“Look at you, you’re sweating profusely. You’ll appear impolite if the imperial concubines saw you.”
Lin Mengya scolded him, but she still took the towel from Hongyu’s hand and carefully wiped the sweat on Yinghua’s forehead.
As he was still a child, Lin Mengya did not want him to be burdened with so many things at such a young age.
Even now, Lin Mengya still tried to create a relaxed atmosphere so that Yinghua would not be as frightened as them.
She held Yinghua’s little hand and took him to her own room, eating some vegetarian pastries that had already been prepared.
Lin Mengya watched the boy eat with a smile while asking if something had happened in the yard when she went to pay her respects to the Empress.
“There’s nothing else, but a person who claimed herself to be Aunt Yan brought a few servants here to look for someone. Hongyu watched them personally, so everything was fine.”
After Baiji gave a detailed report, Lin Mengya nodded.
Those people should be here to look for Beauty Cheng. Lin Mengya wondered if they had found her. Although Beauty Cheng was young, she was still a concubine from the palace. How could she run around as soon as she came to the Huguo Temple? It was very abnormal.
“Well, I’ve also heard about it. Don’t wander around outside these days. At the very least, you should be careful before Beauty Cheng’s matter is settled.”
Lin Mengya knew that she was suspicious, but she had to be careful here.
“Yes.”
With Lin Mengya’s instructions, everyone would certainly be careful.
As Yinghua had had enough rest, Lin Mengya played with him for a while. It was not until sunset that she packed up their things and took Yinghua to the meditation room.
With the help of Hongyu, Lin Mengya took a bath and put on clean clothes in the meditation room. The incense sent by the Empress must be lit continuously for three days.
Lin Mengya had already checked it, and found that there was only some good sandalwood in it, without any harmful substances.
However, although the fragrance was light, if it burned all day long, it would make people dizzy.
The purpose of the so-called taking a bath and burning incense was to calm people down, achieve the purity of body and mind and prevent people from disrespecting the gods. Although she did not mean to disrespect the gods, it was extremely boring to be alone in the room.
Lin Mengya’s only entertainment, apart from reading some scriptures, was to listen to the four girls take turns to tell her something about the outside world.
In fact, it was just gossip between women. But what interested Lin Mengya most was Beauty Cheng, who had not been found.
“Where do you think Beauty Cheng is going? Her Majesty has already known about it. It was said that she was furious and said that Beauty Cheng must be severely punished after she was found!”
Baizhi looked innocent and was very young, so others did not mind her eavesdropping when they were gossiping.
Over time, she had become the information bridge between them and others.
Moreover, Lin Mengya was surprised that this girl was able to tell what she had learned, in detail and in categories. It seemed that she had really underestimated this little girl.
“Of course. Beauty Cheng is really stupid. Although the palace is a little quiet and lonely, she can enjoy the wealth of the royal family there. If she runs away like this, maybe her family will get into trouble,” Baiji said with some regret.
After all, she had been serving Lin Mengya for a long time.
She had seen some shameful things in the palace, and just felt pity for Beauty Cheng’s family.
“Right, someone said that she ran away with a little monk, with every detail vividly described. I’m surprised. Did she know that her old lover would be here?”
Baishao just took this matter as a joke. To be honest, this kind of anecdote was the most suitable topic of conversation at people’s leisure.
However, Lin Mengya, who was dizzy from reading scriptures in the room, grasped the most crucial point.
She looked up from the book and looked at the four girls who were chatting happily at the door.
“Did you say Beauty Cheng has eloped with someone? And the man is a monk?”
Baizhi immediately nodded and reported to Lin Mengya in detail what she had heard.
“No, the palace is strictly regulated. As a Beauty, it would have been extremely difficult for her to send a message to anyone outside the palace walls, let alone to the monks at the Huguo Temple. In my opinion, the disappearance of Beauty Cheng may not be so simple.”
Lin Mengya was lost in thought. She always felt that there was something fishy about Beauty Cheng’s disappearance.
But since it had nothing to do with her, Lin Mengya did not dig into it.
However, as time went by, there was still no news of Beauty Cheng in the tightly sealed temple. Even a fool could tell that this matter was strange.
Moreover, although the Empress and her people did not make a big deal out of it, all kinds of news about Beauty Cheng was quickly spread among women. Almost everyone knew about it.
This was a far cry from the Empress’s usual rigor.
Lin Mengya closed the book and looked out into the courtyard thoughtfully.
“Master, do you think this matter is directed at us?” Hongyu asked tentatively.
Lin Mengya looked at her, shook her head but then nodded.
Her brow furrowed slightly. After an entire day of smelling the incense, she felt dizzy. However, the Empress’s people would come to patrol their yard every two hours.
Rubbing her temples, Lin Mengya could only stand at the door and let the smell in the house dissipate a little.
“Just be careful. Don’t let others in easily in the next few days. Carefully check everything that goes in and out of here. The incense is giving me a headache. Keep Yinghua from coming near. I’m afraid he’ll feel uncomfortable.”
The situation seemed to have developed quietly. Lin Mengya had stayed in the room full of incense for three days before she could finally leave that room.
The religious ceremony began yesterday, and today, the noble madams led by the Empress would sit quietly in the Grand Hall, reciting Buddhist scriptures.
The Empress had already sent people to work out the process, so these women did it in an orderly and relaxed manner.
Lin Mengya was kneeling on her cattail hassock. She did not know if it was because the incense was too pungent in the past few days, but when she got to the Grand Hall, the incense used for performing the religious ceremony seemed to have no smell at all.
Just in the middle of the process, a burst of exclamation suddenly came from the Grand Hall.
Lin Mengya suddenly brightened up. She straightened up to look inside and found the abbot, who had just been chanting and praying inside, was now running out in a panic.
“Master, why are you in such a panic? Be wary of disturbing the Bodhisattva and blaspheming the gods.”
Aunt Yan, who was by the Empress’s side, immediately came forward to ask. At this time, the movement had alerted the Empress, who was resting with her eyes closed.
The Empress opened her dignified, pretty eyes and looked at the abbot, a little unhappy, as if she was blaming him for disturbing the gods.
“What happened?”
Since the Empress had asked him, the abbot naturally did not dare to slight her.
He hurried forward and whispered something to the Empress with a frightened look on his face.
But the expression in the Empress’s eyes immediately changed from doubt to seriousness.
“Guard the Grand Hall and don’t let anyone in. Also, invite Master Yunshen over as well. Remember, don’t alarm anyone.”
The Empress got up and walked into the Grand Hall, accompanied by the abbot.
Although Lin Mengya’s seat was close to the front, she could not see very well inside.
She could only see the panicked faces of the monks who were chanting scriptures in the hall.
Normally, nothing should have happened. However, there was a feeling of uneasiness in her heart, which suddenly made her heart sink.
As soon as they arrived here, Beauty Cheng disappeared. If something happened at this time, this religious ceremony would become a joke of Dajin.
“Shut up! What a disgrace! Even if there are demons everywhere, Dajin is glorious and majestic and won’t tolerate those demons to cause trouble!”
A majestic, old voice suddenly suppressed all the voice of discussion.
Lin Mengya turned around and saw a solemn old lady with silver hair on her right, continuing her solemn recitation.
She must be her legendary grandmother, the Empress and Shangguan Qing’s birth mother.
For some reason, the old woman seemed to sense her gaze. Suddenly, her pair of eyes that had gone through many vicissitudes of life but was still sharp shot straight at her.
Instantly, Lin Mengya realized what it meant to be truly dismissive.
The old woman merely gave her an indifferent look, but the contempt in her eyes gave Lin Mengya a feeling that the old woman had never taken her seriously from the bottom of her heart.
It happened in just a flash, and Lin Mengya just gave her a polite smile. The old woman did not waste any time on her; she closed her eyes and continued to recite scriptures.
It seemed that she was really having a hard time. With the legendary grandmother helping the Empress personally, Lin Mengya did not know how many rounds she could take in their hands.
She had planned to stop thinking about these troublesome things, but she was a little flustered by the uneasiness that had accumulated in her heart.
She glanced at the gate and saw a figure dressed in snow-white standing behind Aunt Yan, who had gone and returned. In the sun, he looked a little unnerving.
Above the snow-white monk robe, his stunning face made her a little absent-minded.
If it had not been for his bald head and his monk robe, Lin Mengya wouldn’t have thought that this person had anything to do with monks.
His enchanting face, which could even outshine a woman, looked even more enchanting in the quiet temple.
