The decree was a confidential one, and the crown prince quickly opened it.
The emperor’s words were concise and to the point.
“Mo Yao, I have heard that the immortal maiden Miaozhen of Yan Yang Temple has already given her heart to someone. The bet we made, my son, you have lost.”
The Crown Prince’s heart trembled as he suddenly recalled the bet.
What his father meant was that if Awu had eloped with someone, he would have to personally execute her.
But now Awu had openly admitted that her heart belonged to someone else.
At that moment, the leader of the Imperial Guards lowered his voice and said to the Crown Prince, “His Majesty has another oral decree.”
The Crown Prince abruptly asked, “What is it?”
The man whispered briefly, conveying a simple message: “Emperor Jingxi would no longer force him to personally execute the immortal maiden Miaozhen. Upon his return from the military review, they would discuss everything further.”
The Crown Prince clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
He raised his head and looked at the anxious generals waiting for him.
He knew he should take responsibility for his own actions.
If he didn’t, his father would only become more convinced that Awu was a femme fatale who would ruin him.
The more he appeared to care, the more he would push Awu into an abyss of doom.
As he thought this, his eyes welled up with tears, almost spilling over.
Awu, Awu, she was like the willow catkins of late autumn, drifting aimlessly.
He thought he could hold her in his arms and protect her carefully, but instead, he had nearly harmed her.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes with difficulty.
When he opened them again, his gaze was clear and resolute.
He directly issued orders to his subordinates.
On one hand, he sent people to guard outside Yan Yang Temple, instructing them to report any news to him immediately.
On the other hand, he wrote a memorial to Emperor Jingxi, respectfully inquiring about the arrangements for Awu, carefully choosing his words.
As the son of Emperor Jingxi, he naturally understood his father.
His father wanted to see him demonstrate the qualities of a future ruler.
A man destined to inherit the great empire of Dahui could not afford to lose his composure over a woman.
For now, Awu was safe in Yan Yang Temple.
He had to first appease his father to have any chance of returning to protect her.
This was the Crown Prince’s thought at the time.
Countless times afterward, the Crown Prince would recall this moment with heart-wrenching regret.
He couldn’t help but wonder if, when he made this decision, he was avoiding and fearing the worst possibility.
Because he couldn’t face his greatest fear, he couldn’t help but hope for the best, comforting himself with the thought, “It couldn’t be that bad, could it?”
***
Awu, meanwhile, lived a carefree life in Yan Yang Temple.
The Taoist nuns there treated her with utmost respect, almost as if they were ready to kneel and call her their ancestor.
Seeing how the once domineering Song Lingguan, the abbess, and the elderly nuns now treated her with caution, flattering and currying favor, Awu couldn’t help but feel a sense of triumph.
No wonder people were so eager for power.
What she had now was just a fraction of what Emperor Jingxi could offer, yet it was enough to make her ecstatic.
Awu spent these days carefully planning her future.
She found an excuse to go out and enjoy the scenery, using the opportunity to dig up the gold she had previously buried.
She then reorganized it and hid it among her books and luggage.
Although she would undoubtedly receive plenty of gold and jewels once she was by Emperor Jingxi’s side, this gold was something she had obtained from the Crown Prince.
It was the first time in her life she had owned so much gold, and she wanted to keep it.
After all, who would complain about having too much gold?
Holding her own gold, Awu felt a deep sense of happiness.
But now she also began to envision her future.
The Crown Prince, Nie San-these were no longer important.
Emperor Jingxi knew about them, and she had already cut ties with them, making everything clear.
There was also her childhood fiancé, the boy next door, whom Emperor Jingxi knew about.
She wasn’t afraid if this were to come to light in the future.
What she was truly worried about was the matter concerning Lu Yunjian.
However, no matter how powerful the Lu family was, if the emperor became suspicious, their downfall could happen in an instant.
She pondered Emperor Jingxi’s behavior and temperament.
The ones who should be more afraid now were the Lu siblings.
They should fear that she might reveal everything.
Of course, she had to be extremely careful to avoid being silenced by them.
Suddenly, she felt a wave of panic.
What if they decided to eliminate her?
What would she do?
She had to come up with a plan.
If she were to die, she would expose the truth, and Emperor Jingxi would surely be furious.
Then, the Lu family would have no peace.
But what could she do?
Once dead, she wouldn’t be able to speak.
If they decided to kill her, she might not have the chance to say anything to Emperor Jingxi before her death.
A-Wu rubbed her temples, feeling the situation was incredibly difficult to handle.
If only she had someone she could trust completely, but she didn’t.
She thought of the Crown Prince.
But soon she sighed.
No, she couldn’t involve the Crown Prince.
That would be digging her own grave.
***
A-Wu didn’t expect that an imperial edict would arrive so suddenly.
She hadn’t even finished copying the scriptures yet.
Surrounded by Song Lingguan and others, she hurried to receive the edict.
Indeed, it was to summon her to the palace to accompany the emperor.
After receiving the edict, she finally felt relieved.
As long as she hadn’t entered the palace, there was still room for change.
Now, with the edict in hand, everything was settled.
As she was pondering her situation, another edict arrived, this time concerning the Yan Yang Temple.
It stated that they had disturbed the tranquility of the Taoist order and were to be sent to the imperial mausoleum to chant sutras and pray for blessings.
A-Wu didn’t fully understand what it meant to go to the imperial mausoleum to chant sutras, but judging by the devastated expressions of the Taoist nuns, she guessed it wasn’t a good thing.
Perhaps… they would never come out again?
When Song Lingguan heard the edict, she knelt there, her face ashen.
After a moment, as if realizing something, she suddenly rushed forward, knelt before A-Wu, and began kowtowing desperately: “Abbess Miaozhen, I beg you, please intercede for me. I don’t want to go to the imperial mausoleum…”
Her voice trembled as she spoke, kowtowing repeatedly with a thudding sound.
The other nuns, hearing this, also rushed forward to kowtow.
Miaoxin, weeping, crawled forward on her knees: “Abbess Miaozhen, for the sake of our past friendship, please intercede for me.”
A-Wu was stunned.
She didn’t understand what was happening, nor did she know how to intercede for them.
In the end, she could only clutch her own edict and run back to her room.
Of course, not all the nuns were to be sent to the imperial mausoleum.
Most of the junior nuns would remain, and a few senior abbesses with some status were also spared.
Those who escaped this fate were trembling with fear, treating A-Wu with utmost respect, almost as if they wanted to kneel before her and call her “Madam.”
A-Wu was puzzled and quietly asked about the “prayers at the imperial mausoleum.”
Indeed, going there meant becoming a living dead, never to see the light of day again.
She couldn’t help but feel a chill.
Along with the fear, she also found it hard to look at those nuns.
The nuns, one by one, packed their belongings in despair, preparing to head to the imperial mausoleum.
Guarded by officers, there was no chance of escape.
They looked like condemned prisoners on the verge of execution.
Awu was also packing her belongings, but she was heading to the imperial palace in the capital.
As she left Yan Yang Temple accompanied by two female officials and prepared to board her sedan chair, she noticed that Song Lingguan and others were also being escorted onto a carriage.
Awu’s sedan chair was ornate and elaborate, carried by four people, while Song Lingguan and the others were in a carriage covered with a black canopy, giving off a somber, funeral-like atmosphere.
Awu hesitated for a moment before stepping into the sedan chair.
The female officials lowered the curtain, and they set off.
She actually felt a bit of pity for these Taoist nuns, but then again, she thought there wasn’t much to pity them for.
They were Taoist nuns who lived off the imperial grain, and in the past, they had interacted with noble figures from the court.
They surely understood the principle that serving the emperor was like serving a tiger-wealth and status came from it, but so did calamity.
Awu vaguely sensed that Emperor Jingxi’s handling of these Taoist nuns likely had deeper implications.
A father taking his son’s concubine was already something not to be spoken of openly, let alone the many other secrets that had occurred within Yan Yang Temple that were unfit for public knowledge.
As she was pondering this, she heard a bustling commotion ahead on the street.
Pedestrians quickly moved aside, and her sedan chair also pulled over to the side.
Curious, Awu tried to look out, but she couldn’t see much.
At that moment, she faintly overheard people nearby discussing how the Crown Prince was taking on the emperor’s duties, leading troops to the northern region for a grand military review.
Upon hearing “Crown Prince,” Awu’s heart skipped a beat.
She craned her neck, trying to get a better look, but all she could see were the fluttering banners and the bustling crowd.
She eventually withdrew her gaze, thinking that his departure was for the best.
She could now focus on establishing herself firmly in the palace and gaining Emperor Jingxi’s favor.
If he had stayed, she might have felt uneasy.
Amid the jolting of the sedan chair and Awu’s swirling thoughts, she finally re-entered the imperial capital.
As they crossed the bridge, she deliberately looked out.
Back then, Emperor Jingxi had scolded her for being unworthy and ordered her to leave the Crown Prince’s residence to become a nun.
Now, she was returning in a soft sedan chair, personally summoned by the emperor.
Once inside the capital, she carefully observed the bustling streets, and her heart felt lighter and more at ease.
She was about to enter the palace and become the emperor’s concubine.
The emperor was older, but not too old-still in his prime, and quite capable in bed, stronger than the two younger men she had known before.
Thinking about the days ahead, she felt there was some hope after all.
As the sedan chair passed through the streets and finally entered the palace, Awu looked at the palace walls and the neatly dressed palace servants, feeling a mix of emotions.
From now on, she belonged here.
She wondered if, when she left this palace one day, it would be wrapped in a tattered mat or carried out in a grand sedan chair.
At that thought, she hesitated for a moment.
A faint trace of hesitation made her scalp tingle as if it were about to explode, and her mind seemed to go completely blank.
Suddenly, she thought of the sea back home, of the neighbor’s elder brother.
She was supposed to marry him joyfully, to walk barefoot on the beach!
However, this strange blankness lasted only a very short time before she regained her composure.
Before her eyes appeared those eyes again, that radiant and gentle man, so strikingly handsome, yet smiling at her.
She could only gamble, bet on that moment, on his tenderness toward her.