Chapter 194
Chapter 194: You Threaten Me?
Luo Ning had not replied to Grand Princess Jia Hong’s invitation.
Anyway, she had not gone to any of the snow-viewing parties, so it was not like she was favoring someone else.
After the snow, the weather cleared up and even grew a little warmer.
At the end of the tenth month, Grand Princess Jia Hong actually sent a stewardess to personally come to Luo Ning’s home.
The stewardess said: “The Princess is praying for blessings at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and has set up a vegetarian banquet. Miss Luo, the Princess would like to invite you to share the vegetarian meal and also offer your devotion before the Bodhisattva.”
Luo Ning forced a smile and said: “Then of course I will go. Thank you to the Princess for thinking of me.”
Then she told Qiu Lan to bring some money to reward the old maidservant.
After the old maidservant left, Luo Ning’s face sank.
Nanny Kong and the others gathered around her.
Nanny Yin, who had a bit of a temper, was already angry and said: “The Princess is using her status to pressure you. She is forcing you, Princess Consort, to go whether you want to or not.”
Ordinary people did not dare ignore the Princess’s invitation. Luo Ning would rather offend her than stir up trouble, so she had pretended not to hear.
She had not expected the Princess to directly send someone to invite her.
Since Luo Ning would not go to the Princess Manor, then it would be the temple instead.
She had blocked every path of refusal Luo Ning could think of.
The matter was handled in a tactful way, but her attitude was extremely forceful.
Luo Ning seemed to understand her a little more deeply.
She said: “She is the Grand Princess. Even the Emperor has to give her face. She did not send someone to scold me, and even invited me to a banquet. That is already giving me a lot of face.
“Even if I went to complain in front of Imperial Mother, I would not be in the right. I have to go this time.”
Nanny He was gentler in temperament. She asked softly: “Princess Consort, why are you so unwilling to get close to the Princess?”
Luo Ning had bitterness she could not speak of.
She said: “It is not that. It is just that, since I am waiting to be married, it is better to go out less.”
Nanny He said softly: “The Grand Princess has a good relationship with Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.”
She was gently reminding Luo Ning that the Grand Princess was someone she could draw close to.
No one knew about Pei Ying, and no one knew what Luo Ning had experienced in her previous life.
To outsiders, her wariness seemed impossible to understand.
Luo Ning said: “In my heart, I still respect the Princess.”
On the first day of the twelfth month, Luo Ning got up early. She put on clothes in solemn colors, pinned up her hair and decorated it with pearl flowers, and wore on her wrist the string of Buddhist Prayer Beads the Empress Dowager had rewarded her with.
Her maidservant Qiu Hua accompanied her out.
On the way, she closed her eyes and dozed, but her mind was turning quickly.
She did not know what exactly Grand Princess Jia Hong planned to do or where she would start.
When they reached Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and saw pilgrims coming and going along the mountain path, Luo Ning and Qiu Hua both breathed a sigh of relief.
Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple had strong incense offerings, and it was the first of the month, so many people had come to burn incense.
Since she would not be meeting the Princess alone, Luo Ning was not as nervous.
Qiu Hua said: “Big Miss, do not be afraid. I will protect you.”
She could feel how tense Luo Ning was.
Luo Ning smiled.
Walking up with the other pilgrims, Luo Ning was indeed not as worried as she had been in the carriage.
She thought about many things.
She felt that she should talk to Pei Ying. If he still avoided her while Grand Princess Jia Hong insisted on doing things that would make Luo Ning misunderstand, then Luo Ning wanted to uncover the past.
She wanted to ask Pei Ying directly whether the Madam Feng living next door was really him.
He had to give her an answer.
When they arrived at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, Luo Ning saw the Princess. She was dressed like an ordinary married woman and was chatting casually with the temple’s abbot.
Pei Ying was by her side.
Pei Ying wore a large cloak. His skin was fair, his hair black as ink, and his bearing gentle and warm.
When he saw Luo Ning, he gave her a slight smile. The smile was so good-looking it seemed as if it could melt winter’s cold frost.
Luo Ning returned his smile.
Grand Princess Jia Hong even teased her, saying: “A’Ning is so busy. It is too hard to see you even once.” She did not show any sign of minding how much Luo Ning had been avoiding her.
She seemed to be in a very good mood.
Luo Ning bowed and said: “I have been rushing to finish embroidery work. Please forgive me, Princess.”
The Princess said: “A young lady about to be married truly has a lot of embroidery to do.”
She sounded understanding and reasonable.
For a moment, Luo Ning thought that all her guardedness these days had just been her imagining things.
She smiled back.
Pei Ying’s gaze fell on her. On the belt under his cloak hung a purple bamboo flute with a tassel dangling from it.
Luo Ning tried her best not to look at him.
The Princess said: “I will go listen to the Dharma Master talk about the Buddhist Dharma. A’Ying will accompany me. A’Ning, you can walk around for a bit. Later we will eat the vegetarian banquet together. I have something I want to tell you.”
Luo Ning agreed.
The Princess did not ask her to accompany them.
Everything made it seem as if Luo Ning’s fears had just been her wild imagination. It felt a bit ridiculous.
Luo Ning took Qiu Hua with her to go in and offer incense, but at the main hall doors of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, she ran into someone.
This man was extremely handsome. His features were strikingly fine, as if carved by heaven. He wore an apricot-colored cloak, with no patterns on his clothes at all, yet it did nothing to lessen his noble air.
Every time Luo Ning saw him, she could not help but be amazed by his looks.
However, that Grand Master walked a different path from her, so Luo Ning had not planned to speak to him. Yet he opened his mouth first and said: “Miss Luo.”
Luo Ning also gave a slight nod and said: “Fifth Master Wang.”
Wang Tang Yao asked: “Miss Luo, could I borrow a moment to speak with you?”
Luo Ning stopped: “Did you specially come to wait for me?”
“No, it was just by chance,” Wang Tang Yao said.
He had not come intentionally to pick a fight.
He had met Pei Ying on the street.
Pei Ying had said he was going with his mother to offer incense, and Wang Tang Yao had something to say to Pei Ying in private, so he had followed them all the way to Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.
Grand Princess Jia Hong had sent Wang Tang Yao away, telling him to go burn incense first.
Wang Tang Yao did not believe in Buddhism and was too lazy to bow. He studied the clay Buddha statues carefully, then looked at the common people devoutly worshiping them, and felt many things in his heart.
So people were this fragile. Spend a bit of money to shape a golden body, and it could make them willingly offer up their wealth and their souls.
Wang Tang Yao had not expected that he would run into Luo Ning.
Since he had, he wanted to warn her with a few words, so she would not get carried away.
Luo Ning said: “…Fifth Master Wang, please wait a moment. I will go worship the Bodhisattva first.”
Wang Tang Yao was speechless.
Luo Ning went into the main hall.
Inside, the incense smoke was thick. There were many pilgrims coming and going.
Luo Ning knelt on a cushion and prayed devoutly.
She knelt for quite a long while.
Wang Tang Yao stood not far behind her and waited patiently for a long time.
Qiu Hua knelt on the cushion beside her.
When she saw Luo Ning get up, Qiu Hua moved to help her and asked in a low voice: “Big Miss, are you scared?”
“No.”
She was just going over in her mind all the people she had met from the moment she arrived at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple until now.
Everything seemed calm.
Luo Ning was starting to doubt her own judgment.
Just then, Wang Tang Yao came closer and said: “Miss Luo, could we move aside and talk for a moment? Do you know that Miss Bai is still in our residence?”
Luo Ning looked back at him.
Incense smoke curled through the temple like a thin mist drifting in the hall. It seemed to cling to his brows and eyes, making them even more vivid than the painted Buddha statues.
Luo Ning asked: “Are you threatening me?”
Wang Tang Yao said: “If you feel it is a threat, then you must already know in your heart what I want to say.”
Luo Ning was about to refuse.
She did not want to hear a single word of nonsense.
First she would get through the wedding.
Before the wedding, she could almost disappear from the world, except for people like Pei Ying and Grand Princess Jia Hong, whom she could not get out of dealing with.
Luo Ning did not want to have contact with anyone.
There was even less need to talk to someone like Wang Tang Yao, who clearly held ill intentions, was not close to her, and had no reason to interact with her in the future.
Luo Ning said perfunctorily: “Another day, you can send me an invitation and come visit.”
Right at that moment, the ground suddenly shook as if the mountains were moving, and Luo Ning almost could not stand steady.
The accident came out of nowhere. The pilgrims in the hall were terrified, and screams rose one after another.
Someone rushed out from the shadows and ran straight toward Luo Ning.
Qiu Hua instinctively blocked in front of Luo Ning. At the same time, Luo Ning also wanted to protect Qiu Hua, so she grabbed Qiu Hua and ducked under the offering table.
It felt like the main hall was about to collapse.
The offering table could block the falling stones from the roof.
As soon as she crawled under it, she felt the ground beneath her shift slightly, as if it was not very stable.
Heavy stones smashed down onto the table above their heads, and more people squeezed in.
Suddenly, the ground vanished under Luo Ning.
At some point, Qiu Hua’s hand slipped from hers. In her ears was Qiu Hua’s shrill cry of “Big Miss,” and then Luo Ning felt herself falling endlessly down a passage into the dark.