Li Zhen really had a headache about his sister's random thoughts. As long as a young woman appears by her side, she will be imaginative, whether she is a chivalrous woman or a Taoist nun. Today, she met Wang Qingyu. When the sister asked him knowingly, Li Zhen knew that she had started to have rich associations again.

Li Zhen had no choice but to introduce to his elder sister again: "This is Miss Wang, you are a friend my brother met in Chang'an."

He said to Wang Qing again: "This is my eldest sister Li Quan, I seem to have told you."

Wang Qingyu hurriedly gave Li Quanying a tribute and smiled slightly, "Qingyu has heard Mr. Li talk about his eldest sister for a long time. Qingyu is young and does not know how to treat her. Please forgive me."

Li Quan smiled so hard that he couldn't even close his mouth. This girl Wang was really polite. Wang Qingyu, this name sounded so nice. She smiled at Wang Qingyu and said, "How did this brat tell me to the girl? Do you complain that I was very fierce to him? I beat him all day long."

Wang Qingyu's eyes were flowing, and he glanced at Li Zhen gently, and said to Li Quan softly: "It seems fierce to others, but it seems to be Mr. Li's blessing. With his sister who cares about him so much, he should be content. Qingyu envies him very much."

When Wang Qingyu said that Li Quan's heart was about to get up, she wanted to twist her brother's ears hard. When will this ungrateful brat become sensible?

Li Zhen felt a headache and quickly changed the topic and said, "Miss Wang, how are your brother?"

"He is more energetic and stays at home. I'm here to fulfill his wishes today. I didn't expect there were so many people in the temple."

Li Quan sighed and said, "That's it! The temple is crowded today. When will you go in line?"

Wang Qingyu smiled and said, "The Wang family offers sesame oil in the Pure Land Temple. You don't have to queue up. Why not Sister Quan, come with me too!"

Li Quan was overjoyed. It would be better if he didn't have to be crowded with the crowd. She hurriedly said, "Then I'll trouble Miss Wang."

"Sister, please get into my carriage and we will go to the side door of the temple."

Wang Qingyu ordered her entourage to take care of the donkey for Li Quan, and she smiled at Li Zhen and said, "Will Mr. Li get on the car together?"

Li Zhen smiled and shook his head, "I won't need it!"

"Miss Wang, don't pay attention to this brat, let's talk together."

Li Quan followed Wang Qingyu into the carriage. The luxurious and comfortable layout in the carriage made her amazed. She would also like to take such a carriage to Chang'an!

The group slowly walked towards the side door of the temple. Li Zhen rode his horse and faintly heard the laughter of his elder sister from time to time in the carriage. It was obvious that the two of them had a common language.

Soon, they came to the side door of the temple, where many pilgrims gathered. However, this is a monk's room, and the side door is mainly for monks to enter and exit and transport vegetables, rice and noodles, so pilgrims cannot enter.

An entourage had already come to contact him first, and an old monk was waiting outside the side door. At this time, the carriage slowly stopped beside the side door, and Wang Qingyu and Li Quan walked out of the car.

The old monk hurriedly came up, put his hands together to give a gift, and said with a smile on his face: "Welcome to the temple to burn incense!"

"It's so painful to have Master Huiyuan waiting here."

"Where! Where! Miss Wang is a distinguished guest of the Pure Land Temple. It's too late to welcome me. Miss Wang, please follow me."

Wang Qingyu ordered his subordinates to wait outside the side door. She nodded to Li Zhen, then smiled at Li Quan and said, "Sister Quan, let's go in!"

"A Zhen, don't be too slow, keep up!"

Li Quan called out his brother and hurriedly followed Wang Qingyu into the side door of the temple. Li Zhen followed them slowly.

Although the crowds in the temple were surging, it did not affect the guests' burning incense and fulfilling their wishes. The old monk asked them to wait in the guest room, and he immediately went to arrange the incense seat.

"Sister, I'll go for a walk!"

Li Zhen heard his eldest sister tell Wang Qingyu endlessly about his childhood. He couldn't stand it. He said in a silence, and then walked out the house.

"Azhen, we will wait for you here after burning incense. Don't go far."

"I understand!" Li Zhen replied from afar.

"This brat is still shy!"

Li Quan giggled for a while, then smiled at Wang Qingyu and said, "Where did I say just now?"

"Say he participated in the Township Gong Wushu, eldest sister, what about later?"

"I'm so angry when I talk about that."

...

The temple seemed to have become a park, with groups of people wandering around everywhere. There was a plum forest in the backyard. The plum trees had already sprouted buds and would bloom in one month at most.

There are more than a dozen beautiful wintersweet plants planted on the roadside. The wintersweet is tender and yellow, emitting a rich fragrance. A large number of pilgrims gathered on both sides of the wintersweet, sniffing its elegant fragrance intoxicatingly.

Li Zhen originally wanted to find a quiet place, but there were crowds of tourists in front of him, which made him very annoyed. At this time, he found that there was an extremely quiet Zen temple at the end of the temple, and there were no tourists in the courtyard, so he walked into the courtyard.

An old wintersweet stands quietly in the middle of the yard. The branches are twisted and vigorous, and the wrinkles of time are wrapped in black, as if they have already died. However, at the top of the old branches, countless fresh lives have emerged. The petals are so yellow that they are not covered with a trace of turbidity, light and texture, leaving only the shadows of color, timid and transparent.

I saw an elderly monk looking up at the plum petals, attracted by them for a long time, as if he was demented.

Li Zhen felt that it had disturbed the old monk's Zen practice and was about to leave quietly, but the old monk turned around and met Li Zhen.

"Amitabha, it turns out to be Mr. Li!"

The old monk's Buddha's name was filled with surprise, and Li Zhen also recognized him. He turned out to be Master Lingyin, the abbot of Dayun Temple in Dunhuang. Li Zhen was also surprised and happy, and hurried forward to salute, "Why is the master here?"

"Haha! This is the place where I became a monk when I was young. I went to Dunhuang forty years ago. This time I came to Luoyang for something, so I will temporarily place an order here."

Master Lingyin smiled again and said, "I didn't expect to meet Mr. Li in Luoyang. I'm really destined to meet you! You might as well come in and sit down."

Li Zhen also wanted to inquire about his master's situation, so he happily walked into the Zen room with him. The two of them sat down with the guest and the host, and a young monk served them tea.

Li Zhen took a sip of hot tea and asked impatiently: "Master, do you have any news about my master?"

Master Lingyin nodded, "Before I left, I happened to receive a letter from him. In the letter, he also asked about your situation. He cared about you very much!"

"Where is my master now?"

"He practiced in Shuanglin Zen Temple in Yiwu County, Wuzhou. He no longer planned to return to Dunhuang. Alas! The journey is so far, and his body can't afford such a long journey. Mr. Li has time to see him."

Li Zhen nodded silently. He had a little time and must go to Wuzhou to see his master, but fulfill his wish.

"Young Master Li is coming to Luoyang to participate in the martial arts competition!" Master Lingyin asked with a smile again.

"That's right! Recently, I have met many old friends from Dunhuang, many of whom are here to participate in the imperial examinations and martial arts. I wonder how the master thought of coming to Luoyang?"

After pausing, Li Zhen smiled again, "There is also the statue of the Great Cloud Maitreya Buddha, how is it now?"

Master Lingyin's eyes showed a look of worry and sighed, "I came to Luoyang for the statue of Maitreya Buddha in Dayun. The Suo family promised to bear all the cost of the statue. However, they changed their minds two months ago and refused to bear the cost. Due to the huge fortifications of the statue, the government's assistance was only for the water and water cups. The statue has been suspended, so I had to come to Luoyang to raise funds, hoping to get the support of the wealthy people in Luoyang."

Li Zhen did not expect that there would be such twists and turns in the sculpture of the statue. He donated the stone wall for the statue to Dayun Temple, which was closely related to him. He had an unshirkable responsibility to complete the statue.

Li Zhen pondered for a moment and asked again: "I wonder how much donations the master has raised now?"

"I just arrived in Luoyang yesterday, and at present, only Jingtu Temple donated 500 stagnant of money to Dayun Temple."

Li Zhen felt a little strange. The budget for the Maitreya statue was 5,000 guan. The state yamen first took out 2,000 guan. The Suo family must have paid a little. There were also some devout lay Buddhists donated. Even if it was not enough, it was not much different. Why did Master Lingyin come to Dayun Temple to raise funds? Li Zhen felt that there was another hidden story here.

He asked tentatively, "Is it really because the master is not enough money to practice Maitreya's statue?"

Master Lingyin showed a look of shame on his face and said for a while: "I'm not hiding it from my son. This time I came to Luoyang to raise funds not only to build the Maitreya statue, but also to take this opportunity to renovate the Buddhist caves dug by the Jin and Sui dynasties. However, the money required is too high and the temples in Dunhuang could not afford it. Several of us abbots discussed that we might be able to use the name of Maitreya statue to Luoyang to raise funds. Although the deception was a bit inappropriate, it was also to make good deeds."

Li Zhen pondered for a long time and said, "Maybe I can help Master in this matter."

"Young Master, can you help me?" Master Lingyin looked at him in confusion.

Li Zhen nodded, "After the New Year, I will have clear news for the master, and I will definitely not disappoint the master."

Master Lingyin saw that Li Zhen’s eyes were full of sincerity, and he was moved and clasped his hands and said, “Amitabha, thank you for your strong support to Dayun Temple.”

.........

The unexpected encounter with his hometown did not delay Li Zhen too much time. He said goodbye to Master Lingyin and returned to the noble guest room. At this time, Wang Qingyu and Li Quan had already returned from burning incense and were talking in the room, waiting for Li Zhen.

"Are the eldest sister interested in doing a Hufen business? It is a good paint for makeup on her face. In Chang'an and Luoyang, one or two Hufen can be exchanged for four stones of wheat, and the profit is quite considerable."

"I have also heard of it. Of course I want to do it, but there is no way to purchase it. I don't know who else to buy it. Can the girl in Qingyu introduce it?"

"Of course, that's it! Let's go to Chang'an together, and I will talk about this with my eldest sister in detail on the way."

"Okay! I can't wait."

Li Zhen coughed gently in the yard, and Li Quan laughed, "The little brat is back, let's go!"

Li Zhen walked into the room and smiled and said, "I just walked around. There were too many people and I couldn't stand it. I had to come back quickly. Sister, are you over burning incense?"

Although he was asking his eldest sister Li Quan, his eyes looked at Wang Qingyu, and he happened to meet Wang Qingyu's gaze. A blush floated across Wang Qingyu's face and he quickly turned his head.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became a little subtle. Li Quan saw it and laughed in his heart. She quickly said to Li Zhen: "I just talked to the girl Qingyu about going to Lingzhou. She happened to be back to Chang'an on the fifth day of the first lunar month, so I took her carriage. Let's go to Chang'an together, so you don't have to send me off and concentrate on taking care of Xiu'er for me."

"Oh! I understand." Li Zhen agreed casually.

Wang Qingyu smiled slightly and said, "Big sister, how can the young master have time to take care of the children? I just said that I asked the wet nurse in the mansion to take care of the children. She has experience and is very good at being. She will definitely take good care of the children. Don't worry, sister!"

"This... is so troublesome to you, I'm so embarrassed."

"This is a trivial matter, it's just a simple task. Don't be polite, sister."

Li Quan was also worried that his brother would not take good care of Xiu'er, so it would be best if he had the wet nurse sent by Wang Qingyu to help him, but she happily accepted Wang Qingyu's kindness.

At this time, the old monk who led the two of them to burn incense hurried over and asked, "The host asked Miss Wang and the two distinguished guests if you want to stay in the temple to use a vegetarian food?"

"Thank you for your kindness. I have something to do. Let's come again another day! Should Sister Quan stay?" Wang Qingyu whispered.

Li Quanxin was in the shop, so she didn't have the intention to leave her vegetarian food. She quickly shook her head, "I... I'm going to rush back to the shop, so next time!"

She glanced at Li Zhen again, "You don't need to express your opinion."

"Okay, I'll send a few distinguished guests away, please come here!"

Wang Qingyu glanced at Li Zhen from the corner of her eyes and slowly walked away with the old monk. Li Quan quietly pinched Li Zhen's arm and whispered to him: "Boy, do you hear me when you send her back later?"

Although Li Quan wanted his brother to send Wang Qingyu back to his house, Li Zhen did not cooperate very well. He walked out of the temple. Li Zhen stood aside, waved at Wang Qingyu with a smile, and watched her.
Chapter completed!