CH 76

Returned to Qiqi’s side.

In these few nights, she finished bathing and dressed neatly because she was afraid that Shen Zhonghua would suddenly come over. However, Shen Zhonghua didn’t come, but every morning when she woke up, there would be some extra things inexplicably on the dressing table. Sometimes it was rouge gouache, sometimes it was jewelry and hair ornaments, sometimes it was flowers blooming at present.

He must have come at night, but he didn’t show up. The line of sight she faintly felt in her sleep should have come from him.

In order to avoid doubts from the servant girls, Qiqi personally inserted today’s flowers into the flower vase. She was used to always getting up early. When she got up, the servant girls still hadn’t come to serve close at hand. The servant girls that mother Su picked for Qiqi were all smart and well-behaved. Among them, one was called Lan Cui. She saw the flowers in the flower vase had been changed from the big group light purple the day before yesterday to the just bloomed Chinese peony, so she chose Qiqi, a white silk skirt embroidered with pink Chinese peony.

She said: “Miss is beautiful. When she dresses in these beautiful clothes, she looks even more beautiful!”

The servant girl Lu Yi heard it and deliberately joked to Qiqi: “Miss went to pick flowers again this morning?”

Qiqi was somewhat dull. Mother Su was afraid she wouldn’t adapt to the new environment, so she specially selected a few lively servant girls to have them tease Qiqi often and made her a little happier. Because the flowers appeared on the dressing table before and there were many servant girls waiting around Qiqi so she couldn’t throw them away. She had to say that she went out early in the morning to pick flowers.

For this reason, the servant girl Xiang Huan who was responsible for the night was always teased by them that she slept like a little pig.

These were all jokes. No one was going to punish Xiang-er. The rules of the general’s residence were both strict and generous in the treatment of their servants. Even these little servant girls were talking amongst themselves that when they went out to buy things, they always heard which servant girl in the lord’s residence was beaten to death or tortured and sold. They thought about how fortunate they were. Although they sold themselves as slaves, they could still keep their life in the general’s residence.

Sometimes when she watched a few servant girls bicker noisily, Qiqi always thought of herself unconsciously. She used to be a servant in the prince’s palace before. If at that time she was directly sold as a slave and entered the residence as a little servant girl, she could go anywhere without seeing Shen Zhonghua if she didn’t go to Prince Xuan’s palace.

Now everything was still like a dream. She dared not ask for more. Whoever it was, she was very careful because she was afraid if she was careless she would wake up from the dream.

Lu Yi skillfully arranged Qiqi’s hair into two dangling loops for her. Qiqi wasn’t used to these cosmetic rouge gouaches. Besides, she originally had a fairer skin color because of her origin so Lan Cui just brushed her eyebrows slightly before she applied crimson on her lips and brushed some blush on her cheeks.

There were still soups made by mother Su at breakfast so Qiqi went early and helped mother Su prepare the soup. During the meal, the fifth older brother Su Chenxiao also said: “Since Little Seven returned home, Mother’s health is also getting better. We have the chance to taste Mother’s craftsmanship much more than before.”

Big brother Su Antai smiled heartily: “Yes! Our brothers are all covered by Little Seven’s halo!”

Qiqi was caused to smile. Although it was only a slight smile, it made the family who was concerned about her see it. The old three and old four looked at each other and smiled. The senseless old six said frankly: “Little Seven smiled! Little Seven smiled so beautifully. She should smile more.”

When Qiqi heard it, she hung her head down embarrassedly and silently drank the soup. Speaking of which, when she was by Shen Zhonghua’s side, she had seen many scenes. Although most of them were dangerous, she had learned to show joys and sorrows. However, she didn’t expect to be in Su’s residence for a few days, it seemed as if she really learned to smile compared to before.

Afterward, mother Su asked if Qiqi wanted to go to the temple with her to restore her spirit.

Qiqi was naturally willing. The three sisters-in-law were naturally happy to follow as well.

* * * *

The temple they went to was the most prosperous and incense-burning Lian Hua Monastery in the city. Lian Hua Monastery had beautiful scenery and the lotus that bloomed in all seasons.

Qiqi and her sisters-in-law accompanied mother Su to offer joss sticks, pray to Buddha, and also donate some money. Afterward, mother Su and her sisters-in-law each asked for a divining stick. They also asked Qiqi to ask one. Finally, Qiqi was asked to draw a divining stick. Because the whole family was in a cheerful mood for a while now they hurriedly asked Qiqi to seek the answer of the stick. They originally wanted to find the young monk in front of the temple gate who was in charge of lending money, but they didn’t expect to meet Grand Master Ruo Shui when they went out.

“Amitabha......” Grand Master Ruo Shui was the current dynasty’s senior monk of Taoism. When he saw Qiqi, he folded his hands and asked Qiqi: “The Phoenix Nirvana rebirth from the past calamity. The benefactor of this life was blessed with great fortune......”

The eldest sister-in-law naturally didn’t know the rebirth of Qiqi and that everything was repeating all over again. She thought the grand master saw Qiqi had suffered a lot before and now she had reunited with her family. She just said: “The grand master is worthy of being a grand master. With just a glance can see that our family Little Seven had returned from the past calamity and regained a new life!”

Grand Master Ruo Shui smiled but didn’t say anything.

However, mother Su took the bamboo stick from Qiqi’s hand and asked Grand Master Ruo Shui: “Grand master, this stick......”

“No need to look.” Grand Master Ruo Shui said with kind eyebrows and pleasant eyes: “Everything is following its direction, destiny is determined by heaven, and conform to its heart.”

“Destiny is determined by heaven?” Mother Su’s face showed a happy expression: “Could it be on this stick is a sign of predestined marriage?”

Grand Master Ruo Shui said with a smile: “Cannot be said.”