northernbook Chapter 189 Copying Buddhist Scriptures
Chapter 189 Copying Buddhist Scriptures
Prince An's Mansion.
Princess An fed Xiao Ping'er porridge while saying to Bai Zhaozhao, "Zhaozhao, I heard that Concubine Xu hasn't been feeling well lately. If you have nothing to do, why don't you go to the farm outside the city and play for a few days!"
Bai Zhaozhao understood what Princess An meant. She was afraid that Concubine Xu would cause trouble, so she wanted her to avoid him. However, she had been keeping a close eye on Cheng Jiayu recently, so it was not convenient for her to leave.
What's more, there is no response from the prince yet.
"Mother, do you think Concubine Xu will die?"
Princess An said softly, "It depends on her. Doctor Wei is an expert in this matter. As long as she knows the situation, she will have no problem saving her life."
After saying this, Princess An paused. Bai Zhaozhao herself is a doctor, so why would she ask this?
Sure enough, Bai Zhaozhao asked again: "I mean, do you want her to die?"
Princess An's eyes flickered. She certainly hoped that, over the years, she had suffered from the cold poison and had shed more tears than she had taken medicine!
After a while, Princess An told Bai Zhaozhao what happened many years ago.
It turned out that when Prince An was still a prince, the late emperor intended to betroth the daughter of the Xu family to him. All he needed was an imperial decree to grant the marriage. However, Prince An at that time was accidentally involved in a major fraud case in Jiangnan.
The reason was that when he was traveling in the south of the Yangtze River, he happened to encounter the imperial examination. On a whim, he got some connections, took a pseudonym, and went to take part in the provincial examination.
As a result, something went wrong in that provincial examination. The chief examiner leaked the questions, resulting in several idiots passing the exam. After the matter was exposed, the people were outraged and reported it all the way to the capital.
The late emperor was furious and sent an imperial envoy to investigate the matter. The envoy then met Prince An who was imprisoned. Because his identity was forged, he was the most suspicious.
Hearing this, Bai Zhaozhao wanted to light candles for this adoptive father. Isn't this just rushing to take the blame?
Sure enough, a few idiots insisted that it was Prince An who bought the questions and then sold them to them, in an attempt to protect the real person behind the scenes.
The imperial envoy was helpless. He naturally knew Prince An, but if his identity was announced, wouldn't it bring discredit to the royal family? At the very least, it was true that his identity was a fake, which was also a manifestation of contempt for the imperial examination.
Later, Prince An revealed his identity and wrote a letter to apologize, and he joined forces with the Jinyiwei to find out the truth. In the end, the late emperor punished him to stay in the northwest for a few years before returning.
So the marriage with the Xu family came to an end.
Two years later, Prince An met the daughter of a local prominent family in Jiangnan, who became his first wife. As soon as he returned to the capital, he asked for an imperial decree to grant the marriage, and the two lived in harmony.
Bai Zhaozhao's mouth twitched, and he asked, "Could it be that Concubine Xu has always been obsessed with father?"
Princess An nodded: "I can't think of any other explanation except this. My sister died of illness not long after giving birth to Tang Hao. I heard that the Xu family was interested in marrying at that time, but my family pushed me out."
Bai Zhaozhao understood: "So my father chose you!"
What a bloody plot. I suddenly feel that Concubine Xu is so crazy. If she can't get what she wants, she will destroy it. Could it be that the death of the previous princess is related to her?
At this time, Princess An finally answered Bai Zhaozhao directly: "Of course I hope Concubine Xu dies, but I don't want to implicate others."
Bai Zhaozhao laughed sarcastically: "The amount of medicine I had was small, but she must be reluctant to abort it. After all, I am still full of energy!"
Princess An understood and asked something else: "By the way, Zhao Zhao, your brother... I mean Bai Hao, what's his personality like?"
Bai Zhaozhao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "My brother is a skilled martial artist, not cunning, very kind to his family, and has an easy-to-control personality! But he is different to outsiders, especially to other women!"
Princess An smiled knowingly: "Well, ask him to come to the palace as a guest some other day."
After returning to the Bai Mansion, Bai Zhaozhao looked around but couldn't find Bai Hao, but instead met the eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict.
It was the Empress Dowager who issued an edict, ordering Bai Zhaozhao to copy the Buddhist scriptures ten times and send them over.
Bai Zhaozhao was very confused, Queen Mother?
The Queen Mother always ignored her, why did she suddenly ask her to copy Buddhist scriptures?
But this time Bai Zhaozhao was very smart. He directly gave the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict a silver ingot, and received an ambiguous answer: "The Queen Mother just wants the women of the royal family to accumulate some blessings."
Bai Zhaozhao thought about it, and then caught up with the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict and stuffed a silver note into his pocket. The eunuch froze after taking a look. He didn't understand why Princess Zhaohe could give so much for such a small thing, so he racked his brains and said, "Please don't worry too much, Princess. In fact, the Empress Dowager asks the women of the royal family to copy Buddhist scriptures every year and then offer them as sacrifices. It's just that it was suddenly brought forward this year. I heard that Concubine Xu went to the Empress Dowager, and then the Empress Dowager ordered the women of the royal family to copy Buddhist scriptures for blessings."
Good man, this is full of conspiracy, but she doesn't understand what's wrong with copying Buddhist scriptures? Could Concubine Xu tamper with her Buddhist scriptures?
Although she didn't understand, Bai Zhaozhao copied it anyway. A few days later, a palace maid came to get the scripture, but she refused. She said she would go to the palace in person to hand it over to the empress dowager.
The palace maid looked puzzled and said, "County Lady, this is not appropriate. The Queen Mother will soon leave for Xiangguo Temple. Wouldn't it be too late to give it to the Queen Mother after you leave?"
"Xiangguo Temple?"
Bai Zhaozhao was stunned. It turned out that the empress dowager was not worshipping in the Buddhist temple in the palace, but going to Xiangguo Temple.
"Excuse me, auntie, who else went to Xiangguo Temple?"
"And Concubine Xu, Princess Zhaohe does not have to worry about not being able to write well, there are some royal family women who are not good at writing. As long as the intention is there, the Queen Mother will not blame you, and this time the main purpose of praying for Concubine Xu is to give the emperor a little prince."
"I understand. Thanks for the reminder, Auntie!"
After handing over the Buddhist scriptures, Bai Zhaozhao realized that this was not Concubine Xu's conspiracy against her, but against the Queen Mother. She must have said something to the Queen Mother, and then the Queen Mother agreed to take her to pray for blessings. The Buddhist scriptures were just a routine.
Perhaps Concubine Xu herself had forgotten that Bai Zhaozhao was also qualified to copy Buddhist scriptures.
Oh, so Concubine Xu is quite bold and wants to put the blame of miscarriage on the Queen Mother? Is this easy to do? Even if she succeeds, what will happen?
Wait a minute, Bai Hao!
Bai Hao is a Yulin Guard, so he wouldn’t have gone with them, right?
What if the blame was not put on the Queen Mother but on Bai Hao?
Bai Zhaozhao suddenly felt clear-headed and hurried to the guard post where Bai Hao was. Sure enough, the people in the guard post told her that Bai Hao's team was ready to go and would soon protect the empress dowager to Xiangguo Temple!
After some thought, Bai Zhaozhao decided to follow the team quietly and act accordingly.
A moment later, a group of people rushed past her. The leader seemed to glance at her. Bai Zhaozhao looked up and saw Li Rongyue.
Where is he going in such a hurry?
Li Rongyue on the horse was also a little confused. Bai Zhaozhao's expression didn't seem good. Did he encounter any difficulties? But now he didn't have time to think about it. He whipped the horse under him again and led his men straight out of the city.