After an unknown amount of time, someone finally remembered Wu Qing's existence.

"My dear, please come this way." A maid in gorgeous clothes came out silently from the side. She did not call Wu Qing by his title and spoke in a normal tone.

Wu Qing pointed at the gate: "Aren't you going to the gate?"

The nanny said calmly, "The Queen Mother is not in the main hall at the moment. You must have gone to the wrong place, which is why you have been waiting for so long."

[…Is this my negligence?] Wu Qing muttered in astonishment, [Weren’t you the ones who brought me to the gate?]

The female ghost advised: [They are making trouble for you, don't get excited.]

[I'm not excited. I'm just wondering what the old lady is up to.]

Wu Qing said to her, "Qiao Xiao has been in the palace for so long, but the Queen Mother has never visited her once, which shows that their relationship is not close. When she was kicked out of the palace, the Queen Mother turned to me. 】

【you mean……】

Wu Qing secretly speculated: [I'm afraid it has something to do with Nanshanyuan. ]

She had previously fought for the right to build Nanshan Garden from the emperor under the banner of "eliminating sin."

The Queen Mother was well versed in the essence of Buddhism. If she knew the whole story, she would definitely see that she was messing around.

After passing through a series of side doors and bypassing two golden screens covered with Buddhist inscriptions, Wu Qing finally stepped into the threshold of the Buddhist temple.

When she reached the door, the maid stopped her and said, "My dear, the Buddhist temple is a quiet and solemn place. Please pay attention to your appearance to show respect to the Buddha."

Appearance?

Wu Qing pointed at herself in confusion, "I washed my face before I left, what's wrong with that?"

The nanny said calmly, "Your Excellency's clothes are too bright, I'm afraid they will disturb the True Buddha."

Wu Qing lowered his head.

Looking at her pure white palace dress that looked like the one she wore for a funeral, she fell into deep thought.

Wu Qing asked the ghost uncertainly, "I'm not color blind, am I? That's not right, color blind people can also see white. 】

The female ghost replied: [She just found an excuse to embarrass you.]

Wu Qing then asked, "Madam, what you said is absolutely right. Then according to what you say, what should I wear?"

The nanny said, "No dirty things can be seen in front of the Buddha. You need to take off all your disguises before entering."

The ghost girl said: [The Queen Mother wants you to take off your hairpin and apologize.]

There is an allusion to the man "carrying a thorny stick to ask for forgiveness".

If a concubine did something wrong, she was required to take off her hairpin and apologize.

Generally speaking, concubines were required to take off their hair ornaments and earrings, let their hair down, put on plain clothes, kneel down and beg for forgiveness. If they were more sincere, they would also take off their shoes and socks and apologize barefoot.

After listening to the ghost girl's explanation, Wu Qing smiled at the nanny and said sincerely, "That would be great."

She took off her earrings and headwear without hesitation, allowing each strand of her hair to breathe.

The nanny was slightly startled. She didn't expect her to be so easy to talk to. Her originally cold expression softened a little.

It seems that Concubine Ji is quite respectful to the Empress Dowager, otherwise she wouldn't take off her hairpin so easily.

But before she could say a word, Concubine Ji took off her clothes again.

This time she took off her outer shirt.

Wu Qing took off his heavy outer clothes, one by one, two by two, leaving only the last thin inner garment.

Mammy was stunned. "What are you doing?"

Wu Qing said sincerely: "Please thank the Queen Mother for me. She is the most casual person I have ever met. In fact, I only need to wear one piece of clothing, but unfortunately, no one agrees."

Wu Qing has a strong physique and is like a furnace even in winter.

The palace is the richest place in the world, and there is plenty of heating in the winter, which causes her to sweat frequently in the cold winter.

When she was not at home, Wu Qing would only wear one set of underwear in her room. The Queen and the Imperial Concubine visited her occasionally several times, but were scared away by her "bold" dress.

In order not to disturb everyone, Wu Qing had to wrap himself up into a ball every day.

As he spoke, Wu Qing kicked off his clog-bottom shoes and freed his feet.

[Great!] She shouted fiercely in her heart.

"Mammy told me to take off all my disguises. I'm only wearing one piece of clothing now. I should be able to go in, right?" Wu Qing said with a shy smile.

The nanny showed a rare hesitation.

This... How come Lady Ji doesn't look ashamed at all? She even looks relieved.

This is not what she wants.

The nanny glanced at her and finally spared her, "...Follow me and be careful with your words and actions."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Although he agreed verbally, Wu Qing did not slow down.

Although the Buddhist hall was not spacious, it was filled with royal opulence and luxury, and was no less luxurious than the Yangxin Palace. Wu Qing took a casual glance and saw two or three vessels made of pure gold, which made her envious.

The most expensive thing in the temple is naturally the five-meter-high pure gold Buddha in the middle.

Under the golden Buddha, the Queen Mother sat in a soft chair, looking at Wu Qing without saying a word.

Wu Qing, in accordance with the principle of respecting the elderly, gave the Queen Mother a complete ceremony: "I pay my respects to the Queen Mother and wish her good health and long-lasting blessings."

"Wu Qing." The Queen Mother slowly read out her name, "Do you know why I asked you to come here?"

Wu Qing was suddenly called by his real name and was unable to react for a moment.

Wu Qing blinked and said, "...I dare to guess that it is not for Miss Qiao."

The Queen Mother's face turned cold, "You dare to guess the emperor's intentions. No wonder the emperor likes you so much."

She held a string of ancient Buddhist beads in her right hand, and kept twisting the beads with her thumb according to the rhythm of the Buddhist scriptures.

"My action today is definitely not to seek justice for the little girl Qiao," said the Queen Mother. "She has distracting thoughts in her mind, and she won't bring any blessings to the palace."

"Compared to this, I want to ask you..."

The Queen Mother's eyes turned cold. "How dare you call yourself a blessed person and trick the Emperor into spending a huge sum of money to build Nanshan Garden for you?"

"If Concubine De hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that you dared to purify the sins of the Buddha."

[I give in. It is indeed Consort De.] Wu Qing wanted to roll his eyes.

Female ghost: [It’s also your fault that you got carried away and said you wanted to purify the sins of the imperial palace.]

[I am wronged. I just wanted to complete the main task! ]

Wu Qing knelt on the ground, "I am wronged, I am sincere."

The Queen Mother raised her hand to stop her from saying anything else: "I don't care about that."

She continued to turn the Buddhist beads with her right hand, and pointed at the thick Buddhist scriptures on the incense table in front of the cushion with her left hand.

"You dare to mention Nanshan Garden to the emperor, so you must be a Buddhist. In this case, you can recite sutras in front of the Buddha on my behalf."

[This...] Wu Qing looked embarrassed, having a bad premonition.

[This Buddhist scripture is not in... Sanskrit! ? ? I am going to be illiterate again! ! ? ]

She silently picked up a Buddhist scripture.

As expected, Wu Qing could only understand the first two words.

——Buddha said.

Wu Qing closed his eyes in pain: "..."

Wu Qing immediately cried for help in her heart: [Sister! Help me, do you know Sanskrit? ! ]

The ghost girl hesitated and looked at it for a while. [Ordinary Buddhist scriptures are fine...but the Buddhist scripture that the Queen Mother has is a unique copy, and I have never read it.]

[…That’s it.]

The Queen Mother had already closed her eyes and urged, "Let's get started."

Wu Qing couldn't help but rub his face with his hands, and rubbed it again and again.

She sighed, "Oh, there's nothing I can do. I'll just pretend to recite it for a while."

The room became quiet, with only the mosquito-sized sound of Wu Qing.

She knocked the wooden fish and chanted: "Close your eyes and see heaven, that is where your smile is hidden..."

"For you I turned into a werewolf, for you... I got infected..."

The Queen Mother turned the beads twice more and suddenly opened her eyes. "You were hitting the wooden fish too loudly. I didn't hear you clearly. Where were you reciting just now?"

Wu Qing replied: "I just sang, no, I recited... Can we meet again? I have prayed to the Buddha for thousands of years. Before I cross this Naihe Bridge, let me kiss your face again."

The Queen Mother: “……?”