Chapter Ninety-Two: The Monk Who Ate Meat, and Di Gong’s Return

A guardsman swung down from his horse and reported, "She says she is the daughter of the Xu family attendant."

He had already recognized them. "Let them down."

Xu Li rose to her feet and said indignantly, "Why have you seized us?"

Luoyang was not exactly near Chang'an, nor was it truly far. The case at Mount Zhongnan had shaken the realm, and once they heard that it was the young lady of the Xu family, everyone immediately understood and exchanged secret smiles, saying nothing. Not one of them answered.

Li Wei asked again, "Why have you come here?"

"Your Highness, we came to the monastery to offer incense."

To offer incense at the Shaolin Monastery? What a coincidence. Looking at Xu Li, dressed as a boy and smeared with grime, everyone found it amusing again. There was no helping it. If the crown prince could go to Shaolin to offer incense and pray for blessings, why could she not do the same?

"Were those two matching verses written by you?"

"Indeed, Your Highness. Did you work them out?"

Her face was full of expectation.

"What if I did, and what if I did not? These paired verses are mere wordplay and have lost the true purpose of writing, which is to convey meaning. Even more difficult couplets are less lasting than 'Helplessly the blossoms fall, as swallows return in seeming familiarity' or 'Within the seas, kindred hearts are near; though at the ends of the earth, one is still beside one's neighbor.' You have descended into a lesser path."

That was not necessarily so, but the famous couplets circulated among the people were all substantial and meaningful. This was much like the prose of later ages: in the blind pursuit of symmetry and rhyme, writers piled up ornate but empty phrases that sounded pleasing enough, while truly good writing was rare. Even when later generations compiled selections of ancient prose, they mostly chose works from before parallel prose became dominant, or from the prose movement that followed Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan. During the height of that parallel-prose fashion, only a handful of pieces were chosen.

"From where do the lines 'Helplessly the blossoms fall, as swallows return in seeming familiarity' come?" Xu Li was first disappointed, but she faintly guessed the crown prince might know the answer; otherwise he would not have said it like that. Yet this line drew her in at once. She knew the line about kindred hearts across the seas: it was by Wang Bo of the Taiyuan Wang clan. He was a gifted man, appointed as a court attendant when only fifteen or sixteen, and at seventeen he was made a reading tutor in Prince Li Xian's household. A reading tutor was half a teacher already, and Li Xian himself was remarkably talented. But two years later, Li Xian and the third prince, Li Xian, were watching cockfights. In high spirits, Wang Bo wrote the lively "Proclamation Against the Fighting Cocks of the Prince of Ying," and though cockfighting itself was not forbidden, once Emperor Li Zhi read it, he was furious. He thought Wang Bo was stirring up discord among his sons and immediately expelled him from the prince's household. But Xu Li had never heard the first line.

"No comment."

To explain that line would require trotting out Yan Shu's "Wandering on the Stream," and then it might be spread across the world again. He was scarcely in a position to seek fame, let alone trumpet it.

Knowing that the couplets had indeed been left by Xu Li, and realizing it had all been a false alarm, the group set off once more.

Xu Li and her maid Chun'er retrieved their horse. Since they had already been caught, they followed openly at the rear. Li Wei was helpless; even though he was traveling in plain clothes, he could not forbid others from using the main road. At most, they only needed to keep a safe distance.

But the sky was already growing late, Li Wei thought. Let's see what you do now.

Who would have thought that the little maid would ride off on horseback, and after quite a while return carrying a large bundle? When it was opened, there was a tent inside, along with some necessities for daily living, probably bought from a market ahead. Not far from where they were, she even set the tent up there.

Thus the whole procession, strange and grand, reached Shaolin Monastery with two little tails in tow.

When Bodhidharma once crossed the Yangtze on a single reed, Shaolin was still only a small temple. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, however, it had grown quite large. It still lacked the famous forest of pagodas that would come later. The great monks of Shaolin, including the abbot and the chief monk, came out to greet them.

Whether or not they were reclusive masters, or whether they could truly win blessings for Li Zhi, it was no matter. Since the crown prince had arrived, the gifts would not be few. Bolts of silk, tea, sesame oil, and even gold, silver, and bronze vessels were unloaded in great and small bundles, until the faces of the monks blossomed with delight.

After settling in, they found the scenery lovely. On the western side of Song Mountain, the thirty-six peaks of Shaoshi Mountain were thick with bamboo and lush forest, not lacking in moisture, so many of the peaks had mountain streams trickling down them. Shaolin Monastery stood beneath Five-Nipple Peak, and its meditation courtyards stretched all the way up the mountainside. The courtyard assigned to Li Wei and the others was halfway up the mountain, in an especially tranquil setting.

Then meals were brought in. Most of it was vegetarian fare, but there were also several dishes of beef and mutton. Whether the taste was good could not be told, but they looked delicious.

Li Wei was astonished and pointed at the meat dishes. "This..."

The abbot smiled and said, "In the reign of Wude, thirteen warrior monks of our humble temple once aided Emperor Taizong. In gratitude, His Majesty conferred upon our temple's elder, Master Tanyong, the title of great general, and specially allowed the monks here to break the taboo against killing and partake of wine and meat. This has been handed down for decades. However, the eminent monks devoted to cultivation do not break this taboo and do not eat wine or meat. Since Your Highness is here to pray for blessings for His Majesty, you should begin fasting from tomorrow for several days. The longer the fasting, the greater the sincerity, but I feared your stomachs might not tolerate it, so today I have made an exception."

Li Wei was at a loss for words. He remembered that when he was a child in a previous life, he had read martial arts novels in which women were not even allowed to enter Shaolin. Yet here they openly broke the taboo against killing, ate wine and meat, and even served wine and meat to guests. Those novels were indeed capable of leading many people astray.

"Then, Master, please sit and eat with us."

"This old monk does not partake."

Whether he did or not, Heaven alone knew.

Li Wei asked again, "Master, I have heard your temple possesses a scripture called the Muscle-Toning Classic?"

"Indeed it does. After Bodhidharma left our temple, he left behind an iron box. When it was opened, there were two books inside: one was the Muscle-Toning Classic, and the other the Marrow-Washing Classic. The Second Patriarch, Master Huike, took the Marrow-Washing Classic and wandered the world. The monks of the temple, relying on these two scriptures, created various martial arts. But because no one understood Sanskrit, each person translated in his own way, and the result was martial skills as numerous as hairs on an ox. Only when Master Huike returned was it discovered that the two books were in fact one. If Your Highness wishes to read it, I shall have someone bring it over."

"Then I trouble you, Master."

He was curious. Later martial arts novels had made it sound far too miraculous.

The books were brought over: one contained the scripture's meaning, the other the boxing methods. Even the boxing was not pure boxing; it had to be coordinated with breathing and internal circulation, much like the Eight Pieces of Brocade. Yet the Eight Pieces of Brocade was gentler and better for health, while the Muscle-Toning Classic was harder, aimed at strengthening the body.

In fact, the abbot had omitted one thing: only when one had reached mastery in the Muscle-Toning Classic could one begin practicing the Marrow-Washing Classic. But the Marrow-Washing Classic was a secret never to be passed on within the temple, and even if Li Zhi himself came in person, it might not be brought out. The monks who knew of it guarded the matter in silence.

Moreover, the Muscle-Toning Classic as practiced now emphasized hard training. In later times, by the Ming dynasty, more Taoist methods of guiding breath and energy had been added, changing it beyond recognition, and it had little connection left to Buddhism.

"Master, may I borrow it for a few days?"

"By all means. It would be our temple's honor."

When the abbot left, Li Wei was deeply stirred. He knew martial arts novels could not be trusted, and yet the Muscle-Toning Classic...

The days in the monastery passed peacefully.

At times he would wander about Shaoshi Mountain, where many beautiful sights could be found. In this age the environment had not yet been badly damaged. Whether the scenery was magnificent or modest, it remained in its original, unspoiled form.

At times he would sit in the meditation courtyard, listening to the evening bells, watching the clouds part and gather, the pines and cypresses dark and green. Then it seemed his heart too would grow quiet, and he himself would be freed from the dust of the world.

At times he would practice the Eight Pieces of Brocade, the Muscle-Toning Classic, Tai Chi, and the Five-Animal Frolics.

And there was a little beauty keeping him company at the back. When she grew up, Shangguan Wan'er would also be quite lovely, yet Li Wei treated her as if she did not exist. He himself kept a certain distance. It was not that he did not want a beauty; as Bi'er had said, the Xu family's young lady was beautiful and somewhat talented. But the key issue was that his marriage might not be his to decide. Unless he ascended the throne first, and who knew how many years that would take? Would Xu Li wait that long?

Only the guards suffered, for they had to fast and begin eating vegetarian food. And that was not all; there were many more rules, such as abstaining from killing, so hunting was certainly out of the question. Naturally, to show respect for the great emperor, the whole of Shaolin Monastery also began fasting.

After practicing a round of the Muscle-Toning Classic, it was not as mystical as all that, but it still could not be underestimated. When the temple's warrior monks practiced their arts, he had witnessed with his own eyes that there were many among them whose fists could shatter blue stone. Some could carry a pair of enormous wooden water buckets weighing well over a hundred jin from the foot of the mountain and stride uphill as if flying, not even breathing hard.

He asked Xue Ne about it. Xue Ne thought for a long while, then said, "If we were to fight immediately, the temple's warrior monks would be no match for me. If we were to shoot them with bows and arrows, even less so. But if we set aside horses, bows, and armor, there are indeed many in the temple who could defeat me."

And that was said by none other than the later-famous Xue Dingshan.

This only heightened Li Wei's interest, but even if he practiced hard now, it was already a little too late...

After bathing, unlike in the Eastern Palace where there had only been a small tub, the great monks had to have carried the water up the mountain in bucketfuls from far below, despite their great strength. After changing clothes, he was about to read when Jin, the eunuch attendant, came in and reported, "Di Renjie of Bing Prefecture requests an audience."

"Quickly, quickly, bring him in," Li Wei said delightedly.

Even Wei Yuanzhong and the others came forward to greet him, while Wei Zhigu and the others looked at this crown prince's adviser with curiosity. At first, he had only been a minor judicial officer and would not have attracted much attention. But once he attached himself to the crown prince, things were different, and some of his deeds had begun to spread.

Of course, when Li Wei brought Di Renjie inside, all but Wei Yuanzhong and the other two withdrew of their own accord. After all, he was one of the crown prince's four closest confidants, and having hurried over from far away, he must surely have private matters to discuss.

Li Wei asked, "Sir Di, were you not sent to the ends of the earth?"

"I did not go to the ends of the earth, only to serve as an envoy to the frontier in place of a colleague. But before I had reached my destination, an imperial decree caught up with me and summoned me to the Eastern Capital. I heard some things along the way, and before entering the Eastern Capital, I made a detour here by way of Song Mountain."

So that was it. Not only had Wei Yuanzhong and the others been summoned to the Eastern Capital, but even Di Renjie, traveling far afield, had been summoned there as well. Yet in this regard, His Majesty had acted properly, and it was likely that Di Renjie too would be promoted. In truth, it was unfair to Wei Yuanzhong, because in later films and television dramas, Di Renjie had always been placed first in Li Wei's mind.

Di Renjie then asked, "Your Highness, many things have happened during this period, have they not?"

"Indeed." Li Wei briefly recounted all that had occurred.

Di Renjie frowned and said, "Forgive me for speaking boldly, but did Your Highness come to Shaolin Monastery to choose a future consort, or to pray for His Majesty's blessings?"

"It was to pray for Father Emperor's blessings. Why do you ask that, Sir Di?"

"Then why has that young lady of the Xu family followed you here?"

Even if you yourself harbor no such intention, how would outsiders see it? This was plainly a case of pursuing a beauty.