Chapter 66: Chapter 65: On the Mountain
Everything was ready; the carriage slowly departed from the Du Mansion, heading towards the outskirts of the city.
Du Yundi was riding a horse alongside the carriage. Du Yunluo lifted the curtain and winked at him, "Fourth Brother, we’re going out of the city. The country girls in the outskirts aren’t like the ones in the city, all reserved and composed. When they see you, a pale-faced scholar, they might just throw a sachet at you."
Du Yundi glared at her, "Nonsense! How can you talk such nonsense at such a young age? How many country girls have you even met!"
Hearing this, both of them were taken aback.
Du Yunluo was thinking of Shi Lian’er, who shamelessly schemed against her brother, though she didn’t have a sachet, she did have venomous fangs; Du Yundi thought of Princess An Ran, who had caused his sister to suffer a lot of gossip. Although she was a well-known noble lady in the capital, her actions were more outrageous than a country girl.
Running into such people was truly a grievance, the height of bad luck.
Both secretly felt indignant for each other.
Afraid that Du Yundi might notice her thoughts, Du Yunluo lowered the curtain and sat properly. Seeing that she wasn’t staring at him anymore, Du Yundi also relaxed a bit.
Mrs. Zhen only heard them laughing but had no idea that the siblings’ thoughts had turned elsewhere. She smiled and handed a pillow to Du Yunluo, telling her to rest for a bit, then said to Du Yundi outside, "It’s still quite cool now, but when the sun gets higher, you shouldn’t keep riding. Come rest in the carriage."
Du Yundi, being obedient, didn’t argue over such a small matter with Mrs. Zhen and agreed.
The carriage smoothly passed through the city gate.
Du Yundi handed his horse to Si Shui and jumped onto the carriage himself.
The curtain opened, and Du Yunluo looked outside, vaguely seeing the rolling Potuo Mountain. Amongst the lush greens of varying shades, countless golden roof corners peeked out, marking the numerous temples and monasteries built on the mountain.
Du Yunluo couldn’t accurately say how many temples were on Potuo Mountain. She only remembered that Fa Yin Temple was halfway up, occupying a vast area with flourishing incense, and the releasing pool in front of the main hall was where she first met Mu Lianxiao.
Mrs. Zhen pulled out a handkerchief for Du Yundi to wipe his face. Shui Yue opened the food box and handed it to Du Yundi.
There were shortbread, lily cake, and four-joy vegetarian pastries, all sorts of snacks stacked full.
Shui Yue smiled and said, "These were prepared in the kitchen before dawn, all fresh. Mr. Si should taste some."
Du Yundi took a piece of lily cake, and upon tasting, couldn’t help but frown, "It’s still this taste, sweet! Knowing that Fifth Sister was going out, they all added sugar like crazy."
Du Yunluo lifted her eyes and laughed, "Maybe the maid making the cake wasn’t fully awake and mixed up the flour and sugar, hm—"
Before she could finish her sentence, a piece of shortbread from Du Yundi’s hand had already been stuffed into her mouth.
Du Yunluo puffed her cheeks and chewed, glaring at Du Yundi indignantly.
"You should eat more and talk less," Du Yundi saw her cheeks puffed out roundly and couldn’t help but laugh, "If your words got back to the mansion, who knows what kind of chaos the kitchen would be in."
Du Yunluo was just bantering light-heartedly with Du Yundi, not intending to trouble anyone, so she didn’t bring it up again after hearing this.
After eating a piece of shortbread, Du Yunluo let Shui Yue add tea for rinsing her mouth and refused to try anything else.
Mrs. Zhen was quite surprised and asked, "Is it uncomfortable in the carriage?"
Du Yundi saw that his sister was in good spirits and laughed, "Mother, she refuses to eat because she wants to save room for vegetarian meals at the temple."
Mrs. Zhen clapped her hands and laughed, "You two, with your non-stop chattering."
"That’s not true!" Du Yunluo disagreed, wrapping her arm around Mrs. Zhen’s, "It’s only brother who’s like that, not knowing when to stop whether it’s talking or eating."
Amidst laughter and chatter, the carriage stopped halfway up the mountain. Going forward, the mountain road became rugged, and it required a sedan chair to continue up.
Jin Ling got down from another carriage behind, swiftly setting up the footstool.
Du Yundi jumped down from the carriage. Mrs. Zhen personally helped Du Yunluo put on a veiled hat before she got down, supported by Shui Yue.
The sedan chairs were already arranged. Du Yunluo got off the carriage and into the sedan chair. Perhaps due to not resting well the previous night, within a quarter of an hour, she was already feeling dizzy and swollen from the jolting.
She held on until the sedan chair finally stopped, and quickly asked Jin Ling to help her down. Taking deep breaths, she slowly recovered.
Looking up at the mountain gate, the white jade carvings bore the words Fa Yin Temple attributed to an ancestor emperor bestowing them a hundred years ago. The vigorous brushwork was carefully studied by Du Yunluo with her gaze.
By the roadside, Nanny Zhao said to Mrs. Zhen, "Ma’am, everything’s been arranged in the temple. Shall we go to burn incense first, or rest in the guest room for a bit?"
"Since everything’s arranged, let’s go burn incense first," Mrs. Zhen supported herself with Nanny Zhao’s hand, "There are many devotees, let’s not delay each other."
Fa Yin Temple was one of the best-known temples on Potuo Mountain, and even had a bit of favor in front of the Holy Emperor. Unless a noble from the palace arrived, even the owners of top-ranked mansions couldn’t close the door to other visitors, let alone ordinary officials, who could only hope for some peace when making a wish in the hall.
Therefore, Mrs. Zhen didn’t want to delay. On the way up, there were voices constantly outside the sedan chair, showing how bustling the temple was. If they dawdled, it would delay others.
There was a curtained area for receiving female guests beside the path. Du Yunluo followed Mrs. Zhen inside to cleanse her face and hands, tidy her hair and clothes, and then went with Du Yundi towards the main hall.
They were surrounded by maids and nannies, and Mrs. Zhen didn’t allow Du Yunluo to look around recklessly. Luckily, her veiled hat allowed her to roll her eyes and glance.
However, it was as crowded here as she remembered, and Du Yunluo’s height was only average among the girls, let alone considering there were many male devotees, making it hard to see far.
Outside the Great Heroic Hall, two Guest Monks were waiting.
Mrs. Zhen performed a Buddhist ritual and entered the hall, kneeling before the golden statue of the Buddha.
Du Yundi and Du Yunluo quickly followed, kneeling on her left and right.
Mrs. Zhen murmured softly in prayer. Du Yunluo caught some vague words, nothing more than wishing for family peace, Du Yunru’s post-marriage stability, Du Yundi’s academic progress, and for her own wishes to come true.
She asked for everything, except anything for herself.
Du Yunluo felt a sharp pang in her heart; her mother was always like this, putting everything about them close to her heart, but always forgetting about herself.
With closed eyes and lowered head, reciting sutras was too familiar for Du Yunluo. Previously, it was for peace of mind, but now she hoped all her wishes could be fulfilled, adding more sincerity to her prayers.
After worshiping the Buddha, they went around the back to pay respects to Guanyin.
Mrs. Zhen, according to Old Mrs. Xia’s intention, added oil lamps and donated to the temple’s funds.
The merit book was carefully inscribed with the name of the Du Mansion by a young monk, who then recited a line of "Amitabha Buddha."
When the rituals were over, Mrs. Zhen didn’t linger in the main hall and was guided by a Guest Monk towards the guest room.
Passing through corridors, Du Yunluo caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. Her heart skipped, and she swiftly turned her head, but with so many devotees around, how could she possibly find the person she wanted to see?
Seeing this, Mrs. Zhen softly asked her in the guest room, "Nannan, why are you so distracted?"
Startled, Du Yunluo turned her head and said, "Mother, where is the releasing pool? I want to release the carp and turtle now, lest the sun gets high and they can’t survive in the bucket."
