Medical Princess

“What did you say? I… What makes you think so?” Chu Liuxin blushed with embarrassment and growled out his disapproval — he was exasperated at his words. “If you say that again, I won’t dare to come to see you!”

“Okay, okay, fine. I was wrong. I said a load of bull! I apologize!” Seeing that he was outraged, Chu Liuyue immediately smiled and advised as if he were a very sincere brother, “But, to be honest, it’s time for you to get a wife. Consort Ming is also worried about you.”

“Please, I’m not in a hurry.” Chu Liuxin didn’t want to talk about it.

Seeing his annoyed look, Chu Liuyue stopped and turned to say something else. Then they separated.

Watching Chu Liuyue leave, Chu Liuxin stood there for a moment before turning to the Buddha hall.

He pinched the pouch in his hand but was reluctant to go. In the past, his mother had told him to worship Buddha there to remove the bad luck, but he ignored her. Now, she even asked his Eldest Brother to send it over.

Helplessly, he turned to the Buddha hall.

The Buddha hall was in the Palace but located in a remote place. Along the way, he didn’t see anyone. When Eunuch Liu pushed the half-closed door of the Buddha hall open, they saw a nun standing behind it. Seeing them, she quickly took a step back and said, “Greetings, Your highness!”

“Do you know me?” Chu Liuxin asked.

“I have seen you from a distance.” The nun Huiqing said respectfully and put her palms together devoutly.

“I’m here to pray and draw a divination stick,” Chu Liuxin said bluntly. He threw the pouch to Eunuch Liu, who handed it to Huiqing with a grin.

Taking it, Huiqing took a step back, pointed inside, and said, “Your Highness, please come in. Holders of divination sticks are there.”

Chu Liuxin strode in. Three big Buddha’s gilded images had been placed there for worship. Several rush cushions were on the ground with two tube-like holders of divination sticks.

After saluting the Buddha in the middle of the hall a few times, Chu Liuxin shocked the divination-stick holder. A divination stick fell from it. Eunuch Liu picked it up and handed it to Chu Liuxin. But upon closer inspection, Chu Liuxin still couldn’t figure out what it meant. Then he gave the stick to Huiqing and asked, “What does it mean?”

Huiqing took it and said with a smile, “Your highness, please come with me. My master will explain it to you.”

Chu Liuxin nodded and followed Huiqing to the side hall.

An old nun with a benignant look was sitting on a rush cushion in the side hall. She chanted scriptures, knocking on the wooden fish with one hand and twisting a long string of prayer beads with the other. She did not open her eyes even when she heard the sound and was still chanting scriptures calmly.

“Please wait for a moment, Your highness. My master won’t stop until she finishes this passage of scripture,” Huiqing lowered her voice to apologize.

Chu Liuxin nodded and casually looked at the layout of this side hall.

He was surprised to see more Buddha statues in the side hall than in the main hall, but they were much smaller. There were more than a dozen of them in a circle. A rush cushion was placed before each Buddha statue. Since Chu Liuxin had nothing to do, he observed them to verify the origin of these Buddha statues.

Although he didn’t know much about them, he had read some books about Buddhism. He knew some widely known Buddhas. After walking around, he came to a Buddha statue in the right corner and observed it. This Buddha statue looked a little strange, and he was sure he had never heard of it.

It was a statue with ferocious features, holding something like both a writing brush and a fork. Beneath the statue’s feet was a mount rather like a fish. Except for these, there was nothing special about it.

Chu Liuxin tilted his head and looked at it curiously. Upon recollecting the Buddhist scriptures he had read in the past, he found no similar Buddha statue.

This statue was smaller than the previous ones, so it should not be the main one. It looked more like the satellite statue of the Buddha statue beside it. This one was placed in a small wooden box. There was a similar cover above it. The cover happened to tilt to one side. Otherwise, Chu Liuxin would not have found it.

Unlike other statues, this Buddha statue in the corner under a glass cover didn’t look kindly. Chu Liuxin wondered what exactly it was.

Out of curiosity, Chu Liuxin reached out. He wanted to pick up the little Buddha statue and take a closer look at it.

“Your highness, my master finished it!” Knocks from the wooden fish stopped abruptly. Huiqing’s voice suddenly sounded nearby. It was unknown when Huiqing came over. Because she was too close to him, Chu Liuxin was startled. He withdrew two steps and looked at Huiqing unhappily.

But Huiqing seemed unaware that she got too close to him just now. With a grin, she said, “Your highness, please!”

Chu Liuxin snorted with a straight face. Ignoring her, he walked toward the nun in the middle.

“Your highness, please sit down!” Huiqing came along with him and said, pointing to a rush cushion before Pushan Nun.

Chu Liuxin sat down cross-legged.

Pushan Nun woke up in time. She opened her eyes and looked at Chu Liuxin smilingly, showing the delicate and gentle manner of a supermundane master.

“Your highness, nice to meet you here.”

“Could you explain this divination stick?” Chu Liuxin said impatiently. When he saw Huiqing hand over the stick, he went straight to the point.

Pushan Nun took it. After looking at it, she smiled. “Your highness, what do you want to know?”

“My mother’s health and my marriage!” Chu Liuxin said casually.

“But you did it wrong, Your highness. One divine stick can only answer one question.” Pushan Nun said, still in a good temper.

“Then ask about my mother’s health.” He did not intend to ask about his marriage. Anyway, he just wanted to complete the task with a perfunctory visit. Since he was not allowed to ask two questions, he simply threw away one of them. When he went back, he might as well casually make up an explanation. Anyway, his mother would not know about it.

Pushan Nun looked at the words on the stick in her hand and frowned slightly. After a glance at Chu Liuxin, she wanted to say something but stopped on second thought.

“Anything wrong?” Chu Liuxin asked with his face darkening. It was about his mother’s health. So, was there anything wrong with her?

“Lately, Consort Ming… Is she feeling unwell? She always has difficulty falling asleep, right?” Pushan Nun asked mildly.

“A little,” Chu Liuxin said. His mother did say so in the past two days. She looked less vigorous than before.

“Consort Ming… Did she get anything recently? Anything she likes?” Pushan Nun asked again.

“The thing my mother likes, and she got it recently…” Chu Liuxin thought for a moment and suddenly remembered something. With a nod, he said, “My mother made a new set of clothes recently. She likes it very much.”

It was made in the past two days, and Consort Ming was delighted with it. Chu Liuxin didn’t know who gave it to her, but she never wore it. When Chu Liuxin went to see her, the suit was placed on the table. Consort Ming felt it gently and affectionately with her fingers. He wanted to have a look at it. But she stopped him when he carelessly touched it, saying the suit couldn’t bear rough handling.

“Your highness, the clothes are ominous. You should burn the suit as soon as possible when going back!” Pushan Nun gave a warning.

“What?” Chu Liuxin didn’t get it.

“Burn the suit when you are back. It is bright red, right? It brings bad luck. It means Consort Ming will suffer from a bloody disaster recently. You should get rid of the suit as soon as possible,” Pushan Nun said seriously.

“A bloody disaster? How is that possible?” Chu Liuxin gasped, unwilling to admit such a thing. But when he recalled that his father suddenly vomited blood, he felt a little uneasy.

The clothes happened to be red. As Chu Liuxin thought of the red color, his face changed considerably. “With my mother’s identity, she is not qualified to wear red clothes. In the Palace, except for the Empress, no other imperial consorts are allowed to wear bright red clothes, including Consort of Virtue and Consort Ming. Then, where did my mother get this set of clothes?

“No wonder she just looked at it but did not put it on. How did this prohibited set of clothes end up in her hands?”

“That’s the meaning of this divine stick. Please permit me to offer you some advice. You shouldn’t keep those things that you don’t deserve. Let go of them in time. Nothing is more important than your family. No matter what, you won’t get anything that doesn’t belong to you. A bloody disaster may ruin others and you,” Pushan Nun said. Her reply was slow and implicit.

It looked like Chu Liuxin paid attention, but he barely heard her. His eyes were full of panic. Instantly, he propped himself up with his hands and turned to leave.

Even a trivial matter related to the Palace was important. Her mother had been cautious all her life, so she mustn’t make a mistake on merely a piece of clothing. In any case, he must go back and tell her mother about it as soon as possible. Then, she could throw away the clothes that might cause serious trouble.

Chu Liuxin hurriedly went away while Huiqing followed him and went to the hall gate with him. Watching Chu Liuxin leave, she turned around and returned to the side hall.

Pushan Nun put her palms together before her chest in the side hall and seemed to be chanting something with her eyes closed.

Huiqing stood beside her and listened quietly. After a long while, Pushan Nun finally opened her eyes and looked at Huiqing coldly.

Huiqing was so scared that she knelt with a thud and said in a trembling voice, “Master!”

“Do you know what you did wrong?” Pushan Nun sternly asked. There was fury in her voice. It sounded nothing like the pleasant voice when she spoke to Chu Liuxin just now. If Chu Liuxin were still here, he would hardly believe that this spooky voice was from Pushan Nun, who had always been kind.

Huiqing lowered her head and answered, “Er… Yes. I, I didn’t hide the Buddha statue well, and Prince Xin saw it!”

“Do you know what you should do?” Pushan Nun asked.

“I… I know. I must leave the Palace and bear three cuts.” Huiqing gritted her teeth with fear. She would have to take three cuts as a punishment. If her arm were chopped three times, it would be broken. How could she not be afraid?

“It’s good that you understand. I’ll spare you this time, but next time…” Pushan Nun said.

“There won’t be a next time. I swear. Master, please trust me!” Huiqing said excitedly and kowtowed resoundingly a few times to Pushan Nun.

“Then why don’t you cover it now? Do you want others to see it?” Pushan Nun spoke severely to her.

“Yes… yes. I’ll go right away!” Huiqing stood up in such a hurry that she staggered and almost fell. She hurried to the corner of the side hall and carefully put the cover on the ferocious Buddha statue.

When Prince Xin approached the Buddha statue just now, Huiqing was so scared that her face instantly turned ghastly pale. Fortunately, her master stopped chanting when she was on the verge of grabbing it. At that moment, she got an excuse to talk to Prince Xin and successfully distracted him.

This Buddha statue was not just what it appeared. Huiqing was very clear that even her life was not comparable to it.

The sound of Pushan Nun chanting scriptures came from the side hall again. It seemed as if the incident had never happened. Suddenly, a figure flashed across the corner of the side hall…