After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 223 A Playful Scene with Miaoyu at Longcui Nunnery

In the end, Chu Yan didn't let Zijuan see him off; he just took a lantern and left.

After seeing the Emperor off, Zijuan closed the door and went back into the room, smiling as she asked Daiyu, "Where did you go with the Emperor today, Miss?"

Daiyu blushed again and asked her, "Why are you asking this?"

Zijuan laughed and said, "I heard everything. His Majesty asked if you still had the handkerchief. You originally wanted to return the handkerchief to the Second Master, but you didn't say it. What are you trying to do, Miss?"

Daiyu said, "Whether I return the handkerchief or not is my business, and there's no reason for me to tell anyone else."

The handkerchief was delivered secretly, and now she's secretly returning it; why make it public? Even if Chu Yan knew about it, she wouldn't tell him.

Zijuan was actually worried about something else:

When the emperor visits a temple, security must be very tight. How is she supposed to return the handkerchief to Master Bao?

As she was thinking, she saw the girl suddenly get up, rummage through the box and take out the two handkerchiefs. She unfolded them and stared at them for a while, her face showing a thoughtful, sad and regretful expression.

Zijuan saw writing on the handkerchief but dared not ask any questions. After a while, she saw the girl get up and go outside to ask Xueyan to bring a basin of water.

"What are you doing, young lady?"

Zijuan asked, and seeing her put the handkerchief in the water and wash it with her slender, fair hands, Zijuan quickly said, "I'll wash it for you, Miss, please go back inside and sit down!"

"You don't need to do it, I'll wash it off myself."

Daiyu refused her request and squatted down on the veranda, taking advantage of the moonlight to slowly wash away the three poems on the handkerchief.

She wasn't very strong, and the handkerchief had been in use for half a year, so it wasn't very clean after washing. Some ink stains remained. Daiyu took a breath, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and seeing that she couldn't wash it off, she had no choice but to give up and hang the handkerchief on the railing to dry.

After returning to her room, she cried silently again, recalling the past. She couldn't let go of the past, but gradually she thought of that person. In the afternoon, he held her in his arms and kissed her for a long time, whispering sweet nothings to each other. She couldn't help but blush, and after secretly spitting at him, she went back to bed.

After falling asleep, Daiyu met him in her dream after a long time. When she got up the next day, she said to Zijuan, "He's coming later. Close the door and don't let him in!"

Zijuan guessed that he was referring to the Emperor, but she couldn't figure out the meaning behind the girl's words.

After waiting for a while, the emperor arrived as expected. He entered Xiaoxiang Pavilion without saying a word, went straight to Daiyu's boudoir, smiled and kissed her lips, then turned and left.

Daiyu covered her mouth with her slender hand, blushing with embarrassment, and angrily spat at him: "Why don't you go to court early in the morning, but instead come to humiliate me! You're so disrespectful even in my dreams."

Chu Yan smiled and said, "I'll be back this afternoon. Remember to come to Yangxin Hall, Lin sister."

Daiyu sneered, "Even if you issue an order, I won't go to your place." She added, "And don't come to Xiaoxiang Pavilion either. I'm going to find my maternal grandmother and aunt!"

Chu Yan looked at her and could only say, "Alright, let Lin Meimei stay by herself for a while. We'll go to the temple in three days."

Daiyu looked at him for a while, and finally acquiesced, letting him leave.

……

For the next two days, Daiyu indeed did not come to Yangxin Hall. Chu Yan only chatted with Xiangyun, Tanchun, and Baochai every day, and only hugged them on the couch, without doing anything else.

He did not summon Keqing, Fengjie, Li Wan, or Ping'er to serve him in bed. He also did not favor the four maids and four young actresses in the room, and for three unusual days he was celibate.

Commonly known as: fasting.

Although he didn't care about this stuff, the girls in the garden did believe in it. They even ate vegetarian food for a day after they learned they were going to offer incense.

The day before going to Huang'en Temple, Chu Yan returned to the garden. Everything was settled, the funeral of Duke Chongle had been held, and the girls in the garden had agreed to eat vegetarian food today and would not come to sit idly in his Yangxin Hall. After thinking it over, he finally thought of someone.

So he dismissed the eunuchs who were following him and walked alone across Qinfang Bridge. When he passed by the thatched cottage, he saw that it was covered by curtains. This place, like Tubi Villa, needed to be renovated so that Qinghe and Baoqin could live there separately.

Passing by the Jade Emperor Temple again, I stopped in to have a cup of tea with Xiuyan. Several young Taoist nuns hurried out to greet me, saying that Miss Xing had gone to Yingchun's house to chat.

Chu Yan nodded, but did not go inside. He turned around and walked along the pebble path. Soon he saw a grove of plum trees at the foot of the mountain. Longcui Nunnery was hidden in the plum grove, backed by a low mountain, and was quite quiet and elegant.

He strolled into the mountain gate and saw that the gate of Longcui Nunnery was open. Several young nuns dressed in loose monk's robes were enjoying the cool air and playing in the pavilion in the plum grove. Apart from their shaved heads and monk's robes, they did not have the demeanor of nuns at all.

Although they were nuns, they were no different from servants. Many of the younger nuns and monks were bought by the temple to serve the older nuns and monks.

He overheard what the young nuns were saying:

"Look, there's a man!"

"Where would a man come from in the garden? Even if there were, he'd be a eunuch... Oh dear, is it really a man?"

"He's even wearing yellow clothes... Ah, he's the emperor!"

The group of young nuns finally realized what was happening, and their faces turned pale with fright. They didn't dare to come over and just stood at a distance.

Chu Yan beckoned them over, and they came over timidly.

"Where is your nun?" he asked.

A young nun hurriedly replied, "The nun is resting inside. She will lead us in our studies later. We'll play for a while while we have some free time..."

Judging from their tone, they were very afraid that the emperor would punish them for being impure, and they only thought about playing around.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "You all go ahead and play. Don't be too reserved. I'll go in and have some tea with Miaoyu myself."

The young nuns had no choice but to return to the pavilion and watch him enter the Longcui Nunnery from afar. They were excited because it was the first time they had spoken to the emperor and whispered among themselves.

Chu Yan entered and saw that Longcui Nunnery was a two-courtyard temple. The main hall housed a Buddha statue, the east side was a meditation hall, and the west side was a reception room. Miaoyu and the young nuns lived in the back courtyard.

He went into the meditation hall to take a look, but didn't see anyone. He then went into the backyard and vaguely heard the sound of water coming from a house. When he got closer, he realized that someone was taking a bath inside, probably washing their hair. After all, it would be difficult to boil a large bucket of water for a bath without someone to serve them.

He wasn't in a hurry and sat on the porch to wait. After a while, he heard the sound of water stop. A moment later, a tall woman wearing a thin white shirt opened the door and happened to meet Chu Yan's eyes on the porch.

In an instant, the air seemed to quiet down.

The two locked eyes. Chu Yan was amazed by the woman's beautiful appearance after washing her hair. She was aloof and ethereal, yet full and rounded. The woman was also surprised that a man had brazenly come to her nunnery, entered the backyard, and witnessed her combing her hair.

A moment later, the door was slammed shut again, and she retreated back inside.

Chu Yan laughed and stepped forward to knock on the door: "May I ask if this young lady is Master Miaoyu?"

inside the room.

Miaoyu's face flushed red as she leaned against the door, her heart pounding.

She had anticipated that the emperor would visit the Longcui Nunnery, but she never expected to run into him in this situation. He had barged in and happened to see her with her hair disheveled and barefoot!

If it were anyone else, even Baoyu, Miaoyu would be furious and reprimand him for his lack of manners and for trespassing into the nunnery.

But the one outside is the emperor.

After calming her turbulent thoughts, Miaoyu suppressed her anger and replied, "Your Majesty, please go to the meditation hall for now. I will go out to welcome Your Majesty after I have finished tidying up."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yan laughed and said, "Open the door, it's alright, I'll take another look at you."

He didn't say this carelessly, nor was it out of lust; he had his reasons:
If Miaoyu were a virtuous and chaste woman, she would definitely refuse to open the door no matter what threats or intimidation he made.

If Miaoyu feared imperial power and yielded to worldly authority, she would have to consider the consequences of the emperor's anger and thus choose to submit.

The room was quiet for a while.

Chu Yan didn't know what Miao Yu was thinking, but then, the door in front of him slowly opened, revealing Miao Yu's frosty face.

Without saying a word, she opened the door, lowered her head, and turned to walk back into the house.

Chu Yan followed him inside as if he were returning to his own home.

Inside the room was a bucket of used hot water, and a faint fragrance of women permeated the air. Miaoyu had her back to him, and only then did Chu Yan see that she had taken off her shoes, revealing a pair of exquisite feet. Her legs were long and straight, and he could also see her buttocks.

It was a sight to behold, as no one had ever imagined that Miaoyu had hips that were wider than her shoulders, and a rare figure with slender branches and large fruits. If she wore a loose monk's robe, it would be even harder to tell. Only when she was bathing and wearing thin clothes could Chu Yan see her beautiful figure at a glance.

"It was my rudeness." Chu Yan sat down with a smile and said, "I didn't know Miaoyu was washing her hair and barged in."

Miaoyu's usually cool face was now flushed with embarrassment. She could still hide from him in the inner room, but the emperor had already entered. Hiding any longer would be disrespectful to the emperor.

She could only suppress the discomfort caused by his scrutiny and said in a low voice, "I wonder what brings Your Majesty here? If you are a guest, please wait a moment while I wash and dress."

Chu Yan laughed and said, "You just focus on getting dressed, I'll be waiting."

Miaoyu had no choice but to go into the inner room. Fortunately, he didn't follow her. Miaoyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly changed her clothes, and then hurriedly dried her hair with another clean set of clothes.

Just as she sat down to do her hair, the emperor barged in. Miaoyu was so annoyed with him that she refused to stand up to greet him, and coldly said, "Your Majesty has barged into a young lady's room. Wouldn't it be terrible if word got out?"

What's wrong with it?

Chu Yan said.

Miaoyu turned around and glared at him. She saw the emperor looking at her slowly and deliberately. He was neither lustful enough to look at her indiscriminately, nor did he act like a gentleman who would not look at what was improper. He simply came up behind her with a smile and lifted a strand of her black hair.

Miaoyu trembled; such a thing had never happened before…

"You're so beautiful, it's a real pity you became a nun." Chu Yan stood behind Miaoyu, playing with her still damp hair. He hadn't noticed before, but Miaoyu also had long, thick, black hair that reached her waist—the smooth, lustrous hair of a great beauty.

Miaoyu blushed again, suppressing her anger, and turned to look in the mirror, sneering, "I don't know what Your Majesty meant by 'what a pity.' Since you've already become a nun, why should you care about beauty? Is it not a pity if someone is ugly and becomes a nun?"

Chu Yan looked at Miaoyu in the mirror, her hair loose, with a languid and charming air, like a beauty who had just woken up.

He laughed and said, "People say that beautiful women have short lives, but no one says that ugly people have lowly lives. Besides, Miaoyu really became a nun, so why does she still have a head of beautiful hair?"

He played with Miaoyu's hair again.

Miaoyu sneered again: "Does Your Majesty not know that 'hair is on the top of the head, and the mind is in the heart'? It is also said that when the mind is pure, the Buddha's land is pure. This humble nun keeps her hair to preserve her true nature. If anyone sees that I have kept my hair and laughs at me, then he is also a vulgar person, and I disdain to associate with him."

After a roundabout way of cursing, Chu Yan couldn't help but laugh. No wonder people say that Miaoyu is Daiyu after she became a nun; she's quite eloquent.

He had tasted Daiyu's lips, and found them irresistible. He wondered what Miaoyu's lips were like after she became a nun.
Miaoyu said, "Please don't take offense, Your Majesty."

Chu Yan looked at her, but Miao Yu looked away, her expression showing some panic and tension.

Chu Yan remained calm and reached out to stroke Miao Yu's face, which was still smooth and delicate after her bath. Her cool and aloof face visibly flushed with embarrassment.

"Your Majesty, please stop harassing this humble nun..."

Miaoyu was on the verge of tears, her aloofness gone, completely forced by Chu Yan to reveal a flustered and shy expression.

Unbeknownst to her, the self-reference of "this humble nun" reminded Chu Yan of Jia Lian's description of "slender figure in monk's robes" in his letter, and he couldn't help but look down at her buttocks as she sat on the chair.

The meatballs are plump and round.

Yet she had a slender waist.

Chu Yan smiled faintly and said, "I am very satisfied with your appearance. Although I have heard people in the garden say that you are eccentric and aloof, I do not care and still want you to be my concubine. What do you think, Miaoyu?"

Miaoyu is different from the other girls. Daiyu, Xiangyun, and others are in the "worldly world," so she has a lot of time to chat with them.

Miaoyu is different. She lives alone in Longcui Nunnery and rarely interacts with others. Her personality is so eccentric that even Li Wan said she dislikes her the most. It would be extremely difficult for her to slowly plot against Baochai and Xichun like they do.

So this time he came with the intention of testing whether Miaoyu would agree to enter the palace as a concubine. If she did, he would flirt with her for a while, and after a few more visits, he would take her as his concubine.

If she refuses, find a way to get her to agree!
Chu Yan wanted to bring all twelve of the Beauties of the Red Chamber into the palace, to give them at least one concubine rank, and even if he didn't like them, he would still bring them into the palace and raise them.

Upon hearing this, Miaoyu's tall and slender body immediately froze. Chu Yan saw in the mirror that she seemed stunned, perhaps because the impact was too great. The change from a nun who practiced Buddhism with her hair still intact to a concubine was too fast.

“Master Miaoyu?” Chu Yan stood behind her, smiling as he looked at her reflection in the mirror, then reached out to stroke her cheek.

At this moment, Miaoyu suddenly stood up, her slender waist and wide hips abruptly moving. She turned her head and glared at him with shame and anger: "Since Your Majesty calls me a nun, why do you insist on making me a concubine? There are so many women in the world, why do you have to disturb a nun's peaceful cultivation? It's completely unreasonable!"

As she spoke, she sat down again, covering her flushed face with both hands and lowering her head.

Chu Yan took a step back and smiled, "I was just asking you whether you would agree or not. Since you refused, I'll ask again next time. Today, I'll just be your guest, how about that?"

Miaoyu turned to look at him again, annoyed. "Your Majesty, you just won't give up?"

Chu Yan said, "Miaoyu is beautiful, and I like her very much."

Miaoyu sneered, "The girls in the garden are rare in terms of talent and beauty. Although they are somewhat vulgar in the secular world, they are good enough to become concubines in the palace."

Chu Yan laughed loudly, pointing at her and saying, "What a fine monk you are, with a temper more arrogant than anyone else's. Do you think none of the girls in the garden are as good as you?"

Miaoyu said proudly, "I'm not bragging, but in terms of poetic talent, I'm no less than them. In terms of character, I don't wallow in the mundane world. They spend their days welcoming and seeing off guests, forcing smiles, being fake and vulgar. How can they compare to my quiet place?"

Chu Yan nodded and said, "I'll tell them when I get back."

Miaoyu laughed, turned around, and lazily did her makeup in front of the mirror, saying, "I'm not afraid of you telling others. They've long been tired of me saying such things. Even if they hear it, they'll just call me eccentric and weird. Let alone talking about me behind my back, even if they say it to my face, I'll just laugh at them for being vulgar."

Chu Yan thought for a moment and couldn't help but sigh, "As the saying goes, shamelessness makes one invincible. It's clear that Abbess Miaoyu is not far from reaching that level."

Miaoyu turned around abruptly, and said angrily, "How dare you, an emperor, utter such absurd words! How am I shameless? How am I invincible? If we're talking about invincibility, then you led your troops to besiege the capital, wouldn't that make you invincible?!"

A series of forceful rhetorical questions showed that Chu Yan's words angered Miaoyu even more than his earlier teasing remarks.

Before Chu Yan could speak, she sneered, "No wonder you keep telling everyone you want to take a concubine! You even sent a message to Miss Lin, saying something about Taizhen..."

Her face flushed, and she quickly turned away, but the mirror reflected her blushing face.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "Did Miss Lin tell you that?"

Miaoyu did not answer. The man was standing behind her, and she had unknowingly talked to him for so long. This man was the one who wanted to take her as his concubine.

Chu Yan sat back down in his chair. Miao Yu glanced at him, then continued to do her makeup in front of the mirror.

"Empress Wu Zetian became a nun before returning to be a concubine. Besides, you are practicing Buddhism while still keeping your hair, so it doesn't count as becoming a nun."

Chu Yan said calmly.

Miaoyu sneered: "The Emperor compared me to Empress Wu, is he warning me not to do anything that would defile the palace? If that's the case, why bring me into the palace? Just let me stay here at Longcui Nunnery!"

Chu Yan smiled and said, "It's just setting a precedent."

Miaoyu then asked, "Your Majesty, would you mind leaving for a while?"

Chu Yan stood up, about to leave, when he suddenly noticed a beautiful hairpin on the dressing table. He smiled and went over to pick it up.

Upon seeing this, Miaoyu quickly reached out and covered the hairpin like a mother hen protecting her chicks, blushing with embarrassment so he wouldn't see it.

Chu Yan laughed and said, "You can't stop me now. I saw it. Master Miaoyu actually has such a hairpin in secret. It's clear that she loves beauty. It's perfect for entering the palace."

Miaoyu was filled with remorse and subconsciously said, "This is not my hairpin. I never use such vulgar things..."

"If it's not yours, whose is it? You couldn't have stolen it."

Miaoyu couldn't answer; it was the hairpin she had picked up.

Chu Yan smiled and said, "You go ahead and do your hair and makeup. I'll wait for you in the meditation hall."

He then walked out.

Miaoyu remained in the room, her cold face displaying a constantly shifting expression, which finally culminated in a long sigh.

The inevitable had finally arrived. The emperor remembered her and, on his first visit to the Longcui Nunnery, issued an imperial decree ordering her to enter the palace as a concubine.

She didn't know how to refuse in a way that would make the emperor change his mind and no longer want to take her as a concubine.

(End of this chapter)