Chapter 566 Mo Qiuyi, Who Had Changed Her Clothes
Since Pushan Nun said so, Shao Yanru, who was sensible, certainly would not insist. After that, she had never seen the painting stamped with Pushan Nun’s private seal.
Unexpectedly, she received a painting of Pushan Nun stamped with her private seal. It seemed that the painting had a different meaning to Pushan Nun.
“Since it’s sent here, just put it away!” Shao Yanru said casually.
Receiving the order, Shuqi went to prepare toiletries for Shao Yanru. Shao Yanru went to visit Shao Wanru after washing up and having breakfast. However, she was informed that Shao Wanru had not woken up yet. So she had no choice but to go back to her room and wait.
After waiting for another while, Shao Yanru heard some sounds from the silence room and went over again. This time Shao Wanru had got up, and was having porridge after washing up. Seeing Shao Yanru come over, Shao Wanru enthusiastically invited her to have some porridge together. Shao Yanru just shook her head with a smile and said that she had eaten her breakfast.
Shao Wanru didn’t eat much. After taking a few mouthfuls of porridge, she put it down. Yujie softly cleaned up the dishes.
“Fifth Sister, this is the ointment I got from our mansion. I heard that it was granted by the imperial palace. Your hand has been injured, so has mine. Both of us can use it. I applied it to my hand last night, and now it gets much better!” Shao Yanru said with a smile and reached out her hand.
Her hand was not seriously scalded, but it looked a little scary yesterday because her white skin looked red with blisters. Today it seemed to be fine. Although it was still red, it was just a little swollen with no bulging blisters.
As Shao Yanru said, she took a jade bottle from Shuqi, put it in front of Shao Wanru and said, “Fifth Sister, you can try it!”
“No, thanks. My wound has almost healed!” Shao Wanru refused politely. Her hand didn’t bleed, but just had some scratches and a suspicious bite mark, which could not be seen by others. So when she got up just now, Yujie dressed her wound with a handkerchief.
“Although your wound has almost healed, it will leave a scar. It is said that this ointment can heal your wound without leaving a mark.” Shao Yanru softly introduced the ointment and pushed the jade bottle towards Shao Wanru.
It seemed to be hard to refuse her kindness.
“Well… Thank you, Big Sister. I’ll instruct Yujie to apply it to my wound later, since she has just dressed my wound a moment ago!” Shao Wanru said with a smile and reached out to take the jade bottle.
“The earlier you use it, the sooner your wound will be healed!” Shao Yanru said with an increasingly gentle look.
“Thank you for your kindness, Big Sister. I got it. I heard that you got a painting from Pushan Nun today. Can I have a look at it?” Shao Wanru said with an increasingly pleasant look and changed the topic with composure. She really didn’t dare to use the ointment given by Shao Yanru.
“The painting was entrusted to me by Pushan Nun, but doesn’t belong to me. Fifth Sister, please forgive me for being unable to show it to you for the time being. When I meet Pushan Nun later, I will definitely tell her about it. If Pushan Nun agrees, I will show it to you. Is that okay?”
Shao Yanru said with a decent smile, seeming to be in a dilemma but willing to think of a way to meet Shao Wanru’s demand. It was hard to believe that there was a vicious soul behind her pretty face.
“Thank you, Big Sister!” Shao Wanru said with little sincerity and reached out to pick up a scroll of scriptures beside her, “Do you want to join me in chanting scriptures, Big Sister?”
This time it was really a scroll of scriptures. Shao Yanru disdained that she found a script when she came over yesterday, but Shao Wanru presented a scroll of scriptures seriously today. So Shao Yanru said, “I’m not good at chanting scriptures, so I prefer to copy some Buddhist scriptures and put it in front of the Buddha. Nevertheless, I’ve been copying Buddhist scriptures all the time on the mountain and sometimes I feel tired. Fifth Sister, do you have some interesting scripts here?”
“Scripts? How could I have those things? I only have some scriptures here,” Shao Wanru said, as she took a wooden fish handed by Yujie, gently knocked on it and looked up at Shao Yanru with a serious look, “Big Sister, you must be joking.”
“Sorry for my recklessness. I thought that you read some scripts sometimes when feeling bored on the mountain. If you don’t have any, I’ll go to copy the Buddhist scriptures!” Shao Yanru said. She naturally didn’t believe Shao Wanru’s words, but she didn’t show her suspicion on her face, as if she believed anything Shao Wanru said even without noticing that Shao Wanru became cold because of her question.
She glanced at the silence room, where there were not many things. There were a few books looking like scriptures on the desk by the window. She could not tell what was in the drawer under the desk for the time being, but she guessed that there must be some scripts in it.
It was good if it was true! The more things against the rules Shao Wanru had in her place, the better. If Shao Wanru didn’t have any, she wanted to bring some here!
When she withdrew her gaze, she saw the locked box in the corner. The box was not big and placed in the corner, so no one would notice it in normal times. At this moment, there were some writing brushes and ink stones casually placed on it, which made it less likely to be moved. At the thought of this, she was quite satisfied!
After leaving Shao Wanru’s room, she said to Shuqi after standing in the corridor and thinking for a while. “Let’s go to see the nuns in the nunnery and ask for a few Buddhist scriptures!”
“Yes, Miss!” Shuqi answered, and then the two of them left slowly one behind the other.
Shao Yanru was reluctant to stay here and listen to the monotonous sounds of Shao Wanru’s knocking on the wooden fish. It was boring and made her feel uncomfortable.
“Tell Qing’er to follow them!” Shao Wanru, who had begun to knock on the wooden fish, heard Shao Yanru talk at the door and gave an order to Yujie beside her.
After that, she became serious and began to chant scriptures in a low voice.
When Yujie came out, Shao Yanru and Shuqi had left the courtyard. She told Qing’er, who was in the courtyard, about Shao Wanru’s order. Qing’er immediately put down the broom in her hand and got out of the courtyard as well.
Shao Yanru casually walked to the back of the mountain, where the scenery was much better than that in the front yard, so she liked to paint at the back of the mountain. It was autumn now, and the scenery was a little different from the mountain covered with red leaves. The red leaves were mixed with green leaves and some blooming summer flowers. The wind blew and the heat of summer had subsided, making her feel inexplicably fresh and comfortable.
“Miss, someone is painting here!” Shuqi suddenly pointed at somewhere in front of them and said. A man was painting with his back to them. It was really astonishing that a man could be allowed to get in such a place. In the past, very few men had come here. Even some female pilgrims seldom came here, because the nuns usually introduced them to several other places with beautiful scenery.
Although the man was also at the back of the mountain, he was a little distant from here, which was too close to the other side of the high wall. It was a major crime to disturb the imperial concubines of the former emperor in their practice.
Since there was a man, Shao Yanru couldn’t go forward, so she took a path on the side winding up to the top of the mountain. The path was small, but the scenery was great. When Shao Yanru, who enjoyed the scenery a lot, was about to pass by a huge block in front of her, she suddenly saw someone come out from behind it.
“First Miss Shao!” The girl, who came out, bowed to Shao Yanru respectfully and said.
“Miss Mo?” Shao Yanru asked. She recognized that the girl in front of her was Mo Qiuyi, who lived not far away. They had met each other in Pushan Nun’s place. Miss Mo seemed to be a distant relative of Pushan Nun and lived in the Yuhui Nunnery because of Pushan Nun. Nevertheless, only a few people knew about it in the nunnery, and most of them thought that she was a relative of Pushan Nun’s disciple.
Shao Yanru knew it because Pushan Nun told her about it bluntly.
“First Miss Shao, has Pushan Nun left any painting? I went down the mountain before and came back today, but I didn’t see her. I heard that you are here, so I specially come here to inquire about it. I was supposed to go to your courtyard. Unexpectedly I meet you here,” Mo Qiuyi said joyfully.
Glancing at Mo Qiuyi and the two maids behind her, Shao Yanru showed a trace of deepness in her eyes. In the past, Mo Qiuyi was dressed in black clothes like Shao Wanru, looking plain with no characteristics. Although Mo Qiuyi had delicate features, Shao Yanru considered her just an ordinary girl.
However, Mo Qiuyi, who was dressed in a light pink dress instead of her usual black clothes and wore a light makeup today, looked completely different from who she used to be. Shao Yanru could roughly tell that she was Mo Qiuyi at first glance, but when Shao Yanru looked at her carefully, she found that Mo Qiuyi became much prettier with a different temperament. Coupled with the two maids behind her, Mo Qiuyi looked like a Miss from an aristocratic family, who usually hung out with her.
“Miss Mo, why are you dressed like this?” Shao Yanru asked in surprise. If she had not seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed that the girl in front of her was Mo Qiuyi.
“I found my uncle, and my uncle and aunt asked me to go down the mountain and live in their mansion. Thinking of Pushan Nun’s care for me, I specially come up the mountain with a gift for her. Unexpectedly she’s not here. She said that she would draw a painting of thousand-hand Guanyin for me. I’m wondering if it is in your hands?”
Mo Qiuyi changed the subject back and asked with a gentle smile.
“I do get a painting, but I don’t know if it is left to you by Pushan Nun. She left in a hurry and directly sent the painting here without meeting me!” Shao Yanru said vaguely.
Pushan Nun did not say that she would give her a painting. She got the painting suddenly so that she was wondering if it was sent by someone else. But judging from Pushan Nun’s private seal, it did not seem to be sent by someone else. Hearing Mo Qiuyi’s words, she figured out to whom Pushan Nun left this painting.
“It must be the painting. Pushan Nun has described the painting she was going to finish and gave me a sketch!” Hearing that it was in Shao Yanru’s hands as she expected, Mo Qiuyi breathed a sigh of relief, drew a very simple sketch from her bosom and said.
Shao Yanru reached out to take it. It was very simple, consisting of only a few strokes, but she could tell that it should be the same as the one she got. She nodded and said with a smile, “The painting looks like this indeed. In this case, come with me to fetch the painting!”
“First Miss, I have lived in the Yuhui Nunnery for a period of time. But my uncle and aunt think it inappropriate for me to live in the nunnery since I have an uncle, so they want to keep it a secret. I hope that I could trouble your maid to fetch the painting, in case the nuns see me and there be some rumors displeasing my uncle and aunt!”
Mo Qiuyi said in embarrassment.