Reborn Princess

From the trafficking of illegal salt to weapons, a huge conspiracy was slowly revealed. Zhou Cechen brought the files into the palace. Zhou Hengyan was so angry that he threw a pile of memorials at the door of the imperial study.

"A bunch of bastards!"

"Our great country has nurtured these two-faced, greedy people who only care about their own interests!"

Zhou Cechen took a sip of tea.

"Now it depends on how the emperor decides, otherwise the country will be in danger."

Zhou Hengyan thought for a moment and regained his sanity. "Is Liu Linzhi currently imprisoned?"

"Yes."

Zhou Hengyan always felt that these things were too strange.

The most important thing right now is to find out the forces behind it and the plans of the people behind it.

After calming himself down, he said, "All investigations in the near future must be conducted in secret, and merchants and caravans must be kept a close eye on."

"I want to see how capable he is."

……

Inside the palace, Shen Xilan stared in a daze at a pile of account books. My God, all the account books for this year were piled together. She didn't know where to start with the farms and shops.

"Your Majesty, you must be tired of reading the account books. Have some snacks." Lunong brought over peach blossom pastry.

Shen Lilan had no appetite at all.

"Just now I saw Madam Kong preparing a basket of offerings and said she was going to Jing'an Temple to burn incense."

Shen Xilan looked up, it seemed that something was going to happen in Jing'an Temple during this period of time.

"Go and ask Mammy to wait. I'll go with her."

Lu Nong was a little puzzled: "When did the Queen believe this?"

Shen Lilan: "Today."

She is going to do what she needs to do today.

Lu Nong didn't understand what Shen Xilan said, so she left the study and went to look for Nanny Kong.

Jing'an Temple is located in Xiangshan and is the most popular temple in Yanjing City.

At the foot of the mountain, Shen Lilan looked up and saw the endless stairs. She was a little scared.

She knows her body better than anyone else.

Grandma Kong smiled and carried the basket up the mountain. "My queen, you must come with me today to worship Guanyin, the goddess of childbearing, so that the prince can have a little prince soon."

Shen Lilan blinked and forgot about it. How could Madam Kong not mention praying for a child when she came to the temple?

Shen Yanlan asked the servant to take the basket from Madam Kong and then changed the subject with a smile: "It will take a long time to climb up these many stairs. Madam, be careful."

"Okay, okay, your Majesty, you should also be careful." Grandma Kong said with a smile.

There are a total of 1,800 steps from the bottom of the mountain to Jing'an Temple. Buddhism believes that sincerity will lead to success, and these 1,800 steps are a test.

When Shen Xilan climbed to the middle of the mountain, he turned around and looked down. From babies in swaddling clothes to elderly men in their seventies leaning on crutches, all of them were walking towards the temple.

The breeze blew across his face, blowing his hair. Looking at the woods on both sides, Shen Xilan was slightly absent-minded.

She had been to Jing'an Temple twice in her previous life, once to pray for Zhou Cechen's safety, and once to pray for her own afterlife.

It happened twice, but one time it worked. She didn't believe in Buddhism, but she wanted to worship the Buddha who fulfilled her long-cherished wish.

Just as she was lost in thought, Shen Xilan saw an old woman in her sixties in ragged clothes kneeling down and climbing up each step. She was stunned.

"Your Majesty." Birui obviously saw it too.

Shen Xilan didn't hear Birui's words. She looked at the old woman and saw that she was the same old man in her memory from her previous life.

A moment of suffocation came over her, and she looked around at everything in the world - everything was moving. The clouds were floating, the leaves were shaking, the wind was blowing, and people were climbing up, but she seemed to be standing still, watching all this.

Cold sweat broke out on Shen Lilan's back and her heart beat faster.

Memories from a past life surfaced in my mind.

That was the first time Shen Xilan went to Jing'an Temple in her previous life. It was the second day after Zhou Cechen went to the battle. For the first time in her life, she came to Jing'an Temple, which she usually disdained.

At that time she had a pious heart, and sincerity is the key to success.

Walking up the 1,800 steps, she saw people of all kinds. Babies in swaddling clothes were being held alive as they entered the temple to pray for life. Elderly men in their seventies were leaning on crutches to pray for their significant others. Girls were looking forward to finding their ideal husbands.

Among them, she saw the ragged old woman, who was kneeling and climbing up together. One of them stood up and stumbled, and was supported by Shen Lilan.

Shen Xilan asked her what she was praying for that required such piety, but the old woman refused to answer, so she did not ask any more questions.

Later, in the temple on the top of the mountain, in front of the Buddha statue with the aroma lingering and candlelight flickering, Shen Lilan saw her again. She was kneeling on the cushion and begging for Buddha's forgiveness.

It was unknown what she was forgiving. The only thing she said was "It's just a temporary marriage. After a hundred years, we will have nothing to do with each other." This made Shen Xilan confused for a moment.

Then the abbot wearing a cassock and holding Buddhist beads walked out from the back hall, saw the man, shook his head and left.

Shen Yanlan followed the example of those who were kneeling on the cushions and prayed to Buddha and burned incense.

After leaving Baohua Hall and going to the courtyard outside, Shen Lilan heard two old ladies picking vegetables talking: "What a sin! More than 30 years have passed, and that crazy woman is still begging. She doesn't ask for anything else, just to never see each other again and to ask for Buddha's forgiveness."

Another old woman sighed and said, "What a bad fate! She came to ask the Buddha to have love before, and many people laughed at her. Now she comes to ask for never seeing each other again. How sad it is."

The man shook his head and said, "Didn't she finally get what she asked for when she asked for love from the novice monk? In the end, the little novice monk..."

"Oh, what a pity."

What happened to the little monk in the end? He died of depression...

How can a novice monk love the strict precepts and rules?

A gust of cool wind woke Shen Lilan up and she shivered.

"My queen, what's wrong with you?" Birui called her.

Shen Xilan shook her head. She looked at the old woman kneeling down and passing by her, her hair blown by the wind. It was really fate that played tricks on her.

What happened in the previous life is also happening in this life.

"Let's go, it's almost noon." Shen Lilan said.

Standing on the top of the mountain and looking at the rolling white clouds below, Shen Lilan sniffed.

After accompanying Madam Kong to burn incense, Madam Kong smiled and said that she wanted to pray for a child for herself and Zhou Cechen. Shen Yanlan quickly pulled Madam Kong and said with a smile: "Madam, it's noon now, let's go have some vegetarian food. I think the plain noodles are really delicious. Would you like to accompany me to have some?"

Madam Kong knew that Shen Xilan was trying to change the subject, and she didn't want to be annoying as an old woman, so she finally gave up.

After letting Chaoyun accompany Nanny Kong to the side room for dinner, Shen Yanlan took Chunhua and Qiushi to go to the backyard. When he turned around, he saw Shen Luoning, who was dressed in plain white clothes, from afar.

Shen Xilan raised his eyebrows. There was no need to look for it himself. It would be delivered to him.

Shen Luoning was followed by a little maid, who was obviously Si Yu.

The two walked up the bluestone steps to a separate courtyard in the back mountain. Halfway through the walk, Si Yu said something to Shen Luoning, who slapped her in the face. Si Yu knelt down and begged for mercy. Shen Luoning looked down at her, helped her up, and gently stroked her face before walking back inside. Si Yu stayed outside.

Shen Xilan curled his lips. After searching everywhere for it, he finally found it without any effort.

As Shen Yanlan was laughing, he saw Zhao Ruyun, dressed as a scholar, coming towards him.