Yi Haoran's guess was indeed correct. Cai Lan was "acquired" by Xie Erren shortly after she moved to the Third General Office. An unaccompanied little girl like her, far away from home due to war and chaos, didn't really have much choice when faced with Xie Erren's tenderness. Other than death, it can only be accepted half-heartedly. Although Xie Erren was a "concubine", he was a "Bailihou" in Wuzhou. Cai Lan has been in Wuzhou for a long time, and he knows to some extent that the Australians are not ordinary mud-legged rebels, but "invaders" of overseas giant canals, and they can be regarded as heroes. The maid next to her said: The person who solved the problem for the master was a "veteran" of the Song Dynasty, and his status was extremely noble. He was not comparable to her fiancé, a poor scholar.
Since she became the "woman who understands the elders", people around her have treated her with great courtesy and good food, and she has also been served by many slaves and maids - it is said that they all come from wealthy local families in Wuzhou and are accustomed to serving others. , the most considerate. When the lips are a little dry, someone brings hot and cold tea, and there is a slight sound in the throat, and the phlegm box is presented.
When she was a girl at home, not to mention having people to serve her, she had to cook, do housework, and serve her father and brothers. How could she have lived such a life with clothes on her hands and food on her hands to open her mouth? Not to mention so meticulous and thoughtful. It would be false to say that she was not moved by it.
Having said that, the words "lost her virginity" and "lost her virginity" were like shackles, tightly locked in her heart, making it difficult for her to let go, and her life of fine clothing and fine food also lost its color.
Whenever she sat alone and meditated, she would seem to see her father's thin and serious face, which seemed to be scolding her: "Disloyal thief, you are the daughter of a scholar from a scholarly family, and you do such a thing. What a shameless thing!"
Every time she thought of this, she would tremble, and the huge energy pressure would make her suffocate. When she thought that someone would talk about her being "frivolous", "disloyal" and "unchaste" behind her back, she felt like someone was whipping her mercilessly. Her father had been telling her about "Biography of Women", "Internal Instructions", and "Women's Commandments" since she was a child. At this time, the words in the books she had read were like knives, constantly stirring her heart and making her unable to live in peace.
Sometimes she would dream about her fiancé at night. In fact, she was not familiar with the man who was supposed to be her husband. They had been engaged since childhood but had never met. It was just that there was a civil uprising in her hometown last year due to famine, and the family fled to the province. City - Her parents were old and frail, and their life was in danger. Remembering that there was such a marriage back then, they wrote a letter asking Xing Chenghuan to send someone to pick her up and get her married, so that she would have someone to rely on throughout her life.
She traveled all the way to Wuzhou, but actually only met her fiancé three or four times. To be honest, she even blurred Xing Chenghuan's appearance. So in her dreams, the fiancé she saw was always a vague shadow. She was alone and sobbing silently, and then suddenly he rushed up and grabbed her neck in a frenzy, yelling "Why don't you die!"
Cai Lan often wakes up screaming from nightmares and spends long nights in fear and guilt. This is why she asked Xie Erren to find a companion, at least on the days when Xie Erren didn't come to stay overnight, she would have someone to accompany her through the long nights.
Speaking of which, although Xie Erren tried all his "little tricks" to seduce her, Cai Lan didn't feel much of this man's love after he started. Although she had no worries about food and clothing under his wings, she could be said to be well clothed and well fed. However, Xie Erren didn't stay in her room very often, only once or twice a week.
In this thief's mansion, she was neither a wife nor a concubine, not even a maid. This elder Jie had never discussed many future arrangements with her. Cai Lan was like a lost traveler, with no way back and no way forward. I can't find any direction and I don't know where to go.
After listening to Qiu Chan's words that day, she felt that it was okay to be so bored in the Third General Mansion. Just painting could not relieve much of the depression, but instead made her makeup look dull. She might as well go out for a walk to relax and pay homage to the dragon. Mother, please bless me for peace and get out of this sea of suffering as soon as possible.
Her hometown did not have such a fairy as Dragon Mother. However, she had heard people say that the Dragon Mother Temple in Wuzhou was the most effective. Immediately, he asked someone to report to Elder Xie that he was going to the Longmu Temple in Guijiang to offer incense.
After Xie Erren pushed Cai Lan down, his desire for conquest and vanity were greatly satisfied. However, he actually didn't have much love for Cai Lan. He doesn't like women with this kind of traditional charm, and to be honest, he doesn't covet Cai Lan's body - according to the maid selection standards of the Senate General Office, Cai Lan can only be rated as C-level. In addition, since the West Route Army has marched into Guangxi, Wuzhou, as a transportation hub, has become more and more demanding every day. Not only must we undertake the restoration and administrative management of Wuzhou, but we must also make a series of material preparations for the march into Guangxi.
Although due to this kind of preparation work, the Planning Institute has invested significantly more materials and manpower in Wuzhou, the pressure is greater than in the past. Xie Erren is busy until ninety o'clock every day just reviewing reports and holding meetings. Where can I go? A woman’s interest in staying the night. Sometimes I would stay overnight in Cai Lan's yard when I was having meetings and doing business in the Third General Office.
He felt that he was very good to Cai Lan, at least materially. As for spiritual communication, to be honest, Xie Erren has never thought about it. Anyway, she will have a place among the maids of the Jie family in the future.
Now that he heard that Cai Lan wanted to go to incense, Xie Erren did not hesitate and immediately agreed. I just asked the guard captain to send a few people to protect it - it was outside the city after all.
Qiu Chan herself did not expect that things would go so smoothly. She immediately took the opportunity to go home and secretly inform Yi Haoran of the day of the incense ceremony. Yi Haoran was overjoyed when he got the news. Immediately take the lead and go to Longmu Temple to explore the terrain.
When women offer incense, they are usually accompanied by men. What's more, Cai Lan is Xie Erren's woman - even though she has no name or status, the people below her don't dare to neglect her, so it's hard to find opportunities to be alone with her.
Yi Haoran thought over and over again, no matter what Cai Lan's wishes were, she would definitely be a "distinguished guest" when she came to Longmu Temple. The Taoist Priest of Longmu Temple would probably come out to greet her, and at least he would invite her to the quiet room in the backyard to "have tea." ""rest". Under normal circumstances, the accompanying male servants and guards would not follow him into the house. The only one who could follow him in was Qiu Chan - he wanted to see her only at this time.
All he had to do was hide in the quiet room and wait before they arrived. However, there were several quiet rooms in the backyard of Longmu Temple for entertaining distinguished guests. He did not have the ability to predict the future and could not know in advance. And it is not easy to enter the backyard casually.
The most powerful method was to send Song Ming's people out to kidnap the Taoist priest and force him to cooperate. But doing so is very risky. If the director disobeys or reports the incident afterwards, you will be completely exposed.
Yi Haoran thought about it again and again, and suddenly thought of an idea. He asked Jiang Qiuchan: "On what date does Cai Lan go to offer incense?"
"According to the Australian New Calendar, it is June 16th." Qiu Chan said, "The weather is hot, so I plan to leave early in the morning and return to the Third Mansion before noon."
"Just wait for my news, maybe it needs to be postponed for a few days. Is it convenient?"
"It's nothing inconvenient." Jiang Qiuchan said, "Actually, she has nothing to do. She can go any day. But Zhao Fangdang told us that we need to inform us two days in advance before going out so that he can arrange guards and entourage."
Yi Haoran did his homework for a few days first, and when he was having dinner that night, he deliberately talked about the story of Longmu Temple.
He is not a local, but as a scholar, it is quite easy to get information. He also went to the newly established "Wuzhou Library" - the original Wuzhou Fuxue. Xie Erren gathered books collected from various yamen here and provided free reading to local people - specializing in translating books. After reading the official annals and the county annals, I became familiar with the origins and stories of the Dragon Mother Temple.
Luo Yangming often doesn't eat at home these days, and he doesn't have much protection for men and women from a small family. Ding Atao, Wen Yun, Li Wensheng and others usually eat at the same table. There must be some small talk at the dinner table, talking about market news and anecdotes. Yi Haoran took the opportunity to tell the story of Longmu Temple.
Everyone in Mi Xingli, except Wen Yun, are all outsiders and know little about Longmu Temple. Yi Haoran's explanation attracted everyone's interest.
Yi Haoran continued to talk about the miraculous miracles of Longmu Temple for several days, which gradually aroused Ding Atao's thoughts.
After the liberation of Wuzhou, Ding Atao felt that everything was not going well. Not only her business was stagnant, but Luo Yangming was away from home all day long. She seemed to be a different person, which filled her with fear and uneasiness. She was not only worried about whether the rice shop business could continue, and her family would live on the streets like before, separated by life and death; she was also worried that her husband's "busyness" was an excuse - there might be other women outside.
However, as the daughter of a scholarly family, she neither dared to ask more questions nor could she doubt him. This is all unseemly. When he gets worried, he takes it out on Wen Yun, and afterwards he can't help but regret his lack of generosity.
Now that she was being nudged by Yi Haoran intentionally or unintentionally, she felt that since the Dragon Mother Temple was so effective, why not go to offer incense and pray, maybe it would be effective.
Wen Yun was originally a girl from a poor family. She had been lively and active since she was a child. Since she married Luo Yangming as her concubine, although her mistress treated her very well, she set rules and disciplined her everywhere, so she rarely went out and felt depressed all the time. She would be happy to go to the Dragon Mother Temple to offer incense.
When Luo Yangming heard that his wife and concubines were going to the Dragon Mother Temple to offer incense, he didn't realize anything was wrong and immediately agreed.
"It's just that I'm busy with work and can't accompany you. Just let Shopkeeper Li take Ah Chun to accompany you."
"I'm old and have a lot of inconveniences in my legs and feet. I won't go into the incense business." Li Wensheng smiled and waved his hand, "Just let Mr. Yi take Ah Chun there..."
Yi Haoran said quickly: "In that case, let's leave this matter to the students."
