Mother and child are connected at heart
The fifth sister was the youngest child in the family. Born into the womb of the first wife, she was born as the legitimate daughter and would enjoy endless wealth and honor throughout her life.
When they were young, the sisters were very close. But as they grew older, the eldest wife often stirred up trouble and slandered them, so the fifth sister became less close to her.
As she grew older, he harbored unwarranted malice towards her.
Lin Yueyao never cared about any of this, and never even offered a single explanation, letting things develop as they have become today.
When the fifth young lady saw that she had bumped into someone, and that it was her own eldest sister, she glared at her and walked away arrogantly.
The maid bowed to her and hurried to catch up with her mistress.
Fifth Sister.
The fifth young lady stopped and turned her head to ask, "Why did you call me?"
Lin Yueyao smiled faintly, casually picked a handful of flowers from the flower bushes, walked over to her and squatted down, saying, "Plants are the most beautiful, and flowers complement a beautiful woman."
"Only such beauty is worthy of my sister's exceptional talent."
Fresh dew remains among the flower clusters, and after being moistened by the stamens, it gives off a delicate fragrance.
With a bouquet of flowers tucked behind her ear, the Fifth Miss blushed upon being praised like this, easily defusing any previous malice. She stammered, unsure of how to express herself.
"I don't care at all." Remembering her mother's instructions, the fifth young lady's expression immediately changed, and she was about to tear off the flower branch.
"Miss, please don't! This is the eldest young lady's kind intention," the maid hurriedly tried to dissuade her.
The fifth young lady insisted on pulling at the bouquet, but no matter what she did, she couldn't budge it. As the mistress and servant argued, butterflies fluttered in, and bees and butterflies, drawn by the fragrance, fluttered their wings and danced around the fifth young lady.
"Such a small talisman has such an effect," Lin Yueyao said with a smile. "It seems that even the butterfly cherishes its little sister."
The mistress and servant were speechless with astonishment at the sight. The maid was even more dumbfounded and stammered, "They are butterflies, so many butterflies, all because of Miss."
"The young lady is right. Your beauty attracts butterflies to dance around you. This is an auspicious sign."
The fifth young lady was stunned and didn't react. Unable to resist the praise from her and her maid, she was completely dumbfounded, her face turning completely red.
With just a few words, the maid confirmed that the Fifth Miss was exceptionally beautiful, and the two of them staggered out of the courtyard.
The power of the talisman is limited and cannot last long, but even so, it is enough.
Through her schemes, the story of the Fifth Miss's stunning beauty attracting butterflies spread throughout Ba County.
In the past few days, the number of guests coming and going to offer incense has been endless, including many wealthy families, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the Fifth Miss's beautiful face.
The Lin family's side was heavily guarded. Except when they were chanting Buddhist scriptures, the girls were in the meditation room at all other times, and the guests didn't even have a chance to see them.
After the group finished reciting Buddhist scriptures in the main hall, the old lady had a long talk with the abbot and was about to leave when Lin Yueyao, who was standing at the back of the crowd, abruptly interrupted.
"I have some questions I'd like to ask the master. Would it be convenient for you?"
"The old lady is here, what right do you have to speak?" The first wife glared at her angrily, but had to hold back because they were in a Buddhist temple.
"It's alright, let her ask," the old lady said reassuringly, beckoning her to come forward.
She made her way through the crowd to the abbot's side. The abbot had deep wrinkles between his eyebrows and was bowing with his hands clasped in prayer.
"Please speak, Miss."
"Master, do you believe in karma and retribution, and that murderers should pay with their lives?"
"Shut up! Do not speak recklessly before Buddha!" The First Madam couldn't help but scold her, but she seemed not to hear. Her brothers and sisters in the hall, however, could not understand what she was saying.
The old lady was a devout Buddhist and could not bear to hear of fighting and killing. She closed her eyes and silently recited Buddhist Zen sayings.
The brightly lit hall has received countless worshippers. Among them are those who pray for divine mercy for their own selfish desires, and those who seek help from the gods because they are in danger of being killed.
They were praying for the protection of the Bodhisattva and the True Man for their own sake and for the sake of their families.
Despite the fact that she, an unmarried young lady, could say such things, the abbot did not ask questions but answered her in the same way as everyone else.
"Because this exists, that exists; because this arises, that arises; because this does not exist, that does not exist; because this ceases, that ceases."
The answer was confusing, so the abbot explained again, "Right and wrong are all within oneself; good and evil are judged by one's heart; life and death are judged by one's feelings."
Having said all that, the crowd dispersed.
Her words are unintentional to the unsuspecting, but will be taken to heart by those who are mindful.
The First Lady was the daughter of an official; her mother was a founding princess, and her father was a highly decorated general. Her family was extremely wealthy, with a fortune comparable to that of a nation. Having seen many dead people, she did not believe this fallacy.
However, I have some doubts about the strange thing that happened the other day when my daughter attracted butterflies in the yard.
They summoned their daughter's maid, who explained everything in detail, and only then did they learn that their daughter had been secretly seeing Lin Yueyao.
I don't know what that brat is up to, but she won't let any of them get away with harming my daughter.
"Make sure you keep a close eye on the young lady, especially that bitch Lin Yueyao. Keep a close watch on her."
"yes."
The young maidservant kept this in mind.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Apart from the little monks ringing the bell and meditating, the flowers and birds in the Buddhist temple became rather boring after a while.
The fifth young lady was listless and unhappy all day long, crying and shouting that she wanted to go home.
In the past, I could do whatever she wanted, but this was the one thing that was absolutely non-negotiable.
Not only are they not allowed to run around, but now they're not even allowed to cry or make a fuss. The Fifth Miss feels like she's about to suffocate.
Her older brothers were all quiet types who only knew how to please her, doing whatever she asked, like dull wooden blocks, and were quite boring.
"I'm going to find my eldest sister." The fifth young lady got out of bed, slipped on her shoes, lifted her skirt, and was about to go find someone.
The maidservant stopped her, remembering the Madam's instructions, "Miss, the Madam instructed that you are not allowed to run around."
"You're my maid, so naturally you have to listen to me," the Fifth Miss declared domineeringly.
"But Madam said..." The maid was still shaken. If Madam found out, she would definitely be punished.
"No buts. If you dare disobey me, I'll kick you out immediately." The Fifth Miss put her hands on her hips and looked up at the maid who was half a head taller than her.
Under duress, the maid had no choice but to agree.
However, the Fifth Miss was not an unreasonable person. "Don't worry, if Mother blames you, just say it was my own idea."
Despite these sayings, it is always the lackeys who make mistakes and are punished.
The girls lived close by; they passed through several arched doorways to reach their rooms.
"Big sister, are you inside?" The fifth young lady knocked on the door arrogantly, not caring whether the person inside was taking a nap.
Lin Yueyao opened the door by pulling it open to both sides, her expression unchanged, showing no surprise.
The Fifth Miss swaggered into the room, not even letting the maids in, which just fulfilled Lin Yueyao's wish.
The door was closed, and the maidservant stood guard outside, having been instructed by the mistress not to leave her side for even a moment.
"What does Fifth Sister want with me?" She immediately put on a smile, pretending to be a caring older sister.
The fifth young lady nimbly lay down on the low couch, rolling around and tossing and turning, wrinkling the mattress.
"I had nothing to do, so I wanted to see what my older sister was doing." She lay on the bed, but her peripheral vision caught sight of the gold and silver jewelry on the other side of the mattress.
Lin Yueyao confidently pushed the jewelry in front of her, saying, "I'm organizing these pieces of jewelry."
The fifth young lady picked up one of the bracelets; it was cool and smooth, a fine dark green.
She glanced at it and put it back; her mother had plenty in her room, and she didn't care for them at all.
"Big sister, your jewelry is too shabby. I have a lot more in my room. I'll give you some when I get home."
"How can that be? It's something Mother gave you, and you're giving it to me. What kind of relationship is that?" Lin Yueyao quickly declined.
"Take it if you want it, eldest sister. This is my kindness, you can't refuse." The fifth young lady was used to being wild and always had the final say. No one in the family dared to disobey her.
"Alright, I can't accept something for nothing. Since Fifth Sister is going to give me something, why don't you pick out some good things from here first?"
Since her older sister had said so, she couldn't refuse. She sat up and reluctantly rummaged through her bundle.
Turning the items over and over, they were all old, mundane things. Looking at the eldest sister's clothes, she seemed too miserable to be a young lady.
My mother keeps saying we should be wary of my eldest sister, but what's there to be wary of when someone has the body of a young lady but the life of a maid? My mother is really overthinking it.
Miss Wu thought to herself with a smug smile. As she touched the jewelry, she pulled out a pair of butterfly ornaments, which were glittering and very eye-catching.
I held it in my palm and looked at it for a long time.
"If Fifth Sister likes it, she can take it," Lin Yueyao encouraged.
Butterflies, again butterflies! But she had never seen this kind of thing before, and suddenly felt that the jewelry on her head looked dull and lost its luster in front of it.
Her gaze was inadvertently drawn in, as if bewitched, and the Fifth Miss murmured, "Big sister is willing to do that?"
"It's just a piece of jewelry. If you like it, feel free to take it."
"Then thank you very much, eldest sister." The fifth young lady was overjoyed to receive such a good thing. She immediately put the pair of butterfly-shaped jewelry in her hair and paraded through the streets wearing them.
The maidservant naturally saw it all and heard everything that happened inside the door.
"Is the young lady really that kind?" the maid couldn't help but ask.
The Fifth Miss chuckled to herself, "Have you forgotten what Mother said? The child of a concubine can't possibly have any insight or vision. He's just a petty wretch who's never seen the world."
He couldn't help but mutter, "It's truly pathetic that they can't even distinguish these good things."
After the master and servant left, Lin Yueyao sat on the edge of the bed, the old scenes from the past seeming to flash before her eyes.
"The resentment in this house is too strong. There's a woman hanged in the northwest corner; there's someone drowned in the well; and the one in the side courtyard died the worst—the baby's head was sticking out, and he just died like that."
Lin Yueyao heard these words clearly. When the sorcerer spoke to her, he manipulated the peach wood sword and continuously cast spells.
“The bond between mother and child is strong. If I capture their children, cast spells on them, and subject them to extreme torture, I will surely be able to force them out.”
The suffering endured by the child in the mantra is a hundred times greater than that endured by the mother in the mantra; this is the so-called Lotus Heart Mantra of Child and Mother.
Such spells easily deplete one's cultivation and are likely to incur divine retribution.
The master examined her face and concluded that she was a promising talent for spiritual cultivation, with a strong destiny and no taboos.
They even taught her such insidious tricks.
Not long after the Fifth Miss left, Lin Yueyao collapsed onto the couch, feeling utterly exhausted and too tired to lift her eyelids, and fell into a deep sleep.
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