I bow to Manjushri, the hermit of Cold Mountain. Namo Samantabhadra, surely this is Shide. Legend says that Hanshan and Shide lived together in the north. Though they had different surnames, they were as close as brothers. Hanshan was a little older. Both men loved the same woman, but Hanshan did not know. Only on the day of his wedding did he learn the truth. He left and became a monk at Cold Mountain Temple in Suzhou. When Shide learned what had happened, he abandoned the woman too and went south to find his brother. Outside Maple Bridge, he presented Hanshan with a lotus. Hanshan returned the gesture with his alms bowl, and the two danced together.
--Ancient Mythological Figures
"Pah!" Jin Yao's willow-leaf brows arched in anger. "Which blind fool started this rumor?! When did I ever become such an unlikable person?!"
Que Wenzheng came in from outside, holding a fan, and said with a smile, "They're just vulgar people who can't tell a Taoist priest from a Buddhist monk. Why should the princess get upset?"
Why get upset? A rumor passed from mouth to mouth becomes the truth after three people repeat it. Tell a lie a thousand times and it becomes the truth. Who can tell what's real and what's false anymore?
Keywords: faux brothers, childhood friends, devoted love. Mutual devotion, both chaste, one-on-one.
