Chapter 124 [VIP] Lifesaver (11)
In the end, Nan Yan turned around hesitantly. It was unclear whether she wanted to anger him on purpose or really wanted to leave Xiao Feihe beside her. Unfortunately, the man behind her never said anything and never stepped forward to stop her until the two of them gradually walked away, so far that they could no longer be seen...
Only then did Jin Nili hear Li Qingrou beside him calling him softly, "Ningli, let's go back too, okay?"
Jin Lili seemed to come back to his senses. He looked down at her and said "hmm" calmly. Then the two of them left in opposite directions. He then sent Li Qingrou to the carriage and ordered the servants to send her back to the Li Mansion.
Before leaving, Li Qingrou bit her lip and looked at him as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. Finally, she said softly, "My Lord, remember to bandage your palm when you go back, and don't touch water to prevent the wound from getting infected."
Jin Lili paused slightly when he heard this. His eyelashes drooped slightly, and he put his hands behind his back. He looked up at her again, and his eyes seemed to be much softer than before. Then he said lightly,
"Hmm...thank you, I'll pay attention."
The carriage then drove steadily towards the Li Mansion, and Jin Lili, who was left standing there, slowly loosened his grip.
Jin Xinli stared in a daze at the emerald green peach blossom hairpin in his palm, which had been dyed crimson.
As soon as he loosened his hand, the straight jade seemed to be unable to withstand the previous pressure. It broke into two pieces with a "snap" sound, and fell to the ground from between his fingers along with the bright red blood beads.
Jin Li couldn't help but ask himself in his heart:
What happened to him?
Isn't this what he has always wanted? Why does his chest hurt so much? Even breathing hurts.
…
On the other side, Nan Yan also returned home safely under the escort of Xiao Feihe. From then on, Xiao Feihe would come to the Li Mansion from time to time, using the excuse of drinking and appreciating paintings with Lord Li and pretending to be refined to get close to Li Nan Yan.
At the beginning, Nan Yan refused many times, but she would agree one or two times out of three or five times. After all, she had to give people some leeway.
As time went by, the relationship between the two became more and more familiar and closer. Perhaps it was because both of them had a bad reputation in Yanyun City, so they got along more smoothly. They were both people who did not care about their reputation, so wouldn't it be lively when they were together?
In particular, although Xiao Feihe's reputation is not that good, he is really good at having fun.
He was the first in the whole Yanyun City to catch any creature that could move and run, whether it was flying in the sky, running on the ground, or swimming in the water. He took Li Nanyan to watch and catch them one by one.
This kind of life was indeed something Nan Yan had never experienced before. Sometimes when they were tired and hungry from horseback riding in the suburbs, they would catch two fish in the nearby lake. After eating, they felt unsatisfied, so they thought about it and decided to steal sweet potatoes from other people's fields and roast them together...
As a result, they were discovered by the owner before they finished eating. The energetic old man chased them from the beginning to the end of the field with a hoe, and ran for several miles without taking a breath. It was not until the two could no longer run that Xiao Feihe took out some silver coins from his arms and threw them to them, and then shouted loudly that they knew they were wrong. The old man snorted and then agreed to stop. In the end, he went back happily with the silver in his pocket. The other two were so tired that they lay down on the ground, looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.
There are many more interesting things like this.
As a result, the relationship between the two became closer, but after they had been together for a while, rumors began to spread again.
It was said that Miss Li was so devastated after her engagement was broken off that she actually degenerated into a depravity and got involved with the emperor's own nephew.
Although Prince Xiao is very good-looking and of noble status, how could a relative of the emperor not be noble?
But that can't stop him from being a useless dandy!
He spent the whole year in debauchery, lingering among flowers and having affairs with the women in the fireworks areas. There were even some romantic rumors about him in the early years that he had secretly married a stunning prostitute, and that the prostitute was pregnant with his child. But the most terrible thing was that the prostitute was not an honest official who only sold her art but not her body. Instead, all the most romantic and lustful customers in the whole Yanyun City were her guests. She could even tell exactly where the birthmark on the woman's body was. This Prince Xiao was so romantic that he even forgot his own identity!
Even the emperor was furious about this matter, so he sent the bastard directly to the imperial mausoleum to guard the tomb of the deceased princess, and the brothel girl disappeared from then on.
Afterwards, the emperor issued another order, prohibiting people in the city from discussing royal private affairs, but rumors could not be stopped, especially such secrets. Even if people did not mention them openly, they could not help but talk about them in private, and Prince Xiao’s reputation was completely ruined.
It was not until three years later, when the disturbances in the city had subsided, that the emperor ordered his people to bring his good-for-nothing nephew back, intending to find him a strong woman to control him. Unfortunately, many people in the city knew about this, so no girl was willing to marry him.
After all, Prince Xiao's reputation is so ruined, which girl from a good family would be willing to jump into the fire pit?
After returning, Prince Xiao was no different from before. He still ate, drank, and played every day, walked his dog and rode his horse everywhere. He was still the most famous playboy in Yanyun City.
In a nutshell, if a girl from a respectable family were to get involved with such a person, she would be destroying her reputation and would suffer the consequences sooner or later.
So, not long ago, when a few noble ladies were buying rouge and powder in a shop, they accidentally saw Miss Li and Master Xiao standing together, talking and laughing, and they immediately spread the news.
Now, even the original owner's mother felt unlucky after hearing the news. She was so angry that she didn't know what to say. Those gossipers who spread rumors and gossiped in the mansion will have their tongues rotten sooner or later!
How could her daughter allow herself to fall into depravity? What's the point of flirting with Prince Xiao? The person who said this is really despicable!
But thinking about it gave her a headache again. Ever since her engagement was broken off, her daughter's reputation and status had indeed deteriorated a lot. During this period, not even a matchmaker came to inquire about the news. If things continued to delay like this, she was really afraid that her daughter would not be able to marry into a good family in the future.
When Mrs. Li thought of this, she was so anxious that she was furious. Especially when she looked at her daughter, she felt distressed and helpless. In the end, she had no choice.
I can only go to the recently said very effective Paradise Temple to worship, donate some incense money, and pray to the Buddha for protection, hoping that her daughter can get rid of the bad luck of the whole year as soon as possible.
But who could have expected it?
According to legend, this very effective Paradise Temple is actually a temple of prostitution, a place that specializes in abducting and trafficking women. Not only is it not a place of extreme bliss, it is extremely evil.
The monks in the temple burned sandalwood, twisted Buddhist beads, and wore clean and tidy cassocks. They looked like kind-hearted Bodhisattvas, but secretly they specialized in abducting single women. There was even a secret passage in the temple that led directly to the rooms of pilgrims. .
These evil monks were also very discerning, if they came across a wealthy family or a family of officials, they would honestly recite Buddhist scriptures for them, explain fortunes and earn some money, but if they came across an ordinary woman who was alone, they would directly kidnap her and sell her to various places.
It's not that no one had any doubts, but the monks in the temple either said that the woman had eloped with someone else, or that she had left the mountain a long time ago. In the end, it had nothing to do with the temple.
You can file a complaint with the government, of course. The government can at most send people to the temple to inquire about the crime, but how can they accuse the temple of a crime when neither the person nor the body has been found? Besides, this Buddhist temple has support from the government, and how can the poor people argue with the abbot of this Buddhist temple who is highly respected?
In the original plot, Li Nanyan came to the temple alone because she was extremely sad and angry. She wanted to spend the rest of her life worshipping Buddha. However, she never expected that she would be abducted by the people in the temple as a powerless and weak woman.
It was for this reason that Lord Li, whose eldest daughter was missing, brought the case of the Jile Temple to court. Although the Jile Temple in the original novel was eventually destroyed, Li Nanyan had already committed suicide by drowning herself in the river, and even her body had disappeared.
So when Nan Yan heard the news, she did not refuse to go. After all, no one would believe her if she said directly that there was something wrong with the Jile Temple. It would be better to take this opportunity to expose the crimes of the temple as soon as possible and destroy this evil place that harms people.
However, Nan Yan thought that it would probably not work on her own. After all, what could a powerless little noblewoman do? Of course, she would have to drag that Prince Xiao and that powerful Lord Jin into the water.
Moreover, she had been with Xiao Feihe for so many days and had discovered that he was a warm-hearted person with a cold heart. He always had a smiling face and seemed to be approachable on the surface, but he was actually very defensive.
After so many days, she still hasn't really entered his heart. It seems that he is serious about his love for Li Qingrou. But Nan Yan is not in a hurry. Love is so mysterious. Sometimes two people may not be moved no matter how long they spend together. But sometimes, just a glance is enough to make the other person fall in love with you.
Anyway, it’s just a matter of who has more sophisticated means.
對此南嫣表示毫無壓力，嘻嘻，反正每天絞盡腦汁想着法子哄她開心的人又不是她，而且自從這人來了以後吧，她出門連丫鬟小厮都不用帶了，有他一個使喚就夠了。
之後南嫣又将自己要去極樂寺禮佛的事情告訴了蕭非鶴，然後眼睛閃着光亮，低頭湊過去小聲提醒他一定要帶夠銀子。
到時候他們可以去逛山下的廟會，聽說那兒的廟會人特別多，非常有意思，到時候他們可以偷偷摸摸一起下山去湊熱鬧。
對此，蕭非鶴自然是笑着應了。
轉頭又揉了揉有些發癢的耳朵，對這突然湊過來的溫熱氣息莫名有些不适應，他低頭看着那燈火映照下的如玉面龐，一時心中隐約有些異樣，不過只是片刻，很快就被他忽略了。
而最近一段時間，兩人的關系也算是突飛猛進。
蕭非鶴瞧着那走在前頭一路上都在吃吃喝喝、好不開心的李家大小姐，嘴角也是不自覺露出一抹無奈的笑。
這人還真是沒心沒肺到頭了。
……
十五那日，馬車晃晃悠悠地行駛在前往極樂寺的青石板路上，外頭的天氣正好，秋高氣爽，雲淡風輕，随着馬車漸行漸遠，原本城內喧鬧的叫賣聲也漸漸遠了。
李府這次去的人多，前前後後一共有五輛馬車，還帶了不少護衛小厮，除了李夫人跟南嫣之外，剩下的都是府裏未出閣的庶出子女們。
這其中自然也包括了李清柔，李清柔也有段時間沒去寺廟裏上過香、禮過佛了，前段時間風波未平，除非必要，她一般很少出門，如今風頭過了，她自然也想着出來透透氣了，而且她跟靳厭離也很久沒見過面了。
也不知道這次能不能見上一面？
想到未來夫婿，李清柔臉上也不由得露出幾分溫柔眷戀的神情，她這段時間在府裏給他繡了一個小荷包，托人帶給他後，靳厭離也讓下人給她送來了一支跟上次一模一樣的簪子作為回禮，這讓李清柔有些開心，他果然還是惦記着她的不是嗎？
其實李清柔也不止一次的後悔過，倘若早知道靳厭離是因為認錯了人才對李南嫣那般好的，她早就去告訴他真相了，也不至于讓兩人生生耽誤了這麽久。
好在如今一切都已經回歸原位了，而從前錯過的那些時光，她也一定可以慢慢彌補回來的。
至于前頭的馬車裏，南嫣被這馬車颠的渾身上下連骨頭都有些酸軟了，墊再厚的軟枕也沒那現代的小汽車坐起來平穩舒服啊。
好在這車裏打發時間的有趣玩意兒準備得還挺齊全的，糕點、茶餅、果幹，還有話本小說，吃累了就喝口茶，然後撩開簾子看看遠處的風景，這景色倒也別有一番趣味。
馬車行駛了将近兩個時辰，終于到了極樂寺山下了，這山腳下有個坊市，坊市裏的小生意也是做的如火如荼。
畢竟極樂寺的和尚也不全都是惡人，自然也有一些被蒙在鼓裏，但又真心向善的佛家弟子，這些和尚們平日裏自己也會種菜種地、還有一些手工不差的，編織一些草鞋草席來販賣，日子雖然清苦但很充實。
馬車才進入坊市之內就能聽見外面攤子上的吆喝聲了，隔着簾子都能感受到外頭熱鬧的氣息，又往前行了一段距離，終于到了那座傳聞中的極樂寺了。
這極樂寺的建築确實氣派，寺內的僧人自然也有不少，正中央是大雄寶殿，殿內供奉着一尊鍍了金身的釋迦牟尼像，寶相莊嚴，氣勢宏偉，香案上還燃着檀香，香氣幽遠古樸。
南嫣也在丫鬟的攙扶下下了馬車，女眷們站在一起，身旁是各自的丫鬟婆子，最外層還有侍衛護着，這樣的架勢一看就是官宦之家，那偏殿門後頭有個方臉僧人往女眷中偷瞄了好幾眼，然後又一聲不響的退下了。
南嫣也掃了一眼那灰衣僧人離開的方向，這些人大概率是不敢對她們動手的，畢竟這裏最不好惹的就是官宦之家的女眷了。
李夫人在最前頭跟方丈商談一些住宿事宜，随後方丈便讓一個小沙彌來給衆人帶路了，這極樂寺東邊是偏殿，通常是留給香客們居住的院子，李夫人要去誦經拜佛，自然要将後頭跟來的女眷安頓好。
小沙彌領着衆人到了各自的後院，雙手合十，念了一聲“阿彌陀佛”之後就退下了。
南嫣住的院子環境比較清幽，院子裏還種了一棵菩提樹，有風吹過的時候樹葉沙沙作響，四周仿佛萦繞着一股寧靜祥和的氣息，很難讓人想到這裏會是一個魔窟。
又過了一會兒，幾個庶女聚在李清柔的院子裏說說笑笑，說要去前殿求簽問簽，李清柔自然是應了，悶了許久了好不容易出趟遠門，自然是要出去走走的，幾人當即帶着丫鬟婆子去了前殿，不過也沒邀南嫣一起。
自從被退婚後，這幾個庶女也漸漸形成了以李清柔為首的小團體，明裏暗裏對她這個嫡姐是有幾分瞧不上的。對此，南嫣也表示毫不在意，反正她下午也約了人呢。
既然那慣用的跑腿小厮暫時還沒送上門來，那她還不如就在院子裏養精蓄銳呢，免得夜路走多了容易撞到鬼。
也不知道過了多久，久到南嫣都睡着了，那外頭的院子裏終于傳來了一些細微的動靜，像是有人在用小石子砸她的窗戶。
南嫣被這聲音吵醒了，推開窗戶一看，果然就瞧見那厮手裏還捏着幾枚沒扔完的小石子，正眉眼含笑地望着她。
窗戶打開的一瞬間，還有一顆恰好砸她腦袋上了，疼得南嫣“嘶”了聲，當即就淚眼汪汪瞪了這人一眼，
“蕭非鶴，你膽肥了，敢砸我腦袋？”
蕭非鶴也是一愣，随後又忍不住笑了，立馬扔了小石子上來道歉，“抱歉抱歉，手滑了，誰能想到你會在這個時候開窗啊？我摸摸看，是不是很疼？”
南嫣用力拍了一下那伸過來的手掌，哼了兩聲，又一把抓着他的手掌按在腦門上的位置，“能不疼嗎？就砸這個位置了，你看看，是不是起包了，幸好沒破皮破相，要不然就算你哭着求我，我也不會原諒你。”
李大小姐邊說着邊兇狠地瞪了他一眼，可惜那雙水汪汪的眼睛一點殺傷力都沒有，莫名的還帶點嬌憨之氣。
蕭非鶴看着只覺得好笑，但下一秒他就笑不出來了，手掌被對方緊緊抓着，然後用力貼在額頭綿軟溫熱的肌膚上，那種滑膩的陌生觸感讓他下意識地想抽開手。
但南嫣抓得緊緊的。
這讓他咳嗽一聲，一時有些不自在。
不過在看到額頭上确實有些發紅之後，手掌又跟着下意識輕輕揉了兩下，嘴裏含糊不清地念叨了句，“真是嬌氣，難道這世上的女子都是這麽的身嬌體軟……”
後面的話南嫣沒聽清，下意識就拍了他胸口一把，兇巴巴的，“你在念叨什麽呢？說大聲點，我沒聽見。”
蕭非鶴清了清嗓子，下意識地就回，“沒什麽呢？我說我銀子帶的非常夠了，大小姐您要不要跟我一起下山去看看？聽說這極樂寺山腳下的佛會也是別有一番熱鬧的。”
說完又覺得怪怪的，好像有那裏不太對勁，然後一低頭瞧着這人那毫不客氣的小模樣時，蕭非鶴逐漸反應過來了。
就說怎麽感覺那麽奇怪呢？
他明明是一纨绔子弟啊，怎麽感覺自己最近跟府裏伺候人的小厮是越來越像了呢？
不過這事也沒糾結太久，因為大小姐踩着桌子直接從窗口爬出來了，蕭非鶴下意識地伸手去接人，南嫣卻拍開他的手掌，然後從窗口一躍而下。
最後又轉過頭來朝着他得意一笑，笑得眉眼彎彎，半點大家閨秀的風範都沒有。
蕭非鶴卻低着頭無奈笑了。
兩人一起去了極樂寺的山腳下，今日是十五，每逢初一十五，前來燒香拜佛的百姓最多，也是山下坊市最熱鬧的時候。
還有僧人也在坊市擺攤，有的是用草席粗糙搭建起來的小攤子，攤子前擺了各式各樣的小佛像，都是用木頭雕刻出來的，模樣栩栩如生，一個個的頗有幾分閑趣。
南嫣挑了兩只圓臉造型的佛陀，肚子圓滾滾的，表情笑得像個撿了元寶的孩子，端正又可愛。
蕭非鶴就跟在後頭，老老實實的付錢，然後替她拿東西。
兩人順着人流一路往前走着，買了不少新奇的小玩意兒，最後多到蕭非鶴懷裏都塞不下了，只能交給小厮先拿回去了。
之後兩人又吃了這極樂寺山下特有的佛餅、佛饅頭，最後逛完了整個坊市，眼看着天都黑了，只能意猶未盡地先離開了。
回去的路上，南嫣擔心走正路會被李夫人發現，就央求着身旁這人走小路送她回去，蕭非鶴自然也是答應她了。
The two of them had heard about this path from the villagers at the foot of the mountain. At first, everything was smooth, and Xiao Feihe protected the person beside him as they walked forward. But soon he realized something was wrong. There seemed to be some very strange movements coming from the woods not far away.
Nan Yan's sleeves were pulled twice by someone behind her.
She turned back in confusion, "Why——"
Before she could finish her words, the person behind her covered her mouth tightly. Xiao Feihe grabbed her waist, then jumped up with her in his arms and hid directly on the tree trunk in front of him.
It was already dark, and the leaves blocked the view, so the three people carrying sacks out of the jungle did not notice them.
Xiao Feihe frowned, looked at the two monks with strange expressions, and suddenly lowered his voice and whispered to Nan Yan's ear, "Don't say anything, something seems wrong."
If it was a normal situation, it would be fine, but why would this monk hang out with nuns? And the sack that the man just carried over obviously contained a person.
Nan Yan understood in her heart, but she still looked clueless. She blinked and saw the bald monk below, then she imitated him and moved closer, saying casually, "Huh? How strange, why is it that square-faced monk again? When my mother and I came to this temple today, it was this monk who was hiding behind the door and secretly watching us. His eyes were very strange, and after I noticed him, the monk lowered his head and left, so I have a deep impression of him."
After saying this, she saw the person next to her frowning even deeper, and Xiao Feihe's grip on her waist made her consciousness tighten a little.
He was still wondering in his heart, how could the monks in a normal temple peek at the pilgrims who came to burn incense and worship Buddha, especially when these pilgrims were all women?
Before he could say anything to comfort her, he vaguely saw a man and a woman below undressing. After a while, the woman's panting and moaning could be heard, accompanied by some dirty words from the male monk...
Xiao Feihe's body froze instantly, and his expression darkened uncontrollably. If the previous situation might have been a misunderstanding, he was now almost certain that there was definitely something wrong with this Paradise Temple.
Monks and nuns are like this...
It is simply unbearable to look at! Unbearable to hear!
Nan Yan obviously heard the movement under the tree, and she was speechless. She couldn't help but sigh that the ancients were really bold, especially in the wilderness without any protection measures, they were really brave. However, the opportunity was not to be missed, and it would be a pity if she didn't take the opportunity to play a trick on the man in front of her.
Nan Yan noticed that the person holding her seemed a little stiff. She suddenly reached out and patted his chest, and said anxiously and puzzledly, "Xiao Feihe, did you hear it? I seemed to hear the sound of a woman crying. Did the monk just bully her? Hurry up and go down to help? What are we doing hiding here? Hurry up and find the abbot..."
Before she could finish her words, someone covered her mouth tightly. Nan Yan let out a few angry sounds, but in the end, she couldn't get away. She could only stare at him with her eyes wide open and with all her strength!
——Xiao Feihe, you bastard, why don’t you let go?
Xiao Feihe didn't know why he could understand from her eyes what she wanted to express at the moment. However, being stared at by such beautiful eyes, Xiao Feihe just felt a headache for a moment, and even a little annoyed. Why did he stay with her under such circumstances?
Especially looking at those clear eyes, which reflected his figure like a mirror, without any thoughts or desires, he didn't know how to explain it to her?
She doesn't understand anything at all!
The tips of Xiao Feihe's ears were slightly red and his cheeks were a little hot.
I could only hold this person in my arms tighter and cover her mouth tighter, for fear that she would say something nonsense again.
Nan Yan was really annoyed when she saw that the other party still refused to let her go. She started to use her two little hands to mess around with him without any mercy, pinching and pulling him hard. But the man in front of her just refused to let go. In the end, Nan Yan's hands were sore, and the strength became lighter and lighter.
In the end, I don't know where she touched. Xiao Feihe suddenly felt that even his breathing became much faster, especially when he heard the chaotic noise coming from under the tree. The redness that was originally only on his earlobe instantly spread to his entire neck. Xiao Feihe was so anxious that he gasped twice unconsciously...
Finally there was nothing I could do!
He could only take a deep breath, and suddenly reached out and pressed her head into his arms, then whispered, "Close your eyes from now on, don't think about anything, don't eavesdrop, and don't peek."