Chapter 76 Like swirling snowflakes in a flowing wind
When the beautiful woman saw that Ah Chan was staring at her intently, she tilted her head slightly and whispered to the maid in front of her, "Never mind, let's find a quiet room to rest in."
"How can that be? This is your usual quiet room, young lady. How can we let someone else take it?" The maid was still relentless, pointing at Achan and telling her to leave quickly, adding that she was going to argue with the abbot of the temple.
The woman looked somewhat helpless. She couldn't help but look up at Achan, who was still staring at her.
"I said forget it." The woman's tone became a bit harsher. The maid seemed a little surprised, turned her head to look at the woman, and her expression seemed to say that she didn't know what was good for her.
At this moment, Achan stood up and walked towards the woman. When she was only a few steps away from the two of them, she smiled slightly at the woman and said, "My name is Ji Chan. May I ask if you know my name, young lady?"
Ah Chan's voice was sweet and soft, and she looked completely harmless, which even made the maid relax her guard a little.
Before the woman could answer, the maidservant said for her, "Who our young lady is is none of your business. You'd better leave quickly."
"If you don't tell me your name, then I'm not leaving." Achan rolled her eyes at the maid and turned to walk back.
"Oh, how could you..." The maid was furious and reached out to stop Achan, but suddenly a huge force came from behind her. Before she could react, she was already being lifted away from the door.
When the person behind her let go, the maid turned around angrily and saw Chen Hui's cold face and the mark on her forehead.
A flicker of fear crossed the maid's eyes, and she quickly retreated.
"Hui Niang." A Chan waved to Chen Hui.
The beautiful woman who was still standing by the door turned to look at Chen Hui and seemed somewhat surprised when she saw the mark on her forehead.
Chen Hui ignored the other two and said to A Chan, "Aren't you hungry? There's food in the dining hall in the backyard."
"You're here." Achan walked quickly to the door, then stopped as she passed the woman. "Miss, you haven't told me your name yet."
"My name is Shen Huixue."
"Liufeng Huixue... What a beautiful name, young lady. Do you have an elder in your family named Liufeng?"
This question seemed a bit strange, and Chen Hui couldn't help but look at A Chan.
Even if it was out of curiosity, Ah Chan should have asked if the other person had any brothers named Liu Feng. Why did she say he was an elder?
Shen Huixue, who was turned to the side and facing them, looked at A Chan with an indescribable excitement after hearing the question. Her hand, hidden under her sleeve, trembled slightly: "My father is named Liu Feng."
"I see. I suppose your father and the young lady must look very alike."
“…Yes.” Shen Huixue nodded.
"Oh, by the way, I'm going to eat at the vegetarian restaurant. Huixue, do you want to come with me?"
“Our girls don’t…”
Before the maid could finish refusing, Shen Huixue had already agreed: "Okay."
"Miss, how can you possibly get used to the food in the dining hall?" The maid stamped her foot in dissatisfaction.
Shen Huixue turned to look at the maid, her vertical pupils devoid of emotion: "Shut up."
A hint of displeasure flashed across the maid's face, but she kept her mouth shut.
Chen Hui noticed that A Chan was somewhat special to this obviously inhuman girl, Shen, but she didn't ask any questions and simply led them to the dining hall.
Today, apart from them, there were no other worshippers at Gushan Temple, making the dining hall rather deserted. There were eight tables inside, and Achan casually found one facing the door and sat down, with Shen Huixue sitting opposite her.
However, the maid she brought did not sit with them, but instead found an empty table nearby and sat down.
"Is there anything you'd like to eat, Miss Shen? I'll go get it with you." Chen Hui asked Shen Huixue.
Shen Huixue glanced at Achan: "It would be good if she were the same as Miss Ji."
Chen Hui went to fetch the vegetarian meal, and soon returned with two trays, each containing white rice, a plate of vegetarian meat, a plate of shredded pumpkin, and a plate of fried tofu.
"Thank you, Hui Niang." A Chan eagerly took the tray, picked up her chopsticks, and took a piece of vegetarian meat.
I chewed it, and it actually tastes pretty good?
After thanking Chen Hui, Shen Huixue picked up her chopsticks. Her sleeve slid down, revealing her hand and the identical contract marks on the back of her hand that matched Chen Hui's.
Like Ah Chan, she picked up the vegetarian meat with her first chopsticks.
Chen Hui sat next to A Chan, watching Shen Huixue's actions, then turned to look at A Chan, feeling that the two people's behavior was inexplicably similar.
Achan took a couple of bites, then turned to Chen Hui and begged, "Hui-niang, when we go home, let's go to Old Man Hu's place and buy a smoked chicken. I'm so hungry for it."
"Can."
Upon hearing this, Shen Huixue seemed quite interested in the smoked chicken as well, and asked, "Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious, just as good as the roast chicken that Hui Niang makes."
Chen Hui smiled and looked up to see a clear longing on Shen Huixue's face; she seemed to really want to eat it too.
"Where can I buy the smoked chicken that Miss Ji mentioned?"
"It's in Changpingfang, near my home. Old Hu is very popular. Every time he sets up his stall, there's always a queue to buy his products."
The maid sitting to the side heard their conversation and a hint of disdain flashed across her face.
A half-demon is a half-demon. No matter how well they pretend to be human, they can't shake off the inferior habits of the demon race.
Although Achan was picky, she still obediently finished all the vegetarian food.
After the meal, the two were no longer as awkward as they had been at the beginning. Shen Huixue no longer called Achan "Miss Ji" and even knew where Achan lived. The two even made an appointment to go to Changpingfang to buy smoked chicken together in a few days.
Achan didn't ask Shen Huixue where she lived, which secretly relieved her.
As they stepped out of the dining hall, Shen Huixue's maidservant said to her impatiently, "Miss, it's getting late, we should head back."
Shen Huixue hesitated for a moment, then asked Achan, "Achan, when are you going back to the city?"
Achan didn't know either, so she could only look at Chen Hui.
Chen Hui said, "We'll leave once we light the ever-burning lamp; it shouldn't take more than half an hour."
"Then I'll wait for you, until you've lit the eternal lamp so we can go back to the city together."
"Okay," Ah Chan happily agreed, and went with Chen Hui to find the abbot.
Although the appointed time had not yet arrived, the eternal lamps were already prepared. The abbot led Achan to light the eternal lamps, and then left her alone in the hall.
Achan only stayed for a short while before coming out. After exchanging a few polite words with the host, she went back to the quiet room to find Shen Huixue.
Inside the quiet room, Shen Huixue's maid was still complaining: "It's already a favor from the young master that you were able to come out today. How can you delay your return to the city? Those two people are of unknown identity. Who knows if they have other intentions and are trying to use you to get close to the young master?"
Shen Huixue listened quietly to the other party for a while before saying indifferently, "If you don't want to serve me, I can have Zhang Jinghuai find someone else."
The maid's face flushed red, and she muttered softly, "What are you saying, Miss? I'm only doing this for your own good. Besides, how many maids have you changed? Who else would be willing to serve you besides me?"
Shen Huixue ignored her.
Not long after, footsteps could be heard outside.
Shen Huixue got up and opened the door, and sure enough, she saw Achan and Chen Hui returning together.
"The eternal lamp is lit. Huixue, let's go down the mountain."
"Okay." Shen Huixue smiled at Achan and then went out with her.
After descending the mountain, Shen Huixue didn't return to her luxurious carriage. Instead, she got into Achan's bumpy carriage. The maid behind her glared at Achan resentfully and quickly told the driver to follow the carriage ahead.
After traversing a bumpy mountain road, the carriage reached the main road, where the surface was much smoother, and the two people inside were in a better mood to enjoy the scenery outside.
Shen Huixue seemed to rarely go out and was very curious about everything outside. Achan recognized the direction of her own estate and pointed to a fork in the road, saying to her, "I have another estate over there. Let's go visit it together another day."
“Okay.” Shen Huixue looked at Achan beside her and, for some reason, felt inexplicably close to her.
Achan is different from everyone else. She doesn't seem to think of herself as an outsider, nor does she look at you with fear or disgust.
Shen Huixue wanted to ask her the reason, but she was worried about making a big deal out of a casual acquaintance, so she hesitated for a long time and still couldn't bring herself to ask.
Just then, the sound of horses' hooves rang out in the distance, as if someone was riding towards them.
Achan curiously peeked out and saw three people on horseback coming towards them on the official road.
The leader rode a horse that was entirely silver-white. In the daylight, the horse was practically glittering, and Achan's eyes were immediately glued to it.
As the rider passed by their carriage, he suddenly pulled on the reins and turned to look. Achan recognized the man on the horse as the heir of the Duke of Li, whom she had met once before.
Zhang Jinghuai also recognized Achan, and his face showed a hint of surprise: "Miss Ji."
"Greetings, Your Highness." A-Chan greeted him rather perfunctorily, without changing her posture. "Where are you headed?"
"I'm here to pick them up."
"Oh, then you should go quickly."
Zhang Jinghuai remained seated on his horse, motionless, but his gaze fell upon Shen Huixue beside him.
Shen Huixue avoided his gaze and whispered to Achan, "He's here to pick me up. I should go."
"All right."
Shen Huixue got off the carriage, and Zhang Jinghuai reached out his hand to her. She hesitated for a moment, then took his hand and used it to sit on the horse's back.
Achan watched Zhang Jinghuai carry Shen Huixue away on horseback without any restraint, and it took her a while to look away.
After Shen Huixue left, Achan felt a little bored, so she climbed out of the carriage again and sat outside to talk to Chen Hui.
"You seem to really like Miss Shen?" Chen Hui asked curiously.
Although Achan has a good personality and can talk to anyone, she keeps her distance from people she has just met, but Shen Huixue is an exception.
"Her name is very beautiful."
"name?"
Ah Chan looked into the distance and said softly, "I have an uncle who once asked me to name his daughter. I said if he had a daughter, I would name her Huixue."
Achan couldn't help but recall a long time ago, when she was still on Qingyu Mountain.
She had just finished fighting with the other fox cubs and was hiding in the mountains when Uncle Liu came looking for her and threw her a fruit.
The fruit was extremely sour, which infuriated Ah Chan. However, after eating the fruit, her injuries began to heal, and she decided not to hate Uncle Liu anymore.
Uncle Liu chatted with her, saying that he had given himself the name Liufeng, and that the name came from a very famous article by the human race.
There's a beautiful line in it—"Drifting like swirling snow in the wind."
He also said that he would like to have a daughter as beautiful as Achan in the future, and invited Achan to name his yet-to-be-born daughter.
Achan said to him, "Then let's call her Huixue. It's not easy to learn such a nice word, so we should put it to good use."
He mocked Achan for not understanding human customs, saying that it was unheard of for a daughter's name and her father's name to be the same phrase; that was only done between siblings.
Achan looked down on him, saying, "What's wrong with that? It's nice to hear, isn't it? You're a fox demon, for crying and whining like a human."
Later, Uncle Liu broke with his grandmother and left Qingyu Mountain. The last time she heard news of him was when she overheard her grandmother talking to the elders. They said that Uncle Liu had died in Xiling of Daxia.
His grandmother did not acknowledge him as her son, nor did she go to bring his body back.
Upon seeing Shen Huixue, Achan confirmed her identity. It turned out that Uncle Liu really did have a beautiful daughter with a face so similar to his, and her name was Huixue.
She thought her sixth uncle wouldn't use that name anymore.
Chen Hui turned to look at A Chan. Of course she knew that the Marquis of Jinyang had no brothers, and Ji Chan had no uncle like that, but what did it matter?
The next morning, Achan and Chen Hui went to the Jinyang Marquis's residence. The Jinyang Marquis was away attending court and was not at home. Xue Shi did not come out to see her either, but instead summoned the steward and two stewards from the residence to oversee the relocation of the grave.
The fact that Xue didn't take the opportunity to cause her trouble surprised Achan somewhat.
The steward of the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion took Achan and the feng shui master she had invited to the Ji family's cemetery, and then led them to the Lin family's grave.
Lin was buried less than a year ago, and no tombstone was erected; it was just a bare mound of earth.
The steward and the feng shui master discussed the matter briefly. The feng shui master then laid out the red cloth and instructed the servants he had brought to open the grave. Soon, the soil on the grave was shoveled away, revealing Lin's coffin. The burial date was auspicious, and the coffin was well-preserved.
Four strong and sturdy servants went down into the grave, carried out Lin's coffin, and placed it on a red cloth.
While the feng shui master was still inspecting the coffin, the steward behind him brought over a copper basin covered with a red cloth and handed it to the steward.
The steward took the pot and walked over to Achan. He smiled obsequiously and said to Achan, "Miss, please help me pour the ashes in this pot into the grave."
"Is there any explanation for this?" Achan turned to ask Mr. Yang, whom she had invited.
Mr. Yang nodded slightly: "Some people believe that wood ash, which is imbued with the essence of human life, can dispel the yin energy in the grave pit. After pouring out the ashes, they bury the grave and then sprinkle some more ashes every year. After more than ten years, the place can still be used."
“Alright.” Achan didn’t want to make things difficult for the housekeeper over such a small matter, so she took the basin.
The housekeeper lifted the red cloth covering her, and Achan casually poured the ashes from the basin into it.
When she returned the copper basin to the steward, she discovered that her palm had been cut and blood was seeping out.
Achan frowned and looked at the basin in the steward's hand. The steward quickly handed the basin to someone else, stepped forward, and asked anxiously, "What happened to the young lady's hand? Did she cut it?"
Ah Chan picked up a handkerchief and pressed it against the wound on her hand, not taking it to heart: "It's okay."
Today's grave relocation went smoothly, except for Achan injuring her hand.
The steward of the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion led people to help deliver Lin's coffin to the new cemetery. They waited for the feng shui master to preside over the relocation ceremony, buried the coffin, and then left.
On the way back to the city, the steward carefully took out the copper basin, carefully wiped off the bloodstains with a white cloth, and then handed the white cloth to the steward.
The butler took the white cloth, looked at the red on it, and sighed inwardly. He wondered what the lady was trying to do after all this fuss.
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