Chapter 274: Meeting an Old Acquaintance While Burning Incense at the Temple
It was slightly cold today.
But there was no frost.
This winter would definitely be a warm one.
Mianmian wore a white dress early in the morning, with thermal layers underneath.
The outer dress had cotton padding.
She dressed up a bit today because she had to go out.
She missed Great-Aunt. Great-Aunt should return after Sister’s hundred-day banquet is over.
Qin Luoxia also tidied herself up a bit today.
She didn’t like wearing white—it got dirty too easily—but today she also wore a white outfit.
Today, Mother was taking Brother Chong and her to the temple for a Dharma Ritual.
Mianmian guessed that Father hadn’t told Mother about Brother Chong’s true identity.
Because today’s trip to the temple was to perform a Dharma Ritual for Brother Chong’s Father.
According to village customs, after death, especially a sudden violent death rather than a natural one, it was best to hold a Dharma Ritual at the temple to help the deceased find peace.
Qin Luoxia felt that when they had visited the grave before, the incense had suddenly fallen over, and she thought that the elder brother still had some unfulfilled wishes, so she decided to go to the temple to perform a Dharma Ritual.
Whatever she wanted to do, Jiang Changtian would agree.
After all, Xia Mei made the decisions at home.
So early in the morning, the whole family packed up and headed to the temple.
They chose a relatively famous temple: Taia Temple.
Taia Temple was one of the more renowned temples in the capital. It was said to have beautiful scenery and was very efficacious, with a good reputation. It was popular among officials’ families and wasn’t too far away.
Mianmian knew that Father had been promoted to the fourth rank, but she didn’t think it was particularly high.
But then she thought back.
In modern times, a department-level official was already impressive. There was a saying that reaching department level required not just hard work but also family background. In a workplace, a department head was the big boss. But converted to ancient times, department level was a seventh-rank sesame official.
Here, the rank equivalent to section chief was ninth rank. Thinking about it that way, fourth rank was already incredibly impressive.
She could be a little bit arrogant now.
They traveled all the way by carriage. Mianmian sat in the carriage, enjoying the scenery and snacks, feeling very leisurely.
Sometimes she looked out the window. The streets were mostly clean, and she felt that the capital was generally quite nice.
She was grateful to have transmigrated here.
If she had transmigrated to medieval Europe, she would have had to learn to wear high heels to avoid stepping in feces, and wear large, Lolita-style hoop skirts. When she needed to pee, she could just put a basin under her skirt and relieve herself on the spot while maintaining a pleasant conversation.
She would also have to wear a wig because people living in upstairs buildings would casually dump chamber pots from above.
And she would have to apply lead powder to her face to look pale.
This practice seemed popular here too; they also applied it.
Last time she saw someone send Mother whitening lead powder, she was startled. The high rate of difficult births among the nobility here was probably related to using such things—they were quite harmful to the body.
Along the way, she looked out at the red-tiled, yellow-walled houses, the bluestone-paved roads, and the advertising banners fluttering in the wind. It was naturally like a painting, and Mianmian watched quite attentively.
Zi Congheng looked outside as the houses receded, just like when he ran.
Looking across, Little Turtle didn’t know what she was thinking. She was quiet for a rare moment, and she looked somewhat pretty.
Suddenly, Mianmian made a face at him.
He was startled.
Watching her put her hands into her mouth to stretch it wide, stick out her tongue, and roll her eyes…
Zi Congheng’s cheek twitched. “Don’t come near me.”
He pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her to wipe her hands.
Jiang Mianmian laughed heartily. ‘Injure the enemy by a thousand, injure oneself by a thousand’—her mouth hurt a bit from stretching.
Then there was another long period of silence.
Mianmian pulled out a book from the carriage. It was very popular recently.
She flipped through it casually and saw a rule: ‘Officials must not beat other officials on the face without reason…’
The regulation was very specific.
So, was beating the stomach allowed? What about the head?
‘Officials must not relieve themselves in bed…’
This…
These details were very specific. She handed the regulations to Brother Chong.
Zi Congheng glanced at it expressionlessly and handed it back.
Why could Little Turtle discover so many strange things every day…
His cheek twitched slightly.
Watching her read such boring material and still find joy in it…
It was supposed to be a very difficult journey.
A road that would bring sadness whenever remembered.
But it didn’t seem so sad anymore.
Throughout the ride, she alternated between crying and laughing. The sadness shattered into pieces, fell under the carriage wheels, and was crushed away.
They arrived at the temple.
Qin Luoxia took the two children to find a monk and inquired about the Dharma Ritual.
Mianmian noticed that Taia Temple was very advanced, similar to temples she had seen in modern times. There were dedicated reception rooms and dedicated monks.
Very professional.
They provided free incense and didn’t force payment; you could give money according to your mood.
Generally, people who came to burn incense would give something, more or less.
There were several main halls.
Each hall housed a different bodhisattva.
They were golden and magnificent. You could see them from outside without even entering.
It felt like a world surrounded by gods and buddhas.
Gods and buddhas were everywhere, looking down on you.
Making you unconsciously become serious.
Mianmian believed in socialism and had received nine years of compulsory education, so she wasn’t afraid of ghosts and gods.
But she followed local customs—when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Mother was seriously discussing the Dharma Ritual arrangements with the monk.
Brother Chong was also listening attentively.
Mianmian took Pang Ya and withdrew.
They strolled around the temple.
Temples always seemed to have many towering ancient trees, creating a very serene environment.
As Mianmian walked, according to the usual pattern, she would meet someone at the corner.
(Because the author really couldn’t come up with any more plot, they had to forcefully introduce a character.)
The weather was quite nice today. Although it was cold, there was sunlight, so it wasn’t that cold.
At the corner of the ancient temple’s long corridor, there was a pavilion. A white-haired old lady sat there, her head lowered, actually stringing beads.
The old lady wore a gray robe with a white base layer underneath, a mix of gray and white.
Her hair wasn’t entirely white; there were some black strands mixed in with the white, giving it an overall gray appearance.
She sat there stringing beads, her head down, and she exuded an extremely graceful and gentle aura.
Her face and head were wrapped in cloth, covering half of her head, so you could see her white hair and guess her age.
Wrapping her head made her look like a peasant woman. In Jingzhou, peasant women would wrap their hair, neck, and face in winter, leaving only their eyes exposed.
The old lady before her was similar.
But she still looked beautiful just sitting there casually.
Even as an old lady, she was one who had once lived in comfort and luxury.
Mianmian saw that there was no sign saying ‘Do Not Enter’ on either side, so she went in.
The old lady stringing beads heard the noise, looked up, and saw the visitor.
She was stunned.
A girl in white walked toward her without a sound.
Sunlight shone on her face.
She looked like a younger version of herself.
So beautiful, so arrogant, so uninhibited, so carefree.
Thank you for reading + listening 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
