Chapter 77 Miao Sangsang
"Miss, you've been to the temple four times this month. If you go again, the master will become suspicious!"
Miao Sangsang made a shushing gesture: "Yutao, keep your voice down. If you don't tell and I don't tell, who will know? Hurry up and tell Uncle Huang to prepare the horses!"
Yu Tao, on the verge of tears, glanced at her young mistress twice before helplessly running out to call the groom to prepare the horse and carriage.
Miao Sangsang smiled unconsciously, holding her head. When Yu Tao returned, she took people to ask her mother for permission. After bowing and explaining their purpose, the Miao family matriarch nodded in agreement.
After everyone left, she sent a maidservant and said, "Go and follow the young lady. Tell me who she met and what she did."
The old nanny acknowledged the order, said "yes," and quietly followed them out.
Miao Sangsang has been going to the temple frequently lately, and she runs into Lin Changqing once or twice. Although Lin Changqing's character may be somewhat questionable, his talent and appearance are certainly not bad.
Miao Sangsang was captivated by Lin Changqing after just one meeting and kept trying to find opportunities to bump into him a few times. Eventually, she did manage to exchange a few words with him.
Lin Changqing was a decent gentleman in this regard. While thanking Miao Sangsang, he also considered her reputation. The two only exchanged a few words in the temple's main hall before leaving, without overstepping any boundaries.
Miao Sangsang's grandfather was a renowned Confucian scholar of the time, her father was a prefect of a prefecture, and her mother was the eldest daughter of the prestigious Xie family. She followed the path of a noble and aristocratic family. Influenced by her parents and brothers, she also loved poetry and literature. However, she was not favored by the literary arts, and the poems she wrote were, well, hard to describe. She was always ridiculed as a good-for-nothing at poetry gatherings.
The last time they met, they chatted briefly. Lin Changqing told them that he had asked his servants to inquire about his sister, whom he had not yet found. Recently, he had some news and was eager to go to the temple to inform Lin Changqing.
After driving off, the family's nanny secretly followed them to the temple.
Yu Tao got out of the car first and slowly helped Miao Sangsang down. Although Miao Sangsang was a bit clueless when it came to poetry, she was impeccable in terms of manners. Despite her young age, she had the dignified demeanor of a young lady from a prominent family.
With her face partially hidden by a fan, she gently stepped off the carriage. After Yu Tao took the incense offerings, she headed towards Huangmi Temple. To get to the temple, one had to climb a mountain path, ascending hundreds of steps to reach the temple gate.
Actually, Miao Sangsang didn't like climbing stairs, but girls with budding romantic feelings often do silly things in a moment of madness. The wives of officials at Huangmi Temple rarely came, but students and commoners did like to come.
There's no other reason than that the temple has beautiful scenery. There's a large bamboo forest on the mountain, which is quite popular with literati and scholars. There's also a peach orchard that produces a lot of peaches every year. In spring, the peach blossoms are in full bloom, which is quite elegant. Literati write poems here, and locals sell tea, pastries, and ornaments in the spring. In the autumn, they come up to pick peaches, eat some themselves, and sell the best ones to customers who come to offer incense, which is also a source of income.
Miao Sangsang was about to leave after finishing her Buddhist ritual when she saw Lin Changqing, a slender and handsome man, standing outside the hall. Her pretty face flushed, and she slowly walked forward and bowed.
Lin Changqing returned the greeting with a cupped hand, his eyes showing some anxiety: "Greetings, Miss Miao. Yu Tao said you have some news about my younger sister, is that true?"
Miao Sangsang nodded gently: "My father recently investigated the human traffickers and made some progress. The traffickers abducted a group of children through the Cao Gang and have been arrested in Jiangzhou. Twelve girls and twenty-three boys have been rescued. I asked my father, and it seems that the children you mentioned are not among them. However, these children will be sent back to the prefecture by next month at the latest. At that time, Young Master Lin can go to the county government to look for my sister."
Overjoyed, Lin Changqing bowed again, saying, "Thank you so much, Miss Miao. I will never forget your great kindness."
Miao Sangsang returned the greeting: "You're too kind, sir."
As if just remembering something, Lin Changqing took out a book of poems from his pocket: "Changqing has nothing of value, so I present this book of poems to express my gratitude."
Miao Sangsang's eyes lit up, and she gestured for Yu Tao to accept the poetry collection.
Yu Tao accepted the poetry collection, and Miao Sangsang thanked her again: "Thank you, Mr. Lin."
Lin Changqing straightened up and said, "These poems were all written by Changqing and have not been shown to anyone. If Miss Miao does not mind their crudeness, she may use them as she sees fit. Changqing will not say anything more."
Miao Sangsang's eyes lit up instantly when she looked at Lin Changqing. What a good guy! He's on the right track!
How could Lin Langjun have known that the Autumn Poetry Gathering was just around the corner? With this collection of poems, she'll surely be able to redeem herself and shed her reputation as a good-for-nothing!
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Miao Sangsang, holding her poetry collection, walked briskly toward the mountain gate. Lin Changqing stood quietly in place, watching Miao Sangsang's departing figure before turning back to his rented meditation room.
Power is so convenient. He, a scholar who had lost his reputation, couldn't even get into the academy, but an ordinary daughter of an official could easily find out information that was unattainable for commoners.
Lin Changqing, lost in thought, did not notice that an old woman followed him to the meditation room, inquired about his identity from the monks of the temple, and then left.
Miao Mansion —
In the evening, Miao Sangsang was happily reading the poetry collection she had just acquired when there was a knock at the door. Yu Tao opened the door and found that it was the mistress's head maid.
The head maid, Mei Shuang, smiled gently and called Miao Sangsang over. Miao Sangsang didn't think much of it, only that her mother might have something to ask her, so she followed Mei Shuang into her mother's courtyard.
As soon as he entered the house, he found his father there, sitting upright in the main chair, looking at him seriously with his mother.
Noticing the unusual expressions on her parents' faces, Miao Sangsang asked somewhat nervously, "Father, Mother, why did you call your daughter over so late?"
The mistress waved her hand, and the maids and servants in the courtyard left instantly, closing the door behind them as they went.
Xie Shangjun glanced at Miao Sangsang and sneered, "Kneel down!!"
Miao Sangsang was startled and knelt down with a thud, looking at her mother with a blank expression. Xie Shangjun stared coldly at Miao Sangsang: "Speak, tell me where you went today and who you met."
Miao Sangsang turned to look at Yu Tao, who was kneeling down beside her. Yu Tao gently shook her head to indicate that she did not know.
Xie Shangjun almost laughed at her daughter's silliness: "Don't look at Yutao, she didn't tell on you. Just tell us where you went today and who you met!"
Seeing that her mother probably knew what was going on, Miao Sangsang had no reason to hide it anymore and knelt up straight, saying, "Today, I went to Huangmi Temple to offer incense and ran into the scholar I had helped last time. His sister went missing the other day, and I helped him find out some information. Today, I told him, and to thank me, he gave me his poetry collection, saying that it was written by himself and that I could use it myself..."
Miao's father was a henpecked husband, easily swayed by others. Seeing his daughter recount the events in a clear and honest manner, and recalling how she had been interrogating the human traffickers while serving tea and water, he knew she was telling the truth. Looking at his kneeling daughter, he couldn't help but feel a surge of affection: "Madam, Sang'er has already said it, and I don't think she has overstepped her bounds. Why don't you let her get up first?"
Xie Shangjun gave him a cold glare, and Miao's father immediately fell silent: "Someone, go and fetch the poetry collection from the young lady's room!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
