Before the controversy surrounding the "gift guide list" had subsided, a high-stakes gamble between the Crown Prince and the Princess was escalating. Inside the Kunning Palace, Emperor Xiao Che's "pregnancy anxiety" had quietly entered a new and more fantastical phase.
After raising the material defense level of Kunning Palace to an absurd level where "even flies that fly in must be female," this Master of Tension began to turn his attention to those unseen, intangible, yet seemingly omnipresent areas.
Evil spirits.
A malevolent aura.
Karmic obstacles.
These things, which he usually dismissed as nonsense, have now become three sharp swords hanging over his heart.
He began to wonder if some vengeful spirit from the previous dynasty was being suppressed beneath the foundation of Kunning Palace; and whether the shape of a Taihu stone in the Imperial Garden where Lin Wanwan took her daily walks was inauspicious and had offended the imperial heir.
He was even awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a cat meowing. He immediately summoned the imperial guards to thoroughly search the entire palace, suspecting that some "ominous thing" had infiltrated the palace.
Lin Wanwan watched him grow increasingly haggard, his eyes dark yet his spirits still high, and her heart was filled with worry. She knew that physical security was no longer enough for him; what he needed now was metaphysical, spiritual, ultimate solace.
So, on a sunny afternoon, when Xiao Che once again ordered a thorough investigation into the origin of a butterfly that flew over Lin Wanwan's head, Lin Wanwan finally couldn't help but sigh softly.
“Your Majesty, your anxiety stems from your love for me and my child. But the world is vast, and there are always things beyond our control, things that are ethereal and unpredictable.” She said softly, “I have heard that there is such a thing as good fortune in this world. If we can accumulate good fortune for my child, he will be protected by the gods and Buddhas and be free from all evil.”
"Good fortune?"
These two words, like a bolt of lightning in the night, instantly cleaved Xiao Che's mind, which was filled with anxiety!
Yes! How could I not have thought of that!
I've already done my best in physical defense! But there are still magical attacks!
I will not only build the strongest fortress for my child, but also cover him with the thickest "buff"!
He slapped his thigh suddenly, his eyes flashing with a light a hundred times brighter than when he designed the "Pregnancy Protection Hall"!
"Wanwan, you have awakened me once again!" He excitedly grasped Lin Wanwan's hand, his face filled with unprecedented fighting spirit. "I will not only accumulate blessings for our child, but also accumulate the most and strongest blessings for him in the entire world!"
An unprecedented national prayer conference, personally planned by the emperor and filled with the spirit of "involution," was thus formed in Xiao Che's fervent mind, filled with paternal love!
...
The following day, the Imperial Observatory.
Li Chunfeng, the supervisor in charge of royal sacrifices and celestial observation, was usually an old immortal with an air of otherworldly wisdom and as steady as Mount Tai. At this moment, he was holding a cup of hot tea, and his hands were trembling so much that he spilled the tea.
He stared wide-eyed at the radiant emperor on the dragon throne before him, his eyes bloodshot, wondering if he had misheard.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, could you please say it again? This old minister... this old minister may not have heard clearly just now."
"I say!" Xiao Che repeated impatiently, his voice filled with unquestionable authority, "I want you to immediately, in my name, issue an edict throughout the country! To hold a 'National Protection and Pregnancy Blessing Ceremony' lasting eighty-one days!"
Ninety-nine eighty-one days?
Li Chunfeng's heart skipped a beat. A typical prayer ceremony lasts at most seven days; was this eighty-one days meant to send people to the afterlife?
However, this is just the beginning.
Xiao Che continued, speaking clearly and forcefully in a tone befitting a military command:
"I have three requests for this grand ceremony!"
"Firstly, all the temples and Taoist monasteries within the territory of our Great Liang that have a name, no matter how high the mountains or how far the roads, must have their abbots or masters come to the capital in person to participate in this grand ceremony!"
"Secondly, not only must the people come, but I also want them to bring their respective treasures! Whatever the Buddha's relics, the Three Pure Ones' Dharma Seal, the thousand-year-old peach wood sword... anything recorded in history books that can ward off evil and bring blessings, not one can be missing!"
"Thirdly..." A mysterious and excited smile appeared on Xiao Che's face. He leaned forward, lowered his voice, and said something that almost made Li Chunfeng faint on the spot, "In order to ensure that the 'blessings' of this grand ceremony can be maximized, I have decided to introduce 'performance evaluation'!"
“Performance…performance…assessment?” Li Chunfeng’s lips trembled, feeling that this word was more difficult to understand than a book written in heaven.
“That’s right!” Xiao Che slammed his hand on the dragon table, like a domineering CEO who had found the best business model. “I want you to divide all the eminent monks and Taoist priests we have invited into two groups: ‘Buddhist’ and ‘Taoist’. After the daily prayers, you, the Imperial Observatory, will conduct a quantitative evaluation based on multiple dimensions, including the duration of their chanting, the quality of the scriptures, the reactions of the believers, and… whether my Empress is in a good mood!”
"Rankings every day, summaries every three days, and final conclusions every seven days!"
"Those who perform exceptionally well will be richly rewarded by me! The imperial family will personally rebuild the golden statue in their temple and bestow upon them the plaque of 'Guardian God Master of the Nation'! As for those who dare to be perfunctory or shoddy in this matter..."
Xiao Che's eyes instantly turned icy: "Then he shall be punished for 'deceiving the emperor and endangering the foundation of the nation'!"
"Combining Buddhism and Taoism, employing a two-pronged approach, group competitions, and survival of the fittest!"
He concluded, his face beaming with satisfaction at his brilliant idea.
Upon hearing these words, Li Chunfeng felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and a rush of blood to his head. He finally understood that His Majesty was not insane.
He treated these reclusive masters like officials in the Ministry of Revenue who needed to be chased for performance targets!
...
The emperor's decree struck the religious circles of the Great Liang Dynasty like a thunderbolt.
In an instant, from the enlightened monks of Baima Temple to the immortals of Wudang Mountain, countless reclusive figures who usually lived in seclusion in the mountains and were indifferent to worldly affairs had to pack their bags, hold their most treasured possessions, and embark on the road to the capital in a daze.
Thus, the most peculiar scene in history unfolded in the capital.
Every morning, the square outside Kunning Palace resounds with celestial music and Buddhist chants, and the sounds of wooden fish and bells intertwine.
To the east, dozens of eminent monks, led by the abbot of Baima Temple, sat cross-legged, chanting the Diamond Sutra, bathed in Buddhist light.
To the west, dozens of Taoist priests, led by the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, held whisks and chanted the "Qingjing Jing" (Scripture of Purity and Tranquility), as purple clouds rose from the east.
Lin Wanwan, the most honorable "blessing receiver" in the world, was forced to sit on a phoenix chair covered with eighteen layers of soft cushions, with her pregnant belly sticking out, and endure this mixed doubles beating that could be described as "ear-piercing demonic sound".
She looked into the distance and saw Xiao Che holding a small notebook, writing and drawing on it with a serious expression, sometimes nodding, sometimes frowning.
[Today's KPI assessment: The abbot of Baima Temple chanted sutras with a loud and clear voice, full of emotion, +10 points. The young Taoist priest of Longhu Mountain dozed off, -20 points! .gif]
Upon seeing this meme, Lin Wanwan felt her head buzz, as if she were about to ascend to immortality amidst the symphony of Buddhist chants and Taoist magic.
This absurd blessing ceremony proceeded in a grand and spectacular manner.
The eminent monks and Taoist priests initially resisted, but were eventually forced into "involution" by the emperor's "reward and punishment mechanism."
Today you brought the Buddha's tooth relic, tomorrow I'll have to produce the original manuscript of the patriarch.
You can chant scriptures for nine hours without taking a breath, while I can perform the ritual of walking on the Big Dipper for twelve hours without touching the ground.
The entire prayer site was filled with a fierce and eerie competitive atmosphere.
Until this day, after a blessing ceremony, the old abbot from Baima Temple, who was said to be 108 years old and had long since retired from worldly affairs, was simply too to bear the torment of this "KPI assessment".
He walked shakily to Xiao Che, who was about to give "little red flowers" to those who had performed well that day.
"Your Majesty." The old abbot clasped his hands together, his appearance solemn and dignified.
"What brings you here, Master?" Xiao Che asked politely upon seeing him. "Do you have any objections to today's scoring?"
"No." The old abbot slowly shook his head. He raised his all-seeing eyes, looked at Xiao Che, and said softly in a Zen-like, distant voice:
"Your Majesty, this humble monk has something to say, but I am unsure whether I should."
"Please speak, Master."
The old abbot's gaze passed over Xiao Che and landed on Lin Wanwan, who sat helplessly on the phoenix chair behind him. Then, he spoke clearly, word by word:
"Your Majesty, a thousand ritual implements are not as valuable as a single thought of peace of mind; the chanting of celestial music is not as precious as a single word of love. True blessings in this world do not lie in the quantity of ritual implements or the length of scriptures..."
He paused, then uttered those words that awakened him from his dream.
"But it lies in...the loving relationship between parents and a harmonious family."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com