Chapter 365 The Compassionate Miss Liu

Shen Wantang listened quietly for a while, then nodded to Gu Qianning: "It is indeed Xiao Qingyuan. Besides him, there is another person, who should be the eldest son of the Wenbo family, Yuan."

"Yuan Zheng?"

"right."

"What are those two doing at Fazhen Temple? If you say they're here to listen to the abbot's sermons, I don't believe it. That Yuan Zheng, a playboy, is dissolute. If he likes listening to Buddhist scriptures and cultivating his character, the sun will rise in the west."

Shen Wantang also felt that Yuan Zheng couldn't possibly have come to listen to the sutras, and neither could Xiao Qingyuan. They must have had other purposes for coming to Fazhen Temple.

However—she wasn't interested.

She pulled Gu Qianning toward the meditation room: "What they do at Fazhen Temple is irrelevant. Let's go to the meditation room to rest and see what vegetarian dishes are available today. We can have lunch here."

Seeing that she didn't care about her husband at all, Gu Qianning couldn't help but sigh softly. It seemed that the rumors were true. The two of them lived separate lives. Xiao Qingyuan treated the maids better than his wife, while Shen Wantang, the wife, was filial to her parents-in-law and managed the manor, but she was indifferent to Xiao Qingyuan.

However, since Shen Wantang didn't care what Xiao Qingyuan was doing at Fazhen Temple, Gu Qianning didn't care either. They went into the meditation room together to drink tea and rest.

In another meditation room separated by a wall, sat Liu Nanshi and her nanny and maid.

At this moment, the maid knelt on the ground, holding the teacup in both hands and raising it high above her head.

The water in the teacup was freshly boiled; the maid's fingers were scalded red, and she was trembling all over, but she dared not utter a sound.

Liu Nanshi sat in a chair, flipping through the Lotus Sutra, and said in a compassionate tone, "Zhuying, how many times have I taught you? How can you still be so careless? The tea you handed me was scalding hot; it almost burned my hand."

"It is only because I have been reading Buddhist scriptures for many years and have a compassionate heart that I have been able to tolerate your repeated mistakes. If you were in a different master, you would have been dragged out and beaten to death long ago."

“I would never do something like beat a maid to death, but I can’t keep indulging you like this, so I’m giving you a little punishment in the hope that you will remember it in the future.”

The old woman beside her, Granny Sang, sternly reprimanded the maid: "Zhuying, what are you trembling about! Kneel firmly! The young lady has been so lenient with you, why don't you hurry up and thank her?"

The pain in Zhuying's fingers was unbearable, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead and back. However, she could only grit her teeth and say, "Zhuying thanks you for your kindness, Miss! Miss is kind and benevolent, which is why I have been able to serve you. Please forgive me this time. I will remember your teachings and never dare to be careless again!"

Her voice, filled with painful sobs, echoed in the empty meditation room.

But Liu Nanshi seemed not to hear anything and continued to look through her scriptures.

Since she didn't speak, Zhuying could only continue kneeling with the teacup in her hands.

After an unknown amount of time, Liu Nanshi seemed to finally come to her senses and spoke gently, "Granny Sang."

"This old servant is here. Does the young lady have any orders?"

"The tea is cold. Does the nanny mean I should drink cold tea?"

"This old servant deserves to die! Please forgive me, young lady, this old servant will immediately bring you some hot tea!"

Granny Sang picked up the boiling kettle and poured it directly into the teacup that Zhu Ying was holding.

Boiling water overflowed from the teacup and poured onto Zhuying's hands.

Bamboo Shadow could no longer bear it, released her teacup, and cried out in pain.

The teacup fell to the ground with a loud bang and shattered into pieces.

Granny Sang kicked him, saying, "What are you yelling about? You can't even hold a teacup properly! This is the most expensive celadon porcelain cup. You couldn't afford to pay for it even if you were sold a thousand times! The young lady didn't hit you or scold you, and you're already wailing like a banshee. Are you trying to attract everyone's attention?! Shut up right now!"

Zhu Ying was so frightened that she quickly shut her mouth. She endured the intense pain but didn't even dare to cry out loud.

After the excruciating pain subsided, she managed to get up and knelt prostrate at Liu Nanshi's feet: "This servant is guilty. This servant broke the young lady's teacup. Please punish me, young lady!"

Liu Nanshi put down the scriptures, bent down, and helped her up personally: "It's just a teacup, it's broken, so be it. As long as you're alright, I'm glad you're not hurt. In my eyes, no matter how expensive a teacup is, it's not as important as a human life."

"Granny Sang, why did you kick her? Look how frightened she is! Anyone who didn't know better would think I'm mistreating my maid! If there's anything she doesn't understand, just teach her properly. But next time, never be rough with her, understand?"

Granny Sang hurriedly knelt down: "This old servant knows her mistake. Miss is kind and gentle, and does not blame Zhuying for breaking your most beloved celadon porcelain cup. It is this old servant who is ignorant and narrow-minded and reprimanded the maid. This old servant has overstepped her bounds!"

Liu Nanshi bent down again to help her up: "Granny Sang is so old, why do you keep kneeling? Be careful not to hurt your knees. Get up quickly."

Granny Sang was filled with gratitude: "Thank you so much, Miss. It is my great honor that you take such good care of an old servant like me! Zhuying, since Miss is not holding you accountable for your mistake, why don't you hurry up and thank her?"

Zhu Ying immediately knelt down again, kowtowing repeatedly: "Zhu Ying thanks you, Miss! Thank you, Miss!"

Liu Nanshi smiled faintly: "Alright, stop kowtowing. You've been with me for so long, don't you know I've never liked these formalities? Get up, go to the box and get another teacup, pour me some tea, I'm thirsty."

"yes!"

Zhu Ying wiped away her tears, opened the box they had brought, carefully took out a teacup, and brewed tea for Liu Nanshi again.

After the tea had cooled down a bit, she nervously held the teacup and handed it to Liu Nanshi: "Miss, the tea is ready. Please enjoy it."

Liu Nanshi extended her slender hand and accepted the teacup.

Zhu Ying was extremely nervous; her heart was in her throat. She had no one to confide in, and no one could understand her fear.

She was afraid that Liu Nanshi would find fault again and punish her under some pretext.

However, this time, Liu Nanshi drank the tea quietly, without complaining that it was too hot or too cold.

The anxiety that had been building up with the bamboo shadows subsided slightly.

A bead of sweat the size of a soybean dripped from her chin, but she dared not wipe it away or move. She stood silently to the side, waiting for Liu Nanshi to speak.

Her master was capricious, and she was often punished for the smallest things, so she dared not move, not even her eyes.

For example, just now, the tea she gave Liu Nanshi was clearly no longer hot, but Liu Nanshi still insisted it was hot, and then she was punished by having to hold up the teacup.

Zhu Ying had no idea why she suddenly got angry, but it certainly wasn't because of the tea being hot or cold.

After thinking it over, she concluded that it was probably because she had met Gu Qianhan in the front hall earlier.