Good Man Operation Guide

Chapter 130.2- Rebirth of the Black Lotus (7)

The Prince loves beauty, but Mu Qingling uses that method to keep the Princess Consort position.

No wonder, when I provoked her several times, Mu Qingling didn't get as angry as she used to.

How could she get angry when she had something to rely on?

With those thoughts in mind, Mu Qingrong had an idea.

In her previous life, she had encountered Lin Shiheng again after His Majesty’s death, a year away from now. Perhaps Mu Qingling’s demonic spell had failed to work at that time.

No wonder everything was different in this life. Did I appear too early?

She could wait quietly for another year, and by then, once she reappeared in front of Prince Linjiang, everything would be back in place.

Mu Qingrong had planned well but hadn’t thought at all about whether the Marquis would be willing to let her have time to wait in her current situation.

When she was called to her mother’s courtyard, Mu Qingrong thought it was like the old days when her mother had gotten some nice jewellery to give her. When she went there, she heard news that was nothing less than terrible for her.

“What? Make me marry to someone in Shan Nan?”

Mu Qingrong slapped the table and stood up almost immediately, “I won’t marry!”

The Second Madam sighed, “Qingrong, you really have no choice this time. You didn’t pass the draft, and now you look like this. The respectable families in the capital wouldn’t even consider you.”

“Listen well, your parents have arranged for you to marry the second son of the governor of Shan Nan. Although he’s a bit old and not very capable and he’s also married, he has no children. If you marry him and give birth to a male heir as soon as possible, you’ll have something to fall back on in the future.”

Mu Qingrong couldn’t believe her ears.

Old, incapable, and married.

How could I be asked to marry a man like that?

She was angry and aggrieved, “I won’t marry! Why should I marry such a man!?”

The Second Madam frowned. She felt that her daughter’s tantrums had grown since Mu Qingling’s marriage and she wasn’t as well-behaved as before.

She simply picked up the bronze mirror and handed it to Mu Qingrong so that she could look at herself.

“Look at you now, what’s the use of having a good-looking face when you’ve lost a tooth? It’s also a front tooth that shows when you talk!”

“Mother is certain that if you go out like this, in this entire capital, any family with a bit of nobility would reject you. If you delay any longer, you’ll be too old to even get married.”

“All right, this is the end of the matter. With your appearance now, your father thinks you are a disgrace. We’ve already exchanged your birth dates with their family. The groom is also coming to the capital to visit his family, so you should marry him in early September.”

The Second Madam left the room after she finished speaking. She too was heartbroken for her daughter, but compared to her son, the daughter was less favored.

Instead of a marriage in the capital and letting people snicker at her brother because of her tooth, it would be better to marry her off somewhere far away. Anyway, it was only a matter of paying a bit more dowry.

In the room, only Mu Qingrong, whose expression looked livid, was left.

— Crash!!!

She swiped the teacup off the table, crashing to the floor. She was fuming with rage.

/ was a favored concubine, and later Empress, and someone who had lived a generation over. How could I marry such a person?

Impossible!!

I have to think of a way!!

Lin Chuanwang had recently been distressed because of his Third Imperial Brother’s recent obsession with hunting, dragging him to practice riding and shooting every day.

He wasn't fond of riding and shooting, but as a pitiful little boy whose mother died early and was raised by the Empress Dowager for a few years, barely surviving because he was young and not involved in the court struggles, even though the Empress Dowager was fond of him as her adopted son, Lin Chuanwang had the good sense to accept himself as the little tail of the Empress Dowager’s own son, Lin Shiheng, the Prince of Linjiang.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

So even though he didn’t like riding and shooting, Lin Chuanwang started practising rigorously. While practicing, he was hoping that his Third Imperial Brother would change his hobby soon.

After a hard day’s work, his way of relaxing was to go inside the Pleasure Pavilion and have a good time.

(TNote: Pleasure Pavilion = a brothel with a separate stage for other entertainments like singing, dancing etc.)

Of course, being young, he was obviously not there to enjoy the women but to watch the singing and dancing there. But most of the men who came to the Pleasure Pavilion were just looking for women to enjoy.

On this day, Lin Chuanwang walked to his regular private room with a tired body and saw a woman standing there dressed in men’s clothes.

When the Emperor received the news and hurried to the palace, he arrived just in time to meet Master Yuan Tong, who was also entering.

When he saw Mu Qingrong, his expression was no longer pleasant. His face was full of ‘why is it you again’.

Evidently, both mother and son were quite cautious and hadn’t forgotten Mu Qingrong.

Master Yuan Tong has always had considerable prestige. The key was that he had lived a long life, and at 120 years old this year, he was simply considered a great man in ancient times.

The Emperor was also very courteous to him, “Master, I'll have to trouble you, to help me look at my third younger brother today.”

Master Yuan Tong chanted Buddhist chant with his palms together and turned to look at Lin Shiheng carefully for a long time.

“Does the Prince find a woman very beautiful at first sight, and then suddenly find her ugly when you meet her a second time?”

At his words, both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor looked serious.

They hadn’t told Master Yuan Tong about Lin Shiheng’s symptoms.

A look of triumph appeared in Mu Qingrong’s eyes, who was standing at the side.

Sure enough, having lived a second life, he naturally figured it out.

When Lin Shiheng nodded in confirmation, Empress Dowager immediately asked in a nervous tone, “Master, has my son really been put under some kind of spell? Is there any harm to his body?”

“No harm done.”

Master Yuan Tong recited the Buddhist prayer again, “His Highness is simply blessed by Buddha. His Third Eye has opened, and there’s no harm to his body.”

(TNote: Eye of Wisdom/ Third Eye = In Buddhism, the third eye, or the Eye of Wisdom' refers to the gate that leads to the inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. In spirituality, the third eye often symbolizes a state of enlightenment.)

“No matter how beautiful a face is, after hundreds of years, it will only become withered bones. As for the Prince’s eyes; the first time he sees a person, he sees them with mortal eyes, but the second time, he sees them with the Third Eye.”

“What he sees for the second time is not the woman’s appearance but the woman’s character. If a woman is beautiful, but her character is not, then what was mentioned before would happen.”

The Empress Dowager suddenly understood and felt reassured. However, she also felt that the matter was too fanciful.

The Emperor, who was a little more perceptive, directly asked, “Then why is it happening when Shiheng is only looking at women?”

“Amitabha.”

Master Yuan Tong joined his palms and chanted the Buddhist prayer before smiling, “After the Third Eye is opened, it is up to the Prince to decide which aspect he wishes to see.”

The Emperor recalled the ‘glorious’ history of his own brother, who had been flirting with beautiful palace maids since he was 12 years old and had been hanging around the brothels every day since he left the palace, unable to stop at the sight of beauty.

He gave an awkward dry cough and began to salvage his brother’s dignity, “I have long said that Shiheng’s character is pure and upright. Naturally, no kind of evil would pollute him.”

The Empress Dowager also nodded along, “The Emperor is right. Shiheng also has a good command of literature and arms and has always had both virtue and talent, so it’s normal for him to have a connection with Buddha.”

Master Yuan Tong looked at the Emperor and Empress Dowager, who were trying to push all the good qualities towards their brother/son. He wanted to say that opening one’s Eye of Wisdom had little to do with one’s character, but swallowed the words when he thought of the long-deceased Master Shun Feng’s push for‘closed-mouth meditation’.

(TNote: Closed-mouth meditation = In Buddhism, that meant forbidding oneself to speak out. It is to prevent from tying one’s self to the circle of karma when words can also disturb the karmic cycle.)

On the other hand, Prince Linjiang, Lin Shiheng, who had been judged to have opened his Third Eye, was also very happy. He didn’t hesitate to take the words of his Empress Mother and Emperor Brother and proudly patted his chest.

“So that’s how it is, I wondered why every time I came to visit Empress Mother, all I saw was a stunning woman, like a fairy descending to earth. I thought I was suffering from some strange disease!”

This was a barefaced statement about the Empress Dowager’s good character.

The Empress Dowager was so delighted by his words that she couldn’t stop smiling, “You child, where is this fairy? You’re used to making your mother happy.”

On the side, Master Yuan Tong silently thought about the fact that the Third Eye can only see people under the age of forty. He folded his palms and lowered his eyes, and silently chanted in his mind...

Close mouth meditation, close mouth meditation.

Lin Shiheng smiled playfully, “Even without the Third Eye, in this son’s heart, Empress Mother is as beautiful as a fairy.”

“How could it be anything like Third Young Lady Mu? One look at her, and this son is too disgusted to have the next meal.”

For a moment, all eyes fell on Mu Qingrong, who had stood dumbfounded since she heard about the Third Eye.

It was all with the implication that everyone knew her depth, looking carefully at her stunned face.

Tsk tsk, this girl, her character is concerning.