The bells of Hanshan Temple rang slowly over the eaves, startling a few gray pigeons.
Shen Weiwan knelt on the cushion in the main hall, her eyelids heavy as if hung with lead. Last night, she had stayed up all night trying to figure out how to get the account book with the storeroom key from Liu. Now, facing the benevolent statue of the Bodhisattva, she felt that the Buddha's Light Ceremony had become a lullaby.
"Miss, you've been kneeling for half an hour. Why don't we take a break?" Chun Tao squatted beside them and muttered softly, "The monks just moved the ten carts of grain to the back mountain, and Madam Liu was so angry that she smashed three teacups in the guest room."
Shen Weiwan hummed, her head nodding like a napping chick. She secretly opened her eyes and saw Abbot Huiming and his disciples chanting sutras in a side hall, while Liu's personal maidservant yawned at the hall door. She immediately perked up.
"Chun Tao," she lowered her voice, her eyes rolling, "keep an eye on it for me. I'm going to the back hall to find a place to 'calm down.'"
With that, she crouched down and slipped out of the hall, going around to the old locust tree in the backyard. The locust flowers were in full bloom, scattering white petals all over the ground. Shen Weiwan found a shady bluestone slab and lay down on the grass, her skirt covering her face. A soft snoring sounded instantly.
She didn't know how long she slept, but she dreamed that she was holding the warehouse key and eating roast chicken. Suddenly, her foot slipped and she rolled down the slope with a cry of "ouch" -
"Bang!"
Shen Weiwan fell dizzy and hit her head on the hard door. She lifted the hem of her skirt in a daze, and saw only mottled light and shadow in front of her eyes, and the scent of sandalwood mixed with a faint scent of ink lingered at the tip of her nose.
"Where is this?" She rubbed her aching forehead and sat up, finding herself rolling into an elegant Zen room.
In the center of the room stood a pearwood tea table. A man in a moon-white brocade robe sat by the window. His back was to the door, his dark hair loosely tied with a jade hairpin. His cuffs were embroidered with dark gold lotus patterns, a piece of clothing evidently of considerable value.
Hearing the noise, the man slowly turned around.
Shen Weiwan was stunned.
This man was truly handsome! His eyebrows reached his temples, his nose was high, his lips were a faint crimson, and his eyes, especially, were like obsidian immersed in a cold pond. They were clearly smiling, yet they seemed unfathomable.
The man put down the teacup in his hand, his eyes fell on Shen Weiwan, and the smile on his lips deepened: "Little donor, pray for blessings, why did you pray yourself into the mud?"
Shen Weiwan finally reacted and quickly touched her hair - it was indeed stained with a lot of grass clippings and locust flowers. She looked at the hem of her skirt again, and it was covered with mud marks. When she rolled in just now, she was afraid that she had rubbed the clean floor dirty.
"Uh..." She pulled the corner of her mouth awkwardly, "Sir, I didn't mean to do that. I just... took a nap and accidentally rolled in here."
The man raised an eyebrow, his eyes sweeping across her muddy skirt, then down to the guilty blush on her face. He asked with interest, "Oh? Taking a nap right under the Bodhisattva's nose, you're quite brave, young donor."
Shen Weiwan's heart skipped a beat. This man looked unfamiliar, not like a monk from Hanshan Temple, but more like a nobleman from some noble family. However, his words were sharp and he didn't sound like a good person.
Her eyes rolled, and she immediately put on an innocent look, tilting her head and asking, "Sir, don't you know? I'm just being down-to-earth! The Bodhisattva said that if you want your prayers to be effective, you must first greet the God of Land. Otherwise, the blessings will float in the sky and you won't be able to receive them!"
The man was so amused by her twisted logic that he chuckled softly, his voice as clear and pleasant as the clashing of jade and stone: "Oh? Is there such a thing?"
"Of course!" Shen Weiwan nodded seriously, "Just like my aunt said, we need to use ten carts of grain to offer to the Bodhisattva, so that the Bodhisattva will know that we mortals live a 'real' life!"
She deliberately emphasized the words "ten carts of grain" and secretly observed the man's reaction.
The man paused, his hand on the teacup in his hand. The smile on his lips widened, but with a subtle hint of amusement. "Ten cartloads of grain... that's quite a sincere gesture. The donor's aunt is truly a kind-hearted person."
Shen Weiwan's heart trembled. This person knew about the ten carts of grain? Could he also be from the capital?
At this moment, Chuntao came running to her breathlessly. When she saw the man in the Zen room, she was so scared that she almost knelt down: "Miss! Why are you here... Who is this..."
Shen Weiwan quickly stood up, patted the dust off her skirt, and winked at Chuntao: "It's okay, it's okay. I accidentally rolled in just now. This young man is very good and didn't blame me."
She turned around and bowed to the man. "Thank you for not blaming me, sir. I'll take my leave now."
After saying that, she pulled Chuntao and wanted to slip away.
"Wait." The man called her, his voice low but filled with an unquestionable authority, "Young benefactor, may I ask your name?"
Shen Weiwan paused, turned around and smiled brightly: "Sir, just call me Wanwan. I have something else to do, so I'll leave first!"
After saying that, she pulled Chuntao and ran out of the Zen room quickly, as if there was a tiger chasing them.
After running quite a distance, Chun Tao panted and asked, "Miss, that young man just now... didn't look like an ordinary person. Why didn't you ask more questions?"
Shen Weiwan patted her chest and said with lingering fear: "Why are you asking? Didn't you see that she was wearing such expensive clothes? What if she is a character that we can't afford to offend? We should just run away!"
She said this, but she was wondering in her heart. That man had an outstanding temperament, no ordinary man, and he seemed to know his own affairs very well. Could it be...
"Chun Tao," she suddenly stopped, "Do you think that young man just now looked familiar?"
Chun Tao tilted her head and thought for a moment, then shook her head: "I don't think he looks familiar, but he's really handsome, like he walked out of a painting."
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