I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 112: Copying Scriptures to Pray for Rain

"Your Highness!"

Seeing His Highness turning back to his room, Pei Mian stood up and chased after him. He grabbed his arm, impolitely saying, "Your Highness, I am not afraid of death. By the time the Ministry of Rites submits this tomorrow, it will be too late."

Chu Mingzheng looked at the soldiers kneeling upright in the distance and coldly shook off Pei Mian's hand.

"I haven't seen you today. If you come to bother me again, we will be completely separated."

After saying this, he left resolutely.

The footsteps gradually faded, and only one person remained in the vast palace, completely alone. Chu Mingzheng stood on the stone bridge, staring at the figure in the river. The sun moved westward, and darkness swallowed the reflection in the water, leaving no trace.

He expected him to punish himself, but he never expected that after ten years of father-son love, he could be so ruthless. Just after learning that his illness could be cured, he killed him.

"Your Highness, I have made all the arrangements. Whether you are going back to Jinyang or to Shuofang, you will have a smooth journey." Zhu Cong reported in a low voice in the study.

"Zhu Cong, what do you think will happen to her if I leave?"

Zhu Cong was puzzled: "Who is he?"

Chu Mingzheng waved his hand, "Go wait for me outside the city."

"promise!"

After Zhu Cong left, Chu Mingzheng changed into casual clothes and went to the Chengyang Marquis' Mansion. Now, she was his legitimate Ningyuan Princess. He didn't know if the enraged emperor would vent his anger on her, so he wanted to take her away.

Everyone in the mansion had fallen asleep, with only a few servants on duty occasionally napping in the corner. He successfully sneaked into Xunyang Pavilion.

Chu Mingzheng gently pushed the door open, and the cold moonlight first stepped into the woman's boudoir. He cleared his throat and took light steps.

"Second sister! Second sister? Hey, where did you go?"

A woman's anxious voice came from inside, and Chu Mingzheng quickly retracted his steps and hid beside the wall.

Yang Nian'er turned over in the middle of the night and couldn't find her second sister, so she woke up suddenly. She put on her clothes and went out to look for her second sister. Soon, lanterns were lit, and everyone was holding lanterns to search for the missing fourth sister.

Unable to find it in the mansion, Zhong Bo sent people to look for it outside.

Seeing that dawn was approaching, Chu Mingzheng was anxious. If she didn't leave now, it would be too late. But where could she, a little girl, go?

His mind told him that it was time to go, but his feet froze in place uncontrollably.

Yang Nian'er stood at the gate of the mansion, looking around anxiously. Chu Mingzheng walked forward and suddenly saw a man running towards him. He quickly turned sideways and hid back in the alley.

Wei Luo quickly climbed the stairs and said, "Found him. He's at the Meridian Gate."

Yang Nian'er was puzzled: "Second sister, what is going to the Meridian Gate for?"

A figure passed through the alley, lost in the rising dawn. Wei Luo glanced sideways, staring intently.

In front of the long archway at the Meridian Gate, Lu Mingyang, with her hair draped over her shoulders and dressed in plain clothes, knelt on the cold floor, her back straight and her hands raised above her head.

"Prince Ningyuan is seriously ill and bedridden. Your son, Princess Ningyuan Lu, comes here on behalf of His Highness to apologize to the Emperor!"

Every time you shout, you kowtow.

I don't know how many times she kowtowed, or how many times she shouted. Her once clear and bright voice had become hoarse and raspy.

At this hour, the civil and military officials who arrived one after another lined the Meridian Gate, waiting for the bell to ring and for the court to begin. The woman's voice reached everyone's ears, and her strong figure appeared before everyone's eyes.

The emperor stood before Chengtian Hall, gazing into the depths of the corridor at a figure he could not see, and his head pounded. A woman, taking off her hairpin to plead guilty, willingly accepted criticism in public.

This is the first time since the founding of the Da Sheng Dynasty.

As the emperor, if he was too harsh, people would inevitably say that he was too mean.

"Who made her kneel there?"

The emperor angrily rebuked the guard who came to report the news, but the matter was done and could not be reversed.

"She really knows how to pick the right time." The emperor waved his hands impatiently, "Don't let her kneel there and get in the way. Please come in!"

"promise!"

The guards took the order and left.

Chu Mingzheng stood by the river, watching the thin girl walk into the Meridian Gate, bowing every three steps, the wind wet her misty eyes.

People entered from the Meridian Gate and the imperial carriage exited from the Xuanwu Gate.

It happened so quickly that Lu Mingyang, who had been kneeling for an hour, thought it was all an illusion. Only the sharp pain in her knees reminded her of what had happened.

The palace carriage drove halfway down the street when it was stopped by the carriage from the Chengyang Marquis's Mansion.

Yang Nian'er hurriedly grabbed Lu Mingyang who was getting off the carriage and asked, "Second sister, how is it? Did the emperor punish you?"

"Let's talk about it when we get back!" Lu Mingyuan put a cloak on his sister and helped her into his carriage.

In the carriage, the shivering girl gradually came to her senses and looked at Lu Mingyuan in despair: "Eldest sister, His Majesty asked me to go to Xiangguo Temple to copy scriptures and pray for rain for Yingchuan."

"Oh my god, it hasn't rained in Yingchuan for two years."

Where there has been no rain for three years, riots are sure to break out. Now, in the third year, Lu Mingyuan almost thought he had misheard: "Your Majesty, are you going to push this natural and man-made disaster onto a woman like you?"

"Maybe I made him too angry!"

Lu Mingyang smiled with her pale face. She had not expected that the emperor was so cunning.

After returning to Xunyang Pavilion, Yang Nian'er began to pack her clothes. The emperor ordered Lu Mingyang to rush to Xiangguo Temple today without any delay.

Lu Mingyuan sat by the bed, applying medicine to Lu Mingyang's wound. Looking at the bruised knee, she asked distressedly, "Yang'er, you're doing this for King Ningyuan, but are you in love with him?"

Lu Mingyang shook his head in pain, "No, I just didn't want to owe him anything. Ever since I came back from the palace that day, I figured it out. The Queen Mother had gone and would definitely protect him. I was being clever. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have been shaved."

"Silly girl, what are you going to do in the future?" Lu Mingyuan sighed.

Lu Mingyang also began to feel scared at this moment: "Eldest sister, if it doesn't rain in Yingchuan before the spring planting, what will happen to me?"

Lu Mingyuan said, "That depends on the local disaster situation and the conscience of King Ningyuan."

Aikokuji

Lu Mingyang knelt before a Buddha statue, a desk covered in thick sheets of rice paper in front of her. The emperor had ordered her to kneel before the statue and copy the "Great Cloud Wheel Prayer for Rain" a hundred times within ten days, praying for rain from heaven.

After copying it once, Lu Mingyang rubbed his sore arms and looked at the four burned incense sticks in front of him, his face pale.

Oh my god, it takes two hours to copy it once. I have to copy it a hundred times in ten days, even if I don't eat or sleep, I can't finish it. What should I do?

A tear fell onto the Buddhist scriptures she was copying. She quickly wiped it away and carefully placed it on the ground beside her. The piercing pain in her knee was unbearable, so she sat down stealthily and pulled out the rice paper again.

I can still secretly copy it late at night, but I won’t be so lucky during the day.

"Thus have I heard, at one time the Buddha was staying in the palace of the Dragon King Pananda in Nandawu. The auspicious Mani treasure..."

The tip of the pen moved across the paper, and a dark shadow descended, resembling a human figure. Lu Mingyang hurriedly knelt, covering his written words, and frantically explained, "I just wanted to rest for a while. I didn't..."

A familiar face appeared before her, choking her false words.