Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 138 Guangci Temple - First Encounter with Prince Jin 3

About half an hour later, only the three young ladies of the Tang family remained calmly in their rooms.

Although the second young lady was slightly shaken, she now understood that Hua Yan's obstruction was not without reason. The fifth young lady forced herself to listen as the sixth young lady detailed the various effects of sandalwood, almost falling asleep.

"After my younger sister returns, she will blend two kinds of incense for my second and fifth older sisters. She will use agarwood and frankincense to neutralize the aroma of sandalwood, and then add dried flower petals and honey to make it. This way, it will not smell as strong as the incense in the temple, and it will have a calming effect."

The sixth young lady recounted her story in detail. Over the years, she had become a bit more lively. She often accompanied the fifth young lady and would occasionally send the spices she had prepared to the second young lady's Yunyi Courtyard.

The Fifth Miss was fiddling with a palm-sized abacus, pulling the Sixth Miss aside to discuss how much silver the new incense recipe could earn. Just then, Ruizhu returned to the meditation room.

"Miss He followed far behind, heading towards the right side of the Guanyin Hall with the young lady from the Earl of Shou'an's mansion. Tao Hong from the He family said she was accompanying the young lady to stroll around the garden, but from what I saw... it seemed more like she was looking for someone."

Ruizhu whispered a lot of things, and Huayan turned to look out the window. The young ladies who had gathered under the crabapple tree were nowhere to be seen.

"It looks like we'll be able to go to the Guanyin Temple to offer incense soon," Hua Yan said.

The second young lady's clear eyes sparkled as she looked up at her mother. Madam Yun sat quietly drinking tea, occasionally exchanging a few words with the absent-minded Madam He.

Mother Wei lowered her hands and waved them at Mengzhu.

Mengzhu suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Miss, why don't we wait until we get back to the manor and instruct the steward to fetch some spring water from the back of Guangci Temple every day? There are quite a few believers today, so it's not advisable to move around too much."

"Alright."

The second young lady put her mind at ease and resumed her dignified and serene demeanor.

After another half incense stick's time, the guest monk led five or six young novices in.

"Thank you for waiting, everyone. Now you may follow me to the Guanyin Hall to offer incense."

The ladies rose gracefully. The second young lady's gaze swept over the first lady, the wife of the Marquis of Shou'an, and the wife of Madam Jiang. Apart from the young lady of the Jiang family following closely behind, the other young ladies had not yet returned.

On the stone-paved road to the right of the Guanyin Hall, Miss Shen Yi of the Shou'an Earl's Mansion hurriedly came out of a Zen temple, scolding the maid in front of her.

“The news coming from the palace is definitely true. Prince Jin must have been to Jingchen Courtyard. There was clearly a yellow silk ribbon on the trunk of the General Cypress for blessing. You must have been lazy and didn’t keep an eye on it. Go back to your residence and receive your punishment.”

The maid's legs went weak, and she said tremblingly, "Miss, a group of several people did go to the tree just now, but when I saw the leader, he was fair-skinned and beardless. When he bent down, a bit of a whisk was visible at his waist. I thought it must be an eunuch from Prince Jin's side who came to make arrangements in advance. The courtyard was under guard, and I was afraid of being discovered. But after they left, I waited for a long time, until you came, and Prince Jin did not come to Jingchen Courtyard."

·

Several hundred meters away from Jingchen Courtyard, Wei Ying, dressed in a lake-blue, cross-collared robe, clutched a fan as if carrying a short sword. He felt extremely uncomfortable, almost stumbling as he walked. The thought of himself, a dignified head guard, forced to dress like this according to his master's orders...

What surprised him even more was what followed. After leaving Jingchen Courtyard, he suddenly encountered several girls along the way down the mountain. In accordance with the rule of not looking at what is improper, he had to quicken his pace. But what was going on with the girl in the pink dress in front of him? In just a few steps, her purse and sachet fell off twice, and he didn't see any of the maids behind him!

Wei Ying: "..." Alas! Whose spendthrift young lady is this!

·

This is the Guanyin Hall.

The ladies entered the hall one by one to offer incense and each added a considerable amount of money for incense oil. When it was the girls' turn to come forward to pray, only Miss Jiang and the second young lady remained.

The second young lady kept her eyes fixed ahead, completely unaware that a pair of eyes had been watching her the entire time.

Hua Yan's identity prevented her from entering the inner hall. She looked across the high threshold at the backs of two kneeling figures. In the center of the hall stood the statue of Guanyin, holding a vase, expressionless, devoid of joy or sorrow.

The second young lady wore a moon-white dress with dark silver chrysanthemum embroidery. Her slender figure appeared even more fresh and natural against the backdrop of the plump Miss Jiang.

Suddenly, the chanting of Buddhist hymns and the sound of bells rang out. Three or five wild geese that had been resting on the brackets began to fly north towards the imperial city, their wings flapping as they soared through the air.

After offering incense, the group followed the monks to the back courtyard rooms to rest, and then climbed to a high place to enjoy the autumn scenery of the capital.

After Ruizhu finished her socializing and had her fill of gossip, she returned to her team and whispered to Huayan, "I heard Xing'er from the Zhuang family mention that Miss Shen from the Shou'an Earl's Mansion gave a good scolding to her maid. I don't recognize that maid; I didn't see her in the meditation room."

The young lady of the He family was also very angry; she had just replaced her white jade hairpin with an ordinary one, and her purse was also gone.

Mingyue continued, "The people under martial law were nowhere to be seen on the way to the side room. Muyu sent word that Your Highness has already left by carriage, and the people at the foot of the mountain have begun to line up to offer incense at the Baohua Hall in the temple."

Hua Yan estimated that the young ladies probably wouldn't have a chance to see Prince Jin. Since Prince Jin had already left, there was nothing to worry about.

Although the ladies were of much higher status than Madam Yun, they quickly began to discuss the ways of raising children in the inner quarters with Madam Yun, and their words often contained praise for the second young lady.

·

The vegetarian food at Guangci Temple lived up to its reputation. Tang Xian had booked a small courtyard in advance for the Tang family to stay and rest.

After Tang Lin finished his vegetarian meal, he even asked the young novice monk who was cleaning the dining hall to go to the back and tell the head monk to prepare two extra portions to take away. The second young lady was picking up a piece of vegetarian roast goose when she met her brother's gaze and nodded helplessly.

The eldest young master is preparing to have the second young lady deliver one of the vegetarian meals to the Su residence. Madam Su is a devout follower of Taoism and would never set foot in a Buddhist temple.

After the second young lady finished her meal, she had Mengzhu take away several of the almost untouched vegetarian dishes to Donggua and the others, and then called Huayan to her side. "Come with me for a walk around."

Hua Yan helped the second young lady to her feet, and Mingyue immediately followed behind.

As the three of them walked, Hua Yan noticed that the second young lady was heading towards the back mountain. Thinking that Prince Jin was not there and that Mingyue was protecting her, she let her go ahead. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the three of them heard the sound of flowing water.

Passing through a vegetable field, Mingyue followed the monk's footprints and hurried forward, parting the grass to find a clear spring.

This is roughly the middle section of the back mountain. It's almost noon, and sunlight pours into the dense forest, creating dappled light and shadow, making it feel deep and secluded.

The mountain springs converged into a stream, and the second young lady couldn't help but squat down and stretch out her slender fingers to run through the stream, feeling the coolness penetrating her skin.

"Hua Yan, the scenery here is truly beautiful. I'll have Dong Gua try making milk tea with the water here. The taste will definitely be even better."

The second young lady's voice was clear and melodious, like pearls falling onto a jade plate, and the begonia hairpin in her hair swayed gracefully.

This scene left Hua Yan momentarily stunned. Since arriving in the capital, this was the first time she had seen the Second Miss so relaxed and at ease. Infected by the Second Miss, she was also very happy.

Who's there?

Mingyue suddenly stood up and shouted.

Below the stream, behind a sturdy pine tree, stood two men. One of them, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe, had sharp eyebrows and an imposing air.

Hua Yan immediately used her wide sleeves to cover the second young lady behind her, staring at the jade pendant hanging from the white jade belt at the other's waist, her heart suddenly sank.

The Prince of Jin looked at the three young maids with great interest, secretly admiring the quick wit of the two maids.

The three of them had just arrived when Prince Jin noticed them. He wanted to leave, but the words "milk tea" piqued his interest. However, Jingming was standing on a dry branch behind him and was instantly spotted by Mingyue.

Hua Yan bowed slightly: "Please turn away, young master. We will leave immediately."

Prince Jin's lips curled into a slight smile. What a loyal little maidservant, protecting her mistress from all harm. Jingming stared wide-eyed. Whose maidservant was this? She had such audacity! It was the first time he'd ever seen someone dare to ask their master to leave!

“We…” said the Prince of Jin, “we had no intention of offending you. May we ask what this young lady meant by milk tea?”