The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 188: Carrying on the Past and Forging into the Future

Last time, we talked about Li Yi's debate with Zhu Xi on the sage's way, and then he used the four sentences of Hengqu to attract the strange phenomena of heaven and earth, and was promoted to a great scholar after being baptized by the purple thunder and questioning his conscience. So what is Li Yi's plan next? Let's read on.

Li Yi undoubtedly won the debate. Under everyone's shock and gaze, Li Yi followed the Northern Wei delegation and left Bailuzhou Academy. Until they left, everyone present could not believe that Zhu Xi, who had never lost a debate in his life, actually lost.

Everyone rushed to the academy, wanting Zhu Zi to come out and explain what had just happened. Why could a fifth-rank Confucian scholar in the state of mind cause strange phenomena in the world? What happened on the stage under the thunder? Why did Zhu Zi salute Li Yi? However, Zhu Zi closed the door and refused to see anyone, without giving anyone any explanation...

After returning to the inn, Li Yi accepted everyone's congratulations and returned to his room. He specifically asked Cui Zhi to guard the door to prevent anyone from disturbing him, because he wanted to consolidate his realm and study how to combine Buddhist magic with Confucianism.

Li Yi sat cross-legged in the room, chanting scriptures, letting his consciousness come to the spiritual platform, performing a Buddhist ceremony to the image of Acala, and then controlling the righteous energy to inject into the image. He kept adjusting and trying to integrate Buddhism with righteous energy, and this experiment lasted an entire afternoon...

As the sun set, the commotion caused by the strange phenomena in the heaven and earth had subsided, and Jiankang City returned to peace. The hanging red star finally disappeared in the surging river, leaving only a gorgeous sunset glow.

Li Yi was still meditating in the room. He was on the spiritual platform, looking at the image of Acala in front of him, touching his chin and asking, "Acalanatha Bodhisattva, why do I feel something is wrong? Why is my image of Acala looking more and more like the Bodhisattva Miaoyin in the temple?"

Acala did not speak, but only sent him a wisp of divine thought, which roughly meant: "I don't know about this matter either. Everything in this world has already been determined. You just need to follow the will of heaven."

Li Yi nodded and said, "That's true, but... well, forget it! Bodhisattva, how close do you think I can get to that evil monk Luo Yan now?"

The Dharma image of Acala sent another divine thought, which meant: "If you fight Luo Yan now, you will definitely die!"

Li Yi nodded again and said, "That's true, but can't you comfort me, Bodhisattva? After all, I am just cleaning up the mess!"

The image of Acalanatha ignored him. Li Yi smiled and shook his head, then bowed and said, "Forget it, let's stop here today. The progress is okay, but I still have important things to do, so I'll come back tomorrow!" As he spoke, Li Yi's consciousness returned to reality.

Li Yi slowly opened his eyes and exhaled. This time, he didn't feel as comfortable as before. Instead, he felt exhausted and his stomach was empty. He opened the door and asked Cui Zhi to get some wine and food.

Cui Zhi watched Li Yi eat with a smile on her face. The latter asked, "Why are you smiling so obscenely? Have you never seen a man eat?" Cui Zhi just smiled foolishly and did not respond.

Li Yi curled his lips and said, "I have to go out after dinner. I don't think I can come back for a while. You can give Yu Jiu the evening class on my behalf."

Cui Zhi immediately asked, "Where are you going, sir? Will it be dangerous?"

Li Yi shook his head and replied, "Go to Bailuzhou Academy and look for Master Zhu. I slapped him in the face in public today. If I don't go and pay him a visit, how can I ask for help in the future?"

Cui Zhi asked, "Sir, what else do you want to ask Master Zhu for?"

Li Yi pinched Cui Zhi's nose and said, "Why are you asking so many questions? Just stay here honestly. If I come back and you haven't slept yet..."

Before Li Yi could finish his words, Cui Zhi replied: "I will definitely wait for you to come back."

Li Yi shook his head and smiled, "That may not be the case. I'm afraid I may not be able to come back tonight. Who knows what Master Zhu will talk to me about and how long he will talk."

Cui Zhi nodded, and suddenly remembered something. She took out a letter from her sleeve and handed it to Li Yi, saying, "Xiao Ruoping came here, and I didn't let her disturb you, so she asked me to pass this letter to you."

Li Yi checked the envelope and asked in confusion: "Have you read this letter?"

Cui Zhi shook her head repeatedly and said, "No, no, how could I possibly read a letter to the Master?"

Li Yi put down his bowl and chopsticks, stretched out his hand to pull Cui Zhi to his side, then slapped her on the butt and said, "Why are you still lying? You saw it, so I don't blame you!"

Cui Zhi said shyly: "I'm just afraid that Xiao Ruoping will plot against you, so I'm helping you to be more careful!"

Li Yi snorted coldly: "What can she plot against me? But you, you just smiled so lasciviously, there's obviously something wrong with you, do you still need me to point it out to you?"

Cui Zhi shook her head repeatedly. Li Yi reached out and hit her on the butt again and said, "Okay, in addition to this map, there is also a letter. Hand it over!"

Cui Zhi handed over the letter. After reading it, Li Yi flicked her on the head and stood up and said, "Okay, you don't have to wait for me tonight. There are too many things to do. It would be good if you can come back tomorrow morning." After that, he pushed the door open and left Cui Zhi behind in anger.

Xiao Ruoping told Li Yi to go find her before sneaking into the palace, and she would tell him in detail about the palace's guard arrangements. After all, it was the Queen Mother's mission, and Li Yi was bound to complete it. However, before looking for Xiao Ruoping, Li Yi went to Bailuzhou Academy first.

When Li Yi appeared on the island, everyone looked at him with hostility. There was nothing he could do. You hit someone in the face in his place, and you still want him to welcome you with a smile? That's nonsense! In this situation, it was impossible for Li Yi to find someone to find out where Zhu Zi lived!

In desperation, Li Yi turned on the art of looking at qi and found Zhu Zi through the righteousness of the righteousness, which was very convenient. Zhu Zi was in a daze in the study room of a separate courtyard at this time. He was waiting for Li Yi to explain to him the way of the sage.

There were two Confucian scholars from the academy guarding the gate. When they saw Li Yi coming, they immediately stepped forward and shouted, "What are you doing here? You are not welcome here!"

Li Yi shook his head and laughed, "I came to pay my respects to Master Zhu, but you guys chased me away without even telling me what to do. Is this the etiquette of the Zhuzi school?"

One of them said coldly, "Receive with courtesy, return with courtesy! How do you treat the Master? Why do you want us to treat you with courtesy?"

Another person chimed in, "That's right. The thunderbolt was about to strike, but you held on to the Master. Fortunately, the Master withstood the thunderbolt, otherwise he would have been killed by you!"

"What nonsense!" Ding Yuancai came out of the study and scolded the two loudly. He said, "How can you be so rude to Li Ru! Go back and copy the chapter on benevolence in the Book of Rites ten times!"

Upon hearing this, the two men immediately bowed and apologized to Ding Yuancai, who was displeased and said, "Why are you apologizing to me? You should apologize to Li Ru!"

The two looked at each other and turned to salute Li Yi. Li Yi stretched out his hand to stop the two and said to Ding Yuancai, "Forget it. The ceremony is useless if it doesn't meet your heart. Ding Ru, what do you think?"

Ding Yuancai shook his head and sighed, "What Li Ru said is absolutely right. It is my Zhu Xue school that is not a good disciple. Please forgive me, Li Ru. I would like to apologize to Li Ru on behalf of my disciple!" Then he bowed to Li Yi and apologized.

Li Yi quickly let go of the two men and went to help Ding Yuancai. Seeing this, the two Confucian scholars hurriedly followed Ding Yuancai to salute, and Li Yi had no choice but to accept the salute.

Ding Yuancai stood up and waved to the two to leave. Then he took Li Yi's hand and said, "The master is waiting for you inside. If you don't come, I will go and invite you." After that, he took Li Yi and walked into the yard.

When he arrived at the study, Ding Yuancai bowed and said, "Sir, Li Yuefu is here!"

Suddenly, there was a sound of books falling to the ground in the room. Zhu Zi pushed the door open in panic, and saw Li Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled and said, "Xiuyuan is finally here. Come on, come in. Yuancai, serve tea." Ding Yuancai bowed and left, while Zhu Zi took Li Yi into the study.

The two of them sat down. Zhu Zi shook his head and said, "Xiu Yuan, tell me how you came up with the idea of ​​the first saint establishing his mind and the second saint establishing his destiny. When you asked Princess Ping'an to change the topic of the debate, I didn't understand. What is there to debate about the way of the saints? Now it seems that I am really ignorant.

But there is no book or scripture about the First Saint, so how do you know about it? Although the Second Saint has the Dao Sutra, it only talks about following nature and the way to cultivate the Dao, but never mentions the theory of establishing destiny. I can’t figure out how you know all this, Xiuyuan, even if I rack my brains.

Li Yi replied: "I have heard Wang Youjun and Wang Ru, masters of Mozhai, talk about the creation of characters by the first sage. The master told me that this character was originally used to communicate with the heavens. After I mastered the art of ink, combined with my own situation when I was setting my mind, I made this guess.

Master, you also know about cultivating karma and practicing Buddhism. In Buddhism, there is a saying about converting barbarians into Buddhas. It is said that two saints rode a green bull out of the pass and traveled west to Hezhou in Xiniu, where they enlightened the Buddha Tathagata, and this is how Buddhism came into being.

As for the theory of the two saints establishing their destiny and returning to heaven, you also know that the so-called Buddhist scriptures, like the "Sacred Teachings", are scriptures that record the words and deeds of saints. The theory of establishing destiny is inferred from the bits and pieces in the scriptures. "

Zhu Zi nodded and said, "I see. I have never practiced Buddhism, so I don't know much about this. Xiu Yuan, can you tell me which scripture this is?"

Li Yi reached out and took out the Avatamsaka Sutra from the sack and handed it to Zhu Zi with both hands, then said: "This Avatamsaka Sutra has a total of eighty volumes. This copy of mine was given to me by the abbot of Lingyin Temple. It is not a complete copy. If you have any ideas, you can go to the Sutra Pavilion of Lingyin Temple to read it. However, Lingyin Temple suffered heavy losses in the battle with Shura Palace, and I don't know how the scriptures were damaged. Alas!"

Zhu Zi was flipping through the Huayan Sutra while listening to Li Yi's speech. When he heard Li Yi's lament, he raised his eyes and asked, "You still want to unite the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism to deal with Shura Palace, right?"

Li Yi stood up and saluted, saying, "Of course, I have to trouble you, Master, for this matter. If you don't show up, I'm afraid Confucianism will not help."

At this time, Ding Yuan came to the study room with tea sets. Zhu Zi extended his hand to signal him and Li Yi to sit down, and then said: "The first sage established the mind for heaven and earth, the second sage established the destiny for the people, and the third sage inherited the unique knowledge of the past sages. Now I understand it all. Then what do you think of the last sentence, which is to open peace for all generations?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "When Tianlei asked about my heart, didn't you already have the answer, Master?"

Zhu Zi said, "I will protect the righteous path. I have already written a manifesto to suppress the bandits." Zhu Zi took out a manuscript and handed it to Ding Yuancai, and then continued, "Yuancai, the task of assisting the court in suppressing the Shura Palace is now in your hands. Copy this manifesto and forward it to academies in various places, and let all Zhu school students do their part." Ding Yuancai took the manifesto and said yes.

Li Yi bowed and said, "Zhu Zi, I'm afraid that relying on those Confucian scholars alone won't be enough this time. I have to trouble you to do it yourself!"

Zhu Zi asked in confusion, "Oh? Xiuyuan, you have been promoted to a great scholar, and your strength is far beyond what it used to be. Is there anyone in the Shura Palace who needs me to personally take action?"

Li Yi said sternly, "Evil monk Luo Yan! He is an evil cultivator with extraordinary strength. I can't defeat him alone. If he is not eliminated, the court's purge will have no results."

Ding Yuancai frowned and said, "Luo Yan? He is the monk in charge of the Imperial Court! Could it be that the Shura Palace has the instructions of His Majesty? If you take action against Luo Yan, wouldn't you be going against the Imperial Court?"

Li Yi waved his hands and said, "No, Luo Yan disguised himself very well in front of His Majesty. His Majesty did not know that he was the mastermind behind the Shura Palace, otherwise he would not have issued an order to wipe out the Shura Palace."

Zhu Zi shook his head and said, "Even if Luo Yan deceived His Majesty, we cannot act rashly against him, otherwise it will surely arouse His Majesty's suspicion. Xiuyuan, you also know that His Majesty is wary of my Zhu School. If we don't handle it well, I'm afraid it will lead to a fatal disaster."

Seeing that Zhu Zi still had reservations, Li Yi said sternly, "Master, do you still remember what the Three Saints said? Seal the demons to protect the people, and you will survive a narrow escape. If you shrink back, even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will go! This is what the Three Saints said to the disciples who tried to stop them before they went to seal the three demons!"

Ding Yuancai said seriously: "Xiuyuan, Master did not say that he would not take action against Luo Yan, but we must first think of a way to let His Majesty know the truth!"