“Don’t be so nervous. Everything is still under control. Don’t mention it to anyone. I don’t want them to worry about me.”
All of a sudden, Qinghu fell silent. He had always felt it was good to have him by Lin Mengya’s side, even if only for three years.
Unexpectedly, what satisfied him might be even crueler to her than putting her to death by dismembering her body.
Now, he finally knew the pain in it.
“Okay, got it.”
This was a secret between the two of them, and only they could support each other to go on.
Lin Mengya asked Qinghu to go out and hided the small pill given by her teacher personally.
She patted her little face, pretending nothing had happened.
“Master, it’s time to have dinner.”
Baizhi came in with a smile and asked Lin Mengya to go out for dinner. Looking at the carefree smile on the maid’s face, Lin Mengya could only try her best to hide everything in her heart.
“Okay, let’s go out together to have dinner.”
The sixth day of the fifth lunar month was a good day to go out.
Lin Mengya got up early in the morning. After dressing up, she got into a carriage with Yinghua.
The royal family was very dignified, and all the people of the city had to kneel on the street and send them off.
Making a loud noise meant disrespect to the royal family. How to punish noisy people was just a split-second thing for a member of the royal family.
Although he was just a six-year-old child, Long Yinghua was the son of the emperor, after all.
He was dressed in sea-green brocade clothes, which made his little face look fairer and lovelier.
His hair was tied properly to the top of his head, with nothing but a lovely crown of blue bird. Since he was a child, most of his hair was hanging down his back.
Lin Mengya took him in his arms and sat in the tall carriage. The little boy, who seldom came out, was a little excited and kept asking.
Lin Mengya had always been very patient with children, so she gave him answers one by one.
“Third Sister-in-law, why can’t my mother come? Wasn’t it said that everyone would come except Imperial Noble Consort?”
Lin Mengya kept Concubine Xian’s illness a secret from Long Yinghua.
After all, it was hard to say whether Concubine Xian was really ill or not; in addition, she really did not want Yinghua to feel sad. Therefore, she just told him that Concubine Xian had something to do, so she did not come.
“Because there are too many things in the palace, Imperial Noble Consort can’t handle them alone. Besides, staying in the palace, your mother won’t be fatigued by the journey, will she? Go out and play with me, okay?”
The little boy was an optimist. Without the palace’s restraint, he grew up in Prince Yu’s Mansion, unfettered.
Surrounded by people who loved him, he was much happier than those who grew up in the palace.
Not long after this question, the little boy was attracted by the buildings on the street.
Never before had he been so relaxed and comfortable, as he had always hurried out of town to see his mother and then hurried back under the cover of Zhu Yan and the others.
Now that Lin Mengya had allowed him to look out as he wanted, he naturally felt that his eyes could not take it all in.
Everything was fine along the way. Because of Lin Mengya’s prominent status, their carriage followed closely behind those of the concubines in the palace.
Unexpectedly, these carriages stopped as soon as they stepped out of the city gate.
“What’s the matter?”
Lin Mengya asked in a low voice after lifting the curtain.
Qinghu, who was disguised as a guard and mingled with the people, naturally understood what Lin Mengya meant. He rushed to the front and soon returned to Lin Mengya’s side quietly.
“It’s said that the people of the Huguo Temple came here to welcome all of you. It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
Lin Mengya nodded, and gently patted Long Yinghua who was already tired and sleeping in her arms.
The people of the Huguo Temple were really attentive. They came out to welcome them from so far away. They did not really act like Buddhists.
Lin Mengya didn’t take this matter seriously. After all, she was not the only one who stuck here.
However, from far ahead came three monks.
They seemed to be distributing something from carriage to carriage. Lin Mengya closed her eyes to rest, and thought that it must be something used in religious ceremony.
“Greetings, Your Highness. I’ve received an order from the abbot, Master Huineng, to gift you and the little benefactor with the two Protective Beads. Please take them next to your skins.”
Sitting in the carriage, Lin Mengya nodded slightly as a salute to the three monks.
The three of them did not pause, but, saluting them, went to the next carriage.
Looking at the so-called Protective Bead that Hongyu handed over, Lin Mengya found that it was just a light brown Buddha bead on a bright yellow wreath.
She had never expected that the Huguo Temple would do such a thing.
Lin Mengya held them to her nose and sniffed them gently. The faint smell of sandalwood was all she could smell. Moreover, the Shen Nung system did not send an alarm, so it seemed that there was no problem.
Thinking for a while, she tied the two beads to her and Yinghua’s waist respectively.
“Qinghu, are they giving everyone one of these beads?”
There was something a little weird about it. Lin Mengya had to be on guard.
Fortunately, Qinghu had always been cautious and had secretly made a thorough investigation. He nodded at Lin Mengya.
“That’s good. Be careful. Don’t let the Empress’s people see you.”
Now, Lin Mengya was clear that the spies of the Candle Dragon Cult probably had infiltrated the imperial court of Dajin.
If there was someone who recognized Qinghu’s identity, he would probably cause a series of dangers.
“It doesn’t matter. No one will know who I am. Rest assured, the Candle Dragon Cult is more hierarchical than what you think.”
After saying that, Qinghu continued to act as his guard.
Lin Mengya also knew that there were some things that she didn’t need to worry about at all.
While holding Yinghua in her arms, she passed the time looking out of the window.
In the evening, the fleet of carriages arrived at the foot of the mountain where the Huguo Temple stood.
After sitting in the carriage for nearly a whole day, Lin Mengya only felt sore in her waist and legs. She wished she could find a bed and have a good rest.
But she was not in a position to complain, for Hongyu and the other three had been following the carriage on foot.
Except for a few short breaks on the way, they had been walking on their feet.
However, the four girls all persevered, and even the youngest Baizhi appeared calm.
All in all, they did not hold Prince Yu’s Mansion back at all.
Lin Mengya puffed out her chest when she saw how calm all four of them were. Under the leadership of the little monk who was responsible for the reception of the Huguo Temple, she led Yinghua who had just woken up and her people to the meditation room where they could rest.
“Greetings, benefactors. I’m Qingyuan, a monk of the Huguo Temple. This is a meditation room for you to rest in. It’s inconvenient, but please forgive us.”
The Huguo Temple was a national temple for the royal family to religious ceremonies and retreats. Of course, it was more magnificent and solemn than ordinary temples in the mountains.
Every year, the empress and the imperial concubines would come here several times to pray.
Lin Mengya and Long Yinghua were probably the only people who hadn’t been here at all before.
From the gate of the temple to their room, there was a scene of stately solemnity.
They entered the Grand Hall and went all the way to the backyard, where there were rows of elegant meditation rooms for these special worshippers.
As monks had to abide by restrictions and fetters, all the monks of the temple lived in the front rows of meditation rooms.
There was a small door in the backyard for the monks to go in and out.
On the one hand, it was convenient; on the other hand, it also cut off the contact between the monks and the female worshippers.
Today, Lin Mengya and Long Yinghua had been assigned to a couple of northernmost meditation rooms.
They were far away from the Empress, perhaps because the latter thought Lin Mengya’s presence would annoy her.
“Third Sister-in-law, I’m hungry. When can we have dinner?”
Regardless of how Yinghua looked like a little man, he was still a child.
As soon as they settled in, he whispered in Lin Mengya’s ear.
“It won’t take long. By the way, meals in the temple are delicately vegetarian. Aren’t you always saying that you’re fed up with food at home? There’re no shrimps or chicken wings you like, only vegetables and rice!”
The vegetarian dishes should have been prepared a long time ago, but the temple sent people to deliver them from room to room after most people had settled in.
The vegetarian food in the temple tasted delicious. There were vegetarian chickens and ducks, as well as some stir-fried fresh vegetables.
Everyone felt very fresh about the dishes and was hungry. Soon, a large table of food had been eaten up.
By the time the servants had scrambled to get everything ready, Yinghua who had eaten his fill was already huddled up in bed.
Seeing this, Lin Mengya did not ask the wet nurse to take him back to his own room.
Instead, she took off his clothes, shoes, and socks. After wiping his little face with a soft, clean towel, she tucked him in.
“You must be tired. I don’t need you here. Go to bed. You are probably going to be very tired for the next few days.”
As Lin Mengya turned around and found that Baizhi was leaning against Baishao and beginning to doze off, she immediately asked everyone to go to sleep.
However, none of the four girls was willing to leave her. In the end, Baishao and Hongyu stayed in Lin Mengya’s room. Baiji and Baizhi, who were thin and weak, had to go back to their meditation rooms after the others’ persuasion.
When a person was too exhausted, they often couldn’t fall asleep.
That was the case with Lin Mengya now. It was a pity that the candlelight in the meditation room was not bright enough, and if she were to read a book, her eyes would ache soon.
Fortunately, in addition to a large plain bed, there was also a heatable brick bed which could make the two girls sleep soundly.
After washing up, the three of them changed into soft pajamas and then talked about girls’ subjects inside the meditation room.
“It’s so quiet here, much quieter than in our yard.”
They all had their eyes closed. Baishao, like Lin Mengya, was a little unaccustomed to the quiet of the night.
