Chapter 48: Chapter 47: Reunion with the Marshal_1
Lu Tong returned to the dwelling at the end of the long corridor and knocked on the door gently.
Yin Zheng, waiting at the door, quickly opened a crack, and Lu Tong stepped in briskly.
Yin Zheng looked at her nervously, "Did the young lady finish everything?"
Lu Tong uttered a sound of affirmation.
Yin Zheng finally sighed with relief and helped Lu Tong take off her cloak, peeled the oilcloth from the outer part of her shoes, and carefully burned it by the fire.
"Young lady, the incense..." Yin Zheng inquired again.
"I scattered it into the stream on my return. With the heavy rain tonight, the water will wash it away, leaving no trace."
Yin Zheng nodded, and this time she completely set her worries aside: "That’s good."
Passing the forest path in front of the Wuhuai Garden dwelling, one could directly reach the abandoned side hall of Wan’en Temple. The route was somewhat circuitous, but it was hidden. As soon as she heard Du Changqing mention his childhood mischiefs, Lu Tong took note of it in her heart.
The path had not changed over the years.
The "Sheng Qian Shang" incense that had burned out in the shrine had been emptied by her completely, replaced with ordinary incense ashes; the ashes of "Sheng Qian Shang" had already been thrown into the ditch, and tonight’s downpour would erase all traces of it.
As for Ke Chengxing...
Lu Tong changed her undergarments and asked Yin Zheng, "How is Wan Fu?"
"He’s been back a while," Yin Zheng replied in a low voice. "He’s playing leaf cards with the servants in the Tongjiao Courtyard."
Lu Tong nodded and walked towards the couch: "Let’s sleep."
Yin Zheng was taken aback: "Just like that?" She had a belly full of questions to ask Lu Tong, but seeing Lu Tong already climbing onto the couch, she had no choice but to drop the matter. The smoke from the burning oil paper dispersed with a gust, as Yin Zheng closed the window and extinguished the lamp, then crawled onto the couch to sleep as well.
Perhaps it was the rainy weather that brought good sleep, or maybe it was the soothing temple bell that rang in her ears, but Lu Tong slept deeply that night.
She had a very long dream.
In the dream, it was her first year after following Lady Yun to Luomei Peak.
Luomei Peak was beautiful, with snow covering the mountains in winter, red plum branches weighed down with snow, creating poetic landscapes everywhere, a ridge full of plum blossoms.
Lady Yun wore a peach-red fur jacket with her black hair pulled up into a high bun, sitting in the courtyard brewing medicine.
The bitter fragrance of the herbal decoction filled her nostrils as Lu Tong sat on a small stool inside the room, waiting silently for Lady Yun to finish brewing the new medicine and bring it to her to drink.
On the table stood a beautiful purple clay incense burner that Lady Yun had bought from the foot of the mountain, with thin incense sticks lit inside, sending out a deep and rich fragrance.
After waiting for nearly half an hour, not having been asked by Lady Yun to try the medicine, Lady Yun then sent her to collect some Sichuan aconite from the mountainside.
With the difficult mountain paths during this season, by the time she gathered the herbs and returned, it would certainly be late. To avoid delay, Lu Tong took a bamboo basket and hurried down the mountain.
She feared being slow and getting caught in the dark on her way back. On winter nights, wild animals often roamed the mountains; encountering wolves prowling around would be very dangerous.
But just as she finished gathering the medicinal herbs and started to head back, Lu Tong suddenly felt weak and fell to the ground.
She couldn’t walk, nor could she call for help. Struggling, she crawled into muddy ground and then could move no more, watching helplessly as the sky darkened and the moon rose from the mountain gap.
The snow covered everything in a silvery white, with the distant red plums resembling blood. She heard wolves howling in the forest, while ghosts’ light in blue and purple started to flicker in the neighboring graveyard, cluster by cluster, eerily glowing.
Lu Tong shivered with fear. She could neither move nor shout, cold and hungry, like a stiff corpse amidst the wilderness and cemetery, clenched her teeth and endured until dawn.
The following day, as it grew light, Lu Tong’s whole body was stiff as stone. However, perhaps because she was heavily dressed when she left home, she miraculously didn’t freeze to death. Moreover, the eerie ghostly lights in the graveyard kept the wild animals at bay, and ironically saved her life.
Having dragged the bamboo basket back to the small courtyard, Lady Yun was sitting at the table having breakfast. The freshly steamed red bean glutinous rice cakes were steaming hot, and the lotus-seed drink was sweetened with honey to dispel the bitterness.
Seeing Lu Tong in such a disheveled state, she looked somewhat surprised. After dabbing clean the corners of her mouth with her handkerchief, she approached Lu Tong, gave her a once-over, and asked, "How did you end up like this?"
Lu Tong replied blankly, "...Halfway there, suddenly, I couldn’t muster any strength, and I was unable to speak."
Lady Yun asked her in detail about her condition at the time, then broke into a pleased smile. "In that case, the new medicine is a success."
She cradled the delicate purple clay incense burner on the table and took an intoxicated sniff. "I finished making this incense yesterday and had no idea of its potency. I didn’t expect that you would react just by smelling it briefly on your way down the mountain. However, it still needs to be improved to take effect faster."
She was absorbed in contemplation of the newly created poison smoke. Only after a long while did she notice Lu Tong still standing by her side. Smiling amiably at Lu Tong, she said, "You’re lucky not to have frozen to death. You’ve had a hard time. There’s food on the table, go ahead and eat."
Lu Tong agreed dully and climbed onto a stool, hungrily wolfing down the glutinous rice cakes from the table.
She was truly too hungry and too cold.
Behind her, Lady Yun continued to speak, "Body stiff and mouth numb, unable to move, yet the mind remains clear, as if in a drunken state, better than drinking a thousand strong drinks. Perhaps we should call it ’Sheng Qian Shang’."
Sheng Qian Shang...
Distant bell sounds seemed to echo in her ears, accompanied by people’s screams and shouts. Lu Tong abruptly opened her eyes.
Daylight streamed through the gaps in the carved wooden window, casting a mottled pattern of light and shadows on the floor.
After a night of rain, the sunrise had cleared the skies.
Yin Zheng hurried in from outside, "Miss, there’s been an incident."
Lu Tong looked at her.
In a low voice, she said, "Someone died in the temple."
Someone had died in Wan’en Temple.
After a night of rain, the mountain temple was quiet. It was only when the monks went to move the turtles and fish from the hall this morning for the release ceremony that they discovered someone had drowned in the water tank in the hall.
This had caused a stir among the temple monks. A death in the Buddha hall the night before the Blue Lotus Dharma Assembly was an inauspicious omen by any measure.
As Lu Tong and Yin Zheng stepped out of the door, they saw chaos in Wuhuai Garden; upon hearing the news, visitors and female guests came out from their rooms, all looking shocked and apprehensive.
Someone nearby was asking, "Did you hear? Someone died in the temple last night, right here in our Wuhuai Garden!"
Another said, "Someone from our area? Who was it?"
"I don’t know. The officials are interrogating about it right now. Amitabha, why did someone have to die at this time?"
Lu Tong, ignoring the discussion around her, focused ahead on the procession of officials hastily heading toward the side hall.
As she was looking, a voice suddenly came from behind, "Doctor Lu?"
Lu Tong turned around.
There, at the entrance to Wuhuai Garden, bathed in the freshly cleared sunlight and under the shade of drooping willows, stood a young man in a black round-necked narrow-sleeve brocade robe, his raven hair held up with a golden crown, handsome and distinguished.
He was absently playing with a cluster of fresh willow branches. When he saw Lu Tong look his way, he flashed a brilliant smile and said, "We meet again."
Lu Tong was slightly taken aback.
It was the Princely Heir of Lord Zhao Ning, the right army commander of the Palace Front Office, Pei Yunmeng.