Chapter 26: Seeking to Serve for the Imperial
Word Number：356
Author：闲穿径竹
Translator：
Release Time：2025-06-26
Xuanmiao regarded the young man coolly, her voice edged with disdain. “Liu Chengyuan? Must you appear wherever I turn?” She folded her arms, her expression unmoved. “You may have saved me today, but do not expect my gratitude. A man who cannot distinguish right from wrong, who sees the world in a muddled haze—what thanks could he possibly deserve?” “A case of biting the hand that feeds you, I see—blind to the kindness shown” Liu Chengyuan exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “You’ve lingered too long in the company of your master; her obstinacy has taken root in you as well. “Tell me—have you ever paused to consider those two women at the Temple? They were mothers, wives—bound by love, by duty. Had the Debating Master slain them, what then? What fate for the children left motherless? What solace for the husbands, robbed of their beloved? Do you truly believe the world so neatly divided between right and wrong, without thought for the sorrow left in its wake?” Xuanmiao straightened, her voice ringing with unwavering conviction. “My master has always said that the Manichaeans are a heretical scourge, their followers steeped in wickedness beyond redemption! We, who stand for righteousness in the martial world, can never coexist with such a cult. Besides, has not the imperial court itself decreed that their doctrine shall find no foothold in our land?” Liu Chengyuan shook his head and said, “You are mistaken! Your monastery, Chongfu Nunnery, follows the teachings of Buddhism—yet Buddhism itself is not native to these lands. It was brought from India, and in the days of the Northern Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties, it too was branded as heresy. Did not Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou issue edicts banning its practice? Tell me, then—should all Buddhists of that time have been slaughtered for their faith? The world is seldom so starkly divided—where righteousness stands on one side and evil on the other, where virtue is pure and vice absolute. Is it not a folly to see it so?” Xuanmiao pondered his words, un
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