Qin Yuxuan got away from the window. Mo Lan carefully lifted the heavy curtains for her, and let down the voile for me, so that people inside could see what happened outside, while the outsiders couldn't see what's inside. The air circulated in the carriage and let cold breeze flew in. However, there were lots of people in the carriage and they all dressed warmly, so they were not troubled by the coldness.
Qingliang Temple was not very far, and it took them about forty hours to get there.
Arriving at the gate of the temple, they got out of the carriage and saw Yu Sirong and her mother Mdm Chen waiting there, who were accompanied by some maids and nannies. The minute they saw Qin's carriage stop, Yu Sirong's eyes were fixed on Qin Yuxuan who was getting down from his horse. She didn't even notice Mdm Chen winking at her, lifted her dress and ran toward him.
"Greetings to Cousin Xuan!" She stood in front of Qin Yuxuan and tried to act like a coquettish virtuous girl. She lifted her eyes and looked at handsome Qin Yuxuan with her face turning red.
"There is no need for you to be so courteous." Qin Yuxuan turned around and saluted back, but he didn't continue the conversation. He just walked to Mdm Chen and saluted, which made Yu Sirong very angry. As a result, she had to walk back.
Mdm Qin walked out from her carriage, coldly looked at Yu Sirong who was obviously unhappy and beamed her lips tightly without a word. She had always looked down on the first miss in the Yu's. She was always arrogant. Besides, she just rushed toward Xuan'er so impolitely, completely ignoring her status as a first miss. She just never acted appropriately.
Her daughter-in-law who had such a narrow horizon even tried to marry her into Qin Manor. A girl like her would ruin Xuan'er's whole life. Her handsome caring grandson should marry a good girl from a rich and famous family the capital. Even Mo Xuetong was much better than Yu Sirong.
Mdm Qin hadn't intended to go to Qingliang Temple that day, but Mdm Yu brought Mdm Chen to her the day before. As long as they entered the house, they politely said they had reserved guest rooms and would like to go together. She had intended to refuse, but Mingyue who had been clever and obedient said unexpectedly, "It's great, our Old Madam have wanted to go and she couldn't get the reservation of guest rooms!"
It made her feel quite uneasy and she didn't know what to say. Therefore, she had to agree to the idea of going to Qingliang Temple today, but she still felt very uncomfortable. She had seen the conflicts in the back yard for years, so she definitely knew what's wrong. She was very angry that her first maid was bought over by Mdm Yu. Therefore, the expression on her face turned serious, but she couldn't say anything in front of Mdm Chen.
Later then, she found some other reasons to punish Mingyue! But she was still angry!
It's nice that Mdm Yu also invited Tong'er to come, instead of trying to get her daughter and Xuan'er together. If it's not so, Old Madam would turn against her at that time!
Thinking about that, Mdm Qin looked at Mdm Yu who just came out from the carriage and her face turned grim again. She had been ignoring those small schemes of Mdm Yu, for the sake that she had born a good grandson. She even didn't complain about the fact that there were very few concubine's sons in the family. But she hadn't expected that Mdm Yu would dare to mess up in her territory, so she was still unhappy.
Now that she didn't bring any clothes, she would find a reason to go back. Mdm Qin knew Mdm Yu and Mdm Chen's intention. It was even more evident when she saw Yu Sirong's behavior. Yu Sirong didn't pay her courtesy when there were elders all around, and she chased after Xuan'er. Nothing in her looked like a young lady from a big family, and her behavior was irritating.
Mdm Qin became angrier when no one in the Yu Family made her feel pleasant.
Then Mdm Chen held Yu Sirong's hand and pulled her over who was unwilling to come. And she smiled and saluted to Mdm Qin. After Mo Xuetong got out from the carriage, she definitely saluted to Mdm Qin first, then to Mdm Yu and Mdm Chen. Later then, she stepped back, stood behind Mdm Qin obediently and quietly listened to them.
Yu Sirong enviously glanced at Mo Xuetong, which revealed viciousness and complacency!
"Old Madam did come, which Sirong had asked for several times. When she found the time was approaching, she pulled me to the gate, in case Old Madam might have missed us and went to a wrong place. She is such a careless child." Mdm Chen sawMdm Qin's obvious displeasure and started to explain smilingly.
"Sirong is surely clever, and she is always intimate with you. She is such an obedient girl that when she heard that you would come, she definitely had to come. Now that we have stood here for a while, her little face even got chilled." Mdm Yu helped her sister-in-law and said surprisedly when she touched Yu Sirong's face.
Mo Xuetong screwed up her eyes and lifted her head to look at the top of the tree. It would be a while before noon, so the sunshine was strong but not warm. Besides, it was winter on a hill. Although the trees blocked some of the wind out, it's still pretty chilly, so she started to shiver after standing for a while. Mo Lan observed that she felt cold and stood in front of her to block the wind.
"Miss Yu is surely clever and obedient and she may get ill standing here. There are so many people here and even some male. You should have persuaded her and don't let her go out here. It made me feel ashamed and uneasy." Mdm Qin said in a strange tone. Therefore, though she said the words with a smile and politeness, it's not happy to hear that.
In her words, she was all complaining that Yu Sirong didn't act like a miss from a big family. She abandoned her dignity and waited in front of the gate of the temple. Even Mdm Chen was satirized that she had no good manners. Even though Yu Sirong was young and didn't know the rules, Mdm Chen should control her daughter as a Madam.
Mdm Chen's face turned red when she heard the words, and Yu Sirong was too disgraced to lift her head. She didn't dare to look at Qin Yuxuan anymore and twisted her fingers together. She only hoped that the old lady who stood in her way could die quickly. If that happened, her aunt would be the one in charge in the manor, and it would be easy to ask Cousin Xuan to marry her.
That damned old woman actually meddled with her affairs!
"All right, all right. Let's get in first. It's no good standing here. If anyone really gets a cold, it would be a waste of mother's goodwill. It's not sensible for a child to act like that even if you're filial!" Mdm Yu meditated the dispute pretending that she didn't understand what happened. She glanced at Qin Yuxuan and found that he didn't seem to care about it. She felt relieved.
Then her eyes fixed on Mo Xuetong who was listening with an absent mind, and her eyes got bleak. She had to put her whole heart into this now that it had something to do with the happiness of her sister and niece.
Thinking of the scheme, Mdm Yu looked at Mdm Chen. Mdm Chen felt that someone was staring at her, smiled and nodded back to her during her chatting with Mdm Qin. She obviously understood what she meant and informed her that everything had been ready. A cold smile appeared by Mdm Yu's mouth, and she didn't believe the girl could survive again.
They politely chatted and went into Qingliang Temple. They head to Qingliang Temple's guest rooms, which include the Heaven rooms, Ground rooms, Black rooms, and Yellow rooms! Besides those, there were yards separated for male and female.
The Heaven rooms were for guests with especially high status, the Ground rooms were for official families, the Black rooms were for merchants, and the Yellow rooms were for ordinary people.
The Qin's and the Yu's lived in the Ground rooms, whose location was almost in the middle of the temple, neither too far nor too near. It's convenient for the families of officials to visit the Buddha. They chatted and smiled along the road, and the little monk led them through the Heaven rooms, behind which were the Ground rooms.
Mo Xuetong and her maids walked at the end. When they passed the Heaven rooms, she acutely found some of the rooms were half opened and there must be people living. The two bodyguards standing by the door were kind of familiar. After thinking for a while, she smiled a little. Mdm Yu would never know that person lived there.
Mo Xuetong was arranged to live in the most distant room of all Ground rooms. When Mo Xuetong walked into the room, she noticed that there seemed to be a yard for males next to her room. It was quite inconvenient, but she couldn't say anything about that. After all, it seemed to be right to make such an arrangement.
The first maid of Mdm Yu drove the carriage back after she arranged everything there. It was said that she went to pack clothes for Old Madam and Mdm Yu, which meant Mdm Yu would definitely live here.
"Miss, Old Madam just said that she would ask you to listen to Buddha Dharma together after you place everything in order and got enough rest." Mo Lan cleaned the room while she told Old Madam's arrangement to Mo Xuetong.
Mo Xuetong stood out and opened the window. It was a beautiful bright day of summer. As there was no enough sunshine, it looked dreamlike among the hills. Its scenery was really beautiful. No wonder so many people came to Qingliang Temple to visit the Buddha. It was not only solemn but also leisurely, which made it a perfect place to visit.
After fixing her makeup, Mo Xuetong said she wanted to visit the Buddha to pray for her mother now that she was in a temple.
"Mo Lan, stop tidying. Did you bring the candles I told you about?"
"Of course, I did. Miss, you want to go to the..."
"Since I'm here, I'll definitely light a candle in front of the Buddha for my mother." Mo Xuetong compressed her lips, lifted her face, looked at the cold weather outside and said lightly. Since she was in the temple, she must light a candle for her mother!
Sensing Mo Xuetong's deep sorrow, Mo Lan sighed. Without saying anything more, she took out the candles that she had prepared and followed Mo Xuetong outside. Mo Ye stayed to watch and tidy the room, in case that someone of Mdm Yu came to do something evil.
Since it was winter, the people on the hill were obviously different from those in spring and autumn, and they seemed much lonelier. When they arrived at the temple, Mo Xuetong asked Mo Lan to guard outside and she went inside. Looking at the compassionate eyes of the Buddha, Mo Xuetong felt sad without a reason. She took a candle and knelt down in front of the Buddha, feeling dizzy and sad.