The cheerful and melodious music stopped. The dancer on the stage leaned forward slightly, her skirt slipped down, revealing her snow-white shoulders. Her eyes were charming and gentle, and she smiled sweetly as she retreated.

After the geisha left, the music became passionate and majestic. A group of shirtless male dancers wearing only wide-legged pants climbed onto the platform and began to dance in imitation of fighting postures. Dense drum beats sounded, and the dance was fierce and brave. It was a martial dance.

There was thunderous applause from the audience.

Yaoying watched with great interest, then turned her head to glance at Tanmarajiva, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself, her smile slightly fading.

He was a monk, so she couldn't drag him into discussing how beautiful the singing and dancing were.

She was already surprised that he could travel with her in this way.

Tanmarajiva had his back to the car window, concentrating on handling his daily affairs. His sharpness was completely suppressed in his gentle and graceful coldness, his aura was solemn, and his appearance was dignified. The light shining through the slits of the car curtains cut across his profile, outlining deep and sharp lines. From a distance, his head was a layer of fuzzy light blue, but when he looked closely from a close distance, the stubble was actually very light, almost invisible.

Yaoying looked at him in a daze, and a question popped up in her mind: Does he shave his stubble every few days?

Tanmaraka raised his eyes and looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes.

Why don’t you watch it?

Yao Ying came back to her senses, smiled to cover up, and said, "Master, I'm going to get off the car to buy some things."

Tanmaraka nodded and said, "Let Bamil and the others follow you."

She hummed and got off the carriage. There were many people wearing masks in the market, and she and her bodyguard blended into the crowd and were not conspicuous.

Today is the last day of the event, and the market is more lively than the previous few days. Merchants from all over the world are shouting in different languages, selling all kinds of things.

Yao Ying went shopping and found that she could see soldiers patrolling back and forth every ten or so steps. There had been an assassination a few days ago, so the Imperial Guards must have sent more men.

There were a few people who looked like herdsmen selling thorny honey. Yaoying walked over and bought all the thorny honey.

The season for harvesting honeysuckle has passed. It is rare to see fruits as big as grapes, so she will buy all the good ones she sees.

After walking around for a long time, Yaoying looked back and saw the carriage parked in the corner with the curtains lowered.

Tanmarajiva in the carriage must still be reading documents.

Even though he was in the midst of the world, he was still a lofty Buddhist, out of tune with the bustling city.

Yaoying couldn't help but think: As a Buddhist, he lives a secluded life and usually only attends important rituals and celebrations. Is today the first time that he has left Wang Temple privately as a Buddhist?

A figure walked towards her, and Bami immediately stepped forward to stop the person.

The man took off the mask, revealing a young face with a smile. The young man bowed to Yao Ying and made an inviting gesture.

Bamil lowered his guard and whispered to Yaoying, "He wants to invite you to dance."

Yao Ying shook her head.

The young man showed a look of disappointment. He stood up straight, stretched his body, and showed off his tall and strong figure.

Yaoying was still shaking her head.

The young man sighed dejectedly, smiled, picked a flower and handed it to Yaoying.

Bamil said, "Today is the last day of the grand event. Everyone is giving flowers to each other, splashing water on each other to bless and play. It's okay for you to accept them."

Yao Ying looked towards the carriage. The curtains were tightly closed and she couldn't see what was going on inside. After thinking for a while, she shook her head.

The young man showed a surprised expression, quickly stopped joking, bowed to Bamir as a token of thanks, and left with the flowers.

Yao Ying looked up at Bamir.

Bamil stiffened and said awkwardly, "Today, young people can give flowers to the girls or men they admire to express their admiration, regardless of their status. No matter how many people send flowers, you can accept them, unless you have someone in your heart. You just refused to accept it, so he thought you already had a lover."

He stood beside the princess with a vigilant look, and the young man mistook him for the princess's lover.

Lover?

Yaoying repeated these two words silently in her heart, and a smile appeared on her lips.

Bamir didn't dare to laugh. He turned his head cautiously to look at the carriage. He felt as if two pairs of eyes were falling on him. He broke out in a cold sweat and subconsciously stood a little further away from Yaoying.

When the martial dance on the stage ended, all the dancers in their best costumes left the colorful tent and walked into the crowd, singing and dancing. The common people danced with them. Young girls and young men danced together arm in arm, and the atmosphere was lively.

Yaoying watched for a while and then left the crowd.

Not far away, there were shouts of joy, and a group of young people carrying several wooden barrels ran past her laughing.

The music became more rapid.

Bamir's face changed and he said, "Not good! Let's go back quickly."

Before Yao Ying could ask anything, there were a few splashing sounds, and several young men picked up wooden basins and splashed water at the crowd while laughing. They were close to the crowd, and the basin of cold water splashed towards them, soaking everyone.

The young man laughed so hard that he fell backwards and continued to splash water at them.

Bamir's face turned pale and he reached out to draw his sword.

Yao Ying stopped him and said, "I have heard about the customs of the royal court. This is their blessing and it won't cause any trouble."

The ritual of splashing water originated from India and was later introduced to the royal court with the spread of Buddhism. The ritual of splashing water would be performed on the royal court’s Buddha bathing ceremonies, begging for cold weather and other grand festivals. People would splash water for fun and wish each other well.

Bamir bowed and stepped back, standing in front of her and protecting her as she walked back.

After the singing and dancing, the people began to revel. With the sound of bright and sonorous drums, water carts that had been prepared long ago drove into the long street. People swarmed forward and splashed water on each other. Under the sunlight, the water splashed and reflected colorful lights.

Although Yao Ying and her group quickened their pace and left the long street, they were still splashed with water by pedestrians on the road.

When she returned to the carriage, Yaoying's clothes were soaked, even her hair was wet, and water droplets were dripping down her cuffs, hem of her clothes, and her hair.

Bamir stood outside and pleaded guilty.

Tanmarajiva's eyebrows were slightly wrinkled.

Yao Ying took off her mask and chuckled, not looking angry at all: "It's okay, this is all a blessing."

Tanmaraka looked at her wet face and handed her a handkerchief: "Wipe it."

He had read many books about the Central Plains and knew the differences between the Central Plains and the royal court. The tribal system and feudal system of the royal court were completely different from those of the Central Plains, and the customs were also very different. She was able to adapt to the local customs.

Yaoying wiped her face and shuddered. The weather had gotten cooler recently, and even though it was daytime, her wet clothes still felt a bit cold against her body.

Tanmaraka's gaze fell on her.

She huddled in the corner of the carriage, untied her soaked bun, and twisted it. Her long, thick black hair hung down wetly, spilling over her shoulders. Her dress was thin and light, and after getting wet, it clung tightly to her skin, like a petal in early spring that had just been stained with a bit of rouge, half red and half white, hazy, her snow-white skin seemed to be able to see through the dress, her round shoulders, slightly raised snow-white chest, and slender and soft waist were faintly visible in the dim light.

Looking further down, one could even vaguely see her slender legs, and her whole body was wet.

Tanmarajiva immediately looked away. He had no intention of looking at her, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of her, he took it all in.

In the narrow carriage, a faint fragrance floated in the air, and her scent was everywhere.

Tanmo Luojia put down the parchment, picked up a thin blanket, wrapped Yaoying in it, and held her tightly, "Don't freeze."

Yaoying clutched the thin blanket tightly and smiled at him, her cheeks rosy and slightly flushed.

Tanmarajika withdrew his hand, closed his eyes, retreated to the other end of the carriage, turned his back, knocked lightly on the felt curtain, and signaled Bamir to hurry back to the royal temple.

The carriage sped up, and after a few miles, it slowed down again. There was a lot of noise all around, and Bamil said from outside the curtain: "There's a traffic jam ahead. An envoy is riding an elephant into the city, and half of the streets are blocked."

Yaoying lifted a corner of the car curtain and looked out, and actually saw a few elephants walking slowly on the long street.

I don't know which country this delegation is from, but the entry ceremony is so elaborate.

Tanmarajiva handed over a copper talisman.

Bamir took the bronze talisman and went to find the guard. After a while, the carriage turned into a side road and went smoothly all the way. Soon, it arrived at the royal temple. However, it did not enter the temple gate, but went directly to the mansions with deep courtyards outside the walls of the royal temple.

One of the mansions was Tanmarajiva's residence, with a secret passage leading to the royal temple and the hot spring. He had been recuperating here for the past few days.

The carriage drove directly into the courtyard. Yaoying got off the carriage wrapped in a blanket. She had to wash and change clothes quickly.

The guards brought hot water, and she took a bath and changed into a robe. Yuan Jue came over with a bowl of medicine: "The king said that the princess caught a cold today, and she needs to drink a bowl of medicine soup. It has candied fruit in it, so it's not bitter at all."

A warm feeling surged through Yaoying's heart. She took the bowl and drank the medicine in one gulp.

She asked her personal guard to deliver the things she bought in the market to Li Zhongqian, and then walked into the house.

The abbot had important matters to report, so Tanmarajava went to the royal temple.

Yaoying found a copper vase, put a flower bud in it, and placed it next to Tanmarajiva's desk. She looked at it for a while, felt it was not right, moved the copper vase to a corner, thought about it, and moved it back.

After a while, she took the copper bottle away and placed it under the platform outside the window.

The guard came over to report: "Princess, according to your letter, there are several foreign envoys who want to see you. Xie Quan has brought them here."

Yaoying read the letter and couldn't believe it. She was surprised and delighted: "Please ask the master to come in!"

She couldn't wait and hurried out with the letter.

Several turbaned men came in, led by bodyguards. The leading man had an old face and a pair of eyes that gleamed with wisdom. When he saw her, a slight smile appeared on his face and he clasped his hands together.

Yao Ying stepped forward quickly and returned the greeting with a smile: "Master, how are you?"

The man standing in front of her was the monk Mondadeva, whom she had met in Chang'an, reunited with in the royal court, and then parted ways with.

Mundadeva smiled: "The princess is becoming more and more radiant."

Yao Ying smiled. Mengda Deva had been dealing with the nobles for a long time, and he still had the habit of saying nice things to everyone he met. "Why didn't you tell me that the mage came to the royal court? I wanted the caravan to take care of the mage."

Mondadeva said slowly, "I left the royal court before because the water moss can suppress the king's injury, but it can't cure it. After returning to India, I traveled to various places and searched for medical books. Although I didn't find a prescription to cure the king's illness, I got some results. In addition, I received a letter from the princess, so I came back to treat the king. Coincidentally, there was an envoy to the royal court in the place where I was traveling. I went the same way as them, which saved me a lot of trouble."

Yaoying had been keeping in touch with Monda Deva, asking how to cure Tanmaraga. She guessed that Monda Deva came back for Tanmaraga's health, but was afraid that she was wrong. Now that her guess was confirmed, she was overjoyed and so excited that she was speechless for a long time.

She sent someone to deliver the message to Wangsi.

Soon, Bhisatta, who heard the news, rushed over and happily led Mundadeva to see Tanmaragha.

When Tanmarajaga returned to the courtyard from the royal temple, he saw Mundadeva and was stunned for a moment, without saying a word.

The inner room became quiet, and the candlelight flickered slightly.

The two looked at each other for a moment. Mundadeva bowed to Tanmarajapā first and took his pulse. After looking at his pulse, he frowned and sighed.

"Since we parted, I'm sure Wang is still busy and busy practicing martial arts..."

Bi Suo sighed deeply and asked anxiously, "Do you have a cure?"

Mundadeva shook his head and said, "I haven't found it yet, but I found a few good remedies that you can try."

After hearing the first half of the sentence, Bisa was a little disappointed, but when she heard him say that she could try the magic recipe, an expectant expression appeared on her face again.

Tanmarajya remained calm and said calmly, "Thank you for your hard work, Master."

Mengda Deva smiled and said humbly: "Your Majesty led the army to defeat the Northern Rong, shocking all directions and making all the countries submit to you. In the chaotic times, your Majesty alone is responsible for the safety of tens of thousands of people. If you can cure your Majesty, we can ensure decades of peace and stability, and benefit tens of thousands of lives. I dare not complain about the hard work."

Bi Suo smiled and said, "The master's residence has been cleaned up. This time, the master will stay longer."

Mundadeva smiled and said, "Whether the magic prescription is effective or not, I will stay in the royal court for a long time."

Bisa was overjoyed and rubbed her hands with joy.

Tanmaraka's eyes moved from Mundadeva's face to the flickering candle flame. "Life and death are impermanent, everything is empty, and nothing can be forced. The master said that if he can't cure my illness, he will not return to the royal court."

He and Mundadeva had different ideas, but they respected each other and did not criticize each other's teachings. After completing the agreement, Mundadeva set off for India and there was no need to come back.

Mundadeva nodded and said, "Before I left, I really felt that I would never return to the royal court in this lifetime."

The path he was seeking was not in the royal court.

"Why did the wizard turn back?"

Mundadeva looked at Dhammaraka and replied, "For two people."

Tanmarajiva’s eye veil was lifted.

Bi Su looked bewildered. "Besides the king, who else is it for?"

Didn’t the master come back for Tanmaragha?

Mengda Deva folded his hands and bowed, "It's also for Princess Wen Zhao."

Tanmaraka looked at him for a long time without saying anything.

Mundadeva took out a few letters from his sleeve, placed them on the long table and spread them out. The handwriting on the envelopes was elegant and graceful.

Tanmarajiva lowered her eyes and picked up the letter.

The first letter was written a year ago, and he recognized Yaoying's handwriting.

In the letter, she said that her condition had worsened and asked Mundadeva how to relieve the pain.

The symptoms described in the letter were all his symptoms.

He picked up another letter, which was written ten months ago. It was still asking about the symptoms, but this time it was more specific.

At that time, she didn't know that the martial arts he practiced were strange, so she guessed that he used elixirs to stimulate his martial arts and was attacked by the elixirs. She asked a lot of questions about elixirs. Her mother went crazy because of the Indian elixir, and she was afraid that he took too many elixirs.

Tanmarajiva continued to read the letter.

In the next letter, she obviously knew that he had practiced the secret techniques of Buddhism, and all the questions she asked were about the secret techniques of India. She asked Monda Deva to help find out whether India had practiced similar techniques and whether there was any way to completely cure the disease.

Tanmarajiva finished reading the last letter and closed his eyes.

She lied to him.

She said that after that farewell, she would never come back, would never write to him again, and would never mention him again...

But she wrote a letter to Mundadeva and discussed his illness with him.

Even if she decided to have nothing to do with him anymore, she would still silently care about his health.

Although these letters were all written in her own voice and did not contain any words about him and the royal court, Tanmarajika knew that these letters were all written for him.

She was afraid that the letter would reveal his secret if it fell into the hands of others, so she wrote the letter in an obscure way so that someone who was not an insider would not be able to understand it even if they intercepted the letter.

Mundadeva traveled to various places, and the distance between them was very far. She must have written several identical letters and sent them out at regular intervals to ensure that the letters would eventually reach Mundadeva.

The room was quiet for a long time.

Bi Suo was horrified and remained silent for a long time. He could not read Chinese characters, but he could guess who wrote the letter.

Monda Deva said slowly: "Princess Wen Zhao has been kind to me, and we are connected by fate. After I left the royal court, the princess often wrote to me, asking about the king's condition, and also sent caravans to India to look for famous doctors. Some of the wonderful prescriptions I found were recommended by those famous doctors. The princess has been sending people to look for famous doctors in various countries."

Tanmaraka clenched his fingers and held the letter tightly.

…

Yao Ying personally took people to see the residence prepared for Mundadeva and had them remove some of the furnishings.

As he was giving the order, a personal guard came to report: "Princess, there is another letter, sent by the person who came with Master Mundadeva."

Yaoying took the letter, read it, and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I forgot to ask you, which country's delegation did Master Mundadeva come with?"

"Princess, it seems to be called something like Maru Country."

Yaoying kept the letter.

It turns out that the elephants we saw today were presented by the Kingdom of Maru. It was such a coincidence that Mundadeva was traveling with them.

"Princess, the envoy from Malu left a message."

"What did the messenger say?"

The personal soldier coughed lightly and whispered, "The messenger said that he didn't expect the princess to fail. The princess helped him fulfill his wish, and he can also help the princess succeed in the shortest time. Although his magic weapons were confiscated by the royal court, he still kept a lot of them. He can teach them to her."

Yao Ying's mouth twitched.

The author has something to say: I forgot to mark the previous chapter. The monk’s dream was based on the Ksitigarbha Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. The dream was that the monk in the hell of endless suffering saw a beam of light and then entered the Pure Land (the legendary Pure Land).