Chapter 29: Imperial Concubine Fang Shi

  Ci Xiu An is not a large place, with only about ten monks including the abbot.

  In the past, when Zhu Qiufeng was in Beijing, he would take Zhu Yunyang to visit Fangshi on Mount Yunyang every month. Coming and going, they also became familiar with the monks in this temple.

  Chu Youyang walked in with two maids, and Xiao Ni Jingxuan, who was sweeping the yard, saw her and directly led her to the backyard where Madame Fang lived.

  It was a separate courtyard, the yard was small, and there were only two rooms, one large and one small.

  Jing Xuan stepped forward and knocked on the door under the eaves of the main house, saying: "Hui An Shu Shu, the Princess of Jiu Yang has come to see you."

  Fang's family practiced Buddhism here because of her special status. Her generation was on par with that of Master Shi Hui Jue.

  Chu Sunyang and others were in the courtyard, a moment later the door of that house was pulled open from inside, an old woman with a kind face came out and greeted Chu Sunyang: "The slave pays respects to the young lady."

  "You don't have to be polite, Imperial Concubine." Chu Nanyang smiled and glanced behind her, "Is the Empress inside? I've brought some daily necessities for her."

  "Here we are." said Nian'er's mother, without intentionally speaking more warmly, and turned to lead Chu Feiyan inside.

  The furnishings in the house were simple, similar to those of other monks' houses in the temple. There was a kang (a type of bed), some slightly old furniture, and a clean floor. On the altar opposite the door, there was a golden statue of the Buddha.

  When Zhuo Rouyang entered, Fang Shi happened to come out of the inner room, wearing a half-old monk's robe, with a string of Buddhist beads in his hand, and an expressionless face, no different from usual.

  Fang's appearance is not particularly outstanding, can only be considered delicate, and he doesn't have a charming personality either.

  In her past life, Chu Nianyang was once curious about why Chu Yi'an would take a liking to Fang Shi, who had an ordinary appearance, and in this life, she still couldn't understand it, but she didn't want to delve deeper into it either.

  "Empress Dowager!" Chu Nanyang smiled and walked forward.

  Miss Fang has been acting as a nun since she arrived here, so Zhu Mo didn't salute her either.

  "Hmm!" Mr. Fang responded faintly and fell silent afterwards.

  Chu Youyang let out a helpless sigh in his heart and could only speak up, "Brother is currently at the military camp in Chu State taking care of Father's affairs, it may take some time for him to return. I came over to bring Mother some clothes and medicine, how has Mother been lately?"

  "You're being considerate," said Mr. Fang, walking over to sit down on the stool beside the table. "Just have someone send the things over, no need to personally run all the way here."

  "I'm idle anyway, so I'll just come over and take a look at the Empress Dowager." Chu Jiu Yang said, he was already used to Fang Shi's attitude.

  Fang Shi had nothing much to say to her. If in their past lives, Chu Zhenyang's heart would inevitably have some estrangement, but now it didn't matter anymore.

  The two of them only exchanged a couple of words as a matter of routine, not even as polite as the usual superficial pleasantries, before Chu Ziyang tactfully stood up and bid farewell.

  It was just noon at that time, and Fang didn't say anything about staying for lunch, turned around and entered the inner room.

  The house had a window facing the courtyard, and Fang Shi stood at the window watching as Chu Yan's skirt fluttered away. In her eyes, which were normally as calm as still water, a flash of cold, sharp light suddenly appeared.

  In the blink of an eye.

  After seeing Zhen off, Granny Wang returned to the house and let out a deep sigh. "Your Ladyship, although you no longer have any ties with the Fu family, it's not good for you to remain so distant from the Duchess and Duke either... You..."

  It's all about herself, and Fang's temper is really something that makes Chang Nian's mother unable to understand.

  "The ones that are close will always be close, the ones that are distant, no matter how much I do, it's useless." Fang said, clearly not having heard.

  Chu Youyang walked out of the courtyard, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

  The task is done, feeling relaxed.

  The two girls were also unusually silent today, each with their heads bowed in thought, not making a sound.

  As for the temperament of this imperial concubine, no one could fathom it, but every time they followed the young master and madam up the mountain, they would inevitably feel an unusually low atmospheric pressure.

  At that time, in front of the An Tang door, Shang Lan couldn't bear her curiosity and quietly pulled on Ying Zi's sleeve; "Sister, what's going on with Fang Ce Fei who lives here?"

  Chu Youyang gained favor in the East Palace, and her reputation was unmatched. Recently, there were rumors circulating that even Chu Yi'an's concubines didn't have a place to stand in front of her, so it's hard for Lan to imagine how her birth mother could move out of the East Palace to live in such a place.

  "What's with all these questions, kid? You're from a good family, after all." Ying Zi remained calm and composed, not uttering a single word without the explicit order of Prince Yanling.

  Deep blue pouted, sullenly lowering her head and fiddling with her fingers.

  At that time, Yanling Jun was leaning against the wall of the carriage with his hands around his chest, closing his eyes to rest. When he heard this, he opened his eyes and looked at the front gate of the An Tang Temple: "The origin of Fang Shi is not good. It is said that she was only a seventh-grade female official in the imperial court of the previous dynasty, but somehow entered Chu Yi'an's eyes. At that time, Chu Yi'an was also young and vigorous, and had publicly declared that he would not marry anyone else. The marriage was delayed for several years, and finally, under the pressure of the family, he compromised and married Fang Shi and Lei Shi at the same time, but actually left the position of his first wife vacant for Fang Shi."

  "Who would have thought that this crown prince of Western Yue was a sentimental person?" Deep Blue muttered to himself.

  Yanling Jun glanced at her and chuckled inexplicably, continuing: "At that time, the emperor had not yet ascended to the throne, it was the world of the former dynasty's great honor, the Grand Marshal of the heavenly army. Because of Chu Yi'an's exceptional literary and military talents, he was somewhat dissatisfied in his heart, but still reluctantly acknowledged him. However, his wife, Luo Shi, who was also Madame Chu at that time, did not have such magnanimity. Her son had disobeyed her because of a woman, which already made Luo Shi extremely angry. It's unknown whether Fang Shi really didn't get along with her or not, but coincidentally, their birthdays happened to fall on the same day. Fang Shi was sold into slavery as a child and didn't even know who her biological parents were. This birthday was arbitrarily set, yet it still offended Luo Shi's taboo, making their relationship increasingly worse."

  Because of Fang's relationship, Chu Qi Feng and Chu Rou Yang naturally also disliked Queen Luo.

  Deep blue nodded slightly as if he understood and yet didn't understand, "Is it because the queen doesn't like her that she was demoted to this place?"

  "It's not entirely like that." Yanling Jun said, his eyes deepening slightly as he spoke, before continuing after a pause: "She will become a nun here, naturally there is an element of pressure from the empress, but the main reason is because of these two children she gave birth to."

  Deep blue is getting more and more puzzled, frowning and looking towards the direction of the An Tang's residence.

  "The noble rank of the Marquis of Xunyang was very high, and the King of Kang, Zhu Qi Feng, was also granted a title at birth, and deeply favored and valued by the Emperor. This is the first honor among the descendants of the Western Yue imperial family. These have nothing to do with their parents' background, but because they were born on the day when the great general of the previous dynasty was defeated and the country was broken, the emperor regarded them as a sign of the empire's rise.

  The Duke of Yanling said, mentioning this history, his expression became slightly solemn. "Zhu Xunyang - these two words are not just a name, but also a title granted by the Emperor's own hand, so the weight of these two words is not something you can estimate."

  The previous day's great honor turned into defeat at Xiangyang, and from that day on, the heavens changed and the days passed, all past things becoming history.

  The emperor was overjoyed, and coincidentally, Madame Fang gave birth to a rare pair of dragon and phoenix twins. The two children caught the emperor's eye, but as their mother, Madame Fang's status was too lowly. The more the emperor valued these two children, the less he could tolerate Madame Fang's existence, resulting in the current situation.

  Indeed, these are just superficial revelations, as for what the truth is really like inside ——

  Yanling Jun's heart was silent, and he had just gathered his thoughts and lifted his head when Chu Xiangyang had already brought two maids out of the thatched cottage.

  Digression

  The dark history of the previous dynasty, I'll translate a section for you to see through, after two consecutive all-nighters, I feel like I'm floating in the sky now, go roll and sleep.