Is the cultivation world now only populated by demonesses?

Chapter 14.14. The Third Princess

At the entrance of the North Palace of the Imperial City of Shangyujing.

Countless soldiers stood with grim expressions; the palace gates were now under martial law, and they would not allow any suspicious persons to enter the palace.

A sharp-eyed guard spotted a figure slowly approaching from not far away.

She was dressed in white, almost imperceptible. She was clearly standing in front of you, but unless she wanted to, you would hardly catch a glimpse of her ethereal beauty.

The girl had enviable long, silvery-white hair, which shimmered in the sunlight, like a pure lotus flower in the world.

The guard stared blankly at the girl, the sound of a Buddhist temple bell ringing in his ears, as if a female bodhisattva from the heavens had descended to earth, bringing with her chanting. But this feeling was contradictory, because upon closer inspection, the girl was wearing a lotus crown and a blue and white Taoist robe with gold trim.

Buddhism? Taoism? They are merely means to guide humanity to the world.

But what was most striking about the girl was that her beautiful face, which was so stunning that it seemed as if a plain white cloth was covering her eyes.

Is she blind?
No one knows.

The girl, carrying a black cloth cage, walked step by step to the palace gate, took out a carved white jade plaque with a large character "绾" engraved on it.

The guard hurriedly and respectfully accepted it, then exclaimed incredulously, "Princess Wanwan is back!?"

The girl's voice was ethereal as she said, "Go and inform him that I want to see my father."

Su Youwan, the third princess of the Liuli Dynasty and the chief disciple of Cihang Palace, has achieved success in her cultivation and is returning home today.

The current generation of the Liuli Dynasty has five imperial heirs, four sons and one daughter. Among them, the most favored and the most special are these three princesses.

When she was born, all the Buddhist temples in the city rang with the sound of chanting, and a dazzling golden glow suddenly streaked across the night sky.

The next day, countless Buddhist sects rushed to the palace, all wanting to take her as their disciple, including elders from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Palace.

At that time, the strongest person in the entire dynasty was only the national teacher who was barely at the fifth level. If a powerful Buddhist temple were to be found as a backing, the Liuli Dynasty would naturally be able to rise with the wind. Therefore, the best choice would definitely be the Wanfo Palace.

However, the emperor was reluctant to part with his young daughter, so he used her young age as an excuse to make the monks wait for seven years until Su Youwan was old enough to understand things, so that she could choose which Buddhist temple to go to.

In fact, everyone knew that when the Third Princess turned seven, she would enter the Ten Thousand Buddhas Palace and become a Buddhist nun who was above all others.

Because of this incident, the Third Princess held an extremely high position in the entire dynasty. Even the Crown Prince, the eldest prince, found it incredibly difficult to see his third sister.

But the wonderful thing is that...

When she was seven years old, the Third Princess had to decide where to go to practice Buddhism. The little girl frowned and said softly, "Youwan doesn't want to shave her head. Youwan thinks it's not pretty without hair."

These three thousand worldly troubles became the biggest obstacle on her path to enlightenment.

Wanfo Palace was also in a dilemma, but they quickly came to a conclusion: it was not impossible to cultivate while keeping one's hair.

It's just an exception; it's not like we've never made exceptions before.

Just as things were about to be settled, a person arrived. It was a real person from Cihang Palace, and she only said one sentence.

she says.

"The one in the palace wants to take on a disciple."

The elder of Wanfo Palace only replied with one sentence: "Is it Palace Master Cihang?"

The man shook his head: "It's that one."

So the people from Wanfo Palace chanted a Buddhist prayer and turned back to the mountain gate.

No one knew who the person the real person was referring to was. It was only said that Wanfo Palace originally intended to challenge Palace Master Cihang, but upon hearing that person's name, they dared not try to take Su Youwan away.

Seven-year-old Su Youwan asked, "Do I need to shave my head to follow that person in their cultivation?"

"No need to shave your head, you can get married even if you are an adult."

The little girl nodded: "I'm a girl, and I'll get married eventually."

From then on, the Liuli Dynasty lost one of its three princesses and gained a new junior master of the Cihang Palace.

~~~~~~~~~~
Have you ever visited a lantern festival?

Xia Lianxue shook her head.

She was an abandoned orphan. When Master Han Shui descended the mountain years ago, he found her as an infant somewhere and took her up the mountain to cultivate. The mountain was secluded and cold, so Xia Lianxue had never attended the lantern festival. Lu Changyuan then asked, "Interested?"

Xia Lianxue shook her head again: "Young master, even if I were interested, this is not the time to visit the lantern festival."

From the moment the two arrived at the lakeside, countless eyes were fixed on them.

Most of them were curious about Lu Changyuan's identity. Xia Lianxue was a true disciple of Miaoyu Palace, so why would she be standing behind a man for no reason? This man must have something different about him.

Lu Changyuan then asked, "Do you want some candied hawthorn? I saw they sell candied hawthorn over there."

The fairy bit her lip slightly, clutching the hem of her robe: "Young Master!"

Before, when those gazes were fixed on her, she would only smile and remain silent. But now that she has lost all her cultivation, she is as unbearable to behold as an ant being roasted on fire.

She wished she could disappear into somewhere.

"Gentlemen, are you looking for a boat to go boating on the lake?" A young gentleman with a fan in his clothes of blue and white silk approached and said, "The lantern festival is about to begin. The courtesan will be performing on the painted boat in the middle of the lake. If you haven't found a boat yet, why don't you come with me?"

"Great!" Lu Changyuan smiled. "There are so many kind people in this royal city."

The young nobleman smiled and said, "That's how it is in the royal city; there are many kind-hearted people."

Soon, a painted boat arrived at the shore, and the young gentleman closed his fan: "Please, gentlemen."

Inside the boat, wine and dishes had already been laid out. Lu Changyuan didn't stand on ceremony and, taking advantage of Xia Lianxue's inattention, pulled the fairy into the painted boat as well.

Before long, the painted boat slowly sailed towards the center of the lake. In the distance, an even larger painted boat was already moored in the middle of the lake; it seemed that was the courtesan's boat.

Lu Changyuan leaned back lazily: "I haven't yet asked your name, young master?"

"The fourth child in the family is Su Luoqiu."

Xia Lianxue was stunned. The surname Su was an imperial surname. The person in front of her said he was the fourth son, which meant...

"So it was the Fourth Prince."

Su Luoqiu shook her head: "Princes in the mortal realm are not to be taken seriously. Mr. Lu is giving me face by sharing a boat with me."

Lu Changyuan asked, "Do you know who I am?"

"Our ancestors didn't say it, they just told me that if I wanted to live, I had to cling to your leg."

Xia Lianxue blinked, completely confused.

She remembered what Lu Changyuan had told her before: if you don't know, just ask. He would answer her if he could. So she asked, "Who is the ancestor?"

Su Luoqiu smiled wryly: "It's that old lady who sells noodles, but she usually doesn't acknowledge us unworthy descendants."

Xia Lianxue widened her beautiful eyes and turned to look at Lu Changyuan: "You know that old woman."

Lu Changyuan nodded with a smile: "Yes, didn't I tell you?"

"You didn't say."

"It's possible I forgot."

"Didn't you say it was your first time eating noodles there?"

"This is the first time I've ever heard that she actually opened a noodle shop in the corner of the city."

Xia Lianxue took a deep breath, a little sullen. She had even taken out her own savings: "Then why did you pretend to order a vegetarian noodle dish?"

Lu Changyuan paused for a moment and said, "I'm not very familiar with her. In fact, not counting this time, I've only met her once or twice. If she really serves us vegetarian noodles, then it means that our friendship is truly over."

I ordered plain noodles.

He was testing whether the other side still remembered him, Lu Changyuan.

The world is cold and human relationships are cruel.

Rain at dusk makes flowers fall easily.

Human relationships are inherently unreliable.

(End of this chapter)