Chapter 275: Granny and Matron
Deep within the temple, there was no Buddha, only an old woman.
Time had carved many marks upon her, yet in every gesture, she still possessed an indescribable beauty.
This was perhaps what they meant by beauty being in the bones, not the skin.
For some beauties, their charm radiates from their very bones; with such graceful bone structure, the skin seems almost irrelevant.
Mianmian rarely saw people stringing beads, though she had seen embroidery.
Stringing beads was normal enough; Buddhist prayer beads didn’t grow on trees in strings. They had to be polished from seeds or fruits and then strung together with thread. It seemed simple, but if one knew how to coordinate them, selecting different beads to match, the result could be very beautiful.
Mianmian walked up to the old woman and saw her stringing a handheld string of prayer beads.
After their family’s circumstances had improved, Great-Aunt had taught her every day, honing her eye for quality.
The beads in the old woman’s hands felt very expensive.
The prayer beads were soapberries. Perhaps because the name sounded auspicious—’no worries,’ ‘peace,’ ‘no ailments’—they were used as prayer beads.
In reality, soapberries were excellent; they were rich in saponins. Rubbing the shells of the soapberries would produce bubbles, which cleaned hands very well. So, wearing soapberries meant carrying a rich supply of saponins—was it the equivalent of wearing a string of soap??
This string of soapberries was uniform in size, dense, and beautiful.
The accent beads were even better. There was a golden top bead with coiled dragons; two dragons on a single gold bead, their claws lifelike, their faces vivid.
In this era, dragons were not ornaments that ordinary people could use in carvings.
Therefore, the old woman before her must be related to the imperial family.
Perhaps she was an old imperial wet nurse, just like Great-Aunt.
Besides the golden dragon top bead, there were large pearls, a translucent, flowing emerald-green safety buckle, a piece of red coral carved into a bat, a large East Pearl carved with double blessings, and a drop-shaped pendant that looked like flowing emerald water.
By the time Mianmian arrived, the stringing was already halfway done.
She watched as the old woman deftly picked up beads and strung them with great agility.
Then, she tied the knots—very skillfully. One couldn’t tie such knots without having strung hundreds of strings.
Without even using the beads, the rope coiled in her hands, and the resulting knot was incredibly beautiful.
Mianmian always paid extra attention to people with nimble fingers, like Great-Aunt’s small hands, which were also skilled at midwifery.
The old woman’s hands were no less agile than Great-Aunt’s.
Truly, the elders of ancient times were treasures; they were rich in life experience, and just living for so long was remarkable in itself.
Mianmian stepped forward and sat quietly, watching the old woman finish stringing the handheld beads and tie the knot. Only then did the old woman look up at her.
“Whose child are you?” the old woman asked.
The old woman’s voice was hoarse and unpleasant, as if her vocal cords had been injured; it was very rough, but her expression was gentle.
“I am my parents’ child,” Jiang Mianmian replied.
The old woman:…
“You look very much like an old acquaintance of mine.”
Jiang Mianmian nodded. “Then your acquaintance must be very beautiful.”
The old woman smiled. Yes, her acquaintance was very beautiful.
She watched her watch her string the beads for a long while, then asked, “Do you like this?”
Jiang Mianmian nodded. “Granny, you string them very beautifully. You have good taste, and the coordination is excellent.”
The old woman was stunned for a good while by the title “Granny.” Her smile seemed to vanish.
“At first, it was just a string of soapberries. I thought it was monotonous, so I added a gold bead. I still thought it was monotonous, so I added emerald rings, coral, and pearls. Every time I added a new bead, I had to re-string the whole thing.”
Jiang Mianmian nodded earnestly.
Seeing her serious nod, the old woman couldn’t help but ask, “What did you deduce from that?”
“Granny, you are very rich, have a lot of leisure time, and are very bored.”
The old woman:…Her defenses were shattered. Where did this little brat come from?
Mianmian wanted to chat a bit more, but just then, Mother came over and dragged her away.
“Matron, apologies, we have other matters to attend to, so we’ll be leaving first.” Qin Luoxia dragged the child away without allowing any argument.
She had just been discussing the Dharma Ritual with the monks in the temple, settling on holding one. There were one-day, three-day, nine-day, and even forty-nine-day rituals.
Although they were rich now, money didn’t just blow in on the wind.
She felt it was a bit of a loss to give it to these bald monks, and she wasn’t sure if the Dharma Ritual was even useful.
However, to put Cong Geer’s mind at ease, she generously chose the nine-day one.
In the future, before she died, she would instruct her children to just hold a one-day—oh no, a three-day ritual would suffice. Don’t spend too much money; it’s a waste.
After choosing the nine-day Dharma Ritual, she also selected some eternal lamps.
An eternal lamp was a lamp that stayed lit; they would help add sesame oil every day. She chose to pay for one year first, planning to renew it year by year.
Qin Luoxia felt that as long as they were doing well, the lamp could stay lit. If they were no longer around, surely no one would come to renew the lamp. So be it.
However, the wall of eternal lamps was beautiful—a whole wall of flickering lights, the flames trembling as if souls were shivering.
After settling the arrangements, she turned around, and the little cub was gone.
Qin Luoxia had Cong Geer go with the monks to check on the ritual arrangements, worrying that they might cut corners or prepare unsuitable items. Whether he understood it or not, following along would be better.
It was originally a very sorrowful matter, but Cong Geer, having been given a task, felt earnest and full of the vitality of daily life.
Aunt Qin always knew how to make life feel so vivid. Perhaps Mianmian was more like her aunt.
Qin Luoxia came out to look for her daughter.
She wandered around the large temple for an entire circle but didn’t see Mianmian.
Although Mianmian liked to play, she shouldn’t have run off without saying anything.
Qin Luoxia was a little panicked and looked more carefully. Suddenly, she felt that a certain area was very strange.
At first glance, it looked like a dead end. The layout seemed different; there was a hidden maze.
It looked like an ordinary corner, but it seemed to have a world of its own.
It felt like a place where experts gathered. It gave her the excitement of hunting in a forest where prey was everywhere—the feeling that a tiger was hidden here, a bear was hidden there, and a large python was hanging in the trees.
Qin Luoxia stepped inside and looked around.
She assessed the combat power. She could probably take them all on by herself, but it would be difficult to do so while protecting Mianmian and Cong Geer.
Moreover, there shouldn’t be any need for fighting and killing. If she could avoid fighting, she would. After all, this was a temple.
She felt it shouldn’t be an ambush specifically for her; the atmosphere was different.
Nevertheless, facing an unknown situation where she couldn’t guarantee she could kill the opponent and escape unscathed, Qin Luoxia decided to be cautious.
Turning the corner, she indeed saw her little cub. She was talking to an old woman.
The old woman’s expression was not very good.
Qin Luoxia saw that the surrounding area seemed to circle around the old woman.
She pretended to be indifferent as she walked into the circle, then grabbed the little cub’s arm, smiling openly and greeting her: “Matron, I’m sorry, my daughter is ignorant and has disturbed you; I will take her away now.”
In reality, she was already using strength in her grip.
Mianmian felt Mother’s emotions were a tiny bit tense, just like when she was about to spank her, so she obediently behaved herself.
She waved goodbye to the old woman: “Goodbye, Granny.”
“Goodbye, Matron, we’re leaving now; we’ll come back next time.”
Qin Luoxia smiled and dragged her child away.
Left behind was Princess Huiyun, who had been called “Granny” on one side and “Matron” on the other; her face was practically smoking with rage.
Normally, while her place was inside Taia Temple, outsiders couldn’t walk in.
She had asked an expert to set up an illusion, a very profound illusion.
It was one thing for a child, clear-eyed and ignorant, to stumble in inexplicably, as even clueless rabbits sometimes stumbled in here.
Some children who were particularly focused and pure might be able to get in.
But then, a middle-aged woman had also walked in, chatting casually as she dragged her child away.
Had the illusion set up outside disappeared?
What stimulated Princess Huiyun the most was—her, “Granny”? “Matron”? Ah…
The string of beads she had been stringing all morning was gone, too.
She only remembered the woman calling her “Matron,” and she had been so surprised that the string of beads had fallen into the child’s hands.
The child clutched the bead string and said shyly, “Thank you, Granny.”
Then, she took a piece of wood out of her pocket, handed it to her, and said, “If you can’t sleep, you can smell this; it can calm your mind.”
If the jade, East Pearl, and coral handheld string in her hand hadn’t turned into a piece of wood, Princess Huiyun would have thought everything that just happened was an illusion.
Right now, her mind was filled with “Granny,” “Matron,” “Matron,” “Granny”… She wanted to kill someone!!!
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