Chapter 241: Secret Meeting in Jinling (I)

July 17th, Jinling City.

It has been rainy and cloudy in the south of the Yangtze River for many days, and finally a sunny day with wind and clear sky appeared this morning.

The sun was shining brightly, sweeping away the days' haze, allowing the people of Jinling City to once again feel the long-lost clear sky and refreshed air.

Early morning at Qixia Temple in the north of Jinling City.

Today the temple does not have the usual bustling crowds of pilgrims. Instead, it is very quiet and has a sense of solemnity.

From the mountain gate of Qixia Temple to the large and small Buddhist halls, pavilions, and even every doorway and every trail in the temple, they are all carefully guarded by solemn-looking guards holding knives and swords.

It is precisely because these guards sealed the mountain gate of Qixia Temple that it is so unusually quiet today.

This kind of grandeur is probably no less than that of an emperor. Ordinary people can guess without asking that there must be a "distinguished guest" visiting Qixia Temple today.

The main hall was solemn. The abbot of Qixia Temple, Master Miaoshan, led the monks to sit cross-legged in the hall and chanted sutras and prayed for today's "distinguished guests".

In front of the huge altar, there was only one person kneeling and praying with incense in his hand.

This person was wearing a deep blue brocade robe with a golden thread embroidered “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix” on it. Every stitch and thread was made with great care. Whether it was the materials or the craftsmanship, they were all the best of the best. Although his clothes were not complicated, any item taken from him was worth a fortune.

He is none other than Shen Dongshan, the richest businessman in Song Dynasty.

At this time, a group of guards led by Kui Qi on both sides of the hall carefully looked back and forth at Shen Dongshan who was worshiping Buddha devoutly, as well as every monk in the hall, even every Buddha statue and every corner.

After experiencing a sneak attack by Tang Afu in Sushu Pavilion in Quanzhou, Shen Dongshan paid more attention to his own safety and increased the number of personal bodyguards to ensure complete safety.

Therefore, today Shen Dongshan was going to come to Qixia Temple to worship Buddha, and Kui Qi ordered people to seal off the entire Qixia Mountain overnight, and sent people to search the mountain back and forth more than ten times to ensure that there was no risk of error.

After a while, the Buddhist music gradually faded away, and the entire main hall suddenly fell into deathly silence.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Shen Dongshan. However, he ignored them and knelt silently in front of the Buddha, his eyes slightly closed, his lips moving slightly, as if he was muttering something.

After waiting for a while, Miao Shan slowly walked forward, took the three incense sticks from Shen Dongshan's hand, and handed the fortune stick tube to Shen Dongshan.

“Swish, swish, swish! Bang!”

Shen Dongshan's eyes were full of piety. He gently shook the bamboo stick tube, and the bamboo sticks fell to the ground, making a crisp sound in the hall.

Looking closely, one can see a cross with the inscription: "Three inches to cover the world, wealth and honor for half a lifetime".

Shen Dongshan handed the bamboo stick to Miaoshan and asked in confusion: "Master, what does this stick mean?"

Miao Shan personally helped Shen Dongshan up, took out the divination sticks and asked, "May I ask what Master Shen wants to ask? Wealth? Fame? Marriage or..."

"Future." Shen Dongshan said bluntly.

Miao Shan nodded and said thoughtfully, "Donor Shen, this signature says 'Su Qin hangs his seal', which is a winning number."

"Su Qin?" Shen Dongshan raised his eyebrows, then looked at the bamboo stick again, and said self-deprecatingly, "Are you asking me to emulate Su Qin of the Warring States Period and wear the seals of the six kingdoms? Haha... Master, I am a businessman. How can I wear the seals if I am not given an official title?"

"No!" Miao Shan shook her head and said, "You don't have to be promoted to a higher position to be able to hang up the seal. The signature says 'Three inches across the world, wealth and honor for half a lifetime', which means that Mr. Shen should emulate Su Qin and use his three-inch eloquence to manipulate the world and maintain wealth and honor for a long time."

"Even if I live a life of wealth and honor for half my life..." Shen Dongshan asked back, as if smiling, "Does this sentence mean that I will fall into poverty in the future? I won't die a good death?"

"Good! Good!" Miao Shan's face suddenly changed, and she quickly put her hands together and said, "Donor Shen is kind-hearted and has done immeasurable good deeds. He will surely be rich and prosperous for the rest of his life, and will benefit his descendants for generations to come."

Seeing this, Kui Qi stepped forward quickly, pushed Miao Shan away, and said coldly: "Master, these are all tricks of the bald donkeys to deceive people. Don't believe them."

"Asshole!" Shen Dongshan's face darkened and he scolded, "How can you speak nonsense in this pure land of Buddhism?" After that, he turned around and pointed at the three big Buddhas in the temple and asked, "Do you know who these three are?"

Kui Qi looked up at the three Buddha statues and muttered in bewilderment, "They all look the same, who cares who they are..."

"They are the Dipankara Buddha of the past, the Sakyamuni Buddha of the present, and the Maitreya Buddha of the future." Shen Dongshan explained, "Other temples mostly have the horizontal Three Buddhas, but only the Qixia Temple has the vertical Three Buddhas. Do you know why?"

"I know that." Kui Qi's face straightened, and then he laughed without restraint, "This place was built with the money of the master. These three big Buddhas were also cast with the money of the master. Even the golden bodies were plated with the money of the master, so you can worship whoever you want..."

"Money, money, money! All you talk about is money! How vulgar!" Before Kui Qi could finish his words, Shen Dongshan suddenly hit him hard on the head with his folding fan and taught him a lesson, "I worship three Buddhas to remind myself that the past cannot be changed, so regret is useless. The future cannot be figured out, so worrying about it is useless. So the most important thing is today, this moment."

"What the master taught me is right!" Kui Qi rubbed his head and smiled awkwardly.

"Remember them well! I will test you next time you come." Before he finished speaking, Shen Dongshan, accompanied by Miao Shan, turned around and walked out of the hall.

Kui Qi took another look at the three huge Buddha statues, then led his men out in disappointment.

"Here is 500,000 taels of silver. It is the money I gave to the temple. I hope you will accept it!"

Shen Dongshan waved his hand, and his attendant immediately took out a thick stack of silver bills and stuffed it into Miao Shan's hand without saying a word.

From beginning to end, Shen Dongshan had been leaning on the railing to look at the beautiful scenery of Qixia Mountain, and he didn't even blink an eye at the spending of 500,000 taels of silver.

Without waiting for Miao Shan to thank him, Shen Dongshan said, "One flower is a world, one leaf is a bodhi. Compared with the three thousand worlds, you and I are too insignificant."

"Donor Shen has a profound wisdom, and what he said is quite Zen-like." Miao Shan responded.

"Master, a friend of mine will be coming from afar later, and would like to borrow your Zen room to talk for a while. I wonder..." "Please follow me, Mr. Shen!" Before she finished speaking, Miao Shan took the initiative to lead the way, leading Shen Dongshan to the Zen room in the backyard.

"Ha ha……"

Seeing this, Shen Dongshan suddenly laughed out loud, fanning himself and said to Kui Qi beside him, "If a person wants to be extremely rich and noble, what else does he need to seek fame? Even the greatest fame cannot bring him such a carefree life..."

"That's right!" Kui Qi laughed, "Even if it's the old emperor..."

Shen Dongshan suddenly folded his fan and pointed, scaring Kui Qi so much that he immediately swallowed back the words on his lips.

In the Zen room, Miao Shan personally poured tea for Shen Dongshan and said with a smile, "Donor Shen is kind and generous. He asked Fuyuan Tea House to send him tea last year, but he hasn't finished it yet. He sent a lot more this year."

Dongshan Company has more than ten tea houses of various sizes in Jinling alone, and countless teahouses. Fuyuan Tea House is one of them.

Shen Dongshan has so many businesses that he can’t even remember the names of some of them.

"Thank you, Master!" Shen Dongshan politely took the teacup and said with a smile, "Looking at the weather, my friend should be here soon. Please inform the young master at the mountain gate. If anyone comes here with Shen's invitation, please bring him here."

Miao Shan was an experienced person, so she naturally understood what Shen Dongshan meant. She bowed and took her leave immediately, leaving only Shen Dongshan, Kui Qi and a few personal guards in the meditation room.

Kui Qi watched Miao Shan walk away from the window, then turned around and reported to Shen Dongshan: "Master, Huang Yulang sent someone to see you again this morning. Ever since Huang Yulang came to Jinling three days ago, you personally welcomed him, but you have been leaving him alone in the guesthouse, and you have avoided seeing him. I wonder... what exactly is the meaning?"

The "Huang Yulang" mentioned by Kui Qi is one of the seven heroes of the Xianwang Palace, and is known as "Gentleman Han Yue" in the world.

The name "Han Yue" comes from his unique skill "Han Yue Palm". Huang Yulang practiced this palm technique to such a level that few dared to challenge him.

"Gentleman" is used to describe his appearance, which means he is handsome, well-mannered, suave and elegant.

As for Huang Yulang's temperament, it is far from being as modest and polite as a "gentleman". On the contrary, he is suspicious by nature and even a little narrow-minded. Therefore, even in the Xianwang Mansion, Huang Yulang's popularity is very poor. On weekdays, except for Luo Tianjin, almost no one is willing to take the initiative to contact him.

Although Wong Yuk-lang's personality is extremely unpleasant, he is loyal to Luo Tianjin, and he is quite resourceful in doing things, daring to kill and fight, and he is also very cautious and resourceful. What is even more valuable is that Wong Yuk-lang has no home, is alone, does not drink, gamble, is not lustful, does not like crowds, and does not compete for fame and fortune. Therefore, even if someone wants to please him, they can't find a way to get close to him.

Because of this, Huang Yulang gained Luo Tianjin's trust.

"I don't want to see him, of course I have my reasons for not seeing him." Shen Dongshan pondered, "I asked you to treat him well and not neglect him. I wonder how Huang Yulang has been doing in Jinling these days?"

"He is a strange man. After meeting the master, he has been staying in the guesthouse for three days without going anywhere. He refused to drink wine or women. He just sat in the room alone, waiting for the master to see him again." Kui Qi replied, "I followed the master's instructions and said that you were out on business and had not returned yet. Huang Yulang left a message saying that if he did not see the master before noon tomorrow, he would leave Jinling."

"He should be anxious." Shen Dongshan said with deep meaning, "Do you know why Luo Tianjin sent him to find me?"

"Please teach me, sir."

"I'm here to be a lobbyist." Shen Dongshan said with a wry smile, "Luo Tianjin wants me to go to Hexi Qin Mansion on the second day of August to help the Xianwang Mansion and the six major sects to suppress Jinjianwu and the four major families."

"This..." Kui Qi was stunned and asked in surprise, "The master is not a man of the underworld, why would Luo Tianjin drag you into this?"

"Because I am the owner of the number one business in Song Dynasty." Shen Dongshan said with a smile, "Although I don't have invincible martial arts, I have something that the six major sects and the four major families don't have."

"what?"

"Inexhaustible wealth, a wide network of contacts from the court to the market, and my special status in the court and among the people of the Song Dynasty." Shen Dongshan explained, and then changed the subject, saying, "In fact, Luo Tianjin is not the only one who wants to ask me for 'help'. A few days ago, I received a secret letter written by Jin Fuyu, the owner of Jinjianwu."

"Does he also want to ask the master to come forward?"

"At first, it was just a conflict between Shaolin and the Qin family. Later, after the incident in Chenzhou, the six major sects and the four major families began to kill each other. Now the war has quickly spread to the entire martial arts world. It is no longer a personal grudge between Shaolin and the Qin family, but a matter of life and death for the entire Central Plains martial arts world. So at this critical juncture, I and my Dongshan Company are definitely an important factor that can determine their life and death." Shen Dongshan sneered, "As you said, I am not a person in the martial arts world, and they don't need to involve me. The reason why they are looking for my help now is because they have the same concern in their hearts."

"What concerns?"

"They are worried that if they don't use it, someone else will use it. Luo Tianjin and Jin Fuyu are both cunning and shrewd, and neither of them wants to lose, so neither of them wants me to become the other's helper. Therefore, instead of making uneasy guesses, they might as well turn the passive into the active. Even if they can't win me over, at least they can keep me neutral."

"I wonder what the master means..." Kui Qi asked suspiciously, "What decision do you plan to make? Intervene? Or not? If you intervene, which side will you stand on?"

"I don't know." Shen Dongshan sighed, "This gamble is too big. I can't place a bet easily, but I can't not place a bet. If I don't intervene and choose to protect myself, it means offending both the southern and northern families at the same time. The business of Dongshan Company will inevitably be greatly affected in the future. Once the bet is placed, it means pulling one and hitting one. Either you retreat unscathed or die without a burial place. As for Luo Tianjin and Jin Fuyu, who will have the last laugh, who can say for sure?"

Kui Qi was so confused that he could only think hard but to no avail. He could only shake his head and said, "No matter what the master decides, we will follow him till death..."

"So I'm waiting for someone." Shen Dongshan ignored Kui Qi's sigh and murmured to himself, "Someone who can help me make a decision. The more help he gives me, the greater my chance of winning the bet. But this person is also cunning and will definitely not promise me anything easily, so I will need to spend some more time talking to him later."

Hearing this, Kui Qi immediately became curious and asked, "Who on earth is so powerful that he can make a choice for the richest man in Song Dynasty?"

"he……"

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Before Shen Dongshan could say anything, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Hearing the voice, Shen Dongshan and Kui Qi couldn't help but look at each other, with an unprecedented solemn look on their faces.

"Donor Shen, your friend...is here."

……

(End of this chapter)