Tang riddles

There are rumors in the city of Chang'an that the third lady of the Zhang family in Qujiang has lost her mind and gone mad.He didn't say a word all day long, and he stayed at home, locking himself in the house.Since the Shangyuan Festival, she has been lying on the bed with a serious illness, and finally her condition improved a little, but after waking up, she turned into this appearance.At such a young age, it makes people sigh.

She refused to talk to anyone, and often hid upstairs in the boudoir, wrapped in a thick blanket, looking at the sometimes clear and sometimes cloudy sky in Chang'an through the window.She was suffering from a cough, and every time her mood was disturbed, she would cough in a muffled voice, which seemed to be the background sound in her boudoir.Day after day, month after month, her body deteriorated, she couldn't sleep well, she couldn't eat, she watched her lose weight little by little, and finally she was so weak that she couldn't sleep on the bed.

The family members were so anxious that they were at a loss. They invited countless doctors to look at them, but they couldn't understand. They took countless decoctions and medicines, but they didn't get better.Many doctors said that the third lady was suffering from a heart disease, and her heart was stagnant. Even if the doctors had the ability to cure her body, they couldn't cure her mood. If her mood couldn't be opened, her body would naturally fail. The people who tie the bell are still needed, they can't do anything.

Zhang Ruohan's grandmother Lu and mother Tan are good people who believe in Buddhism, and they are also Zhang Ruohan's closest friends.Zhang Ruohan can still listen to what they say, let her eat, she will eat, let her sleep, she will sleep, as obedient as before.However, she never spoke to them again, and those eyes that were as bright as autumn water were also dimmed.Maybe it's not that she doesn't want to say it, she really has a thousand words, but she can't say a word.Even if she uttered a word right now, it would be a torment for her.The doctor said that this is a heart disease, which will make the patient block his mind and cut off communication with the outside world.

What can I do?The old lady chanted scriptures in the Buddhist hall every day and prayed for her granddaughter; Mrs. Tan traveled all over the temples and Taoist temples in Chang'an, asking for countless peace talismans, but her daughter did not get better at all, and finally fell ill and fell ill in bed.Zhang Jiuling was restless when he went to court every day. After leaving duty, he rushed home non-stop and stayed by his daughter's side.As a last resort, he even went to ask the sage for help, begging the sage to ask Princess Jin to visit his daughter.Fisting the father's love, even the saint was moved, and finally showed mercy, briefly lifted Li Jinyue's foot restraint order, and allowed her to visit Zhang Ruohan.

When Li Jinyue, the 13-year-old princess of the Jin Kingdom, rushed to the Zhang Mansion, what she saw was the appearance of her former friends lying silently on the couch.

"Lotus maid..." She stepped forward to call, but Zhang Ruohan's eyes never looked at her, but stared straight at the top of the bed curtain.

"Lotus maid... You, don't do this. I'm Maomao, look at me." Li Jinyue said softly with tears in her eyes.But when she thought of the burnt Princess Taiping mansion, her best friend Chishi who disappeared forever, her aunt Princess Taiping who loved her even though she was strong, the son-in-law Yin who was always soft-spoken and coquettish, the cute little piano slave.They were all gone, and she was out of breath.She was just a 13-year-old girl, and she couldn't accept such a cruel fact, so how could she talk about comforting Zhang Ruohan.

It's just that she really didn't expect that the lotus maid would be so sick.She had thought that she had already grieved enough, and that it would be difficult for anyone in this world to surpass her.But she was wrong, this cold and indifferent girl didn't seem to care about everything.But once you put your feelings into someone or something, you will do it wholeheartedly and without reservation, leaving no room for it.Therefore, once she retaliates, she will be heartbroken and bruised.

She sat beside Zhang Ruohan's sick bed, holding her hand, weeping silently, unable to speak anymore.

She didn't know how long she had been crying, and suddenly felt the thin and cold hand in her palm move, she suddenly raised her head, and saw Zhang Ruohan still looking at the top of the bed curtain, and said softly:

"She's still alive..."

These words seemed to have pierced Li Jinyue's heart with a sharp sword, she wailed uncontrollably, and fell down beside her couch crying.

"She's still alive, look..." With trembling hands, Zhang Ruohan took out the jade pendant from her bosom, with phoenix engraved patterns, exquisite and beautiful, it was a gift from Consort Yin to Chishi's tenth birthday, and she used to show it off to them I have worn it next to my body many times. "I picked it up at the back door, shh...don't tell anyone..."

On that day, for some reason, Li Jinyue ran away, and she felt inexplicably terrified.The tragic death of Chishi, the madness of the lotus maid, the cruel confinement of her father, the depressed tears of her mother, the faction of courtiers, the filth of the harem, many people and things, she was afraid of.In her eyes, the mighty and far-reaching outline of Chang'an City seemed to be squeezed and collapsed day by day, and she felt terribly suffocated when she was in it.

After that, Li Jinyue went to see Zhang Ruohan a few times, but they stopped talking and just sat opposite each other in silence.The intervals between visits became longer and longer, until the next year, when Li Jinyue went out to war and married Anxi Dufu, she never visited Zhang Ruohan again.

……

Grandma always said: Our lotus maids have roots of wisdom and have a relationship with Buddhism.Zhang Ruohan didn't believe it at that time, she was too young to understand the concept of being predestined with Buddhism.

Zhang Ruohan's catastrophe at the age of 12 seemed to never end.A few months later, a bhikkhuni in white and her disciples came to visit, and the situation finally turned for the better.

The bhikkhuni is number one and is a world-renowned mage.Grandmother and mother couldn't help being overjoyed when they saw her come to pay their respects, and treated her like a guest of honor.He glanced at Zhang Ruohan on the couch, touched her head, and said: This child is destined to be destined, but the six senses are difficult to calm down, the six senses are sensitive, and he is easily confused by the world's dust, and the dust is too heavy to enter the Buddhist door.

Grandma and mother hurriedly asked for advice, and they heard a master say:

"The six roots are the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. The first five roots are the form of physical existence, and the sixth root 'mind' is the basis of the heart to generate the mind. The six roots can give birth to the six consciousnesses, which are the recognition of our physical body. The basis on which everything in the world depends. Through the six sense organs and six consciousnesses, we can see the six objects: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma. And we also need to reflect the state of our six organs and six consciousnesses according to the reflection of the six objects. As a monk, we must pay attention to the purity of the six senses, which means that we must have the ability to discern all good and evil. The eye root is greedy for color, the ear root is greedy for sound, the nose root is greedy for fragrance, the tongue root is greedy for taste, the body root is greedy for smoothness, and the mind root is greedy for pleasant places; , there must also be hatred, greed and hatred come from ignorance - afflictions, together, it is the combination of the three dirts of "greed, anger, and ignorance". This child fell into the sea of ​​suffering, but she couldn't get it because of greed. Because she couldn't get it because of greed, she became angry, and her infatuation was hard to get rid of, so it was hard to break her sorrow. The poor nun can only try her best to cut off her dust roots, and maybe she can be rescued from the sea of ​​suffering .”

Grandmother and mother are also people who practice Buddhism. What the master said just now is not difficult for them to understand.It's just that they don't understand what this child is greedy for. Is it just the friendship with that child Akashi?Just that, why was she so sad that she couldn't get sick.

A master sent away everyone in the house, and was alone with Zhang Ruohan.She quietly meditated beside Zhang Ruohan, lit a lamp of sandalwood, and recited Buddhist scriptures softly, not in a hurry to communicate with this girl.

In this way, for three days in a row, I lived in the same room with the girl, ate and lived together, and no one else was around.

Three days later, the silent girl suddenly spoke. She didn't ask who the bhikkhuni in white was, but said:

"She's alive, but no one believes me."

"How do you know she's still alive?" A master asked calmly.

"I picked up the jade pendant she was wearing next to her body, and it was just outside the fire scene, which means she must have left the fire scene."

"But you are not sure whether to leave alive or to leave after death, aren't you?" a master said.

"If she is dead, why bother to take her body away from the fire, she must be alive." The girl insisted.

"Okay, I believe she is still alive, what about you, what should you do?" A master asked.

"I...I want to find her, but I...don't know where to find her. No one believes me. I can't go far alone."

"But you still can't let go of your family?" The bhikkhuni asked with a smile.

"I... really can't let go of my family." The girl blinked and replied.

"You can't let go of your family, but you still want to find her, don't you?"

"Well... I miss her... I want her to come back and be by my side..."

"Why, who is she to you?"

"She... is my best friend..."

"Is that all? Her status is already a bit more important than your family in your mind. Is she really just your best friend?"

The girl was speechless.

"Did you ever feel so bad when your brother left home?"

"That...that's different..."

"It's really different children. You know that your elder brother is away, and when you return, you know that your elder brother is going out to seek a future. But her departure was too sudden, and there is no return date, and she doesn't know where she is going. Isn't that why you are so heartbroken?" A master said slowly with a soft and warm voice.

There was a muffled sob from the bed.

"My child, you really love her to the bone marrow. That's why you feel so sad for her leaving, don't you?" She asked softly.

The sobs gradually expanded, and the tears that had been suppressed for a long time finally rolled down, slipped from the corners of her eyes into her hair, and wet the pillow again.

"I... She and I are both women... I don't understand why I would... I would be like this... But she, she just left, did I... suffer retribution... I... I I fell in love with someone I shouldn't like...so God wants...to punish us, why...why didn't you come to me...it's my fault, it's all my fault...uh...it's all my fault... ..."

She was sobbing intermittently, unable to utter a complete sentence, crying so hard that her heart would break.She stepped forward slowly, held her thin cheeks full of tears, and said softly:

"My poor child, you think so. For so long, you haven't had anyone to talk to."

She bent down, hugged the girl's skinny body, and said:

"It's okay, you can tell me in the future, if you are sad, just cry out, don't hold back."

The girl raised her thin hands and put them around the neck of the bhikkhuni in white, her cheeks buried in her neckline, and tears wet her skirt in an instant.She was crying loudly, a girl who had never cried like this since she was born, the crying that day made the entire Zhang Mansion burst into tears.Wu Ya knelt outside Sanniang's house and cried loudly, Lu Shi wiped his tears alone in the Buddhist hall, Tan Shi's tears wet Zhang Jiuling's skirt, Zhang Jiuling looked at the night sky in Chang'an, his face was full of tears and his beard was wet.

After crying, there was a long period of mourning, and her mood gradually calmed down.I talked to the bhikkhuni in white every day, and gradually got better.She was also able to eat food slowly, and soon she was able to get down on the couch and walk around, looking at her thin body in shock.

One day, the girl sat in front of a tea table with a master, and she sat quietly and discussed:

"Master, I know that I don't have the ability to find her in a short time. Perhaps, all I can do is wait."

"Wait, why not? If someone waits, someone will return. If she is alive, you should know that you have been looking forward to returning for a long time. Even if you are at the end of the world, she will hurry back."

"But master, I'm afraid, I'm afraid that one day, I won't be able to wait for her."

"Waiting is always accompanied by apprehension, but it is also accompanied by hope. It is a blessing that you can wait for her. When she returns one day, you will know how lucky you are during the waiting process. Even if you are alive If you can’t wait for her, you will meet again in Paradise, and you will always see her. Don’t think the waiting is so terrible, it will give your life a direction from now on, just like Simon, who faces south all day long, and you can get guidance."

"Facing south all day, you can get guidance..." the girl murmured.

After a few more months, the girl, whose body was finally taken care of, knelt down in front of the nun in white and worshiped Buddhism.Touching the top of her hair, she said softly:

"My child, your mind root is clear, and your consciousness is insightful. May your mind be pure and untainted from now on. If the white lotus comes out of the world, I will give you the title of 'Xinlian'."

"Thank you, Master." The girl clasped her hands together, and on her beautiful face, there was finally a touch of tranquility and indifference.

The author has something to say: some things I want to say after the section in the third volume of Mobaicang, and it is just right to say them here.

The reason why Zhang Ruohan and Li Jinyue failed to achieve a positive result was not only because Zhang Ruohan fell in love with Chishi first, but also because there was indeed an irreparable gap in their personalities and attitudes.Just from the case of Princess Taiping's mansion, the two people's attitudes towards the case can be seen.

The lotus maid is very idealistic, and many of her choices are based on emotions, which are extremely pure; but Li Jinyue is realistic, she cannot escape her environment, and is forever bound by her identity.After the fire, Chisi disappeared. Both of them were very sad, but Zhang Ruohan's sadness was so painful that he couldn't care about anything anymore. In Li Jinyue's sadness, there was helplessness about everything and fear of her environment. .In the end, Zhang Ruohan chose to stay in Chang'an to wait and face, while Li Jinyue chose to escape and go to the frontier.Such two people are as different as heaven and earth, even if they are reluctantly together, they can only gradually drift away in the end.If Li Jinyue could choose to stay by Zhang Ruohan's side, maybe everything would be different again. It's really hard to say who Zhang Ruohan will fall in love with in the end.After all, the change of time on people is immeasurable.

Akashi is ideal, but also able to face reality, and she is persevering. She is just in between the two, so she will not be frightened by setbacks, nor will her ideal be smoothed by reality. She is the real good friend of Zhang Ruohan. Match is the guide of Lian and Yue, guiding them to face the reality without losing their ideals.

PS: I almost forgot to say that the next chapter will be updated on Thursday.