TMBM Chapter 126: Living Together
June 25, 2023mich
The room was neat and clean, with no incense burning. His table was full of sutra scrolls, and Tumoroga was continuing to write with his head down. His fingers were long and slender, and, although thin, they gave off the feeling of being powerful.
Yaoying kneeled on the seat opposite him, subconsciously straightening her spine, sitting in a regular posture. She got right to the point and said: “The prince of the Northern Rong’s soul has not dispersed1, so I am very grateful for Venerable Master issuing an edict to defend me and let me live in the Buddhist temple. However, is this not detrimental to the Venerable Master’s reputation?”
Tumoroga’s aura was understated, and there was a sense of omniscient prestige. In front of him, she did not need to be formal, polite, and long-winding. She could say whatever she was thinking. What she wanted to say, after all, could not be hidden from the other party.
After Yaoying finished, her eyes widened and she stared unblinkingly at Tumoroga.
Tumoroga stopped writing and raised his head, his eyes were clear and gentle: “The princess need not take it personally. It is just more criticism. A year later, when the princess safely leaves, the criticism will dissipate.”
His tone was calm and light-hearted.
Yaoying suddenly felt unable to say the words of gratitude that she had thought about all night long last night.
Tumoroga was intelligent; he did not take her claims about being the next Mordenga Maiden seriously at all. He didn’t need her gratitude, nor did he need her to pay any price. He helped her just because she was a person in need of help among the masses. She had saved him, he could help her, and when he saw her in danger, he stepped in to help.
She met a good person.
Yaoying smiled. Her entire body completely relaxed, and the lingering gloom in her heart also seemed to be blown away.
Her eyes were slightly curved, her pupils crystal bright, and she softly said, “Many thanks.”
The fifteen-year-old young lady, girlish and youthful, temporarily relieved of her burdens, glowed with the radiance of the first bloom.
The meditation room seemed to brighten up a few points, brimming with spring colors.
Tumoroga put down his pen, picked up some sutras, and handed them to Yaoying.
Yaoying straightened up, took the sutras, and found that they were Chinese versions of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, the Śāriputrābhidharma, and other sutras.
She immediately had a headache.
Well, a monk does not lie. When Tumoroga issued the edict that she should come to the temple to practice Buddhism, he really wanted her to study Buddhism seriously. Not only did he arrange her morning and evening classes, he even prepared the sutras.
This person was so honest.
Yaoying held the heavy scriptures, thinking that in the future that she not only had to deal with the tedious affairs of setting up a merchant caravan fleet but also had to read these scriptures. Scalp tingling, she suddenly remembered another thing. She lifted her head, her eyes burning at Tumoroga.
“Venerable…” With an earnest look, she asked, “Do I have to shave too?”
There was a momentary flicker of bewilderment on Tumoroga’s face.
Embarrassment appeared on Yaoying’s face.
The Mordenga Maiden shaved her head to practice in order to marry Prince Ananda; should she also shave her head? Although compared with her life, hair was not worth mentioning, and she should not hesitate about this. However, she wouldn’t shave if she didn’t need to. Her hair was thick and dense after so many years of maintenance!
In the extreme midsummer heat, the sunshine was like gold. It passed brightly through the skylight into the meditation room, shining on Yaoying’s dark and rich hair, her skin like snow, onto the misty-colored dress and vermilion sleeves. She was delicate like a flowering branch in the spring, prospering and splendid.
Tumoroga lowered his eyes and said, “The princess has not yet converted to Buddhism. The princess can bring her hair to practice.”
Yaoying breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Tumoroga, her eyes full of admiration and trust, and smiled, “Many thanks, Venerable.”
The voice was clear and relaxed, much more natural than when she entered the room just now.
Without saying anything, Tumoroga glanced at Yuanjue who was standing outside the door.
Yuanjue understood and sent Yaoying back to the courtyard.
The young woman’s light green skirt swept across the carpet, adding some color, and her faint fragrance lingered in the air.
Tumoroga proceeded to write with his head lowered.
A short while later, footsteps sounded in the long corridor, and Ashina Bisha’s tall figure appeared outside the door.
“The king has just met with Princess Wenzhao?”
Tumoroga hummed and did not look up.
Bisha walked into the meditation room, saluted toward Tumoroga, and sat down cross-legged, “King, why do you want to help Princess Wenzhao so much? You are already making an exception by letting her live in the royal palace, and now you are letting her move into the Buddhist temple. There is a lot of discussion in the city. In all these years, she is the first woman to step into your meditation room.”
Tumoroga said indifferently, “The Northern Rong people live by water and grass, savage and uncivilized. Haidu Aling is vicious and tyrannical, unwilling to give up. Only by doing this will Princess Wenzhao be rid of Haidu Aling.”
Bisha looked at him, “King, there are all kinds of rumors among the people.”
Tumoroga didn’t even look up, “Fame is just an external thing. I am the monarch of the Royal Court. After a year, the gossip will fade away.”
Bisha was silent for a moment, “After a year, will the gossip really fade away?”
Tumoroga bowed his head and wrote, “Bisha, you think Princess Wenzhao admires me? Worried that she will renege and won’t leave?”
Bisha was stunned.
Tumoroga calmly said, “The princess is in exile outside her country, not by her own choice. After finding her family, she will leave.”
“What about the king?” Bisha pestered, “Is the king really helping the princess out of nothing but gratitude and sympathy? The princess is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
Tumoroga’s eyebrows lightly wrinkled, “All kinds of things exist in the world. Things in motion cannot be stopped, love is ephemeral, beauty is like a mirage.”
Bisha quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He got up, kneeled, and bowed down.
“This subject has overstepped my bounds.”
Roga was not moved. That was good.
He was worried that Roga was moved by Princess Wenzhao. Beauty was just fine, but Princess Wenzhao had more things about her that attracted others’ attention. Fortunately, Roga had a strong heart.
“Bisha.” Tumoroga stopped writing and looked at Bisha, “You say you admire Princess Wenzhao. Is that true or false?”
His eyes were gentle, and he did not have an interrogative meaning.
But Bisha was drenched in a cold sweat, too ashamed to lift his head: “King, this subject knows my sin.”
All the things he did were just to test Roga’s intentions, to divert Princess Wenzhao’s attention, and to prevent her from coming in contact with Roga.
Tumoroga shut the edict he was writing: “Do not let there be a next time. Whether I hold the five precepts religiously or not is no one else’s business.”
Bisha respectfully answered, took the edict, and his eyes suddenly widened.
It was a personal letter to Wakhan Khan, equivalent to a national letter, in which Roga declared the status of Princess Wenzhao and asked Wakhan Khan to punish Haidu Aling.
Not only did Roga warn his own people, but he also told all the countries and made it known to the world. In the future, dozens of kingdoms and cities in the Tianshan Mountains and Congling Ridge2 would know that Princess Wenzhao lived in the Buddhist temple and was sheltered by the king!
Bisha’s heart shook.
“This state letter, you will personally send to the Northern Rong’s camp,” Tumoroga said, in a normal tone.
Bisha’s hands trembled slightly twice. Clutching the imperial edict, he respectfully answered yes.
He returned to his residence to organize his things.
His personal soldier came over to report, “General, Princess Wenzhao has sent some herbs over.”
Bisha’s hands paused in midair, “What did the princess say?”
The personal soldier responded, “The princess said that the herbs were for the Regent. She asked you to pass them on her behalf. She also wanted to see you to discuss the Northern Rong Prince’s return to Northern Rong.”
Bisha hummed and asked his personal soldier to send the herbs to the shamen in the mansion.
The shamen told him that the herbs Yaoying sent were all rare and valuable herbs rarely seen in the Western Regions, including those for bruises, blood stasis, and internal organ damage, some of which could not be found in the entire Western Regions.
Bisha was lost in thought for a while before ordering his soldier to put the herbs into the warehouse.
The soldier responded and turned to go out.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed behind him. Bisha chased him out and grabbed him by the shoulder.
The soldier’s face was bewildered, and Bisha’s face was overcast, staring at the herbs in his hand for a long time before he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Send it to the Buddhist temple, give it to Yuanjue, and tell him that the medicine was brought back by the merchants. Remember, do not tell anyone else about this. If the princess asks, just say that I delivered the medicine for her.”
The soldier answered and left with the medicine.
Bisha remained rooted in place and sighed despondently.
He hoped everything was just his overthinking.
1: A idiom. Essentially, he has lingering thoughts about Yaoying.
2: Area of land between Xiniang, Tajikistan, Mongolia, and Kyrgyzstan. I believe it is known as Pamir high plateau surrounded by mountain ranges.