yangling raised her eyebrows. Liao Wu’s words sounded nice, but ultimately it was because they wanted more people to subscribe to Buddhism. Also, Liu Huazhi and the Duan family were cooperating for benefits. If they really wanted to educate the people, they should have taught them how to read and write instead. Ignoring everything else, a copy of ‘The Analects’ was sufficient to brainwash them.

During the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, there were hundreds of schools of thought fighting for supremacy. At that time, Confucianism was not prominent. During the Qin Dynasty, it was jurisprudence that flourished, while during the Han Dynasty, people embraced Daoism more than Confucianism. However, because Confucianism could educate and tame the common people, it placed greater emphasis on loyalty to the Emperor and patriotism. As a result, it survived to this day. The doctrines of the other sects gradually declined, and Confucianism had long become a national school of thought. Didn’t you see that the Imperial Examination now had a heavy emphasis on Confucianism?

Liu Huazhi’s purpose for abandoning Confucianism and instead using Buddhism to educate the common people must not be to educate the common people. Although Mu Yangling did not know what his motive was, there was no doubt that the White Cloud Temple and Cleansing Water Nunnery in Qiannan might be spies of the Dali Kingdom.

Naturally, Dali had only gained independence in the past 20 to 30 years. They probably wouldn’t be able to tell what happened 200 years ago.

Mu Yangling knocked on the table and asked, “Has your temple always been in contact with Dali?”

Liao Wu was silent for a moment before nodding. “Yes, we’re still in contact. I’m afraid Your Highness doesn’t know that Dali and the Great Zhou haven’t completely closed the debating venue. The debating venue has been open since the founding of the Great Qi Empire…”

“You can’t be relying on the debating venue to contact each other, right?” Mu Yangling sneered. “As far as I know, there’s only one debating venue left in Dali and Qiannan and there are only dozens of families living around that area. As the border taxes are extremely high, the debating venue only exists in name. Surely you wouldn’t dare to meet in front of the officials?”

Liao Wu said with a smile, “Your Highness, although the debating venue has declined compared to before, it’s not as bleak as you say. There are many carriages and pedestrians coming and going every day. It’s really not eye-catching for one or two monks to appear there.”

“Oh? Isn’t it eye-catching for them to appear at a fixed time?” Mu Yangling slammed the teacup in her hand on the table and sneered. “Does Master Liao Wu treat me as an ignorant woman? The various Miao stockades and Dali have private transaction channels, and the Han people mostly trade with the Han people in the central region. Tell me, who will go to the debating venue? The account book that detailed last year’s debating venue’s tariffs is lying in the Prince’s study right now. Does Master Liao Wu want to tell me that the officials at the debating venue are corrupt to the point of embezzling all the tariffs?”

Liao Wu’s expression changed slightly. Liao Ji hurriedly said, “Your Highness, please calm down. I’m afraid Junior Brother Liao Wu didn’t say it clearly. There’s a small temple near the debating venue, and we actually meet there more often. Therefore, the officials stationed at the debating venue won’t discover us. And we rarely go to the debating venue. Seeing that it’s bustling with activity, we naturally get the sense that business is very good.”

Mu Yangling sneered. Although she did not believe it, she did not retort. She only gestured for them to continue. “So you can pass the news of Great Qi to Dali or accept people from Dali?”

Liao Wu hurriedly explained, “Your Highness, Buddhism doesn’t participate in state affairs. Most of our interactions are merely to exchange transcripts and scriptures. We don’t spread news that is disadvantageous to Great Qi. As for this time, sigh, it’s a long story.”

“Three days ago, a monk from the South Stream White Cloud Temple suddenly brought a lady and her attendants to the temple. He said that she was the daughter of the Right Guard General of Dali, Wang Ping.” Liao Wu sighed and said, “General Wang Ping was framed and this led to his and his family’s imprisonment. Miss Wang only escaped because she was not at home, but she was constantly being hunted down. The South Stream White Cloud Temple was once indebted to the Wang family, so when Miss Wang came looking for them, the South Stream White Cloud Temple thought of a way to escort her to Qiannan. Their goal was only to let her live a peaceful life. At the very least, they could leave some descendents behind for the Wang family.”

Seeing Mu Yangling’s calm expression, Liao Wu did not know what she was thinking. He could only continue, “As she’s a female guest, I asked Cleansing Water Nunnery to take care of her on my behalf. Unexpectedly, just as she settled down, White Cloud Temple and Cleansing Water Nunnery received the news that Your Highness was coming to pay respects to Buddha. We originally wanted to move her to the foot of the mountain, but Miss Wang was severely injured previously and thus we did not dare to move her around casually. Therefore, we could only arrange for her to stay in the east courtyard.”

Liao Wu looked at Jing Xin and said helplessly, “As for why tonight happened, I have no way of knowing because I was resting in the temple.”

Jing Xin hurriedly replied, “Your Highness, Miss Wang’s injuries are too serious. She suddenly had a high fever tonight and there were insufficient herbs in the nunnery. Her maid panicked and this was why the people from the east courtyard were alarmed.”

Jing Xin said helplessly, “Although I left Miss Wang in the nunnery, not many people in the nunnery know about this. Hence, the sudden appearance of two women in the east courtyard caused a commotion. When Your Highness sent guards to investigate, the sacrificial soldiers who were secretly protecting Miss Wang mistakenly thought that those guards were chasing after her. That’s why they fought without saying a word. All of this is really a misunderstanding. It’s not targeted at Your Highness and the little prince.”

Chapter end