Pray for blessings
"What? Go tomorrow? The Queen didn't mention it so urgently today."
At one o'clock in the evening, the eunuch beside the Empress came to tell the Crown Princess to make preparations and go to the Wanguo Temple with the Empress and others tomorrow.
"Your Majesty has made up her mind. I hope Your Majesty the Crown Princess will be well prepared. You will need to stay overnight at the Huguo Temple." After the eunuch who delivered the message said this, he bowed and left.
"Don't panic." Xiao Junbai picked up a piece of vegetarian dish for the Crown Princess with his chopsticks, "Chengxi will accompany you tomorrow."
"I have thought carefully about what happened this morning." He said with a normal expression, "When you return, I will invite your sisters to the palace."
As for what His Majesty and the Queen say, the Crown Princess doesn't need to worry about it.
Qi Qinghe was stunned for a moment, then she remembered that the prince was talking about this morning. She said that she would let her sisters enter the palace. Her nervous heart calmed down in an instant. Her crow-feather eyelashes trembled slightly, and she met the eyes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and thanked him in a very serious tone.
Xiao Junbai was familiar with her tone of voice that hinted at a smile, and he felt a little uncomfortable with her sudden seriousness. "Be careful when you leave the palace tomorrow."
Qi Qinghe nodded hurriedly, so the next morning, she specially chose an inconspicuous light blue dress, not as complicated as the palace dress, and put on a cloak.
The autumn sun was not very glaring, and the cool breeze was blowing gently on her face. She had only stood in the corridor for a quarter of an hour, and it seemed as if a trace of coldness was penetrating into her body.
She wrapped her cloak tightly around her and counted the time as she headed towards the palace gate.
"The emperor's sister-in-law looks pale, but she is sick." As soon as she walked out of the palace gate, Xiao Junluo, who was waiting there, took a few quick steps to greet her.
Qi Qinghe raised her eyes and glanced at the Imperial Concubine who was sitting in the carriage with the window opened. She bowed and said, "Don't worry, my sister. It's just a cold."
The Imperial Concubine pretended not to hear anything, and didn't even look at the Crown Princess. She just smiled at Xiao Junluo and said, "The person you've been thinking about is here. Hurry up and get in the car, or you might catch a cold."
Xiao Junluo looked at his mother and then at the emperor's sister-in-law, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and finally got into the car obediently.
Qi Qinghe lowered his head, covered his lips and coughed a few times, then his body swayed.
"Your Majesty, this..." Yun Tao and Yun Xing stepped forward and supported the Crown Princess, but heard the Crown Princess asking several people to get in the car.
After a while, the Empress, supported by Zhou Ruoyan, walked out of the palace steadily, with an unstoppable smile on her face. "Okay, okay, good girl, this time it's all up to you to arrange."
The taciturn Xiao Junhui and the dejected Xiao Juntang followed behind.
"Everyone is here. Let's go." Before getting on the carriage, the queen looked around for a moment and told the coachman to drive away.
There were four carriages in total. The Empress and Xiao Juntang rode together, the Imperial Concubine and Xiao Junluo rode together, and Xiao Junhui and Zhou Ruoyan, who had already been married, rode together. Only she rode alone and could only chat and play with two maids along the way.
Fortunately, the Huguo Temple is not far away and can be reached in half an hour after leaving the city.
There were no ordinary people around. The abbot in a cassock and a group of young monks were all here to welcome them. After all, the Empress and others were coming in person, and no one could be careless.
"I greet all the ladies and your highness." The abbot chanted "Amitabha" and led everyone into the temple.
The Wanguo Temple, located halfway up the mountain, is divided into the front hall and the back courtyard. The front hall is mostly for kneeling and praying. The Bodhisattvas, Vajra and Buddha are shining with golden light and look lifelike.
Beyond the main hall is the residence of the monks. When they learned that the Queen was coming, they specially cleaned the place and vacated several small courtyards for the distinguished guests to stay temporarily.
After everyone was settled, they recited Buddhist scriptures, chanted Buddha's name, prayed for blessings, and copied scriptures.
Qi Qinghe was overwhelmed when he saw the difficult Sanskrit. After chanting with the abbot for an hour, his mouth was dry and his tongue was parched by the end.
"Amitabha." The abbot bowed. "I'll prepare a small lunch for lunch. I hope you won't mind. After a short rest, please feel free to copy scriptures or kneel down to worship. Please don't go to the west backyard, as that is a forbidden area of this temple..."
The abbot talked a lot, and apart from not being able to go to the west backyard, there were other taboos.
Qi Qinghe made up his mind to have a good sleep after dinner. Since he had nothing to do in the afternoon, he might as well go find Xiao Junluo and hang out together.
She had a good idea, but some people were not as good as she wanted.
"Empress sister-in-law, let's go together." Xiao Junluo thought about it all the way, fearing that the Empress sister-in-law would be left alone again and be bullied.
The scene of the emperor’s sister-in-law falling into the water is still vivid in my mind.
Faced with the little girl's expectant eyes, Qi Qinghe suddenly couldn't say anything to refuse.
The food provided by the temple was extremely bland and barely edible.
She really couldn't get used to the food, so she took a few bites and didn't move her chopsticks anymore.
Xiao Juntang, who was passing by, muttered quietly, "He really takes himself too seriously."
Perhaps because she had been punished and scolded so many times, she only reacted after she finished speaking. She looked around and then remembered that this was not the palace. She immediately relaxed, glared at Qi Qinghe fiercely, and left quickly.
Xiao Junluo paused in picking up the food and carefully examined the emperor's sister-in-law's expression. Seeing that she turned a deaf ear to him, he breathed a sigh of relief. "The Empress will go copy the scriptures in a while. If the emperor's sister-in-law doesn't like it, we can go somewhere else."
"Why should I be afraid of her?" Qi Qinghe said calmly. Since Qi Qingyu entered the palace, her departure was just around the corner. Since she would not stay in this palace, there was no need to be so timid.
Although the palace rules are strict, she just needs to control her mouth and not say anything careless.
Xiao Junluo raised his eyebrows and noticed that the emperor's sister-in-law seemed a little different.
The imperial concubine used the excuse of feeling unwell to stay at home, while the queen and her entourage of four went to the Sutra Repository.
With the little monk's introduction, the remaining two people paid homage to these Buddha statues one by one.
The afternoon sunlight felt warm and comfortable on my body, and even the entire hall was coated with a layer of golden light.
Looking at these Buddhas again at this time, they appear even more kind and benevolent.
After paying their respects to everyone, it was already mid-afternoon. The two of them found a vacant monk's room to have some tea and rest.
Unexpectedly, just as Qi Qinghe was about to sit down, the tightly closed door was suddenly pushed open with force.
Xiao Juntang rushed in angrily, pointed at Qi Qinghe, raised his eyebrows and said loudly: "Mother, she is here."
As she spoke, the twelve-year-old girl grabbed the Crown Princess and pushed her hard.
The force was so great that Qi Qinghe was caught off guard and fell to the ground. She was dazed for a moment, then frowned. The smile in her eyes disappeared and her tone became serious. "I understand that you are young, but since you call me the emperor's sister-in-law, as your elder, I should discipline you."
"You are disrespectful to your elders and are committing treason. Even though I am of humble origin, I am still the Crown Prince's legitimate wife. How can I tolerate your disrespect?"
She let the maid help her stand up straight. There was no smile on her face. Her ink-black eyes were gloomy and her voice was cold like frost and snow in the sky.
Xiao Juntang subconsciously took a step back, then thought of something and snorted and retorted, "You are worthy of being called an elder. You think no one knows what you did? Not to mention the emperor, even if the second emperor likes you, he won't want you."
Everything happened so fast that Xiao Junluo was furious when she heard her say this before she could react. "What nonsense! You are a princess, how dare you say such things? When we return to the palace, I will report you to my father."
"That's enough, the kids are just quarreling. Let the nanny come and take the two princes to rest." The queen's voice came from far away and stopped at the door of the monk's room.
The small monk's room was filled with people in an instant.
The Queen, the Imperial Concubine, Zhou Ruoyan, and a group of palace maids surrounded the room, and the two young princesses had been taken away.
"You're so arrogant, Crown Princess." The Queen sat down calmly. Her beautiful face showed no trace of time, only the fine lines at the corners of her eyes proved that she was no longer young. "Tang'er is young and ignorant. I just said something to you, but why did you get so angry? You even want to discipline me. Have you forgotten who you are after being the Crown Princess for a few months?"
"Looking at you like this, I'm afraid you won't recognize it. Miss Zhou, you tell me." said the queen.
Zhou Ruoyan crouched down and spoke slowly, "Half an hour ago, I felt sick in my stomach and was heading to the toilet. I never expected to run into the Crown Princess and that monk... Please forgive me, Crown Princess. It was truly unintentional."
As she spoke, Zhou Ruoyan turned to Qi Qinghe and kowtowed, her fair forehead instantly becoming red and swollen.
The Queen snorted coldly and glanced at the Crown Princess. "What else do you have to say?"
Qi Qinghe smiled lightly, "If Her Majesty the Queen thinks I am like this, then I am like this."
"But I do want to ask one more question." Qi Qinghe looked down at Zhou Ruoyan. "Miss Zhou, since you saw me having an affair with someone else, why didn't you expose me on the spot, allowing the monk to escape? Now I'm left alone, without a confrontation, and you're just talking nonsense."
"Of course, I'm alone and powerless. If the Queen is convinced that I did it, I have nothing to say." She smiled, "I think the Queen will give me a chance to refute it."
The two sentences were spoken very quickly, without giving the queen any chance to interrupt, and only putting her on a pedestal.
The Queen laughed in anger, "What a clever talker! Miss Zhou has no grudge against you, so why would she frame you? It's clearly you who's making excuses with your eloquence. In my opinion, you should be arrested first."
After he finished speaking, the palace maids around him rushed forward and held Qi Qinghe down.
These palace servants worked all year round and were extremely strong, and they were able to hold Qi Qinghe down so hard that she couldn't even struggle.
Cheng Xi, who was following the Crown Princess, saw the crisis and stepped in front of her. "This matter is of great importance. She is the Crown Princess after all. Even if there is an affair, it should be decided by His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Your Majesty, why don't you return to the palace tomorrow and make plans later?"
Unexpectedly, just as the voice fell, the Crown Princess behind him suddenly spoke up, "The Queen said there was no grudge or hatred, but how could she know the whole story?"
"Miss Zhou is holding a grudge against me simply because I caught you and the Fourth Prince yesterday, already acquainted and in love with each other. But you picked the wrong person. You said I was having an affair with a monk, but now that monk is nowhere to be found. You have no evidence, so how could you frame me based on that?"
Qi Qinghe sneered and met the Queen's gaze. "Of course, with such a huge Wanguo Temple, it's not difficult to bribe a monk. Using the same trick a second time, do you think everyone else is a fool?"
Hearing this, the indifferent and speechless imperial concubine finally raised her eyelids and looked at the woman who was kneeling in the middle by the palace servants, with a hint of admiration in her eyes.
In this harem, such tricks emerge one after another. If you always accept your fate, how can you survive?
The imperial concubine had no problem with her daughter-in-law, but she saw that she was weak in character and didn't care much about being bullied. How could she survive in the palace?
"Okay, sister, are you worried that this incident is not big enough and want to spread it throughout the Wanguo Temple?" The imperial concubine said lazily.
"There was no monk involved in the affair, and no palace maid accompanying Miss Zhou saw me. I will deny it until my death." Qi Qinghe said coldly, "After all, my father is an official in the court. He is not an ordinary person who can be easily manipulated. If the Queen insists on making me confess, I would rather die here."
Her tone was firm, her stubborn eyes were full of frost as she stared at the queen, her lips bitten bright red by her teeth.
No one spoke in the entire monk's room for a while.
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