Chapter 17: The Unexpected Guest

It seemed that Anshan Town was preparing for some lively event. When the carriage passed by, Pan Yueqing slightly lifted the bead curtain by the window and looked into the distance. Some of the common people had bought lotus lanterns, while others were carrying sacrificial meat. With gongs and drums beating, it looked extremely festive.

The abbot of Cibei Temple had long been waiting outside the mountain gate to welcome them. The carriage slowly stopped, and everyone got off and closely followed Mrs. Pan. The abbot put his hands together in a gesture of greeting and chanted a Buddhist prayer to all the members of the Pan family. Pan Yueqing slightly furrowed her brows and also put her hands together in response, following Mrs. Pan and Pan Haiyun.

"Although the temple is large in area, the accommodation is not abundant. I'm afraid that one of the young ladies will have to be wronged to live in the side room near the Lotus Altar Pavilion in the back mountain," the abbot said with great apology to Mrs. Pan after some polite words.

As soon as these words were spoken, Pan Lianshan and Pan Miaoqian immediately said that they could live with their aunts, clearly showing that they were really unwilling to live in the back mountain. Pan Yueqing furrowed her brows and smiled softly. "In that case, I'll live there."

Pan Haiyun glanced at Pan Yueqing and then hesitantly said, "The back mountain is rather remote. Why don't you still live with your grandmother?"

"Father, don't worry. I have Gu Pan and Wan'er to keep me company. Moreover, the place where Grandmother lives isn't big either. It would be really cramped if a few more of us were to stay there," Pan Yueqing shook her head with a smile. She didn't get along well with Mrs. Pan.

They bypassed the large and small Buddhist halls and main palaces, turned past three large Buddhist scripture repositories and the Sarira Pagoda, and finally passed through the back mountain to reach the side room next to the Lotus Altar Pavilion in the most secluded corner. The side room was long and narrow, and it had been cleaned very thoroughly. The bed, utensils, and everything were complete. Pan Yueqing thanked the young monk who had led the way and then sat on a wooden stool, resting her chin in her hand and watching Gu Pan and Wan'er tidy up the room.

"Second Young Lady, the temple's lunch has been brought for you," a childish voice came from the door not long after. Pan Yueqing looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young novice monk who was no more than seven years old. The gray monk's robe stood in sharp contrast to the soot on his face. Pan Yueqing beckoned, and the young novice monk entered the room. He stood on tiptoe and placed the food box on the table. Pan Yueqing raised her hand and used a fine silk handkerchief dipped in tea water to gently wipe the soot off the young novice monk's face. "Look, you're as dirty as a little tabby cat."

"Thank you, Second Young Lady," the young novice monk was like a kitten being petted for the first time. He shrank his neck and slightly thanked Pan Yueqing.

"Go ahead," Pan Yueqing said with a smile and gently pushed the young novice monk. At this moment, she never expected that this young novice monk would save her life in the near future.

Gu Pan opened the food box, and inside were simple vegetarian dishes, a few steamed buns, three small dishes of pickles, and half a pickled radish. Gu Pan frowned slightly. "Miss, this... how can you..." In her eyes, the young lady was of noble status. How could she eat such simple food with the monks? Even the servants raised in the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion since childhood had never eaten such things...

Pan Yueqing glanced at the food inside. Before Gu Pan could finish speaking, she reached out and grabbed a steaming hot steamed bun, broke off a piece, added some pickles, and held it to her mouth, slowly taking bites and eating it. She didn't show any signs of dislike. She slightly raised her head and looked at the stunned Gu Pan and Wan'er. "Eat. In a famine year, even a white flour steamed bun would be a luxury."

No wonder it's said that the swallows in the mansions of the wealthy don't know the hardships of the common people. Gu Pan and Wan'er, these first-class maids from a wealthy family, usually have better food, clothing, and daily necessities than the young ladies of ordinary families.

"Ouch! Ouch!" Wan'er suddenly covered her stomach. She grabbed Gu Pan's hand and looked at Pan Yueqing with a pained expression. "It's poisoned!"

Pan Yueqing calmly looked at Wan'er, who was reacting extremely violently, and slightly shook her head. "It's not poisoned. You're used to eating delicate food on a daily basis, so you've upset your stomach. Just go to the latrine, and there's no need to worry." She remembered that when she first arrived at Pinglong Nunnery, she was completely unaccustomed to the temple's life of relying on pickles and steamed buns. She also had a stomachache several times, but later she gradually got used to it.

Just as Wan'er ran out covering her stomach, Gu Pan pursed her lips and put down the pickled vegetable and steamed bun in her hand. "Miss, what kind of life did you live in the countryside exactly? Why don't you tell the Old Lady..."

Pan Yueqing knew that the Old Lady she was referring to was her grandmother, the Dowager Lady Zhao. She gave a helpless smile. "The situation was really urgent when I went back then. Since I had already made Grandmother shed so many tears, how could I dare to talk more about the ordinary days? Some things, once you've experienced them, they're in the past."

Gu Pan looked at Pan Yueqing with tears in her eyes but didn't know what to say. She angrily took several bites of the white flour steamed bun. Not long after, Wan'er lifted the curtain and came in, sitting on the stool in a huff and sulking. Pan Yueqing found it a bit strange and met Gu Pan's equally puzzled expression. She then smiled and said, "You went to the toilet, and it seems like you came back full of anger?"

"Miss, don't mention it. As soon as I came out, I met Shanchai beside the Third Young Lady. She actually made fun of us for eating the temple's regular offering meal. She also said that young ladies are all of noble status, and who would not respect themselves and eat the food of the poor?" The more Wan'er spoke, the angrier she became, and she couldn't help but show her pettiness.

She had served beside the Old Lady of the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion since she was a child. How could she have endured such grievances? "Shanchai said, 'The master sent someone to invite the Third Young Lady and the Fourth Young Lady to go to the town together. Tomorrow is the birthday of the Bodhisattva, and there will be a night gathering today. Why didn't the master send someone to invite you, Miss?' Just looking at her expression made me want to slap her two big slaps!"

Coincidentally, just as Wan'er finished venting her grievances, they heard a maidservant outside the door. She knelt down in front of Pan Yueqing and reported respectfully, "The master said that there will be some fun in the town tonight and asks the Second Young Lady to get ready early."

Pan Yueqing pondered for a moment. "Please go back and tell Father that I'm not feeling well in the stomach today, so I won't go tonight. It's the same with the Third Younger Sister and the Fourth Younger Sister accompanying him."

As soon as the maidservant left, Wan'er looked at Pan Yueqing in great confusion. "Miss, why is that?"

"There's no point in going to a place full of people. It's more likely to cause trouble if I go," Pan Yueqing said enigmatically. If she remembered correctly, during this gathering in her previous life, some remnants of the previous dynasty set fire to the place during the gathering. His Highness the Prince of Xiangyang, who was nearby, was seriously injured and left disabled. Because of this, the Emperor was so angry that he implicated half of the village. And Pan Haiyun actually contributed to suppressing the chaos in this incident and was even more favored by the Emperor.

In the evening, Pan Yueqing lay on her side on the bed with a scroll of books. By the light of the candlestick, she listened to the Buddhist bells of the mountain gate ringing three times in boredom. It was already close to a quarter to seven in the evening, and there was still no news from Pan Haiyun. Pan Yueqing took a deep breath and looked up at Gu Pan holding the candlestick, who was about to persuade Pan Yueqing to go to bed. In Gu Pan's eyes, the young lady was perfect in every way, except that she slept too little.

"I'm going out for a walk. I can't fall asleep now," Pan Yueqing said with a wry smile, looking at Gu Pan. Before Gu Pan could say more, she got up, put on her cloak, and went out.

The wind outside the door was slightly cold. Gu Pan rushed out holding a hand warmer. Before she could call out "Miss," she saw the earthen wall in the corner collapse instantly, and a cloud of dust rushed towards them. "Whoosh—" Among the dust, an arrow whirled towards Pan Yueqing's face.

The stray arrow passed just below Pan Yueqing's earlobe, cutting off the long hair by her left ear. It passed three inches away from Gu Pan's eyes and directly nailed into the doorpost behind them. Gu Pan had never experienced such a fright and couldn't even make a sound at the moment.