The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 178 Cicada sheds

Last time, we talked about how Li Yi won the recognition of Jiangdong's talented scholars with his "Preface to Chongxuan Collection" written with the ink fountain technique. However, the third prince Xiao Zonggang suddenly said that Li Yi's situation was very dangerous. So where did this danger come from? Let's read on.

Li Yi asked in confusion: "What does your Highness mean by this? How is Li's situation dangerous?"

Xiao Zonggang looked at Lu Yuan, who nodded and said, "Then let me help Li Yuefu analyze it:

First of all, Li Yuefu won the competition of the six arts in Jiankang, and Zhang Shangshu lost face, so he must be resentful of you. Who is he? He is a representative of the Southern Migration Faction. They are very dissatisfied with the imperial examination system that Li Yuefu has set up in Wei State, and they are afraid that you will cause trouble in Liang State, so they want to suppress you. In addition, he is also the prince's man. Li Yuefu thinks that the prince cares more about you and the officials of the Southern Migration Faction in the court?

Secondly, Li Lefu offended the Minister of the Central Secretariat Shen Yue by rescuing Miss Su, so the guards showed up right after the competition. Although you had tricked Lord Shen into joining His Highness, he saw through your plan and returned to His Majesty. Lord Shen was determined to get rid of Li Lefu and Miss Su to avenge the rift.

Furthermore, Liu Hong, the Minister of State, had fought against Li Yuefu in Wei State. They both knew that the other was a strong enemy, and he happened to be the Second Prince's man. The Second Prince had military merits and high prestige in the army. Even Generals Chen Zhao and Chen Xin obeyed him. Li Yuefu must have dealt with these two people before.

Finally, and most troublesomely, the monk Luo Yan, who was in charge of the Ministry of Law, left Beijing to inquire about the whereabouts of Li Yuefu and Master Miaoyin. It didn't sound like he wanted to make friends with them. Now that it has been confirmed that Li Yuefu is Master Miaoyin, you caused a big disturbance in Jin'an Temple and destroyed Lingyin Temple. I'm afraid Master Luo will not let it go.

To sum up, Li Yuefu has now offended almost all the most powerful people in Daliang. Isn't this situation dangerous?"

Li Yi waved his hand and smiled, "Brother Lu, you think too much. I am not that hated, and I have not offended so many people. Moreover, as long as Master Bodhi is here, I will not have to worry about my life."

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "But what if he leaves? I'm afraid Li Yuefu won't be able to return to Wei for a while."

Li Yi laughed and said, "If Master Bodhi leaves, I will definitely run away with him!"

Lu Yuan was stunned and asked, "Then you don't care about the wedding?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "I don't care about so many things. Of course, my life is the most important. My three wives are still waiting for me to return to the capital!"

Lu Yuan waved his hand and said, "Li Yuefu, let's be more realistic. The only one who can protect you right now is His Highness. Isn't that why you came here?"

Li Yi said helplessly: "Brother Lu, what do you mean by this? Do you want Li Yi to give a token of his loyalty?"

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Since Li Yuefu wants His Highness and the Jiangdong Clan to donate money, then this is a deal, so we have to show some sincerity, right?"

Li Yi looked at Xiao Zonggang and said with a smile: "Your Highness has a good counselor!"

Xiao Zonggang waved his hand and said, "Lu Yuan and I are no longer in a relationship of monarch and subject. If there is anyone in this world who is closest to me, it is him besides my father. If it weren't for him, I would have died long ago. Li Yuefu, let's talk about the banquet in Huaguang Palace first."

Li Yi: "After all, Li is from Wei. Even if he is a little famous, it would be difficult to raise so much money through a dinner. Although the prince is very angry, he really wants to help Li raise money for disaster relief, so he specially held a banquet in Huaguang Hall and helped Li promote himself."

Xiao Zonggang: "It's fine to hold a banquet in Huaguang Palace if you only invite ministers, but if you invite others into the palace, that's against the rules!"

Li Yi: "The prince did say that the protection of the imperial city is the responsibility of the second prince."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zonggang shook his head and laughed, "Big brother is really good at scheming. I guess it was Big brother who told Li Yuefu about me, right?"

Li Yi nodded, and Xiao Zonggang continued, "Who did Li Yuefu think ordered the assassination of the crown prince under the city walls?"

Li Yi asked doubtfully, "I don't know, but it seems that the prince must know."

Xiao Zonggang nodded and said, "Big brother, of course, knows that the troops of Second Brother are the ones who have the most complete equipment of the new crossbow machine built by Liu Hong, and he also knows how many death warriors Second Brother has."

Li Yi shook his head and said, "Although I have never met the Second Prince, I feel that he should not be such a stupid person, right? The public security of Jiankang City is under his jurisdiction. If the assassination is successful, how can he escape punishment?"

Xiao Zonggang was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Lu Yuan, who did not respond. He sighed and asked Li Yi, "Li Lefu, have you told my elder brother this?"

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "No, I said that the Crown Prince is too murderous. If he ascends the throne one day, I am afraid that the two countries will never have peace again. Similarly, the Second Prince is a killer on the battlefield. If he ascends the throne, he will also mobilize troops against our Wei State. In comparison, I still hope that the Third Prince can make the two countries live in harmony. What's more, Empress Dowager Xiao also said that there has always been a custom in the Southern Dynasty that the third son will succeed to the throne."

Xiao Zonggang waved his hands repeatedly and said, "I don't have such big ambitions, I just want to protect myself."

I'm afraid no one would believe this, so Li Yi changed the subject to avoid embarrassment and asked Lu Yuan: "If the credit for this is taken by the prince alone, Master Dayi will probably stay in Tongde Temple and leave the government to the prince. I think Your Highness would not want to see that situation."

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Li Lefu, please tell us specifically how we can help Your Highness, otherwise we can only perfunctorily handle the donation."

Li Yi said: "I can help His Highness invite Master Da Yi back to the palace, and I can also step on the prince."

Lu Yuan asked, "Oh? How does Li Yuefu plan to step on the prince?"

Li Yi replied: "The Zhu Xi School has always supported the Crown Prince. If I suppress the momentum of the Zhu Xi School, wouldn't that be considered stepping on the Crown Prince?"

Xiao Zonggang asked, "Does Li Yuefu have the confidence to defeat Zhu Xi in the debate on rituals?"

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "Only in terms of ritual studies, who can beat Zhu Xi? So I will not debate with Zhu Xi about rituals, but discuss the way of the sage. Zhu Xi has always taken the way of the sage as his law. If I win the debate by chance, it will destroy the foundation of Zhu Xi's school of thought."

Lu Yuan laughed and said, "Is Li Yuefu so confident?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "I hope to return to Shangjing safely to reunite with my family. I miss my three lovely wives so much!"

Xiao Zonggang and Lu Yuan smiled at each other, and the deal was done. The three returned to the crowd and began to recite poems again. Li Yi said, "I am happy today. I am willing to sing another song with Miss Su to cheer you up!"

Everyone cheered and applauded. Li Yi smiled and said, "However, I have to make a promise. In a few days, you will not only attend the Huaguang Hall charity gala, but also donate generously! This is all for the victims!"

Xiao Zonggang took the lead in cheering, and everyone naturally followed suit. Li Yi condensed his qi and transformed it into a erhu and other musical instruments, and used the spiritual sound spell to control the instruments to play music, and began to perform Jay Chou's song "Lanting Preface". Cui Zhi danced and sang with Li Yi, and also sang the opera part. During the whole performance, the two interacted frequently and cooperated tacitly, adding a lot of charm to the song. As the saying goes:

Humming and singing softly, I talk about copying calligraphy, and writing poems and talking about farewell.

A song talks about love and romance, and the two of them perform the secret of love together.

Li Yi and Cui Zhi's singing and dancing pushed the literary gathering to a new climax, and then they said goodbye and left. After Li Yi left, Xiao Zonggang asked Lu Yuan: "Did you find out anything?"

Lu Yuan replied: "He was indeed sent by the prince, but he is here to raise money."

Xiao Zonggang seemed to have concerns, so Lu Yuan asked, "Your Highness, aren't you afraid that the prince will harm you at the banquet? He will protect you, and that's what he wants to tell Your Highness this time. In addition, he must not be allowed to return to Northern Wei alive."

Xiao Zonggang hesitated and asked, "Brother Lu, aren't you afraid of starting a war?"

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "There are many people who want to kill him. You can push it to anyone, but it's best to push it to Shen Yue, so as to repay him for preventing the prince from marrying the Northern Wei."

Xiao Zonggang asked: "Is there no way to recruit him?"

Lu Yuan waved his hand and said, "He has too many enemies. If you really recruit him, Your Highness will be attacked from all sides, which is not worth the loss." Xiao Zonggang nodded silently...

Let's adjust the progress bar. The Northern Wei delegation returned to Jiankang. Tuoba Li, Lu Yu and others can rest, but Li Yi and Cui Zhi can't. They still have to prepare for the dinner. After all, it's in another country. The musicians and dancers of the Liang State Rites Department can't be mobilized, not to mention that Zhang Deyuan of the Rites Department is still thinking about how to get back the venue! So the program of this dinner depends entirely on the two of them, which is naturally a lot of pressure.

That afternoon, the two who had been rehearsing for the whole morning went to the cloth shop to pick up the custom-made clothes. They just wanted to relax. Li Yi specifically asked the guards who were following them not to follow them so closely, so as not to make them uncomfortable. Li Yi and Cui Zhi, who was wearing a hat, walked on the street. Otherwise, the beauty would definitely attract onlookers.

The two of them strolled along the street, enjoying the intimacy. Li Yi suddenly felt the Buddhist teachings spreading around him. He looked around and realized that the Buddhist teachings came from a small noodle stall on the side of the road. He immediately took Cui Zhi over. Li Yi saw a nun eating noodles with her back to the street in a corner. He walked over to her side, bowed, and said, "Amitabha, Master, may I ask if there is anything I can help you with?"

The nun bowed and said, "Amitabha, I didn't expect to meet such a kind person here. To be honest, I do have some troubles." As she spoke, she looked at the empty bowl on the table awkwardly.

Li Yi smiled and nodded, then said to Cui Zhi, "Give me two more bowls of noodles so that the nun can be full." Cui Zhi understood what Li Yi meant, and went to the store to pay and keep watch.

Two bowls of vegetarian noodles were served. Li Yi looked at the nun eating noodles opposite him and asked in a low voice, "But what trouble did Master Ci Chen encounter?"

This nun was none other than Master Ci Tong from the Heci Temple. She didn't say anything, but ate her noodles by herself. At the same time, she used Buddhist teachings to convey her thoughts to Li Yi, saying, "Excuse me, are you the Venerable Miaoyin Li Jing?"

Li Yi nodded, and Ci Tong ate while talking to Li Yi, telling him everything that happened in Heci Temple. After listening, Li Yi handed Ci Tong a bag of copper coins, then stood up and said, "Since Master is unwilling to teach, I will not force you. Please take care of yourself, Master."

Afterwards, Li Yi immediately sent Cui Zhi back to the inn and went to Tongde Temple. He did not go to find Master Da Yi, but went directly into the Tongde Pagoda. Seeing Bodhidharma sitting in front of the Buddha statue on the top of the pagoda, he bowed and said, "Master, I have something to ask you."

Bodhidharma didn't respond. Li Yi sighed and sat cross-legged. After waiting for a long time, he saw no movement. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt the Dharma emanating from Bodhidharma. He immediately closed his eyes and felt it. After entering into meditation, Li Yi's consciousness came into a void.

Bodhidharma was still in a meditative posture, but behind him was a statue of the Vairocana Buddha that was hundreds of feet tall! Li Yi put his hands together and asked, "Master, do you know about the evil monk Luo Yan? According to Master Ci Tong, he seems to have extraordinary strength. Why didn't you get rid of this Buddhist scum?"

Bodhidharma didn't speak, but Li Yi could hear his voice. "He has too many connections with the imperial court, Confucianism and Taoism, and he is protected by the Human Emperor. If I kill him, I will incur the wrath of the Human Emperor. Xiu Yuan, you can think of some way to get rid of him."

Li Yi said in embarrassment: "Master, he has extraordinary strength, what can I do! The key is that I am also afraid of Emperor Liang! Besides, he was looking for me everywhere before, it seems like he wants to kill me!"

Bodhidharma's voice came: "It is precisely because he already has the strength of the extraordinary realm that he will not do it himself. You don't have to worry. Think carefully about how to deal with him."

Li Yi scratched his head and said, "Master, why do I feel like you are fooling me!" After saying that, he raised his head and looked at the Dharma image of Vairocana Tathagata, only to feel that the Dharma image was smiling at him.