Chu Yunge had just regained consciousness when she heard someone chanting sutras.
She endured the headache and doubtfully opened her eyes. What entered her vision was a monk in ordinary gray monk robes, yet he was born exceedingly handsome, with skin whiter than snow, an otherworldly appearance, a dot of deep red cinnabar between his brows, and a string of black buddha beads in his hand, like a clear and cold white jade Buddha.
Yet this man, full of sanctity, had cold sweat beading on his forehead, his face showing restraint. His gray monk robes had been tugged into disarray, revealing glimpses of white jade-like skin, as if a tear had been ripped in his Buddhist nature.
Chu Yunge’s hand rested on the monk’s hand.
Had she been locked up too long and was now having a fanciful dream?
But this sensation felt very real.
“Your Highness.”
The person beneath her hand trembled slightly, his voice somewhat hoarse.
Chu Yunge’s ear itched a little, and so did her heart. A princess and a monk?
It carried a flavor full of taboo.
“Your Highness, Qingchen is fated to become a Buddha. Breaking precepts brings inauspicious omens. Please spare Qingchen.”
The monk opened his eyes, his gaze carrying a detachment from worldly affairs, yet it seemed to hide endless stories, profound and far-reaching.
At this moment, however, those clear and detached eyes were tinged with allure, waves surging darkly beneath.
Chu Yunge looked at him, and four words flashed through her mind—a beauty to topple kingdoms.
Wait, Qingchen? Princess?
Following the name Qingchen, memories that did not belong to her surged in her mind. Chu Yunge confirmed she was not dreaming; she had transmigrated. The original host was also named Chu Yunge, the Yongning Princess of Chu State, the twin sister of the current emperor.
The emperor had been frail since childhood and suffered from a strange illness. He feared sunlight; exposure to it caused him pain and burning heat, with blisters and ulcers erupting on his skin, accompanied by blood deficiency. Only drinking her blood could alleviate it—no one else’s would do, only hers.
The siblings looked identical, and since the emperor could not endure light, she substituted for him in occasions requiring prolonged exposure.
The princess supplied blood to the emperor every month, inevitably developing symptoms of blood deficiency herself—daily headaches and palpitations. An imbalance grew in her heart, driving her increasingly mad.
The emperor had a harem of three palaces and six institutes, yet she forcibly seized common men, keeping numerous face-consorts.
The Qingchen kneeling on the ground was the eminent monk she had snatched from True Serenity Temple today.
Having confirmed this, Chu Yunge’s head hurt even more.
“Does Your Highness’s headache worsen?”
Seeing her frown, Qingchen asked, his voice as mild and gentle as a spring breeze. He wanted to reach out and help her up but hesitated.
He gripped the black buddha beads tightly and abruptly closed his eyes, the cinnabar mark between his brows gleaming even more strikingly red.
Chu Yunge looked down and saw that the princess’s attire was truly scant. Beneath the sheer gauze garment, a pair of long legs faintly appeared, all the more tantalizing.
For Qingchen, who had been drugged with an aphrodisiac, this was an immense provocation.
Chu Yunge calmly adjusted her clothes but could not help pressing her temples.
Qingchen’s sutra chanting timely resumed.
Listening to Qingchen chant sutras, and sensing the faint lotus fragrance at the tip of her nose, her headache instantly eased considerably.
Chu Yunge sorted out her thoughts. The princess had snatched Qingchen back precisely because his sutra chanting alleviated her headaches and palpitations. He even came with his own lotus fragrance, was strikingly beautiful, and exceptionally unique.
But before this, he had been a noble family’s son. If not for his three successive fiancées dying one after another, filling him with guilt while his health deteriorated to the brink of death, he would not have entered the Buddhist gate.
A promising young master from a prestigious family had been forced to shave his head and enter the monastic life at fifteen, yet he accepted it gracefully and was the gentlest of men. When she had threatened that he must follow her or she would kill the temple’s people, he had come along.
But he had also gently refused the princess’s advances for intimacy.
In the end, the princess resorted to the transmigrator’s essential trio of treasures—aphrodisiac.
Qingchen had taken the drug himself because the princess said that if he did not drink it, she would kill the palace maid who offered it.
The princess sat waiting for this eminent monk renowned throughout Heavenly Prosperity City to lose control and pounce on her begging.
Yet though Qingchen’s body burned hot, he steadfastly held firm, eyes closed, unmoved.
The princess refused to believe it and ordered him to open his eyes and look at her. She even got handsy herself, wrinkling his monk robes all over, but… Qingchen remained unmoved.
As if she were a block of wood—how could the princess accept that?
In raging fury, the princess prepared to force herself upon him, and then she transmigrated.
Reviewing the princess’s memories, Chu Yunge’s little face turned red. The princess truly did not hold back; Qingchen’s abs and pecs were indeed enticing—she had felt them earlier too. Plus, with him being a monk, the taboo sense was maxed out.
Chu Yunge looked at Qingchen again, just as a bead of sweat slid from his sharply defined jaw, bit by bit, toward his perfectly placed Adam’s apple.
Qingchen’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his sutra chanting abruptly stopped.
Chu Yunge’s gaze lifted and met Qingchen’s eyes, like a volcano dormant for years on the verge of eruption.
Qingchen’s entire body was aflame, as if to burn him to ashes, and she was so close to him—within reach, free for him to do as he pleased.
Time seemed to freeze. The air filled with a subtle, strange atmosphere. Qingchen’s hot, heavy breaths were like scattered flames falling on Chu Yunge’s exposed skin. She heard her own heartbeat.
The entire space brimmed with a unique tension until a voice suddenly sounded from outside the door.
“Your Highness, I am coming in.”
The door opened, and a man in an ink-green brocade robe slowly entered the room.
His appearance was also exceptionally outstanding—ink-black hair casually pinned with a simple jade hairpin, long brows sweeping into his temples, eyes pitch-black like ink with a piercing depth that saw through people, pale thin lips carrying an aloof chill that kept others at bay.
Upon seeing the scene inside, his pupils contracted, his steps faltered, nearly turning to leave on the spot, but he forcibly held back, lowering his gaze in salute.
“Your Highness, Master Kongshi said that Master Qingchen is fated to become a Buddha. If he does not become a Buddha, he will turn into a demon. Breaking precepts brings inauspicious omens.”
“His three previous fiancées all met with misfortune. Taking him in may bring harm to Your Highness as well.”
Xie Wangze, the prince consort whom Chu Yunge had married three months prior.
He had been outside the door just now, fulfilling his duty as prince consort to persuade the princess to cherish her body and coming to dissuade her. Yet his persuasion only excited the princess more.
Hearing Xie Wangze’s voice, Qingchen opened his eyes and spoke:
“Your Highness, please do not blame Prince Consort Xie. He speaks not only for this monk but also out of consideration for Your Highness.”
Hearing the words “prince consort” and looking at Xie Wangze’s clothes, Chu Yunge fell silent. The color was quite fitting for the occasion.
Xie Wangze, courtesy name Gui, with “Wangze” meaning unwilling to keep you. This was because he was the eldest prince of Chen State. Back then, Chen State faced destruction and sought alliance with Chu State against the enemy nation, so he had to stay as a hostage.
His courtesy name was also Chen State’s emperor’s hope for his early return.
Life as a hostage was never easy. Xie Wangze had plotted for a long time, preparing to return to his country and reclaim what belonged to him.
But then the princess beat the old tutor to death with random fists and directly stated that marriage would benefit the continued alliance between the two nations, forcing him to stay in Chu State.
Chen State dared not break ties outright, so it became like an ordinary marriage by entry.
That was not all. After having him, the princess still seized common men, trampling his face underfoot.
Chu Yunge was speechless for a moment. She stood up, and Xie Wangze reached out to support her. “Your Highness, careful.”
After helping her up, Xie Wangze quickly averted his gaze.
Chu Yunge took a step back but did not miss how he discreetly wiped his hand, disgust plain in his eyes.
Xie Wangze had finally been about to end his humiliating hostage life, only for it to be ruined, so after marriage, he refused to touch the princess.
Treating her like the plague.
He was a hostage himself and did not want his child to become one too, so he would rather die than touch her.
The princess’s mind also held some risqué memories of Xie Wangze—nearly forced by the princess as well, but since his actual death would cause trouble, she had not succeeded in the end.
Chu Yunge: “…” Her prince consort had essentially defended his chastity with his life.
The situation was somewhat complicated but still within manageable bounds.
“Your Highness, are you feeling better?” Hearing Qingchen’s question, Chu Yunge looked at him with complex eyes. “Much better. Master Qingchen is magnanimous.”
Qingchen truly embodied compassion. Seeing her in pain at this moment, even as the drug’s effects scorched his body in agony, he still chanted sutras to ease her suffering.
But Qingchen did not know that the princess despised kindness. She wanted him to break his cultivation and precepts, longed for him to beg her, to drag him into the mire of desire and sink together.
Even Xie Wangze coming to dissuade her was merely walking into her trap, only exciting her more.
Was not Qingchen kind? Then first threaten Qingchen with Xie Wangze’s life to make him break precepts. Then use Qingchen’s life to threaten Xie Wangze into serving her well.
Once Qingchen sacrificed himself for Xie Wangze, how could Xie Wangze betray that grace?
Thus, she could have both men in one night.
Chu Yunge, whose little face turned red again, inwardly gave a thumbs up: Sister, you play big.
Looking at the aloof prince consort on one side who inspired conquest, then at the peerlessly beautiful Qingchen full of taboo allure…
Chu Yunge understood Yongning Princess, becoming Yongning Princess…
But the problem was, she had not only transmigrated; she had transmigrated into a pure love novel centered on the emperor, Xie Wangze, Qingchen, and others as the main character. Her imperial brother was the protagonist, and Xie Wangze, Qingchen, and the rest were his love interests.
She was merely a villainess side character in a pure love novel.