Spiritual
It is said that Fengqing Temple is quite spiritual. When Liu Er knelt in the Sanqing Temple, facing all the gods and Buddhas in the temple, he did not pray for his own health, nor for the ability to compete with Liu San. What he prayed for was Yulan, Miss Ye, and his insect.
He once lay in a dark room, looking back at the past decade in despair, without any hope. Until Yulan's arrival, desire was like a bunch of dry grass ignited by fire, burning all over the mountains and plains, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Finally he understood his desires, he saw his longings clearly.
Now that Haitang had pointed it out, he was not angry. He just went with the flow and made things clear, waiting to see what Yulan thought.
Haitang was also dumbfounded. She swallowed the dirty words that were in her stomach and didn't even swing her clenched fist. Finally, she looked at Qingfeng Jiuyue Liu Er, then at the blushing Yulan, and uttered incoherently:
"Then... uh... when will you propose?"
Yulan covered her face with her hands in shame and anger. She was so angry that she couldn't speak. She just wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
"Wait until Yulan is willing." Liu Er stood in the moonlight in moon-white clothes, with a frank and sincere look on his face.
"go back!"
Haitang was pulled back by Yulan, and there seemed to be a mass of paste in her head. She looked at Yulan who turned back and glared at Liu Er fiercely as she walked away, and then looked at Liu Er who was standing alone in the moonlight, at a loss.
She was immature and didn't understand the relationship between men and women, let alone the deeper meaning behind the tug-of-war between the two. Lying on the bed, Haitang quietly asked Yulan, "Did the Second Young Master force you?"
Yulan shook her head and told Haitang not to think too much and to rest early.
Haitang stayed awake all night, her mind full of plots from various storybooks. When Yulan finally opened her eyes, the first thing she heard was Haitang asking her, "Are you being coy about accepting or rejecting?"
Yulan turned over and said helplessly: "It's not as complicated as you think."
She patted Haitang's head and got up to wash.
"So that's just wishful thinking, Second Young Master?"
Seeing Haitang's insistent attitude, Yulan replied perfunctorily, "Almost."
Haitang hugged Yulan distressedly, tears welling up in her eyes as she sobbed a few times: "Once we have enough money, we will go out and live our own lives."
Yulan knew that Haitang's mind was wandering in other directions, so she patted her shoulder and comforted her, "It's okay, everything will be fine."
In the following days, Haitang's eyes seemed to be attached to Yulan, appearing beside her from time to time, which made Liu Er a little upset.
Why did he express his feelings but Yulan remained unmoved?
Why did Yulan become distant from him after that night?
Why does Haitang follow me everywhere?
Why…why…?
Could it be that he had misunderstood before? Or was it just pity?
Liu Er could no longer sit in front of the window and calmly depict the shadow of Magnolia. He began to panic. He was panicked that Magnolia alienated him, left him, and thought he was despicable, incompetent, wishful thinking, and good for nothing.
What if he held power? What if he were the head of the Liu family? Would everyone lean towards him? Would they cling to him? And would Yulan only have eyes for him? He never wanted to trap Yulan, because he, too, was trapped. But now, the seeds of darkness were sprouting. If she and he were both isolated and helpless, trapped in this world, would she only be able to rely on him?
The pen in his hand had been snapped unconsciously, leaving ink all over his hands. A few dead leaves drifted in from the window, fittingly bringing with them a hint of melancholy and a chill. He sobered up a bit, then rinsed the broken nib in amber tea, watching the ink dissolve in clumps and circles, eventually muddying the tea.
He has no control over the comings and goings in this world.
In the main hall, the family was happily reunited. Only Liu Er sat by the window in the north courtyard, gazing at the bright moon.
Who still remembers that he was born on a boat in Yangzhou on August 15th, nineteen years ago?
That night, the full moon was like a fresh shower, and the returning clouds seemed to be returning in triumph.
That night, the water was clear and the moon was bright, so his mother named him: Qingbai.
Yulan interrupted his melancholy and walked into the house with two bowls of hot noodles.
"I went to the kitchen and made you two bowls of noodles."
Yulan originally thought that Liu Er would be able to have dinner in the main hall during the Mid-Autumn Festival no matter what, until she saw him being stopped by Butler Liu, she realized that he had not been able to leave the North Courtyard until now.
"It's okay, they eat theirs and we eat ours. Just don't think it's shabby." Seeing that Liu Er was depressed, Yulan coaxed him a few words.
Liu Er was a little surprised when he saw Yulan, and even a little excited in his heart. He thought that everyone would go to the main hall to join in the fun, and if the masters were happy, they would give some rewards.
But in a moment he was not so happy anymore. Was Magnolia here to pity him?
"I thought you wouldn't come."
As Liu Er spoke, he moved a small round stool and placed it in front of the small round table. He flicked the dust off and asked Yulan to sit down.
"How could that be? I can't spend Mid-Autumn Festival alone."
Yulan put on apricot blossom scented powder on her body, rouge on her lips, pearls he gave her on her earlobes, and her favorite pearl tassels on her hair.
Liu Er took the bowl and sipped the soup, raising his eyelids to look at her carefully. She was dressed more exquisitely than usual.
Could it be that Yulan just wants to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with him?
Yulan picked up a small piece of noodles with her chopsticks, flipped it a few times to reveal a fried egg, blinked a few times, and looked at Liu Er expectantly.
Liu Er also flipped it a few times and saw the fried egg that Yulan had hidden for him, a double yolk egg.
"Today all the ingredients in the kitchen are in the main hall, and no one pays attention to me. I had to dig out this egg from the chicken coop." She thought she was quite smart for knowing to clean the chicken coop, otherwise she would have to eat plain noodles.
"Do you know?"
Yulan was puzzled by Liu Er's question: "What do you know?"
"Girls, don't go in and out of a man's room at night."
Only then did Yulan notice that Liu Er was staring at her with red eyes, a red that resembled both desire and spring water. For a moment, Yulan felt dazed by those moist eyes. It wasn't that she didn't understand, she had just been playing dumb, and she almost believed it herself.
She turned her head away, looking away. She stared at the bright moon hanging high outside the window, pouting and saying, "Aren't you... a gentleman...?"
Before he could utter the word "gentleman", his words were cut off by a kiss.
Liu Er kissed her lips lightly, and seeing that she didn't resist, he covered her lips with his.
Yulan was dazed by the kiss and stared at Liu Er. Seeing his tightly closed eyes, trembling eyelashes, and wet eyes, a tear slid down his teardrop mole, her heart softened again.
Liu Er held her cheeks carefully with his hands and stroked the pearl pendant on her earlobe, over and over again.
As for Liu Er, since that was the case, he could just assume that he had misunderstood. He would just let it go.
Although Yulan was shocked, she didn't even think of pushing Liu Er away. She closed her eyes and smelled the faint aroma of osmanthus wine.
She knew that this little bit of wine wouldn't make her drunk. She also knew Liu Er was sober, but she wanted to be confused just for once.
Countless times, she'd tried to escape, unwilling to confront her inner desires. She was afraid of becoming Madam Yun, or Madam Qin, or her own mother, who had died in vain. The bloody examples before her showed that any woman trapped in a lewd mansion, any woman caught in the illusion of love, would inevitably go mad.
But she couldn't help wanting to be close to Liu Er, wanting to have him all to herself. Perhaps it was because he was handsome, or perhaps it was because he had taught her how to write and read countless nights. She began to firmly believe that Liu Er was different from other men.
He was fragile and sensitive. He was always jealous, yet secretly worried about Yulan. He was different from other men.
At about this moment, in this instant, Magnolia suddenly understood why moths fly into the flame.
It turns out that it's just nature.
She couldn't go against her nature, ignore her desires. That night, just one kiss, and she was utterly defeated.
"Liu Qingbai..."
This was the first time that Yulan called Liu Er's full name. He excitedly lifted Yulan up with his right hand and carried her to the desk in front of the small window.
"Shout a few more times..."
Magnolia was catering to him, not rejecting him.
She liked him and was in love with him.
He was never wishful thinking. He was loved by Magnolia, and Magnolia loved him firmly.
The night breeze ruffled the strands of hair in front of their eyes, dried the dampness and stickiness from their clothes, and also blew the small figures on the desk. The figures moved vividly with the wind, and without knowing when, several new pictures appeared.
The moonlight is soft, and this kiss is just a brief taste.
The amulet Feng Qingguan obtained was very effective. Liu Er put it under his pillow and couldn't let it go. It was not until dawn that he realized he had not slept all night.
Yulan also gazed at the moonlight all night. She remembered that the Taoist priest of Fengqing Temple not only said that she was a talented general, but also said that she and the young man who was traveling with her had a fate that was inseparable and difficult to sort out throughout their lives.
Looking at the amulet in her hand, she thought that the Taoist priest was quite accurate.
News of Liu San's recovery at Fengqing Temple spread among wealthy merchants, aristocratic families, and ordinary people. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Madam Qin and Master Liu personally escorted Liu San back to Fengqing Temple and donated a golden statue of the deity as a token of their gratitude.
"Ruoque." The master called him.
That was Liu San's Buddhist name. He lowered his head and responded, then walked up to his master with his hands clasped together.
The master gave him a Buddhist scripture and asked him to go back to his room to copy it.
During the month since he came here, he actually did nothing but copy scriptures and practice exercises. But the amazing thing is that his illness miraculously got better.
Perhaps the Feng Shui of Fengqing Temple is good for health.
Fengqing Temple is now more lively than before, and there are often guests staying in the side rooms for a short time.
Liu San had thought that he would spend the rest of his life in the Taoist temple day after day, until one evening in the rain, he saw a female guest who was staying there for a short time drop a folding fan.
He chased out and stood under the eaves. In the fine and dense rain, apart from the fallen leaves, he could only see the girl holding an umbrella in the rain.
Liu San called out a few times: "Go away, girl, your folding fan!"
She seemed to hear his voice and turned around, but it seemed she had only turned back. The fan was still in Liu San's hand, with a peach blossom painted on the corner.
Every day after that, Liu San's sleep could not find peace. He always dreamed of the girl in the rain, the folding fan, and the blooming peach blossom.
He didn't understand whether there was some other deeper meaning behind all this, but his master said that he had been restless while doing his lessons these past few days, so he might as well stop doing them and go sweep the Sanqing Temple instead.
Liu San followed his master's advice and swept the Sanqing Temple. On that dull and ordinary morning, he saw the girl again.
Liu San recognized at a glance that it was the girl in the rain that day. He was very familiar with that figure in his dreams.
Even without makeup, she was a stunning beauty. She wore a sky-blue orchid-patterned long gown and a veil on her head, kneeling devoutly before the statue. When she stood up, Liu Sancai handed her the folding fan.
He did not dare to ask who this girl was, as he was afraid of being presumptuous and also afraid that this would be the last time they would see each other. After a long conversation, he finally uttered one sentence: "If I am not available, I have been waiting for you here for a long time."
"I am Wei Ruchu, a commoner. I will give the folding fan to my young master." She seemed to chuckle and said goodbye to Liu San.
Outside the Sanqing Hall, the sun rose, a golden slant across the empty bluestone. Only the bronze incense burner, passed down through generations, curled with smoke. Liu San stood inside the hall, watching the Wei family girl melt lightly and ethereal into the bright yet dazzling morning light.
"Will we meet again?" Liu San muttered to himself while looking into the distance, then shook his head and put away the folding fan.
Never mind, we'll meet again if we're destined to.
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