Distress

On the tenth day of the second lunar month, the Gu and Zhong families became relatives.

Zhou Ningning was a little surprised when she heard the news. She rarely saw Gu Shi and Zhong Yuxi walking together, and she didn't know that they had any intersection, and she didn't know that they would get engaged.

Lin Yan was not surprised by this. Since the night Liu Qingfeng was assassinated by Gu Shi's men, Zhong Yuxi had never appeared beside Liu Qingfeng again. There was only one possibility: this person had no value to Zhong Yuxi.

Since Zhong Yuxi said this was the last attack, it meant that she could no longer harm Aning, and Lin Yan would be less wary of her.

But Lin Yan could almost guess why Gu Shi married Zhong Yuxi. If Gu Shi was Song Ting's man, then he must have known that Zhong Yuxi could predict the future, which would easily explain why he married her.

Unfortunately, Zhong Yuxi still thought that the other party liked her, and had no idea that she had fallen into a wolf's den, waiting to be eaten alive, and could be thrown away at any time when her value was exhausted.

Lin Yan didn't have the leisure to feel sorry for Zhong Yuxi. After all, ever since Zhong Yuxi had killed a child before achieving her goal, she was destined not to be a good person.

More and more patients came to Ning'an Medical Clinic, and many people began to believe in Zhou Ningning's medical skills. In addition, the consultation fees at Ning'an Medical Clinic were cheap, so many people were willing to come here.

Looking at the money she earned from treating patients, Zhou Ningning felt extremely satisfied and wanted to reward herself. It happened that Xiao Yue came to the clinic to see her, and she pestered Xiao Yue to accompany her to buy jewelry.

Xiao Yue, who had never bought jewelry outside, hesitated for a moment and said, "I'd better not go. I don't know much about jewelry and can't help you."

He suggested: "You can ask Master Lin to accompany you."

"My sister has something to do and can't come. Besides, my sister is so big and strong that she says everything I choose looks good. She is not interested in anything else except the dagger." Zhou Ningning pulled Xiao Yue and acted coquettishly, "Ayue, please go with me, please go with me."

Normally, Lin Yan couldn't stand Zhou Ningning's tricks the most. Zhou Ningning's tricks were always effective and they also worked on Xiao Yue.

Xiao Yue finally gave in and agreed to Zhou Ningning's request.

"Why do you say Master Lin likes daggers?" Xiao Yue asked.

Zhou Ningning waved her hand and said, "I don't know why my sister likes daggers. I only know that she likes to collect all kinds of daggers, and then give them to the right person."

Xiao Yue nodded thoughtfully.

"Okay, let's go. I know a shop in the west of the city that makes excellent jewelry." Zhou Ningning pulled Xiao Yue into the carriage.

Chengxi Mingzhupu

Xiao Yue followed Zhou Ningning into the shop and looked at the jewelry inside with curiosity.

Seeing that it seemed like Xiao Yue was here for the first time, Zhou Ningning asked, "Ayue, is this really your first time shopping in a jewelry store?"

Xiao Yue scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "I have never gone out alone before, and I don't know much about these."

Thinking of what Xiao Yue's sister-in-law had done to her before, and that there was no one at home to accompany her, Zhou Ningning suddenly felt sympathy, "It's okay, if you want to go shopping in the future, I will accompany you, and bring Xi Shui along."

Zhou Ningning patted her chest and made a promise.

Xiao Yue chuckled, touched by Zhou Ningning's cute look, and nodded: "Okay."

"Then let's pick out some jewelry." Zhou Ningning picked up a pink hairpin and asked, "How about this? Does it look good?"

"nice"

"Try this, the green will suit you."

The two of them spent a long time choosing in Mingzhu Shop and both found the jewelry they liked. Zhou Ningning was very satisfied and said, "Let's go, we'll come again next time."

At this time, several girls were discussing a new temple built not far outside Beijing.

A girl in pink whispered, "That temple is called Qing'an Temple. It's very spiritual. My cousin's youngest son disappeared a few days ago, and my cousin's family was very worried. As a result, my cousin's mother worshipped at Qing'an Temple and asked Buddha to bless their family to find the child. Not long after, the child came back."

Another girl in blue asked: "Is it really that mysterious?"

The purple-dressed girl at the side echoed: "It's true. I don't know what disease my grandmother had, but she was always crazy. My mother went to that temple to pray to the Buddha for her recovery, and this wish actually came true."

The girls discussed for a while and then dispersed. Xiao Yue stopped where she was, thinking about what the girls said.

Zhou Ningning saw that Xiao Yue listened to what the girls said, and thought that her mother seemed to be mentally ill like the grandmother of the girl in purple, and she immediately understood.

Although she didn't believe in gods or Buddhas, Xiao Yue seemed to want to go, so she suggested, "Tomorrow is a day off, how about I accompany you to the temple?"

Xiao Yue's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Zhou Ningning was stunned. This was the first time she saw Xiao Yue acting so childishly, which was completely different from her usual calm appearance.

Then he immediately said: "Of course it's true. You promised to accompany me to pick out jewelry today, so what's the big deal about me accompanying you to visit the temple."

"It's settled. Meet at the south entrance of the city at noon tomorrow." Zhou Ningning immediately set the time.

"It's getting late, let's go home quickly. See you tomorrow." Zhou Ningning waved to Xiao Yue and got on the carriage of the Zhong Mansion.

Xiao Yue smiled happily and said, "See you tomorrow."

The next day at noon, the sun was shining brightly and the weather was beautiful with gentle breezes.

The sunlight shines down from the south city wall and hits the waving girl.

Zhou Ningning got off the carriage and asked, "You've been waiting for a long time, right?"

Xiao Yue shook her head and said, "We just arrived. Let's go. Take my carriage. I have prepared a lot of food."

Zhou Ningning was surprised and said, "Then I won't be polite."

The two of them rode out of the city gate in a carriage and soon arrived at Qing'an Temple.

Zhou Ningning went back and inquired yesterday. She learned that many noble ladies in Beijing had gone to Qing'an Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha in recent days, but Zhou Ningning had never heard that the temple could cure any madness.

Anyway, Zhou Ningning didn't believe these things, so she just accompanied Xiao Yue to make her feel at ease.

The two walked into the temple and came to the main hall, where many people were burning incense and praying.

Xiao Yue had been to the temple many times over the years and was familiar with everything. She took Zhou Ningning to the abbot of the temple to get incense, put it in the incense burner, and knelt on the cushion to kowtow seriously.

At first, Zhou Ningning only wanted to accompany Xiao Yue here and didn't think about praying to Buddha or anything, but Xiao Yue pulled her, thinking that there was nothing else to do, and followed her to worship the gods and Buddha.

Zhou Ningning knelt on the cushion, closed her eyes, and prayed silently in her heart: "I pray for the Buddha to bless my mother, sister and friends around me to have a smooth and worry-free life, and everyone around them is safe and sound."

After telling the Buddha what she was thinking, Zhou Ningning opened her eyes and looked at Xiao Yue who was still kneeling devoutly to the Buddha.

Xiao Yue was still muttering to herself. Zhou Ningning guessed that Xiao Yue would not be well for a while, so she stood up and walked to the soft cushions for guests to rest on, sat down and waited for Xiao Yue.

Zhou Ningning stared at the clock on the wall. The regular sound of the drum bell outside made Zhou Ningning unable to help but fall asleep on the incense table beside her.

When Zhou Ningning woke up, all the pilgrims in the temple had left, leaving only her and Xiao Yue.

Looking at the sky getting darker outside, Zhou Ningning felt a little panic in her heart, but she suppressed it, hoping that she was overthinking it.

Xiao Yue fell asleep on the cushion without knowing when, and Zhou Ningning hurriedly woke her up: "Ayue, wake up quickly."

Xiao Yue opened her eyes in a daze and saw the anxious Zhou Ningning. She immediately woke up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Why are you asleep too?" Zhou Ningning pulled Xiao Yue up, "It's getting late, let's go back quickly."

"I remember praying to the gods to help us find my sister, and then I fell asleep for some reason," Xiao Yue recalled.

Xiao Yue had never mentioned to her that she had a sister before, and she had never asked, so she didn't know about it. Hearing Xiao Yue say this, Zhou Ningning's expression froze: "Ayue, when did you have a sister? What's the point of asking her to come back?"

"My elder sister was replaced at birth and has not been found yet. My mother was heartbroken because of this and eventually became unconscious," Xiao Yue explained.

"No, it's such a coincidence. The things the purple-clothed woman and the pink-clothed woman I met yesterday talked about were all related to what happened in your family." Zhou Ningning finally realized that something was wrong.

Zhou Ningning sniffed hard, walked towards the incense burner, and took a closer sniff, "Why is there calming incense here? Oh no, it's not a coincidence that we fell asleep."

Feeling increasingly panicked, Zhou Ningning hurriedly pulled Xiao Yue out of the temple and said, "We can't stay here for long. Let's go back quickly."

Before they left the temple gate, a group of masked men descended from the sky and blocked their way.

Zhou Ningning immediately turned around and walked deeper into the temple, but was still blocked by someone.

The guards who came with them were motionless, and they must have been killed. Zhou Ningning knew that she could not escape, but all those years following Lin Yan were not in vain. Now she knew that she had to calm down.

She stood in front of Xiao Yue with a serious expression and said calmly: "Who are you? My brother is Lin Yi, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and the brother of the person next to me is the Duke of Zhenguo. It will not do you any good to arrest us."

"I can satisfy whatever you want, as long as you let us go."

Xiao Yue looked at Zhou Ningning who was standing in front of her, and grabbed Zhou Ningning with trembling hands.

Zhou Ningning turned her head and smiled to comfort her, "Don't worry, even if we are caught, Sister will come back to save us."

This group of masked men just wanted to capture the two of them, regardless of the conditions Zhou Ningning negotiated.

One of the masked men raised his hand and gave an order, and the remaining masked men swarmed over, tied up the two men, and threw them into the carriage.

Xiao Yue's body was shaking, but she tried hard not to faint.

"Don't worry, my sister has sent people to protect me. They will definitely find a way to tell her," Zhou Ningning comforted.

Xiao Yue looked at Zhou Ningning's calm expression, and her heart gradually calmed down. She asked, "Why aren't you afraid?"

"Those years when I was traveling with my sister, I encountered so many dangers. If I were still afraid, I would have been wasting my time." Zhou Ningning thought of Lin Yan and smiled, "Besides, I still have my sister. No matter what happens to me, she will come to save me."

Xiao Yue was influenced by Zhou Ningning and calmed down.