[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-even-a-gentleman-must-be-careful":3,"chapter-even-a-gentleman-must-be-careful-even-a-gentleman-must-be-careful-chapter-7":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Even a Gentleman Must Be Careful",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2268627,4429,"Chapter 7: Seven: Even a Smile Counts as Merit!","even-a-gentleman-must-be-careful-chapter-7",7,"\u003Cp>Seven: Even a smile counts as merit!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My dear, open your mouth, ah.” Zhen Shi gently lifted the medicine spoon and offered it forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Auntie, I can drink it myself.” Ouyang Rong reluctantly swallowed a mouthful, muttering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhen Shi acted as if she hadn’t heard, continuing to ladle the medicine, ignoring him completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That morning, Zhen Shi had arrived with her maidservants to attend to Ouyang Rong’s meals and medicine, and had even invited the abbot of Donglin Temple to examine his pulse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong had originally planned to suggest leaving the temple and descending the mountain that day, but seeing Zhen Shi’s demeanor, he knew she wouldn’t let him go until he was as lively and robust as a dragon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong silently frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the pretty maidservant beside Zhen Shi, who seemed to be called “Ban Xi,” led the abbot and his disciples in from the front hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Venerable Master, my nephew seems to have no appetite today—please check if his condition has relapsed.” Zhen Shi frowned in concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong wanted to speak but held back—being fed like a child, how could his appetite be good?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady Bodhisattva, do not worry. Your nephew’s complexion is fine. Let me feel his pulse again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Venerable Master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhen Shi turned to him again: “The abbot’s medical skill is renowned across several counties; even the physicians in the state medical bureau may not match him. It was thanks to his intervention that your life was saved. You don’t listen to me, but surely you’ll listen to the one who saved you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elderly abbot stroked his beard and smiled, sitting calmly, his white eyebrows lowered as he took Ouyang Rong’s pulse while the latter leaned back on his bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong glanced over—the abbot of Donglin Temple indeed carried the aura of a transcendent, enlightened monk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“May I ask, Venerable Master, what is your name?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am Shan Dao...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong leaned in, waiting—but no further words came. He blinked. “Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fair-haired attendant holding the medical chest interjected: “Shan Dao—that’s the Master’s Dharma name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong suddenly understood, cleared his throat: “Ah, so you are Venerable Shan Dao—my apologies for my ignorance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Internally, he was furiously ranting: What kind of names do these Donglin monks pick? Can’t you be even a little more serious?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Venerable Shan Dao smiled gently and added: “But indeed, I am skilled at guiding others. If you, my lord, have any life confusions or questions about Buddhist doctrine, feel free to come to me—I am always ready to receive you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood, Venerable Master.” Ouyang Rong nodded, glanced out the window, and suddenly said: “Your temple’s pagodas are built quite tall.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Venerable Shan Dao’s heart skipped a beat, but he kept his expression neutral as he studied the young magistrate’s face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old monk sighed deeply, his tone filled with sorrow and compassion:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, these pagodas were all built voluntarily by local devotees and lay followers. Building pagodas is one of the Threefold Refuges in Buddhism, accumulating merit. The devotees are deeply enthusiastic and sincere—our temple never pressured them, nor could we refuse. But it is indeed somewhat wasteful and burdensome on the people... Yet every time we build a pagoda, we report and pay taxes to the county office... And this year, due to the floods, we absolutely will not build another. My lord, rest assured.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong hadn’t expected his casual remark to be mistaken for a demand for bribes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made no comment, but continued: “Does Donglin Temple have a pagoda called the Merit Pagoda?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Venerable Shan Dao’s white eyebrows drew together. He paused, then shook his head slightly, then nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There was one before. Now it’s gone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why is it gone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It burned down. Twice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could you elaborate?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Originally, before the founding of the Great Gan, even earlier than the previous dynasty of Da Sui—during the Southern Dynasties—the southern imperial family funded the construction of a magnificent Lotus Pagoda here, with an underground palace beneath it. But during the reign of Emperor Wen of Da Sui, it collapsed in a fire.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then, during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Great Gan—when my master was abbot—the temple rebuilt a new pagoda on the same site, naming it the Merit Pagoda, to house the Buddha’s relics. But strangely enough, in the very year I became abbot, this Merit Pagoda caught fire again...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white-haired old monk shook his head and sighed: “Since then, our temple has never rebuilt a pagoda on the original site of the Merit Pagoda. It’s a pity—the underground palace beneath it was so costly to build.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong raised an eyebrow. “That abandoned underground palace... isn’t it the Pure Land Palace?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Venerable Shan Dao nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong silently glanced at the ancient pagoda hovering in the clouds within his mind. Damn—it’s a coincidence... or something else?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why was the underground palace named Pure Land?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord truly has a Buddhist nature. The name Pure Land is not arbitrary. First, ‘Rebirth in the Pure Land’ is one of our temple’s core teachings. Second, a high monk of our temple once achieved perfect merit within it, becoming a Buddha in the flesh and ascending to the Pure Land.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that true?” Ouyang Rong sat up, pulling away from the pillow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Venerable Shan Dao solemnly chanted a Buddhist phrase, his expression grave:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It is absolutely true. That high monk was my late master’s uncle, Master Zhong Ma. At the time, I was about the same age as Xiu Fa is now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That day, the underground palace’s entrance—sealed for decades by the collapsed pagoda—reopened. I followed my master down and saw with my own eyes: my uncle, Master Zhong Ma, who had vanished for years after the Lotus Pagoda’s collapse, sat cross-legged in the center of the palace, having passed away many years prior. Yet his face and skin remained lifelike, every vein on his hands clearly visible—he had achieved Buddhahood in the flesh! On the ground beside him were inscribed four characters: ‘Return, O Return...’ Clearly, he had returned to the Pure Land.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even after all these years, I still cannot forget my uncle’s divine countenance. The Dharma is boundless, capable of saving all beings, guiding them to rebirth in the Pure Land—radiant, free. Such a miraculous manifestation is one reason why our temple is the most revered and heavily visited in Longcheng County and throughout Jiangzhou. Many lay followers travel thousands of miles to burn incense here. In recent years, even foreign monks from Japan have come to study Buddhism and spread the Dharma overseas.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiu Fa, who stood behind Venerable Shan Dao holding the chest, listened with rapt admiration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Zhen Shi and Ban Xi, who had quietly withdrawn behind the curtain during the conversation, listened with dreamy, envious expressions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong’s expression turned solemn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He suddenly felt, as if by some unseen force, that fate truly did exist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong mused: “No wonder you placed a lotus throne in the center of the palace—but left it empty, without any Buddha statue.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My uncle has ascended, so naturally it is empty.” Venerable Shan Dao smiled mysteriously, then added with slight surprise: “But my lord seems quite familiar with that palace.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could he not be familiar? He’d woken up right on top of it, stepped on countless feet, and even borrowed the lotus golden lamp—possibly housing Master Zhong Ma’s relics—for his own physical ‘ascension’...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong internally grumbled, then smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>DONG~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, a dull wooden fish sound echoed in his ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More merit added? Could it be from that accidental thing I told Xiu Fa yesterday...? Ouyang Rong froze, glanced around—the others showed no sign of hearing the sound. He immediately feigned dizziness and dismissed everyone from the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong lowered the bed curtain, closed his eyes, leaned back, focused his spirit, and flew back into the cloud-wreathed Merit Pagoda, eagerly and curiously gazing at the green-gold script above the wooden fish...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he saw it, he nearly stumbled and fell over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Merit: 100】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn, why did it go down?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This... deep breath... Ouyang Rong calmed himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, merit points could not only increase—they could also decrease without striking the bell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn it—why? What’s the reason? Where’s the justice? I haven’t done anything wrong, have I? Did something far away happen to deduct it? I just smiled... wait.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ouyang Rong suddenly fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No way—does laughing at a joke deduct my merit?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared grimly at the small wooden fish before him, unsure whether to be angry or amused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now he had to be a proper gentleman at all times—otherwise, this tiny amount of merit wouldn’t even last through his own laughter—The Jester was furious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Additionally, Ouyang Rong noticed something else, musing:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When merit is added, the wooden fish sound seems lighter and crisper; when merit is deducted, the sound feels heavier and duller.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The difference between the two sounds is like slapping your girlfriend’s butt versus slapping your buddy’s butt... there’s a clear difference—the former is definitely more pleasant...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Ouyang Rong was savoring these thoughts, a door opened in the room and someone crept quietly closer—he immediately gathered his spirit and withdrew from the Merit Pagoda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the moment he opened his eyes, he saw... big breasts.\u003C\u002Fp>",1544,"2026-06-19T21:28:25.445Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9af478faf6771d99e3b9b0e1dfa70a16d59b208b43c2d5df87619ca10225bf8c","even-a-gentleman-must-be-careful-chapter-8","even-a-gentleman-must-be-careful-chapter-6",864,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Feven-a-gentleman-must-be-careful-cover.jpg"]