Leap Forward Comics: Watch How I Become a Villainess

Chapter 123 Hanshui Temple

After bidding farewell to the Princess, Lu He left the palace and returned to the inn. She pondered all the information she had gathered over the past few days. Whether it was the Crown Prince's homosexuality, the restless advances of the other two princes, or the matter of the spies, it was all just the tip of the iceberg. It seemed necessary to make a trip to Hanshui Temple.

Just then, the delegation from eight countries arrived in the capital, and Li Cen was too busy to attend to everything. Nie Qing was also busy dealing with the Crown Prince. These past two days, she had some free time, so she decided to go and see the Empress.

However, one cannot go alone; one still needs guards.

Bai Yu is currently an official in the Imperial City, and the people in the Imperial City Guard and the Golden Guard are too busy to follow her. Chao Huaiyuan is a Lieutenant General in the Golden Guard, so naturally he is too.

Let's take the black bird that Liu Xiao and Li Cen gave her.

Hanshui Temple is not far from the capital; the journey by carriage took only one day.

Hanshui Temple is situated amidst green mountains and clear waters, where the insects, birds, and beasts are full of spirituality.

The mountain path was easy to walk, but no more carriages could be added; everyone had to walk. The scenery along this route was clear and pleasant, truly a good place for self-cultivation. The Empress's choice to become a nun here wasn't so much to suffer, but rather to escape trouble.

Entering Hanshui Temple was unobstructed, and there were few monks and nuns. Very few worshippers were offering incense. It seemed to be a secluded temple deep in the mountains.

That's strange. How do temples survive without offering incense?

"Hey, young monk," Lu He called out to the young monk sweeping fallen leaves at the door, "Why does this place look so desolate?"

“Esteemed benefactor, this place is rarely visited by people. It is not a temple where you can make wishes. If you have a wish, you will need to go elsewhere,” the young monk said.

"I don't want anything, I... I'll just look around." Lu He didn't reveal any more, afraid of exposing his purpose and being kicked out.

Moreover, she could find the Empress by scanning her identity, without needing to ask anyone.

Upon reaching the courtyard of a gatehouse, a martial monk stopped them at the gate: "Please stop, everyone. This is the nunnery of nuns. Men should not be impolite. Please turn around."

Liu Xiao paused, waiting for Lu He to make a decision. Blackbird also stood still, his expression unchanged, simply waiting for instructions.

“Master, I am a woman, I am just dressed as a man. You should be able to tell by my voice.” Lu He said respectfully. She thought to herself that the Empress was probably inside this small door.

The two monks understood what she meant as soon as she spoke, and naturally withdrew their long sticks that had been used to block her.

"You two wait for me outside, I'll go inside for a look around." Liu Xiao and Blackbird were men, so they could only wait here.

"Please go in. I have my own way of getting in and protecting you secretly. Her Highness the Princess instructed me that I must not leave your side for even a moment," the black bird said in a low voice.

Lu He looked at the black bird suspiciously, glancing back every few steps, wondering how he could get in. He hoped the black bird wouldn't cause any trouble.

After entering the gate, there were noticeably more people in the courtyard, and they were all nuns. It seemed that the monks outside lived in the outer courtyard of the temple, probably to protect the temple's security, while the women practiced their faith in the inner courtyard.

She had only taken two steps when a young nun approached her and looked her up and down: "Miss, you look unfamiliar. Who are you looking for?"

"Huh?" Lu He asked in surprise, "How did you know I was here to look for someone?"

"If you're not looking for someone, what are you doing here?" The young nun continued to scrutinize her with a curious look.

"Little sister, are all the ladies here from official families?" Lu He suddenly thought of something. Could this be a place for women of high status to become nuns? No wonder they don't need any worshippers. The money each family donates to incense every year is probably enough for them to hire servants here.

"Forget about worldly identities. Everyone who comes here, even royalty, is just a title." The young nun pouted. "Who are you looking for?"

This is really bad; the Empress's Buddhist name cannot be found in the comics.

Just as Lu He was stammering and unable to speak, footsteps approached quickly behind her, and a woman's voice called out from afar: "Sister, slow down! Why didn't you wait for me?"

Lu He turned around and saw an unfamiliar face, but the woman immediately took her arm in a very affectionate manner: "Slow down, slow down, I can't keep up with you from behind." Then she quickly apologized to the little nun: "I'm so sorry, little master, my sister is so clumsy, she only remembers that she came out to play, she doesn't remember who she was looking for at all." As she spoke, she gave Lu He a reproachful look, and then smiled apologetically at the little nun: "Little master, we've come to see Master Bingchen!"

“Alright, follow me.” The young nun immediately and readily led the way.

Lu He and the woman followed behind.

"Who exactly are you?" Lu He whispered.

"Blackbird sentry," the woman replied calmly in a soft voice.

"Huh? You brought other blackbirds too?"

"Uh, no," the woman carefully cleared her throat, lowered her voice, and moved closer to Lu He, "It's me..." The deep, hoarse male voice almost scared Lu He to death.

"Wow..." She was both surprised and delighted, looking like she had never seen anything like it before: "Ah, you, you said you had your own way of getting in... Pfft." Lu He couldn't help but laugh when she thought of his expressionless face and the contrast with his current smiling face.

However, Blackbird's disguise as a woman was so convincing that his every smile and gesture was so convincing that it was impossible to detect any flaws. It was both admirable and hilarious.

"Don't give yourself away." Blackbird switched back to her delicate, feminine voice.

My goodness, this is the real art of disguise! Those TV dramas where men dress as women or women dress as men look obviously fake. This is so weak. It's almost as good as Sun Wukong's seventy-two transformations. You can't see a trace of a man at all. His physique, height, appearance, and voice are all unrecognizable.

Moreover, the two were so close that if he hadn't told her, Lu He wouldn't have realized that he wasn't a woman. The last time she couldn't see through his disguise even when his face was right in front of hers was during a Sichuan opera face-changing performance, which was considered a divine skill.

"How did you do that?" Her big, inquisitive eyes blinked.

"Disguise and modification are just the most basic things for a sentry." Blackbird was probably a little uncomfortable being stared at by Lu He, so he guessed that she must be curious about how he did it. He had no choice but to explain to Lu He in a low voice: "We know bone shrinking, voice changing, alien transformation and so on. You will see more of these in the future and you will not be surprised."

"That's awesome!" Lu He quickly covered his mouth after accidentally uttering a curse word. This was a sacred Buddhist site; it was truly disrespectful. Forgive me, forgive me.

"Can you turn into children?"

"OK."

"Can you turn into tables and chairs?"

"what?"

"It can turn into a big horse, a yellow dog..."

"..."

………………