In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's eve. Chu Yue had managed to get more than three hundred taels of silver and kept it as her savings.
"Aren't you going back to celebrate New Year's?" she asked the rich good-for-nothing boy.
"I left my house in a fit of anger. Why should I go back?" the young man who had carved the Kun-peng said. Then, he asked Chu Yue, "What about you? Aren't you going back to your husband's house?"
Even if she were a widow, once she was married into her husband's family, she was part of their household regardless of whether she was alive or dead.
"I was chased out. How could I go back?" Chu Yue waved her hand.
"Is that so? Should we continue?" asked the young man who had carved the Kun-peng.
"Yes." Chu Yue nodded.
Money was coming to her quickly, so how could she not continue gambling? She could not bear the thought of living a life of strained finances. She would only accept a life where she lived comfortably.
However, ever since they "picked" up money Chu Yue did not continue making Hupo "pick" up money. She decided to first gather up some for herself. Then, once she had enough money, she would "pick" them all off the ground.
Hence, during her remaining time in the town and the New Year, Chu Yue went gambling with the young man who had carved the Kun-peng.
Since it was just too fun, they switched between a few gambling houses, and they managed to get around one hundred taels of silver every night. Chu Yue enjoyed it so much that she forgot about going home.
She completely forgot about the monk who had been in her heart all this while.
The dinner on New Year's eve in the palace was naturally incredibly lively.
Even though the new emperor had not sent a large number of women to fill up his harem, he still had a lot of people in his harem. Among them were the ones who entered the palace from his previous abode and the ones the empress promoted.
However, their emperor was conducting spiritual training for the foundation of the Great Feng Dynasty, so they could not get close to him, even though he was right before them.
In truth, there were some who braced themselves and tried to create chances to run into the emperor through sheer "coincidence". But the emperor just scowled and did not say anything to them. The ones who tried to run into him by chance were sent away, which made the concubines and consorts in the harem laugh nonstop.
The Wise Emperor did not care about such things. He was thinking about the widow in Shangqing Temple. She had been angry at him when he left for the palace, so with her personality, she was most likely going to cause a ruckus.
The Wise Emperor felt a little resigned, but he asked for high-grade birds' nests, fabrics, and other accessories to be prepared.
He summoned Eunuch Feng and said, "Send these to Yue'er and tell her that I will go back in a few days."
"Understood." There was no need for Eunuch Feng to mention just what he was feeling.
The widow did not have the ability nor the virtue to be treated so kindly by his master. It seemed like he had to give her a few reminders so that she would have better judgment.
She was just a widow, but she obtained his master's grace, and that was a glorious favor that others would not be able to gain even after conducting spiritual training and gathering good karma for ten years. Even after returning to the palace, the master kept her in his heart, which was already good enough. What else did she want?
Eunuch Feng went to the temple, and it was only then that he learned that the widow had already left with her maid.
Eunuch Feng was stunned.
Even when he was still in the abode of his master, who was still a prince at the time, he had never seen a woman who was so reckless and acted so arrogantly just because she had the master's favor. She was… practically asking for her death!
Even if Eunuch Feng wanted to curry favor with the widow, he could not. He had to go back and report what had happened honestly.
Eunuch Feng could practically imagine how sour his master would look after learning the news.
Just as he expected, the Wise Emperor had wanted to hear some good words about the widow, so when he heard what Eunuch Feng said, his mood visibly went down.
Eunuch Feng was terrified. He did not want to speak on behalf of the widow at first, but since he did not want to be dragged into trouble, he had to speak.
"Don't be angry, Master," he said in a quivering voice. "The widow does not know your identity, which is why she's angry at you. You only told her that you went out, so she is definitely thinking that you're deliberately avoiding her and don't want her anymore. That's why she's sad and went out to drive away her grief. It's completely understandable."
"She's a woman, and she has no one beside her. The weather is cold and harsh, so where could she possibly go?" The Wise Emperor was still angry, but he suppressed his emotions.
The widow had no sense of propriety. Didn't she know that it was dangerous outside? Why did she bring her maid to wander around?
Eunuch Feng was very attentive. Before he came back, he had already thought about how he should answer the questions, so he answered softly without hesitation.
"I believe that she is not too far away. Now that I think of the timing, it seems like the widow left on the day Xiang City organized their ice sculpture festival. It's the liveliest day in that city, so the widow might have gone there."
"Send someone to find her whereabouts and protect her. If anything happens to her, I will hold you responsible!" the Wise Emperor said while staring at him.
'Master, you're really spoiling the widow.'
But Eunuch Fang did not dare to be negligent. He immediately found an artist to draw the widow and her maid's portraits. Then, he had people search for her. They were to immediately send news back once they found them.
Since the widow was disobedient, the Wise Emperor could not even read his scriptures. He stayed in his room for a while before he went to his father.
"Heng'er, come and try this pottage." The old former emperor was happy when he saw the emperor. He raised his hand and beckoned him over.
After the New Year's, the former emperor would be at the old age of seventy-one.
A man seldom lived to be seventy years old. It had to be said that it was extremely rare for a former emperor to live to such an old age.
He only managed to sire his ninth prince when he was at forty-seven, which meant that he had been nearly fifty when he obtained his ninth child. Since his mother was unfortunate, once she gave birth to him, she left the world, and hence, the Wise Emperor was brought up by the former emperor.
The former emperor lived past some of his promising children, while the ones who were just slightly older than the Wise Emperor were useless. The throne was then handed to his youngest son, who had happened to have grown up in the Coiled Dragon Hall. No one else was more suited to the throne than this youngest son.
The Wise Emperor Qin Heng went over to drink pottage with his father.
"Heng'er, when you go back this time, do you want to bring some palace girls with you?" the former emperor asked.
Qin Heng was stunned before a resigned look made its way to his face. "Father, I'm currently conducting spiritual practice."
"I know, but this is too hard for you. I don't know how that old imperial astrologer who went into isolated training managed to read things. I can't understand how you can have the Great Feng Dynasty avoid disasters by practicing Buddhism for three years," the former emperor said. "You just need to be sincere, but you don't have to make things hard for yourself. Just take two of them."
"I understand your kind will, father, but I don't have such intentions. I hope that I can go over soon to copy scriptures," Qin Heng said.
When the former emperor heard this, he asked, "Are you going back so soon?"
"I have been an unfilial son." Qin Heng sighed and knelt down before his father.
"You're already the ruler of the country, so why are you kneeling? Since you want to go back, go. But you can only go back after the seventh day of the first month," the former emperor said.
He loved this son of his the most. He brought him up by himself and watched him grow from a baby to a man who acted like him in the past, so there was no way he would not be proud.
But he was now old, and his body was not very healthy. He was gradually reaching the end of his life.
"Alright." Qin Heng agreed to it.
Then, in just a few days, he received news. The widow had indeed gone to Xiang City, and she was very close to Duke Heng's youngest son. The two of them talked about everything!