Chapter 116 – The Presence of the Guanyin

The voice of the speaker was very familiar. Miantang doesn’t have to look up to know who it was.

 

The mountain temple they are going to this time was the Wangfeng Temple. It was said that the God enshrined in this temple was Guanyin, the incarnation of Miaoshan. It was very effective in protecting women’s pregnancy and childbirth.

 

Therefore, many women who come here to burn incense also come to ask for a son. In addition to asking for children, there are pregnant women such as Miantang and Cui Fu who come to pray for a smooth birth.

 

Cui Fu has long heard about the effectiveness of this Guanyin. She had a hard labor during her previous birth, and she was really scared. So she wanted to come here to worship and let the Gods bless her. Imperial Concubine Yun, who has been in the palace for a long time but has never been able to leave, should have come to beg for a son.

 

Imperial Concubine Yun has not seen Liu Miantang for a long time since she entered the palace.

 

Unexpectedly, the carefully arranged river explosion by Prince Sui did not kill Prince Huaiyang and her. This couple was indeed lucky.

 

Sun Yunniang used to feel sorry for Liu Miantang because her hamstring ended up seriously injured and cheated by a swindler into losing her reputation. Although Yunniang still wanted to destroy evil, leaving no chance for its revival, she used to feel an inexplicable sense of superiority every time she saw Liu Miantang in Lingquan Town.

 

Looking at herself now, she finally snatch Ziyu from Liu Miantang, but the victory came with no sense of joy.

 

Ziyu has always been obsessed with Liu Miantang, and he even wanted to obstruct the marriage of Prince Huaiyang previously. She doesn’t know whether was it because that Liu Miantang hasn’t regained her memory, she abandoned Ziyu like a shoe, as if she had left the unwanted to her!

 

Previously, Yunniang looked down upon Cui Jiu on North Street because she thought he was nothing just with a handsome appearance, and that he had a bad character and there wouldn’t be a future to speak of.

 

Now, every time she saw Prince Huaiyang at a palace banquet, looking at his relaxed and dignified demeanor, Yunniang has to admit that in terms of appearance, Cui Xingzhou was indeed a rare beautiful man.

 

Moreover, Prince Huaiyang was not only good-looking but also a powerful official among the vassal’s descendants, who were the officials of the feudal frontier upon which the emperor had to rely.

 

Now, when she looked at Liu Miantang again, she was pretending to be innocent trying to deceive the tiger! Not only did she marry Prince Huaiyang, who had made outstanding contributions, but also the prince doted on her very much and made her pregnant at once.

 

By comparison, she simply guards the cold palace day after day, how can she get pregnant?

 

Today, she heard from an insider stationed in the royal palace that Liu Miantang was coming to worship the Buddha today, so she found an excuse to invite Princess Consort Sui and the Old Lady of the Duke of Qingguo, as well as several well-connected madams of the Duke of Qingguo, to go to the mountain temple to worship the Buddha. In fact, she deliberately wanted to meet Liu Miantang and put her in a difficult situation.

 

Because she handled the time very well, she met Liu Miantang halfway.

 

Yesterday, there was a fresh rain. Although Liu Miantang and Cui Fu had cushions under their knees as they knelt by the roadside to avoid the collision, they still felt cool after a long time.

 

However, Imperial Princess Yun was now hard to have time alone with Liu Miantang, so she naturally refuses to let it go. Currently, Prince Huaiyang was not around to protect her. According to the rules, the wife of the ministers should kneel and salute the empress in the palace!

 

It was very common for the empress in the palace to impose rules on the officials and wives outside the palace. There was no need to use too low methods. Just using the excuse of chatting and letting her kneel for a while will be enough for her to suffer!

 

So Imperial Princess Yun spoke softly and endlessly asked Liu Miantang about her daily routine in the capital.

 

At first, it was just a show to ask one or two questions, but after stopping by the roadside and asking questions like this, even the accompanying Princess Consort Sui felt inappropriate.

 

However, this time Princess Consort Sui did not speak up. Since the last banquet, the Princess Consort of Prince Huaiyang and Prince Sui had a conflict, Princess Consort Sui, who had been living in the back house for a long time, had also noticed the undercurrent surging.

 

As the wife of Prince Sui, she naturally had no obligation to rescue Liu Miantang. However, she felt that such a dilemma for the pregnant woman made her conscience ache, so she turned her head and pretended to enjoy the scenery beside the road.

 

In fact, Miantang herself was alright. After her pregnancy was stable, she doesn’t stop practicing martial arts, and almost every day, she trained the arresting skills without moving her body too much. This set of fists was specially made for her by Cui Xingzhou, and she hardly needed to move her steps.

 

So even if Imperial Concubine Yun deliberately embarrasses her, it doesn’t matter if she kneels for a while longer. However, Cui Fu, her sister-in-law beside her, couldn’t stand it, and her body was shaking slightly.

 

The Old Lady of the Duke of Qingguo didn’t expect that their daughter-in-law had been hiding from them all the time, but they met in the mountains. Her anger raised and only said, “Have you forgotten all the rules that were taught at home? You still dared to say I was being mean to you. Look at your attitude in front of Imperial Concubine Yun, being so tired and lazy!”

 

Although Cui Fu has made up her mind to separate from the Guo family, she was still the daughter-in-law of the Guo family. Moreover, in front of many noble women, if she contradicts her mother-in-law, she will indeed become the daughter of the Cui family, who has rebelled against her elders.

 

So after listening to the words of the Old Lady of the Duke of Qingguo, Cui Fu could only act as a disciple and readjust her kneeling posture.

 

The Old Lady of the Duke of Qingguo pulled a long face and took the opportunity of the presence of Imperial Concubine Yun to start blaming Cui Fu.

 

Imperial Concubine Yun also listened with a smile on her side, looking like she was trying to persuade her. In fact, from time to time, she poured some hot oil and continued to fire Guo.

 

The ladies on the side looked at Imperial Concubine Yun who didn’t let them get up for a long time, and they seemed to see something strange. They only looked at each other one after another, meaning to watch a play.

 

Miantang knew that Cui Fu could not bear this. She could also see that, depending on the posture in front of her, she was afraid that they will need to kneel for another hour!

 

She had to coax these distractions out of their sight as early as possible… So she secretly turned her hand over and gestured behind her back.

 

After Miantang entered the capital, Lu Yi, one of the four loyal brothers, led three or five of them to take a position as a court guard in the royal residence and followed Fan Hu.

 

Today, Lu Yi was the one who followed them out of the residence. Although Miantang has no memories of the mountain of Yang, she occasionally takes the time to ask Lu Yi. She has picked up many routine experiences in the Jianghu. This finger code is one of them.

 

Now that she put one hand behind her back, quickly bent her fingers, flipped and twisted, unable to understand what it meant unless they were on the same path.

 

But Lu Yi immediately understood after seeing the master demonstrate twice. After thinking for a moment, he only slowly moved his body and hid behind the carriage. Then, with the two brothers under the cover of the carriage, he gently rolled down the roadside hillside and quickly ran towards the back of the mountain along the rugged mountain road…

 

The Old Lady of the Duke of Qingguo spoke more and more forcefully, but Cui Fu couldn’t hold on any longer. Her body shook slightly for a moment. If it weren’t for Liu Miantang’s hands and eyes, she would have knocked her face on the ground.

 

Miantang couldn’t help but sneer and say “Madam Qingguo, I have a great eye-opening today! Other people’s mother-in-law accompanied their daughter-in-law to the Wangfeng Temple to protect their children’s safety. However, you are kind enough to treat the feet of the gods as your own backyard. Even Imperial Concubine Yun can’t persuade you. You are just determined to put on your mother-in-law’s authority in front of so many ladies, even though your daughter-in-law is now pregnant. Why did she return to the Huaiyang Residence? It’s unclear to others, but are you still unaware? Isn’t it because she can’t be peaceful in the Qingguo Residence and that she has to abide by the rules from you every day? Today, if my sister is well, everything would be fine. However, if she had an accident, wait and see if our Prince Huaiyang Residence will let you off which you are so determined to embarrass pregnant women!”

 

When she said this, Liu Miantang’s eyes showed a fierce light, not only staring at the Old Lady of the Duke of Qingguo but also looking straight at Sun Yunniang.

 

The arrogance like those bandits’ just made Sun Yunniang’s heart tremble.

 

After building power for a long time, she was reflexively afraid of this unscrupulous Lu Wen. After all, Lu Wen was temperamental and she can’t predict what she will do!

 

For a moment, Sun Yunniang almost forgot that she was now the Imperial Concubine in the palace and shouldn’t have been threatened by any minister’s wife at all. Her face turned pale with fear.

 

The Old Lady of the Duke of Qingguo and the other Ladies didn’t expect Liu Miantang to be so aggressive and arrogant in front of the Imperial Concubine in the palace. Her face only turned pale with anger and said, “I am the elder of your, Princess Consort Huaiyang, how can you say something so disrespectful to me?”

 

Miantang glanced at the top of the mountain as if unintentionally, and then said coldly, “If you want to be someone else’s elder, you need to look like an elder. Otherwise, constantly being blind and violating of conscience to continue being mean to your daughter-in-law with children, even the merciful Bodhisattva can’t stand it, wanting to punish the evil…”

 

Just as her voice fell, someone on the mountain shouted in horror, “Oh no, there’s a mountain fire! There’s a mountain fire!”

 

Then they saw someone running down the mountain in fear.

 

The crowd looked up. There was billowing smoke in the distance as if there was a real fire.

 

Mountain fires are the most terrifying. If the wind blows, the entire mountaintop will be burned to the ground.

 

The guards in the palace were afraid of taking responsibility, and they didn’t wait for the orders of Imperial Concubine Yun. They only urgently ordered the horse to turn around and escort her down the mountain quickly.

 

Sun Yunniang had a bad intention and only pretended that coming to the mountain today was a temporary initiative. She only asked the queen to leave the palace and hurried out to see. She did not block out the mountain and clear the path a day earlier, as the noble people in other palaces did when they went to the mountain to worship incense so that the people avoided it.

 

Suddenly, a fire broke out on the mountain, causing everyone to panic. Some common people who had evaded by the roadside stood up and ran down the mountain. After the carriage of Imperial Concubine Yun turned around, it rushed down in a rampage, unexpectedly knocking over many people.

 

For a moment, the road was not very spacious, and it was extremely chaotic. Miantang also frowned secretly when she saw it. She didn’t expect the palace guards to act like this.

 

Cui Fu was already uncomfortable, and seeing this made her even more anxious. She wanted to pull Liu Miantang up and head down the mountain quickly.

 

Liu Miantang helped her to the carriage. Let her lie down on her back, and then tell Fan Hu and them not to panic until there was order on the road before getting off.

 

Cui Fu anxiously said, “Why don’t we leave? I’m afraid the mountain fire will spread soon.”

 

Miantang smiled and said, “The fire is not flourishing, and it rained yesterday. It’s not the dry season, and there’s no big deal. Rushing down now will increase the rate of an accident. If someone were to conspire against us, we won’t be able to detect it. Rest assured, sister, I am aware of what I’m doing.”

 

Cui Fu had heard her mother say before that the more panicked the situation was, the more confident Miantang was in winning the battle. Today, she has also learned. After listening to her words, her heart seems to be less flustered.

 

After the time of a cup of tea, as Liu Miantang said, the black smoke seemed to be much less.

 

Liu Miantang looked at the decrease in the flow of people on the road and ordered the carriage to return and leave behind a carriage to allow those people who had injured their legs and feet to ride down the mountain for treatment.

 

When they first arrived at the foot of the mountain, they saw the sound of horses’ hooves coming from afar. She saw Cui Xingzhou and his entourage coming with fast horses.

 

After seeing the carriage from a distance, Cui Xingzhou urged the rider to take the lead and came to Liu Miantang’s carriage. He lifted the curtain and said, “Are you okay?”

 

Miantang was holding Cui Fu and watching her increasingly unwell appearance, hurriedly said, “I’m fine, but my sister doesn’t look good…”