The Three-Life Stone

Concubine An was sitting in the carriage with her two children. After all the changes that had happened over the past few days, she had become much calmer than usual. She was ruthless in educating her children and had her own set of procedures for coaxing them.

The two children ate and slept in the carriage. After finally leaving the palace, they were dazzled by the strange things sold on the street.

Princess Lin Yue stared at the sugar paintings and candied haws without blinking, while Prince Lin Xuan was fascinated by the strange shapes of the clay figurines.

There were many people in the city, so the carriage was moving slowly. There were many small things along the way. The two children leaned on the window, peeked their eyes, blinked, and refused to sit still. Concubine An had no choice but to agree to buy them things. The two children sat down reluctantly and looked at Concubine An.

Concubine An asked her maid to buy two clay figurines, two kites, small lanterns, sugar-roasted chestnuts, mung bean cakes and other small things she could think of. She looked at the street through the curtain and couldn't help but want to go for a walk.

But since it was a matter of princes and princesses, she couldn't be careless. An Nan had to make three rules with the children: if the two children wanted to go, they could only hold her hand, otherwise she wouldn't allow them to go down, they couldn't talk to strangers, and they couldn't complain of being tired after walking a few steps.

Even holding hands, An Nan still felt uneasy. A maid and a eunuch followed the two children on each side, and another eunuch went to buy and carry what they wanted to buy.

An Nan looked at those Western-style copper lace tables and chairs, the small baskets, frames and plates woven with rattan, as well as the wooden spinning wheels, tables and chairs, small beds and small boats and thought they were very cute. She thought she could buy them to teach her children about these items, not because she wanted to play with them herself.

Lin Xuan stood still, looking at some small wooden toys, feeling very confused. An Nan stared at him, she didn't know how to use the Luban lock. Could it be that the little prince had taken a fancy to this toy? Wouldn't it be embarrassing if she didn't know how to use it?

"Xuanxuan, what's going on? There are puppets over there that can perform a puppet show. Should we go and have a look?"

"Auntie, this." Lin Xuan looked at the Lu Ban Lock and refused to leave.

When the old man saw that the child liked it, he looked at An Nan with a smile and said, "If the child likes it, buy one for him. It can help him to use his brain and hands, which is much better than those small toys."

An Nan blushed and felt guilty, wondering if the old man had seen the mini furniture she bought. After all, she really liked it, not the children. An Nan couldn't wait to have someone buy the Luban lock so that Lin Xuan could play with it in the carriage. Lin Xuan agreed and went straight back to the carriage and took the things he bought back.

An Nan had almost finished her shopping and was about to go back. She picked up Xiao Lin Yue, who followed her obediently, staring at one direction with eager eyes and drooling. As the carriage got closer and closer, Lin Yue knew that they were really going to leave, so he said, "Mother, I want that."

An Nan looked at the sugar painting and comforted Xiao Lin Yue, trying to divert Lin Yue's attention: "My dear, let's wait until we feel better before eating candy, okay? You haven't been feeling well recently, and eating candy will make you feel worse. We bought a lot of things today, including mung bean cakes. Let's eat mung bean cakes, okay? How about your mother peeling sugar-fried chestnuts for you?"

Lin Yue didn't buy it: "My child wants to eat it. Many children eat it. My child wants to eat it too."

After Lin Yue started to act coquettishly, he whispered in An Nan's ear: "I am not feeling unwell. It was my father who asked me to pretend to be unwell. He said that this way I could go see my mother."

An Nan looked at the ignorant child in front of her in shock. She had watched her grow up and understood that Lin Yue would naturally not lie just because he wanted to eat, but why did the emperor act out this scene with Lin Yue?

Wait, he fell ill, died suddenly, and died with his eyes open. The prince and princess fell ill, and the prince and princess left the palace.

Isn’t it a bit unbelievable?

An Nan whispered in Lin Yue's ear: "Mother bought you candy, did your father have anything else to say?"

Lin Yue chuckled as if he was sharing secret information: "Father said that as long as I leave the palace, I can stay with mother for a while."

A thread in An Nan's mind connected, and as if nothing had happened, he bought a smaller candy painting and said, "Yueyue baby, it's not that your mother is stingy, you are not in good health, so eat less candy, understand?"

"Mother, I understand." Xiao Lin Yue said and then he smiled brightly, his smile as bright as a sunflower.

An Nan and Lin Yue entered the carriage, which was already filled with gadgets. Lin Xuan was in a daze holding the Lu Ban Lock. An Nan became proud: "Xuan Xuan, auntie has said that this Lu Ban Lock is very difficult. It will be better to play with it when you are older. I am not trying to discourage you..."

Before An Nan could finish, Lin Xuan looked at An Nan innocently: "Auntie, it's not that Xuan Xuan doesn't know how to do it, but he just took it apart and put it back together again."

"You took it apart and put it back together again?" An Nan was incredulous. "So simple?"

Lin Xuan dismantled and reassembled it without comment and looked at An Nan: "Yes, Auntie, it's that simple."

If An Nan hadn't understood how he was pretending, she would have almost believed it. However, it's better for a child to know than not to know. If she doesn't know when asked, she'll be in trouble. Thinking of this, An Nan looked at Lin Xuan with admiration and said, "Xuan Xuan is awesome."

Lin Xuan chuckled.

Lin Yue pecked at the candy and kept saying, "Brother is awesome."

Lin Xuan's face became even happier.

An Nan did not ask Lin Xuan whether he knew the purpose of this trip. As long as everything was known once they arrived, it would be natural to avoid causing trouble on the road. The emperor had even kept it a secret from her, so the fewer people who knew about this, the better. Since Lin Xuan had a talent for Luban Lock, she did not hesitate to buy several different Luban Locks for Lin Xuan.

When they arrived at the nearest temple, the eunuchs and maids moved all the things to the arranged meditation room and went back. Only Empress Dong Xueyuan's personal maid, Prince Lin Xuan, Princess Lin Yue, the current Noble Concubine An An Nan, as well as Xiao Muzi, Xiao Shunzi's apprentice, another trusted eunuch of the Emperor, and An Nan's personal maid were left behind.

The emperor said that this was to pray for the queen and to experience a simple life, so everything should be kept low-key. So the group sent them to the temple and then went back.

After everything was ready, An Nan and his group bathed, burned incense, and worshipped Buddha. They spent the next three days eating vegetarian food, chanting sutras, copying scriptures, or fiddling with small objects. Lin Yue played house with An Nan, and Lin Xuan fiddled with the Lu Ban lock all day long. An Nan felt a little guilty at first, thinking that she was partial to Lin Xuan because he entrusted the lock to Imperial Concubine Duanmu Zhi. Later, she found that Lin Xuan didn't care about these things at all, just because he liked the Lu Ban lock.

Three days later, Xiaomuzi prepared a carriage in the backyard of the temple. Dongxue was still confused as to why Xiaomuzi didn't sleep at night and asked her to get up. When she saw the carriage, she was even more confused. In the carriage sat Concubine An, the little prince and the little princess.