Chapter 202 - They All Went to See Amitabha

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes that curved as beautiful as a bright moon. Chu Junyi’s shadow was reflected in the clear eyes, which were bright, resplendent, and majestic.

Chu Junyi raised his hand and stroked her eyes. He felt itchy in his palms as he touched her slender eyelashes. He felt as if there was a feather in his heart, which was soft and warm. He leaned forward and hugged Shen Ninghua in his arms. “Ninghua, don’t worry, I will definitely give you another wedding and let everyone in the country offer their blessings to us!”

Shen Ninghua smiled gently. “Chu Junyi, I don’t care if people give their blessings at our wedding. I’m destined to have no blessings. What I care about is your heart.”

I would only give you one chance, Chu Junyi. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again. I didn’t look forward to any true love and lifelong companion. I only believed in all the things I had at present. I hoped you wouldn’t let me down…

As the lights shone brightly, the two of them embraced each other, casting a long shadow on the ground. They hugged together so intimately that there was not a single crack between them.

After quite a while, Chu Junyi let go of Shen Ninghua. He held her hand tightly and showed her around the whole garden.

“Ninghua, this is Ningcui Pavilion. The bamboos planted in it were transported from the Southwest. It is exceptionally quiet and elegant.”

Every time they went to a new place, Chu Junyi explained in detail what kind of place it was and introduced the scenery there to her.

Shen Ninghua followed his footsteps, and her gaze cast on his back. This person often behaved in not serious manner. But when she needed him, he had never let her down.

A trace of warmth flashed through her eyes, and the smile on her lips became even clearer. Just as she was about to speak to him, she saw his footsteps suddenly stopped. “What’s wrong? Is this the last place?”

Shen Ninghua looked up at the courtyard in front of her. A plaque hung on the front door. “Huajun Pavilion? What kind of place is this?”

Chu Junyi tightened his grip on Shen Ninghua’s hand. An extremely complicated expression flashed across his face, which consisted of anticipation, apprehension, and excitement. “Ninghua, this is the boundary of the inner courtyard, which is the private place for us.”

Shen Ninghua paused and her ears suddenly got reddened. When she saw the name, she only thought of Huajun Pharmacy. She wondered why it was called Huajun Pavilion and thought it was a place to keep medicinal herbs. But she didn’t expect it to be their inner courtyard.

Chu Junyi turned around and suddenly picked Shen Ninghua up. “Ninghua, I have carefully designed every part of this courtyard. There are all kinds of flowers from Su City of Jiangnan in it. Let’s go take a look…”

“Let go of me!”

Chu Junyi’s arm tightened. After waiting for so many days, he finally married his beautiful sweetheart. How could he let go of her?

The night sky was dark. The Dragon and Phoenix candles were decorated with red threads. The candle flames were bright and warm…

The next morning, when Shen Ninghua woke up, Bai Ruo and the other maids had already been waiting at the door with the basins in their hands. Hearing the sound in the room, they asked for instructions before lowering their heads and steadily entering the room.

Shen Ninghua endured the pain all over her body and got up. Seeing Chu Junyi who was already dressed and watching her attentively, she wished she could take out a bottle of medicinal powder and smashed it on his head. “Get out!”

Looking at her reddened ears, Chu Junyi nodded. “Alright, you freshen yourself up first. I will go and see if breakfast is ready.” Ninghua was shy. If she was angered like she did last night, he would have to coax her for a long time.

Only then did Shen Ninghua’s expression get better. She endured the discomfort in her body and put on her clothes item by item. When she unintentionally raised her head and looked at Hong Ling, she found that Hong Ling flushed and stared at her closely.

When Shen Ninghua lowered her head and found that her dress wasn’t put properly at her neck, her expression immediately turned reddened and darkened.

There were red traces on the edge of her white collarbone. No matter how she looked at it, there was still an ambiguous sense in it. She hurriedly put on her clothes properly and combed her hair and washed her face with the water in the basin. Then she sat in front of the mirror and put on her makeup. Only then did her complexion become much better.

Hong Ling lowered her head and secretly smiled. “Miss, I have the ointment to activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis. I’ll bring it over for you later.”

“Yesterday, I discussed with Chu Junyi and said to him that his subordinate Ye Yi was not bad and had not married. I thought it would be most suitable to betroth you to him.”

Hong Ling paused and hurriedly pleaded for mercy, “Miss, I made a mistake. I will serve you for the rest of my life and marry no one.”

Shen Ninghua glanced at her and snorted coldly. After Hong Ling pleaded for quite a while, she finally agreed not to punish her.

When she came to the front hall, Chu Junyi was sitting on a chair and reading the message sent by Ye Yi. When he saw Shen Ninghua came in, he immediately smiled and said, “Ninghua, breakfast is ready. Quickly come and eat. You were busy all day yesterday and didn’t eat much.”

Shen Ninghua rolled her eyes at him and sat down to ask Bai Ruo to serve her porridge. “Today we need to go into the imperial palace and thank Father Emperor.”

“Yes. I remember that. The Empress will definitely summon you alone to see her today. Be careful.” Thinking of what he saw in the letter yesterday, Chu Junyi’s expression got serious. “Yesterday, Master Liaochen was invited to the imperial palace to preach to the Emperor.”

Thinking that Liaochen said her fate was full of evil tendencies, Shen Ninghua smiled coldly. “He was a monk with impure intentions. What could he preach to Father Emperor?”

“Ninghua, you seem to know something about Liaochen…”

“I don’t know him very well. I just know him a little. There are rumors outside that Master Liaochen is very proficient in Buddhism and extremely knowledgeable. He is the most devout Buddhist.”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s what people have always said about him.”

Shen Ninghua sneered. “If what the rumors said about him were true, how was it possible that his disciple Shen Xuanye became so greedy? How was it possible that he appeared so coincidentally on our wedding day to deliver the so-called letter left by my maternal grandfather?”

Thinking of the content of the letter he read yesterday, Chu Junyi nodded his head with a darkened expression. “You are right, Ninghua. You don’t have to worry too much. I will send someone to keep an eye on him these days.”

“Good. By the way, there’s also the Xiao family…”

“Let’s go to the imperial palace first before paying a visit to father in the Xiao family. If he still insists on severing his relationship with me, then there’s nothing else to say.”

The two entered the palace together after breakfast. When Baili Qingcang returned from the morning court session and heard that Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi came over, he was very happy.

Shen Ninghua was dressed in her princess attire. She had a bright smile on her face. Before she could say anything, her look had already made everyone happy.

Chu Junyi was also dressed in a silver imperial son-in-law attire, which made him look even more handsome.

When the two of them stood together, a gentle aura of tacit understanding came out. They simply couldn’t be more compatible.

“Greetings, Father Emperor. We are indebted to you for granting our marriage. We are here to thank you today.”

“Alright, alright, get up quickly and be seated.”

Shen Ninghua smiled and said, “Father Emperor, it looks like you’re in a good mood today.”

“Yes, I am naturally happy that you just got married. There is also another thing. Master Liaochen, who has lived in seclusion for a long time, has arrived in the capital. Yesterday, I spent the whole night chatting with him. I feel that I have benefited greatly. He is truly a knowledgeable Buddhist master.”

Shen Ninghua was surprised. They talked the whole night and had such a happy talk. This Liaochen really couldn’t be underestimated. “Father Emperor, Master Liaochen also came to my princess’ mansion yesterday. But I said something that made him unhappy.”

“Oh? I heard that too. Don’t worry. Yesterday, Liaochen praised you and said that you were the most magnanimous princess he had ever seen.” Baili Qingcang laughed heartily. He didn’t care much about the so-called evil tendencies Liaochen mentioned to him. “Ninghua, now that you have also paid your respects to me, go and greet your Mother Empress now. Master Liaochen will be here in a while. I still have many questions to discuss with him.”

“Yes, Father Emperor.”

After leaving the Chengqian Hall, Shen Ninghua frowned. The monk Liaochen was just walking over.

“Amitabha, good, good. Greetings, Your Highness.”

Shen Ninghua’s expression was cold, and her face was as clear as a lotus. She was so noble and cold that no one dared to approach her. “Master, do you come and preach to my Father Emperor?”

“Yes, I had a long talk with His Majesty yesterday. I deeply felt that His Majesty had a predestined connection with Buddhism. We made an appointment to continue our talk today.”

Shen Ninghua sneered in her heart. Did the Emperor have such a connection with Buddhism? Or did you insist on making such a connection between the Emperor and Buddhism? Only you could say it clearly. Thinking about it, the smile on her face became even colder.

“It’s said that Buddhism is boundless. How far do you think you have reached on the path of Buddhism?”

Liaochen cupped his hands together and said, “Amitabha, I am just an ordinary monk. I have only read a few more scriptures and know very little. I dare not say how far I have reached.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes were calm and clear. “Since Master only reads a few more Buddhist scriptures and knows very little about Buddhism, how could you dare to judge the connection of the Emperor of the secular world with Buddhism?”

Liaochen raised his head and said, “Your Highness, you seem to be biased towards me.”

“I don’t dare. I still have to pay a visit to Mother Empress, so I won’t chat with Master any longer. See you.” After saying that, she directly walked away.

Chu Junyi was a step behind. He curled his lips to warn him in a low voice, “Here is a piece of advice for Master. In the past, there were many people who said that Ninghua was eloquent. Their views about her were the same as yours. Master, do you want to know what happened to those people?”

Liaochen lowered his eyes, and his lips slightly moved as he chanted the Buddhist title, “Amitabha.”

“That’s right, they all went to see Amitabha.”

With that, he sneered and turned to catch up with Shen Ninghua.

Liaochen raised his head and looked at the fading figures of the two of them. His eyelids twitched slightly. “Amitabha, one is a demon from the hell while the other is a life-snatching ghost. The world will be in chaos.”

In Ningkun Palace, the Empress was sitting at the seat of honor. Her expression was extremely gloomy. Originally, she thought that when she left early yesterday, the remaining officials and their wives would definitely follow her and leave early as well. However, she didn’t expect to receive a message this morning that said those people didn’t quit the Nine-bowl Banquet until all dishes were served!

The Crown Prince aside worriedly said, “Mother Empress, are you feeling unwell?”

“No problem.”

Fangxue came in and said, “Your Majesty, Princess Zhaohua came to greet you. She is now outside the hall.”

The Crown Prince frowned. “Mother Empress, you are not feeling well. You should rest first. Princess Zhaohua is the most sensible person and she will understand you, right?”

Hearing this, Zhao Huiying’s eyebrows furrowed even more. “Crown Prince, I left early yesterday and have already expressed my dissatisfaction with Shen Ninghua. Now, if I refuse to see her, then the shameless one is not her, but me!”

Crown Prince was stunned. “How… how could it be?”

The Empress’s eyes suddenly widened, and the expression on her face became sharp as a sword. “Crown Prince, you are the future ruler of the country. The harem is the world of women. Naturally, it shall be managed by women. You should focus on state affairs. There is no need to interfere in the matters of the harem, do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” Crown Prince Baili Jinyi lowered his head, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

Only then did the Empress’s expression ease. “Go and hide behind the screen. Fangxue, summon Princess Zhaohua.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”