Chapter 512 Shao Yanru Couldn’t Get Back the Silence Room, So She Chose to Live in the Main Room
“Fifth Sister, I’m going to live in the Yuhui Nunnery these days and I want to live in the original yard. May I ask you to let me stay in this yard and the silence room for three days? I’ll leave after three days!”
Shao Yanru asked softly. Her att.i.tude was mild and her smile was friendly. She just wanted to ask for her own yard back. It was reasonable and natural.
“This… I have all my personal things temporarily placed here. I’m afraid…” Shao Wanru looked at the silence room with hesitation.
Shao Yanru was also looking around. Except for a few scrolls in a big book tank, there seemed to be nothing special about the rest.
“Fifth Sister, if you are worried about these paintings, you can take them back first. After three days, I will give the room back to you.” Shao Yanru’s smile became more sincere.
“Big Sister, I’m afraid this won’t work. I made a vow in front of the Buddha and said that I would pray for blessings for my parents in the nunnery in the future. I would stay here at night and cultivate here during the day. I will spend the rest of my time here, except for attending religious ceremonies for my parents.”
Shao Wanru said guiltily, “If I had known that Big Sister would be coming up to the mountain, I would not have made such a big vow that day. But now, I have made a promise!”
Since she had made a vow in front of the Buddha, she would not move out no matter what happened. If she gave the silence room to Shao Yanru, it would be reasonable. But if Shao Yanru asked Shao Wanru to move out, she would be seen as being rude.
Even though Shao Yanru was an astute person, she was so angry that her expression changed.
“Fifth Sister, I just want to live here temporarily. It is just for a few days, uncle and aunt won’t blame us!” She gritted her teeth, tried to suppress the anger in her heart and said with a smile.
She said that she had made a vow. But she felt that Shao Wanru was reluctant to give up the personal things in this place and that was why she came up with such a high-sounding reason!
“Big Sister, how can we deceive my parents secretly with such a thing. I have made a vow for my father. That’s what we should do. Besides, it was made in front of the Buddha. So we cannot treat it casually. If Buddha blames us, then the whole Duke Xing’s Mansion will be in trouble,” Shao Wanru said with a serious look.
Shao Yanru was so angry that her heart was about to burst. She clenched the handkerchief in her hand tightly, fearing that she would not be able to control herself and beat up Shao Wanru. She had already promised someone. She was almost certain that she would succeed, yet she was rejected. Shao Wanru even put it in such a way that implied that she was trying to deceive the elders.
“Fifth Sister, if that’s the case, I can stay in my room for three days, can’t I?” Shao Yanru said gently. If it hadn’t been for the whitening of her fingers that were holding the handkerchief, it would be hard to tell that she was already very angry.
Shao Wanru thought for a while and said with a smile, “Since you want to live here, your original room is fine. I have not been in that room. If you want to use it, you can stay with me. It’s great to have one more person to accompany me!”
Shao Yanru was really a tough person to deal with. Her yard was occupied by Shao Wanru and Shao Wanru had given her an unreasonable reason before. Now Shao Wanru seemed to have come up with a reasonable excuse to deliberately occupy her yard and her silence room and she was still able to hide her anger well.
From this point of view, Shao Yanru should not be underestimated.
Shao Wanru had a smile on her face, but she was wary of Shao Yanru. She could keep a firm hold on her temper that generally could not be done by others. Shao Wanru should be warier of her.
Shao Yanru stood up and said softly, “Thank you, Fifth Sister. I’ll go to my main house and have a look. I have not stayed there for a long time, so I have to clean up!”
“Big Sister. you’ve just brought a maid here. There are too few people. I’ll ask Yujie and Qing’er to help you. Qing’er is a servant girl who does all the odd jobs. She is good at doing these works!” Shao Wanru stood up as well. She was as sincere as Shao Yanru.
“I don’t want to bother Fifth Sister’s people. When I was on the mountain, I cleaned the room occasionally. There is only one room, so it’s OK.”
Shao Yanru said politely and her eyes turned to the servant girl who was standing beside Shao Wanru called Yujie.
She had inquired about everything regarding Shao Wanru in detail. Yujie was brought by Shao Wanru from Jiangzhou. From the looks of her, she was loyal to Shao Wanru. It was said that the servant girl named Qing’er was sent by Rui’an Great Elder Princess when Shao Wanru was on the mountain. The Princess wanted her to look after Shao Wanru and do the rough work. So Qing’er was just a servant girl who did all the menial work.
If she had to choose, she would rather choose the servant girl named Qing’er.
“How can I let you do it by yourself? If you want to do it yourself, I’ll help you. We’ll clean it up together slowly. It is my fault that I occupied your silence room. If I let you clean up your room by yourself, I won’t have the face to see grandma tomorrow!”
Shao Wanru smiled more sincerely. She asked Yujie to bring a rag over, as if she was going to clean the main room for Shao Yanru.
Looking at Shao Wanru’s behavior, Shao Yanru immediately made a decision. “Fifth Sister, there’s no need. It has been a long day and I can’t do anything now. May I trouble you to borrow the servant girl Qing’er to clean up the main room with Shuqi!”
Shuqi was the first servant girl who was brought up to the mountain by Shao Yanru. At this moment, when she heard Shao Yanru’s words, she walked out from behind Shao Yanru and bowed respectfully to Shao Wanru. Then, she stood behind Shao Yanru in a well-behaved manner.
Her manners were impeccable.
“Okay, as long as you don’t mind Qing’er’s rough att.i.tude.” Shao Wanru readily agreed. She asked Qu Le, who was at the door, to call Qing’er in. Qing’er was working in the yard.
Seeing the young and innocent Qing’er in front of her, Shao Yanru was very satisfied. She rejected Shao Wanru’s good intentions and arrived at the door of the main room with Qing’er and Shuqi.
Shuqi took out the key to open the door. A musty smell came from the room. Shao Yanru waited outside while Shuqi and Qing’er went in and opened the window at the back of the room.
“Big Sister, it will take some time to clean up the room. Why don’t you rest here for a while?” Shao Wanru walked to the corridor and invited her with a smile when she saw Shao Yanru standing outside the door.
“No, thanks. I’m going to see Pushan nun.” Shao Yanru smiled and refused. “I used to follow this nun and she taught me a lot when I was on the mountain, but later grandmother got sick and I had to go down the mountain. It’s rare for me to have some time these days.”
Shao Yanru and Pushan Nun were like Shao Wanru and Mingqiu Nun. Although Shao Yanru learned from Pushan Nun, they were not mentor and apprentice. Since Shao Yanru had come to the mountain, it was natural for her to visit Pushan Nun.
“Big Sister, do you want to take Shuqi with you? I will ask Qu Le and the others to help you clean the room. After a while, the room will be ventilated. Then in the evening, you will be able to move in!” Shao Wanru said with a smile as she looked at the main room from where sounds of cleaning could be heard.
Shao Yanru shook her head and turned to walk out of the courtyard. “There’s no need. Let Qing’er and Shuqi clean up together. Shuqi knows some of my habits. I used to live in the Yuhui Nunnery and I’m not so delicate. It’s not far from the silence room of Pushan Nun. I’ll go by myself!”
Her att.i.tude was still as gentle and elegant. Everyone would think that this Miss Shao was not only not delicate, but also had a good character when they heard her words. She was a rare Miss from an aristocratic family.
Shao Wanru had a smile on her face and did not try to persuade her any further. Her gaze followed Shao Yanru’s departure before she returned to the middle main room.
She was sure that Shao Yanru wanted her silence room. When she could not get it, she decided to live in the main room. Did she really have no other requests, or did she have other plans? Or was she thinking of another way to force her out of the silence room?
Shao Yanru walked toward Pushan Nun’s silence room alone. The nuns who met her along the way smiled and put their palms together. This Miss Shao had stayed in Yuhui Nunnery for a while and occasionally got someone to send gifts to the nuns in the monastery. The nuns in the entire Yuhui Nunnery had a good impression of her.
Shao Yanru walked all the way to the yard where Pushan Nun’s Zen room was located and met Huiqing who came out of it. Shao Yanru stopped at once and smiled at Huiqing.
“First Miss…” Huiqing was very excited to see Shao Yanru coming alone.
Shao Yanru reached out and pressed her hand slightly. The smile on her face became even gentler. “You’ve been wronged, Huiqing Nun. On behalf of my Fifth Sister, I’m here to apologize to you!”
Then she took out a lotus purse from her sleeve and handed it to her. “I heard that Huiqing Nun’s sister is ill and I don’t have anything good to give her. Please give this to her. If she wants to eat or use something, she can buy it for herself!”
Huiqing took the purse and squeezed it. There was a thin piece of paper in it. She immediately knew that it contained banknotes. She said happily, “Thank you, Miss Shao. What do those things have to do with First Miss? She is First Miss’s cousin after all. It doesn’t matter even if I suffer some grievances.”
“Is Pushan Nun in the Zen room?” Shao Yanru asked, pointing inside.
“Yes, just now my master also talked about you. She said that it might not be convenient for you to come over today. I did not expect you to come. I’m sure master will be very happy to see you,” said Huiqing Nun with a smile. She stepped aside and stretched out her hand to lead the way in.
Her master had already made it clear just now that if Miss Shao were to come, she could just come in.
Shao Yanru nodded slightly, entered the yard, and went to the Zen room in the middle. Huiqing Nun put away the purse in her pocket and went to the courtyard gate. She stood under the tree and guarded it skillfully. When her master and Miss Shao talked in private, they did not like to be disturbed. In the past, when Miss Shao was on the mountain, she was always guarded at the door when they had a talk.
“Nun!” Shao Yanru pushed open the door to the Zen room. It was very clean. There were only a few rush cus.h.i.+ons, a few scriptures, a desk of books, and two chairs in the room.
Pushan Nun sat cross-legged on the rush cus.h.i.+on as she tapped on the wooden fish, chanting the scripture. When she heard Shao Yanru’s voice, she only nodded, closed her eyes, and continued chanting the scripture.
Shao Yanru looked around and sat down cross-legged on a rush cus.h.i.+on. She closed her eyes and listened quietly to the chanting of Pushan Nun.
Pushan Nun was very adept at it. From time to time, she would knock on the wooden fish. Shao Yanru’s heart also calmed down. Just now, the anxiety triggered by Shao Wanru slowly melted away.
Finally, the sound of Pushan Nun’s chanting stopped. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at Shao Yanru with a kind gaze. She said softly, “What’s wrong? Why is your heart so restless?”