Chapter 687: Praying (1)
There was a special custom in the capital. Pregnant women would have to visit the temple at least once to pray for an uneventful birth, as well as for their firstborn to be a boy.
As a modern person, Chu Lian understood that the gender of her child wasn’t something that could be changed just by praying to the Buddha. The moment her little bun came into existence, his or her gender had already been set. Doing anything else to try to change that would be fruitless.
However, she knew that her knowledge wasn’t shared by the others around her.
Near the end of July, Countess Jing’an came to visit her often and kept trying to persuade her to visit Da’an Temple.
Countess Jing’an even hinted subtly that this was also part of Matriarch He’s wishes.
This was a time when the political situation in court was in turmoil. He Changdi would explain to her about the various movements in court when he returned home every day. She also knew clearly that the peace on the surface was hiding a major battle in the capital.
The factions of Fourth Prince and Sixth Prince were locked in a long war now.
Since He Changdi was Prince Jin’s most trusted assistant, there were plenty of eyes on the Anyuan Estate right now.
As a helpless woman carrying around an unborn heir, what she should do was to stay in the well-protected estate and sit quietly until her child was ready to come into the world.
However, Countess Jing’an had already come over to remind her a few times.
Even Princess Wei had told her to go to the temple.
Chu Lian rubbed her swollen belly and sighed helplessly.
Sometimes, even though she knew that her action would be useless, she would have to do it regardless. Matriarch He, Countess Jing’an and Princess Wei were all her seniors. They carried the hopes of the entire Jing’an Estate, as well as Prince Wei’s estate. She couldn’t just reject their kindly reminders without a good reason.
Chu Lian looked down at her belly. It wasn’t very big right now. If she waited any longer, it would be even harder to travel when she was seven months pregnant, so why not make the trip a little earlier?
Thus, Chu Lian discussed the matter with He Changdi.
He Changdi wanted to reject the request at first. He was more worried for Chu Lian’s safety. As for the little one inside her, he didn’t care about their gender since the little one would be their child regardless.
They were still young. Even if their first child was a daughter, they could just have another child if they wanted a son.
However, when he turned to see Chu Lian facing him with her puppy eyes, he couldn’t bear to turn her down.
He recalled the bias that his grandmother had against his wife. If he didn’t agree to this, Grandmother would likely blame it on Chu Lian. If their first child wasn’t a boy as Grandmother wanted, then the one who suffered would likely be his wife again.
He Sanlang mulled over it for a long time before agreeing reluctantly.
He stroked the smooth skin on his wife’s tender cheek, “I’ll go with you on that day.”
He Sanlang wouldn’t be able to rest easy unless he went with her personally, even if they sent more guards.
The temple that Chu Lian and her party intended to visit was Da’an Temple, on the outskirts of the capital. It was situated halfway up Mount Lanxiang, and was known as the temple that Empress Xiaoxian had retired to as a nun. Thus, it was counted as one of the imperial family’s temples.
It was rumoured to be very effective in granting the wishes of its devotees. Da’an Temple was open to the public as well, so there were plenty of people visiting the temple to pray each day.
However, when they reached the foot of Mount Lanxiang, there was another road built specially for nobles. There was also another area of Da’an Temple specially catered for the imperial family or nobility who wished to pray there, so they didn’t have to squeeze in with the commoners.
This was also why He Changdi had agreed to his mother’s suggestion of visiting Da’an Temple.
They decided on the tenth of August as the day for their temple visit.
It was neither the first of the month, nor the fifteenth, the traditional days for prayer. The weather was still hot as well, so it wouldn’t be too crowded at Da’an Temple.
He Changdi made sure to leave that day free.
There weren’t many people accompanying Chu Lian to the temple. It was only Countess Jing’an, He Changdi, her maidservants, as well as their guards.
