Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The word “again” was used quite cleverly.

In my previous life, such a scene would have certainly ignited my temper.

But in this life, having sacrificed my feelings and love, I only looked at him with indifference. “Mind your own business!” I said coldly.

“You… how dare you!” Song Tingye’s face turned ashen as he barked at me.

“Does Royal Brother want to hit me again to vent his anger? You just struck my left cheek; how about I lift my right cheek now so you can give me a matching set?”

“Absurd! Do you have even a shred of a young lady’s decorum left?”

Song Tingye was fuming.

Right then, a crisp notification sound rang out again.

[Affection Points +1. Current Affection Points: 91.]

Song Tingye froze once more.

I let out a sneer, feeling utterly disgusted.

Bianshan stepped forward.

“Commandery Princess, it was this humble one’s own choice to return to secular life. I have a few questions I wish to ask the Commandery Princess. That gatha about the Bodhi tree having no tree-did you compose it yourself, or did you hear it somewhere?”

Xu Qingqing gave a self-satisfied smile. “Of course I wrote it myself. Why? Do you think I’m too young to be capable of it?”

Bianshan spoke again. “Commandery Princess, could you bestow a few more lines of gatha upon this humble one?”

Xu Qingqing arched an eyebrow, her face full of youthful arrogance.

“Why not? Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form; form is emptiness, emptiness is form. So too are sensation, perception, volition, and consciousness. Monk Bianshan, how about I give you these lines?”

However, Bianshan only looked at her with disappointment.

Everyone fell silent.

Xu Qingqing finally sensed that something was wrong.

She looked around and realized that the expressions on people’s faces weren’t those of praise or wonder. Instead, they were filled with scrutiny, suspicion, and even a hint of mockery.

Panic began to flicker across her face.

Bianshan lowered his eyes and spoke again. “Commandery Princess, that day, you said you had a cough and borrowed this monk’s handkerchief. Where is that handkerchief now?”

Xu Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief. She immediately pulled a handkerchief from her bosom and said with a beaming smile, “It’s right here. I washed it and brought it specifically to return to you. Thank you for that day.”

An uproar broke out among the crowd.

If the handkerchief Bianshan gave to Xu Qingqing had been kept safely by her all this time…

Then where did my handkerchief come from? Had my angry outburst just now been nothing more than making a scene without cause?

Bianshan took the handkerchief and examined it closely. Then, he picked up the damaged handkerchief I had thrown on the ground. After comparing the two, he let out a bitter laugh.

“Commandery Princess, why must you deceive me? This handkerchief you gave me is clearly a fake!”

Everyone was stunned.

In my heart, however, the dust had settled.

In my past life, I had spent a long time searching for the truth: although Bianshan’s handkerchiefs were embroidered with the character for ‘Shan,’ his secular father was named Zhao Mingshan. To observe the naming taboo for his father, every ‘Shan’ character on his handkerchiefs was missing a single stroke.

It was a tiny detail, impossible to notice without looking closely.

Xu Qingqing had used the real handkerchief to frame me, while providing herself with a fake one.

But in the end, she wasn’t thorough enough, leaving such a massive flaw.

Xu Qingqing panicked.

“I don’t know! This was clearly the one!”

Utterly disappointed, Bianshan chanted a Buddhist name, turned, and walked away.

The Abbot added with deep meaning, “Bianshan’s secular father was of the Zhao family, with the honored name Mingshan.”

Realization dawned on the crowd.

Yet Xu Qingqing still didn’t understand.

Since arriving in this era, she had only thought about conquering my parents and brothers to gain their doting favor and enjoy the power and glory they provided.

She had never bothered to truly understand us.

She could only look toward Song Tingye for help.

Song Tingye gave her a long, deep look, his eyes dark and unreadable.

He only said one thing coldly: “Let’s go.”

The Conquest Notification Sound rang out once more.

[Affection Points -1. Current Affection Points: 90.]