Black Lotus Concubine's Case-solving Notes

"You!" The eldest lady was furious. She didn't mean that at all!

The faces of the noble ladies also changed. They felt that although the Ninth Young Lady came late, it was excusable. But this stepmother of the Prime Minister's Mansion was too petty in her way of doing things and educating people. Her maiden family was the Earl of Yongyi's Mansion. How could she have no vision at all?

For a moment, all eyes fell on Meng, and the contempt in their eyes was obvious.

The eldest lady wanted to refute, but the old lady Musk looked displeased: "Alright! Isn't it embarrassing enough? Watch the ceremony!"

Meng frowned but dared not say anything.

A dull bell sound was heard, and everyone looked in the direction of the sound. They saw a tall man in a white monk's robe on a high platform in the hall, striking a heavy monk's bell one by one. The abbot, who was wearing a hundred-treasure Zen robe and had a compassionate smile on his face, slowly walked forward.

The nunnery ceremony began. Everyone fell silent tacitly, even their breathing slowed down and became lighter. For a moment, only the sound of bells could be heard.

The young monk in a grey robe stood aside and said in a loud voice: "Now we will proceed to the first item of the nunnery ceremony: donate your body!"

Generally, the first item of the rituals in a Buddhist temple is to shave one’s head. What is this donation of one’s body?

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what was going on. The young monk then explained, "The so-called donation of one's body means to swear an oath to the Buddha, to serve the Buddha with one's body from now on, to cut off the worldly affairs, and to have no other thoughts. When one steps into the pure land of Buddhism, the past of the world will disappear into thin air, and all wealth and fame will be abandoned!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a team of ten people walked up to the stage. They were wearing different clothes. Some had gloomy faces, like puppets, while others looked around. They were arranged to kneel in front of the abbot.

The young monk continued, "These people are interested in entering my Cheng'en Temple. Some of them are poor farmers, some are lowly merchants, and some are refugees. They have been practicing in the temple with their hair untied for a month. Today, the abbot will hold a nunnery ceremony for them and teach them the Dharma. From now on, they will not worry about their future, but only seek the Buddha's heart! Donate your body, get up!"

A donation box wrapped in yellow cloth was lifted up and placed in the center of the front desk. Ten men passed by in a line. As each man passed by, he put the silver coins in his hand into the donation box. Some of them had a thick stack of silver in their hands, some had only a thin sheet, and some had only a broken begging bowl in their hands.

Feng Jia curled the corner of his mouth. What do you mean by donating one's body? It was just a donation. Before entering Buddhism, all the gold and silver on one's body would be confiscated.

Feng Jia saw that among the ten people, most of them had no expression and did not hesitate, only a few had expressions of pain on their faces.

After the donation was completed, the young monk shouted again: "Shave your head!"

Ten people knelt in a row, and the abbot held a knife and cut off their long hair one by one, indicating that they should cut off the dust and mud.

After the shaving was completed, the young monk shouted again: "Purify your body!"

I saw more than a dozen adult men, at the host's signal, taking off their outer clothes, leaving their bodies naked, with only a white towel wrapped around their private parts.

The noble ladies exclaimed and looked away, with embarrassment on their faces. Feng Jia also frowned and closed her eyes. It was hard to imagine that this was the nunnery ceremony of the famous Cheng'en Temple?

This is simply an insult to civility! Morally corrupt! The old lady's face turned black, and she stomped the cane in her hand: "Abbot! What are you doing! I have never heard of such a nunnery ritual!"

"That's right! This is simply disgusting!" The ladies complained.

The abbot seemed to have expected this, with a compassionate smile on his face: "Dear guest, this is the purification of the body in Buddhism. Those who leave the world are devoted to Buddha and just need to keep a Buddha heart. Purification of the body means exposing oneself in front of all living beings, which symbolizes exposing one's darkest and most hidden secrets to Buddha. Secondly, it means being fearless of worldly views, devoting oneself to the Tao, and truly getting rid of the worldly air."

"But this... is unheard of!"

The abbot still smiled and said, "The Buddha said that all living beings are equal, regardless of gender, status or social status. If you, my dear guest, have truly comprehended the boundless Buddha Dharma, you would not say this."

The speaker's face turned red and he said no more.

"Yes, there is no distinction between men and women in front of Buddha, so why should we care?" said one of the ladies.

"Since the abbot has said so, we are being too pretentious!" someone else echoed.

So the ladies looked at each other and opened their eyes reluctantly.

The abbot nodded with satisfaction, and the young monk raised his voice and said, "Please whip me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, ten disciples in yellow monk robes stood one by one in front of their newly ordained fellow disciple, with a basin of water under their feet and a long whip in their hands.

"Abbot, what does this mean?" someone in the crowd asked in confusion.

The abbot clasped his hands together and said, "The Buddha said that all living beings suffer, and monks should practice hard to achieve the right result. In this mortal world, everything is subject to cause and effect. Today, I will use this whipping punishment to make them pay for the consequences of their worldly deeds, eliminate the evil causes, and put an end to their seven emotions and six desires!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the first yellow-robed disciple had already dipped a whip in water and whipped his fellow disciple hard on the back. The whip was made of woven rattan and thorns, and the skin and flesh were immediately torn apart with one whip!

The first man's face was covered in sweat and pale, but he forced himself not to utter a single cry.

Next comes another whip!

With a snap, the man's shoulders shook violently, but he still said nothing. The timid ladies among them had already covered their faces with handkerchiefs and dared not look anymore.

The water in the basin had slowly turned red, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

The second person couldn't stand the pain, and started to scream after the first whip. The yellow-robed disciple expressionlessly picked up the sealing cloth beside him and stuffed it into his mouth, scolding him: "When God wants to give a man a great responsibility, he must first make his mind suffer, his muscles and bones tired, his body hungry, his body empty, and his actions frustrated, so as to move his heart and endure his nature, and increase his ability to do what he could not do before. You can't even bear the pain of your flesh, how can you endure the hard training that follows?"

After saying this, he whipped even harder.

Then it was the third one, and the fourth one. More than half of the ten people were beaten so hard that they cried for their parents. Some fainted and were dragged away by the yellow-robed disciples waiting on the side. Some were beaten so hard that their feces and urine flew everywhere.

The ladies' faces turned pale, and some of them couldn't bear it anymore and started to dry heave with their hands covering their lips. Feng Jia's face wasn't looking good either. She had never seen such a ceremony in the nunnery. The abbot said that this was to sweep away the sins and stay away from the troubles of the world, but in her eyes, it was clearly a killing in a quiet Buddhist temple!

What surprised her even more was the monks from Cheng'en Temple. They watched all this with empty eyes, with no joy or anger on their faces, as if this was the most normal thing.

Are these people really so extraordinary that they regard pain as something external, or do they experience this so often that it becomes a habit?

The abbot said, "Take those who are unsettled away and put them back into the fasting and abstinence hall. After serving for a month, they can be re-entered into the nunnery for rituals!"

After that, six people were grabbed by the shoulders and dragged away by the yellow-robed monks. The ground was immediately covered with winding bloodstains.

The abbot seemed to be nonchalant and said to the remaining four people: "The remaining ones are all those who have withstood the Buddha's test. Zen robes will be issued according to their qualifications!"

The four people had the same expression, all of them were prostrating themselves at the abbot's feet with a blank look on their faces. Except for the first one who was awarded a yellow Zen robe, the others were all wearing grey Zen robes.

Feng Jia's eyes swept across the faces of the four people. If she really wanted to tell the difference between these people, the face of the disciple who was given the yellow robe seemed to be more wooden than the other three. He was like a completely lifeless piece of wood with only human features painted on it.

"Look at those people!" someone suddenly exclaimed behind me.