CH 90

Chapter 90: I Invite You to a Tea

Matron Zhou answered then went away, and Li took Ren Yaoqi to offer incense.

Kneeling in front of the statue of Buddha, which was more than ten feet high in the Daxiong Hall, Li’s hands were appropriate and her eyes were closed as she prayed devoutly.

Li prayed for the health of her family, the safety of her two children, a smooth life, and that the Buddha would help Ren Yaoqi to get rid of evil spirits so that she would not be haunted by nightmares.

When she saw Li get up to offer incense, she followed her lead and followed her example.

After both mother and daughter had finished burning incense, Matron Zhou returned.

“Madam, Master Jingchen is talking about Buddhism with a distinguished guest, so I’m afraid we’ll have to wait a little longer.” Matron Zhou came over and whispered, “The guest monk has arranged a courtyard for us to rest in, would you like to see if you would like to go over and rest now?”

The Bailong Temple received many guests daily, and having one or two distinguished guests was normal. Monks are both out of and in the world, and are not exempt from it.

After sitting in the carriage for more than an hour, Li was also a bit tired, so she nodded and said to Ren Yaoqi, “The abbot is not available for the time being, so let’s go and rest for a while.”

Naturally, Ren Yaoqi had no problem with this.

The courtyard prepared by the Bailong Temple for Li’s rest this time happened to be the same one that had been used the last time Ren Yaoqi and the others had come.

However, Li and Ren Yaoqi had only sat down for a couple of sips of tea when Master Jingchen sent a young monk to say that he was free.

Matron Zhou asked the monk, “Didn’t you just say that the abbot was receiving a distinguished guest?”

The young monk chanted a Buddhist hymn and replied, “That gentleman has come to play chess with our abbot. Hearing that the abbot had someone to see, that gentleman has already excused himself.”

Matron Zhou looked at Li, who nodded, so Matron Zhou smiled and said, “Then please trouble this young master to go back to Master Jingchen, our Madam will go there right away.”

The young monk returned the Buddhist salute and retreated.

Li then took Ren Yaoqi to the abbot’s place of hospitality.

Abbot Jingchen was an old monk in his sixties, a little thin, but with kind eyes.

When Ren Yaoqi followed Li into the meditation room, she found a kang table by the window with a chessboard on top of it, on which the black and white pieces were fighting indiscriminately.

The white pieces were of the finest clamshell stone ‘snow grade’, white and round like jade, with exquisite patterns. The pieces have always been distinguished by their white color. So this pair of chess pieces is very rare.

>> ‘Snow Grade’ white chess pieces

“Is the little benefactor also good at playing chess?” The old monk was not young, but his eyes were extremely keen. Seeing Ren Yaoqi’s eyes resting on the kang table under the south window, he asked in a kind tone.

Ren Yaoqi turned her head back and met the old monk’s calm and tolerant gaze. Smilingly, she returned, “It’s just a little knowledge, I’m not good at it.”

The old monk laughed and invited Li and Ren Yaoqi to sit down.

Li told the old monk about Ren Yaoqi’s nightmare. She asked him if he had any ideas on how to deal with it.

Grandmaster Jingchen looked at Ren Yaoqi for a few moments and asked gently, “Let me take the pulse of the little benefactor.”

Li was stunned, “Does Grandmaster mean that she had nightmares because she is sick?”

Abbot Jingchen shook his head and said calmly, “Dreams are born from the heart, this old man just wants to make sure.”

Ren Yaoqi obediently reached over and let him take her pulse.

Jingchen closed his eyes and took his pulse for a while, then asked, “How long has this nightmare been going on, Little Benefactor? Have you had any symptoms of cold sweats, loss of appetite, and difficulty sleeping recently?”

“No,” Ren Yaoqi said truthfully.

Jingchen took another serious look at Ren Yaochen’s face and nodded: “Then it is not physical discomfort. I’ll prescribe a prescription for you to suppress your fright later. You can eat it or not,” said the old monk with a soft sigh. “Life is just a few decades, don’t worry about everything, it will hurt your heart.”

“So she is alright?” Li did not notice the old monk’s sigh and asked uneasily, “Do you need to do any ceremony to remove the obscene qi?”

Grandmaster Jingchen shook his head and said with a smile, “If you are unsure, just recite the Vajra Sutra once a day before you go to bed.”

As Grandmaster Jingchen had a good reputation, Li was somewhat reassured.

The old monk then spoke to Li about the Buddhist scriptures. Knowing that Ren Yaoqi was not interested in these, Li told her to go and rest first.

Ren Yaoqi was looking for a chance to go and do her own business, so she was happy to go out.

Not long after she reached the Great Hall, the central axis of the Bailong Temple, Ren Yaoqi suddenly noticed Yuan Dayong dashing flashed in front of her eyes.

After a moment’s thought, Ren Yaoqi took a step outside.

“Miss, aren’t you going back to rest? Where are you going?” The maid behind her asked carefully.

As Ren Yaoqi walked slowly, she said casually, “I’m going to the fortune bell at the single-hole bridge outside, I heard that if I can hit it, I will have good luck.”

The maid thought that Ren Yaoqi was just having fun and wanted to ring the bell, so they didn’t say anything else.

When Ren Yaoqi approached the bridge, she found that there were many people around the bridge. They were clapping and cheering, making the atmosphere very lively.

Within a distance of five or six feet, Ren Yaoqi heard the sound of a bell ringing continuously.

“Huh? Who is that so powerful?” Sangshen whispered, “I’ve never hit that bell before.”

Another maid was not impressed, “This is a temple bell, not a street juggler! Whose children are so naughty?”

Ren Yaoqi stopped and listened for a while, but shook her head in disbelief.

This person not only has good eyesight but also has a good grasp of strength. He doesn’t look like a naughty child from any family, he might be a martial artist.

“Miss, should we still go over there?” The granny asked for instructions.

Ren Yaoqi shook her head, “Forget it, let’s go next time.” She didn’t want to cause any trouble and wasn’t that curious.

She was about to go around the other way when she saw a young monk leading an old monk coming this way.

The young monk was walking and talking to the old monk, who was about fifty years old and had a very relaxed and calm demeanor.

As he got closer, Ren Yaoqi heard the young monk say, “…She has been knocking for half an hour. The pilgrims have all gathered there to watch the fun, even the priests coming in from outside are blocked from entering. Can you go to see if you can persuade her? If you can’t, you’ll have to ask the Second Young Master Xiao to come out…”

“Don’t be anxious, don’t be anxious, the County Princess is not an unreasonable person, if you talk to her properly, she will listen.” The old monk said without changing his face.

Ren Yaoqi, however, was moved in his heart.

County Princess? The only person who could be called a County Princess in the whole of Yanbei was the daughter of Prince Yanbei. The monk also mentioned the Second Young Master of the Xiao Family, could it be that the person ringing the bell was Xiao Jinglin, the County Princess from Prince Yanbei’s residence?

She had heard that this County Princess did not love red makeup but loved military attire. For most of the year, she was not at the Yanbei Royal Residence. Instead, she followed Prince Yanbei’s generals to guard the Jiajing Pass.

In her previous life, she had never met her, but she had heard that the court had wanted to marry her to the youngest son of Duke Zheng, but she had simply refused.

The reason for Xiao Jinglin’s refusal was enough to put the men of the whole Great Zhou to shame. She said that the northern frontier was not yet settled, so how could there be a home?

She also said that her husband had to fight her before he could marry her. The man didn’t need to win against her, as long as he could get up and out of bed within a month after the fight, he would be considered qualified. A man who blew in the wind was no different from waste in her eyes. Then someone told the story that Xiao Jinglin had defeated the top ten black knights of Prince Yanbei singlehandedly.

As a result, Duke Zheng’s wife ran to the Empress Dowager in tears and begged her for mercy and to spare her youngest son’s life. Other noble families with sons of the right age also hastened to settle their engagement matters, and those who already did so were getting married. They are afraid that they will have to be paired with Prince Yanbei’s County Princess.

In the end, the marriage was not settled. At that time, Ren Yaoqi found it very amusing.

Now Xiao Jinglin was not much older than her, was she? It looked like her martial arts skills were already good.

The heir who was becoming a hostage in the capital, only loved literature and calligraphy. Although the Second Young Master is knowledgeable, he is in poor health. Only this County Princess still had some of the prestige of the Xiao Family’s ancestors.

With this in mind, Ren Yaoqi changed her mind and headed for the single-hole bridge.

When the maids heard that it was the County Princess, they were also a bit curious and followed without saying a word.

The two monks had passed, and the young monk asked everyone watching to leave.

Only then did Ren Yaoqi see clearly that a tall young girl was standing by the railing.

The young girl was 13 or 14 years old. She was not the kind of girl who dressed as a man, as Ren Yaoqi had guessed. She wore a very ordinary lake-green dress and had a double bun on her head. Her features were very delicate.

It was only Ren Yaoqi who noticed that her standing posture was more straight than that of an ordinary woman

The old monk recited a Buddhist hymn and went up to speak to her. Xiao Jinglin listened quietly and then said nothing. She only nodded her head and came down.

It just happened that she was going to Ren Yaoqi’s side. Only when she got closer that Ren Yaoqi realized that Xiao Jinglin’s eyebrows were a pair of well-shaped sword eyebrows, a little darker than an ordinary woman’s eyebrows. It was only because her features were very soft, so her eyebrows did not make her look a rude, but instead gave her a special aura not found in ordinary women.

Noticing Ren Yaoqi’s gaze, Xiao Jinglin looked this way, her gaze lingering on Ren Yaoqi for a moment before she lifted her steps and walked over.

“Which family are you from?” Xiao Jinglin asked with an expressionless face, her tone was by no means cordial, though no malice could be heard either.

“The Ren Family of Baihe Town, Ren Yaoqi.” Ren Yaoqi smiled back.

Xiao Jinglin seemed to incline her head in thought and nodded.

Then under everyone’s surprised gaze, she took Ren Yaoyao period’s hand: “Come with me, I’d like to invite you to a cup of tea.”

With that, she pulled Ren Yaoqi and walked away.

The maidservants behind Ren Yaoqi froze for a moment and hurriedly followed.

Because they thought of Xiao Jinglin’s status and saw that Ren Yaoqi did not struggle, they did not dare to say anything.

Xiao Jinglin’s steps were not too big, but Ren Yaoqi had some difficulty keeping up with her.