Chapter 28-Part 1

With the renovation process of the Crown Prince’s Mansion underway, only the main hall remained without the roof beams.

The custom in Great Qi was that when putting up roof beams, bets must be placed under the supporting pillars. Houses were fundamental to people; it was indeed a major affair. Even if the Crown Prince ignored worldly affairs, he couldn’t avoid customs.

The treasures betted, besides a tortoise, also needed to include a string of gold beads. However, the gold beads under the pillars of the Crown Prince’s Mansion required seven days of chanting scriptures at the Taoist temple for consecration.

The steward of the Crown Prince’s Mansion had already sent the selected gold beads to Guang’en Taoist Temple outside Luo’an City early in the morning. They only awaited the return of the gold beads on the day before putting up the roof beams.

That day, the Crown Prince went out early to handle affairs at the government office, then went to the Taoist temple to retrieve the gold beads. However, he was slightly delayed at the government office. Not long after he left, someone sent a bamboo slip, which bore a letter personally written by the Crown Prince: appointing the tutor of the crown prince’s mansion, Jiang Xiurun, to retrieve the Buddha beads in advance and present them in the incense hall of the crown prince’s mansion.

This suited Jiang Xiurun’s intentions perfectly. These past few days, she has been exploring escape routes and arranging specific matters. It just so happened that she needed to leave the city for once.

Sitting in the carriage prepared specifically for her by the crown prince’s mansion, Jiang Xiurun occasionally peeked outside. At a crossroads outside the city, she used the excuse of needing a restroom to get off the carriage and walk into the dense forest by the side road, thinking that this place was excellent. If she were to escape here in the future, nobody would notice…

As she pondered while walking back, she happened to see another procession of carriages approaching.

A person leaned out of one of the carriage windows, and it was none other than the recently popular crown princess candidate Tian Ying in Luo’an City.

Tian Ying had only spotted the carriages of the crown prince’s mansion from afar before sticking her head out. She had thought she might coincidentally meet the crown prince, which would allow them to be closer. However, she hadn’t expected it to be Jiang Xiurun, the tutor of the crown prince’s mansion.

Though disappointed, Tian Ying wore a charming smile on her face and said to Jiang Xiurun, “When I left home today, I heard magpies chirping on the branches above. I thought I might encounter some good news, but unexpectedly, I met Tutor Jiang instead. Where are you headed?”

Jiang Xiurun quickly lowered her voice and clasped her hands, saying, “I am heading to Guang’en Taoist Temple to retrieve the gold beads for His Highness’s roof beams.”

Tian Ying, upon hearing any topic related to the renovation of the crown prince’s mansion, couldn’t hide the smile in her eyes and at the corners of her lips. Her attitude also softened a bit, as she said she was also going to the Taoist temple to pray for blessings.

So the two carriages traveled together, one after the other, to Guang’en Taoist Temple.

Throughout the history of Great Qi, emperors had always revered Daoism; hence, there were numerous Daoist temples, large and small, throughout the country. However, Guang’en Taoist Temple had once been frequented by members of the royal family for practice and was thus the most prosperous.

Upon arrival at the temple, the abbot had already prepared the Buddha beads, which had been quietly listening to the Daoist scriptures for many days. They were taken down and placed in a brocade box, which was handed over to Jiang Xiurun.

Jiang Xiurun intended to leave with the box, but Tian Ying, in a playful mood and perhaps influenced by someone else’s instigation, wanted her to accompany her on a tour of the temple. She also wanted to coax some information about the crown prince’s intentions out of him, specifically why he had not yet announced the crown prince’s consort.

Jiang Xiurun felt helpless under her pestering. Moreover, she wasn’t sure if her escape plan would succeed, so she couldn’t afford to offend the future crown princess. She could only temporize and accompany her to visit the side halls of the temple.

During this time, in the garden, the two of them each drank a cup of tea served by a servant.

But when they were ready to leave the garden, they found that someone had locked the gate from the outside. Surely, the person guarding the garden didn’t realize there were people inside and had locked it.

Bai Qian raised her foot to kick the door open, but Jiang Xiurun stopped her.

This Taoist temple was different from elsewhere; it was where the royal family practiced. If Bai Qian broke the gate, it would surely be traced back to her.

So she instructed Bai Qian to climb over the wall and unfasten the latch on the door.

However, after Bai Qian climbed over the wall, she said the door was locked with an iron chain—a thick one that couldn’t be broken.

So Bai Qian hurriedly went to find someone sent by the abbot to open the door.

Jiang Xiurun hadn’t felt anything amiss until she started feeling dizzy and stumbled, falling to the ground. Then she realized something was wrong. Tian Ying, who was beside her, was the same, collapsing weakly to the ground.

At some point, Tian Ying’s maid had disappeared, and instead, two sturdy women came over, each carrying one of them into the nearby room.

In that room, there was already a thick bed with blankets prepared. After laying the two of them down on the bed, the women attempted to remove their clothes. But just as they began to undo their outer garments, they heard footsteps and voices in the distance.

The two women clearly hadn’t expected someone to arrive so soon. They immediately focused on stripping Tian Ying, hastily removing her clothes and undergarments, and then placing the limp Jiang Xiurun on top of her.

As the two hurriedly jumped out of the window and escaped from behind the house, the sound of approaching footsteps grew closer. Unfortunately, the effects of the medicine on Tian Ying began to take effect again. Feeling feverish all over her body, she disregarded everything and embraced the “man” on top of her, kissing passionately.

Jiang Xiurun never expected that one day she would be forcibly kissed by a woman. She tried to break free but felt weak and powerless. Most importantly, she felt a surge of heat rising from the depths of her heart…