Chapter 15 Trouble
Su Wanniang walked sharply through the forest, far away still walking back and forth around the moon-watching pavilion to be sure once again that no one was around. She folded a few flowers before running towards the temple. She found the conversation with Ji Wenzhao long and difficult, and was afraid that she had been out too long and had aroused people's suspicions.
Once inside the temple, Su Wanniang avoided the somewhat noisy main hall and walked briskly down a side tunnel towards the backyard, surrounded by silence.
She was so anxious to get back to tell Shen Wen that she had finally finished the job. As she walked, she looked down and thought about her conversation with Ji Wenzhao, but when she turned a corner, she felt someone in front of her and looked up again too late, and slammed into someone. The flower branches in Su Wanniang's hand were scattered all over the ground, while the man stumbled backwards two steps and fell heavily to the ground.
Su Wanniang was startled and said: "Sorry, sorry ......" and quickly went over and half-kneeled to help the man up. But she was still from a decent family, so she was restrained at this time, and only stretched her hand, but did not dare to touch the man's arm.
The one who fell to the ground was a young man, plainly dressed, with a clean face, who was clutching the knee of one of his legs with both hands, his eyebrows furrowed, his lips closed, his face pale and a thin layer of sweat oozing from his forehead.
A servant in his twenties hurriedly squatted down and held the teenager's back, calling out in a low voice, "...... gongzi, gongzi ...... how are you?" Then he gave Su Wanniang an angry stare.
Su Wanniang saw this young man in so much pain, her heart was also very hard, so anxiously said one after another, "I'm sorry ...... it's my fault ...... you're in pain, let's go call a doctor quickly!" Although she was only a maid, if this man had really broken his leg or something, she should have borrowed money from Shen Wen to cure him ...... but thinking of her mother's words about not being allowed to borrow money, Su Wanniang was sweating with anxiety.
When he heard the need to call a doctor, the teenager shook his head vigorously and said through clenched teeth, "No! ...... I'm fine! ...... Just wait ......"
Su Wanniang tied her hand and said anxiously, "You're in so much pain, did you fall on a bone? You'd better ask a doctor to take a look, I'll pay for it."
The teenager still shook his head one after another, slowly breathing out and in, and after a long time, his face gradually became less pale. He raised his eyes to look at Su Wanniang, forced a smile and said, "It's no matter, the girl must be in a hurry, better go and get busy." He said to the servant who was holding him, "Go and help pick up those flowers."
The servant responded reluctantly and got up to pick up the scattered flower branches one by one, frowning as he placed them by Su Wanniang's side.
Su Wanniang had not slept well for many nights, and was already on the verge of a breakdown, and her meeting with Ji Wenzhao had caused her extreme emotional stress. When she finally got what she wanted, she was in a hurry to get going, but then she bumped into someone and injured him! She again had to summon up what little energy she already had left to deal with this emergency again. Who would have thought that, when it was clear that she had hit the other person, who was in so much pain, she would be so reasonable and tell herself that she could go, which made her relieved when she was also deeply touched ...... by several ups and downs, for she was precocious and tough, but after all, she was a teenage girl, and her self-discipline finally went out of control, and she sat down on the floor at once, choking up and whimpering.
This crying was uncontrollable. Ever since her father's accident, her mother's weakness and illness, and her youngest brother's being too young, she has stepped forward to take charge of a family. Then her father died and her family was broken, they failed to join their relatives, and she was bought by a youth house. She held on for dear life, lest a weakness should lead her to comply with the pimp. Later, when Shen Wen rescued her, she sought death in order to get the Hou residence to take her in. But after she joined the House, she watched Shen Wen's actions and found that the Marquis House was just as frosty as the sword, so she couldn't be sloppy at all. She has to be careful in everything she says, and cannot say a single word wrong.
Outside, one has to concentrate on comprehending Shen Wen's intentions and cooperate with her. Shen Wen is out at night and does not return, she sits alone in the dark house, listening to the movements around her with fear and trepidation ......
The exhaustion, despair and loneliness of the past few days all came flooding back to her, and although Su Wanniang did not dare to cry out loud, she could not stop sobbing.
The young man sitting on the ground was at a loss for words, and did his best to comfort Su Wanniang amidst her suppressed sobs: "But is the girl in trouble? If it's about the flower branch being damaged, I can have my servant walk with the girl and say that it was because of me that the girl's flower branch was knocked down. If need be, my servant can go and pick some ......"
When Su Wanniang heard this, her tears flowed even harder, and she said vaguely, "It was me who hit you ...... and you were not at fault ......" She took out a handkerchief to wipe her face, but soon the handkerchief was wet. Because Shen Wen often cries, she brought an extra handkerchief, quickly took it out, wiped a few tears, wiped nose, and got wet.
The young man hesitantly asked, "Do you need a handkerchief?" Su Wanniang shook her head, she still had this sense: how could she use a man's handkerchief to wipe her face? Who knew where that handkerchief had been used? But now her nose and eyes were streaming with tears, so she had to wipe them on her sleeve.
After she had easily cried enough, Su Wanniang let out a long breath and felt her heart was so happy that she suddenly understood Shen Wen: she thought that crying a lot would help to relieve the weight of her heart.
Su Wanniang tucked away the two wet handkerchiefs and took turns using both sleeves to haphazardly wipe her face dry. Smiling through her teary eyes, she said in an embarrassed whisper to the young man sitting frozen on the ground, " Gongzi has laughed at me, I'm really sorry about the gongzi ......"
That teenager hurriedly shook his hand and said, "No, no need for that!" That was careful. How can I explain this if someone sees me?
Su Wanniang probably felt the same way and hastily reached down to pick up the flower branch on the ground as the teenager said to the dumbfounded servant beside him, "You accompany her to explain ......"
Su Wanniang shook her hand and said, "No need, I'll be fine! Thank you, Gongzi!" Then she got up and gave a deep salute and trotted away, holding the scattered flower branches in her arms.
Only when he saw Su Wanniang disappear around the corner did the teenager gesture for the servant to help him up. The young man slowly made his way outside the temple, his leg limping badly.
The young servant whispered, "It looks like that's the family’s servant, should I take the opportunity to go and see them?"
The young man shook his head. He was the Fourth Prince, who usually lived in seclusion, but when he heard that the First Prince and the Fourth princess hated the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei, along with the other children of that House, he had the uncanny idea of seeing the children of the Marquis of Zhenbei. Before his mother died, she repeatedly told him not to antagonise the First Prince or the Empress. But he was determined to get to know them.
The chamberlain at his side had heard that the children of the Marquis of Zhenbei would come to this small, secluded monastery on this day, which was a good place to stay out of the limelight, so he came out of the palace on the pretext of taking a break from his work and came in micro-suit to have a chance encounter. But just now the maid was crying like that because she had knocked the flowering branches apart. She must have brought two handkerchiefs with her because she usually wept so often. The maid was so beautiful that she had never been seen in the palace, yet she was so afraid and sad, which showed the severity and ruthlessness of the master of this house.
Momentarily disinterested and not wanting to see anyone else, he limped out of the temple door, feeling extra pain where he had fallen.
Su Wanniang bowed her head and greeted the guards before walking into the small courtyard where Shen Wen lived behind the temple. He shi, who was drying bedding in the courtyard, was shocked to see her and said, "What's wrong with you?!"
Su Wanniang knew her face must be embarrassing and hurriedly walked towards the house, saying as she did so, "I fell, it's nothing."
Shen Wen was leaning over the bed looking at the sutra books placed in the temple, when she saw Su Wanniang's appearance she also froze, seeing that He followed her in, she could not ask detailed questions, but could only ask, "Did the fall hurt?"
Su Wanniang shook her head, looked down and found the net vase on the table and inserted the flower sticks one by one. He Shi sighed, "Still a child, going to fold a flower can make you fall and cry." Seeing that Su Wanniang was silent and nothing was happening in the house, she muttered, "I wonder when the Eldest Gongzi and the others will be back ......" and walked back into the courtyard to continue her work, the dampness in the mountains was too great and the bedding always felt cold.
When Shen Wen saw He go out, she put the book down and stood up with a gasp and said, "Did he refuse to agree?
Su Wanniang was busy whispering, "He answered. I really fell and bumped into someone. But people didn't count, so I cried ......"
Shen Wen breathed a long sigh of relief, "You, you just haven't slept well lately, it's called a mental breakdown."
Su Wanniang's eyes widened, "There's a name for that?"
Shen Wen nodded and said, "Of course." She beckoned Su Wanniang to sit on the edge of the bed, and Su Wanniang went over and whispered what had happened, including how she had hit someone and how she had cried half to death. She knew that Shen Wen had always paid attention to details, so she could not hide anything from him. Besides, Shen Wen understood her loss of control, she was crying to a stranger, Shen Wen should know the process so that nothing unexpected would happen.
Shen Wen listened in silence, praising Su Wanniang's honesty. She had expected all of this from Ji Wenzhao, but what was the story of the man Su Wanniang had bumped into? Shen Wen asked carefully about the man's age and appearance, what his sidekick looked like, and asked in a low voice, "What kind of clothes was he wearing?"
Su Wanniang thought back carefully: "It should be a marsh brocade with dark blue flowers ......" As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew it was wrong. The man was dressed plainly, but how could he be wearing Shu brocade? This person should also be from a wealthy family.
Shen Wen asked again, "Are you sure it was an accident?"
Su Wanniang hesitated, but still said, "I think so, I hit that man so hard that he sat on the ground in pain that his face went white and he couldn't speak."
As Shen Wen pondered, Su Wanniang's heart chilled: had that collision been arranged? She had even cried herself! Her face turned red as a nameless fire flared up in her heart.
Shen Wen said slowly, "I don't think that the bump was intentional, but this person shouldn't be here."
Su Wanniang also nodded and said, "If you come from a wealthy background, why did you go to such a remote place? There are not many servants around." The body of a thousand gold pieces does not sit in a pendulous hall. How could one come from a wealthy family and not have someone to protect them? If there was no protection, then he had martial arts himself. But the man didn't look like he had any kung fu ......
Shen Wen agreed: "Yes, this Xiangye Temple is small and remote, and usually the monks don't receive other incense-bearers. Apart from the people of the Marquis, very few people from the city come. Even if they do come, it's quite a coincidence that we happen to be there in the middle of the year."
