Chapter 41: Writing a profitable book

You always have to pay back the debts you owe others. Besides, it is impossible to escape the debts you owe Li Xiaogong and Wang Gui, because Yun Ye saw the kidnapping incident at the gate of the palace. Lao Zhuang and Liu Jinbao were tied up like silkworms wriggling on the ground. Several burly men surrounded them, laughing.

The Li family carriage was not bad, not only was it wide, it was also inlaid with gold and jade. The cushion underneath was made of something very soft. He took a silver flagon off the shelf and drank from it without a cup. The wine was a little sour, but the aftertaste was good. It was pure Persian wine.

Good wine, Yun Ye now very much needs the stimulation of wine to calm the nerves. He recalled the screen that Changsun had accidentally peeked at. Needless to say, behind it was Li Er, who was observing him. In the past, he would worry, but now he doesn’t have to. I’m not playing anymore. I really can’t afford it. How many times can a person play with his head on the line?

The Marquis is fine. He doesn’t fantasize about a higher title, and Li Er won’t give him a higher title. How many people die without becoming a marquis? Think about General Li Guang, who was trampled to death by a horse in his last battle against the Xiongnu, and who didn’t get a title. He would have a flat mind and not think about those useless things.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the Hejian County Prince’s Mansion, and a butler had been waiting at the gate for a long time.

Yun Ye jumped off the carriage, Zhuang San stopped Liu Jinbao also jumped off the horse, and Lao Zhuang was angry, always intentionally or unintentionally looking at the head of the palace guards.

They are all from the same military family. Li Huai Ren had told him about his family’s head of security, a master who had crawled out of the dead three times. He had no special skills, and many of the guards who were smarter and better than him had died in battle, but he had survived.

Li Huai Ren said that his father said that as long as you participate in a battle and survive, you are a treasure, especially his family’s head of security. Last time in Jiangnan, if it weren’t for his quick wits, Li Xiaogong wouldn’t have just been hit by three arrows, and he would have been shot to death long ago.

Bao Xian Hall, this is where Li Xiaogong’s family used to host large banquets for their guests. Old Li was a generous man, and it seemed that he had already forgotten to invite Yun Ye to eat locusts. He took Yun Ye’s hand and introduced him to all the guests in the hall.

Yun Ye had decided not to get involved in politics, so he only bowed to the bigwigs as a junior, and being overly attentive would be misunderstood as Yun Hou wanting to make a big splash in the court. After Li Xiaogong introduced him, he didn’t even bother to remember his name. The older ones were called “uncles,” and the younger ones were called “uncles,” and the names were proportional to their beards.

With this secret, Yun Ye was able to maneuver in social circles. “Ah, Uncle Liu is in good health, congratulations! Li Gang, Li Shanchang has asked me to invite you to give a lecture. If you don’t go, I won’t be able to save my legs.”

“Uncle Hu, you are a great talent of your generation. I am here to pay my respects to you. As you know, my family is poor. If there is any way to subsidize my family, please don’t forget my nephew’s share.” This is Jin Buluangzhong, a low-ranking official who controls all the transactions in the world. In other words, no matter who wants to do a secret deal, he can’t avoid it. He holds the reputation and lifeline of each family in his hands. It is the best job in the world, but it is also the most dangerous job in the world. It is said that the last one died two months ago.

“Uncle Monk? Grand Monk?”

Why is there a monk at the Li family banquet? Although it is currently a time of disaster and the banquet is a bit simpler, there is no shortage of wine and meat. A monk is not only eating at the table, but also ignoring the people around him. He is too arrogant, but the people around him don’t seem to care. From this, we know that this bald donkey is not easy to deal with, so it’s better to stay away.

“Master Jueyuan, the food and wine are a bit slower today, please forgive me.” Li Xiaogong is apologizing to the monk? This surprised Yun Ye, and he didn’t know how to deal with this guy. He quickly found someone who knew.

He stopped Li Huai-ren’s older brother Li Huai-xian and asked him. It took him a while to realize that this was the famous monk Jueyuan from the Shaolin Temple. When he saw him, Yun Ye thought of the terrifying monk Tan Yin on Mount Maijishan.

“Did the 18 monks really save His Majesty?”

“What nonsense is this? If His Majesty were reduced to relying on them to save him, we would all be better off dead. Besides, there are only thirteen monks, so what if he makes five more? Just like your family, if you have more than fifty armed retainers, what kind of trouble will you have?

“Then they are just guards. Brother Huai Xian, you are hitting me in the face. The guards at Shaolin Temple can sit at the table, why should my family’s guards eat in the courtyard?”

Li Huaixian had the urge to strangle Yun Ye. Who’s guard doesn’t eat in the courtyard? You’re still talking so loudly. Are you afraid that Jueyuan over there can’t hear you?

Sure enough, the monk Jueyuan put down his chopsticks, stood up, and came to Yun Ye, clasping his hands in front of him: “I am the monk Jueyuan. I have seen Lord Yun.”

“Master, you are too polite. I heard that Shaolin Temple has strict rules, but why do you not refrain from drinking and eating?” Yun Ye immediately questioned him. He felt that he was a bit like the villains in TV shows and novels. He just didn’t want to be slapped in the face by this monk. Just thinking about the fate of those villains, his heart was pounding.

He has never liked monks, either now or in the future.

“I am a martial arts monk, and according to the temple rules, I can eat meat and drink wine. People who practice martial arts need to strengthen their muscles and bones, and they can’t do it by eating only vegetarian food.” Jueyuan is not as handsome as Jet Li, nor is he as interesting as Jet Li. He is dull and annoying.

“Not necessarily. When I was visiting Mount Maiji, I met Master Dan Yin and had a long conversation with him. The master himself has been a vegetarian for many years and is still agile. Can Master Jueyuan compete with Master Dan Yin?”

Jueyuan looked up at Yun Ye and saw his eyes filled with energy, like a pair of cold pools, which was intimidating.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. Yun Ye was like a monkey who spent all day with tigers, lions, and poisonous snakes. He had long since become immune to this kind of mental pressure. In Yun Ye’s opinion, his stress index was even higher than that of Lao Cheng and Lao Niu, let alone others. Unless he grew a pair of long-grandson’s water-cutting eyes, Yun Ye would bow his head.

Jueyuan was a bit surprised by Yun Ye’s nonchalance. There were also young men in Chang’an who wanted to challenge him, but they were all shocked by him. Those young men were weak-minded, and even if they were more skilled than him, they would only surrender obediently under his mental dominance. This also contributed to his reputation as a master of his generation. Otherwise, there would be no place for him at today’s gathering, where the princes and lords gathered, the marquises and counts walked everywhere, and the earls and viscounts were not as good as dogs at the high-level banquet.

Feeling insulted, but Yun Ye and Tan Yin Shishu were old acquaintances, he could only clasp his hands in front of his chest and say, “I have never had a match with Tan Yin Shishu. I think my skills are far inferior to Tan Yin Shishu’s. Shishu is the head of the precepts hall, a respected position, and a profound practitioner. He would not fight with others.”

He didn’t have the slightest bit of warrior pride or toughness, and he looked down on him a bit. He was even ready to call Lao Zhuang out to fight him one-on-one, and he was going to give Xuan Zang some money on the side. Who knew that he could be so patient? If he could be so patient, why didn’t he go practice ninja turtles?

Just now, Old Li told Yun Ye in a low voice that Master Xuanzang was in the study talking to Xiao Yu. This monk plans to go to India to obtain the true scriptures, and his will is extremely firm. Yun Ye hopes very much that a treasure like the “Tang Dynasty Western Regions Record” will be published, so he would like to support him.

Now the matter of the scriptures has come into conflict with Taoism. Taoism has a background, and they worship the ancestors of the Li family. Of course, they want to suppress Buddhism. It is not surprising that there have been some minor accidents in Xuanzang’s travels, as soon as they heard that Buddhism had come out with such a pervert.

If they openly gave Xuanzang money to help him obtain the sutras, they would offend a large number of perverts in the Daoist sect. Especially after becoming friends with Li Chunfeng, it would be inconvenient to have close contact with the Buddhist sect. If it weren’t for Li Chunfeng’s master Yuan Tiangang’s bad habit of weighing his bones when he had nothing to do head, he would have asked Lao Yuan to give lectures at the academy. As long as he doesn’t talk about the roundness of the sky and the flatness of the earth, it’s fine. It’s a disaster to harm Li Er, don’t instill strange theories in my students. My students will have to explore for themselves whether the sky is round and the earth is flat. Jueyuan was disappointing. It was clear that even the Buddha had to send Xuanzang to India empty-handed, and he couldn’t even do that with such a huge cheat device. The Buddha’s power was boundless, and he was able to change the history that was about to change and twist it back into its original path.

Just when I was secretly feeling a lot of emotion, I was tapped on the shoulder. It turned out to be Mr. Xiao Yu.

“Kid, what kind of bad idea did you come up with for no reason? It’s been so long since I’ve had anything that tasted good. Even the best food tastes like locusts.” The old gentleman is very senior, and he never gives the younger generation a hard time. It’s common for him to scold them, and even his grandson, Wei Wuxian, is no exception. It’s better to be respectful.

“Kid, I’m asking you, is it true that you said you had been to the Heavenly Lake of the Queen Mother of the West?” The old gentleman’s face was serious.

“Of course it’s true. Master Xuanzang was going to India, and there was a section of the road that was very close to the Heavenly Pool. If you didn’t hurry, you could go for a stroll. First of all, there are no flowers that bloom at all times of the day, only ice and snow and rocks.” Yun Ye quickly told him the truth, so as not to be accused of being a liar in the future.

“Amitabha, Yun Hou is a man of great fortune. He even had the opportunity to see the residence of the Queen Mother of the West. This is truly a cause for celebration.”

Xuanzang was not as handsome as the Xuanzang on TV. He was thin and dark, and even though he had not yet gone to India, he already looked like a third-rate Indian. No wonder he was so at home there, so comfortable, and even had the good fortune to ride an elephant around the ancient city, which made Yun Ye envious.

“Do you know how I can get to Tianzhu, Yun Hou?”

“Of course I know, but what are you doing in a country full of cows? I heard that you want the truth, so why don’t you just write one yourself? Look, people like Lao Tzu, Zhuangzi, and Confucius are all writing, and they will become gods after they finish. I heard that Muhammad in the desert is also writing, and he will soon become a god. It’s not worth it to spend a few years on the road and risk death. It’s better to write one yourself.”

The old man immediately fainted after hearing this. Xuanzang’s hands trembled like leaves in the wind, and Jueyuan’s eyes were red, but he was still enduring it.

“You don’t believe in gods and Buddha?”

“I only believe in my ancestors. They built our world brick by brick, not some god. If I have to be grateful to anyone, it’s to our ancestors. I never fail to offer sacrifices to them in the four seasons and eight chapters. This is the respect they deserve.”