The Prince loves beauty, but Mu Qingling uses that thod to keep the Princess Consort position.
No wonder, when I provoked her several tis, Mu Qingling didn't get as angry as she used to.
How could she get angry when she had sothing to rely on?
With those thoughts in mind, Mu Qingrong had an idea.
In her previous life, she had encountered Lin Shiheng again after His Majesty’s death, a year away from now. Perhaps Mu Qingling’s demonic spell had failed to work at that ti.
No wonder everything was different in this life. Did I appear too early?
She could wait quietly for another year, and by then, once she reappeared in front of Prince Linjiang, everything would be back in place.
Mu Qingrong had planned well but hadn’t thought at all about whether the Marquis would be willing to let her have ti to wait in her current situation.
When she was called to her mother’s courtyard, Mu Qingrong thought it was like the old days when her mother had gotten so nice jewellery to give her. When she went there, she heard news that was nothing less than terrible for her.
“What? Make
marry to soone in Shan Nan?”
Mu Qingrong slapped the table and stood up almost imdiately, “I won’t marry!”
The Second Madam sighed, “Qingrong, you really have no choice this ti. You didn’t pass the draft, and now you look like this. The respectable families in the capital wouldn’t even consider you.”
“Listen well, your parents have arranged for you to marry the second son of the governor of Shan Nan. Although he’s a bit old and not very capable and he’s also married, he has no children. If you marry him and give birth to a male heir as soon as possible, you’ll have sothing to fall back on in the future.”
Mu Qingrong couldn’t believe her ears.
Old, incapable, and married.
How could I be asked to marry a man like that?
She was angry and aggrieved, “I won’t marry! Why should I marry such a man!?”
The Second Madam frowned. She felt that her daughter’s tantrums had grown since Mu Qingling’s marriage and she wasn’t as well-behaved as before.
She simply picked up the bronze mirror and handed it to Mu Qingrong so that she could look at herself.
“Look at you now, what’s the use of having a good-looking face when you’ve lost a tooth? It’s also a front tooth that shows when you talk!”
“Mother is certain that if you go out like this, in this entire capital, any family with a bit of nobility would reject you. If you delay any longer, you’ll be too old to even get married.”
“All right, this is the end of the matter. With your appearance now, your father thinks you are a disgrace. We’ve already exchanged your birth dates with their family. The groom is also coming to the capital to visit his family, so you should marry him in early September.”
The Second Madam left the room after she finished speaking. She too was heartbroken for her daughter, but compared to her son, the daughter was less favored.
Instead of a marriage in the capital and letting people snicker at her brother because of her tooth, it would be better to marry her off sowhere far away. Anyway, it was only a matter of paying a bit more dowry.
In the room, only Mu Qingrong, whose expression looked livid, was left.
— Crash!!!
She swiped the teacup off the table, crashing to the floor. She was fuming with rage.
/ was a favored concubine, and later Empress, and soone who had lived a generation over. How could I marry such a person?
Impossible!!
I have to think of a way!!
Lin Chuanwang had recently been distressed because of his Third Imperial Brother’s recent obsession with hunting, dragging him to practice riding and shooting every day.
He wasn't fond of riding and shooting, but as a pitiful little boy whose mother died early and was raised by the Empress Dowager for a few years, barely surviving because he was young and not involved in the court struggles, even though the Empress Dowager was fond of him as her adopted son, Lin Chuanwang had the good sense to accept himself as the little tail of the Empress Dowager’s own son, Lin Shiheng, the Prince of Linjiang.
So even though he didn’t like riding and shooting, Lin Chuanwang started practising rigorously. While practicing, he was hoping that his Third Imperial Brother would change his hobby soon.
After a hard day’s work, his way of relaxing was to go inside the Pleasure Pavilion and have a good ti.
(TNote: Pleasure Pavilion = a brothel with a separate stage for other entertainnts like singing, dancing etc.)
Of course, being young, he was obviously not there to enjoy the won but to watch the singing and dancing there. But most of the n who ca to the Pleasure Pavilion were just looking for won to enjoy.
On this day, Lin Chuanwang walked to his regular private room with a tired body and saw a woman standing there dressed in n’s clothes.
Seeing him, the woman smiled, revealing a gap in her teeth.
Lin Chuanwang: “...”
A quarter of an hour later, he looked at the person in front of him with a confused expression, “Are you saying that Third Imperial Brother is under a demonic spell? You want this Prince to go to the palace and ask the Empress Dowager to exorcise the evil spirit from Third Imperial Brother?"
“Precisely.”
Mu Qingrong was naturally able to find this place because of her mories from her previous life. In her previous life, Lin Shiheng, although he was the Emperor, would still venture out of the palace from ti to ti in search of fun. And as his favourite concubine, Mu Qingrong had been taken out a few tis, so naturally, she knew about the regular places where the two brothers would et.
She rembered the admiration and affection Lin Chuanwang had for her the last ti she had to slash her flesh to save her sister, so it was only logical that she should seek Lin Chuanwang’s help.
“Your Highness, you must save Brother-in-law. He’s really strange now. Think carefully, has he ever been in this situation before, where he would be fond of soone the first ti he t them and disgusted when he t them a second ti?”
Lin Chuanwang thought about it carefully.
Not really.
Third Imperial Brother has also been different lately.
But his Third Imperial Brother had always been unpredictable, so he didn’t take it seriously.
But thinking about it, an idle Prince whose own birth mother had died, and he had lost all support, went to the palace and told His Majesty that his brother was under an evil spell because he didn’t play with won anymore, so hurry up and find a master to exorcise the evil spirit...
And considering how much His Majesty loved this particular brother.
Lin Chuanwang shuddered and recovered from his own imagination.
I’ll get killed, for sure...
And looking at Mu Qingrong in front of him, her expression looked like she was saying ‘Believe , I’m right!’.
Lin Chuanwang recalled how many people knew about this eting place between him and Third Imperial Brother and pondered on the fact that the person in front of him was a noble family’s daughter, yet she appeared in a brothel.
He was a pure-blooded archaic man, his mind would not have thought, ‘Ah, this woman is so innocent, so unpretentious, so different from those outside’, nor would his thoughts have been, ‘How dare you co here’ and so on.
At this mont, there was only one sentence in Lin Chuanwang’s mind.
/ wonder who'll marry this Third Young Lady Mu, who managed to visit a brothel. Such an unfortunate family.
And to think I had a crush on her before... so close, so close...
Of course, because he wasn’t sure why Mu Qingrong, his sister-in-law, was ddling in the matter and why she knew their secret base so well, Lin Chuanwang agreed to go to the palace to seek out the Empress Dowager on himself with a look of ‘Yes, I believe it’.
Mu Qingrong left with satisfaction.
Lin Chuanwang’s expression bristled as soon as he saw her leave. He grimaced, got up and went to Prince Linjiang’s mansion.
He needed to nag his Third Brother about his abnormal sister-in-law.
Mu Qingrong, who was naturally unaware that Lin Chuanwang had turned around and sold herself out, returned to the residence with a hint of excitent. She imagined that Lin Shiheng would be incredibly grateful to her as his savior once he was back to normal.
The next day, she was summoned to the palace by the Empress Dowager.
She never expected Lin Chuanwang to be so reliable.
Mu Qingrong followed the palace maids sent by the Empress Dowager into the palace with a joyful and submissive look.
As soon as he entered the palace, he saw Lin Chuanwang standing below, looking down and keeping his ears open.
She passed by him and whispered, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
Lin Chuanwang thought back to the gloomy face of his own Third Brother yesterday and coughed dryly, thinking: Don’t thank , you'd better fend for yourself.
When the Empress Dowager asked, Mu Qingrong knelt down and blurted out her suspicions.
Of course, she didn’t say that it was Mu Qingling’s doing. She just said that, apart from Mu Qingling, all the other won who were near Lin Shiheng were affected.
The Empress Dowager above had a sullen look on her face.
She still rembered this woman. The Imperial family were the only ones that rejected people, there had never been anyone that rejected the Imperial family.
“Well, since you’re so sure, then I will invite Master Yuan Tong from the Penance Temple to co.”
When the Emperor received the news and hurried to the palace, he arrived just in ti to et Master Yuan Tong, who was also entering.
When he saw Mu Qingrong, his expression was no longer pleasant. His face was full of ‘why is it you again’.
Evidently, both mother and son were quite cautious and hadn’t forgotten Mu Qingrong.
Master Yuan Tong has always had considerable prestige. The key was that he had lived a long life, and at 120 years old this year, he was simply considered a great man in ancient tis.
The Emperor was also very courteous to him, “Master, I'll have to trouble you, to help
look at my third younger brother today.”
Master Yuan Tong chanted Buddhist chant with his palms together and turned to look at Lin Shiheng carefully for a long ti.
“Does the Prince find a woman very beautiful at first sight, and then suddenly find her ugly when you et her a second ti?”
At his words, both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor looked serious.
They hadn’t told Master Yuan Tong about Lin Shiheng’s symptoms.
A look of triumph appeared in Mu Qingrong’s eyes, who was standing at the side.
Sure enough, having lived a second life, he naturally figured it out.
When Lin Shiheng nodded in confirmation, Empress Dowager imdiately asked in a nervous tone, “Master, has my son really been put under so kind of spell? Is there any harm to his body?”
“No harm done.”
Master Yuan Tong recited the Buddhist prayer again, “His Highness is simply blessed by Buddha. His Third Eye has opened, and there’s no harm to his body.”
(TNote: Eye of Wisdom/ Third Eye = In Buddhism, the third eye, or the Eye of Wisdom' refers to the gate that leads to the inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. In spirituality, the third eye often symbolizes a state of enlightennt.)
“No matter how beautiful a face is, after hundreds of years, it will only beco withered bones. As for the Prince’s eyes; the first ti he sees a person, he sees them with mortal eyes, but the second ti, he sees them with the Third Eye.”
“What he sees for the second ti is not the woman’s appearance but the woman’s character. If a woman is beautiful, but her character is not, then what was ntioned before would happen.”
The Empress Dowager suddenly understood and felt reassured. However, she also felt that the matter was too fanciful.
The Emperor, who was a little more perceptive, directly asked, “Then why is it happening when Shiheng is only looking at won?”
“Amitabha.”
Master Yuan Tong joined his palms and chanted the Buddhist prayer before smiling, “After the Third Eye is opened, it is up to the Prince to decide which aspect he wishes to see.”
The Emperor recalled the ‘glorious’ history of his own brother, who had been flirting with beautiful palace maids since he was 12 years old and had been hanging around the brothels every day since he left the palace, unable to stop at the sight of beauty.
He gave an awkward dry cough and began to salvage his brother’s dignity, “I have long said that Shiheng’s character is pure and upright. Naturally, no kind of evil would pollute him.”
The Empress Dowager also nodded along, “The Emperor is right. Shiheng also has a good command of literature and arms and has always had both virtue and talent, so it’s normal for him to have a connection with Buddha.”
Master Yuan Tong looked at the Emperor and Empress Dowager, who were trying to push all the good qualities towards their brother/son. He wanted to say that opening one’s Eye of Wisdom had little to do with one’s character, but swallowed the words when he thought of the long-deceased Master Shun Feng’s push for‘closed-mouth ditation’.
(TNote: Closed-mouth ditation = In Buddhism, that ant forbidding oneself to speak out. It is to prevent from tying one’s self to the circle of karma when words can also disturb the karmic cycle.)
On the other hand, Prince Linjiang, Lin Shiheng, who had been judged to have opened his Third Eye, was also very happy. He didn’t hesitate to take the words of his Empress Mother and Emperor Brother and proudly patted his chest.
“So that’s how it is, I wondered why every ti I ca to visit Empress Mother, all I saw was a stunning woman, like a fairy descending to earth. I thought I was suffering from so strange disease!”
This was a barefaced statent about the Empress Dowager’s good character.
The Empress Dowager was so delighted by his words that she couldn’t stop smiling, “You child, where is this fairy? You’re used to making your mother happy.”
On the side, Master Yuan Tong silently thought about the fact that the Third Eye can only see people under the age of forty. He folded his palms and lowered his eyes, and silently chanted in his mind...
Close mouth ditation, close mouth ditation.
Lin Shiheng smiled playfully, “Even without the Third Eye, in this son’s heart, Empress Mother is as beautiful as a fairy.”
“How could it be anything like Third Young Lady Mu? One look at her, and this son is too disgusted to have the next al.”
For a mont, all eyes fell on Mu Qingrong, who had stood dumbfounded since she heard about the Third Eye.
It was all with the implication that everyone knew her depth, looking carefully at her stunned face.
Tsk tsk, this girl, her character is concerning.
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