Repudiating a Good Wife Is Out of the Question

128. No way I am Monk Material

Translator: Sissy That Walk

Xiao Yi clenched his fits till his knuckles turned white, “His Majesty wants to repeat history? He wants to ask Mo to pray for the country in the temple and marry Mo to Prince Ning secretly! No! No way!”

Blue veins stood out on Xiao Yi’s temples, “Humph, over my dead body!”

The secret guard jumped back on the roof without a word.

Xiao Yi felt so restless in his room, he racked his brains and thought the empress was the only person who could help Cao Mo, but how to convince the empress?

Xiao Yi wrote a letter and asked the secret guard to bring the letter to Prince Xing, hoping Prince Xing could help him to convince the empress.

… …

There were four eunuchs waiting on Cao Mo in Xuanwen Hall, they all treated Cao Mo with respect. Cao Mo felt like he was confined in the hall because he was asked to do nothing but to wait in the hall, but that didn’t bother him for too long, he decided to take a nap first.

Han Qi had long heard of Cao Mo’s name, but he didn’t have a good reason to summon Cao Mo. Now Cao Mo was summoned into the palace because of that shameless Imperial Concubine Fair, Han Qi felt sorry for Cao Mo in the heart, because Imperial Concubine Fair managed to convince the emperor using his precedent.

Han Qi decided to pay a visit to Cao Mo in Xuanwen Hall, Eunuch Lai greeted him on his arrival.

“Where is the Young Madam?” Han Qi asked with a frown.

Eunuch Lai chuckled, “He is asleep.”

“Oh?” Han Qi showed a meaningful smile, “What a carefree spirit.”

“The Young Master dotes on him, probably he is used to relying on the master.” Eunuch Lai replied while observing Han Qi’s countenance.

“Just make my arrival known, I’d like to meet this unconstrained soul.” Han Qi said with a smile.

Eunuch Lai announced at the gate loudly, “Here comes His Highness the empress!”

“What? Hold on, I’m not decent yet!” Cao Mo scrambled to his feet and put on his clothes in a flurry while he muttered, “What do I owe this couple in the last life? The emperor woke me up this morning, and now the empress wakes me up in my nap!”

A young eunuch helped Cao Mo to get dressed while Han Qi walked in.

Cao Mo straightened his clothes and kowtowed to Han Qi, Han Qi put on a straight face and asked, “Cao Mo, do you know what misconducts have you committed?”

“Actually I don’t.” Cao Mo shook his head.

“Oh?” Han Qi looked Cao Mo up and down, ‘He looks sharp, but he turns out to be a blockhead after all.’

“Firstly, you didn’t greet me at the gate; secondly, you showed up indecent. Are you convinced if I punish you for those behaviors?”

“No!” Cao Mo raised his head, “I have no idea you are coming. No blame attaches to the unconscious doer of wrong. Why is there blame attached to my ignorance now?”

“Interesting, you are sharp-tongued.” Han Qi was more interested in Cao Mo, ‘No wonder Young Master dotes on him, such a lively person.’

“But Your Highness, what I said was true. I’m young and ignorant, I woke up early this morning because I was summoned, so I fell asleep in the hall, please forgive me.” Cao Mo explained sincerely and yawned at the end.

Han Qi’s brows furrowed, “Early? You always sleep till late in the morning at your manor?”

“Yes, just like the elders said, people tend to be fond of sleep when they are young and they tend to have trouble falling asleep when they are old, so I’m just trying to make the best of it while I can.” Cao Mo knelt down even more.

Cao Mo took a look at Han Qi, never had he seen such a gorgeous face, so he didn’t want to leave a bad impression.

“That’s both interesting and reasonable, you may rise now, I won’t punish you.” Han Qi nodded, he looked Cao Mo up and down, he was a bit surprised to find out the princess Imperial Concubine Fair picked for her son was just an average looking young man. This person must be more than auspicious.

Han Qi allowed Cao Mo to take a seat, he asked Cao Mo casually while he fiddled with a tea cup, “Do you know why you are summoned?”

“Beats me, the eunuch’s mouth was tight as a clamshell.” Cao Mo replied while he lowered his head and fiddled with his belt.

“His Majesty plans to ask you to become a monk in Mercy Temple to pray for the country.” replied Han Qi.

“Are you joking?” Cao Mo replied with his eyes wide open, “No way am I near free from human desires and passions, I have a husband and I’m a meat eater, Buddha will be mad at me if I become a monk! It will turn out to be incurring disaster instead of accumulating merits for the country. You can send to a distant exile as punishment, please don’t let me tarnish the Mercy Temple!”

Han Qi burst into laughter, “Now I understand why the Young Master dotes on you so much, you have a heart of gold!”

“You are flattering me, Your Highness! I think you are the one with a heart of gold, please have mercy on me, please spare me from seeing the emperor, I don’t want to be a monk! Please talk me up and find someone else!”

“Who do you want me to find? Xiao Yi?” the emperor now walked in the hall with a solemn face.

Cao Mo zipped his lips and knelt down as he heard that, he knew the empress was just playing with him but the emperor was serious-minded.

Cao Mo kowtowed to the emperor, “Your Majesty, a Buddhist I’m not, but I believe in karma, one’s charity will be rewarded and he who is unjust is doomed to destruction. A nobody like me, my families’ well being is all I have in my mind, the breadth of mind inhibits me from caring about the whole country. I meant every word of it, and I’ willing to face the punishment!”

The emperor was impressed by Cao Mo’s heartfelt remark, he used to think Cao Mo was just a shallow fellow who got carried away by Xiao Yi’s love.

“Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of his country, are you trying to shirking your responsibility?” the emperor sounded dissatisfied.

Cao Mo chuckled, “I believe I’ve done my fair share, I helped with the pandemic and I’ve sent grains to Dingzhou, I believe I’ve done everything I can. If that’s not enough, that’s fine, I’m willing to give up my life, it’s just I’m working on making compressed biscuit, one biscuit will be filling for a day, unfortunately, the procedure isn’t perfect yet… …”