Chapter 25: Huguo Temple (Part 2)

  Getting off the car, Chen Lan saw that Chen Yan seemed to be completely unaware of the quarrel just now, and wanted to remind him a few words, but finally endured it. After all, this is not at home or in the car, there are outsiders around. So, seeing the acquaintance monk come up to talk, she just responded vaguely and perfunctorily, then followed them inside.

  The temple was first built in the Yuan Dynasty and rebuilt during the reign of Taizu, who gave it the name "Huguo" (Protecting the Country). Because of this origin, the temple has always been prosperous with incense and fire. The Chen family of Yangning Hou alone spends no less than several thousand taels of silver each year on lanterns and other incense money. Although Chen Lan does not believe in Buddhism, she doesn't want to contradict her previous self who was known for being devout in Buddhism, so she has to bow when seeing the Buddha. By the time she reached the back hall to offer incense to her deceased mother's spirit tablet, she already had a sore waist and back.

  On the side, Chen Yan has already begun to pray sincerely: "Mother, you must bless me and my sister. Let me grow up to be a great success, become a high-ranking official, and marry a good husband for my sister... When my sister was unconscious before, I really hated myself to death, if it wasn't for me falling into the water..."

  When she heard the little guy talking more and more nonsense, Chen Lan really wanted to slap him on the head. In the end, when he muttered about the scene where she was unconscious in bed before, her heart softened again. No matter what, the woman who had sacrificed her life to save her brother was already gone, and she had taken over the life that should have belonged to her. She couldn't do anything else, but taking care of her brother for her was something she had to do. So, she silently clasped her hands together with sincerity and made another promise to the memorial tablet.

  After worshiping, the sister and brother couldn't help but offer a bag of incense money. The monk who knew the guest thought it was a common exchange, took it without looking at it, and handed it to a small novice monk beside him. He then led them to the back of the temple to admire the plum blossoms. Chen Lan had originally planned to take advantage of this rare outing to stroll around the temple for a while, but because she saw Su Shi's siblings at the mountain gate of the Protecting Country Temple earlier, her heart was greatly alarmed. Therefore, even though she knew that this opportunity to go out was hard to come by, she still declined the proposal and asked if she could borrow a place to rest for a while.

  The little request was naturally not refused by the monk, and he hurriedly led the two out of the hall to the temple's quarters. As soon as they stepped down from the steps, Chen Lan saw Su Shi and his sister approaching from a distance with four people in total. Just as he was about to think of a way to avoid them, Su Yi got into an argument with the young novice monk who was blocking their way. This time, it's unclear whether Su Yi was persuaded by his sister Su Wan'er or what, but fortunately, they didn't make a big scene. Su Yi just said a few words and then turned around and stormed off, while Su Wan'er brought her maid over to them.

  "Mr. Chen, Miss Chen."

  Seeing Su Wan'er come forward with a smile and bowing, Chen Lan had to also open his mouth and call out "Su Niang".

  Upon hearing this, Su Nang's face suddenly turned red, and she immediately curtsied and said: "Just now at the mountain gate, thanks to Chen Gongzi's kindness in helping us, my brother and I were able to come in and offer incense. Now we are about to return, so I came to thank you. Our family has just arrived in the capital, and my brother's temper is a bit hasty, please don't mind it."

  Chen Lan always felt that today's encounter was a bit unexpected, so Su Wanyi, although more polite than her brother, thought it better to have one less thing on her mind, and simply smiled and nodded: "It's just a small matter, Miss Su is being too polite."

  She cast a sideways glance at Chen Yan, seeing him standing there listlessly looking around, and Chen Lan had an idea. Since the servants and other men were waiting in the Daxiong Treasure Hall, she instructed Xiangfang and Hongluo to take Chen Yan to the meditation room with the monk who received guests, and then turned her attention to Su Wan'er. She saw that this young girl was wearing a lotus-patterned blouse with a high collar, and a light green skirt made of silk from Hunan Province, dressed in simple yet elegant attire, and her demeanor was also quite composed, but those eyes were extremely lively, and even when Chen Yan left, she had cast a stealthy glance over, which made Su Wan'er feel somewhat vigilant.

  She sized up Su Wan'er as the latter was also carefully looking at her.

  Su Wan'er saw Chen Lan wearing a light brown velvet jacket with autumn fragrance, white gauze pleated skirt, and an old honey-colored woolen cloak outside. It looked simple and unpretentious, completely different from Chen Yan's brand new finery. She thought about what her grandmother had reminded her of the day before, and she felt even more convinced that she was right. With a smile, she chatted for a couple of sentences before saying: "Sister Chen, although I'm new to the capital, I've already heard about your reputation - not only are you filial and fraternal, but also skilled in needlework, which I truly admire. If you have some free time now, I really want to learn from you."

  At first, it was still Mr. Chen and Miss Chen, but now that they're older, she directly called her sister without knowing her age. Even Chen Lan himself, who was used to building relationships and socializing, couldn't help but feel a little surprised. The story of her risking her life to save her brother had spread far and wide, but it shouldn't have reached the point where everyone in town knew about it. Moreover, how would an unrelated outsider know about the needlework of a lady from a respectable family? So, she made some polite conversation for two sentences, then took advantage of Su Wan'er's distraction to give Yun'er a signal with her eyes.

  Yun'er had already lost her patience and said with a hint of a smile: "Miss Su, I'm really sorry. My young master and mistress are tired and were just about to go to the pavilion to rest."

  Su Wan'er originally thought that Chen Lan was a gentle and courteous person, easy to talk to. Who would have thought that before the master had even spoken, a maid suddenly jumped out, and her face immediately became somewhat stiff. She then pretended not to see Yun'er and forced a smile, saying: "Since sister is tired now, why don't I visit you another day? After all, our family and the Hou Mansion are related..."

  If she had said something else, it would have been fine, but she had to mention visiting the Hou residence. Yun'er immediately thought of how this person had just been chatting with her family's young master outside the mountain gate, and now was repeatedly bringing up the Hou residence to elevate herself, clearly not having good intentions, and in her sarcastic words were hidden a few small knives.

  "Miss Su, forgive me for speaking the truth. The relatives of the Hou Mansion are at least eighty or ninety in number. If anyone comes to visit, they all want to see the master. How can we manage? Miss Su knows that our young lady is filial and good at needlework, so she should know that the Hou Mansion is currently busy and our young lady is too busy to receive external guests. Besides, I am a lifelong servant of the Hou Mansion, and in all these years, I have never heard Old Master Hou mention any relatives from the Su family."

  Chen Lan thought that Yun'er's words were sharp and pleasant, but when she saw Su Wan'er's face turn from red to green, from green to white, and finally look like she was about to cry, she hastily threw a glance at Yun'er and then lightly scolded: "Yun'er, even if you don't have manners at home, you can't be so reckless with your words outside!"

  Yun'er reluctantly backed down with a dissatisfied look on her face.

  Chen Lan smiled and said: "Yun'er has spoiled me, speaking without sparing anyone. If there's any offense, please don't mind, Miss Su."

  Su Wan'er took out her handkerchief and wiped her eyes, then forced a smile: "Miss Chen said something wrong, it was my brother who shouldn't have yelled and made a scene, so others would misunderstand. However, I'd like to tell you, sister, that my grandmother and Old Master Hou indeed recognized each other as relatives. At that time, Old Master Hou went to Gansu Province, coincidentally, my great-grandfather was also an official in Gansu Province, they met a few times, after checking the family tree, they acknowledged their common ancestry, and Old Master Hou even left a piece of jade with my grandmother..."

  She didn't want to listen carefully, let alone understand. She only knew that the appearance of Su family siblings at the Temple of Protection today was a bit too coincidental. She covered her mouth and coughed violently several times, interrupting Su Wan'er's pitiful plea, then pretended to lean on the nearby Hu Jiao, and apologetically smiled: "Sorry, I'm not feeling well, can't stand the wind, so I've always been cooped up at home, with few visitors, even if they're relatives, I really can't recognize them."

  She spoke while coughing, and several maids around her were quick to respond, with Hu Jiao stepping forward to help her catch her breath. Su Mu even took out a hot tea from the thermos she had brought along and handed it over. After bustling about for a while, Su Mu finally stepped forward and bowed to Su Wan'er, saying: "Miss Su, my mistress was seriously ill just before the New Year's, and today's ceremony has left her somewhat unable to hold on. We borrowed a quiet room from the temple to rest. I'm really sorry, but we have to go first."

  P.S: There are a lot of essences every week, I will try to add them all for everyone's bonus, and please vote and recommend more, this is a good way to increase the number of essences ^_^