After a Night with the Yandere Buddhist Prince - Chapter 2

As dusk fell, the door finally opened. The eldest prince led everyone inside.

I’d straightened Shen Huaiqing’s clothes, and my own were intact. Still, one look was enough to recognize the charged atmosphere.

What followed was much the same as the plot.

The emperor punished him. I was forced to marry him.

If only I’d been a secret agent, assassin, or master thief. I could have run far away without bothering with any of this bullshit.

Unfortunately, I was just a miserable office drone.

I had no power to resist!

The heroine looked disbelieving, but there was no malice in her gaze when she looked at me.

So gentle. So kind.

A true angst-novel heroine.

Otherwise, how could she redeem that man-eating demon?

But although she was the heroine, she suffered far more than the original Xu Susu.

Emotional torment, physical torment, misunderstandings, arguments.

A little pain every three chapters. A major ordeal every five.

Not to mention her true identity as a princess of the previous dynasty, which made her Shen Huaiqing’s natural enemy.

All that love, hatred, and exquisite suffering had kept me up for three whole nights finishing the novel.

My peculiar taste was partly to blame. I liked this kind of excitement to soothe my dull life.

No need for that now.

Right here, right now, things were fucking exciting enough!

Back home, my newly acquired mother cried while my newly acquired father sighed.

Before long, though, he decided marrying upward wasn’t such a bad thing. The fourth prince was an exceptional man, an excellent match, and so on.

Xu Susu’s character setup was that neither parent cared much for her.

It wasn’t that they had no affection.

They did. Within limits.

They certainly wouldn’t defy imperial power for their daughter.

They would send her off to be married with gratitude instead.

2

I knew the next part of the plot.

Shen Huaiqing was angry, and he wasn’t nearly as serene and pure as he appeared.

The Great Yu dynasty revered Buddhism. His reputation as a Buddhist prodigy had earned him many followers.

Before this, he’d had little interest in imperial power. Suppressing his bloodlust had taken everything he had.

Now, though…

He swiftly uncovered the whole scheme and accused the eldest prince before the emperor.

His carefully cultivated image helped him.

A holy man who had spent years with his lamp and Buddha statues—could he really fall from grace overnight?

There were witnesses too. He had asked an imperial physician to examine him that very day, and traces of the aphrodisiac had been found.

He had clearly been framed.

Only the eldest prince had visited that day. The drugged teacup was still where it had been left.

With witnesses and physical evidence both present, the emperor had made up his mind, however stubbornly the eldest prince denied it.

Taken lightly, it was a sordid imperial-family scheme.

Taken seriously, the eldest prince had insulted the Buddha.

In a dynasty where everyone revered Buddhism, that was a grave offense.

In the end, though, the matter was played down. Shen Huaiqing knew when to stop.

In private, the emperor slapped the eldest prince hard across the face twice.

“Idiot! You could beat him. You could kill him. The one thing you couldn’t do was disgrace him!

“And with the underhanded tricks of the inner household! Utterly despicable.

“You are my eldest legitimate son, the heir I chose. He is a Buddhist prodigy who was meant to take over Puning Temple. But thanks to you, he has to leave the monastic life and marry.

“You… You’ve created a powerful enemy for yourself!

“You could have left each other alone. This is all because you couldn’t tolerate him… How can you be such a fool…”

Afterward, though Shen Huaiqing was leaving the order, vast crowds still came to hear him preach.

Seated on a raised platform, his lowered gaze seemed full of compassion for all living things.

Mercy itself.

3

Before long, the wedding day arrived.

The ceremony was enormously lively. I went through it like a checklist, wanting only to get it over with and return to my room to sleep.

Waiting in the bridal chamber was exhausting. Before long, I had fallen asleep against the bedpost.

The wedding attendant shook me awake, urging me on without pause.

“Oh, Your Highness, how could you fall asleep? Quick, put your veil on. Prince Xian will be here soon!”

Prince Xian was Shen Huaiqing’s newly bestowed title.

Along with it came a residence, servants, and countless gold, silver, and jewels, all in compensation for his undeserved disgrace.

He stepped over the threshold.

His wedding robes softened his cold reserve. His eyes were luminous and deep, his bearing incomparably noble.

I thought his monk’s robes had suited him better.

That hint of divinity. That hint of indifference.

Both were gone now.

I smiled politely and obediently put on my veil, waiting for him to lift it.

For some reason, he hesitated a long time before doing so.

The attendant offered auspicious wishes. Everyone laughed and joked for a while, then finally left.

Freedom!

I hurriedly took off my headdress, removed the heavy makeup, stripped out of my wedding clothes, and crawled beneath the covers in my underclothes.

Bliss…

He stood there for a long time.

Then he too washed, changed, and lay down.

In the silence, he suddenly moved.

I shot a hand beneath my pillow and stared at him, waiting to see what he intended.

I’d hidden a dagger there earlier.

In the original plot, they neither consummated the marriage nor committed a murder on their wedding night.

But I had slapped him several times.

There was no way this psycho wasn’t holding a grudge.

Under the candlelight, he met my stare and settled down again.

Bastard. I knew you were up to something.

I turned onto my side and propped my cheek on my hand.

“Listen, husband. I was a victim that day too.”

He gave a muffled murmur of agreement.

“And I know about you and Miss Qin. Let’s set some ground rules. Keep me comfortable and well fed, and give me control of the household accounts. I won’t interfere with you and Miss Qin.

“If she moves in, buy me another house and some servants. Keep me in comfort there, and I promise I won’t make trouble.”

He turned his head aside.

“Benefactor… Wife, don’t speak nonsense. There is nothing between Miss Qin and me. She got lost in the bamboo grove, and I merely showed her out.”

Sure, sure. Nothing between you.

You’d fall for each other sooner or later. What difference did a day or two make?

I’d be waiting for you to eat those words.