A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 90.2

If it weren’t for the sudden rush of wind, enjoying the moon here would have been uniquely beautiful.

The sharp wind swept into the Platform for Seeking Enlightenment through the skylight. The strands of hair falling over Chen Liangyu’s face lifted backward, and Xie Wenjun’s sleeves also swayed with the wind. But no matter how cold the frost and wind, or how sparse the snowflakes, as long as she was by her side, Chen Liangyu felt that the wind, snow, mountains, and rivers were all exquisite scenery, and she went forward with joy.

Chen Liangyu had asked for the wine, but she hadn’t touched a drop.

Aside from the jar that Lin Yin had taken for the drinking game, the wine jars and vegetarian dishes on the table remained untouched. The charcoal fire in the copper brazier was burning brightly.

The two rattan chairs were very close, and Chen Liangyu leaned her body towards the side intentionally or unintentionally.

Her gaze lingered on the jars of wine on the table.

Taihuang Temple was a royal temple, and for monks to break their vows was a serious crime. According to the law, they should be stripped of their robes and handed over to the Ministry of Justice for trial. For the Abbot to lead the breaking of the alcohol precept was an even greater offense. But Chen Liangyu was always one to lend a hand where possible, and forgive where possible. As long as the trouble wasn’t brought upon herself, she was too lazy to overstep her bounds and pursue the matter for the Ministry of Justice.

However, she couldn’t suppress her curiosity and casually asked Xie Wenjun beside her, ” Taihuang Temple has a prohibition against alcohol. How is it that the Abbot sells wine?”

Xie Wenjun rested her hand on the armrest of the chair and patiently explained, ” Taihuang Temple prays for blessings, offers salvation for the imperial relatives, and promotes Buddhism every year. Each Buddhist service consumes countless amounts of silver. The state funds allocated to the temple are barely sufficient, and the monks often have to use money donated as incense offerings to subsidize expenses. Since the calamity in Cangnan, Taihuang Temple established a ‘Tragic Field’ charity, where they open their granaries, dispense medicine, heal the sick, and help the poor whenever there are natural disasters or man-made calamities. The money from incense offerings in the temple is strained, so they brew and sell some wine to raise funds for food and medicine.”

So that was it.

Chen Liangyu said, “The Abbot is a compassionate person.”

Xie Wenjun said, “Besides Taihuang Temple, there is Jingci Nunnery on Lingjiu Mountain. The nuns of the nunnery also established a hall for helping the distressed and sheltering the needy outside the nunnery, called the Puji Hall. It takes in homeless women. It was originally intended to help those suffering, but later, many people started abandoning infants at the Puji Hall.”

Fine, dense starlight shone into the room through the skylight, outlining irregular shadows on the floor with the moonlight. The wooden frame of the skylight seemed to have framed the whole sky of stars.

Xie Wenjun turned her face and saw that Chen Liangyu merely furrowed her brows. She said, “When others hear of this, they all look indignant. Your reaction today is unlike you.”

Chen Liangyu said, “If those parents were heartless enough, they would simply drown the infants in a water vat, which would be more effortless. Why travel so far to send them to Puji Hall? Since they sent them there, it means their conscience hasn’t been completely extinguished, and they still cling to the hope that the child will have a chance at life.”

They couldn’t afford to raise them at home.

They couldn’t spare an extra grain of food.

Xie Wenjun suddenly asked her with a sorrowful tone, “A’Li, was I wrong?”

“Why does Your Highness ask this?”

“In the past, when land was distributed, I thought of it as a temporary measure to gain a period of stability, believing that all matters could be gradually pursued.”

Tears suddenly welled up in Xie Wenjun’s eyes.

“It’s too slow. The transformation of the nation is prolonged. A few decades is the lifespan of a common person. If things continue like this, the common people might not survive the next cold winter.”

Chen Liangyu placed her palm over Xie Wenjun’s hand resting on the armrest, clasping it, and tucking it into her sleeve. She also said, “It’s too slow. Halting conflict across the land and achieving lasting peace is also too slow.”

Xie Wenjun said, “Five years.”

Chen Liangyu understood that this was the deadline Xie Wenjun had set for herself. She said, “Good, a five-year term.”

The drinking game on the other side reached a lull, silent for a long while. Just when Chen Liangyu thought Lin Yin couldn’t come up with a match, a joyous voice suddenly rang out, “Moon of Mount Emei, half a wheel of autumn, its reflection flows into the Pingqiang River.”

Xie Wenjun glanced at the other side. “This subordinate of yours, despite her bandit-like demeanor, can actually recite poetry and lyrics.”

Chen Liangyu said, “A’Yin studied under Lin Jianshu for a few years, learning scholarship and military strategy, when she was in Bo Gong Ridge. Lin Jianshu is my maternal grandfather’s foremost disciple, so in that sense, A’Yin is also half a grand-disciple of my maternal grandfather. After a year of training in the military camp, her bandit-like nature has been mostly refined now.”

The night was late, and no matter how beautiful the moonlight was, people felt sleepy.

Xie Wenjun looked up at the sky through the skylight. Her head gradually tilted down, little by little, resting against Chen Liangyu’s shoulder, which was leaning towards her.

She pointed out an extremely dim star in the north to Chen Liangyu. “That is the Emperor Star.”

The Emperor Star is the Ziwei Star, the master of all stars.

Chen Liangyu looked up. Perhaps because the moonlight was so blindingly bright tonight, the Emperor Star was indeed weak and dim. However, the guest star that the Imperial Astronomical Bureau spoke of, which had the omen of displacing the main star, was invisible to the naked eye.

The Star Gazing Platform was located on the summit of the mountain where Taihuang Temple was situated. Yan Tianshu, the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, often resided here during the first three months of the year to observe the celestial bodies and divine whether the new year would be smooth or fraught with disaster. The rest of the time, he would only move there when an abnormal celestial phenomenon occurred, or when a major event required divination for good or bad fortune.

Yan Tianshu was currently on the Star Gazing Platform at the peak.

The reconstruction of the Yanzhi Mountain Palace was underway. Xie Wenjun had ordered the Ministry of Works to complete it before the sixth month’s Grain in Ear solar term. Yan Tianshu had come to select an auspicious date for the completion of the Yanzhi Mountain Palace.

Chen Liangyu asked, “Does Your Highness not plan to summon Yan Tianshu?”

Xie Wenjun said, “No.”

Chen Liangyu said, “If the Yanzhi Mountain Palace is completed around the Grain in Ear, and the guest star has still not retreated after the Retired Emperor moves to the palace, Your Highness will become the target of public criticism.”

The reading of the celestial phenomena rested solely on the writing brush and the words of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

Xie Wenjun said, “Taichang Temple has many ears and eyes. If I summon Yan Tianshu rashly now, wouldn’t it make me look guilty? Besides, must the guest star be me? It could be someone else.”

Chen Liangyu said, “Whether it is or not, precautions must be taken.”

“If I summon him, he might not necessarily be willing to work for me. If he has something to ask of me, then everything will be easy. Grain in Ear is in the first ten days of the sixth month. Two months is enough time.”

A period of silence followed.

Xie Wenjun asked again, “Is Chu Zhang still soaking in the water dungeon?”

“Hasn’t he floated up yet?”

Years had passed. When Chu Zhang was first captured, he was held in the water dungeon for half a month and nearly died.

Chen Liangyu said, “He was fished out long ago. Even a man made of copper and iron wouldn’t look human after soaking in water for several years. I’d be worried if Eastern Yin didn’t recognize a crown prince of that caliber.”

Once the Festival of Ten Thousand Blessings and the foreign envoys had departed, news of the capture of Liu Mo and the Eastern Yin envoy Meng Yuanliang by Heng Miao in the southern borders would reach Yongdu. Then, troops would be dispatched to escort Chu Zhang back to Eastern Yin. This also meant that they would have to start dealing with the Southern Prefecture King, Liang Qiuting.

The weight on her shoulder gradually deepened. Chen Liangyu looked down and saw Xie Wenjun’s eyes closed, in a deep sleep.

“Your Highness is tired.”

Xie Wenjun softly “En’d.”

“Shall we return to the Yongning Hall?”

“Stay with me a little longer.”

As if afraid Chen Liangyu would refuse, Xie Wenjun bargained with herself, saying, “Just for a moment.”

Chen Liangyu, however, smiled and said, “There will be a time for that.”