There was a commotion at the entrance of the gambling house. People had gathered to watch the fun, blocking the street completely.
A carriage had no choice but to stop. The maid lifted the curtain and whispered, "Miss, there's someone causing a ruckus at the gambling house entrance. Let's wait a while."
The person inside frowned and said, "Get those people out of the way!"
The maid was a bit hesitant but still stepped forward and said a few words to the servant. The servant immediately started shouting for the onlookers to make way.
When the people saw the luxurious carriage, they felt intimidated and made some space. However, there were so many of them, and there were also some trouble - makers among them who were enjoying the show and shouting obscenities from time to time. No matter what, they couldn't make a path wide enough for the carriage to pass.
The impatient person inside the carriage lifted the curtain, revealing a heavily - made - up face. Who else could it be but Chen Huanyun?
She looked at the commotion impatiently. Peering through the gaps between the moving heads of the crowd, she was shocked.
Why did that beggar look so familiar?
She took a closer look and the more she looked, the more familiar he seemed. Her eyes lit up, and she motioned for the maid to go forward and listen to what he was saying.
At the gambling house, the people there thought the beggar was spouting nonsense and just laughed at him. But they got annoyed with his rambling and one of them, a strong man, raised his fist as big as a sandbag and threatened, "I think you, this lousy beggar, have a short memory. What, do you want to feel my fist again?"
The beggar immediately covered his head and swallowed his words. Seeing his cowardice, the strong man burst out laughing. When the beggar realized he had been mocked, he straightened up, his face flushed red as he pointed at the strong man and shouted, "You, you, you just wait for me! My daughter is a young lady from a marquis's mansion. When I find her, I'll have her arrest you and beat you up!"
He just kept repeating the same words over and over again, and no one present believed him. They all thought he had been beaten out of his mind.
The gambling house still had to do business. If the crowd continued to gather like this and attracted the patrolling soldiers, it would be a big problem.
The strong man looked down on him with disdain. He stepped forward, grabbed the beggar by the collar and started punching him, saying, "Stop talking so much nonsense. Do you really think I'm afraid of you? If I don't see the silver in three days, I'll chop you into pieces!"
The man was beaten and ran around covering his head. Soon he fell unconscious in a corner.
The strong man spat on the ground and said, "What a nobody. His daughter is a young lady from a marquis's mansion? My daughter is a concubine of the emperor then!"
His accomplice let out a roar of laughter and they walked into the gambling house with their arms around each other's shoulders.
When the onlookers saw there was no more fun to watch, they slowly dispersed.
Qing'er came back and said a few words to Chen Huanyun. When Chen Huanyun heard the words "my daughter is a young lady from a marquis's mansion", her hand gripping the window lattice tightened. She stared intently at Qing'er and asked, "Did he really say that?"
Qing'er nodded seriously. "I wouldn't dare to deceive you, miss. He shouted it many times, always the same sentence."
Chen Huanyun thought for a moment and then suddenly laughed. "It's like getting a pillow just when I'm sleepy. Heaven is on my side..."
She had thought the beggar looked familiar before. Now that she thought about it, didn't he look a bit like Fu Zhen?
With such a wonderful father, sister, you really are so lucky.
She let out a giggle.
After a while, she whispered something in Qing'er's ear.
Qing'er looked up at her, lost in thought.
*
The temple fair started in the evening.
Fu Zhen changed into a cyan dress. She followed Lady Bai to pay respects to the City God first, then got a wooden plaque, wrote down her wish and tied it to a tree.
Biyu, who was following behind, didn't see what Fu Zhen had written. She just glanced around and saw some shy young ladies. She knew they were here to pray for marriage, so she joked, "Miss has everything going smoothly now. I guess you're here to pray for marriage too."
Fu Zhen smiled but didn't answer.
She was praying for marriage, but it was more than that.
She was praying not to repeat the same mistakes.
After walking a few steps, Lady Bai met some sisters from the Bai family. Since they hadn't seen each other for a long time, they had a lot to talk about. So she let Fu Zhen and Chen Huanyun go and play on their own, and sent a few strong young servants to accompany them.
Chen Huanyun walked to the tree of marriage with a big smile on her face. Listening to the sound of the wooden plaques gently colliding with each other in the breeze, she reached out and fiddled with the intertwined plaques.
The temple fair was grand and bustling today. Besides the young ladies waiting to be married who came to pray for marriage, there were also some handsome young men walking around from time to time. When they met in groups of two or three, their faces were all filled with gentle smiles.
Suddenly, Chen Huanyun seemed to see someone. Her eyes lit up.
"Elder sister, I've seen a good friend. I'll go first." With that, she lifted her skirt and rushed over.
Fu Zhen actually didn't want to walk with her. She had even planned to pretend to see someone and find an excuse to leave, but unexpectedly, Chen Huanyun had beaten her to it.
She squinted slightly as she looked at the place where Chen Huanyun disappeared.
There didn't seem to be any female figures there. Looking closely, it seemed to be some men.
There were many stalls at the temple fair. As it got darker, torches and lanterns were lit everywhere. Some common people also set up their own stalls with their handmade goods. The cries of the peddlers filled the air, making it extremely lively.
Fu Zhen walked and browsed all the way. There were some small and delicate items. Although the materials were a bit rough, they were very ingenious and quite interesting.
She picked up an item, and Cuihuan followed behind to pay. Before they knew it, the two maids were carrying quite a few things.
She covered her mouth and smiled. "I see there's a stall selling wontons in front. I'll order one bowl for each of you to reward you."
Biyu was just feeling hungry. When she heard this, she nodded repeatedly. "Wontons are great! I love them!"
Cuihuan laughed at her. "I don't think there's anything you don't like to eat."
Biyu snorted. "My mother said that being able to eat is a blessing!" As she said that, she playfully bumped into Cuihuan.
She was two years younger than Cuihuan and had been doted on by her parents at home. From time to time, she would show a bit of coquettishness.
The old woman who made the wontons probably couldn't get a good spot, so her stall was set a bit far away. When they sat down at the stall, they could only faintly hear the noisy sounds from the temple fair, making it seem a bit quiet.
"Three bowls of wontons, please," Cuihuan said as she stepped forward.
The old woman quickly replied, "Okay, okay. Young lady, please sit down and wait a while. The wontons will be ready soon."
Biyu put the things they bought aside and looked around. "There are so many people at the temple fair. After being in the noise for so long, now that it's suddenly quiet, I still feel a buzzing in my ears, as if someone is still chattering non - stop."
Fu Zhen also rubbed her forehead. "That's right. I'm really getting a headache after walking around for so long."
The wontons hadn't been served yet, and Fu Zhen was a bit bored as she looked outside.
The stall only had two oil lamps, which could barely provide some light. It was quite dim.
Fu Zhen was staring blankly at a certain place when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to catch a glimpse of a shadow limping slowly towards them.
Her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't help but straighten up and stared intently at the shadow.
As the shadow got closer, illuminated by the dim light, under the messy hair was a face that she would recognize even if it turned to ashes!