Two old nuns who were sitting outside the main hall, sunbathing and dozing off, were startled awake by the sound of knocking on the door. Zhi Ping hastily got up and opened the door a crack: "Who is it?"

  But a young man in green clothes politely asked: "Excuse me, madam, is this Qingliang Temple?"

  Zhì Píng's good dream was disturbed, originally wanting to say that you look like a bookworm, can't you recognize characters? But seeing the young man's quiet and elegant face and his calm and elegant demeanor, this sentence naturally couldn't be said. He bowed and asked politely: "Buddha's mercy, this is indeed Qingliang Temple, may I ask where the donor comes from?"

  The young man returned the courtesy: "I, a humble student, have come from Mr. Zhu's place. I heard that there is an ancient stele in this rear hall, which is written very well. May I ask if it would be possible for you to arrange for me to see it?"

  Zhī Píng heard that he came from Mr. Zhū Lǎo's place, and it was to see the inscription on the tablet, not to soak in the hot spring. Suddenly, he became solemn and respectful: "The old nun has eyes but doesn't recognize Mount Tài, I'm so sorry. According to reason, the host is from Mr. Zhū Lǎo's place, no matter what, you should be allowed to enter and admire this ancient tablet. Unfortunately, today is not a good day..."

  The young man was surprised: "How is that? I see the temple gate is closed tightly, could it be that there's something going on and they're not opening the door?"

  Zhì Píng Dào: "There is a female donor inside reciting scriptures and chanting Buddha's name, she doesn't want to be disturbed. It would be troublesome for the donor to wait a bit or come back another day." Although he sighed and showed respect, there was not even half an intention of letting them in.

  "What kind of person is so overbearing?" The young servant was indignant, pulling out his purse. "The Buddhist temple welcomes all eight directions, who can't enter?! This temple wasn't built by her family, she can recite her scriptures and we can go see our ancient stele, it's none of her business. If you want incense money, we're not stingy."

  The young man hastily stopped the servant's impertinence, "Long life is not to be treated with disrespect!" He then bowed to Zhi Ping: "The servant was impertinent, Master, please do not blame him."

  "It's not strange, it's not strange." Zhi Ping said, "Monks and nuns live a simple life, relying on the charity of donors. Even in business, there is a principle of keeping promises. I had already agreed to this earlier and didn't dare let anyone else in. This female donor arrived early today, probably she will leave after another hour or so. If you are willing to wait, you can go for a walk in the back mountain. The scenery in the back mountain is beautiful, perhaps when you return, I'll be able to sweep the floor and receive guests."

  The young man heard this and looked up at the small mountain behind Qingliang Temple. He saw white pear blossoms and pink peach blossoms, clustered together in a beautiful sight. He also saw a river flowing from beside Qingliang Temple, winding its way into the mountains. He couldn't help but smile with delight. "With mountains, water, and flowers, the scenery can't be bad. Why not go for a stroll?" he said to himself. "Longshou, let's follow the river downstream." Zhìpíng chanted a Buddhist mantra as he watched the young man walk away, then closed the large gate tightly. At this time, the old women who were guarding the back hall of the Lin family were sitting at the back door, cracking melon seeds and drinking tea, chatting idly, occasionally glancing up at the walls around them, also feeling drowsy.

  In the side hall, Lychee and Longan sat listlessly by the warm spring pool, soaking their feet in the water, stirring up ripples, sunlight shining down through the transparent tiles on the roof, reflecting off the rippling water, making the entire side hall shine brightly. However, neither of them was in the mood to enjoy this lovely moment, occasionally exchanging a glance, seeing worry and fear in each other's eyes, as well as helplessness.

  The osmanthus's gaze fell on the white rattan chair beside her, where a set of cherry-red embroidered pear blossom satin spring clothes were stacked. She licked her lips anxiously: "Lychee, I'm so scared, what if something happens to the young lady?" Before she had even finished speaking, she herself let out two disdainful snorts, "As if the young lady would do anything!" Then, with a sobbing tone, she scolded Lychee, "It's all your fault! Why did you agree to the young lady? What if... what if... I'll see how you get out of this?"

  Lychee didn't say a word, she just lowered her eyelids and stared at the pool water.

  Guiyuan saw that she didn't respond, and got very angry. He suddenly pushed her hard, "It's all your fault! If the mistress finds out, I'll say you were the one who agreed to be with the young lady first."

  Lychee was so annoyed that she frowned and scolded, "If you weren't willing, you should have told the young lady at the time and stopped her firmly to fulfill your duty as a loyal servant. Why didn't you say anything then? Now you're afraid and complaining behind my back, trying to shift the blame onto someone else. Does that make sense? If I'm the main culprit, you're an accomplice! If I get twenty slaps, you'll get fifteen too! I have no choice but to hit you!"

  But the girl didn't listen to her at all, and she had already made up her mind to secretly follow Miao Miao to Qingliang Mountain to play. How else could she have prepared a change of clothes? Lychee had agreed, how dare she not agree? Miao Miao was getting more and more spoiled, if she didn't agree, she would be squeezed out. Guiliu thought about it more and more resentfully, her eyes reddened, and as soon as she opened her mouth, she was about to cry, "It's all because of that dead girl Miao Miao corrupting the young lady!"

  "Shut up," Litchi said in a low voice, "do you want to invite those women from outside in?"

  The osmanthus fruit had closed its mouth, but the tears continued to fall one by one, dropping into the steaming hot pool and creating a ripple. Lin Jingrong didn't know any of this, she was happily squatting on a rock in the quietest and narrowest part of the river, using a long willow branch with Miao Ya to vigorously splash the water, causing the water to become murky and the frightened fish to frantically escape downstream. Tie Er Niu had rolled up his pant legs high and was busily checking the net he had set up, not letting any clever fish slip through the uneven mesh.

  The little girl rolled up her pants and stood in the water, whipping willow branches with one hand and directing her brother with the other: "Hurry up! There's a fish about to get away! You're so stupid! I don't know how you wove this net, it's so loose even a frog could slip through. Are you really here to catch fish? There's another one over there! Geez, you're not as good as Dad at all! What a waste of those big cow eyes of yours!"

  Tie Er Niu was busy, but didn't forget to turn around and scold Miao Ya harshly: "Shut up! Will your father accompany you in your nonsense? If you call out again, come yourself!" He also sneaked a glance at Lin Jin Rong. The fourth young lady is really beautiful, even wearing coarse linen clothes, she looks much better than Miao Ya...

  Lin Jinrong was happily whipping the willow branches, occasionally glancing at the two siblings who were arguing, her face radiant with excitement and joy like a peach blossom, her eyes shining black, and her mouth never closing.

  It's not that there's no regret - she had the guts to climb over the wall, but didn't dare to take off her shoes and roll up her pant legs like Miao Yu did, and walk into the water. Although she hoped she could do so, she knew she couldn't. Tie Er Niu was Miao Yu's older brother, but also a male servant in her household. She couldn't, but that's exactly why she felt content to the extreme, happy to the point of bursting. This kind of happiness had never appeared in her dreams before, yet it was now unfolding vividly before her eyes - how could she not be happy? That little bit of regret, by comparison, was negligible.

  There were pear blossoms and peach petals floating down the river, bobbing up and down in the murky water. Lin Jingrong happily stretched out his hand to scoop them up: "You've been blocked for a long time, but I rarely get the chance to come out once, so let me have one turn."

  Miao Ya saw her talking to the flower petals and gave Tie Er Niu a look, meaning that Si Gu Niang was being strange again.

  This is elegance! Do you understand? You commoner! Country bumpkin! Tie Er Niu silently and fiercely scorned Miao Wa once, then lifted his head to see two people standing under a peach blossom tree not far away, staring foolishly in this direction. Especially the young man wearing a blue robe, who stared fixedly at Lin Jing Rong without blinking. Tie Er Niu was fed up. What kind of wild man is this, doesn't he understand etiquette? Staring at someone's daughter like that, it's simply a cultured degenerate! He shouted with a gloomy face: "Who's there? Sneaking around?"

  Miao Ya took a quick glance, hastily dropped his pants and looked up, then exclaimed in surprise: "How can there be such people in this kind of place? Did they walk out of a painting?"

  Lin Jinyong's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously looked over.

  Under the peach blossoms, Lu Xian quietly stood there, frowning and staring at her intensely.

  Miao Ya said that this place is quiet and rarely visited, how could he appear here? It's really a lingering ghost. Lin Jing Rong's willow branch fell into the river, mixed with peach blossoms and pear blossoms, drifting away, but was blocked by the fishing net, and was washed away by the river water, floating up and down.

  On the other side, Tie Er Niu had already landed on shore, his face gloomy as he walked towards the two men with a hatchet in hand, menacingly saying: "What are you staring at my girl for? Don't you know the rules? Keep looking and I'll dig out your eyes!"

  "Don't you dare!" The little servant behind Lu hastily said, "We are guests of the Zhu family, here to tour and have fun!" Then he pointed at Lin Jingrong, "And we are relatives of this young lady's family!"

  Tie Er Niu looked back at Lin Jian Rong with a skeptical expression, seeing that Lin Jian Rong was squatting on the stone with his eyes downcast and not refuting the statement. He immediately wilted but refused to give up, standing there staring fixedly at Lu Xian's master and servant with a pair of "cow eyes" as described by Miao Ya.

  "Fourth sister, how did you end up here? Where are Lychee and the others? Does Third Aunt know you're here?" Lu Xian slowly walked out and stood still by the riverbank not far from Lin Jingrong, frowning again at the ill-fitting coarse linen clothes on her body.

  Lin Jinyong stared at the moss on the stone under her feet, speechless. Since she had been seen by Lu Xian, no matter what she said, it was impossible to cover up, because the current situation had already exposed everything. The most practical thing to do now was to ask Lu Xian not to spread the word about this incident. But of all people, he was the one she least wanted to beg!

  Her silence obviously made Lu Jian very impatient and angry, raising his voice, "You can't deny that you are Lin Jian Rong, can you? How did you end up here? Where's Lao Zhi and the others? Why didn't they accompany you? Who are these two people?"

  "Hmm, a man like him would naturally disapprove of such an unruly woman. Lin Jinyong made up his mind in an instant and looked up at Lu Xian, 'That's right, it was me. What will you do, Second Uncle?'"

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