Inner Temple.
As Yan Zhuoxu listened to Shuofeng's report, he pressed his thumb, and the prayer beads made a muffled "click" sound.
He suddenly looked up.
"You mean Ye Jinghong will also go up the mountain?"
"That's right." Shuofeng cupped his hands and said, "Shen Qingyuan ignored all the obstacles and insisted on going up the mountain even though the road surface was not yet stable, saying that she was coming to take her half-sister home."
"Ye Jinghong and Shen Qingyuan have been getting close these past few days. They must have been instructed by the Ye family to stay by Shen Qingyuan's side under the guise of praying for blessings and to have more contact with her."
"But I think he has his own agenda."
After saying that, he looked at Yan Zhuoxu's gloomy face and suddenly stopped talking.
"Speak," Yan Zhuoxu said coldly.
"Yes!" Shuofeng quickly bowed his head. "According to my investigation, Ye Jinghong has repeatedly given Shen Qingyuan the runaround, and has even been avoiding her these past few days."
"But isn't it strange that she became so enthusiastic as soon as she heard that she was coming to Duanyun Temple?"
"It must be because the Second Miss is here that he is so impatient."
Yan Zhuoxu sat there like a statue.
He didn't say a word for a long time.
Shuofeng felt the surrounding air grow colder and involuntarily shivered.
They didn't dare utter a sound.
He secretly glanced at Yan Zhuoxu.
He was wrapped in a bright yellow kasaya, but what he saw was not compassion, but an overwhelming sense of murderous intent and ferocity.
Like a demon from hell...
The prayer beads were slowly turned.
Yan Zhuoxu couldn't help but think about it over and over again.
She will be sober now and will forget everything that happened to them last night.
Forget that he kissed her.
My heart and eyes will only be filled with Ye Jinghong.
The longing that even drunkenness couldn't dispel is now about to reach her.
Could it be... that her sincerity truly moved her?
Yan Zhuoxu felt a sudden tightness in his chest.
The finger bones suddenly tightened.
Click—
He actually crushed several of the prayer beads.
The remaining beads tumbled down with a clatter, making a jarring sound in the empty hall.
The north wind made his pupils tremble.
What's wrong, Your Highness? Why are you so angry?
He even crushed his most prized Buddhist prayer beads...
A few beads rolled to Yan Zhuoxu's feet.
He didn't even look at it.
I looked up and gazed silently at the silent Buddha statue.
For the first time, he felt a sense of disrespect, bordering on resentment, towards the deity he revered and believed in.
Why should we fulfill her wish?
Why not take a look at his?
Why...why?
The Buddha statue, seated on a lotus pedestal, lowered its eyes and remained silent as incense ash fell.
He seemed to hear a distant chant, ethereal and ethereal, echoing in his ears.
Every sentence is clear.
"Those who rebel and defy will lose their own protection."
Yan Zhuoxu suddenly loosened his tightly clenched fist, his knuckles turning white, and his tall body trembled slightly from the pressure.
Yes, he has already renounced Buddha.
How can you even offer protection?
A surge of fierce anger welled up in his eyes; his expression was cold and hard, almost resolute.
That's how it is.
So he went to fight for it himself, he went to snatch it himself!
"Your Highness?" Shuofeng called out worriedly, noticing that something was wrong with him.
Yan Zhuoxu turned her gaze and looked at him quietly.
"Go to the palace and fetch me something."
...
The imperial palace, the residence of the Empress Dowager.
The Queen gripped the armrests of her chair in agitation. "What did you say?!"
"Xu'er wants a set of women's clothing?!"
She regained her composure, turned around, and curtsied to the Empress Dowager at the head of the table, saying, "Your Majesty, I have been impolite and beg your forgiveness."
The Empress Dowager was so happy she couldn't stop smiling.
"Oh dear, not to mention you, I was startled too."
"Please sit down, please sit down." She waved her hand and then said to the eunuch who brought the news, "Tell me in detail, whose daughter is she?"
The eunuch said, "Reporting to the Empress Dowager and the Empress, it is Shen Zhiyi, the illegitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's family."
The Empress exclaimed excitedly, "Although she is a concubine's daughter, I have met this Shen Zhiyi. She is beautiful and talented. No wonder she could win Xu'er's heart."
"But she's pitiful; she lost her mother when she was young."
The Empress Dowager clutched her chest, as if a heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart for many years had finally been lifted.
"What does identity matter?"
"As long as Xu'er is willing to return to the palace, I will make the decision to make her a princess and bestow upon her a title. Let's see who dares to look down on her then."
She patted the maid's hand and said, "Go and find the pearl I recently acquired and send it to her as well."
The Empress suppressed her joy and said, "Those pearls are extremely rare, and Your Majesty is willing to part with them."
"On behalf of Xu'er, I thank Your Majesty."
The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "Don't be stingy. Since Xu'er wants clothes, you should make good arrangements and find some good materials."
"Don't mistreat them."
The Empress smiled and rose, "Of course."
"Then I shall take my leave."
This is the first time Xu'er has tried to please a woman. Besides clothes, she also needs to prepare some matching jewelry so as not to lose her royal demeanor.
But you can't have too much, lest you scare people away.
She left excitedly.
*
Shen Qingyuan went to Duanyun Temple along with these gifts.
She was already furious before she even saw Shen Zhiyi.
She originally thought that it was because her father had been favored by His Majesty these past few days that the Empress had sent someone to reward her.
They even went to Duanyun Temple to show how much they valued it.
But who knew it was for Shen Zhiyi!
It almost caused her to lose face in front of the eunuchs.
The maid Lianxing, avoiding Ye Jinghong, whispered to comfort her, "Miss, don't worry. Even if these rewards came from the palace, the quantity is still too small."
"Perhaps it was just some random stuff prepared to appease the second young lady."
Shen Qingyuan thought about it and agreed.
The mountain road had been blocked for so many days before Shen Zhiyi was finally able to stay in the temple.
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