svetikya Page 448
Page 448
Heng Hui, a monk who entered the temple to practice at the age of six, was a disciple of Abbot Pan Shu. Over the years, the clever little monk grew into a handsome monk with clear features.
If he hadn't met Princess Pingyang, he would have spent his life with only the dim light of a lamp, chanting scriptures and worshipping Buddha.
One day, he found a handkerchief that a woman had deliberately thrown into the stream, and then he heard a woman's voice as melodious as a nightingale.
"Master, that's my handkerchief, can you give it back to me?"
The speaker was Princess Pingyang, a graceful and elegant woman in a lotus-colored long dress, with a pretty face and curved eyebrows.
She often visits Qinglong Temple to worship Buddha and has been paying attention to Heng Hui for a long time. The handkerchief was just a chance encounter.
On this bright and sunny spring afternoon, the babbling brook opened up another world for Heng Hui, and from then on, the girl could never shake it off.
While Heng Hui meditated, the young girl stayed by his side, reading her forbidden books or gently fanning herself while staring blankly at Heng Hui. Seeing that Heng Hui did not react, the girl brushed Heng Hui's nostrils with a blade of grass.
"If you continue like this, I will go into seclusion!"
He was angry, but the girl just stuck out her tongue and giggled, seemingly without any sincerity in apologizing.
He meditated, and she accompanied him; he went up the mountain to gather herbs, and she followed him. When spring came, the mountain flowers were in full bloom, and he suddenly couldn't tell whether the people were more beautiful or the flowers were more beautiful.
Rumors could be terrifying, and the whispers reached the ears of the monk Panshu: "Heng Hui, you have feelings for that woman, are you thinking of leaving the monastic life?"
Heng Hui was very firm: "I have no feelings for that woman. I am willing to stay with the Buddha and will never return to secular life. I will take refuge in the Buddha."
The abbot had no choice but to allow the woman to enter the temple, as she was the legitimate daughter of Prince Yu, a member of the imperial family.
From that day on, the monk became indifferent to the girl's teasing and pranks.
"Monk, is this flower pretty?"
"Monk, shall I play the zither for you?"
"Monk, I'm feeling really dizzy and unwell. Aren't you worried about me?"
"Monk, why do you isolate yourself in solitude?"
……
Heng Hui ignored all the words, whether they were charming, cheerful, or caring.
Finally, she stopped coming, as if she had never existed.
The monk felt liberated to be able to continue accompanying the Buddha, but he soon felt something was wrong; he always felt that something was missing from his life.
More than a month later, Princess Pingyang arrived, looking distraught. Her once beautiful face had thinned, and she appeared haggard.
"Monk, I'm getting married."
Upon hearing this, Heng Hui remained silent, her expression calm and composed. Princess Pingyang felt a pang of pain in her heart, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Prince Yu was about to enter the cabinet as the chief minister, which gave hope to the noble families who were originally in a weak position. Prince Yu also wanted to win over these powerful figures, so he arranged a marriage for his eldest daughter.
Royal ladies never had the choice of their own marriage.
"Clang, clang..."
Suddenly, a clear sound resounded throughout the Buddhist hall.
The prayer beads were scattered all over the ground.
Looking at the Buddhist prayer beads scattered on the ground, Princess Pingyang finally managed to hold back her tears.
"Monk, would you like to elope with me?"
"……it is good."
Heng Hui agreed because he had finally understood his own heart.
Princess Pingyang wept with joy; her efforts had finally paid off.
“Monk, I have guards with me. If I am missing for more than half an hour, the guards will search the mountain, and my father will find out soon.”
"We need a magical artifact to conceal our presence and evade the search by the Imperial Observatory's sorcerers. We also need to prepare new household registrations and identities to facilitate our departure from the capital. Furthermore, we need to prepare money, otherwise we will have no means of survival even if we escape..."
Princess Pingyang, who was already lively and cheerful, poured out all the thoughts she had been holding in for the past few days.
Heng Hui was somewhat dazed because he had no experience of worldly life and had no idea how to live outside. He could only listen to Princess Pingyang on how to elope.
"Monk, don't worry, I'll take care of everything!"
Princess Pingyang was very excited. She was a princess, after all. There was nothing she couldn't do from childhood to adulthood. It was just eloping, something that talented men and beautiful women in forbidden books often did.
"As for other matters, I really can't help, but our temple has a magical artifact that can conceal one's aura and evade any method of detection... My master trusts me very much, so I should be able to take it out."
Looking into the princess's big, watery eyes, Heng Hui couldn't remain unmoved and let the girl take charge of their future.
The girl smiled and leaned forward slightly, gently pecking Heng Hui's cheek.
"To be honest, I don't have a good way to deal with magical artifacts. But I do have connections to get a proper identity. The young master of the Pingyuan Marquis's family often boasts to me that he has connections in both the legal and illegal worlds and that there's nothing he can't do in the capital."
“We grew up together, and his father is also currying favor with my father. I have plenty of money; if I give him some, he will definitely help me!”
"I asked him to create fake identities for us and then send us out of the city. After that, we were completely free!"
……
Listening to Princess Pingyang's endless talk about her elopement plans, Heng Hui was filled with anticipation for the future.
three days later.
At the residence of Zhang Feng, Minister of War.
Zhang Fengzheng, along with Sun Mingzhong, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Earl of Pingyuan, were secretly discussing something.
Although the Earl of Pingyuan was a member of the nobility, he was very close to the civil officials and was not of the same mind as Prince Yu, whom the nobility was pushing for.
"My lord, is this true?"
Zhang Feng's words betrayed his excitement, and Sun Mingzhong also looked pleased.
"Lord Zhang, Lord Sun, everything I said is true!"
"Prince Yu arranged a marriage for Princess Pingyang, but the princess wanted to elope with a monk and even found a magical artifact to conceal her presence."
"The princess asked my son to make fake household registrations for them, and I have temporarily seized the registrations. I would like to ask you two gentlemen for advice on how to handle this matter."
Zhang Feng was clearly the person in charge among these people. He stroked his neat and dignified beard, and his expression gradually calmed down.
"Then let's help the princess elope!"
“Prince Yu is a member of the imperial family. If he is not disciplined properly and allows his legitimate daughter to elope with a monk, what will become of Prince Yu’s credibility?”
"Cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. Prince Yu can't even control the women in his own family and has done such indecent things. How can he talk about assisting in the administration of the country!"
Sun Mingzhong echoed, "What Lord Zhang said is very true. That's what I think too. After all, we didn't do anything; we just fueled the flames."
"It's all because Prince Yu didn't discipline his daughter properly; he couldn't enter the inner palace, and he can't blame anyone else."
Chapter 268 Helpless Pingyang, Furious Huaiqing!
A horse-drawn carriage slowly drove out of the entrance of Qinglong Temple.
As the carriage passed a bend in the mountain road, it began to accelerate, and half an hour later it was already far away from Qinglong Temple.
Inside the carriage were Heng Hui and Princess Pingyang, who had already disguised themselves. The princess was dressed in commoner's clothes and had no valuable jewelry on her.
"Great! Even if the guards start searching the mountain now, they won't be able to find us."
In Princess Pingyang's arms was a magical artifact that Heng Hui had stolen to shield her aura. Even if the sorcerers from the Imperial Observatory came looking for her, they would have no way to do anything about it.
The monk Heng Hui wore a scholar's hat and a scholar's long robe, so at first glance, he didn't look like a monk at all.
Compared to Princess Pingyang's excitement and exhilaration, Heng Hui was both curious and nervous, because he was about to face a completely unfamiliar life.
Besides the two eloping lovers, the carriage also carried the eldest son of the Earl of Pingyuan, who had come to meet them.
After half a day.
The carriage had completely left the capital city and stopped in a desolate valley.
The eldest son of the Marquis of Pingyuan was the first to jump off the carriage and called out to the carriage, "Princess, we're leaving the capital. I've prepared clothes and travel expenses for you. Come down and get them."
Princess Pingyang peeked out and saw that the carriage was not stopped on the official road and that the surrounding area was somewhat desolate, which made her a little scared.
Two elegantly dressed young men approached from under a tree not far away. Upon seeing their faces, Princess Pingyang was startled.
One of the young men, with extremely dark circles under his eyes, looking as if he hadn't slept for days and nights, was Zhang Yi, the son of the Minister of War and a well-known playboy in the capital.
The other person was also a young master Sun whom I had met once before. His father seemed to work in the Ministry of Revenue.
Although Princess Pingyang didn't understand politics very well, she knew that her father, the Earl of Pingyuan, and the civil officials of the Six Ministries were not close. She wondered what these two were doing here.
Sensing that Princess Pingyang's small hands were cold, Heng Hui also poked her head out of the carriage.
But as soon as he poked his head out, the eldest son of the Marquis of Pingyuan slapped his scholar's hat off and then slapped Heng Hui hard on the bald head.
"Damn you, you bald monk, a toad trying to eat swan meat!"
Before Heng Hui could react, the young man with dark circles under his eyes grabbed him by the neck and pulled him off the carriage.
Although Zhang Yi was a time management master with kidney deficiency, he was also an eighth-rank martial artist, so dealing with Heng Hui was a piece of cake.
He stomped on Heng Hui's back several times and cursed even more rudely, "You stinking bald monk, you still want to steal the royal family's tender cabbage? You're dreaming."
Seeing the unexpected situation before her, Princess Pingyang was shocked. Without Heng Hui by her side and without the guards who always followed her, she had no idea what to do.