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The timing, direction, position, everything was calculated just right.
But Yuan Cixian had drunk a lot of wine, she was really a little drunk, so she was able to act so realistically by pretending to be tipsy, and because of this, there was a flaw - the impact was soft and the force was a little lacking. Lu Shiqing's mask did not fall off completely, but only a corner was crooked.
But she still maintained some consciousness, and while she was still in his arms, she took the opportunity to look up.
When he raised his eyes, he was shocked: the small half of his cheek that was exposed had wrinkled skin, densely packed with light yellow, uneven strips and patches, as if crawling with maggots, with white flakes on the edges.
At just one glance, Yuan Cixian was so frightened that she screamed and broke free from his arms. Her head went blank and she subconsciously staggered back a step.
Then she saw the man opposite her slowly put his mask on, as if nothing had happened, and nodded to her slightly, saying, "I am in a hurry, please forgive me for offending you, is the county lady injured?"
His voice was low and calm, but Yuan Cixian was stunned for a few seconds before saying, "I'm fine."
"That's good. Is the county master sober?"
This question really made Yuan Cixian a little embarrassed. Because of the hostility hidden in her heart, she only thought that he wore a mask to hide his true face, and she never kindly guessed that he might really have something to hide. But now, he probably knew that her drunken madness was just an act, but he still showed some mercy to her.
She had no choice but to continue acting, nodding: "I woke up." Then she lowered her eyelids and said, "I'm sorry, I..."
Lu Shiqing had never seen her so frustrated, but he didn't feel happy at all. Instead, he became inexplicably anxious. He was silent for a while, and his face remained expressionless: "It's okay."
Yuan Cixian heard the words "It's okay" in a casual tone, and felt that he was hurt. She felt more and more guilty, and hurriedly waved her hands to explain: "Sir, I didn't mean it..."
She paused in the middle of her words. It should be said that her probing was intentional, but her scream was unintentional, and it was definitely not because she felt disgusted by his unusual face. She was just startled.
Lu Shiqing said calmly: "Xu knows."
She didn't even have time to explain, what did he know? Yuan Cixian looked at him with a bitter face, and after a while he said bluntly: "Excuse me, sir, what's wrong with your face?"
"Does the county lady really want to know?"
She nodded, her eyes anxious but sincere: "I don't mean to expose your scars, but I know a lot of talented doctors in southern Yunnan. If you tell me, maybe I can help you."
Lu Shiqing seemed to smile, turned his back, and said with his hands behind his back: "Three years ago, Xu was invited by His Highness to come here to be his counselor, but I encountered an assassin on the way to the capital. All the followers sent by His Highness to escort me died, and I was also seriously injured. Later, I was fortunately treated by a mountain doctor and saved my life, but the herbs used during the treatment left such marks on Xu's face, which have never been eradicated since then."
Yuan Cixian frowned slightly and said, "The stubborn disease that the rural doctor cannot cure may not be incurable by others. Have you ever sought medical treatment elsewhere?"
He shook his head: "The skin is meaningless, not to mention the people who wanted to kill Xu. Now that Xu is dead, it may not be a blessing to restore his appearance. The county lady does not need to run around for me."
She was silent for a while, then said, "Sir, you are so righteous, and I admire you for that. I apologize for my misbehavior just now, and I will never do that again." After that, she lowered her head.
Lu Shiqing achieved his goal, but he was not used to her being so humble and submissive. He was wondering why she acted like this when he suddenly heard her say, "Actually, I can relate to your feelings, sir. I also have scars on my body that cannot be removed. I found it difficult to accept it for a long time at first, but it took time for me to let it go."
Lu Shiqing was slightly stunned and frowned.
He knew that Yuan Cixian had been testing him recently, and he had also received news that Jianzhi had gone south, so he had anticipated this "Hongmen Banquet" tonight and made sufficient preparations in advance, hoping to scare her and make her give up the idea of lifting his mask once and for all. But he had never expected this to happen.
This seemingly heartless girl actually revealed her own shortcomings in order to comfort him.
If it was Xu Shan, he would not ask more questions at this moment, but he was Lu Shiqing after all, so he asked: "Scar?"
Yuan Cixian nodded as if nothing had happened and smiled: "Sir, you don't know that I am a heroine who has been on the battlefield!"
Who would praise themselves as heroes? Hearing this, Lu Shiqing wanted to laugh, but he felt a sense of panic in his heart.
He remembered what she had told him last time, about following her father into the army, and asked, "It's true that there are frequent wars in southern Yunnan, but they are not enough to require you to charge into battle. Why did your father ask you to go to the battlefield?"
She replied calmly, "The year before last, Nanzhao invaded. There was a critical battle. My father was besieged in the mountains by the enemy. Several lieutenants who stayed behind were undecided. I was worried, and then..." She touched her nose, "Then I led the army to charge forward."
“…” She said this nonchalantly. Did she mean she was just hungry and wanted to eat a bowl of wontons
"But I didn't cause any trouble. I rescued my father." She said proudly.
OK, OK, I know you are a hero.
Lu Shiqing looked at her with mixed feelings. Everyone said that the Princess of Lancang County was a beauty who brought disaster upon herself, but little did they know that what she did was just a plot by Nanzhao to alienate the King of Southern Yunnan from the imperial court. However, this little girl who was scolded and accused of unjustified crimes at that time, risked her life for the Great Zhou in a place that no one could see.
At that time, she was only fourteen years old.
He was caught off guard, and felt something stuck in his throat. He suddenly regretted taking such a bad approach tonight, but he could only say what Xu Shan should have said, saying calmly: "The county lady's generosity makes me respect her, but swords are blind. No matter how critical the situation is, you should take care of yourself."
Yuan Cixian smiled and said, "If you were in southern Yunnan and witnessed the tragic scene at that time, you would not stand idly by."
As she said these words, the alcohol slowly took effect on her. The wind made her head feel even more dizzy. She swayed and couldn't help pressing her aching temples.
Lu Shiqing took a step and almost went to help her, but when he reached out halfway, he realized something was wrong and turned around and said, "County Lady, please have a rest early. Xu will take his leave."
Yuan Cixian really didn't have the energy to say polite words, so he asked someone to escort him out of the house. He went back to his room, fell on the edge of the bed, and sighed.
Her brother was too unreliable, causing her to drink too much wine for nothing. As a result, she was drunk and was moved, and she actually had a heart-to-heart talk with Xu Shan.
That person belongs to Zheng Zhuo. What happened to her
*
Lu Shiqing returned to the Lu Mansion in silence, sitting in his bedroom without saying a word until late at night, when Cao An came to remind him, "My dear, aren't you going to take care of your face?"
It was he who did this to his face. When he smeared those dirty things on it, his husband was so disgusted that he didn't even dare to look at it in the bronze mirror. He had goose bumps all over his body. Now that he was back home, he didn't even rush to wash it.
He was really afraid that there would be some flaws on his face. This might not be a big deal to others, but it would be a fatal blow to him.
After all, the blemish may not be symmetrical.
Lu Shiqing's spirit returned to his place after hearing this, and he jumped up: "Why didn't you say so earlier!" Then he rushed straight to the bathroom, "Prepare water!"
Cao An was innocent, and fearing that he had something else to tell her, he waited outside until he came out of the shower and dressed, then he asked, "My dear, did you have a good night?"
Lu Shiqing's face returned to normal, but his expression was indifferent, and he only said "hmm".
He made such a sacrifice and disguise, so it should go smoothly. Yuan Cixian was drunk and crazy, and he was skeptical at first, but when she fell into his arms, he knew everything was fake.
The moment she raised her elbow, he calculated well and tilted his head slightly. It was dark at that time, and she could only see things by moonlight. Even if the mask was completely removed, she might not be able to see the clues, not to mention that he only showed a small part of his cheek.
But he was not very happy.
He asked: "Cao An, when you lied to others, did you feel guilty?"
Cao An stopped himself from saying "Congratulations, my dear" and nodded solemnly, "God, I am loyal to you, my dear, and I will never say a word of falsehood!"
"..." Lu Shiqing walked around him and picked up a chair to sit down, "Playing the lute to a cow."
Cao An scratched his head in embarrassment, and then heard him ask: "Did the maid named Jianzhi really go to Xunyang?"
"My dear, the maidservant under the county lady is no ordinary person. She avoided the saint's eyes and ears all the way and even got rid of most of our people. We cannot determine her whereabouts at the moment. We only know that she is heading south."
Lu Shiqing nodded: "Xun Yang should be good. Since she is capable enough, there is no need to follow her. Tell them to retreat."
He said this and blinked twice slowly.
In fact, Yuan Cixian was indeed smart, but everyone has blind spots. He hid his face, so she naturally focused on what was behind his mask and ignored his hands.
The day she came to Lu's house to bandage his wound, he had worried about this. Later, he visited Yuan's house twice and treated the scar carefully. Fortunately, she only suspected that "Xu Shan"'s identity was fake, but she never associated the two of them together. Otherwise, she would have been around him all day and night, and sooner or later she would have found out, and then the mask and the robe would not be able to cover it up.
Therefore, unless it was unnecessary, Lu Shiqing still didn't want to get too close to her.
Thinking of this, he looked up and ordered: "Pay attention to the defense of the mansion these days and add more manpower."
Cao An asked in surprise: "Who are you guarding against, my dear?"
He sighed, "That girl said she wanted to disguise herself as a servant and sneak in."
Which girl? Cao An was stunned for a moment before he understood and said hesitantly, "My dear, did you get the news from Yuan Mansion tonight? This is probably not appropriate. If you guard against it, won't the county lady suspect that it was Mr. Xu who informed you?"
Lu Shiqing choked. He was probably drunk tonight without any wine, so he was not as good as the others in thinking things through.
He raised his hand and lightly tapped the front of his lapel and said, "According to you, I should deliberately let her go to prove my innocence?"
Cao An coughed and whispered: "It's not impossible..."
"She wishes!"
*
That night, Cao An was kicked out by Lu Shiqing. The next evening, he came to his study again and knocked on the door, saying, "My dear, I'm here!"
Lu Shiqing happened to be at the door, so he moved the door open and asked outside, "What's coming?"
After he asked, he suddenly understood and frowned: "Why come at this hour?" He had just asked someone to prepare water so that he could take a bath.
Cao secretly thought that this was the decision made by the Princess of Lancang County. How could he know? He asked, "Will you let me go, sir?"
"No."
After Lu Shiqing finished speaking, he walked straight towards the bathroom, but he heard Cao An's voice again from behind him: "My dear, are you really not going to let go?"
Is this the end? He stopped and turned around to ask, "Do you want to let it go so badly?"
Cao An lowered his head and said "I dare not", and suddenly heard Lu Shiqing say "hmm": "You have followed me for many years. Even if you have no merit, you have worked hard. I can't completely ignore your suggestion. I don't want to let you go, but since you think it is necessary, then let me go."
I don't think he said that.
Seeing the doubtful look on his face, Cao An hurriedly said, "Yes, I did suggest that to you. That... In order to prevent the county lady from investigating and finding out, I deliberately gave her a chance to serve tea. Why not just let her come to your study?"
It was better this way. After all, she had her heart set on him. If he didn't show her a clear path, she would just rush around like a headless fly and end up finding the secret passage in the mansion, which would be even worse.
Lu Shiqing was very satisfied with his cleverness. He nodded and motioned him to go. He turned around to tidy up the important documents in the study. When he was done, no one came for a long time, so he spread a piece of rice paper on the table, picked up a pen, and casually drew a few orchids. After a few strokes, he glanced towards the door.
Really, he takes so long to even serve tea.
It wasn't until the orchid painting was finished that there was a knock on the door. Lu Shiqing cleared his throat and asked calmly, "Who is it?"
The person outside the door seemed to clear his throat as well, and then said in a hoarse voice: "My dear, the old lady asked me to bring you some tea."
It was Yuan Cixian's voice, but Lu Shiqing had to pretend not to know. He said "come in", lowered his eyes and thought about how he should face her dressed as a servant - surprise or anger, confusion or indifference
Unexpectedly, before he could figure out the answer, Yuan Cixian revealed her true identity. She walked closer and said with a smile, "Minister Lu!"
He quickly got into the role, raised his head, and countless emotions flashed through his eyes, three parts of surprise, three parts of confusion, and three parts of indifference, and then he asked with just the right amount of anger: "Why is it you?"
After all this, he sighed inwardly. Ever since he got entangled with this girl, he couldn't do anything serious every day, but his acting skills improved day by day.
Yuan Cixian looked at him with a smile: "It's me, Minister Lu, are you surprised? Are you delighted?"
I surprise you hibiscus!
He narrowed his narrow eyes, looked at the two black mustaches on her lips and the navy blue coarse cloth short coat, leaned back in his chair and said, "County Lady, if I am not mistaken, you are trespassing. According to the laws of the Great Zhou, I can report you to the police and have you arrested."
Yuan Cixian shook her head confidently: "No, you misunderstood."
Lu Shiqing waited calmly for her to explain.
"In a few days it will be the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, when the gates of hell will be wide open and the yin energy will be very strong. I'm afraid that you won't be safe here and that some evil spirits will break in. So I'm taking advantage of the sunset to risk my life and come here to personally test the defenses of your house." She said this without changing her expression or heartbeat, as if it were true.
Lu Shiqing laughed and said, "I'm afraid there are no monsters in the world, only you, the county lady."
The person who was compared to demons and monsters was not angry at all, and said seriously: "Minister Lu, I am serious." After she said that, she looked around, picked up a pen next to him, tore off a piece of rice paper, bent down and started to paint. In a blink of an eye, a simple map of Lu Mansion appeared on the paper.
She pointed at the holes above and said, "Your side doors that don't face the street are too lax in guarding. I just moved my hands and feet and got in."
Lu Shiqing thought to herself that if he hadn't made any omissions, how could she be standing here giving orders? She pretended to understand, "Oh, thank you for your advice, I will definitely reorganize these areas someday."
Yuan Cixian straightened up and looked at him: "No, you have to leave the door open for me."
"Why did you have to go through the side door instead of the main door?"
"You mean, I'm welcome to go through the main door?"
Lu Shiqing choked, took the pen from her hand, put it back on the pen holder, and said, "You are not welcome." After saying that, he looked at her face and frowned, "Your beard is crooked."
"Oh." She responded, pulled out a few tufts of hair in pain, carefully hid them in her sleeves, and then stood upright aside.
Lu Shiqing put away the orchid painting and asked her when he saw her standing there motionless, "Do you have anything else to do?"
Yuan Cixian patted his back and said, "Minister Lu, I am worried about your safety and have been running around all this time. Why don't you invite me to sit down and have some tea?"
He sighed, "Please help yourself." Seeing her running to pour tea, he added, "Don't touch the white porcelain tea set on the table."
Yuan Cixian glanced back at him and secretly said "stingy", then changed for a set of celadon tea set, and when she had drunk enough, she sat down opposite him very "casually" and looked around his study.
Just like the outside, his study was also neatly arranged, even the frames of the antique shelf next to it were symmetrical, and there were no rare antiques or treasures in the lattice. After all, many valuable objects usually come in pairs.
Yuan Cixian curled her lips and sighed. What kind of antique display case is this? It might as well be dismantled.
Lu Shiqing put away the painting and tied up the silk ribbon. Seeing her sighing, he didn't know why she was dissatisfied with his study. He said coldly: "It's getting late. If the county lady feels unwell, it's better to return home early."
She quickly looked away, waved her hand to indicate that she was fine, and then tried to find something to say: "Actually, I came here to tell you something important."
"You say."
"What was it..." She pondered for a long while, and finally remembered something to say, "Oh, I came out of Hanliang Palace a few days ago, and ran into the Sixth Prince teaching the Thirteenth Prince martial arts. I felt something was wrong. Did something happen in the court?"
Lu Shiqing paused for a moment, raised her eyes and said, "Why do you, a girl, care about these things?"
"Curiosity, I am a very curious girl."
"… "
Lu Shiqing didn't want to talk to her about this, but when he remembered her words of comfort last night and saw her now dressed in gray, he couldn't be tough anymore and said "um" in a low voice, "There is some movement."
Yuan Cihan was genuinely curious, but she had no intention of prying any information out of Lu Shiqing. She was just making small talk. When she heard what he said, she asked in surprise, "Are you willing to tell me?" She moved closer to him and whispered, "What is it?" She looked like she was expecting him to share a little secret with her.
He coughed and explained, "It's not a secret. Everyone in the court will know about it in a few days."
"I knew the secret before the courtiers did." She smiled complacently, "But don't worry, I will definitely keep it secret."
She was right. Even if she knew it a moment earlier than the court officials, it was he who leaked the news. Lu Shiqing really felt that he should stay away from her. Now he couldn't even keep his mouth shut.
He secretly hated it for a moment, and said, "The Second Prince has committed a crime, and the Saint intends to imprison him in the palace and make him reflect on his mistakes. Not only the Thirteenth Prince's martial arts, but also the Jinwu Guards that he originally managed will be handed over to the Sixth Prince."
Yuan Cixian digested the news for a while, and suddenly asked: "The 'crime' you mentioned, could it be related to what we found in the suburbs of Chang'an last time?"
Lu Shiqing glanced at her, seemed a little surprised, and then said, "Yes."
Yuan Cixian opened her lips slightly and said in surprise, "This is incredible." Then she asked, "But I told you last time that this might be a frame-up. Have you ever gone back to verify it?"
"I have already done all the necessary research, and the sage is also very clear about the whole story, so there is no need for you to worry about it."
She said "Oh" and looked a little lost.
Lu Shiqing raised his eyebrows: "The county lady seems to be very worried about the Second Prince."
Yuan Cixian choked. This man was too cunning to give her such a fatal note for no reason. If the saint heard this, he would misunderstand that the Yuan family was on the side of the second prince.
She explained, "I can't bear to see innocent people being wronged. It's easy to be convicted but hard to get away with it, so I should handle it with caution. But since you said that the saint has found out the truth and the second prince did commit a crime, I naturally have nothing to say. I'm just worried about the future of the Great Zhou after seeing the loss of a candidate for the crown prince."
Lu Shiqing smiled with an ambiguous tone: "The county lady is really concerned about the country and the people."
Yuan Cixian thought to herself that it was impossible. Just as she was about to speak again, she heard a knock on the door and Xuan's voice came in: "Son, are you in the room?"
Both of them had their necks stiff.
After hearing no response, Xuan continued, "Son, is mother coming in?"
Lu Shiqing and Yuan Cixian looked at each other, jumped up at the same time, and almost bumped their heads together.
One of them did not want to appear in front of his future mother-in-law in such a furtive manner, and the other did not want his mother to have a misunderstanding and force him to propose marriage to the Yuan family.
Lu Shiqing quickly stopped her and said, "Mother, wait a minute." Then he looked around and pointed the panicked Yuan Cixian in a direction.
Yuan Cixian understood and rushed over. He hurried to the door, calmed down for a while, straightened his clothes, and said, "Mother, do you want to talk to me?"
Xuan's eyes glanced over his shoulder and asked, "Is there anyone else in your room?"
Lu Shiqing shook his head affirmatively: "No."
Xuan stepped into the house and said worriedly, "Mother, I heard that a servant got my order to bring you tea, but mother never told me to do so. I wonder if someone wants to harm you..." She looked around and asked, "Really no one has come?"
Lu Shiqing was silent for a moment, then said firmly, "No one has come here. I'm alone all the time. Don't worry, mother."
Xuan said "Oh", looked at his old robe, and said in surprise: "Didn't you ask someone to prepare water earlier? Why haven't you gone to take a bath yet, and the water is almost cold?" As she said that, she glanced in the direction of the bathroom.
Lu Shiqing could not help but tense his back. He usually liked cleanliness, and there was a bathroom next to his study. If he had unfinished business at night, he would take a bath here after dinner. Yuan Cixian was chased there by her just now.
He hurriedly said, "Before I left, I remembered that I had something to do, so I was delayed."
Xuan's eyes were already filled with suspicion, but she still had a smile on her lips. She said, "Okay, you stay busy outside, I'll go inside to see if the water has cooled down. It's autumn now, and it's cold at night, so we can't be careless."
When Lu Shiqing heard this, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop her: "Mother, I know my limits and won't freeze myself. You go and rest."
Xuan was determined to go in, so she pushed his hand away, still smiling gently: "Why are you being so polite to my mother? I'll be back after trying the waters."
It was impossible to stop her. Lu Shiqing couldn't really get violent with his mother, so he had to follow her into the inner room. Just as he was about to cover his face with a headache, he saw that the bathroom was empty, without a single person in sight.
He heaved a sigh of relief after being puzzled. Xuan also paused and glanced back and forth inside.
The bathroom was simply furnished and could be seen at a glance. At this moment, the screen was closed and the window was locked from the inside. It seemed that there was indeed no problem. Xuan's suspicion gradually faded away. She walked to the wooden barrels in front of the door, bent down and touched the outer barrel wall, and said, "It's still warm. Hurry up and pour some water to take a bath."
As she spoke, she pointed her chin towards a bathtub in the room. This gesture was followed by a pause.
Wait, this bathtub seems quite big.
Lu Shiqing obviously realized something, and seeing that she seemed to want to come forward, he picked up the wooden bucket first and said, "Okay, I'll take a bath now, mother, please go back."
As he spoke, he carried the water to the bathtub. When he reached the tub and looked down, he couldn't help but frown.
Yuan Cihan was squatting inside with her arms folded like a mushroom, looking up at him pitifully.
It's not that she didn't know how to jump out of the window, but the window was locked. If she chose to escape, she would make noise. She just heard the noise outside and in a hurry, she had to step into his bathtub.
Seeing that he didn't pour water in, Xuan Shi became suspicious again and asked, "What's going on?"
Lu Shiqing turned around and said, "No, I just saw some dirt on the wall of the bucket, but it's not a big deal."
After he said that, he picked up the wooden barrel, tilted it inward, and mouthed to Yuan Cihan: Get out of the way.
The bucket was only this small, how could she move it? Yuan Cixian refused to comply, and shook her head with a bitter face.
Lu Shiqing had no choice but to pick an empty piece of land and pour the water away from her. After that, he went to get a few more buckets and poured them in one by one.
Only then did Xuan believe him, gave him a few instructions, and left.
After she was completely gone, Yuan Cixian, who was soaking in the water, stood up with a splash, wiped the water stains off her face, and yelled at the man in the room who was pretending to untie his belt: "Lu Shiqing, you are going too far!"
Lu Shiqing was stunned by her yelling, and didn't even notice her calling his name. Seeing her in such a state, he turned his head away awkwardly and coughed: "I..."
He was speechless. He saw the towel on the towel rack, took it off and handed it to her without looking away: "Wipe it yourself."
Yuan Cixian was in the water, and she was so angry that she swung her paddle violently, splashing water everywhere. Fortunately, she was wearing the servant's coarse cloth clothes, so when it got wet, it was only close to her body, and her skin was not exposed, otherwise she might want to dig out Lu Shiqing's eyes.
She said coldly: "I won't wipe it. You are the only one with mysophobia? You are the only one who loves to be clean? I won't use your hand towel!"
Lu Shiqing frowned, turned his head, and very gentlemanly kept his eyes above her neck, explaining: "It's new."
She choked and said angrily, "New ones won't work either. They won't work if you've touched them!"
Lu Shiqing took a deep breath. He had looked down on others for so many years, but this was the first time he was looked down upon by others.
He sighed and reminded, "Little ancestor, you are in my bathtub." Why are you still complaining about his towel
Yuan Cixian was furious when this was mentioned, but she was in a dilemma and couldn't get out in front of him, so she splashed the water again to vent her anger, until the water splashed all over his face, then she said, "Get out." Then she took his towel.
What could Lu Shiqing do? Seeing that it was getting dark, he lit a candle for her and went to the outer room dejectedly. After a while, he heard a sneeze from inside. He frowned and knocked on the lattice fan to show his doubts. Sure enough, he heard Yuan Cixian crying, "What should I wear...?"
He coughed softly: "Mushi's clothes... are also new." They are new, but they are what he originally planned to change into.
Yuan Cixian took a look, rubbed his nose and muttered, "No, if I go back wearing your clothes, my brother will break my legs. You have to get me some women's clothes."
*
Lu Shiqing finally asked Lu Shuangyu for help.
Yuan Cixian accepted the new autumn clothes while she almost dropped her jaw, put them on, and returned home feeling depressed.
The next day, Lu Shuangyu reluctantly went to Yuan's house to visit her and asked her if she had caught a cold. Yuan Cixian was not so delicate, but because he could see that she came here on her brother's orders, he deliberately blew his nose and sneezed several times for her to hear.
Sure enough, in the evening of that day, the Lu family sent someone to deliver a bunch of medicine.
For several days, Yuan Cixian did not approach Lu Shiqing again, preparing to pretend to be sick and ask him to apologize. It was not until the middle of July when Emperor Huining presided over the Yulanpen ceremony at Wangji Temple and personally selected the Yuan brothers and sisters to attend that she met him.
According to Buddhist legend, the Ullambana Festival is the day to relieve the suffering of deceased relatives. As the saying goes, "Respecting the dead and remembering the ancestors will make the people more virtuous." During the Zhou Dynasty, when Buddhism flourished, everyone from the common people to the royal family would set up a vegetarian feast to offer food to the monks, go to the temple to pray for the souls of the deceased, pray for repentance, and wish their living relatives a long life.
Wangji Temple was a royal temple dedicated to court ceremonies, located in Daningfang, northeast of Chang'an City. Yuan Cixian received the imperial decree, dressed in black, and followed the emperor on foot with a group of royal children, following the emperor's carriage. From afar, they could see the towering pagoda, with the golden light of the sunrise shining on the top of the pagoda, covering the entire temple with majestic and solemnity.
Yuan Cixian was a daughter of a royal family, not a legitimate royal family member, so she sat at the back of the team. Of course, she was ahead of Lu Shiqing and other civil and military officials.
When they arrived at Wangji Temple, the saint's carriage landed and the Jinwu Guards cleared the way, leading everyone to the temple's Taoist temple. In front of them, seven giant banners with the names of emperors of the Great Zhou dynasty written on them were fluttering in the wind.
It was so quiet that one could even hear the sound of scriptures being chanted from far away.
When he stepped over the threshold, Yuan Cihan noticed that Emperor Huining in front of him paused for some reason. When he went forward, he saw a dying cicada lying on the ground. He thought that he was probably avoiding it just now.
It's not that the saints are really so kind-hearted, but in this situation, killing is a taboo against the ancestors and will bring disaster to the Great Zhou. If a saint accidentally stepped on such a small autumn cicada, he could still cover the sky with one hand, but if it was someone else, he might be beheaded.
Yuan Cixian tugged at Yuan Yu's sleeve, signaling him to be careful with his step.
The first ceremony of the Ullambana Festival is to welcome the ancestors into the temple.
The temple had a spacious layout, with offerings neatly arranged on an altar several meters long in the middle, and a huge bronze tripod filled with incense ash in front. Standing beside it were Master Xuyuan, the most prestigious monk in the circle of nobles in the Great Zhou, and several outstanding monks under his name.
The golden bell rang, and three clear sounds were heard. The palace servants held high seven huge banners with the word "Xuan" on a red background and entered. Emperor Huining followed closely behind, taking three thin incense sticks from the monks and worshiping the heavens according to the eulogy recited by Master Zhao Xuyuan. Then it was the turn of the royal relatives in the back. After one person paid their respects, they left and the next one entered.
There were so many royal relatives that Yuan Cixian was bored after waiting for a while and could only stare at the backs of the nobles in front of her. But when Zheng Zhuo came forward, the monk handing incense shook and accidentally scattered the incense ash on the back of his hand, which brought her back to her senses.
The fresh incense ash must be scalding hot, and the monk was startled and hurriedly tried to apologize, but Zheng Zhuo stopped him with a gesture, probably because he didn't want to cause any trouble in such an occasion.
Yuan Cihan felt strange that everyone else was fine but something went wrong when it came to Zheng Zhuo's turn.
She became suspicious and wanted to find an opportunity to check his injuries. When he left the dojo and passed by her, she took out a bottle of ointment from her sleeve and stopped him.
The reason why she carried ointment with her was because she was afraid of being burned by incense ash, so she wanted to be prepared.
Zheng Zhuo was slightly stunned. He saw Yuan Cixian pointing at the back of his hand and mouthing the words to him: Wipe it.
He smiled and silently said "thank you" to her, then raised his hand to take the ointment, applied it and handed it back to her, nodding at her to say goodbye.
Yuan Cixian glanced at the redness on the back of his hand calmly, nodded slightly at him, turned back to watch him leave, but suddenly met a cold light.
In the team of civil servants, Lu Shiqing, dressed in sacrificial robes, was looking at her, his slanted eyes almost narrowed into a slit.
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