Black Lotus Concubine's Case-solving Notes

Feng Jia followed the sound and looked over. It was a group of monks wearing blue robes. There were unknown totems painted on their faces. Their eyes were staring at the ground lifelessly, as if they were wearing a mask.

Except for the fact that his eyeballs were still moving, he almost merged into the Buddha statue behind him.

“Ahhh!” A scream was heard behind me. A timid woman was so frightened by the weird scene that she fell to the ground and cried, “Mom! This is so scary! I want to go home! Wuuu!”

Everyone's eyes were focused on the woman. Some agreed, some were puzzled, and most were indifferent and indifferent.

"It seems that this distinguished guest has no affinity with Buddhism." The abbot sighed slightly.

The woman's mother's face froze, and she slapped her daughter hard on the back: "You are such a disgrace!"

Everyone knows that the Empress Dowager of Dali is the most devoted Buddhist and a devout believer of Buddha. Most of the noble families who come here are here to please the Empress Dowager. If their daughter is publicly told that she has no affinity with Buddha, and this matter spreads to the capital and reaches the ears of the Empress Dowager, which noble family would dare to marry her?

Some people in the crowd showed mocking smiles, some watched coldly, and some were as frightened as the woman and wanted to escape, but they stopped at the abbot's words, biting their lips and holding on for the sake of their own marriage.

The last item was to burn the monks’ heads with ordination marks. The smell of burnt meat filled the air, and the originally pale faces of the ladies became even paler.

Zhou Muqi, the eldest daughter of the Danongling family, had an extremely ugly expression on her face and wanted to just leave. She looked around and made up her mind that as long as someone left or called out, she would follow them and leave, no matter what the fate was!

She didn't want to stay in this place for a moment!

But many people in the crowd had the same idea as her. They looked at each other, but no one wanted to be the first to try something new.

After two hours of hard work, this grand and strange nunnery finally came to an end.

The next step is to take the precepts and eat vegetarian food.

Feng Jia was led by the young monk to the back of the hall. The back hall was located in the westernmost corner of the entire temple. The rows of pine trees planted outside closely guarded the building like guards.

There are long tables neatly arranged inside, which can accommodate hundreds of monks to dine at the same time.

"Ah! What are you doing!" Suddenly there was a scream from the side.

Feng Jia looked over and saw a woman covering her messy hair. She slapped the monk on the face and shouted angrily, "Why did you steal my hairpin?"

The yellow-robed monk's cheeks were slightly swollen from being beaten, but he seemed to feel no pain. He held a pomegranate-red gold hairpin in his hand and said dully, "Practitioners are not allowed to wear ornaments."

"What's the logic behind this?" The woman stared at the abbot who was a step late.

The abbot put his hands together, still with a compassionate look on his face: "Since it is a fast, you must take off your accessories and fine clothes, wear cloth and linen clothes like the monks in my temple, and observe the fast and take the precepts."

More than a dozen monks, each holding a stack of black Zen robes in their hands, walked in one after another.

The lady was incredulous: "You want us to wear these?"

The abbot smiled but said nothing.

A dozen monks came in carrying basins filled with water. The noblewoman raised her voice and asked, "What are you doing?"

The abbot said, "Only after washing away the dust can one serve the Buddha. Please come in, distinguished guest."

It would have been fine if they were just asked to wear monk's robes and take off their head coverings, but they were actually asked to wash their faces on the spot, which caused a lot of discussion for a while.

They all came from wealthy families and were taught since childhood to dress neatly in front of others. Asking them to take off their hairpins and makeup in public meant that he wanted them to give up their dignity. How was this different from asking them to be naked?

"I have never heard of any temple having such a rule!" one of the ladies said dissatisfiedly.

The abbot still had a smile on his face. "Dear guest, this is the rule of Cheng'en Temple. If you don't want to, you can leave on your own."

"You!" The noblewoman was so angry that her hands were shaking. "It's just a small temple. If it weren't for that thousand-year-old tree that has come back to life, would I have come to your shabby place? Forget it! I can't stay here for even a moment!"

After saying this, he left with his family and servants.

The abbot showed no displeasure on his face, and continued kindly: "This is the rule of Cheng'en Temple. If there are still guests who disagree with this behavior, they can leave on their own."

Everyone looked at each other. A few who couldn't stand the humiliation followed the woman's footsteps and left. Some complained but didn't move, and most kept silent.

After everyone changed into monk robes and washed their faces, the abbot ordered the distribution of vegetarian food.

Vegetarian meal is just a bowl of noodles in clear soup.

"Is this all you're going to eat?" A faint voice of disgust was heard from the crowd.

Feng Jia picked up the chopsticks and looked at the thin noodles hanging on the chopsticks. The sight of them made her lose her appetite.

Another person in the crowd said, "Hey, why is their food different from ours?"

Everyone looked over and saw that the monks' food was divided into different grades. The worst was for the monk wearing the same black robe as them, who got a bowl of plain noodles without oil or water. The next worst was for the monk in gray, who got a bowl of plain noodles with two vegetarian meatballs. The yellow-robed monk got a bowl of colorful porridge with a plate of vegetables.

Feng Jia looked around but did not see any monk in white robes. She remembered what the young monk had just said to her. There were only three people in this temple who were qualified to wear white robes. These three people had followed the abbot into the temple from the very beginning. They had high status and rarely showed up.

The abbot explained, "This is also the rule of Cheng'en Temple. The lighter the color of the monk's robe, the deeper the connection with Buddhism, the higher the status, and the more abundant the food. You, the distinguished guests, should also abide by this rule during the half month of my practice. Of course, although you are still wearing the lowest-level black robe, as long as you study Zen lessons carefully and follow my instructions, you will naturally have the opportunity to be granted a gray robe or even a yellow robe."

"Now, my dear guests, please start eating."

After saying this, the abbot walked up to the highest step and looked down upon everyone with a compassionate look.

Feng Jia sat in the corner, looking at the vegetarian noodles in the bowl without picking up her chopsticks, as if she was thinking about something.

When everyone around had finished eating, Feng Jia took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and poured the bowl of vegetarian noodles, including the soup, out of the window.

In the evening, they were arranged to attend a meditation class, and were not allowed to return to their meditation rooms until the moon was at its zenith.

These people had been accustomed to a life of luxury since childhood, so how could they endure such hardship? Some of them could not bear it and left overnight. In just one day, half of the original number of carriages had disappeared.

"Did you find anything today?" Feng Jia asked while sitting on the bed and massaging her legs.

Song Huai shook his head: "I didn't find anything unusual. What about you? Did you find anything when you attended the nunnery ceremony today?"

Feng Jia still said the same thing: "This temple is very strange."

After a pause, her eyes darkened: "Those monks too, including the abbot, are all very weird!"

But if asked to describe what was so strange specifically, Feng Jia didn't know where to start.

"I have been feeling uneasy since I came up this mountain. Please help me investigate during these days."

She always felt like she was missing something.

Song Huai nodded: "Okay."

As he was talking, someone outside called out, "Ninth Miss, are you there?"

Feng Jia's eyes shone, and after a while he asked, "Is it Madam Zhao?"

Zhao Qing, the daughter of the Minister of Revenue, said, "It's me, Miss Nine. The plain noodles tonight are too bland, so I brought some osmanthus cake from home. Would you like to try it?"

Feng Jia opened the door and saw Zhao Qing standing at the door with a basket. Most of the osmanthus cakes in the basket had been taken away, probably because someone else had picked them.

"Thank you, Mrs. Zhao." Feng Jia took a few pieces from it and bowed.

"When you're out and about, take care of each other. You're welcome." Zhao Qing smiled friendly and added, "I'm only three years older than you. You should call me Sister Zhao, or Miss Zhao. I'm not used to hearing you call me Madam Zhao. I feel like I'm really old!"

Feng Jia looked at the other person's cheerful smile and was also infected by it and smiled: "Okay, Sister Zhao."

"Sister, you take a rest. I won't do much more. Sorry for disturbing you."

Feng Jia nodded, then closed the door again, placed the pieces of osmanthus cake wrapped in oil paper on the table without eating them, and then extinguished the candle.

The night is long and the nightmares are endless.

That night, Feng Jia slept very uneasily, with countless bizarre images flashing through her mind. Princess Pingchang's hideous smile in prison, Xie Qian's sneer, Xie Zilin's desperate and reluctant eyes when he looked at her, and her father's eyes that refused to close when he died unjustly...

Feng Jia woke up from a nightmare, sweating all over. He opened his mouth to call Song Huai when he suddenly heard a shrill scream.

The sound cut through the sky, and the source of the sound was right next door!