Liu Changning reached out to brush away the hair stuck to his face, considerately pulled up the embroidered quilt, and tucked the edges of the bedding around him tightly.

After doing this, she got up and quietly put on her clothes. She flew out through the window.

In the meditation room, the man who had been sleeping with closed eyes suddenly opened them. His eyes, black as if dipped in ink, stared fixedly at the window for a long while before he tugged at his mouth.

He forced the heat in his eyes down into the depths, put on his clothes.

He called out towards the eaves outside: “Hong Lian!”

—

Liu Changning shook off the tail following her, stepped on the eaves, and flew to the west side courtyard, which was now brightly lit.

Guards were posted at the door, their swords gleaming at their sides.

Liu Changning lightly tapped her toes, stepped on the snow on the eaves, and disappeared without a trace after a few rounds.

Nanhua Temple was built against the mountain, with the temple’s back courtyard adjacent to a dense forest.

Towering trees with lush branches and leaves.

Liu Changning darted into the dense forest, swiftly treading along the winding path to the middle of the forest.

In the center of the dense forest, the trees gradually thinned, and in a clearing stood an ebony guqin.

Liu Changning, using the moonlight, placed both hands on the guqin, her slender fingers plucking the strings.

A melodious tune of “Qingxin Yin” flowed from her fingertips.

The lingering music, like clear trickling springs.

Making those asleep feel secure and steady, those sleepless feel calm and peaceful.

Liu Changning only played for the time it takes an incense stick to burn before the person she was waiting for arrived at her side.

The newcomer wore a gray-white Taoist robe with wide sleeves, had a smooth bald head, and a kindly face.

Seeing Liu Changning look up, she walked steadily to her, her eyes full of wisdom falling on the guqin in front of Liu Changning, and smiled, “The music is hurried, Cang Yun is not at peace today.”

Liu Changning brushed the fine snow from her hair and asked pointedly: “Were you… intentionally sent away tonight?”

“On the night of the sacrifice to heaven, the head of Nanhua Temple needs to discuss the Tao with the Empress. It has always been so.”

A flash of regret passed through Ningxin’s eyes, quickly disappearing without a trace.

The hall was not peaceful tonight. When she and the Empress returned from discussing Buddhism in the front courtyard, they saw all the female guests in the entire temple gathered in the back courtyard.

Madam Yu was personally interrogating, her face dark. It was clear that something major had happened.

“Would you like to tell me about tonight’s events?” Liu Changning rose from the stone chair, tightening the cloak around her body.

Ningxin nodded at her: “Someone put aphrodisiac incense in Pei Yunzhi’s room. The culprit was a young lady. When Madam and a group of noble gentlemen went to the meditation room in the east wing, Pei Yunzhi was already disheveled, and the culprit had escaped through the window.

Liu Changning looked at her with a half-smile and said, “Ningxin, Qiusheng led me into that meditation room, and I was also affected by the aphrodisiac incense tonight.”

The nun not far away, whose face was usually kind, flashed a fierce look. She turned the prayer beads in her hand, the beads making a grating sound of friction.

“Yu Qing’an has become increasingly bold over the years, daring to make a move under this poor nun’s nose. She truly thinks our Pei family’s royal clan has no one!”

“Isn’t that so? If you weren’t hiding in the Taoist temple, why would Long Di Qing have to struggle alone?”

Ningxin put her hands together and said: “Amitabha, my nephew has a karmic destiny. Three lives of suffering for one life of fulfillment. This is already the third life, I cannot interfere.”

Liu Changning let out a light, cold snort, her slender hand plucking a string of the ancient guqin, making a harsh “zeng” sound.

Ningxin glanced at her young friend’s expression, seeing her brows cold and her face displeased.

She continued: “Madam Yu sent people to search the entire back courtyard of the temple, all the ladies gathered in the back courtyard. Only you were nowhere to be found, so you were here for two hours!”

Liu Changning neither confirmed nor denied. She lowered her head and said pointedly: “I am not a saint, Taoist. Tonight, I was in Long Di Qing’s room.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the bald nun’s hand turning the prayer beads suddenly stopped. She looked at the woman before her with utter shock.

In the moonlight, her face looked particularly fair, her white clothes almost blending with the snow, a woman as cold and ethereal as an immortal.

Yet she said she had fallen into the mortal realm.

“You… you!” the nun asked shakily.

The woman opposite didn’t wait for her to finish asking, just nodded at her.

“Tonight, there were at least two groups of people guarding outside Long Di Qing’s door. If I appear in his room tomorrow, guess what kind of situation will occur?”

Liu Changning’s tea-colored eyes looked over, her gaze profound.

Ningxin frowned and hesitated: “The top scholar among poor students forced by Long Di Qing, it would chill the hearts of all scholars in the Jin Feng Dynasty. Long Di Qing might have to give up the heavy responsibility of assisting the country. If it were consensual, you might have to stay away from official circles from now on, relegated to being a favorite in the Mingde Long Di Qing’s mansion.”

Liu Changning gave her an obscure glance: “So I sneaked out of his room in the middle of the night.”

Ningxin’s expression was solemn: “If you weren’t with my grand-nephew last night, and you weren’t in the west wing either. Yu Qing’an tried every means possible, wanting to make Pei Yunzhi marry you, not hesitating to offend me, sending people to question every young lady in the entire temple one by one. You have no witnesses to your whereabouts, I’m afraid… you’ll still have to bear the identity of a thieving, adulterous lady.”

Liu Changning let out a cold snort, saying meaningfully: “That’s why I called you here tonight. Haven’t you been coveting the scriptures I’ve written for a long time? I’ll write you a copy of the ‘Lotus Sutra’, do you want it?”

Ningxin’s face was dumbfounded, looking at her in shock, not even noticing when the prayer beads in her hand fell to the ground.

“I want it! Young friend Cang Yun, you are so righteous!”

Liu Cang Yun was a prodigy in the Taoist arts. From the first time Ningxin discussed the Tao with her, she felt she was a heavenly talent. Her Taoist teachings were often astonishing, with attainments as high as the ancients.

If she could write a scripture for the Taoist sect, it would be a grace that benefits all living beings.

“Give me the key to the scripture library. Tonight, Liu Cang Yun has been invited by Temple Master Ningxin to write the ‘Lotus Sutra’ in the library. Because writing the scripture requires the help of Taoist classics, the Temple Master has specially approved for me to search for Buddhist classics in the scripture library, to enrich the discourse of the ‘Lotus Sutra’.”

The scripture library has always been a sacred place in the Taoist sect. Even if Madam Yu had immense power, it would be impossible for her to send people to search this place.

No matter what schemes those with ulterior motives have tomorrow, they will all be useless!