Volume Seven: The Years I Was a General
Breaking the Precepts1
Grass grows, orioles fly2, birds sing, flowers are fragrant3.
The imperial carriage traveled steadily on the mountain road without a trace of jolting. Wen Nuan lay quite comfortably, her head pillowed on Xiao Chuyu’s thigh. She held a cattail fan4 to drive away the muggy heat for her, bringing wisps of cool breeze.
The grapes fed to her mouth were fragrant, sweet, and juicy. Wen Nuan bit through the skin of the fruit, the juice bursting on the tip of her tongue, so sweet the tip of her heart trembled5.
Wen Nuan raised a hand, pulled Xiao Chuyu down, and exchanged this heart-and-spleen-soaking6 sweetness with her, “Is it sweet?”
Xiao Chuyu licked the corner of her mouth and smiled, “Sweet.”
She picked up another one and passed it to Wen Nuan, “Eat another one.”
Wen Nuan took a bite, then got up and pulled open the curtain of the carriage window, looking at the high mountains outside, “How much longer until Qinglong Temple?”
Xiao Chuyu called for Yuan Qi, “How much longer until Qinglong Temple?”
Yuan Qi responded, “Replying to Your Majesty, after another two shichen (4 hours) of travel, we will be able to reach Qinglong Temple.”
“Good,” Xiao Chuyu saw Wen Nuan rub her stomach, a smile appearing in her eyes, “Hungry?”
“A little. I heard that the vegetarian meal7 at Qinglong Temple is very delicious?” Wen Nuan’s eyes were sparkling as she looked at Xiao Chuyu.
“Mm, Qinglong Temple, whether it’s the Buddha’s teachings or the vegetarian meal, is unparalleled under Heaven. Many people come admiring its name to worship the Buddha and eat the vegetarian meal.” Xiao Chuyu told Yuan Qi to speed up the procession to arrive at Qinglong Temple earlier.
Yuan Qi responded, “Nuo.”
Xiao Chuyu took out pastries from a hidden compartment, “If you are terribly hungry, eat some osmanthus cake first to fill your stomach.”
“Okay,” Wen Nuan looked at Xiao Chuyu and asked casually, “Is Consort Yun8 practicing cultivation with her hair on at Qinglong Temple?”
“Mm, after the former Emperor died, most of the consorts were buried with him. A small number of consorts entered Qinglong Temple to practice cultivation with their hair on9,” Xiao Chuyu slowly explained, “But those consorts couldn’t endure the loneliness and, while the guardian masters of Qinglong Temple weren’t paying attention, they secretly ran down the mountain.”
For consorts to escape was a great crime, and they should have been captured one by one to be punished, but Xiao Chuyu didn’t pay it much mind, so she didn’t bother with those escaped consorts, letting them wander the jianghu, to emerge and perish on their own10.
“So now the only one still cultivating at Qinglong Temple is Consort Yun alone?”
Xiao Chuyu nodded, “Mm, only Consort Yun alone. Back then, when those consorts escaped, they wanted to have Consort Yun go with them, but Consort Yun was unwilling, saying she wanted to stay at Qinglong Temple for her entire life to pray for blessings for one person.”
She sometimes sighed with emotion; Emperor Chongming was dissolute his whole life, yet now there was still a woman who, after his death, remained devotedly in love with him, praying for blessings and fulfilling vows for him. It could be considered that he died in a worthy place11.
Wen Nuan was lost in thought, “How does Your Majesty view Consort Yun?”
“Kind-hearted, but has eyes and no pupils12.”
To delay the happiness of the latter half of her own life for Emperor Chongming, Xiao Chuyu felt such a person was too weak and incompetent, not as brave and fearless as those consorts who gambled their lives in exchange for freedom.
“Speaking of it this way, Your Majesty still quite likes Consort Yun?”
Xiao Chuyu frowned, “Where did you see that Zhen likes Consort Yun?”
A trace of slyness flashed in Wen Nuan’s eyes, “Although you said she has eyes and no pupils, you pity her even more, feel regret for her, feel that she shouldn’t stay at Qinglong Temple and waste the happiness of the latter half of her life, that it would be better to leave with those escaped consorts to seek her own happiness in the mortal world, isn’t that right?”
Xiao Chuyu didn’t expect Wen Nuan to voice all the thoughts in her heart, and she immediately sighed, “Indeed, Zhen feels she is somewhat of a pity.”
“If Consort Yun’s wish is to stay at Qinglong Temple to pray for the person in her heart, does Your Majesty still find it a pity?”
“Zhen doesn’t find it a pity that she stays at Qinglong Temple. What Zhen finds a pity is….”
Wen Nuan said it first, “Your Majesty believes Consort Yun is praying for the former Emperor, so you find it a pity, right?”
Xiao Chuyu indulgently scraped Wen Nuan’s nose, “You deeply know Zhen’s heart.”
She looked at the scars on Wen Nuan’s face. After several days of recuperation, the marks had already faded a lot. If not for looking up close, one couldn’t see the scars on Wen Nuan’s face.
“So good.” She was very satisfied.
No scars were left.
Wen Nuan grabbed her hand, rubbing against her, “If you don’t like it, we won’t keep it.”
Xiao Chuyu laughed in spite of herself, “Listening to you say that, you can control whether this scar remains or not?”
Don’t say it, but it’s really true.
Wen Nuan deliberately teased her, pulling open her collar to reveal her delicate collarbone, “Why doesn’t Your Majesty try it personally?”
“Try it?” Xiao Chuyu’s eyes were reddened by that patch of fair skin. She moved closer, her pearly teeth gently biting down, then licking it once.
Wen Nuan was made to let out a light hum by her sweetness. Seeing that no mark was left on her collarbone, she said in astonishment, “What’s wrong?”
“Forget it. It’s enough that you are by my side.”
As for marks and such, it was that her obsession was too deep, too demanding. Now, having a sudden awakening, she knew that it was enough for the beloved person to be by her side.
Wen Nuan felt a heat in her chest and smiled sweetly, “Okay.”
She looked at Qinglong Temple gradually appearing before her eyes, and next to the temple was the Imperial Mausoleum.
“If I die, can I be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum?” Wen Nuan was a bit curious where Xiao Chuyu planned to bury her.
“….” Xiao Chuyu said helplessly, “You want to be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum?”
“It looks quite nice, is it possible?”
Xiao Chuyu said, puzzled, “This reason of yours cannot convince Zhen?”
“Your Majesty will be interred in the Imperial Mausoleum after death, right?”
Since ancient times, emperors were all to be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum after death.
Xiao Chuyu nodded her head, “It’s a rule set down by the ancestors, so for you to want to enter…”
She reacted, looking at Wen Nuan with pleasant surprise, “You want to…?”
“This guilty subject boldly requests to be buried in the same place as Your Majesty after death, to follow in life and death, never to be separated.”
The tip of Xiao Chuyu’s heart trembled, and she asked with a trembling voice, “Gu Wen Nuan, do you know what you are saying?”
Wen Nuan looked at the hairpin on Xiao Chuyu’s coiled hair; it was one she had carved by hand. Ever since she gave it to Xiao Chuyu, she had not worn any other hair ornaments.
“Your Majesty is still wearing the hairpin this guilty subject gave you, yet you do not know this guilty subject’s intentions. This guilty subject is so sad?” She pouted, feigning grievance.
“What… what intentions?” Xiao Chuyu asked impatiently.
“Usually, when a man gives a woman a hairpin, it signifies pledging love, to show that body and heart both belong to someone.” Wen Nuan touched the ends of her hair, the corners of her eyes and brows filled with a gentle tenderness, “Although I am not a man, I thought of using the rites of marriage between a man and a woman to marry the person I love.”
In that instant, Xiao Chuyu’s heart skipped a beat.
The abbot of Qinglong Temple’s dharma name was “Shanliao”13.
Wen Nuan carefully pondered this name and felt it had a lot of artistic conception.
Shanliao saw Xiao Chuyu, placed his palms together, and bowed, “Shanliao has seen the Emperor.”
Xiao Chuyu nodded, “Master Shanliao, long time no see.”
Previously, when she was still the crown prince, she had accompanied the former Emperor to Qinglong Temple to worship the Buddha. The abbot at that time was still Shanliao.
“Long time no see.”
Master Shanliao welcomed Xiao Chuyu into the main hall to offer incense. Wen Nuan did not follow, standing alone under a Bodhi tree14, watching Xiao Chuyu offering incense and kowtowing in the main hall from across the crowd.
Lightly swept crescent eyebrows, eyes holding autumn water, skin as fine and smooth as warm jade.
Wen Nuan followed Xiao Chuyu in making three bows together, thinking that with all the Buddhas in the heavens as witnesses, she and Xiao Chuyu could be considered to have performed the three bows, completing the ceremony.
Tonight, let’s do a bridal chamber PLAY!
【Such a serious moment, and you’ve made it completely bottomless.】the System said helplessly, 【This is a pure place of Buddhism, be more mindful.】
“You still care about this?” Wen Nuan didn’t expect the System would mind these things.
The System put its palms together, 【One must maintain a heart of respect for everything in the world.】
Wen Nuan raised an eyebrow, “Alright, you’ve convinced me. Then for these few days, I will properly purify my heart and reduce my desires.”
Giving the Buddha some face.
Worshipping the Buddha still required some time, and Wen Nuan was a little hungry, so she asked a little master15 where the kitchen was. Wen Nuan told a young eunuch at her side where she was going, and without letting anyone follow, she went alone to the kitchen to forage for food.
Qinglong Temple was hidden amongst the mountain forests, with vast stretches of lush, green trees.
Under the setting sun, Qinglong Temple had an even more unique flavor. The dusky yellow light reflected off the temple’s roof tiles, turning them into translucent white jade; it would not be an exaggeration to call it a golden palace of jade.
When gusts of cool mountain breeze blew over, the air was filled with the fresh and sweet scent of the forest, presenting a grand scene of quiet elegance, making one’s heart relaxed and spirit happy, lingering and forgetting to return16.
Wen Nuan followed the path the little master had pointed out and successfully found Qinglong Temple’s kitchen. The kitchen had not yet started its fires, so it seemed it was not yet time for meals.
Wen Nuan looked around everywhere and only found a mantou17 and a yellow melon18 that could be eaten directly. She was truly uncomfortably hungry, so she could only start gnawing on the mantou along with the yellow melon.
With nothing to do, Wen Nuan started wandering around the kitchen area again. In any case, she had left a message for Xiao Chuyu, who would come here to find her eventually.
Behind the kitchen was a pool of clear spring water. It seemed that Qinglong Temple’s kitchen used the water from this clear spring. Wen Nuan walked down the steps. The steps were covered in moss, so her pace was slow, otherwise it would be easy to slip and fall.
Wen Nuan walked to the edge of the spring. There happened to be a stone bench nearby, about the length of one person.
The sound of the spring water tinkling was in her ears, and the sound of a bell ringing could be heard in the distance. Wen Nuan, while gnawing on her mantou and yellow melon, crossed her legs and admired the scenery, feeling quite happy.
Suddenly, the sound of sweeping came from the distance, rustling.
Wen Nuan looked over upon hearing the sound, only to see a woman holding a broom, sweeping the fallen leaves by the spring. Her movements were light and graceful, sweeping the leaves from the stone slabs onto a pile of dirt to the side.
The woman had a slender figure and was wearing a gray haiqing19. She wore no makeup, and on her head was only a single white jade hairpin. The whole person looked simple, elegant, and fresh. She was likely a female lay devotee20 cultivating with her hair on at Qinglong Temple.
And the only female lay devotee still cultivating with her hair on at Qinglong Temple was probably just Consort Yun, after all, common people or daughters of official families were not qualified to cultivate with their hair on at Qinglong Temple.
Wen Nuan stood up, looking at Consort Yun who had already discovered her. She should have recognized Wen Nuan, as her eyes held a bit of astonishment and pleasant surprise.
The sound of complex footsteps came from the direction of the kitchen. Consort Yun looked towards the kitchen, then immediately looked at Wen Nuan, put her palms together, and bowed in salute to Wen Nuan.
Wen Nuan immediately returned the salute. The two looked at each other and smiled, and Consort Yun left with her broom.
The sound of footsteps from behind came to an abrupt halt, and Xiao Chuyu’s voice sounded by her ear, “You know Consort Yun?”
She had recognized the woman who had just greeted Wen Nuan.
Wen Nuan turned around, taking a bite of yellow melon, “In the palace, we had a one-sided encounter.”
Xiao Chuyu didn’t pay it much mind. Seeing Wen Nuan holding a yellow melon in one hand and a mantou in the other, her brows furrowed, “This hungry?”
“En en, that little bit of osmanthus cake in the carriage wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth.” Wen Nuan passed the half-eaten yellow melon to Xiao Chuyu, “Try it, Qinglong Temple’s yellow melons are so watery.”
Xiao Chuyu looked at the verdant green yellow melon, and after Wen Nuan’s description, she suddenly felt a bit unwilling to eat it.
“No, you eat it yourself.”
“No, it’s really delicious, very watery and also crunchy,” Wen Nuan strongly recommended, “The mouthfeel is especially good, it’s like eating a fruit.”
It was probably because the soil and water here at Qinglong Temple were good that the vegetables grown were exceptionally fresh and succulent. Just now, Wen Nuan had even seen radishes on a plot of land by the spring and had originally wanted to go pick one to try.
The tips of Xiao Chuyu’s ears turned red, and she dodged Wen Nuan’s yellow melon, “Not eating. You eat it yourself. Don’t introduce this yellow melon to Zhen, it’s not like Zhen has never eaten a yellow melon.”
“The yellow melons here are different from the ones in the imperial palace. The yellow melons in the imperial palace are limp, but Qinglong Temple’s yellow melons are especially delicious,” Wen Nuan saw Xiao Chuyu resisting so much and was puzzled, “It’s really especially delicious, this guilty subject guarantees it with my life, especially sweet and very watery.”
Xiao Chuyu’s cheeks flushed red, and she said, exasperated, “…Gu Wen Nuan, that’s enough!”
“How is this guilty subject….” Wen Nuan saw Xiao Chuyu suddenly blush and instantly understood why Xiao Chuyu was so resistant to this yellow melon21.
She laughed out loud, took a bite of the yellow melon, and savored it carefully, “Actually, the mouthfeel of this yellow melon is still just average.”
“What? You don’t like it anymore?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, but this guilty subject said something wrong just now.”
Xiao Chuyu asked in confusion, “What did you say wrong?”
Wen Nuan glanced at the Imperial Guard and Yuan Qi standing guard above. She moved closer to Xiao Chuyu and, with a teasing smile by her ear, said, “If we’re talking about being very watery and sweet, how can this yellow melon compare to Chuchu’s pure sweetness and deliciousness?”
Xiao Chuyu’s face flushed crimson, and she said in shame and anger, “Gu Wen Nuan, you…”
The person before her had cheeks flushed red, her eyes glistening with moisture. That shy and flustered little appearance made Wen Nuan’s heart like an ape and mind like a horse22.
Wen Nuan’s gaze gradually became ambiguous and dark. She lowered her eyes, looking at the lips that had been bitten red by Xiao Chuyu, her voice husky, “Chuchu, this is a place of Buddhism, one should purify the heart and reduce desires to show respect to the Buddha. But I feel that the Buddha delivers all living beings from suffering23, and should be tolerant and magnanimous towards worldly people who possess the seven emotions and six desires24, so….”
Xiao Chuyu didn’t understand why Wen Nuan suddenly started talking about this, but when she saw the lust rising in her eyes, she instantly understood what Wen Nuan wanted to do.
Wen Nuan wrapped her arm around Xiao Chuyu’s waist and took a deep breath, “…I had a word with the Buddha. I’m going to break the precepts.”
She finally couldn’t control the temptation, her lustful guts wrapping around the heavens25 as she fiercely caressed the person in her arms.
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