A Records Of An Alpha’s Life In Ancient Times - Chapter 7

After learning where Lord Lin was staying, Shen Qingshu kept thinking about how she could meet Miss Lin.

Great Yan’s social customs were relatively open. Girls were not restrained too harshly, and unmarried young ladies from respectable families could also go out and “show their faces” in public on ordinary days. When good occasions like the Shangsi Festival or Lantern Festival came around, there were even large-scale matchmaking gatherings for men and women.

But if a private meeting with a man spread outside, it would still sound improper. As Miss Lin’s fiancé, she had to avoid suspicion even more.

So the best method was to send Lord Lin a visiting card and openly pay a call at his door. After meeting Lord Lin, the two of them could take a walk or stroll around together while accompanied by maids and old women servants.

That way, she would be able to find a chance to be alone with Miss Lin and explain things clearly to her.

But the problem was that Lord Lin had not yet purchased a residence and was temporarily staying at the posthouse. Every day, he left early and returned late, busy reporting on his official duties. Under these circumstances, it was not suitable to send a visiting card either. Even if she shamelessly did send one, Lord Lin most likely would not have the time to bother with her.

The second option was to arrange a chance encounter. Lord Lin was busy reporting on his duties, but surely Madam Lin and Miss Lin were not busy too, right? They had been away from the capital for many years. Wouldn’t they meet a few old friends and acquaintances and arrange outings together?

As long as they left the posthouse, Shen Qingshu could think of a way.

So today, she had brought Fu An over to scout the area and teach him how to recognize the Lin family’s carriage. After all, she still had to study, so she could only have Fu An stand guard here. If anything happened, he would come and tell her immediately.

“Remembered it?” After circling the area once, Shen Qingshu had also finished the pastries in her hand. She patted away the crumbs, took out a handkerchief to wipe the corner of her mouth, then turned and asked Fu An.

“I remember. Young Master, don’t worry!” Fu An nodded, his eyes flashing with excitement. Being able to help Young Master meet Miss Lin, he did not feel that keeping watch was hard at all.

Shen Qingshu was too lazy to explain. Everyone thought she wanted to see what her fiancée looked like.

Was she that shallow?

All right, she was.

But that was not the point. The point was breaking off the engagement.

Shen Qingshu turned and looked in the direction of the posthouse. After hesitating for a moment, she still did not use her mental power to investigate the situation.

She respected other people’s privacy.

She had always felt that people who possessed extraordinary abilities should be even more cautious, restrained, and careful in using them. If one became too greedy, one would slide into the abyss of desire.

In this world, mental power had already brought her a great deal of convenience. She could not demand even more.

However, unexpectedly, Fu An kept watch for several days, yet aside from Lord Lin, he never saw the Lin family’s carriage move.

Could this Miss Lin be a homebody?

Was she completely unmoved by the dazzling world outside? Did she not feel bored staying in the posthouse all day?

Shen Qingshu’s plan had not even begun before it got stuck at the first step. Somewhat discouraged, she lay over her desk and could not help sighing.

“Why are you sighing when everything’s perfectly fine?” Meng Bozhou, sitting in the front row, turned around and asked with a grin.

Xia Boyan was like a professional comedy foil, immediately picking up the line with a smile. “Is there even a need to ask? He’s definitely thinking about his fiancée!”

Shen Qingshu rolled her eyes, not even wanting to bother with them.

Meng Bozhou was not annoyed either. He stopped teasing her and suggested to everyone, “Hey, in a few days, the Buddha’s Birthday happens to fall on our day off. The plum blossoms at Huayan Temple are blooming too. How about we senior and junior brothers go pray to Buddha and admire the flowers together?”

Zheng Heng was the first to agree. Xia Boyan hesitated a little. “But there’s a football match on the day off. I’d rather go watch the match.”

He was talking about Great Yan’s First Division Football League, founded by Emperor Shizu. Ever since it had begun, it had swept through the capital and become an important holiday entertainment for the common people.

Meng Bozhou persuaded him, “Don’t be like that. There are matches every week. Missing one doesn’t matter. Who knows, maybe we can even make it back in the afternoon in time to watch it!”

Xia Boyan turned to look at his elder brother. “Brother, are you going?”

Xia Bogui nodded, so he also said, “All right then. I’ll go too.”

Meng Bozhou then looked at Shen Qingshu. Shen Qingshu thought about it. On a large event like the Buddha’s Birthday, perhaps Madam Lin and Miss Lin would go out too, so she also agreed.

Now only Gao Mingche remained. Everyone looked at one another, and in the end, Shen Qingshu forced herself to speak. “Senior Brother Gao, are you going?”

Gao Mingche raised his head and looked over. The moment their gazes met, Shen Qingshu felt immense pressure.

Speaking of which, it was strange. Gao Mingche had never done anything to them, yet for some reason, everyone was afraid of him. Perhaps some people were simply born with that kind of ability.

“All right,” Gao Mingche said faintly, then lowered his head and continued reading. Everyone let out a breath of relief.

When the Buddha’s Birthday arrived, this kind of festival was naturally something everyone in the Shen residence had to attend too, especially since Madam He believed in Buddhism.

The temple she often visited had originally been another one, but ever since Shen Qingshu had fallen and been injured there, she had sworn never to go again—so she switched to Huayan Temple.

It had snowed lightly again yesterday, but today was a clear day. Although winter sunlight did not carry much warmth, it still lifted people’s spirits a little.

The carriage arrived at the foot of the mountain. Since Shen Qingshu had arranged to meet her classmates, her family did not go up the mountain together.

Once the group of senior and junior brothers gathered, they headed up the mountain. Huayan Temple was the ancestral temple of the Huayan school, one of the eight Buddhist schools, and was also a large temple famous near and far. On top of that, today was the Buddha’s Birthday, and a large Dharma assembly would be held. Even though the weather was very cold, there were still many believers, and the place was packed with people.

The mountains looked vast and dark, but the road was not difficult to walk. There were broad, neatly arranged stone steps. On both sides of the path, there was still a bit of unmelted snow. Walking in the dense flow of people, Shen Qingshu rather felt as if she were at a tourist attraction in a later era.

The group of senior and junior brothers chatted and laughed as they walked, which was quite interesting. After climbing the mountain, not only did they not feel cold, but a thin layer of sweat had even appeared on their backs.

When they reached the front of the hall, everyone followed the flow of people and lined up to worship the Buddha.

Although the sages said that one should not speak of strange powers and chaotic gods, bowing a couple of times would not make anyone lose a piece of flesh. Most people were only seeking peace of mind.

Shen Qingshu had originally been a firm materialist, but after experiencing transmigration, she became a little uncertain. Was this something science could accomplish?

Then again, perhaps human science simply had not developed to that point yet.

As long as something could not be explained, everything could be quantum mechanics!

There were also many believers who were extremely devout. Their posture for three bows and nine kowtows was very standard. Shen Qingshu watched as they first pressed their palms together to still their minds, then placed their right palm on the prayer mat while keeping the left hand unmoved and knelt down for one bow. They then placed the left hand before the right and kowtowed once, aligned both palms and kowtowed once, then turned both palms over so the palms faced upward and kowtowed again. After three kowtows, they drew the left palm back to the chest and bowed once more. Only then was one bow considered complete. This was repeated three times before they rose.

Shen Qingshu also secretly memorized it, lest she make a joke of herself later.

To be honest, in front of this solemn and dignified statue of Bodhisattva Huayan, accompanied by the rich scent of sandalwood, performing such a ritual-filled bow did feel somewhat different.

After everyone finished bowing, Shen Qingshu saw Gao Mingche standing to the side without moving, so she asked, “Senior Brother Gao, aren’t you going to bow?”

Gao Mingche shook his head. “I don’t believe in it.”

Shen Qingshu advised, “Senior Brother Gao, when it comes to exams, sometimes the difference really is that tiny bit of luck. Perhaps if you bow three times, you’ll pass the county exam next year.”

Her words made Gao Mingche hesitate for a moment. He stared at the Buddha statue for a while, but in the end, he still turned and left.

Shen Qingshu had no choice. It was not that she was trying to promote feudal superstition. Gao Mingche had failed repeatedly and only lacked a bit of confidence. She simply hoped the Bodhisattva could give him a little psychological comfort.

They were a group of young boys. After worshipping the Bodhisattva in the Mahavira Hall and making donations for merit, they did not go to the other parts of the temple to worship. Instead, they went against the flow of people and headed straight to the rear mountain to admire the plum blossoms.

In this cold and austere winter, when all flowers had withered, only plum blossoms could be seen in full bloom. In the capital, what household would not plant a couple of plum trees? But such a vast stretch of plum forest still moved people’s hearts.

Among clusters of winding, vigorous branches were scattered dots of flowers, some white, some red, like gold rivaling jade.

“One knows from afar it is not snow, for a hidden fragrance comes.” From far away, they could already smell a faint, elegant fragrance. Everyone could not help inhaling deeply.

There were many people in the plum forest who had come to admire the blossoms just like them. They gathered in groups of three or five beneath the plum trees. Shen Qingshu and her group strolled among them, feeling relaxed and refreshed.

When they arrived beneath a plum tree in full bloom, Xia Bogui stopped. “With such beautiful scenery, how about we each compose a poem on the subject of plum blossoms?”

Zheng Heng was the first to agree. He looked toward Shen Qingshu. “That is only fitting. Let Senior Brother Shen go first.”

Shen Qingshu stiffened. This was truly bringing up the very thing she wanted to avoid. She did indeed feel poetic inspiration welling up—but it was the inspiration to recite poems.

Were all those poems and lines about plum blossoms still not enough? Things like “fallen into mud and ground to dust, only the fragrance remains as before”—she could recite a whole basketful.

Shen Qingshu grumbled inwardly for a couple of lines, then gave a bitter smile. “Little Junior Brother, you’ve learned bad habits too. You clearly know I’m no good at poetry, yet you’re still teasing me with it.”

Everyone laughed together and did not make things too difficult for her. They looked around and each sank into thought. In the end, only Zheng Heng and Xia Bogui managed to compose one on the spot.

By now, it was nearly noon, and Fu An still had not come to find her. That meant Miss Lin did not want to go out even on this kind of day. Shen Qingshu felt a little despair.

She sighed and thought that perhaps she should simply wait until Lord Lin settled down and then send a visiting card. In any case, there was no need to rush it right this instant.

Meng Bozhou noticed her expression and asked, “Qingshu, what’s wrong? Are you still worrying about your fiancée?”

Shen Qingshu nodded. Xia Boyan also asked curiously, “Have you seen her? Is she hideously ugly?”

“How can you say that about a girl?” Shen Qingshu glared at him, then explained, “I still haven’t seen her. She stays in the posthouse all day and never goes out.”

Xia Boyan reached out and snapped off a branch of plum blossoms. “Then why are you worrying? You’ll meet her eventually!”

Shen Qingshu sighed. “That’s true, but the longer the night, the more dreams there are. I still want to resolve it earlier.”

“Resolve what?”

“I want to explain things clearly to Miss Lin and have her break off the engagement.”

As soon as these words came out, the air went quiet for an instant. Xia Boyan said in shock, “Break off the engagement! Why? Haven’t you not even met her yet? What if she’s a great beauty?”

“That’s right, Qingshu. This isn’t something to joke about.”

“Isn’t this marriage quite good? I heard Lord Lin is about to be promoted to a full fourth-rank official. He has only just reached his thirties. In the future, once you enter officialdom, you’ll also have someone to look after you there.”

Her classmates all tried to persuade her one after another. Shen Qingshu was helpless. She had not even done much yet, but each of them was more anxious than she was.