Openly Plotting (1)
She yanked the Buddha beads from his hand. The only sound that could be heard was the scattering beads falling on the ground. The Silent Master opened his eyes to look at her.
“…I don’t eat meat or fish.”
“Even if you don’t want to eat, you must eat!”
Zhao Yiqin’s pair of stone-cold eyes practically shot flames! She commanded the servants to put the reheated food on the table and screamed at him,
“Did you remember what you said when you were a kid? You said you didn’t want to be a monk! Right now, I am giving you the opportunity to stop being a monk! Now eat!”
The Silent Master heard what she said, but he stared stubbornly at her, his eyes brimming with anger and defiance. Finally he sneered,
“…But then, who was it that said, if I didn’t become a monk, I would easily blow her cover? Who was it that said, with my identity, I could only stay alive if I lived in the Buddhist Monastery! Why… after I have already developed the habit… Why, after I have already become a monk, that you want to neglect my Buddhist upbringing?!”
Zhao Yiqin never expected the Silent Master to give such an unexpected retort. Furthermore, to snap back in such a way that she looked like a scoundrel! She turned to the servants beside her and shouted, “All of you leave!”
“Yes Ma’am.” Her devoted servants retreated one by one. Zhao Yiqin let out a long sigh as her expression withered.
“Jun’er, you can’t blame me for what I did…” She said helplessly, “Your face looks exactly like Wen Ji, your father, from the Temple. No one would dare say anything about it there. But If you were raised on the outside, those beside me could easily recognize the similarity you have to me. As a result, I had no choice but to hide you in the shrine.”
Wen Ji told others that he was the Silent Monk’s master… but the truth was, Wen Ji was the Silent Master’s father!
The Silent Master closed his eyes, pausing. “Please leave. I promised my master before his death that, in this life, I will not get involved with the secular world, regardless of the circumstances.”
Zhao Yiqin never expected that even before Wen Ji died, for her sake, he would still have forced the Silent Monk to make these types of oaths. Her expression became rigid once again.
“He… What else did he say…?”
Back then, as Wen Ji was dying, Zhao Yiqin did not go to see him. So she did not know… and for all these years, she never asked.
He chuckled coldly, “What does it matter what he said? You are the high and mighty Empress Dowager… He was the virtuous and prestigious Buddhist Monk… You two were fated to never be involved with one another.”
“Jun’er!”
“Don’t call me by that name!” The Silent Master closed his eyes, his voice frigid, “In this world, only the child who wept in silence existence was born… Min Wen Jun doesn’t exist.”
The moment Silent Master vowed to sever his relationship with her, Zhao Yiqin felt a stabbing pain in her heart. Her feelings for the monk, Wen Ji, was not as heartless as the Silent Master may think.
“I’m… I’m leaving you to reflect on your own!” Just as Zhao Yiqin was about to leave in disdain, she stated, “In a moment I’m going to tell someone to deliver a few vegetable dishes over. Stop being stubborn and eat something.”
The monk remained silent, and Zhao Yiqin did not yield either. The moment she exited the door, her spirit regained it’s previous majestic presence. Yet, her eyelids drooped with dull shadows underneath, the toll of her mental stress apparent.
She will not be overthrown. She cannot lose. She had sacrificed too much to get to this point. If she lost, she would be seen as a laughing stock.
Right then, one of her subordinates arrived and greeted her. Zhao Yiqin raised her eyebrow in surprise before she left with him.
Before Mo Linyuan came along, she had monopolized the imperial court affairs for many years. Of course, she would have her own supporters. The person who just came to find her was one of her most useful subordinates.
“What could have brought Official Zhang to come visit?”
The Minister of War, Zhang Wei, chuckled, “I heard the Empress Dowager was in a bad mood. This official came to accompany her and improve her mood.”
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