"Son-in-law, please don't take it to heart. That night during the poetry gathering, Madam was merely chatting with Xiuhe in the room to relieve her boredom and reciting some lines from the Peony Pavilion. At the end, they opened a jar of wine, drank, and then fell asleep. When she awoke, the people in the manor said you had been here…"

"I was here?"

Upon hearing that, Chen Yi immediately understood. This must be a ploy from the people of the Cui Manor to deceive Lin Wanxiao.

"Exactly. They said you came to the poetry gathering later, but couldn't find Madam," Xiuhe said softly. "Later, Madam even dreamed of you."

It had been a simple, unremarkable statement, yet Lin Wanxiao's cheeks flushed red upon hearing it. Suddenly, her appearance seemed livelier, no longer the lifeless image of a courtly lady drawn on paper.

She murmured, "It was just a dream, that's all."

Xiuhe turned and smiled at her, saying, "Madam, if the son-in-law appears in your dreams, then it counts as him coming."

As the words between mistress and servant were exchanged, thoughts in Chen Yi's mind grew clearer.

The so-called failure to meet at the poetry gathering likely referred to the Lin Family's poetry gathering. According to their account, Lin Wanxiao may have waited a long time for him back then, but he never arrived. Disappointed, she returned to her room and drank something called "Forget-Worry Wine" along with Xiuhe.

Afterward, they ended up here, completely unaware that this was a Secret Realm.

"Where did the Forget-Worry Wine come from?" Chen Yi asked.

"It was bestowed by Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager. After all, your marriage to Madam was granted by the Heavenly Family," Xiuhe replied airily.

The speaker was casual, but the listener was attentive. Chen Yi nodded slightly, piecing things together.

If that were true, then this Secret Realm must be the work of the Empress Dowager!

As for why Lin Wanxiao mistook him for her husband, it seemed to be the effect of some sort of brainwashing.

Or rather, it was very likely caused by some kind of magical mind control.

Even if the master behind this Secret Realm wasn't the Empress Dowager herself, it must have deep connections to the palace.

Clarifying his thoughts, Chen Yi no longer felt confused but immersed in the situation. "Alright, Xiuhe, take me to the study; I need to discuss Buddhist Law with Lawyer Jueyin."

Lin Wanxiao chuckled softly and said, "Buddhist Law? I've read about it too. Why don't I join you for an in-depth discussion?"

"No need, Madam. If you truly wish to listen, wait until I summon you and come then. Perhaps you can bring some tea at that time," Chen Yi replied casually.

Hearing his slightly distant words, Lin Wanxiao responded with an "Oh," then averted her gaze and said:

"If Husband is still displeased, just admonish me for my faults; don't remain so detached from me. As the saying goes, 'Disputes at the head of the bed resolve at the foot of the bed.' Though this phrase comes from common households, you and I, to reconcile both at the bed's head and foot is the ideal harmony. If you truly do not wish this, I won't push you further, but please don't dislike me…"

The refined and intricate words of a scholarly woman twisted like a maze. Chen Yi listened for quite a while before he understood her meaning, which was simply asking him not to resent or distance himself from her.

Thinking this through, Chen Yi let out a bitter smile. If he were to say he disliked or wished to distance himself from this little lady, it wasn't entirely false, but neither did he dwell much on it.

At present, her mind had been altered, making her regard him as her husband, and presumably forgetting her painful past as a widow. Thus, Chen Yi had no intention of quarreling with her.

Besides, the priority now was to leave this Secret Realm as soon as possible and find the scattered Nascent Soul of Yin Weiyin.

...............…

Chen Yi stepped into the study and was met with a scene.

A maidservant from who-knows-where was being pinned to the ground by Dong Guifei's palm. As she saw Chen Yi enter, she prepared to cry out for help, but in the next moment, her muting acupoint was struck.

Chen Yi shut the door, pulled out a chair casually, and asked indifferently:

"Where does this person come from?"

Sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, Dong Guifei spoke in a melodious voice:

"Just some random servant girl. Here, look…"

With that, Dong Guifei grabbed the maid's hand and pressed a ceremonial knife to her neck.

The girl's face turned pale with terror, her eyes widened in desperation, and her trembling fingers emitted a pleading aura. Her mouth foamed as she tried to scream aloud.

But as the ceremonial blade sliced across—

The life seemingly drained from her.

The previously vibrant and lifelike maid's body shriveled as though her flesh and bones were pulled away, thinning bit by bit until she finally turned into a yellowed sheet of paper.

Sheathing her ceremonial knife, Dong Guifei said:

"Most of the people here are paper effigies."

Chen Yi narrowed his eyes, though unsurprised.

On the contrary, he found it perfectly reasonable.

"The entry to this Secret Realm you mentioned—is it called… the Door of Truth and Falsehood?"

Chen Yi pondered for a moment and then slowly spoke:

"If that's the case, I suspect that door is located within the imperial palace."

Lin Wanxiao's various behaviors all pointed toward the palace, toward the Heavenly Family.

Dong Guifei gleaned some meaning from his words and asked:

"You suspect this Secret Realm is the Empress Dowager's doing?"

"She must have had a hand in it," Chen Yi said decisively.

Dong Guifei thought for a moment, then nodded lightly and said softly, "Alright, I'll help you, but on one condition."

"A condition?" Chen Yi was slightly puzzled, unsure of what Dong Guifei wanted.

She extended a hand, palm up, presenting it forward.

Chen Yi leaned in curiously.

Dong Guifei's face flushed with an embarrassed blush as she rasped out, "The antidote!"

Chen Yi blinked, realizing that deception was futile now:

"I don't have the antidote on me."

Dong Guifei's beautiful eyes widened, lips forming an "O" in disbelief.

"No antidote? You let me take it, only to fool me?"

Chen Yi did not respond.

Dong Guifei immediately recalled something and said sternly:

"An ordained monk does not utter falsehoods. I never lied to you as a benefactor—why are you tricking me?"

"You certainly have an antidote, and…"

"And what?"

Dong Guifei remembered a detail and declared decisively, "Back then, when I asked you if you had the antidote, didn't you say, 'Guess'?"

"Indeed."

Dong Guifei leaned forward excitedly, her loose hair spreading like a fan over her shoulders. "So…"

Chen Yi shrugged and said, "So you guessed wrong."

Dong Guifei: "..."

She struggled to suppress the urge to utter a curse aloud.

In the next moment, Chen Yi noticed her expression shifting like volatile weather, blush lingering but accompanied by furrowed brows that alternately tightened and loosened in hesitation and conflict.

After a long pause, she seemed to come to a resolve, clasping her hands together in a prayer posture, sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushion, and adopting the demeanor of a nun chanting scripture:

"Observing Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, deeply practicing Prajna Paramita, perceives the emptiness of all five aggregates…

Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness are likewise so."

Her legs were crossed, the hem of her pants revealing snow-white ankles, round and smooth like little dumplings. Her posture was precisely like the seated lotus phase of Guanyin.

Dong Guifei recited a slew of "Form is emptiness" sutras as if reminding herself not to cling to mortal desires. Then she tilted her face upward, the blush still on her cheeks, her expression dewy with a soft, spring-like glow. She asked in a silken tone:

"Then, would Benefactor… use your body to cure the poison?"

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