Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 42 True and False Imperial Concubine
When Qin Muwan looked at Cang Baizi, the gratitude in her eyes was genuine, and she spoke from her heart.

She came from a distinguished family. Her maternal family, the Liangmeng Qin clan, was one of the most prominent families in Liangzhou, and her ancestor was the previous official in the Ministry of Personnel.

However, after her grandfather passed away, the Qin family had a period of transition, and the highest official position the elders in the family had held in the court was only Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites.

If she had not married the second prince, the Qin family would probably have fallen into decline.

But marrying the second prince... may not be a good thing.

How was the previous prince's wife divorced, and what was her fate...

Qin Muwan remembered it all clearly, and was extremely terrified that one day she would end up like this.

But what’s the use of being panicked?

She had been married to the second prince for six years. She had tried every remedy and every position, but her stomach was still not moving.

Until the maidservant beside her mentioned that Baiyun Temple was effective in praying for children, she came to worship the gods with the attitude of giving it a try, but she didn't expect that she actually got pregnant.

She was so excited that she wanted to tell the world.

The second prince was equally excited, but for some reason, he suppressed the news.

As a little woman, she couldn't understand the man's affairs and didn't want to think about them.

She only knew that she was pregnant, that she would not be divorced and sent home, that she would not be forced to shave her head and become a nun, and that she would not have to follow the Buddhist scriptures for the rest of her life.

Although the god we worship is a little strange, there are many strange gods in this world, but the other gods are useless, only this one is the real god.

Qin Muwan gently stroked her belly which was beginning to show, and a loving smile involuntarily appeared on her face.

Maybe... this baby is the future prince?

It was with this in mind that when she heard that the Taoist priests of Baiyun Temple were involved in a lawsuit and were taken away by the people from the Astronomical Observatory, she went back to ask His Royal Highness the Second Prince to come forward and rescue these Taoist priests.

These Taoists are our benefactors.

……

When Qin Muwan walked out of the Sanqing Hall, her personal maid hurried forward and supported her.

Outside the Sanqing Hall, pilgrims have been arriving at Baiyun Temple to burn incense.

Cang Baizi still had that gloomy face, and said: "Your Excellency's visit should have been to clean up the Taoist temple. I am ashamed."

"This is what I requested. You don't have to do this." Qin Muwan said in a gentle voice, looking at the lively scene in the front hall, "I also like the hustle and bustle, but since I got pregnant, His Highness has not allowed me to go out. Today, he allowed me to come to the temple to fulfill my wish, but he cleared everyone out. It must be so quiet here."

"What the princess said is very true."

"The Taoist priest is busy in the temple, please stay."

"Princess, take care."

After leaving Baiyun Temple, Qin Muwan boarded the return carriage.

The carriage was moving very slowly, and the speed was carefully controlled for fear of jolting the nobles in the carriage.

Qin Muwan gradually felt sleepy. She had been quite sleepy lately, but she heard that this was the case for pregnant women.

She squinted her eyes and prepared to take a nap. Her hand unconsciously rested on her belly. She felt the vitality of the little life in her belly, and a smile appeared on her face unconsciously.

"The child is your Highness and my child..."

I don’t know how much time passed.

Just as Qin Muwan was in a daze, the carriage suddenly stopped.

This time, she woke up suddenly.

The maid in green immediately lifted the carriage curtain, poked her head out and asked, "What's going on? You disturbed the imperial concubine. Ten of your heads wouldn't be enough to chop off!"

Outside the carriage, the eunuch in charge of driving the horse was terrified and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty, it was not my fault. It was just that someone blocked our way."

As the curtain of the carriage was lifted, the master and servant in the carriage also saw outside.

It turned out that the carriage had passed through a village on the outskirts of Beijing and was now arriving at the intersection at the entrance of the village.

The official road is connected to the village road. Under a big banyan tree at the entrance of the village, many villagers gathered to watch the fun.

Among the crowd, there was a rough-looking, dark-skinned farmer who was pulling a woman's hair and swearing at her:

"Come, let everyone see, I spent most of my life savings and sold two acres of land at home to marry such a wife. Damn it, who knew I married someone who can't lay eggs!"

"Fellow villagers, please judge for yourself. A hen will lay eggs, but this woman hasn't even produced a lump of flesh in seven years. She is so unlucky..."

"I'm going to beat her to death today, and I'm right if I go to the government!"

The surrounding villagers couldn't help but point and talk, but all they said were criticizing the woman.

"Wang Erniu is so unlucky..."

"Who says it's not true? The matchmaker who introduced him to a man was also a black-hearted person."

"I guess he took money from the girl's family."

"Beat her, beat her to death!"

The woman's hair was pulled and she couldn't even straighten her back. When she heard the scolding from the villagers around her, she couldn't help but feel grief-stricken and cried out with her face covered.

But her crying not only did not gain sympathy, but instead made the dark-skinned farmer furious.

"Still crying!"

He slapped the woman in the face, then kicked her to the ground, sat on her and started punching and kicking her.

"It's all because of you, the jinx. How dare you cry?"

"I can't kill you today..."

This farce was seen by the prince's wife and her entourage.
The maid in green frowned and said, "Why don't you go and drive them away?"

The eunuch outside was about to respond, but Qin Muwan raised her hand and stopped him: "Wait."

"Miss?"

"Pull those two men apart and bring them here."

Although the maid in green was helpless, the prince's wife's tone of refusing to argue did not allow her to refuse, so she had to respond and ordered her men to bring the person over.

Soon, the couple came in front of the carriage.

The dark-skinned farmer had lost his ferocity. His legs were shaking like a sieve. He knelt down in front of the carriage and kowtowed: "Sir, please spare my life, sir, please spare my life. I didn't mean to offend you..."

He was so frightened that his teeth kept chattering and he stammered for a long time without uttering a complete sentence.

The woman's clothes were disheveled, her face was covered with bruises, and a lot of her hair was pulled out. She knelt on the ground, covering her face and sobbing quietly.

Qin Muwan looked at the woman, with a hint of sympathy in her eyes.

She didn't want to meddle in other people's business, but perhaps what happened to this woman caused some waves in her heart, and she couldn't help but intervene.

She asked the woman softly, "You haven't had a child for seven years, why don't you get a divorce?"

Before the woman could answer, the man jumped up and said, "How can it be so cheap! This is the woman I paid for!"

"Palm mouth."

Qin Muwan gave an order and the eunuch beside her strode forward, grabbed the dark man by the collar, and lifted him aside like a chick.

Soon, applause sounded nearby.

Qin Muwan asked again: "If I give you some money and ask your husband to agree to divorce you, would you be willing?"

The woman sobbed quietly, "Now the whole village has heard that I can't have a child. Even if I get a divorce, how can I have a good life when I return to my parents' home? I'm afraid I'd rather die than live." She hit her belly with a hammer and complained to herself, "Blame my belly. Erniu is not like this. He treated me very well when we first got married and was hardworking... It's me. If I hadn't been unable to have a child, wu, wu~"

As she spoke, the woman covered her face and burst into tears again.

Qin Muwan was moved by the faint and resentful crying, and she felt compassion in her heart.

Qin Muwan asked, "You live at the foot of Baiyun Temple, how come you don't know that Baiyun Temple is effective for praying for children? Go to Baiyun Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha, and ask the Taoist priest to give you a recipe for praying for children. If you are sincere, it won't be difficult to have children."

The woman was still crying: "It's easy to say, but the Taoist priests on the mountain are all ruthless people. If I don't have a lot of money, how can they help me? How can a small village woman like me afford the elixir of fertility? How can the gods and Buddhas in the temple open their doors to a lowly person like me?"

Qin Muwan heard this and told the maid in green, "Qing'er, go get the immortal recipe."

The maidservant in green clothes suddenly became anxious and tried to dissuade her, "Madam, that is what the Taoist priest is using to help you stay pregnant."

"Bring it here!"

"This... well, okay."

The maid in green clothes reluctantly entered the carriage, took out a packet of medicine from the carriage, and handed it to the woman: "Here."

Qin Muwan thought for a moment, then took out a jade pendant from her waist and asked the maid in green to give it to the woman: "When you enter the temple, tell the Taoist priest about your wish to have a child. If the Taoist priest in the temple does not allow you to worship, you can give this item to them to see."

The woman held the two things and stood there in a daze for a long time.

Then, she knelt down with a plop, and with tears in her eyes, she said gratefully: "Please tell me your name, benefactor. I will pray to the Bodhisattva day and night and pray for you."

……

The carriage gradually drove away, heading towards Kyoto City, and went farther and farther on the official road.

"Madam, you seem very happy?"

"Qing'er, this is how it feels to do good deeds. Should I do more good deeds in the future to accumulate merit for His Highness and my son..."

Inside the carriage, the conversation between the master and servant gradually faded away.

And after the carriage left.

The woman suppressed the sadness on her face, her expression was calm, she looked at the bag of herbs in her hand and said, "It's a pleasant surprise."

Behind her, the villagers who had been watching the fun gradually gathered around and stood behind the woman.

However, at this moment, this group of villagers no longer had their previous simple and ignorant expressions. Instead, they were neatly organized and exuded a solemn and murderous aura.

The dark-skinned man just now also came over, covering his red and swollen cheek with a face full of resentment: "Third Miss, those eunuchs really beat me!"

The woman said coldly: "Once the matter is done, the lord will naturally reward you, go and do the work first!"

She turned around and shouted to the group of villagers behind her: "Did you see clearly?"

"See clearly!"

"Then what are you still standing there for! Hurry and get ready!"

Following the woman's order, the villagers immediately took action.

Someone blew a whistle, and many people who had been hiding in the houses in the village rushed out.

These people were wearing the same clothes as the eunuchs accompanying Qin Muwan.

Even a carriage that was exactly the same as Qin Muwan's was led out.

A woman who looked 70% similar to the green-clothed maidservant beside Qin Muwan, wearing the same clothes as the green-clothed maidservant, walked towards the woman in the lead.

"Third Miss."

She respectfully handed over a plain skirt in her hand, then went forward to help the woman change her clothes.

When the woman put on the same plain dress as Qin Muwan, her face began to change gradually, and her bones "cracking" and she grew several inches taller.

It only took three breaths.

The peasant woman, who originally had an ordinary face, turned out to have a face exactly like that of the prince's wife!

"Qin Muwan" cleared her throat and said in the same gentle voice as the prince's wife: "Go to Baiyun Temple."

Everyone bowed their heads and saluted, then stood in line after the fake imperial concubine got on the carriage.

The carriage moved slowly towards the direction of Baiyun Temple.

……

In Baiyun Temple, news came that the prince's wife had come to visit again.

"Didn't you just leave? Why are you here again?"

"I don't know. Let Cang Baizi go ask."

"That old Taoist has appeared too many times these days, and it's too much for Blood Bodhisattva to control the 'Heavenly Warrior'. If this continues, something bad will happen."

"At least deal with this prince's wife first."

The conversation soon stopped and a consensus was reached.

……

Cang Baizi hurried over and saw the prince's wife had been waiting in the front hall for a long time.

He stepped forward and bowed: "I was practicing in the backyard and didn't know the imperial concubine was coming. I am sorry for being inconsiderate."

The princess said softly, "It's okay. I turned back temporarily and disturbed the Taoist's meditation."

After being polite, Cang Baizi asked, "I wonder why the imperial concubine came here this time?"

The princess said embarrassedly, "When I was worshipping the gods just now, I accidentally left my belongings in the temple. Although the item is not precious, it was given to me by the prince, so I came back to get it."

Whether in appearance, temperament, voice or conversation, she is exactly the same as a real prince's consort.

Cang Baizi did not have the slightest doubt, and he flicked his whisk and walked towards the Sanqing Palace: "Please wait for a moment, Princess, while I clear out the Sanqing Palace of the outsiders."

Sanqing Temple?
There was a hint of doubt in the princess's eyes.

Since when... did the Three Pure Ones start to be in charge of delivering children?
She suppressed her doubts and went to the side hall to have tea at Cang Baizi's polite invitation.

After waiting for less than a quarter of an hour, Cang Baizi invited the prince's wife to the Sanqing Palace.

"Princess, please do as you please."

After saying this, he stood guard at the door and did not go in.

The princess stepped into the hall, only to find it deserted, with only the statues of the Three Pure Ones sitting high on the altar.

She came to the cushion in front of the statue and was about to bow down to worship, but suddenly she heard Cang Baizi's voice behind her:

"There shouldn't be any of the imperial concubine's belongings in the Sanqing Palace. The imperial concubine should go to the Lingzhu Temple on the Three Lamps to take a look."

Isn't it here?!
The princess was about to bow, but upon hearing the words, her pupils suddenly shrank, her half-squatting body suddenly froze, and she immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

The Spiritual Lord above the Three Lamps... What kind of deity's name is that? Never heard of it before?
Is there a secret room in this Sanqing Temple?

How to do?
Beads of sweat the size of beans fell from the princess's forehead, and her thoughts were racing.

But her stiff movements caught Cang Baizi's attention.

"Imperial Concubine?"

He called out in confusion, took a step towards the hall and was about to enter.

This chapter is not easy to divide, so today I will combine the two chapters together. In addition, the performance of this book is quite bleak, I really really ask everyone to read it, and kowtow to all the godfathers orz
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(End of this chapter)