Do not make unwarranted comments
Lan Yunyi remained silent with a gloomy expression.
Chen Ming continued indignantly, "That Chengxin appears to be untainted by worldly affairs, but she herself is no ordinary person. She is blinded by lust and flatters the powerful!"
"Princess Yao is licentious and immoral. On the second day of her marriage, she had an affair with another man. She has no respect for her husband at all!"
"Enough!" Lan Yunyi suddenly slammed her fist on the table, making the pen holder on the table jump and then fall to the ground with a crash.
His eyes turned as sinister and ruthless as usual, causing Magistrate Chen to shudder and immediately fall silent.
Lan Yunyi closed his eyes briefly, his gaze returning to its usual calm and serene state. He sat back down, unwrapping the bandages from his hands as he said, "One must not speak ill of the princess."
All the bandages fell to his feet. He stepped on one of the bandages and kicked it aside, then continued, "That's just how Chengxin is. Back then, Daoist Fengzhen and Xuanmingzi also spoke privately with Chengxin in front of the Buddha, with no outsiders present."
Chen Ming's outburst stemmed from his concern for Lan Yunyi. However, Lan Yunyi disliked others interfering in his family affairs, so whether it was about the princess or anything else, he hoped Chen Ming would refrain from meddling in his business in the future.
Lan Yunyi hardened her heart and made up an excuse to have Zhou Sui send Chen Ming back. Chen Ming's appearance, as if his son had been bewitched by a vixen, annoyed Lan Yunyi even more. She waved for Zhou Sui to leave quickly, then got up and returned to Lingshan Temple with A Yuan.
The princess spent the day after her wedding alone with another man in a room. This would not have been a big deal in the capital, and the prince consort would not even have the right to interfere. But this was Xiliang City, far from the emperor's reach, and he was the garrison general protecting the region.
The emperor wanted the princess to act recklessly in Xiliang and embarrass him, but he had his own ways to save face.
Two fast horses came to a stop in front of the gate of Lingshan Temple, looking very imposing. Lan Yunyi dismounted and was about to step into the main hall when a monk suddenly stopped him.
"General..."
Lan Yunyi glanced at him. The little monk continued to stammer, "Buddha, in this sacred Buddhist site, one cannot carry a long sword."
Lan Yunyi raised an eyebrow, and suddenly A Yuan flashed over, a short sword unsheathed in her hand, pointing straight at the little monk's throat.
The little monk's face turned as white as paper, and some people around couldn't help but scream when they saw this.
A-Yuan coldly asked, "Can I bring the short sword?"
The little monk opened his mouth but couldn't speak.
Lan Yunyi ignored it and took a long stride across the threshold.
*
After Chengxin closed the door, Shen Yao was not in a hurry to reveal all the beautiful lines of poetry. Instead, she first explained her true purpose for coming—she wanted to open a health school in Xiliang City and hoped that the school would receive the endorsement of Lingshan Temple and the imperial court.
In her previous life, she was the CEO of an investment company. In recent years, the company's funds have mainly been concentrated in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. However, the company's main task is sales rather than research and development. Therefore, Shen Yao knew that she could not become a miracle doctor who could save lives. If she wanted to improve her status and prestige, she had to find other ways.
She thought of education.
She was very wealthy in both her past and present lives. She had no problem with funding and premises if she wanted to open a school. The problem was how to build the school's reputation and attract students.
The original owner had a terrible reputation, but a princess is a princess. As a member of the royal family, she could directly contact the emperor. In the prosperous dynasty, there was no more authoritative body than the royal family.
In Xiliang, besides Lan Yunyi, whom she judged to be absolutely unable to help her, and Prince Jing, whose allegiance was unclear, there was also Abbot Chengxin of Lingshan Temple.
After she finished telling Chengxin her thoughts, Chengxin wasn't surprised. He was already prepared for any worldly person who came to him, as they were bound to be after trivial matters like power and profit.
But she still turned her head and frowned, revealing an expression of extreme annoyance.
“Ten articles,” Chengxin suddenly said.
For the sake of those exquisite lines, he decided to tolerate Shen Yao's unbearably vulgar writing.
Shen Yao said, "Alright."
Shen Yao quickly agreed and picked up her pen to start writing without saying a word.
Her understanding of classical Chinese poetry and prose was very superficial; she just had a good memory, and the classical texts she memorized in middle school were still etched in her mind. Chengxin was originally sitting opposite her, quietly drinking tea and waiting, occasionally glancing at her, but at some point she suddenly sat down next to Shen Yao, craning her neck and staring at what Shen Yao had written with a look of fascination.
Shen Yao felt a little uncomfortable, but she was afraid of being misunderstood as having other thoughts, so she continued writing one article after another without moving.
As I was writing the eighth chapter, there was a sudden knock on the door. The little monk who had left earlier returned and said urgently, "Master, General Lan has brought his men into the temple, and they are carrying weapons."
Shen Yao paused, then lifted her pen and looked out the door.
Chengxin raised an eyebrow and looked at the little monk: "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know..." the little monk said, but couldn't help glancing at Shen Yao, "He's sitting in the tea pavilion now, not saying a word, just drinking tea. What if he doesn't pay?"
Shen Yao paused, put down her pen, cupped her hands, and said, "My husband is not strict enough in disciplining his children, and Master has made a fool of himself."
Chengxin smiled and said, "Since the princess is a married woman, it would naturally displease the prince consort if she were to share a room with Chengxin."
Shen Yao then realized that something was slightly amiss.
Although she herself did not do anything outrageous, and having private dealings with monks was not a big deal in the capital, it still gave people something to talk about and made her husband a laughing stock.
On the other hand, Shen Yao had not yet received a valid promise from Cheng Xin, so she could not just leave like that.
Seeing Shen Yao's inner turmoil, Cheng Xin said, "So, does the princess want to go back with the prince consort, or stay here and continue our conversation?"
Shen Yao resolutely said, "Please ask the little master to pass on a message to the prince consort, saying that the princess and Master Chengxin are devoted to Buddhism, and ask the prince consort to wait a moment."
The young monk nodded, then turned and left.
Chengxin smiled. As Shen Yao picked up her pen to continue, Chengxin suddenly said, "Does the princess know that last year the general brought ten thousand taels of gold to Lingshan Temple to worship Buddha?"
Shen Yao shook her head, pretending not to know.
Chengxin said, "General Lan has a subordinate named Ayuan, whose health has always been poor. This man made a living by begging when he was young. General Lan sympathizes with him because they share the same plight, so he hopes that I can cure his illness."
Shen Yao said without looking up, "Human life is of paramount importance."
Chengxin smiled: "That's what I meant too, but that Ayuan specializes in torture and forced confessions. Rumor has it that he once shaved a person into three thousand pieces and threw them alive into a mass grave. If I were to punish him, I'm afraid I'd end up going to hell with them."
Shen Yao was speechless.
The book does mention this plot. The person who was executed by slow slicing was Lan Yunyi's subordinate. That person led the enemy troops into the camp of the Shengchao army, causing the Shengchao army, which was caught off guard that night, to almost be wiped out. The Zhenguo General also lost his life in that war.
At that time, Lan Yunyi was 19 years old. After hearing about this, she casually handed the person over to A Yuan and then immediately took over the position of Grand General.
Because of Lan Yunyi's calm demeanor and her special status as a traitor, everyone reasonably suspects that Lan Yunyi colluded with the enemy country in order to rise to power.
However, some speculate that Lan Yunyi's composure stemmed from the fact that the former general had long been disliked for embezzling military pay and oppressing the people; that traitor was actually a puppet planted by the Lan family. The Lan family had intended to take this opportunity to eliminate him, but unexpectedly, Lan Yunyi gained the support of others and rose to power through this influence.
No one knows when he started plotting this. He disregarded the lives of other soldiers for the sake of a general's position, which is undeniably ruthless and unpredictable.
When Shen Yao was reading the story, she couldn't empathize with the male lead's perspective, let alone the villainous male supporting character. So when she saw these scenes, she only thought Lan Yunyi was indeed ruthless. But now, she suddenly feels there are many doubts, and she doesn't even know where to begin criticizing him.
Regardless of the circumstances, the fact that Lan Yunyi ordered her men to execute people by slow slicing and then throw them into a mass grave to be fed to dogs is true and indeed extremely cruel.
Shen Yao stopped thinking about it and, after successfully writing the ten poems, handed them to Cheng Xin. Cheng Xin casually handed her a gold-covered book and then began to read what Shen Yao had written with great interest.
After thanking Chengxin, Shen Yao saw that Chengxin had no intention of sending her away, so she asked for another piece of paper, wrote down the advice that had already formed in her mind, and finally handed the letter to Chengxin, asking him to send it to the capital.
Chengxin opened Shen Yao's letter, glanced at it, and sneered, "The princess's flattery skills are exactly the same as the prince consort's."
Shen Yao said, "When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head."
Chengxin looked at her and said, "What is power in this world that would make a woman like you abandon the three obediences and four virtues and turn to learn the ways of the world?"
Shen Yao: "Shen Yao considers herself to be a law-abiding citizen and is determined not to be one who goes against the tide."
If she were the kind of person who wouldn't stand a chance, she probably wouldn't even last two moves against Lan Yunyi.
Chengxin smiled and waved her hand: "Go ahead, the prince consort is probably getting impatient at the tea pavilion."
Shen Yao stood up and said goodbye to Cheng Xin.
After leaving the side hall, she and Xia Guo, led by the young monk, arrived at the tea pavilion, where they saw Lan Yunyi enjoying a drink.
It was nearly dusk when suddenly the sound of drums filled the temple. Lan Yunyi looked up from her tea and caught sight of Shen Yao gracefully approaching.
Shen Yao and Lan Yunyi made eye contact for a moment, but Lan Yunyi pretended not to see her, quickly lowered his eyes, and blew on the tea that had completely cooled down.
Shen Yao stepped forward, walked to the pavilion, and called out to him. Lan Yunyi put down his cup, his eyes lighting up as if he had just noticed her.
Shen Yao adjusted her expression, lifted the hem of her skirt, and slowly walked up the steps. When she was almost in front of Lan Yunyi, Lan Yunyi finally stood up, took her arm, and said softly, "Your Highness has worked hard."
Shen Yao lowered her eyes. The gauze on Lan Yunyi's hand was gone, and the wound was exposed bare. For a soldier as weathered as him, this was probably considered a complete recovery.
Shen Yao didn't think much about it; she was more concerned about how to explain her meeting with Cheng Xin later.
Lan Yunyi didn't really think that she had just had a casual tea party with Chengxin out of boredom. When the school was established in the future, Lan Yunyi, as the leader of the town's garrison in Xiliang, would definitely not ignore it.
Shen Yao suddenly remembered Cheng Xin's words; even he, a monk, thought she was overly ambitious.
But being caught up in the situation, how could she remain indifferent?
Shen Yao paused for a moment, then smiled slightly as she composed herself: "You've worked hard, Prince Consort."
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