"The moon sets, crows cry, frost is everywhere in the sky, and the river maple fishing fire is facing sadness. The bells of Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City arrive at the passenger ship in the middle of the night."

This poem "Night Mooring on Maple Bridge" by the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji is famous throughout the ages and is well-known to countless people in later generations. It also made Hanshan Temple outside Suzhou famous and became the leading Buddhist holy place in Suzhou and even the entire Jiangnan region.

Over the years, Hanshan Temple has always had many followers and its incense is soaring. Even in this somewhat chaotic world, the temple has not been greatly affected. Even though there have been several fierce battles in Suzhou before, Hanshan Temple has not been affected by any influence and has truly achieved a pure land that exists outside the world.

The reason is that Hanshan Temple itself is famous enough, and there are too many famous local people in Suzhou who are protecting this thousand-year-old temple. Unless the Wu army wants to offend all the wealthy families in Suzhou, they will never dare to attack Hanshan Temple. So even though the two armies are still in war, the temple is still bells and drums, quiet and indifferent.

On the fifth day of the second month, just as the genius dawned, the Suzhou city gate opened early, and then a team of more than a hundred people slowly came to Hanshan Temple to enjoy incense. They were not particularly pious and loyal, but a group of men and women from the Su family in Suzhou, but to pay tribute to their ancestors, because today is the life taboo of the previous generation of the Su family. As a son of man, the head of this generation, Su Mao naturally wanted to bring men and women from the clan to worship. The spiritual positions of several generations of the ancestors of the Su family were set up in Hanshan Temple to enjoy incense.

As one of the great Tanyue in Hanshan Temple and one of the great donors, the arrival of the Su family naturally attracted the attention of the entire temple. Before they could arrive in front of the mountain gate, the abbot Huikong had already brought many monks from Heshi Temple to greet him and chanted the Buddha's name: "The donor Su is indeed a filial person. He comes on time every year, which is really admirable!"

"Haha, Master praised me. As a son of man, I, Su Mao, can no longer respect my parents, so I can only choose this day to come to pay tribute. Instead, I feel a little ashamed." Su Mao was in his prime, and he looked smart and capable, but with a kind and kind smile on his face, which made people easily get along with him at first sight. He and Huikong are old friends, so they speak casually. After only a few greetings, they took him up the mountain to enter the temple.

Then came a series of sacrificial activities that were well versed in ancient rituals, which was why the Su family chose to worship their ancestors in Hanshan Temple, because the monks here were more familiar with this path than monks and Taoists elsewhere. They could save a lot of effort from all the monks in Hanshan Temple.

Of course, it is a considerable price to make all the monks in Hanshan Temple serve the Su family. I won’t talk about the incense money today. On weekdays, the Su family will allocate hundreds of stagnant as the incense oil in the temple every month. In addition, in recent years, they have also given hundreds of acres of fertile land as the Hanshan Temple. This kind of work is the key to making the monks in the temple respect them all the time, not only because the Su family and Suzhou are the richest in Suzhou.

This sacrifice was not stopped after noon. The Su family members who had kneeled in and outside the hall where the ancestral tablets were worshipped for a long time were able to get up and move their muscles and bones, and at the same time they also walked around to enjoy the scenery inside and outside the Hanshan Temple. As for Su Mao and several other people in charge of the Su family, Huikong invited him to drink tea and discuss Zen in his abbot's room, which was a rare time for relaxation for those who were busy with mundane affairs.

The tea in the temple could not be as fancy as the outside room. However, it was like the tea advocated by Sun Tu in Shandong. There were only a few tea leaves floating in the green tea soup, but no other seasonings. This made Su Mao and others, who were used to eating heavy tea, couldn't help but appreciate it, and couldn't help but drink a few more bowls.

"Master, this tea is more mellow than last year, but it is still clear when you drink it. It is really a good drink for self-cultivation and self-cultivation." Su Mao said with a smile after savoring the cup of tea.

"Haha, as long as you have no worries, even ordinary tea can taste it." Huikong said this mysteriously and then explained: "However, such good tea is blocking the temple and the temple, but there is another donor who has given us guidance. Without boiling, you can soak the true colors of the tea leaves by soaking it, and the taste is clearer and more timeless."

"Oh..." Su Mao carefully tasted the taste of the tea in the cup, and then sighed sincerely: "As when doing things, the simplicity is the most skillful, and the simplicity is the most skillful. It seems that this person who can put forward such a view should have great wisdom. It's a pity that I have no chance with him and I have not been able to meet him."

"Su Tanyue's words are wrong, but you are closely related to this donor, and he is just about to see you." Huikong took the opportunity to join the silence and said with a smile.

Su Mao was stunned, then guessed something, and said with a smile: "This man is so careful that he actually knew that I would go up the mountain today, so he waited here early? Since he had this idea, it was hard for me to refuse people thousands of miles away, so please call the master out." People with his status like him naturally have to ask for help on weekdays, but no one would have gone to Hanshan Temple to ask for a meeting. This made him interested.

"But the donor once said that he wanted to be alone with Tan Yue for a while, so..." Huikong said, his eyes only turned on the Su family, and his meaning was already very clear.

"That won't be true. How noble is my father's identity? How can I meet with a person with unknown origin alone?" Immediately, a young man opposed it. Su Mao's second son Su Wei. Although the others did not speak as anxiously as he did, they did not seem to want to leave just now, depending on their intentions.

Su Mao immediately looked slightly dark: "You must not be rude. This is Hanshan Temple. Could it be that Master Huikong has any evil intentions?" Although he said that, he did not mean to hold others back.

Huikong smiled again: "Tan Yue doesn't know that the donor's identity is a bit special, so in order to prevent the emergence of troubles, he just wants to meet you alone first. But he also knows that Tan Yue is worried, so he asked me to take this token to you." As he said that, he had already taken out a wooden carving that was half old and had been stripped out of patina, and Liang gave it to Su Mao to check.

Su Mao looked at it and his expression changed a little. After a moment, he turned around and waved his hand at the others and said, "Since that's the case, you can go outside for the time being. I want to meet someone in private."

"Father..." Seeing that he was really going to meet someone who didn't know the origin, even his eldest son Su Jing was a little confused and wanted to say something. But after meeting Su Mao's resolute eyes, he did not dare to Luo Yan anymore, so he stood up and nodded to the others, and then went out first.

Seeing that Su Jing had left, the other Su family members did not dare to insist and said goodbye. After they left, Huikong slowly stood up: "Since that's the case, I will leave for the time being, please wait here."

At this time, Su Mao's thoughts were a little confused. He just nodded at the other party casually, and then continued to frown and wait there. After a cup of tea, the door of the abbot's room was opened again, and a slightly bloated body appeared in front of Su Mao.

Even though there were some speculations, when he saw the person coming in, Su Mao was still so excited that his body was shocked and he quickly stood up: "Thank you... Thank you, Mr., you are really you? Are you safe and sound? This is great."

The one who appeared in front of Su Mao was the famous young master Xie Mo in Jiangnan!

Xie Mo's fame is not only limited to the Jinling area, but also to Suhang and other places. It is also a respected existence for everyone. Moreover, he has always been known for his kindness but no return. Over the years, he has helped many people. Even Su Mao received his favor a few years ago and became a close friend with it.

When the news that Xie Mo was burned to death on Qixia Mountain a few months ago, Su Mao was really sad for a while. Even when he was worshiping his ancestors just now, he had paid tribute to his friend in front of the Buddha, but he didn't expect that people now appeared in front of him alive!

Xie Mo entered the house and closed the door. When he looked at Su Mao with a surprised face, he smiled: "Why, Lao Su, you saw me and saw a ghost. You didn't owe me money, why should you do this?"

"You..." Su Mao felt a little amused, but at the same time he also believed that Xie Mo was indeed the one who came, because the only one who would talk to him in this world was Xie Mo.

It was not until Xie Mo stepped forward and sat on the cushion in front of him that Su Mao let out a breath of turbid air and said happily: "It seems that the previous rumors are false. You, Mr. Xie, have not been harmed by the Song Dynasty government? I was very sad after I heard the news that day, and even..."

Seeing that he suddenly stopped talking, Xie Mo smiled: "I even paid money and supplies to help Fang La and his gang quickly control Suzhou... Okay, your old Su is getting more and more courageous, and you dare to collude with the thief!"

"You can whisper, it's better not to say this." Su Mao hurriedly stopped it, and then smiled bitterly: "Don't I want to avenge you? Also, they have even hurt you. Thinking about Zhu Xie's actions when he was in Suzhou, I'm really afraid that I will follow in your footsteps."

"Haha, your concerns are not unreasonable. If Zhu Xie is really allowed to fight back to Suzhou, you noble families will suffer a great loss. He was not good at attacking you due to some concerns, but this time you all threw yourself to Fang La. Once you come back, after the liquidation, hehe, the consequences are really hard to say."

Su Mao sighed: "At that time, Suzhou fell, and we had to do this to protect ourselves. By the way, what's wrong with you? Why are there rumors outside that you have been killed by Sun Tu on Qixia Mountain in Jinling, but now you appear in front of me alive?"

This matter is indeed too strange. Even a calm person like Su Mao is eager to know the answer.
Chapter completed!