Chapter 13: Brother, at that time she was not yet the young master of the Yu Mansion, but...
Yu Qing noticed Qingjia's gaze and felt her nervousness.
She winked at Master Anren, asking him to be careful with his words and not to really scare the princess.
As a result, Anren shook his head and didn't know whether he saw it or not.
"Amitabha, this donor has too much murderous aura, and his karma far outweighs that of others. Although this lady has a noble body, her destiny is weak and she cannot withstand any conflict," An Ren said. "In my humble opinion, the two of you should not be together, otherwise it will definitely harm her."
Yu Qing was speechless for a moment, thinking, I asked you to help tell a few lies, but I didn’t ask you to say anything so serious!
Qing Jia beside him was stunned: "What do you mean... Are you saying that our fates are incompatible?"
The mage said, "It's not that they are incompatible. It's just that this donor has committed murder and is destined to be alone. Unless you are a strong-willed person, you will inevitably be hurt if you get close to him."
Yu Qing asked first, "Is what the master said true?"
One of her hands was constantly making a downward gesture at her side.
Anren looked at her with a hint of doubt, not understanding what was going on. "Amitabha, monks don't tell lies."
Yu Qing: “…”
Yu Qing asked, "Is there a solution?"
"It's hard to say. You can give it a try and see if you can be sincere."
Before Yu Qing could speak, Qing Jia, who had been silent for a long time, spoke first: "Thank you, Master, for telling me. Although I have been ill for a long time, I have the blessings of my ancestors, so I believe I am not destined to be so miserable. Now that our marriage is arranged, I cannot easily break it up because of this theory of fate."
Xie Jing didn't know what An Ren and Yu Qing were planning. He thought his identity was going to be exposed and was worried for a while. Now that he understood everything, he found it unbelievable.
What's this about killing evil fate? Is this master really a great monk? He suspected that this person was trying to cheat people out of their money.
Even if it is true that Yu Qing is his inferior, he can't just go back to the palace and find a new consort for him, right?
Such words, whether true or false, must not be spread, lest there be another disturbance in the palace.
Besides, if it were someone else, they would probably be worse than the one in front of me.
Yu Qing was stunned. She didn't expect the princess to say this so firmly.
After all, Qingjia is a weak woman who is as fragile as a willow in the wind. She would even fall down if the wind blew by the pond. Shouldn't she be afraid after hearing about killing, karma, and life-threatening things?
Qingjia might not just be brave...but she really regarded herself as the husband who would accompany her for life, so she had no hesitation at all.
"My lady, you've misunderstood. I'm not trying to break up your marriage, but this karma is truly difficult to eliminate," Anren explained. "This donor needs to purify his mind and abstain from desires in order to cleanse his karma. After returning, copy scriptures, burn incense daily, and fast and chant at the temple on the first and fifteenth days of each month. Refrain from killing, and always be compassionate. Only by slowly accumulating merit can you gradually eliminate the sin of killing. Until then, the two of you must remember not to get too close, so that my lady won't be harmed."
Hmm? Xie Jing frowned slightly after hearing this.
Although he didn't quite believe it, the wizard's words seemed... very beneficial to him.
He still had doubts, but Yu Qing seemed to believe the mage's words without a doubt.
"...Master, what you said makes sense. I have indeed killed countless lives. Thank you for your guidance. I will follow your instructions carefully and will never hurt my wife."
Xie Jing: “…”
I didn't expect that this fool actually believed it.
That's just right. With this said, at least for a while, he won't have to worry about sleeping together.
However, Yu Qing agreed too readily, which did not fit Xie Jing's perception of men.
In the palace, the emperor had three harems and six courtyards, and each prince had a host of wives and concubines. All men were unable to resist greed. However, Yu Qing had no complaints.
At the end of the performance, Master Anren gave each of them a string of blessed bracelets, and also took out a talisman for Qingjia to ward off disasters and prolong his life.
He then gave Yu Qing detailed instructions on how to worship Buddha and pray for blessings. He then asked the young monk to fetch some vegetarian food and invited the two of them to the dining hall.
While waiting for the meal, Princess Qingjia held the amulet in her hand, pondered for a moment, and said, "Prince Consort, what do you think of what the master said just now?"
Anren is just talking nonsense, Yu Qing thought.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I promise to obey his orders, sincerely recite the Buddha's name, and maintain my composure. If Your Highness is afraid, I will avoid appearing before you until your sins are absolved."
Xie Jing said quietly, "That's not what I meant. Fate is unpredictable, even a great monk can't predict it. After all, I'm a princess of a country, blessed with good fortune. I believe that I won't be arbitrarily interfered with. Compared to myself, I care more about my husband."
"...Me?" Yu Qing said.
"Your Highness is a national commander, having fought bravely and defended the country from foreign enemies. These are all meritorious deeds. If it weren't for you, countless civilians would have been displaced. But now it's being treated as karma, not merit. This is unfair. I don't think you deserve to atone for your sins, nor do you deserve to suffer such injustice."
Every word the princess said was sincere, and Yu Qing was surprised and moved for a moment.
Before, she only thought that the princess was a weak, quiet, pure and introverted girl, but now she suddenly realized that she had underestimated her.
As Qing Jia said, a princess of a country, even if she has lived in the deep palace for a long time, will still have the temperament and insight of a princess.
The princess was very understanding, but this made things difficult for her. Thinking that she was still deceiving the princess, Yu Qing felt a little guilty and remorseful.
"...There is no such thing as being wronged or not. It is my blessing to serve Your Highness... It is better to believe in fate than not to believe in it. I will listen carefully to what the master says and regard it as accumulating blessings for you." Yu Qing said cautiously.
Xie Jing was also thinking about it at this time. He had just tried to make concessions, but Yu Qing remained unmoved.
It didn't seem like his illusion...Yu Qing didn't seem to care about consummating the marriage at all.
Does he really believe in fate, or is there something else going on?
Xie Jing had long found it strange. Someone like Yu Qing didn't look like someone who would worship Buddha. If she were a lady from a noble family, it would be fine, but why would a general like him say he wanted to come to a temple?
His mind raced as he recalled the details of Yu Qing's interactions with him in the past, trying to find some clues.
Could it be that Yu Qing...actually has a lover secretly?
Or was it because he was forced into marriage and hated the princess?
So even though he appeared respectful on the surface, he actually despised the princess and didn't want to get close to her...
Xie Jing suddenly felt unwell.
He definitely didn't want a man to like him much.
He was just worried that the situation would become complicated and affect his own safety.
But Yu Qing hadn't shown any signs of this. Was he hiding it too well? Looking at that handsome face, Xie Jing suddenly felt a sense of inexplicable panic.
The young monk who was delivering the vegetarian food brought up a stack of food boxes and said, "Amitabha, I'm sorry for the long wait, my two donors."
"Let me do it, thank you, Master."
Yu Qing took the food box and arranged the plates inside. She said to Qing Jia, "The vegetarian food at Tanyin Temple is very popular with pilgrims, so I asked Master Anren to prepare a meal. Your Highness, please try it first and see if you think you can handle it."
Xie Jing took a quick look. Although they were all vegetarian, they were definitely not crude. He took a bite and said, "Hmm, it tastes very good."
"It's a bit bland, but I just wanted to give Your Highness a taste," Yu Qing said. "If it doesn't suit your taste, use less. We can eat something else later."
Since marrying into the Marquis's Mansion, Princess Qingjia has never been treated poorly in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation.
In fact, Xie Jing was not a master who enjoyed a good life in the palace. The share allocated to him was just a little bit, and the people in the palace treated him differently based on his status.
At the worst time, what was served were leftovers and defective items. Even this kind of vegetarian food was not available.
"I'm not that rich, and these dishes taste delicious," said Xie Jing.
"Well, I'll serve you some more food."
After the meal, Yu Qing took the princess to wash her hands. Qing Jia suddenly asked, "You don't come back to the capital often, so how come you are so familiar with this place and know the monks here? I don't think your husband is a devout Buddhist."
Yu Qing smiled and said, "Although I don't worship Buddha, I come to this Tanyin Temple every year when I return to Kyoto."
Xie Jing asked curiously, "Why?"
There was no need to hide this from the princess, so Yu Qing said, "Your Highness, you can come with me."
Xie Jing followed him through the Zen room and up the stairs, where he saw the outline of a temple high up. As he approached, Xie Jing found it even more solemn and peaceful than the one below.
"Which Bodhisattva is enshrined here?"
Yu Qing pointed to him and said, "This is where the eternal lamps are placed to bless the souls of the deceased to rest in peace."
Following the direction the other party pointed, Xie Jing saw the flickering lights between the cracks in the palace door.
Yu Qing uttered an "Ah" and turned his head: "Your Highness, you are not afraid, are you?"
Xie Jing gave him a strange look. This wasn't a will-o'-the-wisp, so what was there to be afraid of?
There are deaths and hauntings in the palace every now and then. If you are afraid of even this, how can you be alive?
Although the identity of Princess Qingjia was a disguise, he didn't think he had deliberately pretended to be so... weak, right? Yu Qing's protection of him was a bit too much.
He shook his head: "I'm not afraid."
"My brother's lamp is placed here." Yu Qing said.
Xie Jing was stunned.
Yu Qing explained, "I actually had an older brother, who passed away over a decade ago. In terms of talent, I'm probably not as good as him. He was very skilled with swords and spears. When I was little, he would practice with the sword, and I'd stand by and follow his movements with a branch."
She said, smiling.
That was the time she missed most in her life. Even though she was in a remote small town in the northern part of the Great Wall, she was carefree, relaxed and happy.
At that time, she was not the youngest son of the Yu family, but the youngest daughter of the Yu family.
Her brother could pick her up with one hand, take her on horseback, carry her to the city wall to watch the sunset, and bring her all kinds of novel gadgets from the market.
The brother she had always looked up to was shot in the chest by an iron arrow from the northern barbarians in a great battle while trying to protect women and children.
Yu Qing still remembers that Yu Lang was carried into the city with a pale face and unconscious.
The military doctors said the young general would not survive. Blood oozed from under the stretcher, dripping into the dust. For the first time in her life, she felt her heart pounding.
Yu Qing's parents stayed by his brother's bed all night long, and he heard their long sighs.
"I must avenge my brother," she thought, "I want my parents to stop being sad."
Yu Lang was incredibly tenacious, and he truly endured the first half month. Once the situation stabilized somewhat, the Marquis of Xuanbei immediately dispatched troops to escort Madam Lu and her injured eldest son back to the capital for recuperation, along with... her youngest son, who had been born at the border.
Famous doctors from all over were summoned to treat the prince, but they were all unable to save him. The blood vessels in Yu Lang's lungs could not be repaired, and he could only try his best to stay alive.
Mrs. Lu, who never believed in fate, learned to pray to God and Buddha. Yu Qing also followed her mother and listened to the monks' lectures in Tanyin Temple, half-understanding them, and listened to them comforting her mother. It was at that time that they met Master Anren.
After Yu Lang passed away, Marquis Xuanbei wrote a letter to the Emperor Ming, appointing his second son Yu Qing as the crown prince.
"After my brother was injured and passed away, we offered him a perpetual lamp here," said Yu Qing.
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