High-class Spring Joy

Hearing Chu Jingxian express her biggest worry, Qingyuan quickly nodded: "Yes, that's what I was thinking too. After all, the Empress Dowager is highly regarded and revered by everyone. In Bianjing, right under the emperor's nose, if those young ladies put in a little effort, they would all know that the Empress Dowager often visits Lingtai Temple. Moreover, there are many intelligent ones who might be able to come up with even more outstanding Buddha statues that the Empress Dowager would like even more."

As Qingyuan spoke, she turned her gaze to Chu Jingxian: "Does the Third Young Master have any suggestions?"

Chu Jingxian pondered for a moment: "Yes."

As he spoke, Chu Jingxian wielded his wolf-hair brush with abandon, quickly producing a line of cursive script that read: "Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata."

Qingyuan looked somewhat bewildered: "Forgive my ignorance, but I have never heard of this before..."

"Commonly known as the Medicine Buddha, but ordinary temples do not enshrine the Medicine Buddha. Only a few temples may have it, but it is definitely not the main Buddha statue in the main hall. Therefore, people have never seen it and rarely heard of it. Medicine Buddha is a metaphor for the ability to cure the chronic disease of birth and death for all beings. Lapis Lazuli Light symbolizes the pure land of Buddha, which is pure and undefiled and shines with light everywhere."

Chu Jingxian explained, "The reason I suggested the Medicine Buddha stems from a palace secret that few people know. Everyone knows that the current emperor is not the Empress Dowager's biological son, but was adopted later. The Empress Dowager has never had any children. Are you aware of this?"

Qingyuan nodded: "This servant understands."

"Since the Empress Dowager had no children, people assumed that she had never conceived a child of the late Emperor, but this is not the case. The Empress Dowager was not from a prominent family and was not initially favored by the late Emperor. It was only by chance that she served him in bed and conceived a child. It was a little princess who died before she was a month old."

Hearing Chu Jingxian's words, Qingyuan almost immediately realized: "Young Master, are you saying that the little princess who died young became an obsession in the Empress Dowager's heart? And the Medicine Buddha is a symbol of eliminating disasters and suffering, purifying body and mind. Naturally, the Empress Dowager would most like to be able to eliminate the pain of the little princess who died young, and let her reach the Pure Land of peace and light as soon as possible, free from illness and disaster?"

Chu Jingxian smiled slightly: "Qingyuan is intelligent."

"Mingming," he said four words. Qingyuan looked at the smile on his lips and felt her heart race.

Qingyuan quickly discovered a new problem: "But young master, this servant has never seen the golden body of the Medicine Buddha, nor even a portrait of him."

"It's alright. Since you've given me this purse, it's only right that I paint a Buddha image for you."

Chu Jingxian said, "But I'll need you to grind the ink for me."

Chu Jingyu had done painting before, and Qingyuan was very familiar with the process. Selecting Xuan paper, cutting paper, laying paper, placing paperweight in the right position, grinding ink, Qingyuan was extremely attentive.

Although Chu Jingxian is blind, he has been blind since childhood. At least until the age of six, his eyesight was not only normal, but he also had a photographic memory.

Even though he was blind, it was as if he had foreseen the exact place to put the pen down, the position of the pen tip, its length, its size—everything was just right, just like everything on the paper…

It should be said that his indifferent and composed aura was not only evident in his writing, but also in the vastness of the world, as if everything in the world was within his grasp.

The study was quiet, and faint cries of pain could be heard from outside, but Qingyuan paid no attention to them.

Although both were painting, Chu Jingyu and the Third Young Master in front of her gave Qing Yuan completely different feelings.

One was like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment, while the other was like a calm, still spring. She couldn't quite describe the feeling; it was like a tangled mess.

She simply couldn't take her eyes off his profile.

A gentle breeze blew in from outside the window, causing people's clothes to flutter.

Looking at the white cloth covering Chu Jingxian's eyes and brows, Qingyuan couldn't help but think how dazzling he would be if his eyes hadn't been injured.

With such excellent martial arts skills, he is bound to become the most spirited and brilliant young general in Song Kingdom, right?

-

Qingyuan carried the painting back to her residence, holding it tightly.

Hongdou glanced over and asked, "Sister, what treasure are you holding?"

"The portrait, the Buddha image I want embroidered, was painted with the help of the Third Young Master. You must treasure it."

As Qingyuan spoke, she placed the scroll on the table, turned around and found the most suitable and beautiful long wooden box. She tried it on and found that it fit perfectly inside.

"Drawn by the Third Young Master? The Third Young Master and those around him... are all such good people."

Red Bean sighed.

Qingyuan didn't hear her clearly. "What did you say?"

"No, no, I meant the Third Young Master is a very good person." Hongdou hurriedly corrected herself, "By the way, sister, I saw the Fifth Young Master send a lot of fine fabrics to Baiyun Courtyard today."

Qingyuan continued putting away the box without stopping: "Not surprising."

Hongdou explained, "It's strange, sister. What's strange is that not only did they send a lot of fabric, but also a lot of fine silk thread, in all sorts of colors. So I inquired a little, and it turns out that Jiang Qingge is also planning to embroider a Buddha image to present at the spring outing banquet in half a month. I think it's called something like Amitabha Buddha... What kind of Buddha is Amitabha Buddha, sister?"

"Amitabha Buddha." Qingyuan said, glad that she hadn't hastily decided to embroider Amitabha Buddha, and felt even more grateful to Chu Jingxian.

Hongdou scratched her head: "Anyway, I don't understand these things, but sister, you have to be careful, Jiang Qingge is a competitor!"

Qingyuan laughed: "Let's see who has the ability. It's a spring outing hosted by the Duke of Jing'an. Even if the Fifth Young Master wanted to help her, he couldn't possibly control the situation."

As she spoke, she made up her mind that she must put in her best effort to embroider well, so as not to let herself down, nor to let down the Buddha image that the Third Young Master had specially painted.

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps Jiang Qingge really wanted to do her embroidery well, because she didn't cause any more trouble for the next two weeks.

Chu Jingyu didn't know what was wrong with her; she was acting strangely and kept saying odd things, but he didn't press her any further.

In the past two weeks, Qingyuan has been able to finish embroidering the Buddha statue with peace of mind, and she is very satisfied with the result.

The day for the spring outing banquet was fast approaching.

Today's spring outing banquet is a must-attend event for all the young masters and ladies of Bianjing, including the two young masters of the Zhenguo Marquis's mansion.

In the early morning, Qingyuan was serving food to Chu Jingyu, specifically picking out the dishes he didn't like.

Chu Jingyu seemed oblivious, and instead looked at her, asking, "Is there something you forgot to tell me?"