"What's all the commotion outside the city? What happened?"
Outside the city, the emperor had led his officials to see someone off—a grand spectacle indeed. The townspeople were not allowed near, but they talked about it everywhere. Most had little schooling and could barely read, let alone find reliable news. Rumors soon spread from mouth to mouth. By the end, people in the streets were even saying that the Emperor had found the Buddha reincarnated and was sending this Living Buddha up to Western Heaven!
"Utter nonsense!"
When the rumor reached an elderly scholar who wrote letters for people on a street corner, it sent him into a fury.
Someone nearby said, "Master Liu, you're a learned man, and I hear you've had many a fine conversation with the monks at the Temple. Tell us what's really going on."
The old scholar perked up. Swaying his head, he said, "Though I haven't looked into the details, I imagine someone's profound grasp of Buddhist teachings won His Majesty's favor. He rose to greatness in a single step, and His Majesty sent him to Western Heaven to study further and spread the teachings!"
"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"
The rebuke came before the old scholar had finished speaking. He flared with anger, but when he turned, he saw a stern-faced elderly man with a long beard, a scholar's robe, and a string of Buddhist Prayer Beads around his wrist. The old scholar immediately swallowed his anger and hurried to ask for guidance.
The elderly man said, "What happened was that some young upstart pandered to His Majesty's tastes and won his favor. Now he has a plum assignment: he gets to study in the Buddhist lands of the west, with an official escort to boot! It's shameless flattery of the sovereign and deserves contempt.