190 Thief
Yu Youyao snuggled into her grandmother’s arms and whispered, “Grandmother, I’ll treat you well.”
Old Madam Yu’s eyes welled up, and she smiled. “The beeswax is one of the seven treasures of Buddhism. It is spiritual, and it has been used to worship the Buddha for ten years. It has a Buddhist nature. Wear it well and be good in the future.”
Yu Youyao nodded.
Old Madam Yu brought Yu Youyao to the Lamp House.
The seven-story Lamp House looked more like a lighthouse.
An old monk with a hunched back held an oil lamp and led them into the building.
The light in the Lighthouse was dim, and the circular wooden stairs lasted for so many stories that one couldn’t see the end of it. When stepping on it, the soft creaking sound made it seem even more desolate.
Yu Youyao held the sandalwood box and followed the old monk all the way up to the fifth floor. She walked around for most of the way before entering one of the lamp rooms. The tall Thousand Hand Buddha held a lotus lamp in each hand. The green flames emitted a faint light.
The old monk did not say anything along the way as he led them into the small lamp room.
The lamp room was not big, and they only relied on Madam Xie’s lamp light.
Old Madam Yu’s expression was indescribably complicated. She turned to look at her granddaughter. “Go!”
Yu Youyao nodded. After adding oil to her mother’s lamp, she knelt in front of the meditation cushion and opened the sandalwood box she had brought. Inside were the Buddhist scriptures she had copied recently. She threw the Buddhist scriptures into the brazier one by one, and the flames swept up the thin paper, turning it into ashes in an instant.
Yu Youyao clasped her hands together and closed her eyes to read a passage from the Book of Karmic Difference. “I used my sincere heart to create a lantern that can illuminate the world like a lamp…”
After reciting the scripture, Yu Youyao stroked the longevity lock on her chest and sat on the meditation cushion in a daze. Her eyelashes fluttered, and tears fell from her eyes. “Mother, I hope that we can continue our mother-daughter relationship in the next life.”
Old Madam Yu had also finished reciting a passage of scriptures. She brought Yu Youyao down the stairs. “I’m going to Master Hui Neng’s meditation room to listen to the meditation. I’ll get Nanny Liu to send you back to your room first.”
Yu Youyao shook her head. “Grandmother can’t do without Nanny Liu serving her. I heard that the Precious Peace Temple has the Bodhisattva of Wishes. I wanted to make a wish there, and I will ask Sister Qing Xiu to accompany me.”
Old Madam Yu thought for a moment. “That’s fine too. It’s just that there are many people in the temple today. If we bring two more old maids along, we still can’t be alone for a while.”
The old maids who followed the carriage were all burly and strong. Even men could not compare to them.
Although the Precious Peace Temple was a peaceful place in the Buddhist Sect, and it was also stable with the protection of Arhats, there had also been incidents of thieves entering the temple and hurting people a few years ago. It was better to bring more people along.
Yu Youyao nodded obediently. “Grandmother, don’t worry. After making my wish, I’ll return to my room and won’t stay outside.”
Qing Xiu called someone over. Old Madam Yu was worried and carefully instructed two old maids to follow closely before letting Nanny Liu help her to the meditation room.
The two old maids followed behind Yu Youyao. They did not get too close, but their eyes were fixed on Eldest Miss.
After walking for a while, Yu Youyao saw a Bodhi tree towering not far away. Its branches and leaves were filled with red silk that fluttered in the wind. It was a spectacular sight.
It was said that this Bodhi tree had been planted here in the previous dynasty and had a history of more than a thousand years.
There was a rockery beside the Bodhi tree. Strange stones were piled up and there were many weird barriers. It was originally an excellent scene, but when Yu Youyao saw it, she felt a little breathless.
She covered her pounding heart as a blurry image suddenly appeared before her eyes.
A tall and strong man was holding a large saber that was stained with blood. Under the bright daylight, the bright blade was so dazzling that she couldn’t even open her eyes.
She panicked and shouted, “Father…”
Immediately, a pair of bloodshot eyes looked at her. Yu Youyao’s blood immediately turned cold, and she woke up with a jolt.
Seeing that she did not look too good, Chun Xiao was a little worried. “Young Miss, what’s wrong?”
Yu Youyao took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’m fine.” Thinking about the blurry image from before, she felt a sense of déjà vu. However, when she thought about it carefully, she couldn’t remember anything. She turned to Chun Xiao and asked, “This place looks familiar. Have I been here before?”
Chun Xiao looked back and saw two old maids following her at a distance. She nodded. “Four years ago, on the day of the Buddhist Festival, Young Miss also came to the temple with Old Madam. At that time, Third Miss had just recovered from her illness, and First Madam had also brought her along to pray for blessings. For some reason, Eldest Miss and Third Miss had an argument and ran out alone.”
At first, Old Madam did not allow them to talk about it, but many years had passed since then. Now that Young Miss had taken the initiative to ask about it, there was nothing she could not say.
Yu Youyao vaguely remembered that there was such a thing, but she couldn’t remember the details. She had a good memory of her childhood and remembered everything clearly when she was four or five years old. Why didn’t she remember this?
At the mention of this, Chun Xiao revealed a look of fear. “You don’t know this, but at that time, a thief entered the Precious Peace Temple. I heard that he was a vicious and wanted criminal. He even injured someone in the temple, making Old Madam anxious.”
A thief? This matched the memory that she had suddenly recalled. Even in the blurry image, she could feel that the man was very fierce. There was even blood on the knife. He must have hurt someone.
“… I searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find Young Miss. Old Madam was furious and scolded Eldest Madam harshly. She said that Eldest Madam didn’t take good care of Young Miss and caused her to disappear. As a mother, she even scolded Third Miss.”
However, Yu Youyao did not remember anything. “How did they find me later?”
Chun Xiao looked relieved. “It was a monk from the temple who was sweeping the area. He found you at the rockery beside the Bodhisattva of Wishes. At that time, you had injured your head and lost a lot of blood. You fainted on the ground. Only Old Madam, Nanny Liu, and I knew about this. Old Madam was worried that you knocked into the thief that rushed over, so she couldn’t let anyone know. Hence, she instructed the monks in the temple to not let the servants know. Even First Madam and Third Miss didn’t know about this. They only thought that Eldest Miss had hit her head because she was playful.”
She was the young mistress of a wealthy family. Now that she was involved with a thief, no matter what, this issue should be kept secret.
Yu Youyao frowned, feeling that something was amiss. “Why don’t I remember this? I was almost six years old then, and I was also at the age where I could remember things. I should remember this after what happened.”
Chun Xiao explained, “At that time, Miss was still young and suffered quite a shock. You also injured her head and lost a lot of blood. When you returned to the residence, you had a high fever that lasted for most of the night. You were so anxious that you couldn’t remember much about it when you woke up. The doctor said that you were too young and had forgotten some bad things in your shock. It didn’t matter that much, and Old Madam didn’t let us mention it again.”
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