The small Buddhist temple is actually not small, and it is next to the palace where the Queen Mother lived before.
It looked like it was used when the Empress Dowager was around, and it has been kept since then. When Qu Moying followed the palace maid, they passed by a courtyard and could smell the scent of burning incense from quite a distance.
"Here?" Qu Moying pointed to that courtyard. This row of courtyards looked quite large and was located to the side of the Empress Dowager's palace.
"No, that's a small Taoist temple." The palace maid looked in the direction her finger pointed, then smiled and shook her head.
"Small Taoist temple?" Qu Moying raised his eyebrows, looking interested.
"Yes, it's the former Hengyang... It's where the former abbot of Qingyun Temple lived in the palace. It can be considered a small Qingyun Temple!" The Princess of England was able to leave the Pepper Room intact after the confrontation between the Queen Mother and Concubine He, so the palace maids did not dare to look down on her.
The fight between Concubine He and the Queen Mother has never stopped. No matter who is involved in the fight between the two of them, it is difficult to get out of it unscathed. However, this Princess Consort He, who just married into the Prince of England's palace, was not in any trouble at all. Just for this reason, the palace maids did not dare to offend Qu Moying.
I will tell you whatever you ask me as long as I can.
The Queen Mother has long passed away, and the palace maids dare to discuss certain things.
"So now... no one lives here?" Qu Moying raised his nose and sniffed. It didn't look like no one was offering incense here.
"There are people here. The current Qingyun Temple master will come to stay when he enters the palace and also come to offer incense. When he is not here, there are two Taoist nuns. Some people in the palace like to go to the Buddhist temple, but some people are willing to come to this small Taoist temple." The maid explained with a smile, and stretched out her hand to point in another direction ahead, "The small Buddhist temple is on the other side, next to the Queen Mother's palace."
"The master of Qingyun Temple has been entering the palace all the time. Doesn't he need to pass in a note to come in?" Yuxiu rolled her eyes, thought of another question, and asked curiously.
Entering and leaving the palace is not such a simple matter. According to what the palace maid said, the master of Qingyun Temple often goes in and out of the palace.
"When the Empress Dowager was here, the Master of Qingyun Temple was given the freedom to enter and leave the palace. Of course, this freedom is relative. It is stipulated that she can enter the palace once every five days. Someone will lead her in when she enters the palace, and she will not be allowed to go anywhere else. She will leave the palace after staying one night. If there is something special, she must ask the Empress Dowager for permission."
The maid explained with a smile.
"Is it the same at the small Buddhist temple?" Yuxiu asked curiously again.
"The nun in the small Buddhist temple has always been in the palace. She has been there since the Empress Dowager invited her in. I heard that the previous abbot of Qingyun Temple also lived in the palace and rarely went to live in Qingyun Temple."
Seeing that they were interested in this, the palace maid said something more to please them.
Even though Princess Hengyang was forced to become a nun and live as a nun in Qingyun Temple, after the situation calmed down, she still spent most of her time in the palace accompanying the Empress Dowager.
It can be seen that it is just a name in Qingyun Temple.
As they were talking, they had passed the Buddhist temple, passed the palace gate, and arrived at another courtyard, which happened to be on both sides of the palace with the small Taoist temple.
The gate was wide open and it was very quiet inside.
After Qu Moying entered, he saw two people kneeling on two cushions in front of the Buddha statue in the middle. One was Liu Lanxin and the other was Liu Jingyu.
Hearing some noise behind them, they turned back together.
Look carefully, it's Qu Moying
Afterwards, Liu Lanxin and Liu Jingyu couldn't help but smile. Needless to say, those who could come over at this time were also punished to kneel.
Now, no one can be better than anyone else, and it is better for everyone to be embarrassed together than for one person to be embarrassed alone.
Liu Jingyu had even prepared words to comfort Qu Moying.
"Are the Crown Princess the same as Miss Liu?" Qu Moying stood a few steps away from the two of them, bowed sideways to Liu Jingyu, and then asked the palace maid who was leading the way.
Since this palace maid dared to lead the way for her, it must have been the Queen's intention.
"The Crown Princess is of noble status, and naturally she cannot be compared with Miss Liu. It is enough to light three incense sticks and worship Buddha for half an hour." said the palace maid.
Liu Jingyu and Liu Lanxin's faces turned ugly.
"What does the Queen think?" Qu Moying smiled sweetly, as if she didn't notice the two of them suppressing their gazes at her, and asked softly.
"It's up to Princess Ying." The maid had indeed received the Queen's order and said with a smile, "If Princess Ying is willing to worship Buddha here, it's fine. If Princess Ying is not willing to worship Buddha here, she can just leave the palace."
The Queen showed the greatest kindness to Qu Moying. Of course, this kindness was given to the "Princess of England", and the "Princess of England" who was highly valued by the King of England, not to Qu Moying alone.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Can I take a look around?" Qu Moying asked.
"Of course you can." The maid replied.
Qu Moying then looked at the Buddha statue here under the attention of Liu Jingyu and Liu Lanxin.
There are three Buddha statues, one of which is the largest, and the other two are smaller. They all look kind and benevolent, not the kind of angry-looking Vajra. At first glance, they make you feel scared.
The smoke from the incense in front of the Buddha statue makes people feel calm and peaceful.
Qu Moying walked in curiously and saw a side door, so she turned in. After she had walked a few steps, an elderly nun came over and clasped her hands together towards Qu Moying. This must be the nun who stayed here.
"Greetings, Master." Qu Moying smiled and clasped his hands together in return.
The nun smiled without saying anything. She glanced at Qu Moying's face, then was stunned for a moment. She raised her eyes and looked at him carefully again.
"Master, this is the Princess of England." The maid came out from behind and bowed to the nun. Then she introduced Qu Moying, "This is Master Shangshan."
"I, the nun, see that the Princess of Guanying... is really good-looking." The nun suppressed the surprise in her eyes and chanted a Buddhist name, "The Princess of Guanying looks... like an old friend of mine."
This was not the first time Qu Moying had heard this sentence today. It was just that Concubine He used it to lure the Queen Mother before. Now that this nun actually said it too, Qu Moying's heart moved slightly.
"Master, what kind of person do you think I look like? Can you tell me?" Qu Moying asked.
Master Shangshan lowered her eyebrows and shook her head: "It is an elephant... but it is not. There are many elephants in this world, but it doesn't mean anything."
"It may not be related?" Qu Moying raised his eyebrows.
"It may not be related! There are all kinds of things in the world. What I think is an image is just an image." Master Shangshan smiled kindly, "The Princess of England looks familiar to me. If the Princess of England has time, why not pay homage to the Buddha here? Maybe the Buddha will give me some instructions."
Worshiping Buddha here and kneeling with Liu Jingyu and Liu Lanxin
Although she was just worshipping Buddha, in the eyes of outsiders
She was afraid that she would be punished to kneel like Liu Jingyu and Liu Lanxin, and Qu Moying was unwilling to save her face in front of them.
"Master, can I go to the small temple over there first and then come here to worship the Buddha?" Qu Moying said with a smile, saying something that would make most monks and nuns angry.
Buddhism and Taoism have always been at odds. Although the two sides have not said anything openly, they have been secretly competing for many believers.
"Princess Ying, please do as you please!" Master Shangshan smiled and made way for her. Her attitude was calm, without even a hint of anger in her eyes.
Qu Moying did not go back to the Buddhist temple where Liu Jingyu and Liu Lanxin were kneeling. The two were already at loggerheads with each other, and she did not want to become a substitute between them at this time.
The palace maid sent her there and now she was going back to report.
Qu Moying went out from the side door next to the Buddhist temple, left the courtyard, and turned to the small Taoist temple he had been to before.
Today was not the day when the abbot of Qingyun Temple came over, so there were only two Taoist nuns there. After Qu Moying went in, she looked at the statues of the Three Pure Ones in the middle, and then turned around. It was somewhat similar to the Buddhist temple, with three statues in the middle, incense burners, cushions and other things, and everything else was very simple.
"When will the abbot of Qingyun Temple come?" Qu Moying stopped a Taoist nun and asked.
"If Your Majesty wants to see our abbot, you may have to wait for four days. You have just been here before. You don't need to look for the abbot for things like praying. We two can do it." A Taoist nun said respectfully.
"Besides praying, what else can we do?" Qu Moying asked after thinking for a while.
"We can also do other divination things, but not as accurately as the master of the temple. However, the master of the temple does not ask for divination casually. It also requires the right time, place and people. None of them can be missing." The Taoist nun said seriously.
"What do the right time, the right place, and the right people mean?" Qu Moying asked again, and it was obvious that he was very interested.
Although the Taoist nun didn't know who the person in front of her was, everyone in the palace was a master. Since she was asked this question, she naturally didn't dare to hide it.
"The weather at this time should match the divination. The location should be right. We also need to find a suitable place. The people should be right. It depends on whether the master of the temple and she are destined to be together."
The Taoist nun said.
This means that there is a great possibility that the master of Qingyun Temple refused.
What is meant by "matching the weather with the divination"? What kind of weather matches what kind of divination? This is really a subjective matter of the Qingyun Temple Master. As for the place, it is also uncertain. The last one is even more cruel. Whether there is a predestined relationship or not is still up to the Qingyun Temple Master.
With these three harsh conditions in place, it is still very simple for the master of Qingyun Temple to do something when he does not want to ask for divination.
"These three conditions were discussed with the Empress Dowager when the previous abbot was here?" Qu Moying guessed the meaning immediately. If it weren't for the Princess Hengyang, the current abbot of Qingyun Temple wouldn't have the ability to dare to sign such an unequal treaty.
Whether to do divination or not is entirely up to people's willingness. This is the imperial palace, not the people outside who regard Qingyun Temple as a holy place.
"It was the decree issued by the Empress Dowager, and it was also agreed by the Empress. Now the master of the temple comes to the palace to pray from time to time, which is also the custom at that time." The Taoist nun said proudly. Even the royal temple Dabei Temple did not have such an honor.
"Where did the master of Qingyun Temple live when he came?" After hearing what the Taoist nun said, Qu Moying became more curious. He looked at the yard and asked.