"There is another question that you haven't answered." Shi Mingyue said.
He Jun did not give a direct answer. Instead, he dipped his finger in the tea in the cup and wrote the word "empty" on the table stroke by stroke.
Shi Mingyue looked at the word "emptiness." The water stain quickly dried, leaving no trace on the table. Is this emptiness?
Love is empty, fame and fortune are empty, everything is empty. If that's the case, is there any point in pursuing it? Things are like illusions and bubbles; even if you possess them, they are fleeting and impossible to truly possess. She began to examine herself. Rebirth is just another life, a few short decades long. Even if you live a happy and fulfilling life, you will eventually die. Death is emptiness, nothing, meaningless.
"You seem troubled?" He Jun said, observing his expression.
Shi Mingyue nodded: "Yes, I don't understand. If everything is empty, then what is the meaning of my rebirth?"
He Jun said ashamedly: "It seems that I have failed. I was clearly trying to comfort you, but I made you even more negative."
"No, you allow me to face the problems in my heart more intuitively." Shi Mingyue said truthfully.
He Jun asked, "Are there people or things you're concerned about?"
"Yes," Shi Mingyue answered decisively. She had family and a loved one, but until now, she suddenly felt that they didn't hold such a significant place in her heart. After her rebirth, she chose a different path from her previous life, a smooth and happy one. But even so, doubts about life slowly grew in her heart. That day was just the turning point.
He Jun suddenly said, "After abdicating, several emperors of Tianyun chose to become monks despite opposition. Their situation is actually not much different from yours. What are you really thinking right now?"
"If they were not here, I would not be alive in this world." After saying this, Shi Mingyue was stunned by herself. It turned out that such a terrible thought had always existed in her subconscious.
He Jun was obviously shocked by her words. He was stunned for a moment, and then he said in a deep voice, "You only live for others? Have you never lived for yourself? Don't you have any self-desire?"
Shi Mingyue covered her face with her hands, struggling to breathe. She spoke with difficulty, "I did. In my last life, I made the only choice for myself, but I was wrong, completely wrong. I have never had any desire for myself, without involving others."
He Jun sighed: "You are the only person I have ever met who has no selfish desires. I have seen some people who are obsessed with power, some who are obsessed with wealth, and even those who are Buddhists who want to achieve enlightenment."
"Do you have desires too?" Shi Mingyue asked.
He Jun hesitated for a moment and said, "Yes."
That should also be the Buddhist way of achieving enlightenment, Shi Mingyue did not ask any further questions.
A glint of cruelty suddenly flashed across He Jun's eyes, an emotion completely at odds with his usual calm and composed demeanor. Shi Mingyue hadn't noticed, but thinking she'd been waiting for so long, and that Lu Lingjing and the others must be getting impatient, she stood up and said goodbye to He Jun, "Thank you for bothering me today, Master, for clearing up my confusion."
He Jun stood up and apologized, "I'm ashamed that I still couldn't fully resolve your doubts."
Shi Mingyue shook his head: "Master, there is no need to do this. I won't bother you anymore." After that, he turned and left.
The apologetic expression on He Jun's face faded, and a faint, wicked smile curled up at the corner of his mouth. His destined person was indeed interesting and unique. Didn't she have any desires of her own? He just wanted her to have them.
After chatting with He Jun for a long time, Lu Lingjing and Hong Yin asked her anxiously when they saw her what she was talking about with Jun He and why they could chat for so long?
Shi Mingyue casually evaded the question and walked out of the gate of Ningguo Temple. She thought, life must go on.
In Xinzhou, Fu Yueli and the others had already arrived at the posthouse. That evening, officials from Xinzhou held a welcoming banquet for the group coming from the capital.
Fu Yueli didn't drink much, and no one dared to force him to drink. Late at night, he checked into the inn. As he undressed for bed, he carefully placed the camel thorn purse beside his pillow, as if the bright moon were by his side.
He was about to fall asleep when he was awakened by a slight strange noise. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a small hole in the window paper. Something was sticking out and seemed to be smoking.
Someone was trying to use smoke to knock him out! Fu Yueli grabbed the sword lying beside him and rushed over. When he went out, he found that the man had jumped onto the wall, trying to escape.
He immediately gave chase. Lu Lingyan, who was in the next room, was awakened by the noise outside and followed him out. However, after chasing for ten miles, the man fled into an alley and disappeared without a trace.
Lu Lingyan said unwillingly, "He actually got away."
Neither Fu Yueli nor he was familiar with the streets of Xinzhou City, so it was difficult for them to rashly search house by house for the assassin. Moreover, since they had just arrived, if he mobilized a large force and caused such a commotion, it would inevitably cause trouble. Since the man had escaped, they would have to be more cautious and vigilant in the future.
"Go back." Fu Yueli said to Lu Lingyan.
Although Lu Lingyan wanted to catch the assassin very much, he thought that it was not appropriate to cause any more trouble at the moment, so he could only go back to the inn with him.
In a private residence, the man in black had quickly removed his nightgown and veil and lay down on the bed. The Second Prince's letter clearly stated that Fu Yueli's martial arts skills were mediocre, but his performance had already disproven this. How to eliminate him required further careful planning.
At nightfall, Shi Mingyue was still awake, her conversation with He Jun from the day before still reverberating in her mind. She pondered over the subtle changes that had taken place in the brief twenty-six years of her previous life. In her final years, her frail body, Qin Zheng's indifference, and Tang Nuan's rejection and resentment had all tormented her both physically and mentally, leaving her world filled with pain and sorrow.
Life was hopeless, and she considered suicide. But she had already owed her parents her body and hair, and she felt she had already failed them. If she were to commit suicide, how would she face them in the afterlife? So she clung to a meager existence, her concern for her family her only lingering attachment to this world. Sometimes, even this tenuous lingering thought faded into oblivion, and when she could no longer hold on, she kept asking herself, what was the point of living?
She didn't think about it anymore. She was just living for them now: her parents, brother, and Fu Yueli. Having them in this life was enough.
At three o'clock in the morning, Shi Mingyue was awakened. Someone from the palace had arrived, saying the empress dowager was gravely ill and had summoned her to attend to her immediately. She changed into simple clothes and immediately followed the servants into the palace. The carriage had to stop at the palace gates, and after disembarking, she saw Princess Huo Qiurong, also summoned to the palace to attend to her illness.
The two of them followed the palace maid in silence and walked quickly towards the Empress Dowager's Changle Palace. They thought that the Empress Dowager might be dying, otherwise the Emperor would not have summoned them all into the palace. He probably summoned them so that the Empress Dowager could see the person she wanted to see and close her eyes in peace.
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