Due to Fen Ling’s generous donation, the abbot, hearing of the esteemed guests’ arrival, personally went out to welcome them.
After all, it’s rare to encounter such generous donors to the temple. Patrons from the numerous great residences in the capital, mostly madams, donate several hundred, at most a thousand taels. Even the Rui’an Queen, known for her frequent donations, doesn’t exceed this amount.
Hence, the abbot was extremely enthusiastic towards Su Rong and Ye Guixue.
After leading them past the temple gates, he began to introduce them to the history of the Grand Buddha Temple. When speaking of the God Sophora, he looked at the two. The young master and lady were both very attractive and became very excited. "This god sophora in our temple is particularly spirited and has lived for around sixteen hundred years according to records. I believe it might be even older. The story behind this tree involves a rich young lady and a stable hand from her home who had mutual affections for each other. They were opposed by the girl’s parents, and in the end, they decided to commit suicide under the God Sophora tree which was just a random sophora tree planted by a monk at that time and it wasn’t called God Sophora tree yet. The Grand Buddha Temple was merely an ordinary, small temple. However, after they spilled their blood on the God Sophora tree and died inseparable from each other, the tree developed spirituality and became the Wedded Tree, the Love-tree, protecting all lovers in the world."
Upon hearing this, Su Rong looked at the abbot in a new light. Worthy of being the head of such a large Grand Buddha Temple, his service ability was really top-notch. You spent money, and he gave you the highest level of service. The personal welcome, the guided tour. He clearly wanted you to feel at home, so you would be satisfied and return to donate more in the future.
She glanced at Ye Guixue and deliberately said to the host, "Master, this is my brother. Do you think it is appropriate for us to make a wish under that God Sophora tree?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The abbot: "..."
The monk, who was over a hundred years old, was suddenly a bit embarrassed, "This... this... This poor monk just wanted to let the donor understand more about our temple, there are... there... there were no other intentions."
Su Rong let out a playful laugh, "Master, are you sure you had no other intentions?"
The abbot hurriedly said, "No... I really didn’t."
Su Rong let out a sigh and said, "Ahh, master, your observation is not good. I was only joking just now. This is not my brother, but my fiancé. We really plan to pay respects to the God Sophora tree you mentioned."
The abbot: "..."
Where did this playful girl come from? How could she tease people like this?
The abbot found himself in a dilemma, not sure whether to feel annoyed or simply let it pass. He muttered, "Don...Donor, you really know how to joke."
Su Rong burst into laughter, "Master, I apologize. I just thought you looked exceptionally serious and tense and wanted to tease you a bit. We are mainly here to enjoy ourselves, and of course, this isn’t meant to disrespect the Buddha. We are different from the madams from various residences in the capital who come here solely for worshipping. We do hold respect for Buddha, but we don’t want to participate in any formal worshipping activities. So, you don’t need to put so much effort into serving us, it must be tiring. Apart from the vegetarian food, we don’t really have any other requests. We’ll be fine if things are kept casual."
At that, the abbot finally understood. He smiled, put his palms together, and uttered "Amitabha". "You have a wise heart, young donor. I will restrain from being too persistent."
"No need, no need!" Su Rong waved him off, "Go about your business! Let a little monk lead us to where we will be staying."
The abbot nodded, said a few more words, although much shorter this time– mainly about meals, accommodations, which monks can be sought for help, where his Chan Courtyard is located, and that he can also be reached when needed; and then he simply left.
Fen Ling gave Su Rong a thumbs up, "Sis, you are remarkable! He left after you uttered a few words, I also feel that the abbot is too garrulous. It will be inconvenient if he always treats us as his more important guests".
Su Rong laughed and gave him a glare, "Who was the one who gave so much money for incense? He thinks we are big-time donors."
Fen Ling shut up because wasn’t he acting in good faith? He wanted to stealthily borrow something and naturally it had to be done generously, didn’t it?
The courtyard arranged by the abbot was high-quality– similar to what Rui’an Queen experienced during her visits to the temple.
The courtyard was spacious with many rooms and even a small kitchen. It was fully equipped.
Su Rong only brought one set of clothing for emergencies while going out, and she hadn’t taken any other necessary items. She didn’t expect to visit the Grand Buddha Temple, let alone stay for three days.
Ye Guixue also didn’t expect this. He thought they would return that day itself or that Su Rong wouldn’t consider coming such a long way to the Grand Buddha temple, so he hadn’t prepared anything. Thus, the two of them were virtually empty-handed.
However, this wasn’t an issue as there was a town at the foot of the mountain, shopping should be convenient.
Su Rong entered her room and checked. Apart from the clothes for changing, all other necessities were already provided. All she needed was a few articles of clothing. She walked out of her room and told Fen Ling, "Get someone to buy some clothes and also get me a jar of cream for my face."
After all, it was almost winter, and the harsh wind on the mountain would affect her skin. She did care about her appearance.
Ye Guixue emerged from the room next door and said to Su Rong, "No need to ask Fen Ling, I’ve already sent people to buy them."
Su Rong nodded, "Okay."
Fen Ling sidled up to Ye Guixue and asked, "Second Young Master Ye, how many hidden guards did you bring with you? It seems like quite a few, right? Is there one amongst them who is particularly good at hiding his presence? If he hadn’t appeared and then disappeared right in front of you just now, I would have almost not noticed him."
The hidden guards all have their own techniques of concealing themselves. There are many martial art techniques, but they all lead to the same end goal. But Fen Ling noticed that one of the men amongst Ye Guixue’s guards seemed to have an unusual way of hiding himself; his ability to conceal himself was extraordinary compared to conventional techniques.
"I have three hundred guards, all of whom have followed me to Daliang." Ye Guixue answered Fen Ling’s question without hiding anything and said warmly, "There is one guard named Yin Yue whose martial arts techniques are unusual. Based on his physical condition, he can make his internal energy go backwards, making his invisible kung fu far superior to ordinary guards."
Fen Ling suddenly understood, "That explains it, I knew there must be something."
He asked, "If I have some spare time, can I learn from him?"
He had always been committed to improving himself, otherwise he wouldn’t be worthy of being the master’s closest aide. Even when his master was young and went to Huichun Hall to learn needle killing, he followed and observed secretly. He was determined not to be surpassed by anyone, to stay as the closest aide for life, so he had to learn any survival skills that caught his eye.
Ye Guixue smiled, "Yes."
Fen Ling was Su Rong’s man, so Ye Guixue naturally trusted him.
"Second Master Ye, you’re so kind. I swear, when you marry my master, in addition to giving my master a wedding gift, I will also give you one. No less than a hundred thousand taels." Fen Ling was delighted. Whenever he was happy, he wanted to spend money, and in an instant, he had promised two large sums in advance.
Ye Guixue laughed lightly, "Okay."
Su Rong had no words, "Stop messing around, go and ask when’s the meal?"
"Alright." Fen Ling nodded, immediately going off to inquire.
After he left, Ye Guixue commented with a smile, "Your guard is not dull or stiff, he is lively and interesting."
Su Rong also laughed, "Well, he was intentionally chosen by Uncle Xie according to my character. Originally, he was a covert guard, but I already have self-protection skills, so he serves as a visible guard. He’s someone I can chat with, joke with, get ideas from, and discuss things."
Ye Guixue nodded with a smirk, "Indeed, he’s very suitable."
After the two sat in the hall talking for a while, Fen Ling came back, followed by a row of young monks, each carrying two food boxes, there were about five or six of them.
The dishes were taken out of the food boxes one by one and laid out on the table. Soon, the table was filled with about a dozen dishes.
The dishes were pleasant to the eye, nose, and tongue, truly appetizing. The young monks who brought the food didn’t say much and left shortly after setting everything out.
Su Rong commented, "Hmm, not bad. It is indeed a famed vegetarian restaurant."
"Isn’t it? Wouldn’t we miss out if we didn’t meal here often?" Fen Ling looked at the table full of dishes, very satisfied and asked Ye Guixue, "Second Master Ye, should we save some for Yin Yue?"
"He can take care of himself, let us eat!" Ye Guixue shook his head.
Fen Ling thought for a moment, but decided to set aside a portion for Yin Yue anyway. He served a bit of each dish into a large food box. The food box was excellent, with two layers, each with four compartments able to hold eight dishes, and could also keep the food warm.
After arranging everything, he closed the food box and set it aside, chuckling to Ye Guixue, "I always admire people who are better than me. He’s really good at hiding and moving silently, it’s worth it for me to eat a little less and save a portion for him."
Ye Guixue couldn’t help but laugh, "He will appreciate it."
After the three had finished their meal, Yin Yue also came back, bringing two large bags of things.
Yin Yue appeared to be one or two years older than Fen Ling. He was dressed in black and wore a half mask on his face. Even carrying two large bags, he appeared silently at the door.
Fen Ling sprang up and appeared in front of Yin Yue, "Yin Yue, I’m Fen Ling, I look forward to learning from you."
Yin Yue paused slightly and looked at Ye Guixue.
Ye Guixue found it amusing and said flatly, "Fen Ling is the royal maiden’s guard. You guys will spar frequently from now on."
Yin Yue gave Fen Ling a friendly nod, handing over one of the bags, "These are the maiden’s clothes and things."
"Thank you." Fen Ling took the bag and put it on the chair. He picked up the food box on the table, handed it to Yin Yue, "I intentionally reserved this for you, let’s hang out together in future."
Yin Yue paused for a moment, put down another bag containing Ye Guixue’s things, received the food box, and said thanks again.
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