Shen Li walked out from behind the Buddha statue. After passing through the main hall, she saw Jiao Yue, Ming Yue, and Han Yue waiting for her outside.
"Miss, you're back!" Ming Yue was the first to spot Shen Li. She said to Jiao Yue and Han Yue in surprise.
Then they all rushed towards Shen Li.
"Miss, why did you stay inside for so long? We've been waiting outside and getting really anxious!" As soon as Jiao Yue saw Shen Li, she stepped forward and asked with concern.
Her eyes scanned Shen Li from head to toe, checking if there was anything wrong with her.
Shen Li asked in confusion, "Did I stay inside for a long time?"
"More than two hours have passed. It's long past lunchtime!"
Hearing this, Shen Li fell silent, and there was a hint of solemnity on her face.
"What's wrong, Miss? Did something happen?" Ming Yue saw that Shen Li's face looked off, and she asked worriedly.
Only then did Shen Li come back to her senses from her thoughts. "I played a game of chess with someone inside. I kind of lost track of time."
"Oh! Miss, we've already ordered the vegetarian meal in the temple. You missed lunch. It's just the right time to go and eat some. Don't starve yourself."
Jiao Yue cared about Shen Li as always. But Shen Li just nodded absent - mindedly and then let Jiao Yue lead her to the vegetarian room they had reserved in the temple in advance.
Shen Li was obviously distracted. Jiao Yue and Ming Yue exchanged a look and both shook their heads in confusion, indicating that they didn't know what was going on.
At this moment, Shen Li was thinking about what had happened in that small room just now. From the moment she entered the door, most of the time she spent with the Grand Master Taixu was playing that game of chess. During that time, she drank two cups of tea in total. Besides that, she didn't eat anything else.
And now, two hours had passed since she entered, and lunchtime had already passed, but she still didn't feel any sign of hunger.
Moreover, the game of chess she played with the Grand Master Taixu didn't take long. She knew her own limitations. Although she had been practicing chess a lot since she came back in this life, her chess skills were still far from those of the Grand Master Taixu, who had decades or even a century of experience.
In Shen Li's own perception, she had only been inside for less than an hour. That game of chess, in her opinion, shouldn't have taken more than half an hour at most!
Even if she added the time they spent drinking tea and chatting, an hour should have been enough! But now, two hours had passed.
Shen Li thought about it over and over again but couldn't figure it out. She just felt that there was something strange about that room. Since she couldn't figure it out, she stopped thinking about it.
When Shen Li's thoughts came back, she suddenly found that they had already arrived at their vegetarian room. It was a separate small courtyard, and it was filled with the masters and servants from the Shen Mansion today.
"Where are the Second Miss and the Third Miss? Where did they go?" Shen Li scanned the surroundings with her eyes but didn't see Shen Miao and Shen Zhen. She thought they had gone back to the Shen Mansion first.
Hearing this, Jiao Yue curled her lips in disgust. "The Third Miss is in the room. As for the Second Miss, she probably went for a stroll in the temple. Maybe she's having an accidental encounter with someone."
Shen Li sensed something wrong in Jiao Yue's words. She turned to look at Ming Yue and asked her with her eyes.
"Miss, you may not know. Today, the Fourth Prince, the Seventh Prince, the Tenth Prince, and the Heir of Prince Li also came to the Pufa Temple to offer incense. I think the Second Miss went out for a stroll, hoping to bump into the Fourth Prince."
Shen Li nodded in understanding, but then she asked, "When did the princes arrive at the temple?"
"I heard that the princes came in plain clothes this time to pray for the Emperor. They arrived at the temple early this morning, even earlier than us." Ming Yue told Shen Li what she had just heard.
This time, Shen Li didn't ask any more questions and went back to the vegetarian room to have some vegetarian food.
"Miss, when shall we go back to the mansion?" After Shen Li finished eating, Jiao Yue stepped forward and asked.
"Let's wait for them to come back and then go back together." After having the meal, Shen Li picked up a book to read as usual. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave at all.
But compared to Shen Li's calmness, Jiao Yue was a bit anxious. She still remembered the group of black - clothed men who had assassinated the Fourth Prince and the Heir of Prince Li when Shen Li came to the Pufa Temple to offer incense last time.
Although she didn't see it with her own eyes last time, based on Ming Yue's description later, she could imagine how critical the situation was at that time. So she was also very nervous about coming to the Pufa Temple this time.
Jiao Yue wanted to persuade Shen Li to leave first and not wait for Shen Miao here. But thinking that her miss was very determined once she made a decision, she could only resent Shen Miao more in her heart. Shen Miao insisted on going to have an "accidental encounter" and made her miss wait for her here.
Another half an hour passed, but Shen Miao still didn't come back. This time, Jiao Yue finally couldn't hold back and said, "Miss, we don't know when the Second Miss will come back. How about we go back first?"
Shen Li didn't even move her eyes away from the book in her hand. "Don't be impatient. Just wait patiently for a while. There will be news soon."
Although Jiao Yue didn't know what Shen Li's plan was, she still obeyed and stopped talking. She calmed down, walked to Shen Li's side, and fanned her, trusting her mistress very much.
After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, a panicked maid ran in. When she saw Shen Li, she knelt down directly and cried, "Please, Eldest Miss, save our Second Miss!"
"You said you want me to save the Second Miss? Then tell me what just happened first. Only then can I save her better." This time, Shen Li put down the book in her hand and looked at Chun Xi, who was kneeling in front of her with a messy hair and a panicked face.
Chun Xi, who was kneeling, had been a bit flustered just now. Now she gradually calmed down, but she hesitated in her heart. She didn't know if she should ask Shen Li for help.
But now Shen Miao was in great danger. Once something happened, not only Chun Xi's own life but also the lives of her whole family would be decided by the Shen family.
Among the other two masters who came out from the Shen Mansion today, the Third Miss, Shen Zhen, obviously couldn't handle things. And the only one who could make a decision, the Eldest Miss Shen Li, had a conflict with the Shen Miao she served.
Chun Xi hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she didn't dare to delay. She gritted her teeth and said, "Eldest Miss, our miss, the Fourth Prince, the Seventh Prince, the Tenth Prince, and the Heir of Prince Li have been surrounded by a group of bad guys!"
"I sneaked back to deliver the message. Please, Eldest Miss, find a way to save our miss, as well as the three princes and the Heir of Prince Li!"