Chapter 421 - 421: He’s a Prince of Beixiao
“Master, I don’t know why, but I had the Eldest Princess’ handkerchief. I implicated the Eldest Princess and almost ruined her reputation. I’m willing to be punished,” Qing Yuan said solemnly. ‘Eldest Princess?’
Realization dawned on Master Shen Zhi.
‘No wonder Feng Yili urged me to come here with his son. As it turns out, something happened to his destined person…
Master Shen Zhi looked at the Empress Dowager and asked, “Empress Dowager, this matter concerns my disciple. I wonder if you can let me handle this matter?”
The Empress Dowager’s expression was extremely ugly at this moment. However, she was still willing to give in to Master Shen Zhi regarding this matter. She wanted to see if Yu Yunxi could be so lucky every time. She smiled slightly as she said, “Since Master Shen Zhi has spoken, how can I disagree?”
Master Shen Zhi, whose gaze seemed capable of seeing through all living beings, looked at Yu Yunxi and asked, “Eldest Princess, do you have any way to prove your innocence?”
However, for some reason, Yu Yunxi seemed to see a hint of teasing and amusement in Master Shen Zhi’s eyes.
‘Can a monk still tease others?’
Yu Yunxi felt it was strange, but it did not affect her at all. She said, “This handkerchief isn’t mine. There’s not only the word ‘Xi’ on it, but there’s also the word ‘He’…”
After Yu Yunxi finished speaking, she folded the handkerchief in her hands and flipped it around in various ways before she continued to say, “It’s not just these two words. There are also these words…’
The words ‘Ya’, ‘Ping’, ‘Yi’, ‘Xiao’, and so on appeared before everyone’s eyes.
Women with these words in their names blushed immediately.
Yu Yunxi said expressionlessly, “If we rely on the word on the handkerchief to determine a person’s innocence, then I supposed many people’s innocence would be unclear. Third Imperial Cousin, Sixth Imperial Cousin, don’t you agree?”
Yu Yunxi deliberately called out Chu Zhihe and Chu Zhiya.
Chu Zhiya almost lost her composure when she heard those words. She pursed her lips and pretended to be calm as she said, “Imperial Cousin Yunxi has a point…”
On the contrary, Chu Zhihe said, frustrated, “No, it must be you! You must have done something to the handkerchief. There was only one word in the beginning. How could there be so many words now?”
Chu Zhihe could not accept that Yu Yunxi could escape unscathed every time.
Most people also thought that Yu Yunxi tampered with the handkerchief.
At this moment, Master Shen Zhi said, “This should be the Thousand Facetss
Embroidery.”
‘Thousand Facets Embroidery?’
A woman said excitedly, “The legendary Thousand Facets Embroidery? It’s a kind of embroidery that has many hidden parts. One can reveal the hidden parts with special methods…”
Everyone looked over and saw that the other party was the wife of the provincial governor. Before she got married, she was a famous embroiderer in the capital. When the Empress Dowager and Empress Qin were conferred their respective titles, she had been the one to embroider their robes. For this reason, her words were credible.
However, even without the other party’s explanation, the others also did not need much convincing at this moment that it was the Thousand Facets Embroidery. After all, Master Shen Zhi had said so.
Yu Yunxi looked at everyone with a slightly raised eyebrow. She had just been thinking about ways to reveal the Thousand Facets Embroidery to everyone earlier. Unexpectedly, Master Shen Zhi helped her.
The provincial governor’s wife continued to say excitedly, “If this is the Thousand Facets Embroidery, then it’s not surprising that there are so many words. Who on earth is capable of using the Thousand Facets Embroidery technique? I’ve only heard about the Thousand Facets Embroidery technique from my master. I didn’t expect the legend to be true. There’s actually such a talent in this world!”
Everyone was shocked. It seemed like the Thousand Facets Embroidery was
very impressive.
‘Then who embroidered it?’
Everyone looked at Yu Yunxi and quickly dismissed her.
‘It’s definitely not her. How could the Eldest Princess who was raised outside possess such a heaven-defying skill?’
Yu Yunxi remained calm as everyone stared at her.
Meng Xia, on the other hand, gulped as her heart raced in her chest. The others were unaware, but she was not like them. A few days ago, she had seen Yu
Yunxi embroidering a handkerchief. At that time, she had offered to help Yu Yunxi, but Yu Yunxi said that she herself was the only one who could embroider the handkerchief. She understood now that not everyone could embroider the Thousand Facets Embroidery.
Chu Zhihe was still unwilling to give up. She said, “You must have done this on purpose to frame us!”
Chu Zhihe walked over to Yu Yunxi and continued to shout, “Take out your handkerchief, and let us compare it!”
“Since Sixth Imperial Cousin is so aggressive and insists on slandering me and Master Qing Yuan, I can only prove my innocence,” Yu Yunxi said with a sigh as she brought her handkerchief out and passed it to Chu Zhihe. The word ‘Xi’ was very obvious on it.
Chu Zhihe snatched the handkerchief out of Yu Yunxi’s hand and turned it over forcefully. However, after a long time, no other words appeared. She was unwilling to give up so she said to the provincial governor’s wife, “Madam, please have a look at this…
The provincial governor’s wife had a headache.
‘Why must these princesses involve me when they’re fighting?’
Nonetheless, the provincial governor’s wife was very curious about the handkerchief. She suppressed the excitement in her heart and hurried over to have a look. She studied the handkerchief for a long time, but in the end, she said in disappointment, “Sixth Princess, this is an ordinary handkerchief. Although the embroidery is exquisite, it’s not the Thousand Facets Embroidery.”
‘What? It’s not the same? Doesn’t this mean that we can’t prove that Yu Yunxi had an affair with this monk?’
Chu Zhihe was seething with anger.
On the contrary, Chu Zhiya sighed in relief inwardly. Although Yu Yunxi’s reputation was not ruined today, she much preferred that to Yu Yunxi being capable of using the Thousand Facets Embroidery technique. After all, Yu Yunxi already occupied the noble position of Eldest Princess. If Yu Yunxi was really so talented on top of that, it would be even more difficult to deal with her in the future.
Yu Yunxi crossed her arms and swept her gaze across the crowd as she asked with a half-smile, “So, am I innocent now?”
Everyone fell silent.
Chu Zhihe had nowhere to vent her anger so she turned around and scolded Qing Yuan, “You’re a monk. How can you keep a woman’s handkerchief? How can there be someone like you in a Buddhist temple?”
Chu Zhihe was not afraid of Master Shen Zhi. In her opinion, he was just a monk.
On the contrary, Consort Mu’s heart almost leaped out of her chest when she heard Chu Zhihe’s words. She called out sternly, “Zhihe!”
However, Chu Zhihe was so angry that she could not listen to anyone at this moment. She ordered loudly, “Men, break this bald thief’s legs for me!”
The Empress Dowager was so angry that she began to tremble. She roared,
“Shut up! I’m still here! Who are you to call the shots?”
‘It’s fine that Yu Yunxi alone is arrogant, but now, even Chu Zhihe dares to be so arrogant in front of me?’
Chu Zhihe quivered when she turned around and met the Empress Dowager’s gaze. She finally sobered up a little. “Imperial Grandmother, I, I didn’t mean that. I just…”
“The Sixth Princess is still half-asleep so her mind is a little muddled. Consort Mu, why aren’t you bringing her away yet?” the Empress Dowager asked threateningly.
Consort Mu was both annoyed and anxious.
‘This old woman likes to complain to the Emperor the most. I don’t know what she’ll say to the Emperor about Zhihe when we return to the capital…’
Consort Mu suppressed her frustration and quickly pulled Chu Zhihe away.
However, at this moment, Master Shen Zhi suddenly said, “In fact, this is not a handkerchief, but a scripture banner. The names of many female benefactors are embroidered on the banner. It’s to pray for blessings. Qing Yuan must have accidentally taken it when he was cleaning up a few days ago…”
Everyone nodded. They had heard of the scripture banner before. Moreover, all of them trusted Master Shen Zhi’s words.
Master Shen Zhi continued to say, “Since everyone’s here, I want to announce something. Although Qing Yuan has an affinity with Buddha, he’s not completely a disciple of our temple. I was entrusted by his parents to look after him for nearly twenty years. Now that the time has come, it’s time for him to give up a life of asceticism.”
Qing Yuan’s eyes turned red when he heard this, and he asked anxiously,
“M-master, you don’t want me anymore?”
“Qing Yuan, you can’t sever your connections to the secular world. Hence, you’re not suitable for a life of Buddhism. You should return to Beixiao.”
‘Beixiao?’
Everyone was thoroughly shocked by these words. ‘What does this monk have to do with Beixiao?’
“Qing Yuan is a prince of Beixiao..”