Chapter 23

  Upon hearing Yuanyang's words, Qingjin opened her mouth in confusion, "How did Chulyu come over, was there something important that Grandmother instructed?"

  "Chu Liu sister said that the old lady's side heard that the young lady has returned, and invited the young lady to have lunch at the old lady's place!" Yuanyang relayed Chu Liu's words to Qingjin.

  Having lunch? This is clearly an excuse. The old lady must have something urgent that she wants to see her about, so she asked Chuyan to pass on this message. If it were really about having lunch, it's still too early for that now.

  Gu Qingjin thought for a moment, she could probably guess why the old lady was in such a hurry to see her. She raised her head and said to Yuanyang: "You go tell Chuyan that I'm changing my clothes now, after I change my clothes, I'll go to the old lady's place, let Chuyan go and report back to grandmother first!"

  "Yes, miss." Hearing Qingjin's instructions, Yuanyang turned around and left.

  Akatsuki-in

  Entering the room of Grandmother Shen, seeing the first lady Shen, Gu Qingjin slowly bowed to Lady Shen: "Qingjin greets her grandmother. Originally, Qingjin planned to change clothes and come see her grandmother, but didn't expect that her grandmother would call Chunliu over first. Did her grandmother also miss Qingjin? After staying at Banruo Temple for a while, seeing her grandmother now makes Qingjin realize how much she missed her grandmother."

  Upon hearing Gu Qingjin's words and seeing her natural expression, Shen Shi's gaze suddenly turned gentle. "You little girl, you're quite eloquent now. Why didn't I see this side of you before?"

  "Grandma... when Qingjin was still young and didn't understand things, did Grandma dislike Qingjin for being stupid and not understanding things back then?" Gu Qingjin leaned against Shen Shi's body, rubbing against her as she spoke.

  Seeing Qingjin's dependent and affectionate appearance, Shen's smile became more sincere. "Don't be ridiculous, how could Grandma possibly dislike her own dear granddaughter? Grandma is delighted!"

  "By the way, Qingjin also has a gift for grandma. This is the Buddhist scripture that Qingjin personally copied at Banruo Temple. After completing the copy, Qingjin asked Master Shifu of Banruo Temple to place the scripture in the main hall of the temple for worship for five or six days and also invited Master Shuijingchen to consecrate this scripture. I hope grandma will like it. Qingjin wishes grandma good health and longevity!"

  "Oh, so you're saying that Jin'er spent the past two days copying Buddhist scriptures?"

  "Yes." Gu Qingjin replied concisely, anyway Shen should know everything about her in Banruo Temple, except for her interactions with Shuijingchen.

  "Good... good, good, Jin'er has really grown up, she knows to bring gifts for her grandmother. Wang Ayi, take the Buddhist scriptures to the small Buddhist hall for worship." Shen Shi handed the Buddhist scriptures in her hand to her personal maid, Wang Ayi.

  "Yes, old madam." Wang's nanny smiled and took over the scripture volume in Shen's hand, turned around and left.

  Shen turned around and asked Gu Qingjin again: "Qingjin said that this Buddhist scripture was opened by whom?"

  "This is Master Shuijing of Bore Temple." Qingjin smiled and opened her mouth, this should be the purpose of her grandmother's call.

  "Shuijingchen? Has Jian'er seen Master Kongwu?" Shen Shi asked with excitement in her eyes.

  "Returning to her grandmother, yes, Qingjin was fortunate enough to meet Master Kongwu on the first day and even drew a divination stick for our Hou Mansion from Master Kongwu..." Qingjin told Shen Shi everything that had happened when she met Master Kongwu that day.

  "Oh? What did Master Kong say?" Shen asked, opening her mouth to ask what she most wanted to know after hearing Qingjin's words.

  "It wasn't Master Kongwu who interpreted the divination for Sun Nu, as Master Kongwu suddenly disappeared after Sun Nu drew that particular lot. Afterwards, Sun Nu never met Master Kongwu again, but instead encountered Master Shuijingchen, who said Master Kongwu was in seclusion. However, Master Kongwu had instructed Master Shuijingchen to tell Sun Nu that the lot she drew was a superior one, and that the Hou Mansion's fortune was very good."

  "Is this really what Master Shuijing Chan said?" Shen's family heard Qingjin's words and became somewhat excited.

  "Yes." Qingjin nodded heavily under Shen's expectant gaze.

  "All right, then. Wang Niangniang, help me go to the ancestral hall to burn incense for our ancestors..." After saying that, she went with Wang Niangniang to the ancestral hall.

  Watching Shen's uncontrollably happy expression, Qing Jin quietly sat in her seat waiting for Shen to return.

  After a while, Shen returned and sat down again, facing Qingjin: "Qingjin, the divination slip you drew is really accurate. Yesterday, your grandmother received a letter from your third uncle, and he will be returning to Beijing soon. What great luck, what great luck!"

  "Really? Third Uncle is coming back, that's great! Looking at Grandma's excited expression, isn't Third Uncle going to leave again this time?" Although she already knew the news, Qingjin pretended to have just heard it and asked Shen Shi.

  "It's really true what you said, your third uncle said in his letter that it's very likely that after this return to Beijing, he won't be sent out again and will stay in the capital from now on. Your fourth aunt will also follow him back then, and Jin'er will have another playmate."

  "Qingjin having many playmates is of course a good thing, but isn't Grandmother most happy that Third Uncle can come back?" Qingjin teased, speaking to Shen Shi.

  "You little devil." Shen heard Qingjin's joking words and smiled as she poked Qingjin's head.

  In this way, the grandfather and grandson happily spent an entire morning. After having lunch at the Shen's place, Qingjin saw that Mrs. Shen was also getting sleepy, so she took the initiative to bid farewell.

  After leaving Shen's place, Gu Qingjin took Yuanyang to Junshi's courtyard. Because Third Uncle was coming back, Junshi was busy arranging some matters and dealing with some internal affairs of the manor. When Qingjin arrived, Junshi was busy, so Qingjin didn't say much to her and left on his own initiative after seeing how busy she was.

  After returning from Banruo Temple, Gu Qingjin lived a standard life of a young lady from a big family. Previously, she had been ill and later went to Banruo Temple to worship Buddha. When Qingjin was free, those poetry clubs sent her invitations again.

  Qing Jin looked at the various poetry club posts in her hand and said to the swan beside her, "From now on, just reject all these kinds of posts!"

  "Did they all decline?" Yuanyang was somewhat puzzled. Didn't the young lady used to like attending this kind of banquet?

  Qing Jin opened her mouth without any hesitation, facing Yuanyang: "All rejected. In the past, I was a young lady who was bored and played around. Now that I've grown up, what's the use of attending these poetry gatherings? In the future, I'll be marrying into another family as the mistress, will knowing how to recite poems and paint be enough to intimidate the servants in the manor? Besides, I'm a thousand gold from the Marquis' household, why do I need such a big reputation?"

  Yuan-Yang nodded in agreement upon hearing Qing-Jin's words, "Miss is right, alright then, Yuan-Yang will no longer allow the doorman to collect these invitations from now on. Then Miss, what shall we do next?"

  "What's wrong? I plan to follow my mother another day to learn about managing the household, learning what a mistress of the house should know."