Chapter 566 Rest for the Night
Upon seeing Lin Changning and Li Mingshu, the people in the hall immediately grabbed one of them and dragged him out without saying a word. Many worshippers who came to offer incense silently retreated to the edge.
The abbot was unaware of such a thing happening, and watched as many ordinary people hurriedly left the main hall.
A small number of people recognized Li Mingshu. One woman led the way and walked towards Li Mingshu, bowing slightly before saying to the group, "Greetings, Princess! Long live the Princess!"
He then looked at Lin Changning and Qi Rong beside him: "Greetings to the Duke of Qi and the Marquis of Wu'an."
Li Mingshu nodded slightly to the people. She felt that these people looked familiar. She had probably seen them at a banquet in the capital before, but she didn't know which family they belonged to.
The woman at the head of the group smiled at Li Mingshu: "I am the wife of Han Wenqiu, an editor at the Hanlin Academy. The women behind me are the female relatives of my husband's colleagues. I met the Princess once at a banquet a few years ago and greeted her. I heard that the Princess was unwell and was recuperating in Taiyuan. Is she feeling better now?"
Li Mingshu nodded, her expression calm: "Yes, it's much better now."
The woman quickly glanced at Li Mingshu's face and comforted her, saying, "Princess, you are of noble birth, and with Her Majesty's protection, you will surely recover soon."
Li Mingshu's energy is limited now; the woman gets tired after saying only a few words.
Lin Changning felt a little annoyed by the fawning expressions on the woman's and the group of people behind her. He frowned and said, "I still need to take my wife to fulfill a vow, so please excuse me for not keeping you any longer."
The woman, seeing Lin Changning speaking, naturally couldn't refute him. After exchanging a few more polite words, she led her group out of the main hall.
After the farce, there were almost no other people in the main hall. With Lin Changning's help, Li Mingshu slowly walked to the center of the hall, knelt on the prayer mat with great piety, and put her hands together in prayer.
After closing his eyes, he slowly leaned on the prayer mat, kowtowed three times, straightened up, and with Lin Changning's help, slowly got up.
Smiling at Lin Changning, he said, "Ah Ning, why don't you go and pray too? It's very effective. There's a wishing tree in the backyard that I heard is hundreds of years old. It's covered with lots of prayer plaques and looks beautiful."
Lin Changning helped Li Mingshu up, hesitated for a moment, nodded, lifted his red robe, knelt on the prayer mat, and respectfully kowtowed several times.
He silently prayed, "May Ashu recover from her illness soon and be safe and healthy."
After getting up, he turned to look at Li Mingshu, who was smiling at him. He heard Li Mingshu ask with her eyes crinkled, "What did you wish for?"
Lin Changning smiled at Li Mingshu: "It won't work if you say it out loud."
Li Mingshu was pulled into Lin Changning's arms again. She tilted her head back and chuckled in his embrace, "I know what it is even if you don't tell me, Aning. Did you secretly wish for me to recover soon?"
Lin Changning chuckled, then tugged at Li Mingshu's cloak, and pulled her towards the door: "It's getting late, and the vows have been fulfilled. Let's go home soon, A-Shu."
Just as they were leading the people out, they saw a young eunuch and a palace maid rushing over from outside.
Upon seeing Lin Changning and Li Mingshu, he quickly bowed to them and said, "Princess, Marquis, His Majesty and the Empress already know that you have arrived at Jingling Temple. The Empress is worried about the Princess's health and has come to ask us to convey a message."
"Do Father and Mother have anything to tell me?"
The young eunuch looked at the princess with a hint of worry on his face: "It's nothing serious. Her Majesty said that if we arrive in the capital today, it will probably be midnight. Now that winter has arrived in the capital, the weather is cold. Her Majesty is worried about the princess's health and suggested that the princess rest at Jingling Temple for one night before entering the capital."
Li Mingshu nodded to indicate that she understood: "Thank you for your concern, Mother."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw a group of palace maids behind the little eunuch, carrying various things in their hands, and said to her again, "Her Majesty was worried that the princess would not be used to the place, so she specially asked us to bring these things over. Princess, please wait a moment, we will go over after we have tidied up the room."
After saying that, he led his group to a young monk who would guide them towards the princess's room.
The temple was simple and unpretentious, but the empress would not allow her daughter to suffer any injustice, so she prepared everything she needed.
This is all so that Li Mingshu can live here comfortably.
"There's a hundred-year-old tree in the backyard, Aning. Would you like to come with me to take a look?"
Lin Changning nodded and helped Li Mingshu walk slowly towards the backyard. When they were halfway there, he saw that Li Mingshu was really out of breath, so he picked her up again.
We carried it along and walked for a while until we saw a big tree. Many of its leaves had fallen, leaving only a few golden leaves hanging on the branches.
Under the tree canopy hung a dense array of wooden plaques tied with red ropes, which made a muffled clanging sound as they were blown by a gentle breeze.
The red rope hanging below swayed gently in the breeze.
"Ah Ning, I want to hang one."
Upon hearing Li Mingshu's words, Lin Changning turned to look at the maid beside him. The maid quickly brought over a brown wooden plaque with delicate tassels hanging from it, clearly different from the style found in temples.
It must have been a quick act; the tassel must have been torn off his clothes and tied to the wooden plaque. It looks much better than the prayer plaques in the temple.
Li Mingshu took the plaque, stepped out of Lin Changning's arms, and walked to the stone table under the tree. Soon, a young novice monk took out an inkstone from the side and gently placed it next to Li Mingshu.
Li Mingshu gently wrote something on the wooden plaque with a pen. After a while, she picked it up, blew on it, and turned to Lin Changning behind her with a playful smile: "Don't peek at Aning."
Lin Changning shook her head helplessly and held out her hand: "I don't know how to look at it, sister, let me hang it up for you."
Li Mingshu nodded and handed the brown wooden plaque in her hand to Lin Changning.
Lin Changning took the wooden sign and glanced at the tall tree. Li Mingshu looked up, her voice filled with anticipation: "I heard that the higher it's hung, the faster your wish will come true..."
Upon hearing this, Lin Changning slowly stepped back, then suddenly rushed forward, leaped onto a tree branch, and like a nimble monkey, climbed up again using the branches as footholds.
Li Mingshu was startled. She watched as the boy in red weaved through the treetops, full of youthful vigor. After reaching the top, he looked down at her with a smug smile and asked, "Sister, is this high enough?"
As he spoke, he slowly tied his prayer plaque to the highest branch of the tree.
Li Mingshu looked up at her with gentle eyes: "That's high enough, that's high enough, come down quickly, Aning, don't fall!"
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