I don’t know why, but when Mu Fulan’s eyes swept across the two open mountain gates, suddenly, a strange feeling as if it was related to her past life came over her.
The pagoda forest in the back mountain, the Mingtang in the previous life, and Xier who committed suicide by slashing her throat with a sword.
Scenes one after another, intertwined together, flashed through her mind.
She had a feeling.
It seemed as if she was being drawn to this place by some mysterious force, and finally came to this place today.
Mu Fulan's heart suddenly started beating wildly and she subconsciously closed her eyes, trying to hold on to this feeling tighter.
But it was fleeting, like a flash of lightning, and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
She quickly opened her eyes and looked towards the mountain gate again.
nothing left.
There, the morning glow was just rising, the sky was clear and bright, and the two mountain gates were wide open.
She stared fixedly in that direction, as if her soul had been carried away by the feeling that had just come and gone suddenly, and was unable to return to its place for a while.
"My lady, we are here."
The maid didn't notice anything unusual about her. She climbed down from the carriage and saw her still sitting in the carriage, looking at the mountain gate with her back motionless, so she reminded her.
Not far away, Xie Changgeng was getting off his horse. As he got off, he turned his head and glanced in this direction.
In a daze, Mu Fulan loosened her fingers and the warm curtain fell.
She calmed herself down, slowly turned her head, stood up and got off the carriage.
Empress Liu was welcomed into the temple by the monks who came down from the mountain. All the followers, including Mu Fulan, also entered the mountain gate.
All of a sudden, the bells and chimes in the temple rang together, and Buddhist chants were heard everywhere.
The monks were extremely respectful to Empress Liu. In order to welcome her arrival today, and in accordance with Xie Changgeng's request, other pilgrims were not allowed to go up the mountain to burn incense three days ago. Apart from this, all preparations for the reception were in place.
Only the temple's elder, Master Huiji, never showed up.
Master Huiji was an accomplished monk who was well versed in Buddhist principles. He was originally the abbot of the temple. Several years ago, he gave up the position of abbot and no longer interfered in worldly affairs.
Empress Liu originally hoped that Master Huiji could recite sutras for her in person, but she heard from the abbot that the elder had gone into the pagoda forest in the back mountain to meditate and would not see lay guests. It was also unknown when he would be able to come out. Knowing that Empress Liu was coming to worship the Buddha today, he only asked her to convey a message on her behalf, saying that if one is sincere in the practice of Buddhism, the Buddha will be responsive.
Although Empress Liu was disappointed, she did not dare to force it and could only give up.
Empress Liu spent the whole morning worshipping Buddha devoutly and reciting half of the Ksitigarbha Sutra. After having a vegetarian meal at noon, she took a short rest and finished reciting the other half in the afternoon, which marked the day's complete merit.
Empress Liu was reciting sutras devoutly in the Buddhist temple, and the ladies accompanying her naturally joined in the recitation. After reciting sutras for half a day, everyone was thirsty, and since they had gotten up so early in the morning, everyone was tired by noon. After respectfully sending Empress Liu to a place to rest, they all went their separate ways.
Mu Fulan was about to leave when she heard someone calling her nearby. She turned around and saw a woman in her forties with a few maids standing beside her, looking at her with a smile. Recognizing her as the Princess of Qi, she paused, smiled, and walked towards her, saying, "Thank you for your kindness this morning. I should have thanked you in person at that time, but it was inconvenient at that time. Please don't blame me for being rude."
Princess Qi smiled kindly, took a few steps forward, held Mu Fulan's hand, and said with a smile: "I just arrived in Shangjing a few days ago. As soon as I arrived, I heard that you were here too, and I was very happy. I remembered that when you were a child, I often saw you in the palace, and I knew you were afraid of the cold. It's just a small matter, why be polite."
Mu Fulan thanked her again.
This was where Empress Liu rested, so it was not convenient to stay here for long. The two of them left while talking in low voices.
Mu Fulan ordered her maid to return the fur cap. The Princess of Qi declined, saying it was just a small item and asked her to keep it.
"Although the item is small, it was kindly lent to me by the princess to keep me warm. How can I not return it? I was planning to return it to the princess in person later."
Princess Qi said a few polite words and said with a smile, "My Lady, if you are not tired, why don't you stop by my place and have a chat?"
Mu Fulan nodded. Princess Qi took Mu Fulan's arm and led her to her resting place. They arrived soon. After entering, they chatted for a few words. Princess Qi suddenly asked, "I heard that there is a famous doctor in the world, his surname is Li, and he is called Medicine Man. He travels around and seems to have settled in your place in recent years. I wonder if you have heard of the name of Doctor Li?"
Mu Fulan guessed the purpose of Princess Qi's friendly gesture towards her.
She wanted to inquire about finding a doctor for her son, Zhao Xitai, the prince of Qi Palace.
Zhao Xitai was a few years older than her. When Mu Fulan lived in the palace as a child, the Princess of Qi often brought her son into the palace. Although the Prince of Qi was weak since childhood, he was still in good condition at that time. He was just forbidden to run and jump like an ordinary child.
Although a long time has passed, Mu Fulan still has an impression of this childhood playmate in the palace.
Perhaps because he was restricted too much since childhood, he doesn't like to talk much and is very quiet.
Mu Fulan remembered that he was very kind to her and when he entered the palace, he would often bring her some interesting little gadgets from outside.
She was willing to play with him at first, but one day, she saw him in the imperial garden, using a stone to cut an earthworm on the ground into pieces. The earthworm struggled and twisted, and he seemed very happy.
This scene left a deep impression on her, and she was a little frightened. Afterwards, she rarely followed him.
Later, her aunt died and she returned to Changsha, and they had no contact ever again.
The last news I learned about him was that he was taken hostage by Xie Changgeng and died before me.
Seeing the Princess of Qi looking at her, Mu Fulan nodded and said, "Yao Weng has indeed settled down in Dongting over the years, but he also often goes out. When I came to the capital, he was already out, and I don't know when he will return."
Princess Qi's eyes lit up, and she said hurriedly, "It's good that the news is accurate. Princess, I heard that this Li Yaoweng is known as a miracle doctor. No matter what the disease is, his medicine can cure it. Is it true?"
Mu Fulan met the two expectant glances from Princess Qi and shook her head.
"To be honest, Princess, I have learned some pharmacology from Yao Weng since I was a child. He is my master. My master often said that there is no miracle doctor in the world who can cure all diseases. He is not a miracle doctor, but just an ordinary doctor. I am unworthy of this false reputation."
Since the Princess of Qi did not mention her son, Mu Fulan did not ask. She just thought of Zhao Xitai, her childhood playmate, whose final fate in the previous life was not much better than hers. She felt that fate was fickle, so she said, "If the Princess needs a doctor, you can go to the master when he returns. Regardless of whether the disease can be cured, the master is a kind-hearted doctor and will do his best."
A few years ago, seeing her son grow up but not in good health, the Princess of Qi was anxious to find a wife for her son and start a family. She mistakenly believed in a so-called "miracle doctor" and used strong medicine. The symptoms did improve at first, but it suddenly relapsed soon and was more severe than before. The "miracle doctor" saw that he had caused trouble and fled overnight. The Princess of Qi regretted and hated it. In the past few years, she could only ask the imperial physician to slowly regulate her son's health.
Some time ago, she heard about the name of the miracle doctor Li Yaoweng and was somewhat interested. After arriving in Beijing, she happened to learn that Changsha Princess Mu Fulan was in Beijing. This morning, she showed her goodwill and wanted to ask her for news.
She was originally full of hope, but now after hearing what Mu Fulan said, she felt disappointed.
The imperial physician could not cure her son's illness. Over the years, she had seen countless "miracle doctors" who were not only useless, but made her son's illness worse. In all likelihood, he was another quack doctor who had a false reputation and became famous by curing headaches and fevers for poor people.
Disappointed, Princess Qi was unwilling to mention her son's illness in front of Mu Fulan, and said vaguely: "It's just that I suddenly remembered and asked you a few questions. I understand. If you need him in the future, I will go find him."
How could Mu Fulan not notice the change in Princess Qi's attitude
But what she said was the truth.
Yao Weng never claimed to be a miracle doctor. The sentence he said most to Mu Fulan was that medicine was profound and the more he immersed himself in it, the more he felt that he was a poor doctor. He spent his entire life trying to solve difficult and complicated diseases.
She did not point it out, but sat for a while, waiting for the maid to bring the fur cap to her. She returned it, thanked the Princess of Qi again, and then stood up to say goodbye.
How could the Princess of Qi not know the hostility of Empress Liu towards the Mu family of Changsha? Although Mu Fulan married Xie Changgeng and now seemed to be favored by Empress Liu, no one could predict what would happen in the future. The original intention of looking for her today was just to inquire about the news of the miracle doctor. Now that I have inquired, I feel disappointed. Seeing her leave, I naturally do not force her to stay.
So he stood up with a smile and personally escorted her out. Mu Fulan asked Princess Qi to stay and took the maid back to her resting place.
Today, there were quite a few ladies who followed Liu to worship Buddha. Although there was an ordinary cloud room in the temple for pilgrims to rest, it could not accommodate so many people, so they vacated an empty meditation room.
The place where Mu Fulan rested was separated from the Princess of Qi's place by a horizontal wall, and one had to go through a cave door.
She walked along the corridor and was about to go through the door when she suddenly saw from afar at the end of the horizontal wall, at a corner. There was Cao Jin standing there with a smile on his face, and he was bowing and talking to Xie Changgeng.
The two men were each followed by a few followers. They must have met here by chance and stopped to talk about something.
Mu Fulan had an idea and asked the maid to wait behind her. She quietly turned to the back of the cave door and stared at the two people from the cover of a clump of bamboo planted by the wall.
She had often run into Cao Jin during her previous visits to the palace, but she had never had the chance to see the two of them meet.
The distance was not very close, so she could not hear clearly what the two were saying. Of course, even if there was something wrong, Xie Changgeng was so cautious that he would not pass on the news in such an occasion. She did not want to hear what the two were saying.
She wanted to observe the eyes and expressions of the two people when they talked.
Although Xie Changgeng had his back to her, the eunuch Cao Jin was facing her. She could see his face clearly.
If his guess was true, Cao Jin's expression or eyes might reveal some clues when facing someone with whom he had a hidden relationship.
Mu Fulan held her breath, opened her eyes wide, and was staring at Cao Jin's smiling face carefully when a voice suddenly came from behind her: "Princess!"
Mu Fulan was startled and turned around suddenly, she saw a young man in fancy clothes standing behind her, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a handsome appearance, but his face was pale and he looked as if he had been sick for a long time.
Although they had not seen each other for many years, Mu Fulan recognized him at the first sight.
The person in front of him is the Prince of Qi, Zhao Xitai.
She paused for a moment.
Zhao Xitai seemed very happy. He asked the two servants who were following him to stop and walked towards her quickly, saying, "It's me, Zhao Xitai! My mother asked the Queen Mother for permission and brought me here today. Please pray for me. I saw you outside the mountain gate this morning and recognized you at first sight! We used to meet often in the palace. Princess, do you still remember me..."
His gaze fell on Mu Fulan's face, his eyes were unblinking, and his gaze was shining slightly.
Perhaps he was a little excited, his originally pale face suddenly turned red and he started coughing loudly.
Mu Fulan knew something was wrong, so she turned around and saw Xie Changgeng suddenly turn his head and shoot two glances over here. She hurriedly left her original position and walked towards Zhao Xitai, pretending that she was passing by and met Zhao Xitai here by chance.