Chapter 489 - The Old Maid with Special Intentions
Chapter 489 The Old Maid with Special Intentions
Yujie asked around at the foot of the mountain before coming back. When she returned to the mountain and the carriage stopped, she jumped out of the carriage. When she was about to go inside, she was suddenly stopped by someone.
“Are you the servant girl of Fifth Miss?” An old maid stood in front of a carriage with a smile and asked Yujie while looking at her.
When Yujie went down the mountain, she changed her clothes and dressed up as a servant girl. She had not lived in Duke Xing’s Mansion for a long time, so few people knew her. Now it was two and a half years later, so fewer people could recognize her.
The old maid had seen Yujie before, but now she could only guess roughly.
“Which Fifth Miss?” Yujie frowned, took some things from the carriage and asked. The carriage was full of things.
“The Fifth Miss of our Duke Xing’s Mansion.” The old maid came over with a smile and reached out to help Yujie carry things.
Yujie reached out and pushed her away, and then looked her up and down with unkind eyes. “Who are you?”
It meant that she had found the right person. The old maid became happier and smartly said, “I’m Old Madam’s servant. I have something important to pass to Fifth Miss for Old Madam!”
“It is not convenient for our Miss to see people now. She needs to clear her heart to copy scriptures and pray for blessings!” Yujie refused. Everyone in the Yuhui Nunnery knew this.
“I won’t bother Fifth Miss to transcribe the Sutra. I just pass a message.” The old maid became more and more polite with a smile, as if she didn’t hear the refusal in Yujie’s words.
Yujie was silent for a moment, and then looked at the old maid again, looking very embarrassed.
“Copying the Sutra in front of the Buddha requires you to calm down. Miss was sincere to burn incense before copying it. I’m afraid that it’ll be bad if she is disturbed!”
“How could you say that? Fifth Miss copies the classics for the sake of the former heir of Duke Xing’s Mansion and Infanta Qinghua. But Old Madam is Fifth Miss’s grandmother. Even if the former heir and the infanta knew about it, they wouldn’t blame Fifth Miss.”
The old maid seemed to have prepared for this. As soon as she heard Yujie’s words, she immediately answered quickly and astutely.
These words made Yujie silent again. No matter who sent people here today, even if they were sent by Duke Xing, they couldn’t let Fifth Miss pause for a moment. However, Old Madam of Duke Xing’s Mansion was an elder, and the elder of the former heir of Duke Xing’s Mansion and Infanta Qinghua. It was reasonable for her to say so.
“You can only say one or two sentences!” Yujie warned as she looked up and down at the old maid.
“Don’t worry. There are only one or two sentences about Fifth Miss’s birthday.” The old maid smiled and her teeth could be seen but her eyes couldn’t be seen. So she nodded repeatedly.
Yujie suddenly thought of something. She picked up the things in her hands, and went inside. “Follow me!”
“Okay, there are so many things, and I will help you carry them!” The old maid reached out to help, but Yujie refused, “I can carry them, and these are not so many for me.”
As she spoke, she easily picked up the items that were packed on the ground and walked forward.
“Is Fifth Miss satisfied with living on the mountain? If she needs anything, she can just tell the people in the mansion. Old Madam wants us to do our best to satisfy Fifth Miss. Fifth Miss is now in mourning on the mountain, and Old Madam is also meditating in Buddha Hall in the manor. They both have the same mind!”
Seeing that Yujie didn’t want her to help, the old maid rolled her eyes, stepped forward, and began to gossip intimately.
“Is there a Buddha hall in the mansion?” Yujie asked. She had stayed with Shao Wanru in the Duke Xing’s Mansion for a few days, so she really didn’t know something about the Duke Xing’s Mansion.
“Yes, of course. We have it early. The Buddha Hall is not small and it occupied a large courtyard in our manor. Since the death of the former heir and the infanta, Old Madam has been sad. Every time she remembers the past of the former heir and the infanta, she can’t fall asleep and let go of her illness. The Duke was afraid that Old Madam was too sad, so he specially changed the former Buddha Hall into a Big Buddha Hall and changed the whole courtyard.”
The old maid sighed.
In fact, the Buddha Hall was not much bigger, and it was the ancestral hall in the mansion. But who would hate good words!
“Every time when Old Madam is in a bad mood or remembers the former heir and the infanta, she will go to the Buddha Hall. The Madam of Duke Xing specially invited some nuns to come over and preach for Old Madam!”
If these rich and powerful families had elders who believed in Buddhism, it would be common for them to set up a small temple. After all, the elders were old, so it was inconvenient for them to go out. Besides, it was not safe to go out. It was necessary to build a Buddha Hall for the elder to read scriptures and put some incense to make them rest assured.
However, it was rare to invite some nuns to come over.
On the one hand, these nuns had their own reputation, and it was not easy for people to invite them. On the other hand, it was really not a simple thing to invite a famous nun. They were afraid that they might invite a person without a good reputation and be laughed at by others in the end.
“Who was invited in the mansion?” Yujie, who was born in the nunnery, knew very well about it, so she asked calmly at the moment.
“The Pushan Nun of Yuhui Nunnery came before. At that time, Pushan Nun liked First Miss very much. And the First Miss also admired the art of painting of Pushan Nun. After the nun returned to the mountain, the First Miss followed her to the mountain to learn how to paint,” said the old maid.
This was not a secret in Duke Xing’s Mansion.
“Then who is it now?” Thinking of the rumors at the foot of the mountain, Yujie continued to ask.
“Now there’s no one, and we’re going to invite a famous nun to live in our mansion for a while. She hasn’t been invited yet!” The old maid’s attitude was very good, and she almost answered all the questions. She happily followed Yujie all the way, and then they arrived at the courtyard where the quiet room was when they were talking.
“Wait a minute, I’ll report it to Fifth Miss!” Yujie stood at the door and said.
“Okay, I’ll wait here.” The old maid nodded with a smile. After seeing Yujie go in with something, she looked around at the surroundings and recognized that this was the place where First Miss lived before. She could not help but have a trace of ridicule in her eyes. Sure enough, Fifth Miss took over First Miss’s place.
What did she mean by saying ‘cultivation in isolation’? It was obvious that she liked First Miss’s courtyard. So she was purposely making an excuse.
Yujie came out not long after entering. “Our Miss is copying a volume of scriptures. She tells you to wait a minute. When she finishes copying, she will call you in!”
“It’s my pleasure. It’s my duty!” The old maid nodded with a smile.
Yujie took a step back and closed the door in front of the old maid without hesitation. Then the old maid heard her footsteps walking inside and helplessly waited outside.
The old maid felt anxious when she waited for her, and the old woman had something to do. She looked at the sunset in front of her eyes. She was annoyed and anxious, but she did not dare to get angry. When she stood stiffly, the door finally opened. Yujie looked at the old maid with no expression and said, “Our Miss asks you to go in!”
She was just a poor girl. Why could she be so proud? The old maid was secretly scornful, but she did not show it on her face. She was still smiling as if she had just stood at the door and Shao Wanru asked her to come in to meet her.
“Thank you, Fifth Miss! Thank you, Fifth Miss!”
The old maid moved her legs which were almost stiff. She followed Yujie into the room. The door of the main room was locked tightly, so it seemed that no one was there. But the rest of the room had signs of activity, and it was not locked. It should have been used.
She carefully remembered everything she saw, and followed Yujie into the quiet room of First Miss before.
There was a girl sitting on the mat. When she saw the girl in front of her clearly, the old maid was so amazed that she almost couldn’t speak. In the old maid’s heart, First Miss was almost a fairy-like existence. The most beautiful woman in the world. This title was said to be the pride of all the servants in the Duke Xing’s Mansion.
But was this person in front of her really Fifth Miss?
At that time, Fifth Miss was still very young. Although she was beautiful, but for the servants of Duke Xing’s Mansion, they had a more beautiful First Miss. They didn’t think that Fifth Miss was amazing. No matter how beautiful she was, could she be as excellent as First Miss? Could she be as beautiful as First Miss?
However, the girl in front of her only wore a simple hairpin and a wisp of hair hanging casually by her ear. Under her long and curly eyelashes, her dark eyes were clear, but when she rolled her eyes, they seemed to be as clear as water. Her skin was as smooth as jade, and her lips were red. The light lavender clothes not only did not weaken her beauty, but also made her look more charming behind her simple and elegant face than usual.
She was naturally charming, but hidden behind her elegant and innocent behavior, which attracted other people’s attention at first glance. When they looked at her again, they became more and more amazed. Although First Miss was beautiful, the old maid felt that compared with Fifth Miss in front of her, the First Miss was inferior. She was afraid that the beauty of them would become clearly different when they stood together!
Seeing that the old maid was so amazed that she could not even speak, Yujie stretched out her hand and gently pulled the old maid’s sleeve.
Only then did the old maid come to her senses and hurried forward to greet him.
Shao Wanru waved her hand lightly. She looked down and her attention was focused on the pieces of paper beside her. These were the scriptures that she had copied just now. There were many complicated seal scripts like plum blossoms on them.
“What’s the matter of my grandmother?” Seeing that the old maid was slow to react, Shao Wanru raised her head and asked again. She frowned slightly and looked a little displeased.
“Fifth Miss, Old Madam wants to celebrate your birthday. It’s not a big one. It’s inconvenient for you to stay in the Yuhui Nunnery now. She just wants some Misses to go up the mountain to accompany you and ask you to get along well with them. After that, she asks them to stay in the Yuhui Nunnery with you to observe mourning for the former heir and the infanta for half a year!”
Half a year later, it was almost the appointed day for Shao Wanru to go back to her mansion.
Shao Wanru could turn down the idea of her birthday party, but it was not so easy to turn down the idea of keeping mourning for her father. Moreover, it was Old Madam who proposed it.
“Go back and report to Old Madam. Tell her that thank her for her kindness. My grandmother has made up her mind. She said that she would come to the Yuhui Nunnery and live in my courtyard temporarily. I will stay in First Miss’s courtyard. If several sisters come together, they may not be able to live in my courtyard. So I can’t quietly copy scriptures for my father and mother here.”
Shao Wanru had prepared for this, so she said calmly.
Old Madam suppressed her as an elder, so she had to use Rui’an Great Elder Princess. She had told Rui’an Great Elder Princess about this before because she was afraid that Duke Xing’s Mansion would do something bad to her.
“So what about the birthday?” Since Rui’an Great Elder Princess meant it, the old maid did not dare to say anything more, but could only ask the previous thing with a dry smile.
Today, she wanted to finish one thing in Yuhui Nunnery, no matter which one it was.