Xingfu Temple is located on Nanan Mountain outside the capital city. The mountain is not extremely high, but it boasts beautiful scenery.
Chu Qing lifted the curtain and looked out. What met her eyes was layer upon layer of greenery. The hazy distant mountains loomed in the clouds, and the fragrance of unknown wildflowers wafted in with the gentle breeze, refreshing her senses.
"Sister, I didn't lie to you, did I? The scenery here is truly beautiful. It makes people forget about all the trivial matters and immerse themselves in the beauty in front of them," Xu Xin said with a beaming smile as she saw Chu Qing's gradually relaxed expression.
Chu Qing merely responded with a soft "indeed" and then fell silent.
The carriage creaked and groaned all the way. Chu Qing felt drowsiness washing over her again, so she closed her eyes to take a nap. Only then did the formerly chattering Xu Xin reluctantly shut up.
Since they had left early in the morning, they arrived at Xingfu Temple just at noon. Perhaps because it was the fifteenth day of the lunar month, there were quite a few people coming to burn incense and pray. Due to their identities, they didn't alight from the carriage at the main entrance of the temple. Instead, they drove the carriage directly into a side - entrance, which was specially reserved for some noble families to avoid unnecessary trouble.
After getting off the carriage, Chu Qing subconsciously surveyed the surrounding environment. After finding nothing suspicious, she gradually calmed down.
The group of people walked slowly towards the main hall. Looking at the kind - faced Buddha statue, the others all folded their hands, closed their eyes lightly, and knelt down devoutly.
Only Chu Qing stared at the Buddha statue with a somewhat cold look in her eyes, a faint smile playing on her lips.
Did she believe in Buddhism? She used to.
The more than ten years of eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures seemed like just yesterday. However, the more she delved into the teachings of Buddhism, the more confused she became.
The only thing she believed in was a saying:
All the five aggregates are empty, and one can transcend all sufferings. All forms are illusory.
After burning the incense, Xu Xin wanted to go and listen to the abbot's lecture on Buddhist scriptures. She originally wanted to drag Chu Qing along, but Chu Qing firmly refused.
She didn't know why she had agreed to come here with Xu Xin. While others were burning incense and praying, she was just at a loose end.
She had burned enough incense and chanted enough scriptures in her past life, but in the end, she still didn't have a good ending. So what was the point of burning incense now!
After truly getting rid of Xu Xin, Chu Qing finally felt truly at ease both physically and mentally.
She persuaded Lvluo and Liuxin to leave. She wanted to stroll around by herself. Since she was already out, she might as well consider it a spring outing.
The reason she didn't bring the two maids was simply that they were too noisy.
During the few days they had stayed in her villa, Liuxin had gradually let her guard down. At first, she was very respectful to Lvluo, but Lvluo would talk to her from time to time. After a while, Liuxin began to talk back. Back and forth, it seemed that they had to bicker with each other every day to feel at ease. Chu Qing saw that the content of their bickering was not too excessive. Thinking that they were just young and impulsive girls, she didn't interfere much.
However, sometimes when she heard too much of it, it still gave her a headache.
Chu Qing walked along a winding gravel path to the depths of a bamboo forest. If she remembered correctly, there was a small stream led from behind the mountain in the depths of the bamboo forest.
This was not her first time coming to Xingfu Temple.
In her past life, she had come to Xingfu Temple to pray. At that time, there was a drought, and there had been no rain for several months. The common people were suffering, and the Empress Dowager, who was in power behind the curtain, was naturally troubled by the memorials from all over the place every day.
So she came out to relax while praying.
At that time, she also managed to get rid of those maids and guards and found a quiet place.
She didn't know why, but she always wanted to go to the places she had been to in her past life.
...
Hearing the gurgling sound of the stream, Chu Qing knew she had arrived.
She found a protruding rock and sat on it. She took off her shoes and soaked her feet in the stream. The water was still bitterly cold at this time, but at least it could clear her mind.
Feeling the coolness of the mountain breeze, Chu Qing couldn't help but sigh.
With such beautiful scenery, all that was missing was a pot of fine wine.
"The young lady has excellent taste," a strange man's voice suddenly came from behind.
Chu Qing suddenly turned around and saw a gentle - looking man in a moon - white long robe. He was looking at her with a smile on his face.
Chu Qing slowly stood up, quickly put on her shoes, and looked on guard.
Perhaps sensing Chu Qing's wariness, the man let out a soft laugh. "The young lady need not be nervous. I'm just passing by. Hearing the young lady lament the lack of fine wine, I can't help but envy your excellent taste. I was a bit abrupt. Please forgive me," the man said as he bowed to show his apology.
Seeing that the man was very polite and hadn't done anything out of line, Chu Qing gradually softened her expression and returned the courtesy.
Just now, she had inadvertently spoken her mind. She had been too slack.
She was probably the only one who still thought about drinking in a temple, so the other person thought she had excellent taste.
After returning the courtesy, she didn't follow up on what the man said. Instead, she stared fixedly at the man, waiting for what he would say next.
To be fair, this man was quite good - looking. His gentle eyebrows and smiling eyes could easily make people let their guard down.
But she wasn't a young girl just in the first flush of love, nor was she a resentful woman in the inner chambers. Seeing a strange man approaching her, she wouldn't lose her composure like a young girl.
After all, she was now a married woman. Whether she had those indescribable feelings for Wei Ying or not, even if they had no feelings for each other, she had no interest in cuckolding him.
One reason was that she really wasn't interested, and the other was that she was afraid of being beaten to death by Wei Ying.
Seeing Chu Qing staring at him calmly, the man awkwardly scratched his nose. He didn't know how to say what he originally wanted to say.
He thought the other person would be shy or have some other reaction, but surely she wouldn't just stay silent.
But Chu Qing was not an ordinary person.
Seeing that the atmosphere had become a bit stiff, Chu Qing then said coolly, "Since the young master is interested in the scenery here, I won't disturb you from enjoying it." With that, she turned around and left.
The man stood there stunned, at a loss.
He had never met such a... cold - hearted woman...
"My lord, she actually ignored your good looks!" A black shadow appeared beside the man. He seemed indignant at the woman's attitude.
The man just gave him a disdainful glance and curled his lips. "You haven't seen her appearance. She's a peerless beauty."
...
Chu Qing shuttled through the bamboo forest, planning to find Lvluo and the others.
Just as she was pondering why Xu Xin had insisted on inviting her to come to Xingfu Temple, she heard the gradually approaching footsteps behind her.
Chu Qing frowned. She didn't know what this man was chasing after her for.
She knew what she looked like now, but the man seemed to be a refined gentleman. He shouldn't be such a shallow - eyed person.
However, when she turned around to say something, she saw a black shadow flash by. She was knocked unconscious.