Chapter 69: A Need for Abundant Merits
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Chapter 69: A Need for Abundant Merits
"Why haven't we seen Miss Chang?"
During the early morning prayers at the Three Buddha Halls of Dayun Temple, a small girl kneeling next to Yao Xia whispered her question.
Amidst the chanting of the monks, Yao Xia, with her hands sincerely clasped together, opened her eyes a narrow slit to glance at her friend. "Sister Chang was quite frightened yesterday; she needs to rest well..."
"That makes sense..." Just as the girl was about to ask more, she caught the disapproving gaze of her mother and quickly closed her eyes to focus on the prayers.
Yao Xia murmured softly, "Amitabha, Buddha above, since Sister Chang could not come, it is truly for a reason, but I wish to share half of my merits with her..."
The girl next to her twitched her mouth, muttering, "With your tiny bit of merit, barely the size of a grain of rice, Buddha would have to break it into pieces to share it..."
Yao Xia was focused and sincere. "Don't disturb me while I earn merits..."
Sister Chang could rest assured, and she would work hard to accumulate merits for her!
At the same moment, by the spring on the back mountain of Dayun Temple, Xi'er watched a girl carrying two wooden buckets to fetch water, feeling quite conflicted.
She never expected that the way for the lady to accumulate merits was not through morning prayers but by helping the monks fetch water.
In the past half an hour, the girl had repeated the strenuous act of carrying two buckets of water back to the temple three times.
Xi'er’s gaze fell on Ah Zhi—
Ah Zhi had just emerged from the nearby woods, now carrying a large bundle of firewood on her back.
Seeing this made Xi'er feel anxious, as if that bundle of firewood was not weighing down Ah Zhi but rather her precarious career.
Just then, a monk returning with an empty bucket and yoke caught Xi'er's attention. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and snatched the yoke and bucket. "Master, let me do it!"
Xi'er swiftly carried the buckets and arrived beside Chang Suining. "Miss, I’ll accompany you!"
Chang Suining looked over uncertainly but soon saw the little girl quickly fill the two buckets and lift them with ease.
Chang Suining: "?"
She reached out and pinched Xi'er’s bicep.
Beneath the soft sleeve, the girl's seemingly delicate arms were surprisingly well-defined and strong.
Chang Suining, who still couldn’t compete with her, silently envied her and asked, "Have you been secretly training?"
Xi'er blushed and lowered her head. "The Chang family, the Chang family spirit... Since the lady did not like these chores before and only loved to compose poetry, I dared not show it."
Chang Suining: "…"
She had underestimated the depth of the Chang family’s military discipline.
In this household, perhaps only A Li was truly weak.
"But I didn’t mean to deceive the lady!" Xi'er quickly explained, "I’m like this just to serve the lady better..."
After all, accompanying the lady through sorrowful times, crying at any moment to comfort her, was quite the physical task—
"In short, whatever the lady needs, I will be that! I can learn anything!" The little girl's eyes were full of sincerity.
From nearby, Ah Zhi, who was carrying firewood, sighed silently.
She felt rather limited in her own capabilities.
"Very good." Chang Suining nodded in approval and began to carry the water. "Let’s go."
Seeing that the lady held no resentment, Xi'er was delighted and nodded vigorously.
The three of them walked along the stone path leading to the back door of the temple, with Xi'er carrying the water next to her lady, earnestly yet genuinely saying, "The merits I accumulate from fetching water, I’ll give all to the lady!"
Hearing this innocent declaration made Chang Suining smile, and she nodded. "Alright."
She would likely have to commit many misdeeds in the future; it was wise to have more merits on her side.
Ah Zhi added, "And mine will go to the lady too!"
Xi'er clenched her teeth in secret—this was outright stealing her idea!
"Hey... why is there a lady fetching water and carrying firewood?"
Not far ahead, Cui Yuanxiang looked at the figures approaching and, focusing carefully, became increasingly surprised. "General, it's actually a young miss Chang!"
Cui Jing, who had brought people to patrol the back mountain, stopped in his tracks.
"Miss, it's General Cui and his men," Xi'er quietly said upon seeing the figures ahead.
Chang Suining walked over, temporarily setting down the buckets, and raised her hand to greet Cui Jing. "General Cui."
The girl wore a light-colored skirt, her arms bound with cloth, revealing her slender, pale wrists, standing tall and straight.
The ointment on her facial wounds was a light brown, and at this moment, beads of fine sweat appeared on her forehead and nose. The morning light filtered through the dense foliage on both sides of the path, casting dappled patterns on her face, resembling flickering butterflies.
Cui Jing’s gaze fell to the water buckets at her feet. "Has Miss Chang recovered from her injuries?"
Aside from the wounds on her face, her shoulder was also injured—
Chang Suining understood he was referring to her shoulder injury and replied, "They are just minor injuries; it's inconvenient to carry water, but fetching it doesn't affect me."
"Miss Chang is truly impressive..." Cui Yuanxiang sincerely complimented, though still puzzled, "But why would Miss Chang come to fetch water herself?"
And that girl was also carrying firewood—
"This trip is for the sake of blessings, so I should do what I can," Chang Suining honestly said. "Fetching water not only builds endurance but also accumulates merits, so it's a win-win."
Cui Jing: "…"
Her time management was quite reasonable.
He looked at her posture and complexion, saying, "Miss Chang has made significant progress."
Compared to the time when she drew her sword in the post station—
"Of course." Chang Suining nodded without modesty. "Because I work hard."
Strength is something that follows rules; if one is willing to practice, they will definitely see results.
Cui Jing fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "…Indeed."
Chang Suining had no intention of lingering, just as she was about to carry the water and leave when she suddenly heard a commotion in the distance.
Cui Jing instructed Cui Yuanxiang, "Go take a look and see what’s happening."
"Yes."
Cui Yuanxiang had only taken a few steps when he turned back, accompanied by a familiar face.
"Little A Li!" The robust middle-aged man approached with delight, quickly walking towards Chang Suining.
"Ah Dian, why are you here?" Chang Suining asked in surprise. "Didn’t I tell you to wait for me at home?"
Cui Yuanxiang and Cui Jing explained, "The patrolling brothers saw General Dian and brought him here."
"But I waited for so long and couldn’t wait for you to return," Ah Dian complained with a pitiful tone. "So I had to sneak over to find you."
Chang Suining looked at him helplessly. "I told you I would be out for seven days. Didn't I give you colorful ink so you could draw a picture every day?"
"I like green, and I couldn’t help but use more green to draw a few more pictures. I counted, and I’ve drawn enough for seven days!"
Chang Suining could only express her admiration with silence.
Cui Jing timely said, "No worries, I will have someone take care of the elder."
"Xiao Jing, you’re here too, that’s great!" Ah Dian finally noticed Cui Jing. He took off the burden from his shoulder and pulled out an oiled paper bag, revealing several sesame pancakes inside.
"Here, have some pancakes! I specially brought these for you and Xiao A Li!"
Looking into those clear and warm eyes, Cui Jing could only pick one up.
"About what happened that day... it was my fault. I shouldn’t have fought," Ah Dian said sincerely. "I know I was wrong. When I return to the Xuanzhe Manor, I will accept my punishment!"
"But I’m not going back just yet." He pointed at Chang Suining. "I still want to play with Xiao A Li!"
Cui Jing nodded. "No rush. You can return whenever you want."
But Ah Dian’s temperament was unstable; he hadn’t thought of returning to the Xuanzhe Manor for so long, which was unprecedented.
Cui Jing instinctively glanced at Chang Suining.
Ah Dian had already walked over to Chang Suining. "Xiao A Li, here!"
Chang Suining hadn’t had breakfast yet and was really hungry at that moment. She accepted the pancake, sat on a smooth stone nearby, and started to eat.
Ah Dian squatted down beside her and also began to eat his pancake.
He was particularly large and sturdy; squatting beside the girl made him look like a well-behaved lion.
However, after only a couple of bites, he suddenly froze, his eyes wide open. "Xiao A Li, how did you get hurt?"
Chang Suining replied, "I thought you wouldn’t notice until next year."
"I’m not blind!" Ah Dian stood up with a whoosh, dropping his pancake. He rolled up his sleeves, saying, "Who bullied you? Tell me, and I’ll go beat them up!"
He then turned to Cui Jing. "Xiao Jing, aren’t you in charge now? Xiao A Li was bullied by bad people; why aren’t you doing something about it?"
In his eyes, everyone connected to the Xuanzhe Army was family, and now the head of this family was Cui Jing in place of the prince.
Big or small matters, it all should fall under his responsibility.
Cui Jing, suddenly feeling derelict in his duty, fell silent for a moment.
Chang Suining clarified for him, "He has been taking care of it."
Cui Jing nodded in agreement.
He indeed had been involved—being nosy also counted as involvement, right?
"We have already worked together to drive the bad people away," Chang Suining said seriously while chewing her pancake.
"That’s more like it." Ah Dian squatted back down in front of Chang Suining, speaking earnestly, "You can’t let others bully you again; otherwise, the prince will be unhappy when he finds out."
Seeing Chang Suining look at him, he stated seriously, "The prince hates seeing us being bullied the most."
Chang Suining swallowed her pancake and nodded, looking down. "I know."
"Let me test you," Ah Dian suddenly reached out his hand towards Chang Suining.
"General Dian, no!" Cui Yuanxiang exclaimed, instinctively wanting to step forward to stop him—if General Dian’s unexpected strike landed, it could take half of Madam Chang's life!
However, just as he stepped forward, he saw the girl sitting on the stone suddenly dodge to the side, her movements fluid like water and as fast as lightning. Not only did she evade the strike, but she didn’t even disturb her chewing.
Cui Yuanxiang was stunned.
"Not bad!" Ah Dian nodded in satisfaction. "You deserve a reward of a string of candied hawthorn!"
Cui Jing’s eyes flickered.
This was no longer something that could be explained by diligence.
He couldn’t help but recall the statement, "My sister is a martial arts prodigy," which sounded utterly unconvincing at first glance—
Chang Suining quickly finished her pancake, took the handkerchief that Xi'er handed her to wipe her hands, and then stood up.
"General Cui, we’re leaving now."
Cui Jing nodded.
"What are you all playing? I want to play too!" Seeing Chang Suining pick up the water bucket, Ah Dian, feeling impatient, saw a monk carrying water pass by and directly took over the task, effortlessly hoisting the shoulder pole onto his shoulder.
The monk, along with a few senior brothers, could only chant, "Amitabha, thank you for your labor..."
After walking a few steps, Chang Suining and her group encountered a figure dressed in moon-blue approaching slowly.
Upon seeing Chang Suining, he showed no surprise. But when his gaze landed on the water bucket she was carrying, he couldn’t help but smile, "Young Miss Chang, what are you up to…?"
"I had nothing to do in the morning, just taking a stroll," Chang Suining said, having rested enough. She had no intention of lingering for pleasantries, leaving behind a "Lord Wei, feel free," as she carried the water away.
Wei Shuyi watched her retreating figure and laughed again, sighing, "Young Miss Chang is always so unpredictable."
He only heard that she was on the back mountain, but he never expected it to be like this.
Now that she had left, he could only retract his gaze, smiling as he looked at Cui Jing. "I didn’t expect General Cui to be here as well."
"Lord Wei, are you here to enjoy the scenery?"
"Yes," Wei Shuyi smiled, putting his hands behind his back.
He came to appreciate the view, but it seemed the scenery didn’t want to see him.
Seeing Cui Jing leading Cui Yuanxiang onward, Wei Shuyi decided to walk alongside him for a bit, casually asking, "What do you think about yesterday’s events, General Cui?"
Cui Jing walked ahead without responding.
Wei Shuyi continued to inquire, "Seeing how well-planned young miss Chang’s actions were, do you feel like you almost made things worse?"
This statement clearly had a hint of mockery.
After all, it was indeed rare to see Cui Jing being made a fool of.
"When it’s a matter of life and death, it’s better to be overly cautious," Cui Jing replied without a glance, showing no awareness of being the subject of mockery. "It’s my duty; there’s no reason to stand by and watch."
Wei Shuyi: "…"
He looked at the green mountains and clear waters ahead, letting out a long sigh.
"I say, General Cui…" Wei Shuyi said helplessly, "People like you are just born to outshine others, right?"
It seemed that all clever thoughts in this world became insignificant against such unwavering righteousness of the other.
He sighed again, "It’s really frustrating to find a point to argue here."
Wei Shuyi’s sigh echoed throughout the back mountain: "With you contrasting so greatly, it’s no wonder young miss Chang just now looked at me as if I were rather unpleasant."
…
Chang Suining remained oblivious to this lamentation as she carried the water out of the back mountain. Passing by a thicket of dense vegetation, she slowed her pace.
Amidst a low exchange of laughter between men and women, someone stepped out from behind the bushes.
"When we return to the manor… you’ll be generously rewarded!"
"Thank you, my lord, for your kindness…"
"You’re the most obedient of them all…"
The speaker was a young man dressed in finery, appearing to be in his twenties, flanked by two young maidservants. One of the maids was still lowering her head to tidy her clothing.
The other maid raised her eyes and, upon seeing someone passing by, showed an unexpected look of alarm, turning away with a flushed face and hurriedly hiding behind the man.
The young man noticed this, slightly furrowing his brows, but his gaze fell on Ah Dian, squinting his narrow eyes. "I thought it was someone else, but isn’t this the fool from the Xuanzhe Manor?"
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