Chapter 61 Unveiling

Despite the freezing weather, a thin layer of sweat quickly broke out on her back.

This was the standard weapon of the guards in her mansion. It was an ordinary, worn-out old item that didn't look fake.

The guards took the dagger from her hand, wiped off the blood, and handed it to the prince.

Looking down at the four words on the dagger, the prince was a little bit unbelievable and squeezed out a few words with difficulty: "Lingling, this..."

Qian Deng raised his head, shook his head at him, and whispered, "Someone is plotting to harm me!"

While the prince was startled, the old monk turned to the lectern and asked the abbot seated there, "Amitabha, we are praying for blessings on the Winter Solstice, and nobles have gathered, but we see weapons and blood. This is a great omen and has offended the gods and Buddhas. Brother abbot, how should this Buddhist ceremony end?"

The abbot slowly stood up, his white eyebrows drooping, a look of regret on his face. "Today, we are praying for blessings. The temple has carefully selected an auspicious time and location before we dare to start the lecture, offer sacrifices and pray for blessings. Now that the auspicious time has passed, and with the bloodshed, I'm afraid..."

The Queen's expression was also grim. She said, "Please replenish the palace with fragrant oil. Please ask all the masters to burn incense and chant scriptures to pray for God's forgiveness, to atone for your sins and avoid God's punishment."

"Yes." The senior monks in the temple accepted the order, and the monks sitting around at the same time began to chant Buddhist scriptures in Sanskrit, reciting the auspicious mantra for eliminating disasters 108 times to make up for the sin of bloodshed against Buddha.

The queen led all the ladies to rise from their cushions, walked quickly down the high altar for prayer, and ordered that the baby in the cradle be handed over to the palace maids to take away first.

Qiandeng was still kneeling in front of the incense burner. The queen did not stop when she passed by her, but the female official next to her raised her hand to Qiandeng, indicating that she should follow.

Qiandeng stood up, pulling at the bloodstained collar of his clothes. He knew that the queen was disgusted, but there was no way he could change his clothes at this time. He could only lower his head and follow behind out of the small door.

Just as she stepped out of the door, she saw Cui Fufeng hurriedly walking to the side of the winding path, holding a green lotus-colored cloak with a phoenix pattern in his hand.

"County Lady, please forgive me for being late. I just went back to get something." He was obviously aware of the situation here. He didn't ask anything and just handed the cloak in his hand to her with a normal expression.

Qiandeng took the cloak and put it on to cover himself from the blood. Looking up, he saw that Madam Cui, beside the Queen Mother, was wearing a snow-blue dress that matched the blue lotus color perfectly. Knowing that she had sent it to cover him, he could not help but nod silently to her.

Mrs. Cui nodded at her, but her face was filled with worry.

Cui Fufeng helped her fix her cloak. Qiandeng felt his hand move, and he handed her something through the gap in the cloak.

She felt it was a folded piece of paper, thin and soft. Puzzled, her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she looked up at him.

Cui Fufeng glanced at her and said softly, "Let's go. You should explain the whole story in detail. Her Majesty will surely make a fair judgment."

Qiandeng said nothing, but moved his fingers slightly and put it into his sleeve without making any sound.

In the front temple, people chanted mantras to calm the mind, while in the backyard, people looked at the Princess of Lingling County and the young monk who were brought there, feeling secretly dissatisfied.

Especially for the elderly empress dowagers and concubines, who had to sit cross-legged on a cushion and listen to sutras for a long time in their old age, it was already unbearable. Now, complications had arisen and their efforts were wasted, which made them inevitably angry.

Concubine Chen had a female official pat her shoulders and back, and she said to the Empress, "Why is this ominous person still staying in the temple, disrupting the Buddhist sutras? In my opinion, he should be expelled immediately."

Seeing the Queen pondering, the Crown Prince immediately said, "My Queen Mother is frightened. However, the right and wrong of this matter are still unclear. I believe that Princess Lingling must have a reason for trespassing at the ceremony. Your Majesty will not deal with it lightly."

He and the Princess of Lingling were as close as brothers, and everyone in the harem knew it, so Concubine Chen just drank her tea and said nothing more.

Instead, Princess Gao, who was sitting next to her, spoke coldly, "The Crown Prince is right. Today, the Empress is personally leading the royal family and ladies in prayer for the people of the land and the court. Yet, someone unexpectedly stormed the ceremony with a knife. This is extremely disrespectful and a great omen. If we simply drive them out, how can we appease the wrath of the gods and bring disgrace to Buddhism?"

As soon as she opened her mouth, everyone couldn't help but think of the dispute over the nine golden flowers in Xuanhui Palace that day, and they knew that Princess Lingling was probably in great danger today.

Qian Deng knelt in the corridor, pursed his lips silently, unable to speak because he had no permission.

The Queen asked the court lady beside her, "Liu Shanggong, the winter solstice prayer is a major court event. If anyone disrupts the court ceremony, what is the punishment?"

The palace attendant, who had been guiding the empress for many years, was naturally well-versed in the laws and regulations of both the previous and current dynasties. Without hesitation, she replied, "According to the law, anyone who causes a disturbance during a court ceremony, causing chaos and hindering the ceremony, shall be punished with between ten and forty strokes of the cane, stripped of their title and position, and exiled three thousand miles."

The prince's face suddenly changed drastically. No one present had expected the consequences of this matter to be so serious. Looking at the thin figure of Qiandeng kneeling in the corridor, they all showed sympathy and pity on their faces. Madam Cui was so anxious that she clenched her hands.

Prince Li Zi of Guang, who was leaning against Queen Mother Yang, was also a little anxious and hurriedly tugged at the Queen Mother's sleeve.

The Empress Dowager patted the back of his hand, nodded to Madam Cui, and said, "Amitabha, Heaven is merciful. The Princess of Lingling is still young and incomprehensible. If she were to be caned and exiled for an unintentional mistake—three thousand miles away, it would surely be a place as malaria-ridden and hot as Lingnan—how could she possibly survive?"

"Yes, mother, caning and exile are punishments reserved for the outer court. How could they be used on a woman or child of a noble family?" The Crown Prince, not caring about his impropriety, said urgently to the Empress, "Lingling has served the court well in the past. This incident was also caused by a reason. It was an unintentional mistake. I hope your mother will consider it carefully."

The Empress lowered her eyes, sipping her tea. Before she could say anything, Princess Gao sighed, "Alas, if it was truly an unintentional mistake, then naturally, the punishment would have been lenient. But today, the temple is swarming with guards, and Princess Lingling managed to slip past them all and sneak into the temple. She also happened to be carrying a deadly weapon, and she happened to stumble into a prayer ceremony. Isn't that like a sesame seed falling into the eye of a needle? Too much of a coincidence!"

The prince pursed his lips tightly, looking at Princess Gao with anger in his eyes.

Xiao Fuyu naturally didn't want her mother and her future husband to be at odds, so she hurried to smooth things over: "Mother is right. Lingling County Lady should be punished. The Crown Prince is also right. The Changhua Palace has made great contributions to the country. I hope Her Majesty will show some compassion and give her a lighter sentence!"

The queen pondered and lowered her eyes, looking at Qiandeng who was kneeling in front of her.

She remained in a posture awaiting her fate. Without permission, she never looked up nor did she argue or beg for mercy. However, there was no fear or alarm on her lowered face.

Cui Fufeng said from the side, "Your Highness, listening to both sides leads to enlightenment, while listening to only one side leads to ignorance. Historically, to uncover the truth, one must listen to both sides' accounts and carefully analyze them to reveal the truth."

"Master Cui's words make sense." The Queen glanced at Princess Gao and Xiao Fuyu, then asked logically, "Princess Lingling, you have violated the law. What do you have to say?"

Qiandeng kowtowed to the Queen and replied solemnly, "I beg Your Majesty to make the decision for Lingling. This matter..."

At this moment, there was a sudden uproar at the Dharma Assembly separated by a wall at the back. Amid the roar, the sound of thousands of monks chanting auspicious mantras suddenly stopped, and only a few faint cries of panic could be heard.

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the back.

A young eunuch hurried over and urgently reported the situation at the Dharma Assembly: "Your Highness the Queen Mother and Her Royal Highness the Empress, the Dharma platform for lectures... has collapsed!"

"What?" The Empress Dowager and the concubines screamed out in surprise.

This platform for preaching was specially built for spreading Buddhism today. Before, the empress and other ladies sat around on it to listen to the sermons. It was very sturdy. Now that everyone has come down, the platform is empty. How could it collapse?

While he was stunned, the temple abbot arrived with the monks and said with a worried look on his face, "The Buddha has sent down a very ominous sign. Today's prayer will not end well."