Qiting Temple is located ten miles outside Yongqing Mansion. As a Taoist temple supported by Dingxi Marquis Mansion, it is not very popular.
A young woman helped the servant woman get out of the car.
On the carriage is the mark of Dingxihou Mansion.
Five Taoist nuns had already greeted him respectfully.
"Young lady, please come this way." they said.
The young woman nodded slightly and walked surrounded by a group of servant women.
"How is Auntie doing lately?" she asked.
The viewer hurriedly took a step forward.
"Aunt Zhou is okay." She whispered.
The young woman stopped.
"I'll go take a look," she said.
The viewer was a little hesitant.
"Don't disturb me, young lady..." she said.
"What can disturb me? What can disturb me?" the young woman said with a slight smile.
The visitor stopped talking and bowed his head to guide the way.
Located in the courtyard at the end of the Taoist temple, the door is locked. There are two children sitting by the door playing with stones. When they see people coming over, they stand up quickly.
"Open the door." The visitor said.
Someone came forward.
There was a sound on the door, but before it could be opened, there were hurried footsteps coming from inside, and at the same time, there was a thud, and someone hit the door.
The people outside were so frightened that they couldn't help but take a step back.
"It's the cloud that's rising to pick me up? It's the cloud that's rising to pick me up, right? The cloud is rising? The cloud is rising? No, Crown Prince! Crown Prince!"
A woman's voice shouted wildly.
"Where is Yunqi? My son is the heir apparent! My son is the heir apparent! He is going to take me back! Open the door quickly! I am the wife of the Dingxi Hou Mansion! I am the Madam Hou! Open the door, I am going back to the mansion!
"
The door was shaken loudly.
The young woman frowned.
"Is this okay?" She looked at the viewer and said with a bit of dissatisfaction.
The viewer lowered his head in embarrassment.
"It's not like we make trouble every day..." she whispered.
The shouts of the women inside the door drowned out their words, and the door was shaken so hard that it seemed like it would fall down in the next moment.
"Open the door, open the door, my son is the crown prince! My son is the crown prince! My son is here to take me back!"
A woman's wild laughter sounded from the door.
The young woman turned and left.
Others did not dare to stay, and the busy ones followed.
"Young Madam, do you want to tell my aunt that the Crown Prince has..." a maid whispered.
The young woman stopped for a moment and looked at the sky.
"It's been three years," she murmured.
Everyone was silent.
Aunt Zhou’s wild shouting behind her continued.
"Forget it, it's better to let her think she has a cold-hearted son than to have no son at all." The young woman said and looked back.
If Aunt Zhou knew that her son was gone, would her life be meaningless?
"Live, it's not easy to live even once. Live well if you can." The young woman said, raising her hand.
The maid hurriedly stretched out her hand to support him.
The crowd cheered and left.
The carriage accompanying the young woman drove into the Dingxihou Mansion, and the housekeepers and ladies came over one after another.
"Let's discuss this afternoon. Let's disperse first," the young woman said.
The mothers-in-law smiled and saluted hurriedly, watching the young women go inward.
Ms. Xie still lives in her own yard, but it is much emptier than before.
There are no more servants coming and going, the popularity is gone, and the courtyard wall seems to have lost its spirit. It looks a bit depressed.
"Look at it, it's almost the Chinese New Year. This place needs to be refreshed and refreshed," the young woman said, looking around.
The maid next to me immediately responded yes.
"Originally, I was going to practice, but my wife said that the crowd disturbed her from reciting sutras." A servant girl said in a low voice.
The young woman shook her head gently.
Stepping through the door, it looks even more desolate than it looks from the outside.
There was no one serving in the courtyard, and it was so quiet that no one seemed to live there.
Even at noon, it looks a little scary, let alone at night.
At night, no one dares to come near here.
It can't be said that there is no sound. If you calm down and listen carefully, there is a buzzing sound in a room.
"Mom, are you still not leaving the Buddhist hall?" the young woman asked.
"Yes. Madam won't come out." A servant girl said.
The young woman sighed.
She slowly walked to the window of a small room and looked inside through the window lattice.
The room was dark, and it took me a while to get used to it. Then I saw a woman sitting on the ground, with her back to this side, turning rosary beads in her hand, and the sound came from her mouth.
There are almost no furnishings in the room, only a table with a Buddha statue, an incense burner, and two tablets.
"How can it be better if we continue like this?" the young woman shook her head and said softly.
"Young Madam, this is of your own free will, and there is nothing you can do about it," the maid said in a low voice.
The young woman looked at the room. The woman's figure was already stooped and her head was full of white hair. She remembered that she was not like this when she entered the house, as if she had aged ten years all of a sudden...
She turned around.
Over there, being alive is a good thing, but over here, maybe dying is the relief.
She shook her head and took a step forward.
After leaving here, the suppressed sadness finally dissipated, and everyone became more relaxed.
The Chinese New Year was coming, and there were many things to do. The young woman sat in the hall and arranged the household chores. She only talked until her throat became dry.
"The gift list was sent to the Marquis. The Marquis said that you can just let the young lady make the decision. There is no need to show it to him." A stewardess said, holding the list.
The young woman nodded, took the tea from the girl and ate it.
"Where is Brother Huai?" she asked, "Why haven't you seen him for so long? Is it because the new year is approaching and you are naughty and skipping school again?"
"No, I've been talking about books and I'm just writing." The servant woman replied hurriedly.
The young woman put down the tea cup with a sigh of relief, and then picked up the account book.
People in the house came in and out, cautiously and orderly.
In another courtyard of Dingxihou, there is no change from before. The people still coming and going are young and beautiful maids, and the charming smiles of women can be heard from time to time.
"Master Hou, Master Hou, write me one, write me one."
"Master Hou, I want it too."
In the study, Dingxihou was surrounded by seven or eight women. He was writing and drawing with a smile on his face and turned his head.
The woman next to him smiled coquettishly and fed him wine.
Dingxihou drank it in one gulp.
Sitting on the other side were four or five women playing instruments and singing.
It is really the place where the immortals live.
"Fifth Young Master, Young Master...slow down and don't run away."
The butler's shout came from outside the door.
Interrupting the overwhelming sound in the room.
"Father."
"grandfather."
Two children's voices sounded.
Marquis Dingxi stood up, the women hurriedly scattered and stood away, and the dancers and singers also hurriedly silenced their voices.
Dingxihou came out and saw two boys standing in the yard.
"Father." The boy who was about ten years old saluted respectfully.
"Grandpa." The other boy, who was four or five years old, also imitated the older one's graceful greeting.
Marquis Dingxi laughed and stretched out his hand.
"Come on, why are you here together?" he said, and sat down on the brocade cushion in the corridor. Next to him were various birdcages, with the sound of birds inside.
Two children stood beside him, one on the left and one on the right.
"Grandpa," the younger one said with a childlike voice, "Why does Brother Huai call him uncle? Shouldn't he be called brother?"
Marquis Dingxi laughed, picked him up and sat on his knees.
"Because he wants to call your father his brother," he said.
Brother Huai seems to understand but not quite.
"Then why do you call him Fifth Uncle? Instead of Second Uncle?" He asked again, "Brother Huai obviously only has one uncle."
The housekeeper coughed and waved.
"Master, let's go back quickly, sir is about to shout," he said.
Dingxihou smiled and waved his hand.
"Because, you still have an uncle and a second uncle." He pointed at the boy standing beside him and said with a patient smile, "he is ranked fifth, so he should be called fifth uncle."
The boy nodded.
"Then why haven't I seen the eldest uncle and the second uncle?" he asked.
Dingxihou looked at him and smiled.
"Because they, like your father, have traveled far away." He said, reaching out and pinching the child's nose.
The people in the courtyard dispersed, and Dingxihou sat alone on the porch for a long time without moving, until the setting sun set in the west.
"Master Marquis." The old housekeeper came in with a slightly stooped figure, "It's getting cold. Don't sit outside like this. Come inside."
Dingxihou seemed to have come back to his senses. He sighed and stood up slowly.
"It's the New Year, it's the New Year, year after year..." He said slowly, as if he was singing and choked with sobs. His back was to the old housekeeper, and he couldn't see his expression clearly, "It goes by so slowly."
The lights in the room were turned on, and the singing, dancing, silk strings, orioles, and the singing of swallows were heard again.
The old housekeeper stood silently for a moment, then slowly turned around and walked out.
"Yeah, things go by so slowly." He murmured.
A firecracker exploded in the night sky, and the new year has arrived. (To be continued...) (To be continued)