Having heard such good news the previous day, an unignited fire having swept away the two eyesores, Junior Concubine Yuan and Lu Zhenyi, which was truly gratifying, Lu Huiyi was currently seated in a carriage heading toward the Guangping Marquis Estate. Her hair ornaments swayed along with the carriage, and her face could not hide her bubbling joy.
As soon as she stepped down from the carriage, Princess Shouyang found it quite unusual and couldn’t help asking her, “You must have received some good news; you are glowing with happiness.”
“Eldest cousin, this is a box of leisure books I gathered just for you. Let us go inside, and I will tell you all about it.”
Once Lu Huiyi entered the room, she said to her, “Do you still remember why I was injured? It was because my good younger sister Zhenniang talked too much and stirred up trouble before my father. Believing her petty words, Father beat me severely.”
“Of course I know. But later on, Fourth Uncle and Zhenniang were both punished, and Fourth Aunt and the concubine received warnings too. This matter was settled long ago. What else happened to put you in such high spirits?”
Lu Huiyi detailed her scheme to her, explaining how Lu Zhenyi fell right into her trap just as she had hoped, ultimately resulting in her being sent to the mountains for two months of quiet spiritual seclusion, while also implicating her concubine mother who was banished to a countryside estate.
Princess Shouyang was utterly astonished, feeling somewhat frightened as she listened, “Hui-niang, how on earth did you manage to pull off something like this? It is so intricately linked that it almost feels incredible to me.”
“I simply understand the personalities of the concubine and my sister. They would always find ways to oppress me anyway, so I might as well present the opportunity myself. As for subsequent events like Sixth Sister-in-law handling the case and Grandmother driving people out, those were beyond my calculations.”
Lu Huiyi saw it clearly: Shouyang was frightened by her current calculating demeanor, but time was pressing, and there was no leisure left to wait for another opportunity to help Shouyang shake off Prince Yu.
Therefore, ignoring everything else, she inched closer, leaned forward, and spoke again, “I came to share this with you because I have thought of a way to ensure the Empress Dowager and the Emperor will never let you marry Prince Yu, no matter what. I was afraid you would think I am too young to play these kinds of games, which is why I broke yesterday’s events down to tell you.”
Shouyang heaved a sigh of relief, “So that is how it is. We are close confidantes after all, and I was genuinely afraid you had turned into someone unscrupulous, unashamed, and proud of it. Do tell me what plan you have in mind.”
Lu Huiyi whispered a few words into Shouyang’s ear. Shouyang gasped, her mouth opening wide in hesitation.
“Won’t this offend Prince Yu too much and provoke his anger?”
Lu Huiyi shook her head, “Has cousin not figured it out yet? Prince Yu and Consort Li desire a primary princess-consort whose family holds real power in the imperial court. If cousin truly marries him, that would spell utter despair for your life.”
Shouyang frowned, “From my observation of the court situation, the Emperor uncle leans toward candidates from families with simple backgrounds for the imperial princes’ consorts. Marrying a consort whose family holds real power is bound to invite suspicion.”
Though Shouyang disliked socializing, she had lived in the palace for fourteen years and saw these matters very clearly.
Lu Huiyi couldn’t help sighing, “Even cousin understands this, yet some people truly think too highly of themselves while lacking any real talent. They are certainly not good matches.”
After such a thorough critique of Prince Yu between Lu Huiyi and Princess Shouyang, Shouyang was filled with joy at the prospect of escaping Prince Yu, leaving Lu Huiyi herself in a difficult dilemma.
Should she really choose Prince Yu? He didn’t seem much smarter than that fool of a Prince of Xing. It was hateful that the Emperor had raised only these few imperial princes. No matter how she picked and chose, she couldn’t find a single good one.
Before parting ways, Lu Huiyi and Shouyang agreed to follow the Lu family to Jueyun Peak the day after tomorrow.
As it turned out, the very next afternoon, Shouyang came to the Lu family estate. When she went to pay her respects to Old Lady Kou, she claimed that since they were all heading to Jueyun Peak early the next morning anyway, she might as well come to visit her maternal grandmother in advance.
Old Lady Kou smiled and exposed her intentions, “You mischievous girl, you probably came here just to play with your cousin Hui-niang, yet you use your grandmother as an excuse.”
When setting off for Jueyun Peak, everyone rose bright and early. Lu Zhenyi, perhaps realizing after her struggles that her future was hopeless and that she was bound to spend a period living on Jueyun Peak, played the part of a dejected quail and caused no more trouble, making things wonderfully peaceful.
As soon as they reached the mountaintop, a group of Buddhist nuns walked out from the temple. The leading abbess greeted them from afar, saying, “Are these the guests from the Lu family? Please forgive my failure to welcome you properly, do come right in.”
Old Lady Kou and Madam Qu entered the main hall to listen to the scripture lecture, as they were the only ones in the Lu family with that kind of patience. Hearing that the side hall was holding a session on various bizarre tales and anecdotes, Madam Qiao and Madam Shu led Shouyang, Lu Miaoyi, Lu Huiyi, and Lu Zhenyi early to hide out over there.
Yet, having merely listened to a story about a spirit possessing a human to drain their vital life essence, Lu Huiyi grew restless and excused herself, wanting to take a look around the mountain, thus slipping away.
Today was rather strange; usually, the most impatient ones like Lu Miaoyi and Lu Zhenyi were listening with rapt attention and showed no sign of leaving, whereas Lu Huiyi, who typically disliked going out, had wandered off to goodness knows where.
Lu Zhenyi’s probing gaze fell upon Lu Huiyi, watching her go all the way into the distance. Turning back, as the Buddhist nun began narrating a story of a soul returning in a borrowed corpse, tumultuous waves stirred in Lu Zhenyi’s heart. With Lu Huiyi changing so dramatically overnight, could it be that, just like in these folklore tales, the person beneath that skin had been replaced?
Lu Huiyi knew nothing of these internal musings. At this moment, relying on fragmentary memories in her mind, she was searching for the former residence of a female shaman.
It had rained the previous night, leaving muddy puddles along the sparsely populated narrow path.
Unable to worry about such things, even if it meant soiling her clothes and dirtying her shoes, Lu Huiyi gritted her teeth and climbed upward.
The mountain path was difficult to traverse; she slipped half a step for every step she took, and ahead lay a particularly perilous slope that gave her trouble.
An exquisite hand, slender and smooth like jade or bamboo, reached out right before her eyes. She placed her mud-stained hand directly into it, leveraging the grip to climb the dangerous slope. Once out of danger, she lifted her head to look at the kind owner of this hand.
Why was it Prince Jing?
Why would he appear here, and why would he kindly help her?
“Thank you, Your Highness Prince Jing.” Lu Huiyi forced an awkward smile. Only then did she remember she had dirtied his hand, so she smiled ingratiatingly and pulled out a handkerchief to help wipe it, only to make it dirtier instead.
Prince Jing pulled his hand back with displeasure, “This prince was merely passing by and lent a helping hand out of kindness. There is no need to trouble yourself, Miss.”
The sound of a bell echoing through the mountain startled Lu Huiyi back to her senses. She bowed to Prince Jing, claimed she had urgent matters to attend to, and hurriedly turned to leave.
Prince Jing watched her departing figure, furrowing his brow in deep thought. Why would this person appear in this place? He beckoned his personal guard Du Xingtong forward and instructed him to follow Lu Huiyi to see what she was up to.
Lu Huiyi groped around the mountain for half an hour and finally found the dwelling of the female shaman Mingyi. In her past life, after suffering a miscarriage and praying at a mountain shrine, she had encountered this shaman who, despite it being their first meeting, cryptically pointed out that she possessed a chance to return to the past.
Shortly after that, Mingyi appeared in Suzhou, claiming to be a mouthpiece bridging the divine and mortal realms, and arrived to preside over sacrificial rituals, becoming revered as a goddess by the common folk in the capital.
The political landscape of the thirty-sixth year of Jianping was volatile, and it was precisely at this time that Mingyi was suddenly summoned into the palace by the Emperor to be honored as the state preceptor. This person was exceptionally skilled at sowing discord, and possessing the Emperor’s trust, she had clashed with Lu Huiyi multiple times to no avail. Furthermore, because of this, she and Prince Jing engaged in numerous confrontations, though ultimately Prince Jing suffered repeated setbacks before Mingyi was absorbed into Prince Jing’s factional sphere.
Lu Huiyi gently wiped the mud off herself by the stream, tidying up her appearance before stepping forward to knock on the door.
The young child who had spent the next six years constantly by Mingyi’s side was still just a young attendant at this moment. He pulled the door open just enough to clearly see who was outside and asked vaguely, “Who are you?”
“I am an old acquaintance of Lady Ming, here to invite her to come down the mountain. Please announce my arrival.”
“What a pity, our young lady is currently not on the mountain. Besides, not long ago, another young master also came to invite her, and our young lady has already accepted.”
Lu Huiyi was extremely puzzled. According to logic, Mingyi was supposed to appear six years later. Who on earth could have met Mingyi before her?
A figure flashed through her mind immediately. She had just run into Prince Jing coming down the mountain. Could it be that he reached Mingyi ahead of her?
How did Prince Jing know Mingyi was here?
Unable to puzzle it out, Lu Huiyi pinched her handkerchief and washed it by the stream again, trying to sort through her thoughts. To her surprise, before her thoughts could be cleared, a gust of wind swept by and blew her handkerchief away. Annoyed, she grabbed a pebble and hurled it into the stream, turning away in frustration.
Inside the courtyard, standing right behind the child, was Du Xingtong, the guard sent by Prince Jing. The child cupped his fists and said, “I have already followed Your Highness’s instructions to send that young lady away.”
Du Xingtong nodded, strutted out the door, and went to report back. Hearing the report, Prince Jing felt greatly satisfied. Nodding, he was about to leave when an anonymous gust of wind swept past, carrying a damp handkerchief that landed squarely and plastered itself right across Prince Jing’s face.
The scent of powder, mud, and a fishy odor dissolved in the water on the handkerchief struck his senses all at once. Prince Jing found it utterly disgusting, and in a fit of irritation grabbed the handkerchief off his face, only to notice an embroidered character Hui on the corner.
At once, he understood the origin of this handkerchief, as well as the nature of the water, the fragrance, and the fishy smell, which made it feel somewhat less repulsive to him. He simply tucked it casually into his sleeve and headed down the mountain.
The disheveled Lu Huiyi returned to the nunnery. Qingzhu, who had been waiting for her to come down the mountain in the guest room, was startled and busied herself helping her wash and change into fresh clothes.
“Miss, where on earth did you go to become in such a sorry state?”
“The mountain scenery was too wonderful. I got captivated and lost my way. It rained last night, so the mountain paths were terribly muddy and caused me to fall and cover myself in mud.”
Chuntao, having obtained Lu Huiyi’s permission, had spent quite some time sitting in the side hall listening to stories. When Lu Huiyi walked in, she saw that only Madam Shu and Chuntao were still sitting there, while everyone else had wandered off.
“Miss, why were you gone for so long?”
“The scenery in the mountains is wonderful, so I walked around for a bit. Did you not go out for a walk?” Lu Huiyi asked Chuntao.
Chuntao shook her head, “Miss, you have no idea, this story is so interesting. I am not going out.”
Madam Shu smiled and bantered with Chuntao, “You certainly speak in a very amusing way, child.”
Lu Huiyi’s gaze lingered for a long time on a young Buddhist nun in the corner. Why did she look so much like Mingyi, yet appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old, right at the age of youth?
When they first met six years later, Mingyi claimed to be twenty-three, which meant she should be seventeen right now.
Had she mistaken the person, or was Mingyi lying?