Chapter 30: Visiting Hanshan Temple and Maple Bridge on a Spring Day (Part 2)

  Du Wan's personality is quite refreshing, somewhat like a northern beauty. Later, Daiyu heard from Yanran that Du Wan's mother was a native of the capital city, and her maternal family were three generations of high-ranking officials who had gained the emperor's favor.

  Du Wan inherited her mother's temperament and had a very good reputation among the ladies in Suzhou, everyone was willing to associate with her.

  Du Wan was delighted to have met Daiyu and was curious how she had not known about such an extraordinary girl from the water town, despite having lived in Suzhou for so long. Du Wan was overjoyed and insisted on becoming sworn sisters with Daiyu, taking her hand in hers.

  Yanran and her three sisters were sitting there leisurely, "You're here again, scaring Daiyu. When Zhiyuan brother finds out, he won't let you off the hook! By the way, how did you end up at Hanshan Temple? I remember your family doesn't really believe in this sort of thing."

  Du Wan listened to Yan Ran's words, and her previously excited expression suddenly changed, as if she had been struck by frost, and she sat back in her chair with a sigh.

  "Never mind, my mother is ill, I came to pray for blessings for my mother."

  Yanran and others looked at each other, "What? Just two days ago when we went to your house with our mother, we saw Du's wife was fine. How could it be..."

  "Alas, this is a long story, and there's no outsider here, Daiyu is indeed my sworn sister."

  Duan Wan pulled Daiyu to sit beside her.

  "She sighed and said: 'You all know what's going on in our family, it's all because of that cousin of mine causing trouble!'"

  Daiyu looked confused, so Duanwan said: "My uncle's family has only one legitimate daughter who is weak and sickly from childhood. It's not that I'm gossiping as a junior, but my aunt somehow heard that the Taoist fairy can protect her daughter, and she actually became a nun and started practicing Buddhism. That's why my father dislikes this kind of thing the most. Today it was only because my brother and I begged him hard that he agreed to let us come out."

  Yanran also said to Daiyu, "You haven't seen her cousin, a good girl who insists on talking about Taoism and emptiness every day. Later, when Madame Du saw that her parents had passed away, she kindly wanted to take her home to live with her, but she said, 'The Hou Mansion is a noble gate, it must be used to oppress people, I won't go.' Madame Du was so angry that she fell ill as soon as she got home."

  Yanran said up to here, and asked Du Wan in surprise: "Could it be that this time again your cousin Miao Yu has gotten into some kind of trouble?"

  "It's not, is it?! After my uncle and aunt left, my father personally went to the Taoist temple to pick up my cousin. You all know how much my father dislikes Taoist priests and nuns, but he still went for her sake. But even so, he couldn't bring my cousin back. Yesterday, my mother went to the prefect's wife's house to add dowry for their daughter, and it was only then that she found out from the prefect's wife that my cousin and her master had left for Beijing three days ago. My mother came home and fell ill, and my father was furious. You say, is there such a person?!"

  Du Wan was furious and couldn't be consoled, so everyone rushed to comfort her.

  Daiyu had never met Du Wan before, but she liked her sister's true nature and hurriedly poured a cup of fragrant tea for Du Wan.

  Du Wan smiled slightly and took a sip, "Still my Daiyu sister is considerate."

  Du Wan's eyes rolled around and she asked with a smile: "Has Daiyu not promised to marry someone yet? I have an older brother, a talented and handsome man, who is..."

  Daiyu didn't wait for Du Wan to finish, and in embarrassment hid behind Yanran. Fortunately, at this time, Lao Yu was downstairs drinking tea.

  Yanran protected Daiyu and glared at Du Wan with annoyance.

  "I'm telling you, you're getting more and more out of tune, hurry up and say something serious."

  Duan Wan saw Daiyu and felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that her previous words had made the young girl blush. She quickly changed the subject, "Cough, let's talk seriously. My mother was in a bad mood yesterday, but when she thought about her niece running off to Beijing, she didn't think it was a big deal. She just wanted someone to bring her back. If she really wants to become a nun and practice Buddhism, we can build a temple in our estate."

  Daiyu listened to the general idea on one side, and also understood seven or eight parts. The young lady of a noble family became a nun with her hair shaved off and went to Beijing with her master without saying goodbye to her relatives at home. Aunt still learned about her niece's affairs from others, no wonder this Mrs. Du had a fire in her heart.

  It's said that in Suzhou City, there are many people who eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures. Since Hanshan Temple and Lingyan Temple are nearby, these young Taoist nuns often follow their older masters to the homes of wealthy families in Suzhou to beg for food. After all, monks also need to eat!

  Miaoyu's master was a man of wide connections, often visiting the ladies and young misses to pay his respects. As Miaoyu was a talented and beautiful young lady, he would sometimes take her along with him. However, Miaoyu had a proud and aloof personality, which made it difficult for her to get along with others, unlike her sister Du Wan. After several encounters, the young ladies from the noble families in Suzhou were no longer willing to associate with her, as who would want to be ridiculed without reason?

  Du Wan and several girls from the Dongping Hou's family were on good terms with each other and spoke freely without reserve.

  "Our family has never treated her unfairly. After Eldest Uncle passed away, all those valuable antiques were sent to her, and one of them was even a heirloom of our family."

  Su Jia knew about this, the last time she heard the young lady from the Zhi Fu family say that when she went to the Taoist temple to donate incense money, Miao Yu had entertained her with a Cheng Huang cup. "I know, I've heard that your cousin is very generous, others go to drink tea and are treated with Cheng Huang cups. No wonder she said that rich and noble families, she would never go again, it turns out that these things were considered mundane objects."

  Daiyu was very fond of this newly acquainted Du Wan, so she hastily changed the subject to divert her attention. Sure enough, Du Wan's temper came and went quickly.

  Her mind was filled with thoughts, and she smiled secretly as she glanced at Daiyu. Daiyu looked clearly, and thought of Du Bao's teasing words just now, making her even more embarrassed.

  Everyone finished their lunch, and as the sky was getting late, Yanran Du Wan and others were also afraid of going home late, and the elders at home would worry, so they called the maid to invite a few young masters next door. Unexpectedly, the little maid came back to report: "Several ladies, the young master Zhiyuan next door met a fellow apprentice brother and is currently teaching lessons there, please ask the ladies to wait for a moment."

  A few people listened and had no choice but to sit back in their seats. Daiyu pitied her brother's exhaustion and wanted to go take a look, but she also knew that it was not proper according to etiquette.

  Jing Qi was still young, and after waiting for a while, she became impatient. She was only eleven or twelve years old, an age where she couldn't sit still. "I say that Zhiyuan Gege's personality is too good, he tells everyone who comes to ask about his studies in great detail," she said. "Those people also knew that Zhiyuan Gege would be taking the imperial examination next year, but they still went to bother him. Why are they like this?"

  Yanran and Su Jia scolded their sister after hearing the two busy people. About half an hour later, Zhiyuan and others came to pick up several young ladies. Daiyu saw clearly that her brother's face didn't look good, could it be that they had a fight? She looked at the son of Duke Dongping again, who also had a serious face.

  Jiang Qi had just been chattering away, but when she saw her brother's expression, she immediately fell silent.

  The three parties got on their horses separately, and this mighty procession was of course much larger than when they came. Dozens of horse-drawn carriages carried the crowd straight to Suzhou City...

  P.S: I've been lazy lately and haven't posted any ads! The number of clicks has been decreasing, last week there were still 6,000, but this week it's less than 2,000, it's really sad~~~⊙﹏⊙b sweat