The Son of Princess-Regent Taiping

'A wealthy young girl prayed to Buddha to see the man she liked once again. Buddha granted her the chance to transform into a stone and cultivate for five hundred years, allowing her to catch a fleeting glimpse of the man as he hurried across a bridge; she then transformed into a large tree and practiced for another five hundred years, giving the man a moment's rest under the shade of the tree... What are you praying for?' A young man with skin darkened by the sun knelt on the lotus cushion in front of the golden Buddha statue, hands clasped together, yet he began to chat with a woman kneeling beside him. The woman had been kneeling here long before the young man entered the temple. She wore a complete man's outfit, complete with a round hat, narrow-sleeved, tight-collared long robes, long pants, and high-waisted boots. Her disguise was evident, but she did not truly transform herself into a man, as her face was clearly made up with rouge, her eyebrows painted like willow leaves, and her thick lips adorned with rouge, making her look extremely charming. The tight fit of her male attire emphasized the beautiful curves of her body. The reason women in the Tang Dynasty (an ancient Chinese historical dynasty, a great dynasty) liked to dress as men likely stems from such practices. The temple hall was spacious, and although the monks chanted scriptures in the same room, the sound still seemed to come from a distance; the "ding ding ding..." sound of striking the wooden fish was accompanied by the chanting. The entire "music" was hazy and ethereal, tranquil and serene. In the fourth year of Emperor Gaozong's reign during the Tang Dynasty, Prince Zhang Huai donated his residence to build a temple, and thus the Thousand Happiness Temple was established. By the second year of Jingyun, thirty-eight years had passed. The prince who built the temple, Zhang Huai, had long since passed away, as had Empress Wu Zetian, who executed Zhang Huai. Over the years, the situation has been tumultuous with continuous coups, and the people in the court and the rivers and lakes have changed with each turnover, but the simple architecture of the Thousand Happiness Temple remains unchanged. Times change. Green tiles and white walls, with roofs adorned with cormorant wings stretching out flat and distant, the smoke of incense wafting through, the deceitful struggles outside are excluded, the temple gradually retreats, slowly developing into a pure temple. The woman kneeling on the lotus cushion, closing her eyes in prayer, heard someone speaking and opened her almond-shaped eyes to look around. The two were obviously familiar with each other; the woman placed her index finger in front of her crimson lips and softly shushed, saying in a low voice, "Buddha above, be serene, we will talk later." The woman's voice was soothing, with a slow rhythm that was very pleasing to the ear. The young man then stopped speaking, bowed a few times, and hurriedly stood up, turning to leave.Perhaps because the man arrived quickly and left just as quickly, it surprised the woman, making her feel a bit odd. She also hurriedly bowed a few times and got up to follow.Stepping out of the temple hall, there was a courtyard with straight-lattice windows and corridors. This place was originally the prince's residence, and the layout still retained its old style. The woman looked around, the courtyard was quiet, with only the new sprouting willow branches gently swaying in the breeze, seemingly without any movement or person in sight. For some unknown reason, a sense of loss flashed through her heart. What was it? The man she had just seen was not important to her; she really didn't know what she was feeling. Sometimes, the human heart is inexplicable. Unexpectedly, a voice suddenly came from behind her: "Buddha said that after a thousand years of cultivation, you still cannot obtain a marriage fate with him, do you still need to cultivate?" The woman turned her head, frowning, and said discontentedly with her lips raised: "It's all mysterious, and this trick doesn't even seem boring... Don't you have work to do today, Xue Qing? Why did you come to the Thousand Happiness Temple? It's really a coincidence." The young man known as Xue Qing was Wei Guo Gong, the Minister of Ceremonies of the Great Tang Dynasty, and the eldest son of Princess Taiping, the Princess of Zhen Guo. The woman in front of her is named Yuwen Ji, the fiancée of Feng Yuanjun, a colleague of Xue Chongxun and the Deputy Minister of the Imperial Clan Affairs. Feng Yuanjun is the cousin of the eunuch Gao Liwei. The customs of the Tang Dynasty were open, and many women were willing to go out and participate in various activities. With such connections, Xue Chongxun became acquainted with her. Their occasional encounters are also linked to another relationship: Yuwen Ji was known as the 'Goddess Doctor' in Chang'an for her remarkable medical skills, often achieving miraculous results with unconventional methods to cure difficult and complicated illnesses; the Imperial Household Department, where Xue Chongxun worked, had a department called the Imperial Medical Bureau, which was under their management. Although Yuwen Ji was not an imperial physician, she had connections with the Imperial Medical Bureau. Once, Emperor Li Dan (the father of Crown Prince Li Longji) suffered from a severe headache, and the imperial physicians were helpless. Yuwen Ji entered the palace and, to everyone's surprise, cured the illness with just one injection. When Yuwen Ji asked a question, Xue Chongxun replied, 'You know, I usually leave the day-to-day affairs to Feng Erlang. Moreover, today is the day for our brothers to pay their respects to our mother, so I came over from An Yi Fang. But it's still early, and Qian Fu Temple is nearby, so I thought I'd drop by for a walk.' Speaking of his mother, Princess Taiping, a faint worry flashed across Xue Chongxun's eyes. After last year's coup, Wei Hou, Princess An Le, Shangguan Wan'er, and others were all executed, and Prince Li Dan was restored to his throne, resulting in today's situation: Crown Prince Li Longji and Princess Taiping each have their own faction ready to take action, already forming an irreconcilable conflict... The outcome was very dangerous for Xue Chongxun, who was the eldest son of Princess Taiping, and it might happen in just one or two years. Perhaps Xue Chongxun was not sufficiently devout to Buddhism, as the incense burning and the sound of the wooden fish in the temple still could not bring even a moment of peace to his heart, with conflicts constantly surrounding him. He sighed inwardly and then clasped his fists and said, "The time is almost up, I take my leave." "Wait a moment," Yuwen Ji called out to him, asking, "You didn't finish speaking about Buddhism just now, are there really such things in the Buddhist scriptures?" "There really are," Xue Chongxun said seriously. Yuwen Ji asked, "Buddha asked the young girl who had practiced for a thousand years if she still wanted to practice, what did she say?" Xue Chongxun smiled and said, "She said she didn't need to." "Nothing much," Yuwen Ji felt somewhat disappointed, it seemed that women all have "obsessions." Unexpectedly, Xue Chongxun said, "At this moment, Buddha breathed a sigh of relief, saying that another man had been practicing for two thousand years just to catch a glimpse of you... Understand?" Yuwen Ji's face blushed slightly, she pondered for a while, and after associating it with the fact that she was Feng Yuanjun's fiancée and the scene of praying in front of the Buddha just now, she thought to herself: was he teasing something? Yuwen Ji continued, "I feel like you are different from before, it's really strange." "How so?" Xue Chongxun felt a slight tension in his heart. Yuwen Ji said, "Previously, you... if I may speak frankly, at that time I thought the imperial court should confer a military official title on you, not the Minister of Ceremonies... Now? You seem quite thoughtful." Xue Chongxun said with an air of ease, "We rarely meet, how could you know what kind of person I should be?" He looked up at the setting sun; it was already late in the day. After visiting the princess's mansion and greeting his mother, it would be the perfect time to have a family banquet. He then said, "I really must be leaving."