Earlier than Shen Miao expected, on the second day, Mo Qing arrived at the Shen Mansion's gatehouse to serve as a guard. Previously, Shen Miao had arranged for Xiang Ye to bribe the gatehouse with silver, claiming that Mo Qing was a distant relative from afar. Since this guard position was divided into several levels, Mo Qing was assigned to be the outermost guard, so he didn't think much of it and stayed on.

  Time flew by and it was already three days later.

  Three days later, early in the morning, Ren Yuanyun had everything ready and asked Xianglan to instruct Shen Miao on some matters. Before setting off, everyone also went to Rongjing Hall.

  Mrs. Shen said something seriously, roughly that everyone should follow the rules and be more disciplined. Normally they don't go to Wolong Temple for incense burning, just because it's a bit out of the way. Although it's also famous, the incense is not as prosperous as the nearby city. But I don't know why this time they want to give up the near and seek the far.

  Shen Qing's face lit up with a smile, and he said in a loud voice that he would definitely pay his respects to the Buddha, as well as to Old Lady Shen and Shen Yuanbai. Old Lady Shen was pleased to hear this, and her attitude towards Shen Qing also softened considerably.

  This time, she also brought some personal guards to protect Shen Manor's young lady along the way. Shen Miao stood in front of the carriage but didn't move, and Ruan Yun frowned and asked, "Why isn't Fifth Sister leaving?"

  "I just think that the guard is a bit thin, in case of an accident, Second Aunt might as well send some more guards to follow." Shen Miao said.

  Ren Yuanyun furrowed her brow, she hadn't expected Shen Miao to bring up this question at this time. But today everything had already been arranged properly, Ren Yuanyun smiled and said: "Fifth sister, we really can't bring too many people. We can't possibly take all of the Shen manor's guards away, there are too many, it would be more inconvenient instead, let's just leave it like this."

  Shen Miao shook her head resolutely and refused to budge.

  Shen Yue and Shen Qing saw this, Shen Yue didn't say anything, but Shen Qing was unhappy in her heart, and followed up by saying: "Our Shen family isn't some imperial household, what kind of grand procession does Fifth Sister want? Even Eldest Uncle doesn't make such a fuss when he goes out."

  She then took out Shen Xin and said, as soon as the words fell, Shen Miao looked at her with a glance. That glance was light and floating, but it made Shen Qing suddenly feel cold all over his body.

  "Add two more." Shen Miao pointed at the two guards by the gatehouse: "Those two will do."

  Shen Miao didn't bring many people, but only added two more. Ren Yuanyun breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, she didn't want to waste too much time on this matter. Two people couldn't affect the overall situation, so she put on a difficult expression and said: "Fifth sister, you really are... never mind, what you say, Second Aunt has always indulged you, do as you please." She ordered Xianglan beside her: "Go and call those two servants over, let them follow us out of the city."

  "Thank you, Auntie." Shen Miao's lips curled up into a smile.

  Jian Ranyun finally followed Shen Miao's idea, Shen Yue looked at Shen Miao with some curiosity, but Shen Qing stomped her foot heavily, glared at Shen Miao and turned to leave.

  After getting on the horse-drawn carriage, Shen Qing deliberately didn't speak to Shen Miao. Although Shen Yue spoke to Shen Miao, her words were laced with a hint of probing. Shen Miao was too lazy to respond and only gave perfunctory answers. On the other hand, Ren Yuanyun was in high spirits throughout the journey, chatting with Shen Miao about trivial matters and appearing extremely affectionate. If it were under normal circumstances, Shen Miao would probably have been filled with admiration for this seemingly kind aunt of hers. However, now that she had seen through her true nature, every move Ren Yuanyun made was filled with ugly, pretentious behavior, which was really not worth looking at in the eyes of Shen Miao, who had grown accustomed to seeing all sorts of people in the imperial palace.

  Set out in the morning and arrived at the destination, Yangjifeng, until late afternoon.

  Wolong Temple is located on the mid-slope of Yangjing Peak, with high mountains and deep valleys. If it were a spring day to hike here, it would be full of birds singing and flowers blooming everywhere, with lush branches and leaves, and a pleasant scenery. However, now that it's early autumn, the grass and trees are withering, adding a few degrees of desolation.

  Because Yangjifeng is too far from the capital, the road to Wolong Temple is not easy to walk, so on ordinary days, people who come to worship are generally not coming here, except for those very devout ladies. Shen Miao and others got off the carriage and arrived at the gate of Wolong Temple, where they saw that outside the magnificent temple, there was only a small monk sweeping the floor, looking very deserted.

  "It's quiet here." Shen Yue chuckled softly.

  Shen Qing wrinkled up her nose, seemingly wanting to complain a few words, but suddenly thought of something and forcibly restrained herself.

  Ren Yuanyun said: "Don't look at this place being quiet, but I've heard that the Buddha here is very efficacious. When you burn incense later, be sure to be sincere in your heart."

  That little monk saw the arrival of people, and got up to greet them. Except for the family members who were moving things down from the carriage at the back, Ren Yuanyun and others followed the little monk who led the way into the temple.

  The deeper I walked into the temple, the more I felt that this Wofang Temple was indeed a place with few people. Not to mention pilgrims, even monks were not too many. The temple was spacious, which made it feel empty and desolate. If one stayed here at night, they might find it quite frightening.

  When they met the abbot, he assigned rooms to several people. Originally, each girl had a room in the nunnery, which were quite close together. When it was Shen Miao's turn, a slightly younger middle-aged monk standing beside the abbot said: "I'm really sorry, but there are no more rooms available for girls on the south side of the building. If you don't mind, would you like to go to the north side instead?"

  Everyone stared at her, Shen Miao smiled: "Sorry, I mind a lot."

  "Wu Jie," Ren Yuanyun scolded in a low voice: "This is a Buddhist sacred place, where can you be so willful."

  "It's just a bit strange," Shen Miao said calmly: "The incense doesn't seem to be very prosperous, how come the building is still fully occupied?"

  The middle-aged monk also furrowed his brow, probably because he had never seen such a self-righteous young lady who dared to comment on the temple without hesitation. But Shen Miao was different from those spoiled young ladies who would shout and scold; her calm and reasonable demeanor made it difficult for others to refute her words.

  "The little donor doesn't know, although there are few incense guests, there are many monks in the temple." The old abbot smiled slightly and explained to Shen Miao.

  "But I live alone and it's really scary, what can I do?" she asked.

  "This......" Ren Yuanyun comforted: "Fifth sister, you just make do for one night, if you can get through this night, the Buddha will see your sincerity, and tomorrow when you burn incense, everything will go as you wish."

  If it were in the past, Shen Miao would have been coaxed into giving in upon hearing these words. After all, she was someone who could be swayed by gentle persuasion but not by forceful means. Moreover, with Fu Xiu Yi still in her heart, she might even be willing to suffer this small loss for the sake of fulfilling her wish to be with him, as if it would bring her closer to Buddha.

  But now it's different.

  Ren Yuanyun also had a headache, not knowing why Shen Miao was becoming more and more stubborn. In the past, whatever she said, Shen Miao would believe, and it was easy to coax her. But today, she had already made mistakes repeatedly. If they didn't resolve Shen Miao's situation soon, the Shen household might have even more troublesome things in store for them later on.

  "Why don't we do this," Shen Miao said with a smile, "Aunt and I will go to the North Wing together. With someone accompanying me, I'll feel more at ease."

  Digression

  Guess who's unlucky?