novel
| ← Ch.066 | Ch.068 → |
Wei Luo slept for a long time without waking up. She continued sleeping even when the sky had darkened.
Because Liang Yu Rong and the others were worried about her, they didn't stay in the peach tree grove for a long time and had rushed back. Zhao Jie had explained to Jin Lu before leaving with Wei Luo. Jin Lu had an understanding of propriety. In order to protect her Miss's pure reputation, she couldn't say the wrong words. So, Liang Yu Rong and the others only knew that Wei Luo was feeling unbearably painful and since Zhao Jie coincidently passed by the peach tree grove and was going back to Qian Temple, he conveniently brought Wei Luo with him on his way back.
In fact, most of this was true. Other than what Zhao Jie had done at the corner gate, everything that was witnessed by other people was done according to proper standards.
After Liang Yu Rong returned from the peach tree grove, she wanted to visit Wei Luo. Unfortunately, Bai Lan said that Wei Luo was still sleeping, so she could only return to her own room. Wei Chang Hong also came a few times. During that period of time, Wei Luo's door was closed every time, so he didn't go inside to bother her and only repeatedly told Bai Lan to take good care of Wei Luo.
——-
Early next morning, Wei Chang Hong came over again when Wei Luo was getting out of bed.
At this time, Wei Luo's pain had already eased a lot. Her complexion had also regained its glossy rosyness and she wasn't as pale as yesterday. She took the moist towel that Jin Lu handed her to wipe her face. After she finished washing her face, she sat down at a round, Chinese cedar table, greeted Chang Hong, and invited him to eat breakfast with her.
The temple only offered vegetarian dishes. A single glance showed that there were only tofu buns, turnip cakes, vegetarian congee, and a few picked vegetables as side dishes on the table. Wei Luo picked up a tofu bun with her chopsticks and put it into her mouth. The fresh and soft tofu bun was filled with sh*take mushrooms, various other mushrooms, and pine nuts. When it entered her mouth, there was a strong aroma and it left a rich aftertaste.
Although it was only temple food, it had been prepared more finely than common simple foods.
Wei Luo wasn't picky about this food. The food that she ate in her previous life was significantly worse than this, so she could accept and adapt to eating simple meals or culinary delicacies. In addition, she had been too tired climbing up the mountain yesterday to eat dinner. As soon as she woke up this morning, her stomach felt extremely empty. So, how could she be picky right now? She would eat even a bowl of vegetarian congee with great relish.
Although she was comfortable eating this food, it didn't mean that everyone else would feel the same way.
At the same time, in another room, Wei Zheng was very dissatisfied.
Wei Zheng was staying at the end point of the eastern verandah. There were three to four rooms between her and Wei Luo. Currently, she was very angry with the servants and had driven two servant girls out of her room.
After the two servant girls left the room, they passed by Wei Luo's room.
Wei Luo coincidentally heard this part of their conversation.
One of the servant girls wearing a purple top and a white skirt complained, "Fifth Miss is really making it difficult for us. How could there be eggs at temple? But, she's insisting on eating eggs stir-fry with yuqian..."
The other servant girl was wearing a silver hairpin and also felt very vexed, but she shook her head and said, "Never mind. It can't be helped. We're servants. We have to figure out a way to get that dish for Fifth Miss."
The two gradually walked farther away and disappeared. Their voices also faded away.
Wei Luo dipped the turnip cake in sauce, placed it in her mouth, and noisily ate it.
Wei Zheng was unreasonable. What was so bad with eating one meal of temple food? Temples were naturally a place to eat vegetarian foods and pray to Buddha. She came here, but wouldn't follow this place's rules. Wasn't she deliberate trying to find faults? If the abbot found out, he would definitely expel her from here.
As expected, the two servant girls came back with empty hands. With lowered heads, they humbly apologized to Wei Zheng. Wei Zheng only criticized them for being useless, then she stared at the verdant vegetarian congee, frowned in dislike, pushed the dish aside, and said, "I won't eat it. Bring me some pastries to snack on."
Pastries made in Duke Ying's residence had been brought along this trip. Originally, they were to be eaten on the road. Unexpectedly, they had a use at this moment.
After speaking, she saw the two servant girls standing there and not moving. She asked, "What happened?"
The servant girl lowered her head and said, "To respond to Miss, you ate the rest of the pastries last night..."
So, actually, as it turned out, Wei Zheng wasn't happy with eating the temple food last night either and had eaten the last few pieces of the buttery pastries with pine nut filling. Since it was already gone, how could they bring anything to her? Hearing this, Wei Zheng became even moodier. She didn't want to eat the vegetarian congee, so with an empty stomach, she left her room after changing into a moon white silk top and a crepe skirt.
Passing by Wei Luo's door, she saw her holding a tofu bun and biting into it. She immediately snorted disdainfully and walked away.
Inside the room, Wei Chang Hong frowned unhappily, put down his chopsticks, stood up, and said, "I'll go talk to her."
Wei Zheng and Wei Luo had never gotten along. Wei Zheng had always looked down at Wei Luo. They had grown up during the past two years. Wei Zheng's cleverness and tolerance had increased. She had gradually become calm and collected in front of Wei Luo and wasn't as fickle and impatient. She hid her thoughts inside her heart. She knew that she couldn't compare with Wei Luo. Wei Kun and Wei Chang Hong would always side with Wei Luo. And Wei Luo also had Princess Tiangji and Prince Jing supporting her. So, she wouldn't openly provoke Wei Luo the way she did as a child and leave behind evidence that could be used against her. She would only look at her with cold eyes of a bystander and occasionally say a few words of ridicule at her when she was in a bad mood.
Wei Luo stopped him. She smiled and quietly said, "Why do you care about her actions? If she doesn't want to eat, that's her business. Not only must we eat, we must eat until we're full." As she said this, she added a radish cake to Wei Chang Hong's bowl. She thoughtfully advised, "Eat this to fill your stomach."
They would definitely descend the mountain today and would have to walk for a long time. How could it be okay to not eat until they were full? If Wei Zheng didn't eat anything, she would faint on the side of the road and there would be no one to carry her.
——-
Around 8am, first madam arrived at the main hall.
She stood in front of the bamboo cylinder that contained the drawing lots. There was a total of 228 bamboo sticks inside. The one that was marked 228 was the winning bamboo stick that would give a person the opportunity to meet the senior monk. She held the servant girl's hand, took a deep breath, and hesitated with her decision on which bamboo stick to selected until the monk next to her urged her to pick. She closed her eyes and selected a bamboo stick. Without even looking at it, she handed it over to the monk at her side.
The monk took it from her and calmly told her, "It's marked 113."
First Madam's heart suddenly sunk to an all-time low from the disappointment.
It seemed that she wouldn't be able to meet the senior monk today.
Mawkishly, she turned around and walked towards outside. Seeing her like this, the servant girl at her side softly comforted her, "It's not that bad. Madam, at worst, we can stay here another night and come here to pick another bamboo stick tomorrow. If we don't succeed tomorrow, there's the day after tomorrow... Eventually, there will be a result. Eldest Young Master's legs have already been like this for so many years. There's no need to be impatient over a few days now."
While those words were true, First Madam couldn't control the grief that showed on her face. It was exactly because the cure for Wei Chang Yin's legs have been delayed for so long that she felt so impatient. She didn't want to give up even if there was the slightest amount of hope.
First Madam tried to show a more cheerful expression and barely managed a smile, "Ah Luo, why did you also come here this early? Is there something on your mind?"
Wei Luo faintly smiled without answering. She walked towards the nearby monk, took out a bamboo stick for her sleeve, handed it over to him, and asked, "Look, is this winning bamboo stick?"
The monk took it and looked. Indeed, it was this temple's bamboo stick and it was marked with the number 228. The monk didn't know how she got this, but since this bamboo stick was in her hand, then they had to follow the temple's rules. He said, "Please follow me."
Wei Luo looked at First Madam, blinked, and brightly said, "Eldest aunt, you should go."
Although First Madam was pleasantly surprised, she still couldn't resist asking, "Ah Luo, where did you get this bamboo stick?"
Both of Wei Luo's hands were behind her back when she curved her lips and said, "Someone gave me this bamboo stick this morning. He probably gave it to me because he didn't have anything he wanted to ask himself." Then, she pushed First Madam forward and urged, "Eldest Aunt, don't waste anymore time. Go and ask your question."
First Madam felt very grateful towards her. Her eyes were red as she said repeatedly said, "Okay." Then, she followed the monk to behind the main hall.
Standing behind her, Wei Luo looked at First Madam's back. She couldn't help hoping that Abbot Qing Wang would have a solution to her problem and tell her of a place that would be able to fix Wei Chang Yin's legs. If that were to happen, no one would stop Liang Yu Rong from being together with Wei Chang Yin. She also wouldn't have to continue feeling sorry for them. Perhaps in this lifetime, they would have a happy ending.
As for the bamboo stick... Zhu Geng had delivered it to her this morning.
Zhu Geng had appeared at her door when she had just woken up. He didn't say any unnecessary words. He only handed her the bamboo stick and said, "The prince ordered me to pass this to Fourth Miss. Be careful. Don't lose it."
She hadn't even mentioned this yesterday. How did Zhao Jie know that she wanted to meet Abbot Qing Wang? Wei Luo accepted the bamboo stick and brought it closer to her face to look at it. For him to obtain this, he probably had a close relationship with Abbot Qing Wang. Otherwise, how could he so self-assuredly walk through the back door?
——-
A short period of time later, First Madam walked out of Abbot Qing Wang's room.
She had said everything about Wei Chang Yin's situation, then she asked the abbot two questions. The first question was whether a method to heal Wei Chang Yin's legs existed. The second question was if there was a method, whom should she ask to do the treatment. The abbot only answered her first question. There was definitely a way to treat his legs. However, the person who could successfully treat Wei Chang Yin's legs didn't have a fixed residence. He was constantly traveling the world. It wouldn't be easy to find his location.
First Madam asked the abbot about that person's circumstances. He sincerely said, "He's called Fu Xing Yun. He's a miraculous and brilliant doctor. No one has seen him in the past years. He hasn't appeared in front of anyone for a long time."
In other words, this hidden person might already be dead and it was only unknown. And even if she found him, he might not be willing to treat Wei Chang Yin's legs.
After obtaining this information, First Madam's mood was complicated. Her hope was ignited, but she also felt depressed because Fu Xing Yun's location was unknown.
Her steps were heavy as she walked back to her room. She ordered the servant girls to pack up their things and inform everyone that they would soon be leaving the mountain.
After each person received the information, they knew that she had obtained an answer for her question. They weren't in a hurry to ask her the result. First, they packed up their things and followed First Madam in descending the mountain. Although it wasn't as tiring to walk down the mountain as it was to walk up, it still wasn't an easy walk. Because the mountain path was steep, they had to be very careful when walking. Otherwise, a moment of inattentiveness would result in falling down.
Not much time passed before everyone's legs started to feel tired and weak.
As First Madam was considering whether or not to find a place for everyone to rest for a bit, she heard a cry of alarm. She quickly stopped walking and turned around to look.
She saw Wei Zheng lying on the stone steps with an embarrassed and pale face. Wei Zheng had fallen three or four levels. Her arm and back had hit the stone steps and ached terribly. Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she looked very embarrassed.
Wei Zheng's servant girl was panic-stricken as she helped her up, "Miss, are you okay? Are you hurt from falling?"
Wei Zheng shook her head, then she stood up and said, "I'm okay..."
She hadn't eaten breakfast today and had felt dizzy with blurry vision from the unbearable hunger and walking on the mountain path without stopping. Her strength had been depleted a long time ago. A moment of carelessness and misplacing her step had led to her scene in front of her. Before she had time to call for help, she had already heavily fallen on the ground. The feeling of piercing pain came from her arm. There was probably already a bruise there. Unfortunately, she couldn't check her injury. She could only hold onto Yin Lou and continue walking down.
First Madam and the other madams all said a few words to show care. Hearing that she said she was okay, they didn't ask any further.
Wei Zheng endured her hunger and dizziness. She carefully continued walking down the mountain. Coincidentally, two people passed by her.
Wei Chang Hong was walking easily while carrying Wei Luo. His gaze was fully concentrated looking forward and he didn't even look at her when he passed by her. On the other hand, Wei Luo turned her head towards her and curved her lips as she looked at her with pity.
Why did she pity her? What was there to be pitied about her?
Wei Zheng bit her lower lip as she watched them walk farther away. She couldn't help tightening the grip on her silk handkerchief.
Descending the mountain took less time than ascending the mountain. In only one hour, they were at the foot of the mountain Duke Ying's black, flat-roof carriages were waiting for them on the side of the road. They had probably been waiting for a long time. Wei Zheng was the last person to walk down from the mountain. Her face was too pale and her footsteps were uneven. There was sweat on her forehead and she looked very embarrassed. Her servant girl was supporting almost half of her body.
For those that didn't know the truth, they would have thought she suffered through a catastrophe.
First Madam asked how she was again. After seeing Wei Zheng shaking her head and saying she was okay, she looked away.
Wei Zheng cared too much about losing face. She definitely wouldn't say she was like this because she had skipped breakfast. She would rather people misunderstand that she wasn't feeling well, then explain anything.
Seeing that everyone was here, First Madam told everyone to go into his or her respective carriages and prepare to go back to Duke Ying's residence.
Just as she said these words, an imperial carriage with a green canopy slowly came from behind and firmly stop at their side. After the carriage stopped, a slender white hand lifted up the embroidered curtain and a person came out of the carriage. Zhao Jie was wearing a forest green robe with a persimmon stem pattern. His dark eyes swept over everyone. Without being obvious, his gaze lingered on Wei Luo for a moment before stopping on First Madam.
It was only now that First Madam knew that he had also been Qian Temple during their visit. She hurriedly walked forward to salute, "This subject greets His Highness Prince Jing. I didn't know that His Highness was also here and had acted insufficiently respectful. Please forgive me Your Highness."
Zhao Jie curved his lips. He looked very amicable as he said, "No harm. This prince was traveling incognito this trip and didn't tell outsiders. Madam, no need to panic."
First Madam nodded her head, then politely said a few more words before saying good-bye. She saluted and said, "This subject respectfully sends off His Highness."
Zhao Jie turned around to go into his carriage. Before he left, he looked in Wei Luo's direction. She had originally been looking at him, but after noticing his gaze, for some unknown reason, her little face froze. Shortly after, she turned her head to avoid his gaze.
| ← Ch. 066 | Ch. 068 → |