Chapter 7 Section VI

On the 16th day of the first lunar month in the 14th year of Yuanhe, on the night when the Buddha bone was sent out of the forbidden area, Liu Mi, the national teacher, presided over the Taoist night offering ceremony at the Sanqing Hall in the Daming Palace. Overlooking Chang'an City from Longshouyuan, the lights were much dimmer than last night's Shangyuan Festival, the stars reappeared in the night sky, and the sky and the Milky Way reappeared. The round sacrificial platform in front of the Sanqing Hall is all carved out of white marble, covered with a layer of light silver under the starlight, almost transparent.Yellow, green, and blue colored glass and gilt lotus petal copper decorations embellish it, making the entire altar more exquisite and colorful.

Wearing a blue Taoist robe embroidered with clouds and neon, Liu Mi walked slowly along the Longwei Road to the altar, stepping on the square bricks with the pattern of sea beast and grapes.Preserved wine, cake bait, coins, etc. have been set up on the altar to worship the gods.Liu Mi first muttered a few words, praying to the Emperor Taiyi and the Five Stars, and then wrote a memorial to the Emperor of Heaven on the ivy paper with a red pen, and then sealed it with soap. The ceremony was rather cumbersome, and Liu Bi put on a show for a long time.He was so busy that beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but the Taoist and servants in the palace who accompanied the night sacrifice were all shivering with cold.

Only Princess Yong'an could sit in the single warm tent under the porch, watching comfortably while chatting with Pei Xuanjing next to her: "Our Master Liu is really unwilling to lag behind." Pei Xuanjing smiled. "Guess what he will write in Qingci Memorial?" "I think it's nothing more than praying for the safety of the country and the people, especially the health of the holy dragon." "The dragon body is in good health?" Princess Yong'an glanced at Pei Xuanjing, "With the elixir of the national teacher, how can the dragon body of the emperor's brother be unhealthy?"

Pei Xuanjing smiled again. Yu Chenguan, who was in the Daming Palace with Princess Yong'an, has been cultivating Taoism for more than two years. Pei Xuanjing has long realized that even if she spends day and night with some people, they are still not close to each other. Pei Xuanjing and Yong'an are an example. In fact, they get along pretty well.Princess Yong'an has a withdrawn personality, is arrogant and mean, moody, and basically has no one to talk to, and Pei Xuanjing has no intention of talking to her, she just wants to live in peace, and it happens that Yong'an also intends to.For Pei Xuanjing, Yong'an still seemed to have a little awe.Where did this awe come from? Pei Xuanjing didn't know, nor was she interested in finding out.After more than two years of respecting each other as guests, Pei Xuanjing only saw one thing clearly: Princess Yong'an is a person who harbors secrets.It was this secret that consumed her character and ruined her destiny.This secret must be very terrible, and what is even more terrible is that Princess Yong'an will never get rid of it for the rest of her life.

In fact, in the Daming Palace, who doesn't have a similar secret?In Pei Xuanjing's eyes, the entire Daming Palace is a huge maze, and why did she break into the maze alone? It cannot be said - because this is also Pei Xuanjing's secret. Princess Yong'an was very interested tonight. Although Pei Xuanjing didn't respond positively, she still kept talking, "I'm a little worried. After Liu Guoshi's memorial reaches the heaven, will the Jade Emperor and the Buddha fight?" "What is there to argue about?" Pei Xuanjing asked back. "Oh, it's like the ministers are arguing endlessly in the court every day. What do you think they are arguing about?"

Pei Xuanjing said: "Since the founding of our dynasty, Buddhism and Taoism have been competing constantly. Sometimes the west wind overwhelms the east wind, and sometimes the east wind overwhelms the west wind, but it doesn't hurt much." "Well, I think neither side should be offended, and I want the benefits of both sides." These words were harsh enough that Pei Xuanjing unconsciously glanced at Princess Yong'an. "I originally thought that Brother Huang would follow the example of the previous emperor in this matter. I didn't expect..." "Imitate the former emperor, why?" Princess Yong'an hesitated to speak, but instead aroused Pei Xuanjing's interest.

"The former emperor believed in the Buddha. Although he suffered from constant illness all his life, he never took medicine." "Really?" Pei Xuanjing was a little surprised. "Yes." Princess Yong'an's tone became melancholy, "You can't tell, but we all know that brother Huang has learned from the previous emperor in many things. It's a pity that this matter of taking pills." Pei Xuanjing learned from the fate of two generations of famous prostitutes Fu Lianci and Du Qiuniang that the emperor was following the example of the previous emperor.Of course, she never mentioned it to anyone.

Pei Xuanjing tentatively asked, "Is it a pity?" "Don't you think it's a pity for a villain like Liu Bi to succeed? Now that the emperor cannot do without Liu Guoshi's elixirs for a day, Liu Bi's glory and wealth should be enjoyed endlessly." Pei Xuanjing said: "If Her Royal Highness really thinks this way, she should persuade the Holy Majesty." Princess Yong'an "giggled" and said, "Forget it, I'd better avoid trouble." Looking at the back of Liu Bi who was busy on the altar, Pei Xuanjing asked again: "Did the late emperor not believe it at all?"

"It's because he doesn't believe in pills at all." Princess Yong'an replied, "As for whether he believes it or not, he never told us. But...he raised the son of a Taoist priest." "Raise the son of a Taoist priest?" Pei Xuanjing was surprised: Where did the Taoist priest get his son?Besides, why did the former emperor raise him on his behalf?This thing sounds a little ridiculous. Princess Yong'an didn't say a word, but stared straight ahead. "His Royal Highness." It turned out that it was Liu Bi who came to the warm tent at some time.

Princess Yong'an seemed to have seen a ghost suddenly, her whole body tensed up, and she greeted timidly: "The national teacher has worked hard." "Serving the Holy Majesty, how dare you say it's hard work." Liu Bi bowed, "I don't know if Your Highness the Princess has any advice for the impoverished night sacrifice?" Although his words and gestures were humble, his lecherous eyes climbed up Princess Yong'an's cheeks were running up and down like a snake. Yong'an tremblingly said: "The national teacher's morality is profound, I, I don't have any advice..."

"Speaking of which," Liu Bi moved closer, almost touching Yong'an's chest, "His Royal Highness is practicing alone, without the guidance of a famous teacher, so the speed of improvement will naturally be slower. Pindao has a suggestion. " "What advice?" "Look, Your Highness, you and I are both in the Daming Palace. The Yuchen Temple of Her Royal Highness and the Sanqing Palace of Pindao are not too far away. Why don't we often discuss morality and practice together?" Before Princess Yong'an answered, Pei Xuanjing took a step forward and said, "There is no need to work for Liu Guoshi. Your Royal Highness will practice Taoism with me." "It turns out that Master Pei Lian is here too. It's been a long time." Liu Mi pretended to have just discovered Pei Xuanjing, "When I saw Master Pei Lian, I couldn't help reminding Pindao of two lines of poems written for the night sacrifice: 'Qing Ni clasped her forehead and called the god of the palace, Hong Long Yugou opens the gate of heaven.' Master Pei Lian is familiar with it, right?" Pei Xuanjing replied calmly: "Of course, but I prefer the two lines at the end of this poem: 'I would like to bring a Han halberd to recruit ghosts, and stop letting hatred fill my bones.'" "Isn't that Li Changji's poem?" Princess Yong'an asked. Liu Biyin smiled and said, "Don't you know, Your Royal Highness? Master Pei Lian originally had a marriage contract with Li Changji." "Really?" Yong'an's complexion changed again. Pei Xuanjing nodded.Pei Xuanjing had never deliberately concealed the past with Changji, but she would not casually mention it to anyone who had nothing to do with it.For Pei Xuanjing, Changji was not a secret, but an eternal pain, a moonlight that was so beautiful that she couldn't bear to look directly at it. Liu Bidao: "It's a poor man who made a mistake. It turns out that Master Pei Lian never mentioned it to His Royal Highness the Princess." "Is this related to you?" Pei Xuanjing asked. "It's irrelevant, it's irrelevant." Liu Mi smiled, "Master Pei Lian, there was some misunderstanding between you and me in the past, and now we are both in the Daming Palace, and we are both cultivators. In fact, I really want to put aside the past with Master Pei Lian. Poor advice, it is better You, me, and Her Royal Highness, the three of us will cultivate together and improve together, what does the master think?" His appearance was already wretched, and it was unsightly at this moment. "Abandon past suspicions?" Pei Xuanjing stared at him, "There is no previous suspicion between you and me, only the moment-to-moment hatred." Liu Bi's face sank: "The poor Taoist is the national teacher appointed by the Holy Majesty, Master Pei Lian talks to the poor Taoist like this, it is disrespectful to the Holy Majesty!" "I was talking to Liu Guoshi like this, and I have nothing to say to Liu Bi!" Liu Mi said viciously: "Very good, since Master Pei Lian is determined to be the enemy of the poor, let's wait and see." After saying that, he walked away. Pei Xuanjing said to Princess Yong'an: "Let's go back too." Seeing that Yong'an's face was stiff and ugly, she asked, "What's wrong with the princess? Are you still angry with me?" Yong'an didn't answer. Pei Xuanjing sighed softly: "Changji has passed away for many years, I don't think it is necessary to mention the past between me and him to the princess, it is definitely not deliberately concealed, I hope the princess will not care." Princess Yong'an blurted out: "I don't want to take care of your affairs, and I don't want you to take care of mine!" "Your matter?" Pei Xuanjing was taken aback for a moment, then came to her senses and found it unbelievable, "What does Her Royal Highness mean——I shouldn't have interfered with your conversation with Liu Mi just now?" Yong'an pouted angrily. Pei Xuanjing said: "Your Highness, he is clearly offending you! I couldn't stand it, so I stopped it..." "Who wants you to stop it!" Yong'an screamed, "Do you know what will happen if you offend him? Brother Huang likes to listen to his words now, if you want to kill yourself, don't drag me!" Pei Xuanjing laughed back angrily: "So Her Royal Highness is willing to be insulted by Liu Mi?" "He didn't insult me, how did you see that he insulted me!" Pei Xuanjing reluctantly said patiently: "Perhaps Your Highness the Princess doesn't know much about Liu Bi's personality, but I have seen his despicable and shameless behavior with my own eyes. This person's heart is very vicious, and he kills without blinking an eye, so we must not give him anything to take advantage of." opportunity, otherwise it will be harmed.” "You know Liu Mi's character so well, don't you know better than Brother Huang? Why did you still designate him as a national teacher? Liu Bi is right, you are slandering the wisdom of the emperor's brother by slandering Liu Guoshi like this!" "I understand." Pei Xuanjing finally couldn't bear it anymore, "If I had known today, the Holy Majesty had made a wise decision to let Her Royal Highness go back to the Uighur to get married, I shouldn't have helped Her Highness refuse." "You!" Yong'an stomped his feet fiercely and left angrily. Pei Xuanjing didn't chase her, but watched the princess's back disappear at the end of the corridor from a distance, before walking slowly along the corridor. There was a sense of the coldness of the world in her heart.Although Pei Xuanjing never liked Princess Yong'an, she still sympathized with her experience.It is precisely because Pei Xuanjing firmly believes that no one should be a victim of power trading, so when Yong'an asked her for help in order to avoid a marriage, Pei Xuanjing stepped forward without hesitation.As a result, she was imprisoned in the palace, and Pei Xuanjing never regretted it.Two full years have passed, and only today did Pei Xuanjing truly realize that what Princess Yong'an is afraid of is not losing her dignity and autonomy.No, what she is attached to is just the good living environment in Chang'an Palace. As long as she can keep all these things, she is even willing to bow her head to a rogue like Liu Mi and endure his bullying, just because he is now the emperor's unquestionable celebrity. . Pei Xuanjing sneered in her heart, a poor person must have something to hate, and using these words to describe Princess Yong'an couldn't be more appropriate.However, how to get along with the princess in the future?If you encounter a similar situation again, do you want to pretend to be deaf and dumb? The emperor detained Pei Xuanjing in the Daming Palace, and was not allowed to step out of the Yuchen Temple except to accompany Princess Yong'an or under very few permitted circumstances.This also means that if Liu Mi goes to Yuchen Temple to harass Princess Yong'an again, Pei Xuanjing will have to watch helplessly and cannot avoid it. The New Year's Eve is not over yet, and the night sky ahead is shining with the lights of thousands of families in Chang'an City.On the day of the reunion, she could only stand alone in the shadow of the tall buildings.The palace stretches beyond the horizon, just like her longing and unresolved longing. The emperor once said that there are no less than ten thousand people in the Daming Palace, but there is not even a single acquaintance. "Master Pei Lian." Someone called her. Pei Xuanjing turned her head when she heard the sound, it turned out to be Chen Hongzhi, the emperor's personal servant.Pei Xuanjing hadn't seen him for a long time.The moonlight shone on Chen Hongzhi's face. After the childishness in his appearance was gone over the past few years, his facial features changed from delicate to round, and because he was a eunuch, he didn't have the rigidity of a mature man, but looked a bit like a woman. "Eunuch Chen?" Pei Xuanjing looked forward, Princess Yong'an had long since disappeared, "Are you looking for Her Highness the Princess?" Chen Hongzhi smiled: "No, I'm here to find Master Pei Lian." After a pause, he said, "I've come a long time ago, and I've waited until now." His meaning was very clear, he intentionally waited until Princess Yong'an and Liu Mi were away before showing up. Could it be that the emperor thought of himself? Pei Xuanjing felt vaguely tired.For two full years, the emperor locked her in the Daming Palace, but never summoned her once.Ever since that thunderstorm night at the end of May in the tenth year of Yuanhe, Pei Xuanjing came to Chang'an for the first time and bumped into Jiachang's small courtyard outside the Chunming Gate by mistake. Her fate was shrouded in the emperor's iron will.Afterwards, no matter what she did or what situation she encountered, it proved to be inextricably linked with the emperor afterwards.But precisely in the past two years, she was locked up in the Daming Palace by the emperor, and she seemed to have completely lost contact with him so close to him. Pei Xuanjing understood that he was trying to kill her, tormenting her with utter neglect, trying to exhaust her courage and patience.This was an invisible contest, and the emperor didn't need to do anything, just throw her aside casually, use the entire magnificent Daming Palace to oppress her, and grind her will into powder bit by bit. Did he finally think of taking a look at the results? Pei Xuanjing asked: "What does Eunuch Chen want from me?" "Physician Zeng is here and is waiting in the Xianju Palace. Master Pei Lian, please hurry over." "Doctor Zeng?" "That's right. The oldest miracle doctor in the Grand Hospital, retired a few years ago. It's not easy to come here today." "Why does Doctor Zeng want to see me?" "Physician Zeng came to see Master Pei Lian." "See a doctor for me?" "Yes. Oh, Master Pei Lian, come with me." Pei Xuanjing was not ill, and she never asked to see an old genius doctor. She had never even heard the name of Imperial Doctor Zeng. She looked at Chen Hongzhi. Perhaps because of staying with the emperor for a long time, the shrewdness and coldness in Chen Hongzhi's eyes was somewhat similar to that of the emperor, but it was completely different in his heart, like a clumsy fake. Pei Xuanjing asked: "Is this the Holy Majesty's will?" Chen Hongzhi didn't answer. "Please Eunuch Chen lead the way."