Rebirth: Contract Husband Falls in Love with Me-Chapter 461 - 236: The Origins of Lingxin Temple (Part 2)
"That slave is just a blabbermouth! It was a trivial matter, and all is well now. Thank you, Master, for your concern!" Shi Fengju respectfully returned the greeting and carefully removed Sang Wan’s veil to hand it over to Liu Ya, smiling, "Master, this is my wife, Miss Sang Wan. Miss Wan, this is Master Lingjing, the abbot of Lingxin Temple!"
"Greetings to the Master!" Sang Wan hurriedly knelt to give a respectful bow.
Master Lingjing smiled and returned the gesture humbly, saying, "When did Benefactor Shi get married? Congratulations! The lady is evidently a gentle and virtuous person, a perfect match for the Benefactor from heaven!"
"Haha, thank you for your auspicious words, Master! My wife entered our household last April. It has been exactly one year!" Shi Fengju was even more delighted to hear Master Lingjing praising Sang Wan than hearing anything else, his brows revealing a smile as he led Sang Wan into the temple with Master Lingjing.
In the temple’s rear courtyard, a tidy wing room had been arranged. After washing their hands and faces, they went to the main hall to offer incense and kowtow, then entered Master Lingjing’s meditation room to sit down and have tea.
Sang Wan noticed that Shi Fengju seemed very familiar with Master Lingjing, and the two seemed to have much to talk about. Feeling somewhat bored and not wishing to interrupt them, she took advantage of a pause to stand up with a smile, stating her wish to tour the temple and inviting the two gentlemen to make themselves at home.
Knowing her intention, Shi Fengju didn’t stop her. He only smiled and instructed her to be careful, telling her not to wander outside the temple grounds. Master Lingjing promptly assigned a close disciple named Huizhen to guide Sang Wan around for a visit.
Sang Wan expressed her thanks and left.
Chang Huan and the others, relieved of their duties, had already spread out to explore the temple, with only Liu Ya following closely beside Sang Wan, tagging along with Huizhen on a tour of the temple’s various sights.
This place had excellent geography; hundreds of years ago, a temple had already been established here. Through hundreds of years of ups and downs, it was built and destroyed countless times, leaving behind numerous traces and legendary stories for later generations.
Huizhen, who was eloquent and well-versed in Buddhist doctrine, coupled with a desire to please, went to great lengths, talking incessantly and eloquently to explain everything to Sang Wan. Not only Sang Wan, but Liu Ya was also captivated by his words.
"Madam, despite the temple’s current splendor, you would not guess that just four years ago this was a desolate wasteland frequented by wild foxes. Out of compassion, my Master took it upon himself to restore this temple and welcomed the true Buddha. Now, it’s not just the nearby villages but also many nobles and civilians from Handan City who come here to make vows, fulfill them, and devoutly worship Buddha to accumulate blessings!"
Surprised, Sang Wan and Liu Ya looked around at the majestic and solemn buildings and said with a smile, "Little Master did not tell us, and indeed it’s difficult to imagine that Lingxin Temple was reconstructed only a few years ago! To rebuild this temple, Master Lingjing must have spent many years fundraising and faced many hardships!"
Apart from royal temples or those built under the supervision of local governments, the vast majority of temples in the world are constructed and maintained by monks through fundraising. The amount of silver and materials they manage to collect largely depends on their Buddhism practice, reputation, and fate. Given the many halls and rooms of Lingxin Temple, the expenses must have been substantial, and even if Master Lingjing was famous, it would have required tremendous effort.
Looking at Sang Wan with a touch of surprise, Huizhen said, "Doesn’t Madam know? It was Young Master Shi who funded the reconstruction of Lingxin Temple! We all here at the temple are immensely grateful to Young Master Shi!"
"Really? I had no idea!" Sang Wan was taken aback. Shi Fengju had never mentioned that he was the one who funded the reconstruction of Lingxin Temple.
Liu Ya clapped her hands and laughed, "No wonder Master Lingjing and our young master are so familiar with each other; they had met before! Master Lingjing indeed has good judgment, seeking donations from our young master. Not to mention one Lingxin Temple, even ten wouldn’t be a problem!"
"Liu Ya!" Sang Wan gave Liu Ya a sidelong glare and a look that signaled her to be quiet.
But Huizhen appeared not to notice and continued smiling, "This lady is mistaken. My Master did not ask Young Master Shi for a donation—"
"How strange! Could it be that our young master took the initiative to offer help? But this place is so far from Qingzhou, it seems unlikely! If it were in Qingzhou itself, that might be more possible," Liu Ya added.
"Not quite," Huizhen said with a good-natured smile, explaining, "It’s a bit of a misfortune, really. Ever since my Master vowed to rebuild this place, over ten of us disciples went out to fundraise. It took us five years to barely gather enough silver. On the day we calculated that we had almost enough, we hurried back, hoping to start the construction soon. However, our monk in charge of finances carelessly lost the satchel containing the silver banknotes. We searched upon retracing our steps, to no avail. Distraught and considering suicide, we happened to encounter Young Master Shi’s caravan. After hearing what had happened, he immediately agreed to donate the silver for the reconstruction and advised us to return to the mountain first, later sending someone with the silver banknotes. At first, we thought he was joking, but with no other option, we followed his advice and headed back to the mountain. We hadn’t even reached the foothills when we met the messenger sent by Young Master Shi with the silver banknotes. They rode horses, which naturally made their journey faster than ours on foot. They handed us silver banknotes worth eighty thousand on the spot, nearly scaring all of us senseless!"
As Huizhen recounted the story, it seemed as though he was reliving the moment, and he let out a small, wistful laugh, adding, "Madam, forgive me for saying, but we were truly dumbfounded then. It took a while after the gentleman who delivered the banknotes had left for us to snap out of our daze and believe that it had indeed happened."
Liu Ya chuckled, "So after that, Lingxin Temple was built?"
"Yes," Huizhen nodded and continued with a smile, "With sufficient silver in hand, we quickly acquired all the materials needed, and many villagers came to help. In a little over a year, we managed to construct the main halls and slowly completed the rest. After tallying the accounts, we had over twenty thousand taels of silver left, which my Master initially intended to return to Young Master Shi. However, Young Master Shi refused to accept it, so my Master used the leftover silver to build a school at the foot of the mountain. He hired teachers to offer free education for children from the nearby villages. The remaining money was spent to purchase over a thousand acres of good land. The yearly harvest, in addition to providing for the temple’s expenses and the school’s costs, allowed for porridge stands to be set up in the winter, distribution of warm clothing and quilts to the poor, bridge repairs, and road paving, among other charitable works. Now, the temple’s reputation is known to everyone in the Handan region!"
