Chapter 1113 - Chapter 1113 Restless Nun and Her Two Disciples
Chapter 1113 Restless Nun and Her Two Disciples
The next few days appeared peaceful!
In the Prince Chen’s Mansion, people also stayed quiet. Though Prince Chen returned home, the mansion’s gate didn’t get crowded. On the contrary, the guards at the gate became more alert.
The Emperor sent more guards over, making the Prince Chen’s Mansion a strongly fortified place.
Prince Chen needed to recuperate, and Princess Chen needed a safe and quiet place to heal her wound more than Prince Chen. Prince Chen had taken away some people, so guards inside the Prince Chen’s Mansion couldn’t ensure safety.
The officials in the imperial court were still arguing about whether the Empress would be deposed or not.
The Emperor had mentioned this tricky matter suddenly. But this time, everyone in the imperial court was well prepared: they talked sensibly with solid supporting evidence, trying to make the Emperor agree with them.
The horrifying incident happened the night before yesterday because of the imperial kitchen. After that, many eunuchs and palace maids working there were replaced, and even the eunuch in charge of the imperial kitchen was changed.
The eunuch in charge was on the Empress’s side, so it didn’t seem surprising that he was replaced now.
Some well-informed imperial consorts even heard that Consort Lan had something to do with the matter that day. It was said that Consort Lan, who had been grounded, suddenly asked the imperial kitchen to prepare dishes for the Emperor. However, these people there didn’t take her words seriously, which provoked the Emperor to anger. He severely reprimanded and replaced them in a sweeping manner.
For a moment, everyone who heard the news was shocked.
Some of the newly favored consorts hadn’t even heard of Consort Lan. Why would Consort Lan suddenly appear? Since they were eager to learn about Consort Lan, some people secretly began inquiring about her past and found out everything about her.
She had become the Emperor’s consort before he ascended the throne. At the very beginning, she was a consort. When the Emperor went out on a trip, he fell in love with her at first sight. At first, she did not stay in the mansion but occasionally showed up there. Later, she was said to be the younger sister of the previous empress. Her high status was enough for her to be the Emperor’s legal wife, but the Emperor had already had a legal wife back then.
When they were engaged in disputes, the former emperor died. After that, the Emperor brought his people into the Palace, including Consort Lan. Perhaps because of Consort Lan’s relations.h.i.+p with the former empress, she didn’t end up as one of the n.o.ble four consorts. Instead, she became Consort Lan, an ordinary consort without a t.i.tle.
Later, for some unknown reason, she angered the Emperor, who no longer allowed her to leave her palace. Since then, she had been locked up for many years.
No one had expected that Consort Lan would have a chance to turn the tables after so many years of silence.
Since the Emperor had replaced many people for her, he cared about her. Such a woman should be inferior to an imperial consort in the Cold Palace, where there was no guard. In contrast, she was locked up. After spending so many years there, she could still get the attention of the Emperor, who punished others in a rage because of her.
It could be seen that the Emperor had never forgotten her.
How many women the Emperor had? There must be a lot, no matter what!
Some women were dead, some were still alive, and new women kept coming. Nevertheless, the Emperor was still concerned about Consort Lan. It could be seen that the Emperor loved her sincerely.
The Emperor had always been indifferent to the women in the imperial harem. Although he went to the imperial harem occasionally, he mainly visited the few who had grown-up princes. As for the other consorts, he had been treating them indifferently. Many imperial consorts even couldn’t see the Emperor all year round. Originally, everyone thought that the Emperor cared about Consort of Virtue the most.
The Emperor must care about Consort of Virtue the most, for she had given birth to the eldest son of the Emperor. Beyond that, her t.i.tle was only slightly inferior to that of the Empress. Of course, the Emperor would only confer such an honor on the woman he cared about the most.
But what did he mean now? Did the Emperor care about Consort Lan the most?
For a moment, many thoughts and plans were brewing secretly in the imperial harem. Many people were investigating everything about Consort Lan. However, matters related to her were surprisingly simple. These people easily got all the information, and obviously, there was nothing else about her to survey.
It was unknown when the officials in the imperial court had started to inquire about Consort Lan. They wouldn’t have been alarmed if she were just a favored consort. Yet, she had some connections with Prince Chen.
If the Emperor was genuinely fond of Consort Lan, it must have something to do with Prince Chen. In terms of relations.h.i.+p, Consort Lan was Prince Chen’s aunt. In this case, Prince Chen would be involved.
There was a Buddha hall in the imperial Palace. Unlike those Buddha halls outside, it was not very big but quite exquisite. A Buddha statue, a valuable one plated with gold, was placed inside. Before the Buddha statue in the middle, an old nun was sitting on a rush cus.h.i.+on, knocking on the wooden fish with one hand and holding up another palm before her chest in a prayer position. She was focused on chanting scriptures.
The door of the Buddha hall was slightly opened, and Huiqing came in a hurry, “Master!”
“What makes you panic?” Pushan Nun asked slowly with her eyes closed.
“Master, we can’t find out more information about Consort Lan. The previous empress’s family has already declined, and many family members have even returned to their hometown. Only some people belonging to the collateral branches of the family live in the capital city. We can’t find any useful information about her. It is said that Consort Lan seems to be an illegitimate daughter and was brought back later. But for those people from collateral branches of the family, the specific matters about this were beyond their reach.”
Huiqing reported.
Pushan Nun opened her deep eyes but didn’t say anything. Still, she was chanting scriptures.
Huiqing became anxious and couldn’t help but call out, “Master, now…”
“Send this message to Secondary Consort Shao!” Pushan Nun said.
“Master, what’s the use of Secondary Consort Shao? She’s just a deserted imperial consort. She’s exceedingly beautiful, but she can’t even compare with Consort Lan, who has been locked up for so long,” Huiqing said with disdain.
She had tried hard to curry favor with Shao Yanru before, but now she despised her very much. Shao Yanru had a striking look and was a versatile wit taught by Pushan Nun in person. How could she be so useless that she ended up like this?
“How could Secondary Consort Shao have nothing to do with us? After all, she is my disciple. I can’t just watch her fall into such a disgraceful situation!” Pushan Nun said slowly. After that, she put down the wooden fish in her hand, put her palms together, and chanted the name of Buddha with a compa.s.sionate look.
Huiqing was a little indignant. She had a hard time getting this information. Why should she give it to Secondary Consort Shao for free? But when seeing her master close her eyes again, she knew that it was useless to argue. She could only ask in anger, “Master, will I deliver the message to her through the high tower like before?”
“You don’t have to let her know. Everyone has his fate!” Pushan Nun said lightly. Behind the curling smoke, she looked increasingly solemn.
“Master, I understand!” Huiqing also put her palms together and replied.
She carefully stepped out of the door and looked back at her master, who was wors.h.i.+ping the Buddha seriously. Huiqing felt her master was excessively kind to Secondary Consort Shao. Her master had done so much to help her, and Huiqing thought it was enough, even though Secondary Consort Shao had been her master’s disciple.
Huiqing, still in a peeve over it, shook her head and sighed, thinking that her master had done too many things for her.
“What did our master say?” Huiming came out of nowhere. When she saw Huiqing, she lowered her voice to ask.
“What else can we do? Our master wanted us to help her as much as possible, saying that we couldn’t watch Secondary Consort Shao suffer in the Palace!” Huiqing was furious. “We have a lot of things to do, but we have to help Secondary Consort Shao. I hope she won’t drag us all down with her!”
After entering the Palace, Huiqing had never had time to rest. She was much busier than when she was in the Yuhui Nunnery. From time to time, she had to deal with the imperial consorts, who were all very arrogant. Although the Emperor took no notice of them, they acted haughtily before her as if they were favored imperial consorts.
From time to time, those domineering ones would even make trouble with her master.
Sometimes, they said they would learn to paint. Then, they wanted to chant scriptures. Some said they would chant the Mantra of Rebirth in Pureland for their parents here. Because of them, all those people in the Buddha hall had to bustle around. Her good-tempered master could endure all of this, but she had long been unable to bear it. They could go back to the Yuhui Nunnery, right? As long as her master mentioned it a few more times, there would always be a chance.
However, her master endured everything in silence.
“Huiqing, don’t talk nonsense if you don’t know about it. Secondary Consort Shao is still useful for our master. Besides, Secondary Consort Shao is not stupid and will find a way to save herself. She still has a chance at the moment.” Huiming was more far-sighted than Huiqing and understood Pushan Nun’s intention. She immediately warned in a low voice, “You have so many complaints. Don’t ruin our master’s business!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t make trouble. I always keep what our master told me in mind and won’t make any mistakes.” Huiqing said repeatedly and sighed. “I know my master must have a reason to bear all of this. It was not easy for us to enter the Imperial Palace. So, she won’t leave at this point. But it’s dangerous to stay here. When we are busy enough with our affairs, how can we have the extra energy to take care of Secondary Consort Shao? Anyway, she suffers from her own actions!”
Her master cared so much about Secondary Consort Shao, and she was dissatisfied with that.
Basically speaking, Secondary Consort Shao was also her master’s disciple. But for nuns, as long as she was not a Buddhist disciple, she was not a genuine disciple. However, it made no difference for her master. For Huiqing, she was an authentic disciple, while Secondary Consort Shao was merely her master’s newly-accepted apprentice of calligraphy and painting. Then, how could she be inferior to Secondary Consort Shao in her master’s eyes?
“Well, stop complaining. Our master is going to be angry!” Huiming warned her, “Hurry up and think of a way to send the message to Secondary Consort Shao.”
“I see. I’ll arrange it now. You should be careful. Secondary Consort Shao will probably send someone to ask you for your opinion.” Huiqing nodded and curled her lips sarcastically. “Tell me, what did Secondary Consort Shao mean? I got the news, and it was sent to you. She even asked you if she should be on guard against me. I only veiled my face and didn’t let her see who I was. I’ve sent many messages, but she still hasn’t confirmed if I’m being kind. Secondary Consort Shao is not as smart as what our master has said!”
“She’s cautious. You show up but never reveal your face. Compared with you, Secondary Consort Shao cares more about our master and will listen to her. That’s good. One acts under cover while one is in the open. In this way, we can deal with things better.” Huiming didn’t have the same idea as Huiqing, so she immediately explained.
Seeing that it was getting late, they took action separately according to Pushan Nun’s arrangements. Since they entered the Palace, only Pushan Nun had been staying in the Buddha hall. Even Shao Yanru didn’t know that the person who often sent her messages through the high tower in the Palace was Huiqing, her acquaintance…