The little one touched Shikong’s arm while Shikong was chanting with his eyes closed, not reacting to the touch.
Since Shikong didn’t respond, the little one could continue his foresight.
Soon, the little one saw an image.
In the vision, Shikong, dressed in monk robes, sat on a meditation mat, with many people kneeling before him. It was obvious that in the future, Shikong would be a revered figure, highly respected by all.
The little one frowned, displeased.
He muttered to Ah Wu, “Ah Wu, did you get the letter I sent you?”
Ah Wu hadn’t received it yet.
The little one had a sense of timing, so he figured Ah Wu hadn’t gotten it yet. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “A bald monk is bullying me.”
He then recounted everything that had happened in the palace to Ah Wu.
These were things he had also written in the letter.
After hearing it all, Ah Wu’s voice remained calm, but his expression turned cold, “Shikong… I’ve heard of him.”
Shikong’s reputation had spread far and wide.
Ah Wu had heard of him long ago but had never paid much attention, “Don’t worry, I’ll investigate him.”
“You need to stay safe in the palace and protect yourself.”
“Mm! I can protect myself.”
He was currently in Fenghua Palace, continuing to practice his pouncing and biting.
Noble Consort Yi had set up a small courtyard specifically for his training.
Though Noble Consort Yi was with him during his training, she constantly reminded him—
He must not let others see his true form as a little one.
But if he found himself in extreme danger, he could transform, without fear of being discovered.
If his secret was revealed, Noble Consort Yi was prepared to shield him from the storm.
“Ah Wu, I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
When Ah Wu said this, the coldness on his face softened.
Thinking of the despicable Great Qing imperial palace and then of the little one, he resolved to stay and endure the disgust a little longer, so the little one could have a bigger domain to roam.
If only he had been a little older when he arrived in this world.
Ah Wu spoke with the little one for a long time.
He comforted him, telling the little one, “You can change the future.”
“You changed your uncle’s fate from bad to good, and now you can alter this man’s favorable future too.”
Ah Wu always knew how to soothe the little one. With Ah Wu’s words, the little one felt much better after his foresight.
He released his grip and didn’t touch Shikong’s arm again.
Shikong, hearing the little one’s footsteps fade, opened his previously closed eyes. He watched the little one’s retreating figure for a long time.
Ah Wu didn’t want the little one to use his foresight too often.
But after seeing Shikong’s future, the little one went to look at the futures of other monks as well, one by one.
Most of the monks’ futures weren’t very interesting.
But one novice monk’s future caught his attention because he overheard Shikong’s name.
In the vision, the novice monk died on a rainy night, lying in a pool of blood. He heard his killer say that it was his insatiable greed that led to this fatal outcome.
The killer didn’t leave him any chance to survive.
As the novice monk laid dying, blood spilling from his mouth, he asked, “Did Master Shikong order you to kill me?”
The killer stood silently before him, offering no response, but his silence spoke volumes.
Tears flowed from the novice monk’s eyes, mixing with the blood from his mouth.
He said, “Everyone says Master Shikong is compassionate to all beings, but he wants to kill his own son.”
The killer, gazing at the dying monk, seemed to find the scene somewhat pitiful. He said flatly, “Master Shikong is everyone’s master. He could never be your father.”
“You lost your life chasing after a father that wasn’t worth it.”
Before the killer could finish speaking, the novice monk had already breathed his last.
After witnessing this tragic end in his foresight, the little one took two steps back in shock.
“Hey, slow down!”
At this moment, a young monk, just over ten years old, reached out and grabbed the little one who was stepping back, as if worried he might fall.
This young monk was quite unremarkable among the many masters at Guanghua Temple, primarily working there as a servant.
The little one had noticed him running back and forth, busy serving the other masters. Despite his workload, the young monk always had a smile on his face.
The little one didn’t like the other monks, but he didn’t have any bad feelings toward this young helper.
Now, after seeing his future, the little one felt even more pity for him.
“Thank you for catching me, but I wouldn’t have fallen. I don’t fall down as much anymore.”
The little one stood steady and thanked the young monk.
The monk smiled, his teeth bright and shining as he grinned.
In the vision of the future, when he died, he was only a few years older than he was now.
“What’s your name?” the little one asked, taking the initiative.
The monk shyly rubbed his bald head and said, “My real name is Goudan, but my monastic name is Wuming.”
He was quite honest, even sharing his birth name.
The little one wanted to chat more, but Goudan still had a pile of clothes to wash.
“Your Highness, I need to get back to work.”
“I’ll go with you!”
The little one followed him and sat beside him, watching him wash clothes.
While Goudan was washing clothes, the little one peeled a candy from his pocket and popped it into Goudan’s mouth.
Goudan’s eyes lit up as he tasted the sweetness. “So sweet!”
“This candy is from a faraway place.”
When the little one left Guan Shan Residence, the candy vendor had given him two full bags of sweets to take back and enjoy slowly.
The two bags of candy were placed in the palace by him. He gave away a portion, but he planned to save the rest to eat slowly.
He always kept candy in his pockets, and his mouth was always full of sweetness.
“I have more. When you finish that one, I’ll give you another.”
The little one generously shared his candy, and Goudan, in return, shared his story.
“I lived in a village with my mother. I’ve never seen my father. After my mother passed away, there was no one to take care of me, so I became a beggar on the streets.”
“One day, while I was begging at the foot of Guanghua Temple, the abbot took me in.”
“The abbot gave me shelter, and I became a monk.”
As Goudan recounted his story, there was no trace of sadness in his voice; he only smiled. “My mother said that giving me a humble name would help me live longer, and it seems she was right.”
Despite the abbot giving him a proper monastic name, he still preferred his childhood nickname, Goudan.
This name, given by his mother, was something he secretly called himself when no one else was around.
“Goudan, do you miss your father?”
“Yes, I do.”
When he mentioned his father, Goudan was a little shy. “Other kids all have fathers, so I want one too.”
“My mother said my father went far away. Maybe something happened to him, which is why he hasn’t come back.”
The little one listened to Goudan’s longing for his father and thought about the future vision where he had seen Goudan’s death. Suddenly, the candy in his mouth didn’t taste sweet anymore.
It wasn’t just not sweet—it even made his mouth feel a little sore.
The little one rubbed his cheek and inwardly cursed the bad monk again.
The bad monk didn’t just bully him—he secretly killed his own son in the future. It was worse than anything the little one could have imagined.
“Goudan.”
The little one gave Goudan another piece of candy and asked again, “If you knew your father was a really bad person, would you still want him?”
Goudan: “…”
Goudan: “My mother never said anything bad about my father.”
Goudan wasn’t ready to accept such a possibility.
But the little one stubbornly pressed him for an answer: “I’m saying if! If your father was bad, a terrible person, would you still want him?”
Goudan: “Probably not.”
Goudan still had some sense. “I don’t want a bad father.”
The little one stood up and patted Goudan’s head, feeling satisfied. “Yes! If your father treats you poorly, you shouldn’t want him!”
Since Goudan was sitting down, the little one could easily pat his head.
Goudan smiled again, showing his love for laughter. His face was ordinary, but when he smiled, his eyes curved into crescents, radiating warmth.
The two spent a long time together.
When the little one was leaving, he bumped into Shikong, who had just come out.
He looked up at Shikong. The monk’s face, as always, showed neither joy nor sorrow. People said he had the face of a Buddha, but the little one thought it was all just an act.
“Master Shikong.”
The little one looked up and asked, “You are this big, do you have any children?”
The question was blunt, and Shikong lowered his eyes and chanted, “Amitabha. A monk stays away from worldly desires. I have no wife or children.”
The little one replied, “Oh.”
As expected, what a hypocritical monk!
After asking, the little one walked past him.
Back in the palace, things had settled down.
Even if they wanted to rebuild Zhaoxi Palace, it would take time. Now it was just a pile of ruins, and there wasn’t a trace of the ghosts that had supposedly haunted it.
“Mother.”
The little one returned to Fenghua Palace and saw that the Noble Consort Yi was speaking with Ji Yan. He went over and laid on Noble Consort Yi’s lap.
The consort glanced down at her child, wondering if the fire had been his doing, but then dismissed the thought.
Her little one could be bold sometimes, but burning down an entire palace? That seemed impossible.
The Noble Consort suppressed her doubts and didn’t ask the question on her mind.
She simply held the little one, letting him sit on her lap. “Did you go listen to the teachings again?”
Amidst the earlier chaos, both she and Emperor Ling had been looking for the little one. After searching for a while, they found out he had run off to Master Shikong again.
“Mm-hmm.”
The little one hugged the Noble Consort’s neck, leaning his cheek against her. “Mother, I’ve been busy with something important.”
The Noble Consort: “…”
The Noble Consort: “What important things could you have?”
The little one hummed, “I have lots of important things to do.”
It wasn’t just adults who had important matters; children’s affairs were important too.
After a moment of cuddling, the Noble Consort gave him a pat on the bottom and sent him off to find the Emperor.
“Your father couldn’t find you earlier. Now that you’re back, go see him.”
“Okay.”
The little one gave the Noble Consort a kiss on the cheek, then climbed down from her lap to find his father.
On the way to find his father, he spotted his eldest brother and stopped in his tracks. “Big Brother, when is my uncle coming to find you to sleep?”
He still wanted to discuss the matter of Shikong and the little monk with his uncle.
Ling Chen, the eldest brother, paused. “…”
Ling Chen hesitated, “Little Seven, your uncle has never come to look for me to sleep.”
The way Little Seven phrased things made it sound strange no matter how you heard it.
“He did.”
The little one didn’t find it odd at all, blinking innocently as he added, “Last time, Uncle stayed over and told you to bring me along.”
Ling Chen was starting to feel exasperated.
Last time, at Murong Xu’s request, Ling Chen let Murong Xu stay over and brought Little Seven along so the uncle and nephew could spend time together. But now that Little Seven was retelling it, the story sounded more and more bizarre.
“Your uncle didn’t come to find me to sleep. Do you want to see him?”
“Mm-hmm, I want to see Uncle.”
If the little one wanted to leave the palace, he needed his father’s permission, which was a bit of a hassle.
He moved closer, hugging his brother’s leg, and his chubby little bottom rested on his brother’s foot. His soft voice pleaded, “Big Brother, could you call Uncle over for me? Pretty please?”
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Obrigada pela tradução!
Thank you for the update