Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 16 Contrasting Beauty
Princess Chenliu, like Prince Qinghe Yuan Yi, is a child of Emperor Xiaowen and the aunt of the current emperor.

The Northern Wei royal family had great power, and the princesses were as domineering as those in the Han Dynasty.

No one expected that a princess was trapped in the Yongning Temple, which was blocked due to the assassination incident. The three important ministers present all had a headache.

After the princess's name was announced, even the messenger from Bai Lu Cao let go of the maid and retreated behind the Junior Supervisor of Works Mu Shaoyou to wait for the decision of the three ministers.

Finally, it was Cui Guang, a veteran official of three dynasties, who spoke up:

"This matter involves the royal family, and is not something that we, as outsiders, can ask about. Let's send someone to the palace to ask the Queen Mother first."

"I will go see Princess Chenliu first and ask her to stay at Yongning Temple and return home after the case is over."

After saying this, Cui Guang walked towards the Yongning Temple, and Su Ze, as the guard brought by Cui Guang, could only follow Cui Guang into the gate of Yongning Temple.

He could see the Yongning Temple Pagoda every time he was on duty, but Su Ze had never set foot in this temple.

Since the completion of Yongning Temple, it has surpassed the Xumi Pavilion built by Emperor Xiaowen and become the most magnificent temple in the whole Luoyang.

The Yongning Temple Pagoda is one of the three tallest buildings in Luoyang, along with the Fuyun Tower in the Qinghe Palace and the Lingyun Terrace in the Imperial Palace.

As a modern time traveler, Su Ze, when he was in this huge temple, could not help but marvel at the luxury of the Northern Wei rulers.

In addition to the main hall and pagoda, Yongning Temple also has 2,000 rooms for monks.

Cui Guang brought Su Ze and other Yulin guards, and under the guidance of Princess Chenliu's maid, they came to an extremely elegant independent courtyard in Yongning Temple.

After a while, Su Ze saw a woman wearing a veil and a white monk's robe walking out of the courtyard.

The woman was probably in her twenties, with a graceful figure hidden in her white monk's robe. Her bright eyes and tightly wrapped body added a touch of charm to her holiness.

In the words of later generations, this is a strong sense of contrast.

With her hair casually tied in a bun and scattered hair falling on her monk's robe, this Princess Chenliu does not look as green as a young girl, nor as coquettish as a mature woman. Instead, she has a kind of broken beauty.

The veil covering half of her face makes Princess Chenliu full of mystery, but just from her exposed eyes, it can be seen that this princess is definitely a beauty.

The way Princess Chenliu was dressed made Su Ze think of a word from his previous life - "widow".

It is true that "If you want to be pretty, you must dress in mourning clothes". Princess Chenliu's outfit perfectly reflects this saying.

Emperor Xiaowen has been dead for twenty years. Even if Princess Chenliu was born before his death, she should be over twenty years old by now.

The Princess of Chenliu did not speak in the domineering tone that Su Ze had imagined, but spoke in a resentful and awkward tone:

"Greetings, Mr. Cui."

Cui Guang was a veteran minister who had served three dynasties. When Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, he was an official in the imperial palace, and he was always by Emperor Xiaowen's side making plans day and night.

During the reign of Emperor Xuanwu, he served as the Minister of the Central Secretariat and was also a close minister who followed the emperor and drafted imperial edicts.

Cui Guang knew the Northern Wei royal family very well. He knew very well that although this Princess Chenliu looked delicate and weak, she was actually no different from the other domineering princesses and had a very bad personality.

Cui Guang would not be fooled by Princess Chenliu's appearance. He bowed respectfully and asked:

"Why is the princess in Yongning Temple?" Princess Chenliu said tearfully, "I think Cui Guang must know that my elder sister Princess Lanling and her husband have been at odds recently, and I came to the temple to pray for my sister."

Cui Guang held his forehead and asked again: "When the golden bottle in the pagoda fell to the ground, didn't the princess hear any noise? Why didn't she return home at that time?"

Princess Chenliu said quickly, "I was concentrating on worshipping Buddha when I suddenly heard the sound of the sky collapsing and the earth splitting. I also heard that the golden bottle in the pagoda fell. I was terrified."

"I only brought my maid with me this time. Luzhu was afraid that something might happen during the chaos, so she advised me to stay in the monk's house."

After listening to Princess Chenliu's statement, Cui Guang intervened and said, "I will report everything the princess has said to the empress dowager. Before the empress dowager issues an imperial decree, please stay in the monk's room for a while. If you need anything, you can talk to me."

Princess Chenliu seemed very sensible. She still looked weak and said:

"Lord Cui, there is a turmoil in Luoyang now. I am not safe living in the monk's room. Can you send some soldiers to guard the monk's room?"

Cui Guang turned around and pointed out the twenty Yulin soldiers, including Su Ze, and then said, "These are the Yulin guards guarding the palace gate. Let them protect the princess."

After saying this, Cui Guang didn't want to waste any more words with the Princess of Chenliu, so he just greeted her and left.

The Yulin guards who were pointed out by Cui Guang and stayed near the monks' rooms all showed joy on their faces, but Su Ze secretly thought it was troublesome.

Princess Chenliu's reason was too far-fetched. Her sister Princess Lanling was not on good terms with her. How could a younger sister like you come to the temple to pray? What kind of thing was that?
After Empress Dowager Hu was assassinated, Princess Chenliu did not reveal her identity when she left Yongning Temple. Instead, she waited until Empress Dowager Hu returned to the palace and important officials such as Cui Guang came to investigate the case before she revealed her identity, which also revealed suspicious points everywhere.

It is obvious that Cui Guang left behind the Yulin Guards not only to protect Princess Chenliu's safety, but also to monitor her.

What sin had he committed to deserve being caught up in the storm of assassinating the empress dowager while on duty at the palace wall?

After Cui Guang left, Princess Chenliu naturally returned to the monk's room, and the maid who had just caused trouble at the gate of Yongning Temple stood up and said:
"I am Luzhu, the princess' personal maid. Who is the team leader?"

Everyone looked at each other. We were all strong men sent by our superiors and were all soldiers.

Luzhu rolled her eyes and said, "Everyone, please send a captain out."

Everyone looked at Su Ze.

Since Su Ze had been generous and charitable in the past and often helped the Han soldiers, all the soldiers sent this time were Han people.

Su Ze could only stand up. Lu Zhu smiled and said, "May I ask the name of this hero?"

Su Ze clasped his fists and said, "I am Su Ze from the Imperial Guards, nice to meet Madam Lu Zhu."

Seeing Su Ze's handsome face and polite words, Luzhu felt more favorable to him. She immediately said:

"Captain Su is asking you to arrange a shift. You only need to ensure the safety of the monastery where the princess is staying. The surrounding monasteries can be used as a resting place for all the heroes."

Everyone felt that it was a good job. Su Ze saw that the maid spoke reasonably and did things properly, and he also felt that this job was more comfortable than following Cui Guang to seal off Yongning Temple.

Su Ze arranged for half of the soldiers to rest in a nearby monk's house and drew up a duty roster for rotating shifts. Seeing that his arrangements were well made and the soldiers obeyed Su Ze's arrangements, Lu Zhu's face was filled with smiles.

Next, Fang Zheng from Jianyangli brought the clothes prepared by his younger sister Su Yuyao. Su Ze asked Fan Fang Zheng to give a message to his younger sister, reminding her not to go out during this period.

After a busy day, Su Ze was finally able to lie down in the monastery. He casually turned on the system.

(End of this chapter)