Chapter 26: The Temple of a Thousand Buddhas
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While Shen Tubai hesitated, Li Tinghan strode in.
Ignoring everything in the courtyard, he opened with, “What exactly did you say in front of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager?”
A sweet smile spread across Shen Tubai’s face. Without the slightest hesitation, she recounted the entire matter from beginning to end, then added, “Did I say anything wrong?”
Li Tinghan frowned. After a long silence, he replied with complicated emotions, “No.”
Shen Tubai’s smile widened. “I thought so too. Otherwise, Her Majesty would never have made an exception and bestowed upon me the title of Lady.”
Shen Tubai generously shared her joy with Li Tinghan, but he gave no response. The smile on her face gradually turned strained. “Are you not happy for me, Your Highness?”
Seeing the unmistakable grievance in her eyes, Li Tinghan’s heart softened at once. He thought that she did not understand the situation at court and had merely happened to cater to his mother’s wishes by accident. There was no need for him to be suspicious of her.
The corners of Li Tinghan’s lips curved upward as he reached out and stroked her hair. “You are happy? Because you have been made a Lady?”
Without hesitation, Shen Tubai nodded vigorously. Stroking her belly, she sincerely shared her thoughts with him.
“That day, when the physician told me I was with child, I was very happy, but also very unhappy. Although His Highness and I do not yet have a child of our own, I have already begun to love him.”
“I know my status is lowly, and I am afraid. I am afraid that my child may not be able to grow up by my side in the future. But I am even more afraid that people will laugh at him because I am his birth mother...”
Shen Tubai looked down at her abdomen, her eyes filled with tenderness.
Li Tinghan’s gaze softened little by little. “Is there anything else?”
“There is...” Shen Tubai scratched her head shyly.
She hopped down from the bed. The movement tugged sharply at the muscles around her knee, making her suck in a breath, but she did not pause. Taking Li Tinghan by the hand, she led him to the dressing table and presented several glittering golden hairpins to him as though she were displaying precious treasures.
“These were all gifts from Secondary Consort Lu.” Shen Tubai praised her sincerely. “Secondary Consort Lu has such excellent taste. I love every piece of jewelry she gave me, but according to the regulations, I was not allowed to wear any of them.”
“But from now on, there will be many more pieces I can wear.” Shen Tubai’s eyes remained glued to the jewelry, making her look every inch the little miser.
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Li Tinghan found it amusing, but secretly added another mark against Lu Yuanshuang in his heart.
If Shen Tubai had not unexpectedly been summoned by his mother this time, then given her status, not only would she have been forbidden to wear such things, she would not even have been permitted to keep them in her jewelry box. That alone would have been a violation of protocol.
Under ordinary circumstances, Li Tinghan might not have thought much of it. But earlier that day, in the front courtyard, Lu Yuanshuang’s every word and sentence had been aimed at sending Shen Tubai to her death. With the matter now laid plainly before him, Li Tinghan naturally believed that she had been harboring ulterior motives.
Shen Tubai seemed not to notice the change in his expression at all. Pinching the sleeve of his robe between two fingers, she gave it a little tug. “Many congratulatory gifts have been sent from outside. They say they are celebrating my being made a Lady, but I think they are really trying to curry favor with Your Highness and the Empress Dowager. Should I refuse them?”
Although she asked the question, the expectation on her face was impossible to miss.
Li Tinghan could do nothing with her. “Have one of your maids make a list of everything that has arrived. Keep what you are allowed to accept. For anything you cannot take, I will make it up to you.”
“Your Highness is so kind. Thank you, Your Highness.” Shen Tubai threw her arms around his arm and showered him with praise as though compliments cost nothing.
Flattered into a good mood, Li Tinghan was happy to say a few more words.
“There should be quite a few invitations sent your way during this period. Secondary Consort Lu is ill, and I have ordered her to rest quietly in her courtyard. It would not be appropriate for you to go out alone, so do not accept any of those invitations.”
Shen Tubai obediently nodded. She had thought she would spend the rest of her life in this little courtyard, so the thought that she might one day have opportunities to socialize outside, even if not immediately, was enough to make her happy.
“There is one more matter.” Li Tinghan thought for a moment before saying hesitantly, “Wenniang heard about what happened that day and has been very worried about you. Go to the Thousand Buddha Temple tomorrow and let her see you, so she can set her mind at ease.”
Shen Tubai used every ounce of strength she possessed to keep her expression under control. But seeing the suspicion plainly written between Li Tinghan’s brows, she obediently agreed. “All right. As it happens, I have plenty I want to say to Miss Cui as well.”
When Li Tinghan saw that Shen Tubai had not grown disrespectful toward Wenniang merely because she had won his mother’s favor, his mood immediately improved, and he forcibly cast the small amount of suspicion in his heart aside.
The mention of the Thousand Buddha Temple instantly reminded Shen Tubai of the monk who had appeared at the Cui residence that day. She leaned against his chest and wheedled, “Your Highness must assign me a few more guards.”
Li Tinghan instinctively disliked the idea. “Could Wenniang really harm you? Why would you need guards just to see her?”
Shen Tubai raised her head and looked him in the eye. “I have status now. Is it too much to ask for a few guards to lend some grandeur to my outings? Besides, I am so beautiful. Are you truly at ease letting me leave with only two maids?”
Li Tinghan tapped her lightly on the nose. “I never realized you were so vain.”
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Shen Tubai gave a soft snort and turned her head away in displeasure.
Li Tinghan calmly pinched her cheek. “Not only are you vain, you have quite a thick skin too.”
“I am vain. I used to see other people surrounded by attendants, making a grand show wherever they went. Now I want to experience that for myself. If Your Highness refuses, then forget it.”
Shen Tubai turned away, her displeasure written plainly across her face.
Li Tinghan stood rooted to the spot. Everyone in the world loved chasing fame and fortune, yet they insisted on pretending not to care about either. Someone as forthright as Shen Tubai was far less irritating.
He leaned close to her ear and comforted her in a low voice. “The situation is unsettled these days, so you truly ought to have a few more guards accompanying you when you go out. But this is the capital beneath the Son of Heaven. Do not make too great a display, lest the censors impeach me.”
Shen Tubai’s expression changed at once. She wrapped both arms tightly around his waist. “I knew Your Highness was the best to me.”
Li Tinghan helplessly curved his lips and stroked her hair. Never mind her vanity. What did it matter? He could afford to indulge her.
At that moment, her voice became even sweeter and more alluring. “I have one more small request.”
Li Tinghan raised a brow. “Since it is an unreasonable request, do not make it.”
Shen Tubai wrinkled her nose in displeasure and tugged at his sleeve. “You have not even heard it. How can you refuse me already? I only want Sister Duruo to come and help me. After all, Secondary Consort Lu dislikes me, and I cannot possibly expect Your Highness to handle everything outside on his own.”
Since it was merely a temporary arrangement, Li Tinghan agreed at once.
Shen Tubai’s smile grew even sweeter. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
If Li Tinghan had lowered his head at that moment, he would have seen that there was not the slightest trace of joy in Shen Tubai’s eyes or brows.
After extracting every benefit she could from Li Tinghan, Shen Tubai was still displeased. Using the excuse that she needed to prepare properly for her meeting with Cui Xiwen the next day, she drove him out.
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