Chapter 39 The Past is Gone
Copying scriptures with blood is the best way to show sincerity.
It is not revealed to gods and Buddhas, but to the world.
Pei Yan remembered that when he was seven years old, his father fell seriously ill. All the concubines in the harem and his sensible brothers and sisters took advantage of this opportunity to go to the Ganqing Palace to serve him and show their sincerity or filial piety. Only he stayed in the palace.
The Queen Mother was so busy taking the Third Brother to appear in front of the Emperor to act filial that she completely forgot about him.
Pei Yan could not go to the Palace of Heavenly Purity by himself, otherwise his mother would think that he had ulterior motives and was trying to please his father by bypassing her.
But no one would think about what the consequences would be if he didn't go.
After my father recovered from his illness, he promoted several concubines who had taken good care of him, praised several "filial" brothers and sisters, including my third brother, and gave them rewards. Then he launched an army to punish them.
Pei Yan was seven years old, not young anymore, so why didn't he go to take care of the sick? Was he afraid of getting sick? If so, then he was unvirtuous, unfilial, cowardly and incompetent, and simply unworthy of being a descendant of the royal family!
The Queen Mother only thought of him at this time, but she would never take the responsibility on herself. She only explained to the Emperor in a vague way: "I heard that Your Majesty was ill, and Chen'er cried and said that he wanted to come to serve you, so I brought him here. Yan'er didn't say anything, and I saw that he didn't seem to be very willing to come, so I didn't bring him. I thought that if he was willing to come later, I would ask the palace maid to bring him here."
These words made the emperor even more furious, and he directly ordered the imperial guards to bring Pei Yan over.
Pei Yan was taken to the Palace of Heavenly Purity by the imperial guards like a criminal. His father's face was filled with rage, but he stopped the moment he saw him clearly.
Pei Yan's face was pale, almost colorless, like a thin piece of rice paper that seemed about to be blown away by the wind.
The emperor was still angry, and he asked him condescendingly: "Are you sick too? Did you get sick a few days ago, or did you deliberately look like this because you knew I was going to hold you accountable?"
Pei Yan knelt on the ground, looking up at the man on the dragon throne, a childish smile appeared on the corner of his lips, and he said with a weak voice: "This son wants to ask the Buddha to exchange his son's life for my father's life, so he copied the scriptures with blood to show his sincerity. Now that my father has recovered, I am afraid that this son will also die..."
He fainted after he finished speaking. His father was shocked and asked someone to check his body. Sure enough, several knife wounds were found on his left arm. He then asked someone to search his bedroom and found a large stack of Buddhist scriptures copied with blood.
The bloodstains changed from dark to bright red, obviously having been copied continuously for a long time.
The emperor's father was filled with remorse and ordered the imperial physician to treat him well. He also scolded the queen mother, asking her why she did not take good care of Pei Yan and did not even know that he was almost bleeding himself dry.
When the third prince learned about this, he angrily rushed into Pei Yan's bedroom, pulled Pei Yan off the bed, and asked him to explain to his father that this matter had nothing to do with his mother.
The queen mother naturally could not sit idly by and watch her son do such a stupid thing, but because of being scolded, she was also a little angry at Pei Yan. After stopping the third prince, she coldly mocked Pei Yan for growing up and having his own thoughts.
The wounds on Pei Yan's body had already split open during the pulling, and he was in great pain. He lay on the ground like a stray dog, looking up at his mother pitifully, and said sincerely: "If it was the queen mother who was sick today, I would be willing to exchange my life for hers."
After saying this, the Queen Mother was a little shaken, but the Third Prince was so angry that he kept scolding him for being pretentious and would have beaten him up if he hadn't been stopped by the palace servants.
My thoughts returned, and the ink in the inkstone was almost used up.
Bloodletting is required again.
Cheng Shouzhong rolled up his sleeves. The wound had already solidified a little. He picked up the dagger and was about to cut his arm again with a grimace.
"That's all."
Pei Yan stopped him and said in a sympathetic voice: "You have lost a lot of blood today. I am afraid your body can't bear it. Let's switch to Cheng Fu."
Cheng Fu was a man of few words. Upon hearing this, he rolled up his sleeves without saying a word, took the dagger from his godfather's hand, slashed his arm with it, and the blood dripped into the inkstone.
Pei Yan picked up the imperial brush, dipped it in ink, and continued copying the Buddhist scriptures: "You don't have to be on duty for the next two days. I asked Wang Yuanpan to prepare some blood-replenishing medicine. Remember to take it."
Not much blood was shed to begin with, and Cheng Shouzhong showed his loyalty with a big smile on his face: "For Your Majesty, let alone shedding some blood, I would even take my head off!"
Cheng Fu said simply: "The slave can still bleed."
Pei Yan chuckled.
Now that he is an emperor, he naturally does not need to despise his body or even his life in order to survive.
When copying the third piece of rice paper, Fang Chu came out from the inner hall.
She came to the imperial desk and bowed, saying softly, "Your Highness is a little sleepy from playing with me and has fallen asleep."
Pei Yan nodded, copied the scripture and asked, "Is she sad?"
Fangchu said respectfully: "I had some when I went in, but later I became happy after listening to what I said."
She recounted word for word the conversation she had just had with Concubine Jiang in the bedroom.
"Well done." Pei Yan said calmly, "Go down."
Fang Chu bowed and left.
Cheng Shouzhong looked at Fang Chu and couldn't help but sigh, it's good to have a skill, so that you don't have to do hard labor, you can show up when you are needed, and live a leisurely life in the palace with fine clothes and delicious food when you are not needed.
*
Chuxiu Palace.
Miao Wangshu felt leg pain at night.
Feng Yiyue had been sleeping on the same bed with her these days. She heard slight noises beside her in her sleep. She was very sleepy at first, but she thought of something and her mind suddenly became clear.
She turned over and, in the moonlight outside the window, saw the thin body of the woman curled up beside her, with her hands on her knees, breathing with a hint of forbearance and heaviness.
Feng Yiyue called her anxiously, "Sister, what's wrong with you?"
As if he didn't expect her to wake up, Miao Wangshu's body stiffened for a moment, then relaxed, and said calmly: "I'm fine, you go to sleep."
Feng Yiyue heard the slight tremor in her voice.
She quickly sat up, crawled down from the end of the bed, and lit the candles in the room despite Miao Wangshu's attempts to stop her.
Her vision gradually became clear, and she saw Miao Wangshu lying on his side on the bed, his hands already on the pillow, his lips pale, sweat soaking his hair around his ears, and pain in his eyes that he had not had time to hide.
Feng Yiyue's eyes instantly turned red, and she stood there holding a fire starter.
Miao Wangshu's knees were in excruciating pain. Seeing her like this, he still forced himself to sit up and said softly, "My stomach hurt a little just now. Maybe I caught a cold. Go get me a cup of hot tea."
“It’s a lie.”
Feng Yiyue's tears fell down, and she asked with a sob, "How can you cover your knees when you have a stomachache?"
Any pain would make her worried, but Sister Miao insisted on lying to her, which meant that the part that really hurt would make her more worried.
Feng Yiyue sniffed and held back her tears, but still put down the lighter and went to pour her a cup of tea.
After Miao Wangshu was demoted, she could no longer live in the main palace, so she moved to the west palace. Feng Yiyue was extremely worried about her and insisted on sleeping with her at night. Miao Wangshu tried to persuade her and scolded her, but even after being pushed out of the door, Feng Yiyue still squatted outside crying and refused to return to the palace late at night.
Miao Wangshu now had no extra palace servants to take her away, and the night was as cold as water, so he had no choice but to let her in.
Feng Yiyue returned to the bedside with the cup of water and wanted to feed it to Miao Wangshu, but Miao Wangshu seemed unable to bear being so close to her all of a sudden. He took the porcelain cup from her and drank it in small sips himself.
Feng Yiyue reached out to rub her knees, but the moment she touched them, Miao Wangshu suddenly cried out in pain, the porcelain cup fell from her hands, and the tea spilled onto the embroidered quilt.
"elder sister!"
Feng Yiyue then remembered that Miao Wangshu not only had bone pain from kneeling, but also had skin injuries. How could she just massage him like that?
After being stunned, she couldn't help but collapse a little. She hugged Miao Wangshu and cried, "Sister! I will go to ask the Queen or His Majesty for help tomorrow. You can't keep kneeling like this!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
