Chapter 47 Wanting to Become a Monk to Atone for Sins
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the gates of all the wards in Lin'an City were wide open, and the streets and alleys were bustling with activity.
A small river flows through the city, its surface adorned with colorful lanterns that shimmer and reflect each other on the water.
The shore was teeming with pedestrians, and many vendors were operating along the streets, while a variety of performances added to the festive atmosphere.
The men were dressed in fine clothes, the women in silk skirts, folding fans and jade crowns, adorned with pearl and jade hairpins, walking hand in hand, chatting and laughing.
At the beginning of the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the Marquis's carriage stopped at the intersection of the market road.
Shen You, dressed in a smoky-colored dress with gold-embroidered flowers and soft-soled shoes with brocade beads, stepped down from the carriage.
The girl had a graceful figure and a beautiful face, attracting the attention of passersby.
Yao Yiqian was already waiting there. He came forward and said, "Miss Shen, let's go."
“Okay,” Shen You replied, and walked alongside him.
Wisteria and pothos followed behind them at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.
The crowd was dense, so Yao Yiqian walked on the outer side, carefully keeping a little distance between them so that they wouldn't bump into each other.
Since she was out visiting the lantern festival, Shen You relaxed a bit, walking and stopping along the way, her eyes frequently falling on the vendors hawking their wares.
Yao Yiqian glanced at the situation by the river and said, "Miss Shen, would you like to release a river lantern?"
Following his words, Shen You looked at the river surface, which was as bright as day, and nodded, "Okay."
The two arrived at a vendor's stall. Shen You carefully selected a lantern, then turned to look at Zi Teng behind her, indicating that she should pay.
But before Zi Teng could make a move, Yao Yiqian preemptively paid the bill, even giving her a little extra.
The old man selling river lanterns held the silver coins and said several auspicious words with a smile.
"Thank you," Yao Yiqian said, gesturing for Shen You to go to the riverbank.
Even after Shen You and Yao Yiqian left, they could still hear the old man wishing Yao Yiqian all his dreams would come true.
Shen You held the lantern in her hands and looked up at the man beside her.
Yao Yiqian was the son of the chief priest. He was well-versed in poetry and literature from a young age, and his speech and actions were gentle and elegant, without any sense of oppression.
Unlike some people.
He was born into a military family, with a stiff and rigid physique, and always had a cold expression on his face.
He rarely smiles.
A cold and handsome face suddenly appeared in Shen You's mind. When she realized that she had actually compared Yao Yiqian and Chu Xiao, she felt a little guilty and embarrassed.
She coughed lightly, noticing that Yao Yiqian hadn't noticed her distraction, and said, "Let's release the river lanterns here."
“Okay,” Yao Yiqian replied, taking a tinderbox from the servant who accompanied him.
Seeing that he wanted to help light the lamp, Shen You smiled and said, "Let me light it; that way, it'll show my sincerity."
The candle in the center of the river lantern was lit, its small cluster dancing, the flame reflecting off the girl's delicate and charming face, as if a sky full of stars had gathered in her eyes.
Shen You squatted on the riverbank, placed the river lantern into the river, closed his eyes, and made a sincere wish.
In a short while.
She just opened her eyes.
The river lantern had drifted away gently with the night wind and the direction of the river, bumping and jostling with the other lanterns in the river, but at least it managed to drift away smoothly.
Shen You's gaze fell on it, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
Before she knew it, Yao Yiqian was standing beside her. "Miss Shen, the river lanterns have drifted far away. Can you still recognize which one is yours?"
“I can’t tell them apart,” Shen You laughed, shook her head, but pointed to the river lanterns on the river and said, “But it doesn’t matter, that area is full of light.”
Yao Yiqian followed the direction she pointed and looked at the thousands of dazzling lanterns on the river. Suddenly, his mind cleared up a bit.
He looked away. "There are too many people here. Miss Shen, why don't you go to the teahouse for a cup of tea?"
"good."
After saying that, the two walked side by side toward the teahouse not far away.
At the same moment, a carriage bearing the insignia of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion stopped in front of the Chengde Marquis's mansion in Andefang.
"My lord?"
"...Excuse me, young lady, you've gone out to the lantern festival."
"It seems to be the third young master of the Yao family... Oh dear!"
The servant guarding the gate of the Shen residence told the truth, but before he could finish his third sentence, he was kicked hard in the buttocks.
He turned his head and saw it was Butler Liu.
Butler Liu glanced at Chu Xiao's expression and carefully chose his words, "Your Highness, this servant is new and doesn't know the rules."
"The eldest young lady went out on her own and should be back soon. Would the Duke like to wait for her at Yansheng Hall for a while?"
The fact that the Duke of Zhenguo was the ex-husband of the eldest daughter of the Shen family is now widely known in Lin'an.
What others didn't know was that this Duke had spent some time recuperating from his injuries at the Shen residence.
Steward Liu was an old hand in the household and knew exactly what was going on. He could naturally guess that the Duke in front of him had feelings for his eldest daughter in a special way.
Don't call him snobbish, but anyone with eyes can see which one to choose between the Duke of Zhenguo and the third son of the Imperial Academy.
Chu Xiao, dressed in a dark brocade robe, was still sitting in his wheelchair. His handsome face gradually turned cold and somber when he heard that Shen You was visiting the lantern festival with others.
The wind had already picked up on Mid-Autumn Festival night.
The wind blew across the man's clothes, and even his shadow on the ground moved.
But Chu Xiao's heart seemed to be fixed in a container, filled with bitterness and despair.
A moment later, he turned around and pushed his wheelchair around without saying a word.
Steward Liu, standing to the side, felt a chill run down his spine and scolded the servant in a low voice, "Don't you know who this is? You're just spouting nonsense!"
The servant was filled with fear and trepidation, and bowed his head to apologize.
All the words were scattered in the wind.
Soon, even the carriage of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion disappeared into the night.
——
Inside a private room on the second floor of Biluxuan.
The candlelight was bright, and the decor was elegant.
Shen You sat on the side facing the street, and with a slight tilt of his head, he could see the bustling scene on the street.
Inside the room, on a wooden table with intricate carvings, a clay stove emits wisps of smoke and the aroma of tea wafts through the air.
She looked up at Yao Yiqian and said slowly, "Young Master Yao, you brought me here for more than just tea, didn't you?"
Yao Yiqian gestured for her to drink tea, and smiled gently, "As expected, you can't hide anything from Miss Shen."
"I have invited you to meet me tonight because there is something I wish to tell you."
"What is it?"
Yao Yiqian looked up at Shen You, then suddenly stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and performed a solemn ceremony.
When he looked up again, the gentleness in his eyes gradually turned into determination.
He said, "Miss Shen, please forgive my rudeness and abruptness."
"However, I have no intention of marrying you, young lady. Please understand."
"Um?"
Upon hearing this, Shen You was somewhat taken aback, but quickly composed himself and returned to normal. "Could Young Master Yao please tell me the reason?"
Yao Yiqian was different from any of the men she had dated before.
He was truly humble and polite, and never frequented places of ill repute.
Moreover, although his father was a libationer, he himself did not hold any official position.
From any perspective, Yao Yiqian perfectly matched the criteria Shen You had secretly set for her husband when she decided to meet him.
That's why she didn't refuse his invitation today.
Unexpectedly, Yao Yiqian came to tell her that he did not want to get married.
This really surprised her.
Upon hearing her words, Yao Yiqian said, "Miss Shen must know that I have previously taken two concubines."
“I know,” Shen You nodded.
She decided to meet him and accept his invitation not because she liked him, and therefore she didn't care that he had a concubine.
“But Miss Shen may not know that I, Yao…” He hesitated, coughed lightly, and then continued, “have never touched these two concubines.”
Even though Yao Yiqian had already decided to tell Shen You everything before he came, he still felt somewhat embarrassed when it came to actually talking about these things.
Shen You did not press the matter further.
Because she keenly sensed that what Yao Yiqian was about to say was something he had repeatedly said after struggling with insecurity and mustering up his courage a thousand times before deciding to speak it.
"To my shame," Yao Yiqian couldn't help but lower his head, his voice gradually becoming softer, "I have a hidden ailment."
"Unable to...unable to continue the family line."
These four words were the most subtle thing he could think of.
For a grown man to admit such a thing in front of a woman is neither proper nor reasonable.
Shen You's eyes widened suddenly, but she quickly composed herself after only a moment.
But in my heart, a thousand horses were already galloping.
Hidden illness? Is that what she meant?
"Please forgive me, Miss Shen, it is really absurd to tell you this directly, but my family is pressuring me so much that I have to resort to this tactic."
It was impossible for Shen You not to feel embarrassed upon hearing this.
She subconsciously looked away, no longer looking at Yao Yiqian.
Silence fell over the room.
After a moment, she cautiously asked, "Young Master Yao... has he sought medical help?"
The beginning is always the hardest, but now that Yao Yiqian has spoken up, he feels much more at ease.
He sat down on the chair again, lowered his eyes, drank his tea, and said, "Of course I have seen it."
"But the doctor said that medicine is useless."
"Dr. Lin from Baicaotang..."
"The phrase 'medicine is useless' is what Doctor Lin said," Yao Yiqian looked up at her.
Under the bright candlelight, the man's face was handsome, and his gaze toward her was neither humble nor arrogant.
A feeling of admiration suddenly welled up in Shen You's heart.
Such matters are of great importance to a man's reputation and family, yet Yao Yiqian told her about them without any concealment or deception, truly showing his magnanimity.
Shen You pursed her lips and nodded solemnly to him, "Young Master Yao, rest assured, I will keep this matter a secret."
Her gaze was exceptionally firm and earnest.
Yao Yiqian couldn't help but chuckle, "I believe Miss Shen."
Shen You couldn't help but ask, "Do Lord Yao and Madam Yao... know about your illness?"
Since he refused to marry her, he would probably still think the same way in the future. But how could Lord Yao and Madam Yao possibly agree to him remaining unmarried in the Yao family?
At this point, Yao Yiqian's gentle smile gradually turned bitter, tinged with self-mockery.
"Miss Shen, don't think too highly of me. I did have my own selfish motives."
For many years, Yao Yiqian kept his hidden illness a secret from his parents and never let them know when he sought medical treatment. Therefore, Yao's parents decided to arrange for him to take two concubines.
In recent years, she has also been very enthusiastic about arranging his marriage.
Yao Yiqian had asked Lin Gu to examine his pulse, but even after Lin Gu said that medicine was useless, he still held onto a sliver of hope.
Therefore, he did not refuse when his parents arranged for him to take a concubine and make marriage arrangements for him.
This is also why he appeared at the Yong'an Earl's Mansion to look at Shen You.
but...
"To my shame, Yao knew he was ill, yet he still took a concubine and even planned to marry," he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Now that I think about it, I was undoubtedly delaying the lives of young women in their prime."
But what happened at the Yong'an Marquis's residence that day, he saw with his own eyes that Shen You remained neither humble nor arrogant in the face of slander and defamation, and remained steadfast in her beliefs from beginning to end, never wavering in her mind because of the words of others.
That's truly rare.
It made him uncontrollably think of himself.
Despite his extensive reading, he lacked the open-mindedness of the young lady.
That's why he made up his mind to talk things out with Shen You.
"So, what are Young Master Yao's plans for the future?"
"Plans?" Yao Yiqian chuckled softly, looking out the window at the endless lights of Lin'an, his eyes empty and serene, and said in a low voice, "Become a monk."
"To atone for the wrong things I have done."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com