After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Just as she reached out to push open the door, a short blade pierced through. She dodged to the side, and when she looked again, she saw a young monk with a fierce look in his eyes. She was somewhat face-blind and thought this monk looked exactly like the young monk who had led the way earlier.

No, there are still some differences.

The young monk was fair-skinned and had a gentle appearance, while this one had a mole on the corner of his lip, a fierce look in his eyes, and was clearly unruly.

"This is a sacred Buddhist temple, a royal monastery. How dare you, a mere monk, injure someone with a weapon? Aren't you afraid of Buddha's wrath? Aren't you afraid of the Empress Dowager's wrath?"

The young monk hadn't expected to fail. After a moment of shock, he charged again.

Lu Zhiyuan dodged his attacks, casually picking up a silver needle as a weapon. She had tucked it into her belt when she left the palace, fearing unforeseen circumstances. Convenient for saving lives, convenient for killing, readily available.

The young monk was skilled in martial arts, each move potentially fatal, but in Lu Zhiyuan's eyes, he was utterly insignificant. Having undergone rigorous training in her previous life, she could not only anticipate his every move but also make timely predictions. If it weren't for the original owner's delicate body, she could have killed him in just two moves.

The silver needle pierced the young monk's neck, causing his attack to falter. In that moment of opening, Lu Zhiyuan snatched the knife from his hand, held it against his neck, and asked in a sinister tone, "Who wants you to kill me?"

His neck was throbbing with pain, and the little monk's face was pale, his eyes filled with ferocious hatred: "You'd better let me go, or you and your maid will both die here."

Lu Zhiyuan scoffed, "You think I'm unprepared? You think my Liuying is easy to bully? You were about to kill me, and I'm going to let you go? Do you think I'm Guanyin Bodhisattva? Letting you go so you can seize another chance to kill me?"

As they spoke, a silver needle pierced the bone in his right leg. The needle itself didn't hurt, but the medicine applied to it did. She had gone to great lengths to find it. She had only brewed a small bottle, originally intending to give it to her second uncle so he could interrogate the Southern Chu spies. Who knew those spies, some with backbone, were exceptionally resolute; they committed suicide by poison as soon as they were captured. Others, utterly spineless, spilled everything—both what they could and couldn't—without even being tortured.

He spun the dagger, drawing a bloody gash on the man's neck: "Speak, and I'll give you a quick death. Don't speak, and I'll make you wish you were dead."

The young monk gritted his teeth: "It's just a needle, we can just pull it out. This is Huguo Temple, someone will be here soon. The young lady of the Pingnan Marquis's mansion killed a monk in Huguo Temple, what do you think the Empress Dowager will think?"

"Let her think whatever she wants." She pulled the silver needle out of his leg. "The needle's out, does the pain go away? Do you think my silver needles are ordinary needles? I wonder what it feels like to have this needle stuck in your eye? Your eyes are pretty, but they're too fierce and murderous. I don't like them."

Seeing the silver needle getting closer and closer, the little monk panicked and cried out, "It was the Empress Dowager who ordered me to kill you!"

Queen Mother?

She had no recollection of offending the Empress Dowager.

The Lu family?

The Pingnan Marquis's family fortune wasn't enough to catch the Empress Dowager's eye.

The Xie family?

It can only be the Xie family! But why would the Empress Dowager target the Xie family at this critical juncture? Could it be related to Grand Tutor Wei and Prince Yong'an? Is the Emperor not the Empress Dowager's biological son?

"Stop spouting nonsense in front of me! The Xie family is full of loyal martyrs, while the Lu family is utterly worthless. I am still young and have never offended the Empress Dowager. Why would she kill me? Tell me the truth, whose side are you on?"

"Did you see that shrine, young lady?"

“The shrine? You mean the one at the entrance?” Lu Zhiyuan thought for a moment: “You mean the shrine sent down a divine decree ordering you to kill me? I’m not superstitious, I don’t believe in these ghost and god stories.”

The little monk forced a smile, despite the pain. The smile was strained and rather unsightly.

"The shrine doesn't enshrine a multitude of Buddhas, but rather Master Zhiyuan of Huguo Temple, depicted as he appeared when he first entered the temple." His legs and neck ached; the young monk, powerless to resist, gave up struggling and leaned limply against the wall.

Master Zhiyuan's secular surname was Zhang, and his given name was Qi. Born into poverty, his mother supported his studies by grinding and selling tofu. Zhang Qi was not only intelligent but also exceptionally diligent. He passed the county-level imperial examination at eleven, became a provincial-level scholar at fourteen, and was personally selected as the top scholar by the late emperor at seventeen. On the day he was paraded through the streets on horseback, he fell in love at first sight with the Empress Dowager. However, the Empress Dowager was destined to enter the palace, and her encounter with Zhang Qi was destined to be fruitless.

According to court custom, even the newly appointed top scholar had to wait for an official appointment. Zhang Qi was lucky; he received a position as a candidate county magistrate immediately after becoming the top scholar. On the day he left the capital, the unmarried Empress Dowager silently saw him off at the city gate. They didn't speak to each other, but their thoughts were all conveyed in their eyes.

Three years passed, and when Zhang Qi returned, he was already the fourth-rank prefect of Huai'an, and the Empress Dowager had entered the palace as a concubine.

They met again at a year-end palace banquet. One was the late emperor's favorite concubine, and the other was a minister highly regarded by the late emperor. Zhang Qi was already twenty years old at this time, and many people in the court wanted to arrange a marriage for him. Zhang Qi politely declined, citing his concern for the emperor and his diligence in handling state affairs.

It is said that on that night, the Empress Dowager and Zhang Qi had a secret rendezvous in the Imperial Garden. The Empress Dowager asked Zhang Qi why he hadn't arranged a marriage, because he still loved her, yet harbored resentment towards her. Zhang Qi did not answer, and maintained the proper etiquette between ruler and subject throughout.

Three years later, the Empress Dowager became a Noble Consort, and Zhang Qi became a close advisor to the late Emperor. Because the late Emperor often invited Zhang Qi to the palace to discuss matters, and the Empress Dowager was always by his side, the Empress Dowager and Zhang Qi met more frequently.

Zhang Qi was a truly upright gentleman. Although he admired the Empress Dowager, he never did anything that would violate the duties of a subject. Some people, eager to stir up trouble, revealed that the Empress Dowager had seen Zhang Qi off when he left the capital. To protect the Empress Dowager's reputation, Zhang Qi requested permission to serve as an envoy escorting her to the new capital.

"An envoy escorting a bride?"

"The princess who was sent to marry into the state was Princess Yi'an, but unfortunately she was killed before she arrived in Southern Chu. Zhang Qi was punished for this and exiled to Tingzhou."

Tingzhou?

The westernmost part of Beiliang is arid and rainless, a desolate place, and extremely poor.

“Zhang Qi was a capable minister, and he was also flexible and adaptable. Even when he was demoted from the second rank to the seventh rank, he was able to be a good official without anger, resentment, or hatred. He spent five years controlling desertification and planting trees in Tingzhou, and establishing commerce, which transformed Tingzhou, which was originally ignored by everyone.”

Five years later, Zhang Qi returned to the capital. By then, the Empress Dowager had become the Empress, who held the reins of power, and had given birth to two sons and a daughter for the late Emperor. Unfortunately, the eldest son and eldest daughter died young, leaving only the youngest prince, who is now His Majesty.

A few years later, the late emperor fell ill and was bedridden. By this time, Zhang Qi was the prime minister and also served as the crown prince's tutor. The late emperor had intended to entrust his son to someone else on his deathbed, but rumors circulated in the court that the prime minister had remained unmarried for many years because he was thinking of the empress dowager. It was feared that once the late emperor passed away, Zhang Qi and the empress dowager would seize the opportunity to control the government and wreak havoc in the palace.

Zhang Qi had no choice but to testify in front of the late emperor.

He was injured while escorting Princess Yi'an to Southern Chu for a marriage alliance, and the injury was in a place where he could not see. Although he was not a crippled person like a eunuch, he could not marry and have children like a normal person. He did not marry, not because he had anything to do with the Empress Dowager, but because he did not want to bring trouble or implicate others.

Before the late emperor passed away, he requested to become a monk at Huguo Temple. Knowing his concerns, the late emperor granted his request.

Lu Zhiyuan frowned, puzzled, and said, "After listening for so long, it has nothing to do with me or the Xie family. Why would the Empress Dowager want to kill me because of that shrine? Could it be that I didn't kneel when I entered the temple and was impolite? They didn't kneel either."