Gao Guisheng, the prefect of Tanzhou, was a young and promising man who had taken the position of governor before he was 30 years old. But just a few months after he took office, a strange thing happened in his family. On this day, his wife planned to buy some new furniture. After instructing the housekeeper, she went into the house to get the silver. But as soon as she opened the cabinet, she let out a scream.
Gao Guisheng was talking with several colleagues when he heard the housekeeper say something strange happened at home. He ran home to ask. The lady just pointed to the cabinet and said, "The three hundred taels of silver you gave me two days ago have all changed." There was a pile of silver ingots neatly arranged in the cabinet. Gao Guisheng counted them carefully and found that there were exactly three hundred taels, while the other pile of five hundred taels of silver in the cabinet had not changed.
The cabinet was placed in their bedroom, and no one except the couple had ever entered. The two checked the doors and windows and found nothing unusual, and there was no sign that the cabinet had been pried open. The key was in the wife's hand, and they really didn't know how the silver had changed.
The lady asked curiously, "Is it a pile of dirt when you got the silver?" But she felt it was impossible as soon as she said this. She put the silver into the cabinet with her own hands, and two ingots of silver fell to the ground at that time. If it was dirt, it would have scattered long ago.
On this day, the two were troubled by this matter . They couldn't understand why there was such a strange thing in the world. They speculated suspiciously for a long time, but to no avail. It seemed that only God knew.
Two days later, Gao Guisheng made an appointment with someone to go out for a drink and flower viewing. Just as he was about to leave, the housekeeper suddenly came to report that a monk had come to visit him, claiming to be an old acquaintance. Gao Guisheng called him in and saw that the monk was called Zhihui, who had been to his father's house before and had a good relationship with his father.
Seeing his father's friend coming to visit, Gao Guisheng did not dare to neglect him and immediately welcomed him into the house. After a round of greetings, he said to Zhihui: "Master, you have come at the right time. I was just about to go to appreciate the flowers with my colleagues. In the past, Su Dongpo often accompanied Foyin when he went out, and many good stories were passed down. Today, why don't you go with us? Maybe we can have a good story."
Zhihui did not refuse, but said, "Thank you for your help, but I am fasting and cannot eat meat. My Lord, please prepare a dish of tofu, and then I will accompany you."
Gao Guisheng was delighted: "There's no need to give instructions for such a small matter. Just go ahead."
When the two boarded the boat, their colleagues were waiting for them. The host was a wealthy local family. The boat was decorated with colorful lights, and the table was covered with gold and silver utensils. There were many waiters and singing girls, which made it look even more luxurious. Gao Guisheng introduced Zhihui to everyone. Seeing that he was an old friend of the prefect, people were very enthusiastic about him.
As the boat sailed along, it was the season for lotus flowers to bloom. The lake was full of red flowers and green leaves, a scene full of vitality. Everyone was drinking and admiring the flowers, feeling relaxed and happy. At this time, Zhihui suddenly said to Gao Guisheng: "I see that although the adults are having a lot of fun, there seems to be a hint of gloom between their brows. Is there something unhappy going on at home during this period?"
Gao Guisheng was startled, remembering the silver at home turning into dirt in the past few days, but he couldn't say it out loud, so he just said, "It's a little bit unpleasant, but it's just a small matter. Let's not talk about it, and continue drinking!"
Everyone was drinking. After a while, Zhihui suddenly picked up a lotus flower from the lake and said to everyone, "Now that you have seen the flowers and listened to the songs, I will show you a little trick, which will also entertain you." After that, he picked up the golden pot filled with wine on the table, placed it on the lotus flower, and holding the flower stem, the wine pot stood steadily on the lotus flower.
Everyone was surprised. There was about one or two kilograms of wine in the jug, and the golden jug itself was not light. It was surprising that the lotus was not crushed.
Zhihui ignored everyone's surprised looks, held the lotus stem, tilted the wine pot slightly, and the wine immediately flowed out of the pot, poured onto a petal, and then dripped from the petal. He poured a glass of wine in front of everyone, and then said: "This wine is poured from the petals, so it is called lotus wine. Let's have a drink and see."
Everyone was amazed at Zhihui's skill and praised him for his extraordinary skills. Zhihui just laughed and said, "It's not extraordinary skills, I just amused everyone." He poured another cup for everyone, then held the lotus stem in his left hand and the wine glass in his right hand and drank with everyone.
But at this moment, someone screamed, and the petals suddenly broke, and the wine pot fell off the lotus. Zhihui was shocked, and his robe on his right hand suddenly flew, trying to catch the falling golden pot, but he didn't catch it, and he happened to be sitting on the side of the boat, and the golden pot filled with wine fell into the lake with a "plop".
The rich man who was hosting the party dared not complain because Zhihui was a friend of the prefect, and immediately ordered his servants to go into the water to retrieve the golden pot. Two people jumped into the water, but after searching for a while, they still couldn't find the golden pot. Zhihui looked at the lake for a while, and suddenly laughed and said, "You don't have to look for it. The wine pot is not lost. He poured wine for everyone for most of the day, and then ran back to where he was to be lazy."
The rich man immediately asked: "Where is it now?"
Zhi Hui smiled and said, "Where it was before you left the house today, it must be there now." Seeing the unbelieving eyes of the crowd, Zhi Hui smiled again and said, "If you don't believe me, let's go to your house now and see it in public, and then you will know that what I said is true."
No one was willing to believe it, so Gao Guisheng immediately said, "Then let's go and have a look to see if what the master said is true." By then, everyone had had enough fun on the lake and were about to go back, so they turned the boat around and sailed back.
Everyone came to the rich man's house together. The rich man pointed to a cabinet and said, "My drinking utensils are usually kept here. Let's see if the golden pot has returned." Then he took out the key and opened the cabinet.
There were only a few silver items in the cabinet, but no golden pot. Everyone looked at Zhihui and said, "Master, did you guess wrong? The golden pot didn't come back." Zhihui laughed and said, "You didn't look carefully. It came back secretly and must have hidden behind other utensils." Then he stretched out his hand and moved the two silver items away. Sure enough, the golden pot was there.
Everyone was amazed. Although no one believed that the wine pot would run back from the lake by itself, no one could guess how it appeared in the cabinet. They guessed that Master Zhihui must have supernatural powers. At the banquet that night, everyone had more respect for Zhihui and asked him for advice. Zhihui spoke eloquently, talking about the creation of heaven and earth and the cycle of the world, which stunned everyone and convinced them wholeheartedly.
After the banquet, Gao Guisheng invited Zhihui to his home to rest. Zhihui did not refuse and stayed at Gao Guisheng's house that night.
The next morning, Zhihui was about to leave. He said to Gao Guisheng, "I came here to ask for help from an old friend. The temple needs to be rebuilt, but I don't have enough money. I know that you are an official and you must have more money. I rely on my friendship with your father and come here to ask for some alms. I wonder what you think."
Gao Guisheng then realized that Zhihui came here just to ask for money. Because of his friendship with his father, he couldn't refuse to give it to him, so he asked his wife to get two hundred taels of silver. Zhihui took the silver, his face suddenly changed, and he quickly returned the silver to Gao Guisheng and said, "I dare not accept your silver. Even if I take it to the temple, it will turn into a pile of yellow earth."
Gao Guisheng was surprised by this and remembered the silver in his home turning into yellow soil a few days ago. He asked hurriedly, "This is obviously silver, what's wrong with it? Why do you say this, Master?"
Zhihui laughed, picked up a silver ingot and held it up to the light for Gao Guisheng to see, and asked, "Sir, can you see anything?"
Gao Guisheng took a look and shook his head. He saw nothing unusual except that it was a silver ingot. Zhihui smiled and said, "You are secular people, of course you can't see it, but I can see it. This silver must be related to the word litigation. Moreover, silver has a shadow, which must be deceiving. Such silver may change in a few days. Even if it doesn't turn into yellow earth, it is not only unvirtuous to use it to reshape the true body of the Bodhisattva, but also will cause disasters. Therefore, I dare not accept it. If you really want to donate, please donate another bright silver!"
Gao Guisheng was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately went back to his room and took out another two hundred taels of silver and gave it to Zhihui. This time, Zhihui did not refuse and happily accepted it. Before leaving, he said to Gao Guisheng: "The whispers of people are heard by heaven like thunder, and the thoughts in the dark room are seen by gods like lightning. There is a knot between your eyebrows, and I am afraid that there will be disasters in the future. You should do more good deeds to avoid this disaster! If the golden pot falls into the water, you can bring it back. You are now a pillar of the country, and the golden pot of the country. If you fall into the muddy water, I will be powerless to help you."
After Zhihui left, Gao Guisheng's heart could not calm down. The next day, he made a move and returned the silver he received. The silver was given by the rich man. The rich man was involved in a lawsuit. He knew that he was in the wrong, so he asked someone to contact Gao Guisheng, gave him 1,000 taels of silver, and invited him out for a drink, hoping to win the lawsuit. Unexpectedly, Zhihui saw through it. And the silver that turned into yellow soil a few days ago was also a gift from someone, asking him to use his position to help.
Gao Guisheng returned the silver. From then on, he remembered his words of regret and never accepted gifts from others. He only handled things impartially and was well-received by the people. Later, he was promoted to an official in the court and always enjoyed a good reputation.
Many years later, he retired and returned to his hometown. When he was about to return to his hometown, he heard that there was a monk named Zhihui preaching in a temple here, and he couldn't help but think of the past. He went to the temple and met Zhihui. Although he was old, he was still full of energy, and he was indeed extraordinary. Zhihui also knew Gao Guisheng. Knowing that he had resigned from his official position and returned to his hometown, he invited him to stay in the temple for a few days.
That night, the two drank tea and talked, and Zhihui asked, "Do you regret being an honest official your whole life?"
Gao Guisheng thanked Zhihui repeatedly: "Thanks to the master's guidance back then, now that I think about it, many of the people who served with me in the past have now been beheaded. I was able to have such a good end, which was also given by the master."
Zhihui laughed: "Actually, I don't have the ability to know past and future lives as you said. I was just playing a magic trick on you. I went to your house that time because your father asked me to do so. Do you know what I did before I became a monk?" Gao Guisheng shook his head, and Zhihui then told him his background.
When Zhihui was young, he followed jugglers around the country. His acrobatics and magic tricks could dazzle people, but this skill did not bring him a good income. When he was a little older, he became a robber. Because of his extraordinary skills, he became a great thief that people were afraid of. Later, he failed to catch him and met the head of the police in the capital who came to catch him. The two fought for a while, and he made a mistake and was stabbed through the heart by the head of the police and fell off the cliff.
The head of the police was also seriously injured at the time and was unable to go down the cliff to cut off his head, so he had to drag his wounds back to report. Unexpectedly, the sword stabbed a little off, and Zhihui did not die at the time. He was rescued by a mountain villager who went up the mountain to chop wood, and his wounds were healed with herbs. After walking back from the brink of death, he had a great enlightenment and never wanted to be a robber again. He became a monk and named himself Zhihui.
He often visited the mountain dwellers and met Gao Guisheng, a child of the mountain dwellers. Although Gao Guisheng's family was poor, he was very good at studying and later passed the imperial examination and became an official. Gao's father was a simple man. Seeing his son working as an official, he was afraid that after many years in the officialdom, he would become a corrupt official despised by everyone. He was always worried and couldn't sleep.
After knowing this, Zhihui came to the place where Gao Guisheng was an official. After some inquiries, he immediately sneaked into Gao Guisheng's house and exchanged the silver he had just received for yellow earth. He also performed magic tricks while drinking. These tricks were something he had been used to when he was traveling around the world. People could not see them at all, so everyone believed that he had boundless magical powers. He also warned Gao Guisheng on the pretext of asking for alms, which made Gao Guisheng believe in the existence of gods, let go of his greed, and become a good official from then on.
Gao Guisheng realized that he had been fooled all his life, but he did not regret it. He looked at the dark night sky outside the house and could not help but sigh that his silent and simple father had protected him all his life with another kind of love.