Lotus of the Buddha's Heart

Jiang Ningyue married the Crown Prince at fifteen. He ascended the throne at eighteen, and she thought she would smoothly become Empress. Instead, she was poisoned to death. It turned out the Crown Prince wanted to get rid of her so he could marry her sworn elder sister.

For three years, she had given everything for the Crown Prince, only to become a laughingstock.

Filled with resentment, her spirit lingered. She saw with her own eyes how, not long after the Crown Prince's coronation, court officials launched a coup, and a man in a blue kasaya killed him.

He was Master Mingxin, the young monk she'd known since childhood, and the Crown Prince's twin brother.

She watched Mingxin become Emperor. By day, he was a dignified ruler. At night, he recited the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Sutra of the Fundamental Vows to an old handkerchief of hers.

His words, "I came too late. If there is another life, let us meet again," dispelled Jiang Ningyue's resentment. When she opened her eyes, she had returned to the time before her marriage.

Having lived again, Jiang Ningyue refused to suppress herself. She wanted nothing to do with the Crown Prince or being Crown Princess. She was going to find her little master.

A distinguished guest had recently arrived at Danxia Temple. She was a noble young lady from the Jiang family, and she was especially kind to Mingxin.

When Mingxin went to solicit alms, she offered incense money. When Mingxin preached, she showed up to support him. But when Mingxin was about to take his vows, she wouldn't have it.

She barged into the Dharma Hall and looked into Mingxin's eyes. "Are you really going to be a monk for the rest of your life and never marry?"

Before everyone's eyes, Mingxin blushed. His heart had long since strayed from the path of Buddha.

Much later, the two stood side by side gazing at the moon. Mingxin quietly asked, "Why me?"

Jiang Ningyue smiled. "Because you asked for this in your previous life. You can't take it back."

Mingxin had always thought he was an orphan, until someone eventually told him that he was actually the Crown Prince's older brother, and the throne should have been his. He had no desire to fight for it, but when the lotus flower in his heart was cruelly poisoned, he sat in meditation all night, confessed his sins to Buddha, and killed his own younger brother with his own hands.

He scattered her bones into the rivers, because she had once smiled like a flower and said how envious she was that he could travel across the land. But she would never come back.

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Theme: Kindness needs an edge, too