The Slender Waist-Chapter 798 - 567: Old Friends of the Hermitage_2

"There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but I wasn’t sure if it’d be appropriate."

Pei Jue met her hesitant gaze, his dark eyes brightened. "Ask me."

Feng Yun said: "After you ascended the throne, was it inconvenient to have Li Sangruo still living in the palace?"

Pei Jue’s expression shifted slightly.

He had assumed Feng Yun would ask about the matter of choosing an Empress...

The entire court was in an uproar, yet the person at the center of it all remained indifferent.

"No." His voice was low and muffled.

Feng Yun raised her brows, chuckling softly, "If you think keeping a former, former, former Empress Dowager in the palace isn’t inconvenient, then I suppose I overstepped."

"What I meant was, she doesn’t live in the palace." Pei Jue clarified.

Feng Yun was surprised. "She’s not in the palace? Then where did she go?"

After pausing briefly, she furrowed her brows in wonder, a smile hovering on her lips. "Could it be you truly granted her the honorific of Princess Chang and opened a residence for her outside the palace?"

Pei Jue cast her a cold glance.

"She requested to take vows and become a nun."

"What?" Feng Yun was thoroughly taken aback. "When did this happen?"

"Today." Pei Jue lowered his eyes, as though trying to conceal his emotions, his face giving away nothing. "She’s gone to Huixin Hall, seeking clarity and awakening beneath the lamp of eternal wisdom and among ancient Buddhas."

Feng Yun narrowed her eyes slightly, studying his expression.

"Was this truly her own decision?"

Pei Jue pressed his lips together and, after a long moment, sighed softly.

"It’s the best place she could go."

The best place for her?

Pei Jue believed so, but Feng Yun did not. Li Sangruo, if that was how she planned to end her days, it almost seemed too easy.

With her temperament, achieving clarity and awakening was unlikely—days like years, that she would surely experience. Once surrounded by paramours, now completely alone; how could she possibly endure the solitude?

Feng Yun smiled faintly but said nothing. She leaned against Pei Jue’s chest, slowly closing her eyes, a trace of a smile hovering at her lips.

"Your Majesty’s grand affairs are concluded. Staying idle in Xijing is tiresome for me, so in a couple of days, I might as well return to Andu."

Pei Jue lowered his gaze to look at her. "Alright."

He agreed so readily that it made Feng Yun suspicious.

Of all things, she dared not comment, but Pei Jue had always disliked her leaving his side...

Especially now that he wasn’t who he was before—he was an emperor. When they were together, although he hadn’t fully developed the habits befitting a monarch, how could his feelings remain unchanged?

Feng Yun had many doubts, but she was too tired.

She didn’t have time to ask anything and simply slept, slumped against Pei Jue’s chest, letting him hold her waist as she drifted off.

-

Since May began, she had been inclined to oversleep. Feng Yun thought it was merely idle boredom—Pei Residence had few people, household affairs were straightforward, and with Pei Yao overseeing everything, there was nothing for her to worry about...

After staying a few more days, she couldn’t sit still. She ordered the servants to pack luggage and prepare for the trip back to Andu.

"Mistress, mistress..."

Xiaoman entered carrying a bunch of half-bloomed flowers from the garden, her face alight with delight, and announced:

"Mistress, did you hear about the big news?"

Feng Yun yawned and glanced at her.

"Go on, what gossip have you picked up this time?"

Xiaoman pouted playfully. "But this isn’t just gossip. The whole town is talking about how Empress Dowager Li asked to become a nun, shaving her head at Huixin Hall..."

Xiaoman’s excitement was obvious.

But Feng Yun, already knowing about it, remained calm and composed.

"She left to take vows, why are you so excited about it?"

Xiaoman muttered a quiet acknowledgment, dutifully reigning in her laughter, though she still sneaked glances at Feng Yun.

"Mistress, aren’t you curious to see Empress Dowager Li with her head shaved?"

Feng Yun lazily adjusted her robe and gave Xiaoman an amused look. "You want to see?"

Xiaoman nodded emphatically, vigorously even.

"Yes! As your servant, I do! Huanhuan and Peipei want to go as well! Huanhuan said Empress Dowager Li’s head is slightly pointed—she’d surely look utterly hideous without her hair!"

Feng Yun gave her an exasperated glance.

"Is this what you all talk about regularly?"

"We also said..." Xiaoman stole a glance at her. "We often say how wonderful it would be if one day we could call Mistress ’Empress.’ To greet our Empress—’Your Majesty, may you enjoy everlasting peace, may you live in bliss, may you prosper, may you have boundless longevity...’"

Feng Yun cracked up, her enchanting eyes narrowing slightly.

"Enough nonsense. Before heading back to Andu, I’ll take you to pay respects at those old temples. Let you all see for yourselves, and feel fully entertained..."

Xiaoman and Huanhuan exchanged a look, giggled, and curtsied.

"Thank you, Mistress, for your generosity."

-

Huixin Hall was thirty miles outside West Capital City, perched halfway up a mountain called Cuiyun Peak.

What Feng Yun hadn’t expected was that it wasn’t just Li Sangruo—several concubines from the former dynasty had also been sent there.

However, while others were practicing "lay monasticism," only Li Sangruo had "personally requested to become a nun." The other concubines did not need to shave their heads, but she had cut off her flowing locks entirely.