Miracle! The immortals have manifested their divine presence!

There was no longer any need to dwell on why the little princess had been sleeping without trousers. Following a day of high fever, she appeared extremely weak, yet there was actually not much time left for her to recuperate. The most pressing matter right now was to free the second brother first, and then spread the word about the manifestation of Guanyin.

"Where is your father?"

"Father accompanied Mother to the East Forest Temple to pray for blessings for Second Brother. They left just yesterday."

Xia Lin stood up and paced back and forth inside the little princess's room. Although he had just spanked her, it somehow all felt quite natural, with neither of them showing any awkwardness.

The little princess most likely figured that since they had already slept together, and her father and mother also slept together, those two were a couple; and since she and Xia Lin also slept together, that made them a couple too. Books said it was fine for a couple to bare their hearts and souls to one another, so naturally, there was nothing wrong with it.

As for Xia Lin, he felt as though he was simply delivering a calf for a cow at the village entrance. Ah well, the doctor-patient relationship required no other extraneous emotions; wasn't it just a white backside? His own backside was quite white too, nothing extraordinary about it.

Qiuhua, on the other hand, blushed furiously and steadfastly refused to step foot into the room again, under the fine-sounding pretext of acting as their lookout.

"When roughly will they return?"

The little princess pondered slightly, made a silent calculation, and said, "Probably within these next two days. Father must hurry to reach the capital before the third day of the third month to offer birthday congratulations to the Crown Uncle."

"Good!"

Xia Lin tapped his fan against his hand, turned his head to look at the little princess: "Do you want to save your second brother?"

"I do! I dream of it every day, my second brother is so pitiful. I don't know how he contracted madness, and now he is neither human nor ghost... It's all his own fault for being so playful; if he hadn't offended the immortals, it wouldn't have come to this. I would even be willing to trade my life for my second brother's life."

"There's no need for that." Xia Lin chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself: *That's purely because of you, otherwise who knows how fiercely full of life your second brother would be.*

"Brother Daosheng~ Help me, won't you?"

Acting spoiled again! There really was no helping her, so Xia Lin could only sigh: "Do you dare commit the crime of deceiving the emperor?"

"Ah?"

The little princess was momentarily stunned upon hearing this: "The crime of deceiving the emperor... is punishable by beheading."

"Mm, do you dare?"

Actually, answering no would be human nature, but it would inevitably cause a certain amount of disappointment. One had to know that her second brother really would climb mountains of swords and plunge into seas of boiling oil for her—he was a truly earth-shattering hero.

Seeing that Xia Lin kept gazing at her, the little princess spoke after a brief silence: "If it can save my second brother, I dare!"

"Daring is good."

Xia Lin sat down with a thud, not caring whether the cup on the table had been drunk from by the little princess, picked it up, and drained it in one gulp: "Then listen carefully and remember every word I say. You are to tell the Prince without adding or omitting a single word, and moreover, you must bury today's events completely in your belly. No matter who comes to ask, you must bite down hard and never waver. Can you do that?"

"I can!" The little princess's gaze was as resolute as if she were about to march onto the battlefield: "I'll listen to whatever you say. You won't harm me."

"Mm. Then once the Prince returns, you will go and tell him that you had a dream. In the dream, the Great士 Guanyin descended to earth to seek you out, and told you that your second brother had offended the immortals. Originally, the immortals intended to take him up to heaven to serve as a boy attendant, but touched by your family's pious benevolence day after day, she decided to resolve this calamity for him. However, because you made a grand vow that should your second brother recover, you would willingly practice asceticism in seclusion for three years. The Great士 Guanyin also said that she originally resides in the South Sea Purple Bamboo Grove, but considering your frail physique unsuited for distant travel, she commanded you to practice bitter asceticism right outside the Lotus Sect's main hall, forbidden from stepping outside."

After finishing, Xia Lin looked at the little princess: "Did you understand my words?"

"Mm!" The little princess was naive, but not stupid. Although she didn't quite understand whether her second brother would truly recover through this maneuver, she only knew that Xia Daosheng would not harm her.

"Take me to see your second brother."

The little princess was about to get up, only to realize she hadn't put on her clothes yet. At this moment, it finally dawned on her: lying in bed being looked at, touched, and hugged had been fine, but asking her to dress in front of someone else was simply too embarrassing.

"Um... Brother Daosheng, please turn around. I... I'm not wearing clothes."

"Hey." Xia Lin turned around: "What's the point of standing on ceremony about this at a time like this?"

The little princess did not reply, only rustling as she put on her garments. Remembering how she had been held in someone's arms like a big white fish when she woke up earlier, she belatedly felt a flush of shyness. Yet, shyness aside, deep down she still felt a sense of eager anticipation, even though she herself had no idea what she was anticipating.

Before long, she led Xia Lin to the courtyard where her second brother was kept. As soon as they stepped inside, Xia Lin caught a reeking odor. Walking further in, he saw the Prince's second young lord, disheveled and unkempt, locked inside an iron cage. He was unable to stand upright inside, and his clothes barely covered his body. Feces and urine mixed with food scraps were scattered everywhere. Although it was cleaned daily, it couldn't keep up with the chaos he made.

Yet this same young man, who had been built like a mountain of flesh just over a month ago, was now bearded, covered in filth, with sunken eye sockets and a sallow complexion. His weight, which originally must have been at least two hundred and forty or fifty catties, probably now only remained around one hundred and sixty or seventy. Paired with his height, he had grown so thin he scarcely looked human anymore.

Seeing Xia Lin and his younger sister enter, the second young lord still let out frantic, muffled cries. Seeing this scene, the little princess burst into tears on the spot, turning to bury herself in Xia Lin's chest and wail bitterly, her tears quickly soaking the fabric at Xia Lin's chest.

"Go outside and keep watch for me, and grab something to eat while you're at it. I'll chat with Second Brother."

The little princess looked up at him, then obediently walked away. Meanwhile, Xia Lin squatted down outside the cage and gave a thumbs-up to the second brother: "Second Brother, a true hero. On the roster of heroes under heaven, you certainly deserve a spot. When you die in the future, come hell or high water, I'll find a way to compile this episode into the history books. It would be an absolute shame for a hero like you not to leave your name in history; I must find a way to let future generations witness what a real man looks like."

Seeing that there was no one else around, the second brother casually sat down inside the cage: "It's nothing much. But if you can't save my little sister, I really will go mad for real just to show you."

"Rest assured, this matter is bound to succeed." Xia Lin nodded heavily: "When the time comes, your testimony here must match up as well. Just say that on that day, you drank too much, acted wildly, and offended the mountain god, leaving your mind in utter chaos ever since—until this very day, when you suddenly saw a woman in white stepping upon a lotus pod, saying to you, 'Wretched boy, do you know your crime? Were it not for your close family praying for you day and night without rest, and your sister willingly serving the Buddha's dharma, your little life could not have been saved. Go back!'"

"Good." The second brother also nodded heavily: "What woman in white? Aren't you just talking about Guanyin? We have a statue of Guanyin at home."

"Why would you mention Guanyin? Just say a woman in white, someone will explain it to you naturally." Xia Lin patted the iron bars: "It'll be these past couple of days, you won't have to suffer anymore."

"Alright, if it works out, I'll treat you to drinks."

"I'll treat you; I wouldn't dare let you treat me." Xia Lin stood up and cupped his hands: "A hero of our age!"

Having given all the necessary instructions and parting words to the little princess—adding a "I'll wait for you in Jiujiang Commandery"—Xia Lin quickly left the Prince's estate. After all, nobody knew when the Prince would return, and if he were caught red-handed, it wouldn't sound or look good.

Sure enough, no sooner had he left than the Prince and Princess returned. In just two months, they both looked older by a full circle, and it seemed the ordeal with their second son had truly wrung their hearts dry.

The very instant they stepped foot into the Prince's estate, the head steward came stumbling wildly toward them: "Your Highness, Princess Consort! The Second Young Lord! The Second Young Lord, he..."

Overcome with emotion, the steward tripped and took a tumble, knocking out his front teeth and bleeding profusely. Yet he scrambled right back up, covering his bleeding mouth as he stammered, "The Second Young Lord... is well!"

"He's well?" The first to react was the Princess Consort. She could no longer care about decorum, rushing forward in hurried strides, crying out like a distressed cuckoo: "My child... my child..."

The Prince followed closely behind with deeply furrowed brows. Stepping forward to take a look, he saw their second son sitting inside the cage, looking around with a dazed expression. Upon seeing them arrive, he even cried out, "Father, Mother, what has happened to me?"

This could only be described as ecstatic joy. After an examination by the estate's physician, the second young lord was truly well—completely and utterly well, cured of everything overnight.

When asked why he had suddenly recovered, he recited the explanation Xia Lin had prepared for him. Following that, the Prince asked the steward what the little princess had been doing over the past few days, and the steward naturally answered truthfully.

"Take Kui'er down to wash up first, and then summon Qian'er over." The Prince's expression at this moment was extremely grave, his eyes flashing with sharp brilliance.

When the little princess arrived, he questioned her: "The matter of your second brother recovering—do you know about it?"

"Second Brother is well?" The little princess's eyes lit up instantly: "He is truly amazing..."

"Who? Who is truly amazing?"

A jolt went through the little princess's heart, and she hurriedly stammered, "This child... had a fever last night... and dreamed that the Great士 Guanyin came..."

She recounted the story Xia Lin had given her to Prince Teng. As Prince Teng listened, suspicion began to creep in. His imperial brother was superstitious, but he was certainly not. All those gods and Buddhas in the heavens—when the northern barbarians slaughtered Wutai Mountain clean, no gods or Buddhas had manifested then; why would they manifest here?

His son's madness had been bizarre, and his recovery was equally bizarre. A sudden recovery might have been acceptable, but it happened to coincide so conveniently with the Emperor's birthday, and moreover, it just happened to involve Guanyin and the Buddha.

Heh... Now *that* was suspicious.

Upon hearing that Tuoba Qian was required to keep watch and practice asceticism for Guanyin for three years, the Prince's gaze snapped into sharp focus. He swept his gaze up and down the little princess, then slapped his thigh with a meaningful expression: "There is an expert behind this."

The little princess still didn't understand and was still babbling on about the story of Guanyin in her dream.

After she finished speaking, the Prince picked up his teacup and took a sip: "Did that Xia Daosheng leave any other instructions?"

"No, that's all."

As soon as she finished speaking, the little princess suddenly realized. She covered her mouth, took a few steps back, and gazed at her father with frightened eyes...