After Su Rong and Ye Guixue finished their breakfast, they decided to visit the God Sophora at the Buddha Temple together.
The God Sophora was so thick it would take several people to circle around it. By early winter, there are only a few leaves hanging on the tree. The branches are profuse, each one tied with countless red silk blessings.
Looking up, Su Rong noticed some of the red silk had words written on them, some were blank, just pieces of red fabric. Some were weathered and faded due to wind and rain, while others were newly hung, looking just a few days old. The most common writings were for matrimonial blessings with pairs of names. A minority were for other blessings, like ’longevity’, ’peaceful years’, or ’several children for luck’.
She turned to Ye Guixue and asked, "Do you want to ask for a blessing?"
Back in Jiangning County’s Phoenix Mountain, she accompanied Zhou Gu to climb the mountain and, standing at the gate of Yuelao Temple, remembered his words that his grandmother and mother were both traditionalists. She asked if she could marry him. She felt that she couldn’t, felt disillusioned. So, they just looked around without seeking blessings.
They passed by Yuelao Temple without asking for matrimonial blessings. Maybe at that time, it was already destined for her to break off her engagement with him.
Ye Guixue smiled slightly, "Guixue wants to ask, what about Xiaoqi?"
Ever since they met at Cheng Duke Residence, he had been listening to her and calling her Xiaoqi, seldom calling her the princess. Now he asked for Xiaoqi, not the princess.
Smiling, Su Rong replied, "Yes, I’d like that."
He turned around, got two plain red silk strips from a young novice monk, gave one to Su Rong and kept one for himself, then softly asked, "Should we write something?"
"If we put our names on it, it would be too conspicuous." Su Rong laughed, "Let’s just write ’Forever in Harmony’, and tie them together. How about that?"
Ye Guixue nodded with a smile, "Good."
Below the tree, there was a stone table with ink and brush. Ye Guixue picked up the brush and wrote ’Forever in Harmony’ on the red silk he held, then thought for a moment, and drew a hibiscus underneath. He set down the brush and glanced at Su Rong.
She gave a slight chuckle, stepped forward, picked up the brush and wrote ’Forever in Harmony’ on her silk piece and then drew a plum blossom below it, just like Ye Guixue.
If he compared her to a hibiscus, she would respond with a plum blossom.
Ye Guixue gazed at Su Rong tenderly, "Shall I hang them?"
"Let’s do it together, hang them at the top." Su Rong put down the brush, handed hers to Ye Guixue, and took his. Looking up at the top of the tree, she pointed, "Right there, at the treetop."
"Okay," Ye Guixue grinned in response.
So, the two climbed the tree together, took a side each, worked in tandem to tie the red silks together, and then tied them to the branch.
Leaning against the trunk Su Rong watched their silks fluttering in the wind. The hibiscus and the plum blossom tangled together. As her gaze followed the silks waving in the air, she gathered herself and turned to look at Ye Guixue.
Ye Guixue was also watching the tied red silks, his gaze warm. Seeing Su Rong look at him, he gave her a smile.
Su Rong thought his smile was radiant, it shook her for a moment, and then she also smiled, "Let’s go and catch some fish in the stream on the back mountain to grill. The monastery has already broken the prohibition against eating meat, we won’t make it much worse by grilling a fish."
Ye Guixue chuckled. "Alright."
The two climbed down from the tree together and headed towards the back mountain.
Fen Ling had covered a hundred miles going back and forth and was tired beyond words. When she returned to the Buddha Temple and heard that the two had gone to the back mountain, she also went.
In the foothills of the back mountain, she found the two squatting together grilling a fish. The aroma wafting from it was extremely appetizing.
Fen Ling sniffed. "Sister, are you two secretly grilling fish? Who was it who said yesterday that no living beings should be killed here?"
"Didn’t someone break the rule here before? If they can kill a person, why can’t we just eat a fish?" Su Rong justified, "You came at the perfect time, come join us. You should be a pro at this."
Fen Ling was definitely at his best when cooking, always striving to be the best. He immediately took over the cooking work from Su Rong, and asked Ye Guixue, "Has the Second Young Master Ye never done this kind of work?"
Ye Guixue really hadn’t. From a young age, he had never tried roasting things in the wilderness, so he could only stand by, picking up sticks for Su Rong and helping out.
Fen Ling chuckled, "Are you not bothered by my sister’s roughness?"
Ye Guixue shook his head, "Xiaoqi is very good, she introduced me to many pleasures I have never experienced before."
Fen Ling praised him, "Second Young Master Ye, you are indeed good with words. You have a nice temperament."
Indeed, comparing people, you can clearly see their differences. When it came to pleasing women, Lord Thursday, who had just met their master, was far inferior. Although he wasn’t overly arrogant, he was still too proud. Yet Second Young Master Ye was always appropriate, never making their master feel uncomfortable. He was truly pleasant.
Ye Guixue smiled a little.
While flipping the grilled fish, Fen Ling said to Su Rong: "Sis, these two fish are not enough for me, could you go catch another one for me?"
Thinking that Fen Ling returned quite quickly and seemed to be quite lucky, Su Rong took a branch and went to the stream to catch another fish for him.
Fen Ling happily said, "Sis, your fish-catching skills are very quick and efficient." He suddenly recalled something and said, "There was a time when someone in Jiangning County was looking for a fisherwoman, they almost turned the whole county upside down, but couldn’t find her. I suspected someone was looking for you. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be true. Guess what? Before Lord Thursday left Capital City, the Crown Prince specifically asked him to find you, the savior of his life. But he got the direction wrong, Lord Thursday’s men were totally clueless. Little did they know that you were right beside them."
He laughed heartily, finding the situation rather amusing, "It’s like not being able to see what’s under the light."
Su Rong suspected that he hadn’t properly learned the meaning of the phrase. She gave Fen Ling a glare but did not respond.
Fen Ling grinned and said, "Why didn’t you show your dagger at that time? I could see it and thought to myself, it was really well hidden."
Su Rong was very cautious, "The man I saved, judging from his accent, was from Capital City. Anyone who could carry such a dagger, which could cut through iron like mud, must have been rich or noble. Since he was being pursued and murdered, his identity must not be simple. Zhou Gu was from Capital City. Would it not have been asking for trouble if I revealed my dagger in front of him?"
At that time, she was not familiar with Zhou Gu. It was better to avoid it.
Fen Ling exclaimed, "It’s not without reason that you are so formidable!"
Speaking of Zhou Gu, he got to the point, "Sis, you were right this time. When I chased about fifty miles, I saw a large group of assassins surrounding Lord Thursday. He had been seriously injured and was about to collapse. I don’t know how long he had been fighting. It was extremely dangerous at that time. Even I was relieved that I made it in time. Otherwise, even a few moments later, he might have lost his life."
Su Rong had anticipated this, so she was not surprised when he confirmed it. She only asked, "How were the casualties?"
"Seven Imperial Guards died, and five elite guards from the Duke Residence." Fen Ling sighed, "They only had more than twenty people in total, while there were hundreds of assassins. They were all aiming to kill Lord Thursday. Obviously, the goal was to wipe out him and all of He Zheng’s men. Of course, the most obvious intention was to kill him, after all, every move of those people was lethal."
Su Rong nodded, "Did the Crown Prince’s people meet them?"
"After I arrived with my men and killed all the assassins, the Crown Prince’s people also arrived. They said they encountered a small number of assassins along the way who were trying to delay the reinforcement." Fen Ling said, "Lord Thursday was stabbed in the right arm and back, the wounds were deep, but they should not threaten his life, as they did not hit any vital parts. After the people of the Eastern Palace arrived, I handed them over and returned with my men."
Thinking for a moment, he added, "I found a comb on one of the assassins. The comb was very unique, very exquisite, with peach blossoms carved on it. It looked like something that was from the palace. I gave it to Lord Thursday to keep."
Su Rong made a sound of acknowledgment, "It’s good that they were rescued."
She looked at Ye Guixue, "I’m afraid someone will come to the Buddha Temple for more investigations."
Ye Guixue nodded, "With the case reaching this point, and a large number of assassins appearing, Lord Thursday will certainly not hide this. He will report truthfully to the Emperor of Daliang. The Emperor of Daliang will definitely not allow such a large number of assassins within a hundred miles of the Capital City, especially when they are targeting Lord Thursday. He will definitely order a thorough investigation."
Su Rong nodded. Although the Emperor was wary of the Duke Residence, he absolutely could not allow anyone to kill Zhou Gu. If Zhou Gu were killed, it would indeed turn the Duke Residence upside down. She said, "In that case, let’s stay here for a few more days! Let’s see who comes to investigate and follow them to check if there are any other hidden dirty places in the Buddha Temple."
Ye Guixue shared her idea, "Good."
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