Arguing
Chenxiang Temple is located in the outskirts of the capital. The journey from the capital back to the outskirts of the capital should not have been long, but the roads were slippery after the snow and it was difficult to walk. By the time Jiang Yufan and Gu Sidu arrived at Chenxiang Temple, it was already getting dark. Madam Jiang was waiting at the entrance, with Jiang Yaoguang behind her. The latter had a bad look on his face. When he saw Gu Sidu helping Jiang Yufan out of the carriage, he walked over angrily.
"Where have you all been? Were you thinking of running away?" Jiang Yaoguang preemptively questioned Jiang Yufan, who had just regained her footing.
"Lord Jiang, if you continue with this conversation, then we Buddhist nuns will truly leave and abandon Jiang Yurong," Daoyun said irritably, holding his sword with both hands.
"Daoyun, stop talking," Jiang Yufan said to Jiang Yaoguang with a smile. "We came back late, and Lord Jiang had to wait for us here. We've wronged you. If we try to escape again, you'll be caught off guard and won't be able to do anything about it. You won't even have anyone to vent your anger on."
Jiang Yufan would no longer tolerate it. Since Jiang Yaoguang had made her uncomfortable first, then Jiang Yufan didn't need to care about anything else. Gu Sidu was right; the point of life is to live comfortably first. There's always a solution. She had vented her anger, and she would continue to vent it on many more occasions. Only by being tough would others stop bullying her.
As expected, Jiang Yaoguang had not anticipated Jiang Yufan's tough stance. He pointed incredulously at Jiang Yufan, who had already stepped into the gate of Chenxiang Temple, and said to Madam Jiang behind her, "Look at the daughter you raised! What kind of attitude does she have? Does she think I want to wait for her here? She overestimates herself!"
"If it weren't for Yu Rong, I wouldn't have done this, Madam. I'm only doing this to give you face!"
Helpless, Madam Jiang hurriedly stepped forward to comfort Jiang Yaoguang. She patted Jiang Yaoguang's chest to help him catch his breath. Just then, Jiang Yufan, who had heard Jiang Yaoguang's nonsense, turned around and stood in front of Jiang Yaoguang without giving an inch.
Her aura stunned Jiang Yaoguang and Madam Jiang, who stared blankly at Jiang Yufan. Jiang Yufan said, "You're wrong. You gave birth to me, but you also abandoned me. Where did you get any support? Nobody raised me."
“Be careful. Once I have ten scars on my wrists, our relationship will be completely severed. I will repay you for the nine years of life I owe you with my blood. That will be enough.”
After Jiang Yufan finished speaking, she felt relieved and turned to go back into the house. She saw Daoyun secretly giving her a thumbs up, and she also saw Gu Sidu's gratified smile.
But after walking a few steps, Daoyun asked, "Buddha, why is it nine years of life-giving grace? Didn't you come to Chenxiang Temple when you were eight years old?"
"Because of the ten months of pregnancy, the Bodhisattva also included that year in the calculation," Gu Sidu explained.
"I see," Daoyun nodded, then looked at Gu Sidu and asked, "Lord Gu, you've become even smarter. How did you know?"
"I didn't get smarter, I was smart all along." Gu Sidu proudly puffed out his chest.
As the three were chatting and laughing, someone rushed over and said to Gu Sidu, "Lord Gu, have you been seen? Someone from the Hanlin Academy came looking for you today, but you weren't there. They asked me to give you a letter."
"For me?" Gu Sidu pointed to himself. "What could possibly be going on at the Hanlin Academy that would warrant a special letter to me?"
"Take a look inside," Jiang Yufan said. "Ever since you were demoted from your position as head of the Hanlin Academy, it has been leaderless. Perhaps they value your talent and want you to put it to good use."
Gu Sidu quickly opened the letter, read a couple of lines, then looked up at Jiang Yufan, then looked down again. He repeated this many times, even rubbing his eyes.
"What's wrong? What did the letter say?" Jiang Yufan asked.
"Judging from Lord Gu's appearance, he seems excited. Could it be that the Buddhist nun's prediction came true?" Dao Yun looked Gu Sidu up and down. "Lord Gu clearly doesn't believe it."
“Thanks to the Bodhisattva’s auspicious words,” Gu Sidu said, waving the letter in his hand. “Just as the Bodhisattva said, the Emperor has specifically named me to be the head of the Hanlin Academy. This is a promotion for me!”
Freed from the control of his superiors, Gu Sidu was finally free to realize his dreams. How could he not be excited? He had just read the letter in his hand several times, and even tried to bite himself to see if it was real, but he was afraid of the pain, so he immediately gave up the idea.
He excitedly reached out to grab Jiang Yufan's hand, wanting to shake it, but before he could even raise his hand, Dao Yun drew his sword. His hand, suspended in mid-air, had to be lowered, and Gu Sidu immediately looked at Jiang Yufan with adoration.
“Bodhisattva, you are too amazing! You said you didn’t have the wisdom to help people or fulfill my request, but now I have succeeded! From now on, I will not allow anyone to say a bad word about you. You are a Bodhisattva who can communicate with the gods!”
Gu Sidu seems to have gone a little crazy.
Jiang Yufan calmly looked at the crazed Gu Sidu and said, "Gu Sidu, this is just a coincidence, I was just saying it casually."
"You can just casually say something and know my fate. Isn't that your skill, Bodhisattva? You're amazing! You really do have something!"
“I didn’t waste that hundred taels of silver, Bodhisattva. Once you’ve resolved your current predicament, come back to the Guifu mansion with me and start your life anew. Your life is just beginning.”
Gu Sidu always managed to find some evidence to prove Jiang Yufan's abilities. Jiang Yufan smiled slightly and said to Gu Sidu, "That's great, congratulations. Let's talk about it after this matter is over. It's getting late. Tomorrow you have to set off to take up your post at the Hanlin Academy. Chenxiang Temple is quite far away, and if it snows heavily overnight, it will be difficult for you to travel."
"But if I leave, how will you, Bodhisattva, deal with this place?" Upon hearing this, Gu Sidu suddenly calmed down. He was no longer worried about his own future, but the Bodhisattva was still in the sea of suffering.
“Am I not human?” Dao Yun brandished his sword again. “If Lord Gu, who has no martial arts skills, can protect the Buddhist nun, then how can I, a martial artist, not protect her?”
Before meeting Gu Sidu, wasn't Jiang Yufan doing just fine?
Jiang Yufan knew that Gu Sidu was worried, so she said to him, "Don't worry, they won't dare to do anything to me. They just go to have my blood drawn every day. Nothing will happen. You go and do your thing."
Only the Bodhisattva spoke, and Gu Sidu believed it. He nodded and prepared to go inside to tidy up before leaving. Gu Sidu walked a long way, then ran back, panting, and ran to Jiang Yufan.
"Why are you back again?" Jiang Yufan hadn't even taken a few steps.
"I have something to give to the Bodhisattva." Gu Sidu smoothed his chest to get himself to speak. He took something out of his pocket and handed it to Jiang Yufan. It was a heavy gold hairpin.
Just as Jiang Yufan was about to say something, Gu Sidu spoke up: "Bodhisattva, there is no reason to return what has been given away. I like you, Bodhisattva. This was made specifically for you. It's useless for you to give it to me, and I can't give it to anyone else. This time it's settled, you can't give this back to me."
"This belongs to the Bodhisattva!"
As Gu Sidu spoke the last few words, his voice grew softer and softer. He had already retreated and run away when Jiang Yufan was about to raise her hand to refuse. After he turned around the corridor, he turned back and waved to Jiang Yufan: "I will come to see the Bodhisattva again in a few days!"
At this moment, Gu Sidu acted a bit like a child, and Jiang Yufan couldn't help but laugh.
“Buddha Maiden,” Dao Yun had seen all of this, and looking at the smiling Buddha Maiden, she felt wary. “Is this a compromise with Lord Gu?”
“Ah,” Jiang Yufan looked at Daoyun, “What am I compromising for?”
"Are you slowly falling for Lord Gu?"
Liking someone wouldn't happen so quickly, Jiang Yufan thought. She just felt that Gu Sidu could be annoyingly irritating at times, but at other times he was very good at pleasing people. She closed her fingers, gripped the gold hairpin tightly, and coiled it in her hair.
She said, "Lord Gu meant well, and we are just friends, nothing more."
At least for now, that's the case.
Unbeknownst to Jiang Yufan, someone was eavesdropping behind a pillar. The eavesdroppers learned that Gu Sidu was about to be promoted. They overheard Jiang Yufan casually making someone's dreams come true—something that couldn't be faked, nor could it be faked.
This fake Bodhisattva seems to have actually learned something and has become a real Bodhisattva.
Madam Jiang whispered to Jiang Yaoguang beside her, "Husband, if Yu Fan really has learned something at this Chenxiang Temple, we must not be disrespectful to him in the future, and we must still offer him incense."
Jiang Yaoguang was very unhappy. He himself had not been able to get promoted, so why did Gu Sidu have such good fortune fall on his head? Could it be that Jiang Yufan had really mastered the skill?
He snorted coldly a few times and pulled Madam Jiang back into the house.
Why Gu Sidu was promoted was a mystery not only to the Jiang family but also to Daoyun. Gu Sidu himself was too pleased to think about these questions; only an outsider could speculate. Daoyun waited until they returned to the house before asking Jiang Yufan.
Having changed her clothes, Jiang Yufan transformed into the most simple yet compassionate female bodhisattva in the temple. She placed the gold hairpin in a box and, facing the mirror, removed her earrings. She glanced at the puzzled Daoyun in the mirror and said, "There's nothing to be puzzled about; it's all just human sentiment."
"What favor?"
Jiang Yaoguang's demotion was a warning to others. The emperor used Gu Sidu as a tool, but demoting Gu Sidu was just for show. Gu Sidu hadn't done anything seriously wrong, but using a tool to cross the river and then discarding it would inevitably make people feel disheartened. The emperor did this to win over the people.
The past is behind us, and a new chapter has begun. Gu Sidu has naturally enjoyed his good fortune today. However, this good fortune is not something Gu Sidu has gained for nothing. He has already wasted two years of his life for this kind of luck. Youth is priceless.
"So, in that case, Lord Gu's downfall was due to the Emperor, but his rise was also due to the Emperor. It seems that you brought misfortune upon Lord Gu, but you also indirectly helped him."
“Yes,” Jiang Yufan sighed, “things in this world are really hard to predict. Who knows what will happen next? We should just live in the present.”
After Jiang Yufan finished speaking, she crisply tossed the earrings into the box. Today was over; the rest would be decided when the east rose.
There are many more new and bizarre things waiting for Jiang Yufan in the future.
Don't rush.
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