Hearing this, Xie Lian paused slightly, but ultimately didn’t look back. He waved his hand and continued walking.
After returning to Xianle Imperial City, Xie Lian went to the palace first.
He didn't know why he went, and it wasn't to see his parents. It wasn't just because, as a priest, he couldn't appear before mortals. More importantly, the older he got, the longer he was away from home, the less sure he was about how to speak to his parents. This was something that was common to all children. So, he disappeared and wandered around the palace, which he knew so well. He didn't see the King anywhere else, and finally arrived at Qifeng Palace, where he finally saw his father and mother.
The two of them dismissed the palace attendants and were talking. The Queen sat beside the couch, fiddling with a golden mask. It was the same one Xie Lian had worn during the Lantern Festival three years ago. The mask's features were meticulously carved to resemble Xie Lian's own face, so when Xie Lian wore it, it fit perfectly, unnoticed. But in someone else's hands, it was a bit unsettling. The King said, "Stop playing with that! Put it down and press it on my head."
Although the King and Queen adhered to every possible etiquette in public, Xie Lian, from a young age, had seen clearly that his parents were, behind the scenes, just an ordinary couple who would nag and nag. As expected, the Queen dropped her mask, sat down, and massaged the King's temples. Suddenly, she stroked his hair and said, "Your hair has turned gray again."
Xie Lian took a closer look and saw, as expected, a hint of gray at his father's temples, making him look a bit older for no apparent reason. He wondered, "Didn't Father go to Huangji Temple to pray a while ago? His hair was still black then. How could it have suddenly turned white?"
The queen took out a bronze mirror and wanted to show it to the king, but the king said, "No, no, no. Next time before going to Taicang Mountain, dye it and it will be darker."
Xie Lian finally realized, "His hair didn't just turn white recently! It's been white for a long time, but he always dyed it black before coming to see me. And I was busy listening to the believers' prayers all day, so I rarely came back to see them. That's why I didn't notice."
After realizing this, he felt extremely ashamed. He was thankful that his parents couldn't see him. While massaging the king's head, the Queen scolded him, "I told you to go to bed early every day, but you refused to listen. You even said I was nagging you all the time. Look how ugly you've become. If the Pope saw you, he'd be even more reluctant to pay attention to you."
The king snorted, "Your son has grown up and become independent, so he's ignored me." Even so, he couldn't help but steal a glance at the bronze mirror beside the bed, muttering, "It's not that ugly. Isn't it still the same face?"
Xie Lian was taken aback. He hadn't expected his father to have such a side behind his back, to actually say such sour things about him. He couldn't help but laugh. The Queen also smiled, suppressing a laugh. "Good, good, not bad at all. Your health is more important than anything else. Get some rest today."
The King shook his head. "There's no time to rest. Lately, quite a few people from Yong'an have come to the Imperial City. They're here for no reason, but they're making a scene everywhere, causing panic among the people. It's a very difficult situation."
It turned out that his father's hair had turned white because of the severe drought in Yong'an. Xie Lian felt an indescribable pain in his heart. The Queen nodded and said, "I heard from Rong'er that he also encountered a man from Yong'an today. It is said that he was trying to rob the temple of money. It was very scary."
The King concentrated and said, "Yes, it's terrifying. A few dozen or a few hundred would be fine, but what if hundreds of thousands of them came? If all of them were to wander around the Imperial City, the consequences would be disastrous."
The Queen hesitated for a moment and said, "That may not be the case. If it is in accordance with the rules and regulations, then come over."
The King said, "How can a ruler of a country take such a risk with something like 'maybe'? Besides, they can't come. Supporting more people isn't as simple as just adding a few more pairs of chopsticks. It's much more complicated. You don't understand, so I won't explain."
The Queen said, "Okay, I won't say any more. I don't understand what you're talking about. If only the Emperor were still here, he could at least share your worries."
The king snorted again, "Him? What can he do? It's good enough that he doesn't cause me any more worries."
Speaking of Xie Lian, he seemed to perk up. "I won't talk about your prince. He's already a teenager, but you're being raised like a princess. It's useless for him to know; it would only cause him more trouble. He'd better just fly in the sky. It's best if he doesn't know anything. Just mind his own business. He's not the crown prince anymore, so the world is none of his business. Let him fly as much as he wants."
Xie Lian listened silently to his father's enthusiastic scolding. The Queen smiled and gave the King a shove. "Now you know she's a princess, but wasn't she spoiled by you since she was little? And you're still trying to turn the tables on me?" Then she sighed and said, "This child is good in every way, except for not missing home. He was like this when he was training at the Imperial Monastery, often not coming back for months. Now that he's ascended, he's even more powerful. I haven't even seen him in three years. I don't know when we'll see each other again."
She complained, but the King of the Kingdom came to Xie Lian's defense: "What do you, a woman, know? The Imperial Master said that this is the rule of the Heavenly Realm. How can you treat him like a mortal? If you ask your son to come back, won't that only hinder him?"
The Queen said hurriedly, "I was just saying it casually. I wouldn't ask him for anything like that." She then muttered to herself, "It's not bad to look at the statues. They're pretty good. There are statues of him everywhere."
After watching this for a long time, Xie Lian felt a pang of pain in his chest, as if something was stuck in his throat, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. He just couldn't stay any longer. But he couldn't show up. It wasn't because he was afraid of breaking the rules of heaven, but because he didn't know what to say. He didn't have any good solutions for Yong'an's situation at the moment, and showing up suddenly would only make his parents scramble.
He quickly evacuated the palace and stepped outside, taking several deep breaths before calming himself. He gathered his composure and, figuring action was better than sighing, he casually formed a hand seal, transformed into a plain-clothed Taoist priest, and ran around the imperial city, measuring and recording everything. After a busy day of running around, he finally received a definitive answer.
The water levels of all the rivers and lakes in Xianle Imperial City were truly lower than before. While at the Imperial Temple, he'd sneaked down the mountain several times to go boating on the Le River, the largest river running through Xianle Country. Back then, the water level was only slightly lower than the banks, but now it was several feet lower. Furthermore, the city residents said it had been like this for a long time, not just a recent development. Xie Lian hadn't noticed before, but now, paying attention, he realized the signs were alarming. He'd hoped Mu Qing's intelligence was wrong, which was why he'd come to verify it himself. But now, he had to admit, Mu Qing hadn't disappointed him.
After confirming this fact, Xie Lian stood stunned by the riverbank, lost in thought. From time to time, pedestrians passed by him, some smiling and nodding, some glancing curiously, but most happily going about their own business. He stood there for an unknown amount of time before light clouds gathered in the sky, and a drizzle began to fall all around him.
Passersby on the road covered their heads and looked up at the sky, saying, "What bad luck! It's raining, let's go back quickly!"
"Yeah, yucky!"
The sound of raindrops dripped onto Xie Lian's face and body. He finally realized what was happening and muttered to himself, "It's raining?"
The people of the Imperial City would try to avoid the rain, but who knows how many people on the other side of Xianle Country were eager for a downpour like this. A few people ran by with umbrellas, and seeing Xie Lian still soaking in the rain, they pulled him aside and urged him, "Young Taoist priest, why don't you run? The rain is getting heavier!"
Xie Lian, bewildered, followed suit, and together they reached a longhouse. The others folded their umbrellas and laughed among themselves, saying, "Luckily, we brought an umbrella with us today when we went out to see the clouds. Otherwise, we'd be soaked to the skin."
"It's been a while since it rained. I'm afraid it's been withheld for too long, so it's going to be quite heavy."
"Oh look, it's really getting heavy again! It's going to turn into a rainstorm!"
Raindrops fell to the ground, shattering and scattering. The accents of these people were incredibly familiar, making Xie Lian realize even more deeply that this was where he was born and raised, and these were the people he knew well.
As they chatted, the rain gradually subsided. Everyone said, "Let's go now while it's still light!" Then, they all opened their umbrellas and left the house. Xie Lian, however, remained standing. Several of them turned to look at him, conferring a few words. Then, one of them approached, handed him an old umbrella, and politely said, "Young Taoist priest, are you unable to return? I think the rain is still a bit heavy. Why don't you take this umbrella?"
Xie Lian finally came back to his senses and said, "Thank you very much. What about you?"
A few people in the rain ahead said in a joking voice: "We still have umbrellas, we can squeeze in, let's go!"
At his companions' urging, the man thrust an umbrella into Xie Lian's hands and ran off. As they paddled through the water, Xie Lian stood for a moment, holding the umbrella. Suddenly, he spotted a small, unassuming temple a short distance ahead. He opened his umbrella and walked forward through the rain. As he approached, he saw couplets on either side of the temple's entrance, inscribed with the words "Body in Hell" and "Heart in Peach Blossom Land." He finally confirmed that this was a palace for the Crown Prince.
Eight thousand temples and shrines were built in three years, but naturally, not every one could be as magnificent and impressive as those on Mount Taicang. Many were built by grassroots individuals simply to add to the excitement. There were no donation boxes or temple priests, just a clay statue, a few plates, and snacks and fruits. With the occasional cleaning by a kindhearted person, the temple could function as a temple all to itself.
Hidden in this unassuming corner was the humble Prince's Palace. Even before entering, Xie Lian spotted the almost naive statue of the Prince: garish clothing, a large, pastel-colored face, and a wide, goofy grin, a simple child. If he hadn't been so preoccupied, he would have laughed out loud.
Over the past three years, Xie Lian had seen at least three thousand, if not five thousand, statues of the Crown Prince, yet he had never seen one that looked exactly like him. The closest he had was probably only about seventy percent like, the rest either too ugly or too beautiful. Most other priests' statues were too ugly, but his was the opposite. Some were so beautiful they were distorted, so beautiful they embarrassed him. He hadn't originally considered the clay statue closely, merely glancing over it. Unexpectedly, in that glance, he caught a sudden glimpse of snow-white, and his gaze drifted back.
This rough clay statue of the prince holds a bunch of snow-white flowers in his left hand.
The petals were pure white, stained with a few glistening dewdrops, and incredibly delicate. A faint, almost ethereal fragrance lingered in the air, a truly lovely sight. The standard pose for the statue of Prince Xianle was "sword in one hand, flower in the other." However, the flowers in the left hand were, of course, exquisitely crafted blossoms of gold, gemstone, or jade. This was the first time Xie Lian had seen a statue of him holding real flowers, and he couldn't help but draw closer.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the clay prince statue's left hand should have originally held a clay flower. Perhaps the sculptor's craftsmanship was poor, the flower branch fell off, or someone plucked it as a prank. Now, only a small hole remained in the left fist. The small white flowers had been inserted precisely into this tiny hole. If someone had specifically picked some to fill the gap in the clay statue's left hand, that would have been a truly thoughtful gesture.
Just as this thought reached his mind, Xie Lian heard hurried footsteps. Without turning back, he first hid his form, then lightly glided over to the altar, carrying the umbrella. Only then did he turn and look down. Outside the temple, amidst the heavy, gray rain, a young man rushed in.
The boy was no more than twelve or thirteen years old, soaking wet, clad in filthy old clothes, his face covered in dirty bandages. His right hand was tightly clenched in his left fist, as if protecting something. After running into the temple, he slowly opened his hands.
A bunch of small snow-white flowers bloomed quietly in his hands.
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