Half-face Make-up Volume 1 Chapter 13

Princess Yongkang and my family had frequent contact because my grandmother and the queen had become good friends. Speaking of the princess, she was the third daughter of the queen. She believed in Buddhism from an early age. Now, though she was in her thirties, she hadn’t married. After several struggles, even her father had no choice. With the permission of her father, a new mansion was built outside the palace. My mother and I were invited to the Palace of the Princess.

The atmosphere at the banquet suffocated me. Seeing that my mother was talking with several princesses and wives, I quietly ran into the garden.

The moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was very bright. In Shaoshiming of Chuci, it is said that "we should help the north to drink sweet-scented osmanthus juice." I had just eaten the sweet-scented osmanthus, and there was a sweet and oily fragrance between my lips and teeth. Suddenly I came to the open space, where there was a sense of openness. Bright moonlight streamed down, and the air drifted with a faint fragrance of flowers. I stood at the edge of the lotus pond, and the water and the moon mutually reflected people's soul.

"The breeze shakes the purple leaves and the dew brushes the red house. The middle of the pond is so green; let me turn red." In my mind, Shen Yue’s Singing Hibiscus appeared. It was exquisite, vivid, and natural. Unfortunately, such talented people had passed away and I had no chance to meet each him.

The full moon sprinkled huge white strips into the water. The breeze wrinkled a pool of green water, and the crushed moon reluctantly repaired the dress, which was pulled apart again. The shadows of lotus leaves moved like dancers in swaying postures, pushing against the wind.

I was so excited that I looked around and found nobody. Pulling aside my sleeves, I stretched out my arm like a lotus root, and gently picked a lotus leaf from the surface of the water and stood on a big stone beside the pond. I held the leaf high, and shouted, "Chang'e Fairy, please bless me by satisfying my wish and granting me a happy life!" I was just about to speak my wishes when I heard a flop. Something seemed to be missing. . . I looked back around. Nobody was here; I was mistaken. I went on to say, "Chang'e fairy, I am not greedy for any wealth and glory; I just want to find a lover who can spend a lifetime with me. . . "

A fairy danced in the river; a young girl flew in the water. My heart flew to the moon with my wish. The light of the moon shined on my charming face, which was shining and magnificent in the sky.

The bright moon gleamed brilliantly.

A night scene of the Mid-Autumn Festival was here, but now, I was secretly sad!

"Hha hha. . . " Princess Yongkang laughed and trembled, and my thoughts were pulled back to reality.

"Is there really something wrong?" I suddenly thought of something.

"My sister-in-law, don’t you even know yet? Didn't Qifu tell you? It's hard for him to be dazed every day by the beautiful picture of ‘Blue Lotus Mapping the Green Pond Under the Moon’. . . Hha hha. . . "

The picture of beauty? I didn’t know it at all.

"You didn't know that? That Qifu. . . " The princess shook her head. "In fact, the banquet was to choose a princess for Qifu. Who knew he had chosen one!"

"It was said that both the Precious Junior Concubine Ding and the Virtuous Concubine Ruan were interested in Miss Yuan. Some people say that she is lighter than Zhao Feiyan, who can fly in the palm. She is as graceful as Princess Pan, who can walk with lotus flowers. Hmm, in my opinion, she is as thin as wood, and her appearance is ordinary. I don’t think so."

The princess continued, "What's surprising is that someone saw Chang'e go down to the ground and fall into evil barriers that night." With that, the princess couldn't help laughing. "If I hadn't happened to see this picture of beauty by accident, I would not have known this dull boy’s thoughts!"

It suddenly dawned on me. No wonder I heard a voice behind me that day. Someone really saw my wandering look. My face turned red like a sunset about to fall.

After listening to the princess's words, I realized that the princess had asked Xiao Yi to paint several paintings to decorate the mansion that day. Xiao Yi personally sent them to her sister for selection. It happened to be in the garden, and he was looking at my ridiculous appearance. The voice came from Xiao Yi's scroll that accidentally fell to the ground.

I imagined Xiao Yi's stunned look, and I couldn't help laughing shyly.

"Then when I saw the painting, I said, ‘Well, you hide all the fine works and sent all the inferior ones to your sister.’ I was deliberately unhappy and finally discovered the boy's thinking. It turned out that you are the Chang'e he saw. . . " Princess Yongkang couldn't help but laugh again.

Fate was destined. It was very painful for two people to have fate but no feelings, or two people to have feelings but no fate. Now that we had come to this point, it really was an endless fate. What's more, it seemed that I was destined to be the Princess of the Highness of Xiangdong whenever the two were in touch with each other.

"So I would like to thank my sister, Yucheng." I immediately bowed down respectfully to the princess. I guessed Xiao Yi must have asked the princess for help later. As a result, the decree finally came to my home.

Princess Yongkang helped me up and said, "Zhaopei, how can a family say two things? What's more, I just did a little favor."

"Sister, you need to consider your whole life," I said with concern.

"Hha hha. . . " Princess Yongkang burst out laughing again. "How can the muddy things in the world be put before my eyes? Everything has its destiny. If there is no destiny, it's better to lay down your heart, avoid this secular disturbance, and accompany the bright moon and the clear wind. Don't be persistent. Only when you set your heart firmly and let the secular things go, can you break away the dark clouds and see the sunrise!”

"Amitabha Buddha, the sea of bitterness is endless, turn back to the shore," the until-then silent Jingyuan Shitai finally read Buddha's word.

Chapter end