Chapter 30 Mingyue suddenly felt a little cold.

The three reunited late at night, confirming that what Xiao Wu said was true, and also saw the master use the same "soul-summoning" method as that night.

As for what exactly was put in the water that the master used to "summon the soul" that caused symptoms such as chest pain, that remains unknown.

But that doesn't matter anymore, because Mingyue has discovered another important piece of news.

Spring returns to the earth, and all things are slowly reviving. Both the seasons and people are awakening from the cold, frozen winter and welcoming the new year.

Therefore, Dajing has a custom of choosing a day in March to welcome spring.

The specific date will be determined after the Imperial Astronomical Bureau calculates it, and an auspicious day will be chosen to inform the public before preparations can begin.

This year's Spring Festival is just five days away.

While Mingyue was following the master, she saw him meet with a man. During their conversation, she learned that they would be making a big move in preparation for the Spring Festival, and she vaguely heard the word "Bodhisattva".

A little thought makes it clear that the Zhou family intended to present the Buddha statue to the master on the day of the Lunar New Year, thus creating momentum for him, and the Lunar New Year was the perfect time for that.

Sure enough, the three of them rested for a night, and the next day they heard Xiao Wu, the shop assistant, say: "Five days from now is the Spring Festival. It is said that on that day, the master will pray for everyone in the temple on the mountain. After the prayer, he will have completed his gratitude and returned to heaven."

Mingyue lowered her eyes and took a sip of tea. Long Zhaoming, who was standing beside her, seemed to be deep in thought: "I understand. Do you have a way to gather those people who doubt the master together?"

Xiao Wu seemed hesitant: "Honored guest, we are just ordinary people, without power or influence..."

Mingyue tapped the table lightly, and Long Zhaoming looked at him and asked, "What is it?"

"If you can persuade them, that would be best; if not, then forget it. But you'll all be attending the Spring Festival celebrations, right?"

Xiao Wu nodded: "Of course."

"That's fine then." Mingyue beckoned to Xiaowu, who leaned back and whispered something. Xiaowu looked hesitant, but still agreed.

"But esteemed guest, I cannot guarantee a very good result..."

Long Zhaoming waved his hand: "It's alright, we have other plans."

Since that was the case, Xiao Wu said no more and turned to leave.

Seventeen heard what Mingyue had just told Xiaowu, but his mind wasn't on it. He stared blankly at Mingyue's hand.

"Seventeen? Seventeen? What are you daydreaming about?"

Mingyue waved her hand, with its distinct knuckles, in front of him. Seventeen blinked and suddenly grabbed that hand.

Seventeen's hands were a size smaller and thinner than Mingyue's; it took two hands to hold Mingyue's palm.

Mingyue paused after her hand was grasped, but did not pull it away immediately. Long Zhaoming, standing to the side, looked left and right, his intuition telling him that he should leave now, but he couldn't seem to come up with a good excuse.

Just as he was scratching his head in confusion, Seventeen asked in bewilderment, "Brother Yue, did you save His Highness's life?"

The remaining two were stunned. Long Zhaoming looked at them blankly, not understanding the meaning of the words. Mingyue was the same, but he was quick-witted and soon figured it out.

"No, His Highness and I discussed it yesterday, which is why I spoke to Xiao Wu like this today."

Although Long Zhaoming didn't understand, he knew that all he needed to do now was to agree.

"Yes, Mingyue and I discussed it yesterday."

Seventeen still frowned, feeling that something was not quite right between the two of them. She loosened her grip, and as the warm touch left her hands, Mingyue suddenly felt a chill.

However, that's not the focus right now, and Seventeen didn't dwell on it too much.

"In that case, let's wait until the Spring Festival."

"Yes, Your Highness, I'll have to trouble you to make a trip to the yamen later."

Long Zhaoming waved his hand, feeling goosebumps all over from Mingyue's tone. But his elder brother insisted on keeping it from Seventeen. He didn't know whether he trusted Seventeen or not.

An elusive man.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye. These past few days, I've been sleeping and eating all day long, occasionally going out to observe those who have chest pains, and also to listen in on the master and Zhou Xinren. I've noticed that my cheeks have become rounder.

Long Zhaoming and Mingyue, on the other hand, were probably making plans for the day of the Spring Festival, leaving early and returning late. If it weren't for the fact that they had instructed Xiao Wu to bring them vegetables every day, Seventeen would have suspected that the two of them had abandoned her and secretly gone to Jiangnan.

Every night, after Seventeen had fallen into a deep sleep, Mingyue would sneak onto the other side of the bed, still feeling the chill of early spring.

He was half asleep, his eyes half-open as he looked to the other side: "Brother Yue is back?"

Mingyue paused for a moment, then softly hummed in agreement before asking, "Did I wake you up?"

Immediately, Seventeen felt as if the blanket behind him was being pulled up, and knowing that it was Mingyue beside him, he became less wary.

"No, go to sleep early."

Seventeen mumbled incoherently, not even knowing what she was saying, before sinking back into her fluffy, warm pillow and falling fast asleep.

Mingyue couldn't help but chuckle, reaching out to gently pull Seventeen's exposed shoulder closer. Her knuckles lingered on the other's fair and round face for a moment, then lightly touched it before withdrawing it as if touched by fire.

I slept without any dreams.

Early in the morning, Seventeen heard the sounds of gongs and drums outside. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, got up, changed his clothes, and went out the door.

Mingyue and Long Zhaoming were sitting in the lobby chatting, which was quite rare. The lobby was full of people, and everyone was having a lively discussion.

As I walked down the street, I overheard them talking about how the Zhou family wanted to build a temple for the master.

"Your Highness, Brother Yue."

"Little Seventeen is here. Let's have some breakfast first, and then we'll go together to celebrate the Spring Festival later."

Long Zhaoming pushed a basket of fluffy white buns in front of him and said with a smile.

He nodded at seventeen, picked up a bun, dipped it in the sauce, and stuffed it into his mouth.

It has to be said that the breakfast here is really plentiful. Seventeen has been here for so many days and has never eaten the same thing twice.

"Xiao Mowen and the others have already set off?"

Mingyue took a sip of the white tofu pudding and asked, for some reason, Seventeen felt that Long Zhaoming's expression seemed to have changed, but upon closer inspection, it returned to normal.

"Yes, they set off this morning. The Zhou family even sent people to inquire about their identities, both openly and secretly."

Long Zhaoming squinted and said that Xiao Mowen came to his room in the middle of the night just to talk about this matter and ask him how to handle it.

What else can we do but leave as soon as possible?

The real prince wasn't in their entourage to begin with, and if they were delayed any longer, it might arouse suspicion.

"The Zhou family is genuinely worried that someone from Yejing will come down and discover this."

"But we still don't understand who's behind the Zhou family?"

Long Zhaoming thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "It seems that the Zhou family is not among my people."

Mingyue nodded, then stood up and said, "Let's go, it's about to begin."

The three of them followed the crowd to the foot of the mountain outside the town. Seventeen had never been here before, but Mingyue and Long Zhaoming looked familiar.

At this time, the trees on both sides of the mountain road were decorated with colorful lights and ornaments, and adults and children walked up the mountain chatting and laughing.

During the scuffle, Seventeen spotted Xiao Wu, who was walking with another man. Xiao Wu noticed Seventeen's gaze, looked up at him, and then continued talking to the man beside him as if nothing had happened.

Soon, the group reached the mountainside. The place where Long Zhaoming had rested had been cleaned up, and everyone lined up in an orderly fashion, looking devoutly at the temple on the mountaintop.

The dark temple roof gave it an exceptionally solemn and dignified appearance, and as the long, drawn-out bells rang from inside, the people knelt down in worship.

Seventeen looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, greeted Mingyue and then disappeared into the crowd.

When it reappeared, it was already hiding on the eaves of the temple.

Seventeen squinted down and saw a young novice monk kneeling on a prayer mat chanting scriptures. Another novice monk ran over and asked, "Brother, where is Master?"

"Let's go to the inner room."

The young novice who had asked the question nodded, turned around, and ran inside again. Seventeen quickly followed, and saw the young novice stop outside a meditation room, put his hands together, and say, "Master, the people outside have all arrived."

Seventeen found a rooftop, darted over, and slipped through. The little novice looked up but only saw birds that had been startled into flight.

"Um."

The old monk inside had a low voice, and the young novice quickly put his palms together and left, while Seventeen stared at the two people inside the room with great interest.

One of the men was clearly older, and his attire suggested he was the abbot of the temple. Standing opposite him was another man, who was clearly Zhou Xinren.

"Host, please."

Zhou Xinren spoke respectfully, but his tone and attitude were extremely contemptuous. The abbot sat cross-legged on the prayer mat, closed his eyes, and remained silent.

Seeing this, Zhou Xinren snorted coldly: "If you are more obedient, once the great cause is accomplished, we will certainly not treat your Miaofa Temple unfairly."

The host remained calm and composed with his eyes closed, unmoved by Zhou Xinren's temptations.

"Old man, don't push your luck. If you don't cooperate with us today, someone else will be sitting in your position tomorrow."

Zhou Xinren's threat was obvious. The abbot slowly opened his eyes, his voice somewhat aged, yet very deep and authoritative: "This old monk would never cooperate with you in doing such a thing that distorts the truth."

"Turning black into white?" Zhou Xinren chuckled. "Don't pretend to be so kind. When we went to those people, you didn't come out to help them either."

The host took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, clearly showing that he was unmoved by reason.

Just then, a man in white walked in through a side door. Seventeen looked closely and realized it was the master!

The master, dressed in a simple yet heavy robe, asked anxiously, "Is it ready yet? People are waiting outside."

Zhou Xinren tried to persuade and threaten the host for a long time, but the host remained unmoved. Seeing this, he angrily turned and left.

The master followed Zhou Xinren away, glanced back at the abbot, and shook his head with a sneer.

Just as Seventeen was about to follow Zhou Xinren, he suddenly heard the abbot speak: "Benefactor on the eaves, please come down."

He paused, hesitated for a moment, and then flew to appear in front of the host.

When did you find me?

"Hehe, you noticed it as soon as you arrived."

The host opened his eyes, and only then did Seventeen realize that the other person's eyes seemed somewhat different from ordinary people's.

This host... has double pupils.

Seeing Seventeen looking at him curiously, the abbot wasn't angry. He just chuckled and patted the prayer mat next to him, saying, "Sit down. I have something I'd like you to tell that person outside."

Seventeen was puzzled. What did this host know?

Seeing that Seventeen was still wary, the abbot didn't hesitate and slowly said, "I once calculated that His Majesty is a golden dragon descended to earth to save humanity."

"Do you even need to tell me?" Seventeen frowned as he looked at this strange host. "If His Majesty wasn't a vacuum-generating emperor, how could he possibly sit in this position and lead the Great Jing to peace and prosperity?"

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Author's Note: I feel like more readers like the quick transmigration novel, but if I were to start that one, it would be very long. I'm torn. If it's popular enough, I'll start the quick transmigration novel first. [Pity] Torn.jpg