Chapter 42 The Jade Pendant's Predestined Fate: One silver coin buys two stories. ...
When the three rushed over, Madam Chen was sitting by the bed, her face full of sorrow. Shen Minghuai was picking up a piece of poetry from the ground when Wang Yan walked in carrying a handful of yellow soil.
Madam Chen stopped Chen Yu, who was shouting and yelling. After applying yellow soil to the sore for only a short while, the redness and swelling began to subside, and Chen Zan's breathing gradually became steady.
"If you are stung by a centipede, medical books say that applying a mixture of yellow soil from three feet underground can neutralize the poison. If you don't trust me, Young Master Chen, I also have Wan Zhen here—" Wang Yan had just taken out the pill when Chen Yu snatched it away and fed it to Chen Zan in an instant.
"Young Master Shen, what is the Wanzhen Pill?" Fan Kun asked quietly.
Wang Yan walked towards the two of them with his hands covered in yellow dust, saying, "The Wanzhen Pill can cure all poisons."
Fan Kun was astonished. After a moment's calculation, he thought, "An antidote to all poisons?! How much silver would one pill cost...?"
Shen Minghuai said leisurely, "It costs gold."
A woman dressed in men's clothing entered with a "tsk" sound, raised an eyebrow at Wang Yan, and said, "Such a precious Wanzhen Pill, Young Master Chen is giving it to your son like candy, how generous!"
Chen Yu stood up straight and called out to Xu Ning'an, who then introduced herself, "I am a doctor from Jishengtang. My master came to examine you a few days ago. Let me take your son's pulse."
Seeing Xu Ning'an's solemn expression and furrowed brows, Chen Yu couldn't help but ask a question, only to receive three words in return.
"He won't die."
Just as Chen Yu's anger was about to flare up again, Chen Zan woke up. It turned out that he had been bitten by a centipede while digging out a wooden box buried in the ground.
Chen Yu glanced at the wooden box, then suddenly realized something and nearly grabbed Chen Zan, exclaiming, "You buried it under the tree?!"
Chen Zan's bright eyes began to well up with tears, making her look very pitiful. "The Taoist brother told me that as long as I bury the most precious thing under the tree, the tree will come back to life."
Chen Yu rushed to the table and wiped the dust off the box. "It's that brat again! This tree came back to life because Daddy gave him medicine. He's fooled me so many times, how come I still haven't learned my lesson?"
Chen Yu stroked the exquisite wooden box for a while before handing it to Shen Minghuai. “I had a master-disciple relationship with the old monk. As you know, I now devote myself to Taoism, so I have less contact with the old monk. This is the first string of Buddhist prayer beads he gave me. Try it out.”
"Thank you." Shen Minghuai accepted the wooden box with both hands. Wang Yanfang washed his hands and walked to his side, letting out a sigh of relief.
"I can't afford the Wanzhen Pill, but if you need any herbs from outside, please feel free to take some," Chen Yu suddenly adopted a courteous manner, which surprised Wang Yan.
"Me too! Me too!" Xu Ning'an seemed to have long coveted that herb field as well.
Chen Yu changed his attitude from before and gave Xu Ning'an a half bow. He said something that surprised Xu Ning'an. Fan Kun silently wiped away his tears. Shen Minghuai had already left the Chen residence with the wooden box. Then Wang Yan called out.
"Young Master Chen, thank you very much!"
On the return journey in the carriage, Wang Yan recounted the results of her investigation in the forest. Following the trail of blood, she discovered the carcass of a wolf, killed by a sword wound, likely caused by human intervention.
Shen Minghuai's previous guess was confirmed: "Who saved the two of us that day?"
"Perhaps he is a Taoist priest from a temple on the mountain. I just met one who was also going down the mountain."
After resting for half an hour, Wang Yan stepped off the carriage and a familiar figure came into view beside the gate of Longxing Temple. Had the young Taoist priest returned to secular life?
He took off his Taoist robe, put on a round robe with wide sleeves, let his hair down, and leaned against a big tree on one side of the temple gate, dozing off.
Wang Yan hurriedly pulled Shen Minghuai towards the temple, but for some reason, instead of taking more than a few steps forward, she was held back by Shen Minghuai.
"elder sister!"
In the blink of an eye, Yan Xun was standing in front of Wang Yan, grinning from ear to ear.
He's still just a mischievous kid... Wang Yan really didn't want to argue with a child.
"What have you thought about? Do you want to marry me? Then my wife and I will roam the world together and quell all injustices." Yan Xun put his hands on his hips, his gaze fixed on the distance, as if he could already see the glorious days described in his words.
"Xun'er, who are these two?" A graceful and elegant woman walked out of the temple, still carrying the lingering scent of sandalwood.
Yan Xun quickly took the woman's hand and pointed to the jade pendant at Wang Yan's waist, "Mother, look! Another jade pendant."
The woman paused for a moment, carefully examining her jade pendants before looking at Wang Yan with seriousness.
"Sister, could you lend me your jade pendant?"
Yan Xun silently took two steps forward, and before Wang Yan could react, the jade pendant at his waist was pulled off and joined to the one at his waist, recreating the scene from that day at the restaurant—the two jade pendants fit together seamlessly. This time, it wasn't just the woman who was stunned.
"How rude!" The woman quickly composed herself and returned the jade pendant to Wang Yan. "My son is Yan Xun. May I ask how you address me, madam?"
Unexpectedly, the young Taoist's mother also showed great interest in the jade pendant. Could it be that the pendant was truly related to them? But the jade pendant was a gift from Shen Minghuai. Wang Yan glanced at him; the man seemed unaware of the situation.
My surname is Wang.
A hint of disappointment flashed in the woman's eyes, but she then invited the two of them back to her residence. "To be honest, the jade pendant that was used to find my son is actually one of a pair of jade pendants, as you both have seen. It is very likely that Lady Wang's ring pendant is the other one that was lost. Since this pair of jade pendants is of great significance to me, I wonder if you two would be so kind as to come to my humble residence so that I can take a closer look?"
The story behind the jade pendant was enough to pique Wang Yan's curiosity simply by looking at the mother and son standing before her. However, worried that Shen Minghuai was in a hurry to ask Master Puyuan about the Buddhist scriptures, she turned and tugged at his sleeve.
Shen Minghuai looked at the woman again, then took Wang Yan's hand and smiled in agreement.
Once seated in the carriage, Wang Yan asked, "Who did you see just now?"
"Brother Braid".
"Brother Bian?" Wang Yan was taken aback for a moment, then realized, "They've also caught up here... Brother Liu is here too?"
Shen Minghuai nodded. "Not yet."
If seeing Pu Yuan was so easy, why would they bother helping Chen Yu, and why would they need this string of Buddhist beads? Wang Yan felt a little relieved, but the jade pendant once again caught her eye.
"How did you obtain this jade pendant?"
“Jingli Pavilion.” Shen Minghuai lowered his eyes. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know it had such a history, so I just casually gave it to you as a birthday gift.”
“Then… let’s make another pair.” Wang Yan took off his jade pendant and held it in his hand. “You must have spent a lot of money, right? Spending one tael of silver to buy two stories is a good deal.”
After a moment, Shen Minghuai met her gaze. "You're right, some things can't be bought with money—a pair?"
Wang Yan blinked, and if she hid that cunning in her watery eyes, she would be the kindest rabbit.
Good things come in pairs.
Shen Minghuai rubbed the fluffy fox's head and smiled silently.
After leaving the hustle and bustle of the city behind, and after a long period of quiet, the gates of the Yan residence finally came into view. Stepping inside, one was surprised to find not a trace of extravagance; the furnishings were impeccably orderly.
Yan Xun picked up the grapes on the table, peeled them one by one, and popped them into his mouth. He ate half a bunch without a care in the world before wiping the juice off his hands. He then poured two glasses of water for Wang Yan and Shen Minghuai, who were also sitting in the main hall of the front courtyard, and casually handed a bunch of grapes to Wang Yan.
"Sister, do you want some?"
Wang Yan's lips curled slightly. "Young Master Yan should keep it for himself."
"Hmm." Shen Minghuai, who was standing to the side, picked up his teacup. "It's the time when they're growing."
"I'm not shorter—" Before he could retort, Yan Xun remembered that when they stood side by side earlier, he was indeed more than half a head shorter than the man...
"If you won't eat it, I will!"
Just then, Madam Yan entered carrying a square wooden box containing two yellowed sheets of paper. Wang Yan handed over the jade pendant, and Madam Yan carefully compared it with the patterns on the paper before giving Yan Xun a relieved smile.
"Yes...this is it."
"mother……"
Yan Xun quickly helped his mother sit down in a chair. Only then did Madam Yan take out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. In her other hand, she held two jade pendants that were joined together, and remained silent for a long time.
Recalling the youthful impetuosity he had shown when they first met, Yan Xun earnestly pleaded, "I know this request is somewhat impolite, but I beg Lady Wang to sell me this jade pendant."
Trapped for half his life, the drawing paper was finally blown to the ground by the wind.
The man in dark green clothes bent down to pick it up, rolled it up along with another drawing, and placed it in the bamboo tube. Drawing these two patterns had troubled him for a month, but now he was finally finished. A breeze blew again, and the man's half-tied ponytail swung behind him, strands of hair dancing in the sunlight.
Inside the Qiongju workshop, the man handed a piece of pure, flawless mutton-fat jade to the shopkeeper, along with two sheets of drawing paper. The shopkeeper told him that it would take six months to make these two jade pendants, which was close to his estimate. Half a year later, it would be the day he went to propose marriage.
A sudden uprising broke out in the southwest, and a military order transferred the man to the frontier. Swords and spears were indiscriminate, and he never saw what the two jade pendants looked like. The shopkeeper of Qiongju Workshop had sent a letter to the man's home, but after waiting for months without anyone coming to collect them, just as he was about to put the pendants up for sale, a woman in pink suddenly appeared, taking out a sachet embroidered with intertwined branches, intending to take the two jade pendants away. The shopkeeper remarked that the intertwined branch pattern was rather strange, unlike the ordinary pattern, and was apparently a habit of his beloved.
My condolences.
The shopkeeper let her take it; this was the first word of comfort she had heard in nearly three months.
The woman left the capital with two jade pendants and married a local bookseller in Hangzhou. Their life was relatively comfortable, and she always wore the jade pendant her husband had never given her. However, one year during the Mid-Autumn Festival, as she walked back after releasing the river lanterns, the crowds were so dense that by the time she realized it, the jade pendant was gone. The next morning, she searched for it by the river for an entire day, a month, a year, ten years—for the rest of her life, she never gave up.
The woman searched every pawnshop in Hangzhou, but received the same answer each time. On her deathbed, she held her daughter's hand tightly, asking her newlywed daughter to continue searching for the pawnshop.
The daughter gave birth to a son named Yan Xun. When Yan Xun was six years old, Madam Yan told him about it. The little boy smiled innocently and patted his chest, promising that he would definitely fulfill his grandmother's wish.
The afternoon Yan Xun returned home in his Taoist robe truly startled Madam Yan, perhaps more so by the joy of something lost and found. Upon hearing that Yan Xun had encountered a young woman adorned with jade pendants, she initially couldn't believe it. Only when she took out the wooden box, sealed away for many years, did she realize that her mother's lifelong obsession had finally come true. Closing the box, the past came to an end.
“There’s no need to talk about ‘selling,’ it’s just returning it to its rightful owner.” Wang Yan agreed without hesitation.
Madam Yan was quite surprised by her straightforwardness. "Thank you... Madam Wang should not lack money. If you have any requests, I will do my best to fulfill them."
Yan Xun curled the corners of her lips and said to Shen Minghuai with a regretful expression, "Wasn't this jade pendant a gift from you, young master? Sister, you really don't seem to care about it at all."
Shen Minghuai's gaze fell lightly on Wang Yan. "Yes. She said one is better than another, what do you think, Young Master Yan?"
Yan Xun glared at him, unable to utter a word for a long time. He then let out a heavy "humph" and slunk back to his mother's side.
"I've invited you several times but you haven't come. Today I'll let you taste my chef's cooking—we have guests at the manor?"
Yan Zhan, returning home from his official duties, strode into the hall, stopping simultaneously with Zhao Can behind him. "Young Master Shen?"
"Lord Yan." Shen Minghuai stood up straight and bowed.
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