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: The Way of Favors Chapter 19\n
: The Way of Favors Chapter 21\n
Bamboo Forest Temple was the largest temple in Xindu and was built on the hillside of Lan Mountain. The temple was majestic with a strong scent of incense. The monks of the temple set up altars on the first day of a new month, and the Buddhist wives and madams of the city went there often for a peaceful environment. After departing, they would take the younger generation to enjoy the scenery or look at places far away, or take a slow walk in the bamboo forest, or go to the foot of the mountain to go boating on the lake.\n
Qiao Shi also practiced Buddhism when she was a child, and after witnessing her Buddhist concubine-aunt[1] die because of her main mother[2], Qiao Shi never practiced it ever again, and only relied on her cautious steps to be like this today. However, after the monks of Bamboo Forest Temple had succeeded in eliminating the evil in Fu Rong’s body, Qiao Shi developed a sincere respect for the god. When she heard that her daughters wanted to burn incense, she also wanted to join in the fun. She planned to stay at Bamboo Forest Temple for a night with her three daughters and go back tomorrow morning after they had heard the prayers.\n
They set off in the morning, and it was already noon when they arrived at Bamboo Forest Temple.\n
As a high-ranking official of Jizhou, Fu Pinyan’s wife and daughters had a special privilege when going out. A monk of Bamboo Forest Temple led Qiao Shi and the others directly to a private courtyard hidden behind a green bamboo forest, and after stopping, pointed at the hidden courtyard far away, saying, “Old Madam Qi and Madam Qi came to the courtyard half a month ago. When they heard that Madam was coming yesterday, they specially told us to notify you. They have invited Madam to listen to the prayers tomorrow morning.”\n
Qiao Shi was surprised, “Alright then.”\n
Qiao Xing proficiently handed over the silver, and the monk excused himself with a slight smile, “Madam, you should rest first. I’ll leave now.”\n
“What is younger sister looking at? Let’s go sit inside.” Through her chiffon weimao, Fu Wan held Fu Rong’s hand as she quietly hurried her. Fu Rong was looking at the peak of the mountain, and Fu Wan was still standing next to Fu Rong, deliberately avoiding the light of sight that fell on her from time to time.\n
Fu Rong nodded her head. She took another glance at the director of the Qi family’s guesthouse, feeling annoyed. After they had gone into the room and sat down, she complained to Qiao Shi, “We bump into people of the Qi family wherever we go. If it was not for them coming before us, I would start to think that they were spying on us.” If the grandmother and mother were both here, how could Qi Ce not be with them?\n
Qiao Shi glanced at Liang Yingfang, frowning and comforting, “This temple isn’t our property. What does the coming of others have to do with you? You need to change your arrogant temper. Other people will not dote on you as we do. We let you do everything you wish even if you are messing around.” When two women interacted, the most important thing was to be inconsistent and stubborn. Like her. She clearly had a grudge against the Qi family, but she still had to act surprised in front of the monk and not give room for rumors.\n
Fu Rong understood the reason why her mother was being so virtuous, and pretended to be obedient, “Mother is right, your daughter has remembered everything.”\n
Liang Yingfang couldn’t hold it anymore, and started laughing, saying to Qiao Shi while she leaned against Fu Rong, “Aunt[3], don’t blame Nong Nong. I was also like this in the beginning. Especially with Qi Zhu. I hate it the most when Nong Nong plays with her.”\n
Qiao Shi helplessly tapped them, “A pair of naughty kids!”\n
Fu Rong smiled helplessly, and pulled Liang Yingfang to her feet, “Let’s go. We’ll pick a room, and we’ll sleep in the same room tonight. The set of movements you taught me last time were pretty useful. I’ve already grown taller. Do you have any other movements? For example…”\n
Liang Yingfang threw her hand away with extreme force, “Pooh, our family is in charge of a martial arts institute, not…who knows that kind of stuff? This was something that my grandmother created randomly, be content!”\n
The two best friends laughed and joked as they walked.\n
Looking at her daughter’s silhouette, Qiao Shi discovered that her daughter did seem a little taller. She couldn’t help but persuade Fu Wan, “Since it has worked on Nong Nong, why don’t you practice it as well? Xuan Xuan is still young, so we don’t need to hurry her.” When a woman was beautiful, a beautiful face was not enough. The body needs to be beautiful as well. Out of her three daughters, it seemed like only her eldest daughter would be taller than her, so Qiao Shi hoped that her daughter’s legs would be more beautiful.\n
Fu Wan and Fu Xuan locked eyes for a second, and bid farewell to their mother in unison.\n
Qiao Shi looked at her two dumb daughters with discontent, “Each of them disdains me. And aren’t I helping them?”\n
Qiao Xing, who was beside her, couldn’t stop laughing.\n
Madam sometimes hoped that Third Lady would be as dignified and stable as her sisters, and sometimes hoped that Second Lady and Sixth Lady would learn to dress up as Third Lady. Honestly, if one of the ladies were dragged out randomly, she would still be a very rare beauty. To be someone as perfect as Madam hopes, one would have to fly to the sky and become an immortal.\n
After lunch, Liang Yingfang proposed to go boating at the foot of the mountain.\n
Fu Rong had been expecting her to say it and went with her to persuade Fu Wan and Fu Xuan. Now, her older sister and Qi Ce couldn’t be together, so Fu Rong wasn’t afraid of bumping into Qi Ce. They’re out to have fun, and shouldn’t stay inside because of a certain Qi Ce and miss the beautiful scenery. She had come back to this world and would treasure these carefree days, and also hoped that her older sister didn’t need so much worrying.\n
Fu Wan resolutely refused, “I’m tired, you guys can go by yourselves.” Liang Tong and her older brother were guarding the front courtyard together and would undoubtedly accompany them. Fu Wan didn’t want to frequently interact with a man who was obviously interested in her.\n
She had decided, and Fu Rong gave up. She hoped that her older sister could have some more fun, but if her older sister was unwilling, she couldn’t do anything.\n
Liang Yingfang, on the other hand, was anxious. Their persuasion wasn’t of any effect, and she suddenly patted her head, “I know what Older Sister Wan is evading. I’ll go to my older brother and tell him to go somewhere else to play. This way, Older Sister Wan won’t be worried, right?”\n
Her worries were discovered. Fu Wan bushed awkwardly, and grabbed Liang Yingfang, “What nonsense are you saying, I’m not…”\n
Liang Yingfang wouldn’t listen, and turned her head to “wipe her tears” with a sleeve, “I’ve already discussed with Nong Nong on the way here. We’ll go pick lotuses, but now, since I’ve caused Older Sister Wan to stay inside, I can’t get over this inside. Older Sister Wan, let me go. I will find a good excuse to drive away my older brother. I’ll, I’ll say that I want to eat wild food, and have me catch some!”\n
She was very strong and broke free from Fu Wan as she talked. She turned back when she had run to the entrance, and looked at Fu Wan pitifully, “Wait for me to come back. Older Sister Wan, please agree, or else I wouldn’t dare invite you out to play anymore…”\n
Fu Wan seemed to want to say something else. Liang Yingfang was afraid that she would decline again and left quickly.\n
In the room, the three sisters looked at each other.\n
Fu Rong was staring at her older sister. Seeing her sister unsure and at a loss, her heart finally brightened.\n
In the previous life, because her older brother and Liang Tong had always overcome challenges together, and she and Liang Yingfang had a great relationship, Liang Tong saw her as a sister. Fu Rong also treated Liang Tong as an older brother, so after she was reborn, she had never taken Liang Tong as an outsider. But her older sister was different. In her eyes, Liang Tong was only the senior brother of her older brother, an outsider she needed to avoid.\n
She was wondering when Liang Yingfang started to like her older sister so much. She invited them so sincerely, and now that she thought about it, was she entrusted by someone else?\n
Has Liang Tong taken interest in her older sister? Wasn’t he single the entire time in the previous life?\n
Back to this, her older sister and Liang Tong…\n
She imagined what Liang Tong would look like in the future. He would be taller, darker, and burly, wearing the armor of a guard, like an iron mountain.\n
Fu Rong fought a cold war. With such a rough man, it was good to be an older brother, but to be a brother-in-law, he didn’t deserve her older sister who was as delicate as a flower.\n
With this thought, Fu Rong persuaded instinctively, “Older sister, don’t listen to Yingfang. You don’t need to go if you don’t want to. You shouldn’t force yourself because of us.”\n
She was sincere. No matter how close she was with Liang Yingfang, she wouldn’t throw her older sister into trouble.\n
But Fu Wan thought that her younger sister was blaming herself. She looked at the front courtyard, thought of Liang Yingfang’s kindness, sighed quietly, and said with a little embarrassment as she turned around, “Forget it, let’s go together. I also want to go to the lakeside. I did have some scruples before, but since Liang Yingfang has just said that I would feel even worse to reject her.”\n
Fu Rong immediately cursed Liang Yingfang inside as someone who sprays dog blood on the head![4]\n
Great, the schemes have come to her. She would rather give back the set of leg movements than allow her to achieve what she wanted!\n
So Liang Yingfang went and returned, and she immediately felt a murderous aura as soon as she passed the door.\n
She avoided Fu Rong’s eyes with a guilty conscience, and at the same time, wondered how Fu Rong was this smart. She hadn’t done much and was already discovered by her. But there wasn’t much for Liang Yingfang to be afraid about. She had done everything she could do, and the rest depended on her older brother. No matter how much Nong Nong blamed her, she only had the charge of premeditating the match between her older brother and Older Sister Wan.\n
“Nong Nong, don’t be angry. I’ll apologize to you afterward. Let’s have some fun today, I promise I’ll be good!” Liang Yingfang comforted with thick-skin as she forcibly hugged Fu Rong’s arm.\n
Fu Rong twisted her waist hard, “You want to steal my older sister? Do it in your dreams!”\n
After receiving Qiao Shi’s approval, Fu Chen took his three younger sisters and Liang Yingfang down the mountain. He complained to Liang Yingfang along the way, “You can just order a servant if you want to eat something, why bother your older brother?” In a group of girls, he would have someone to talk to if Liang Tong was here.\n
Liang Yingfang pretended to not have heard and was enjoying the scenery on the soft sedan.\n
Fu Wan was talking quietly with Fu Xuan, who was in front of her. Only Fu Rong was angry with her stupid older brother, and helped her older sister, “Can a servant compare to an older brother? Things caught by an older brother are more delicious. When we come back, you should also go hunt some game.” She couldn’t understand Her own older brother was clearly smarter than Liang Tong. Although he was two years younger than Liang Tong, he was much more head of Liang Tong on the road to becoming an official. How could he be calculated by someone but not know?\n
Being inexplicably attacked, Fu Chen turned her head back suspiciously. He was just about to back up to Fu Rong’s sedan and ask her how he had angered her, but he saw a familiar figure rushing down the mountain towards them. Fu Chen was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered a few footmen to stop. He greeted Liang Tong and asked, “Why did you come?”\n
Liang Tong was panting, and when he raised his hand to wipe his sweat, he used his arm to cover up and look at the slender figure in front of him, confirming that she had come. He replied, “I was lucky. I had hunted down two wild chickens in the mountains before long. I estimated that you guys hadn’t gone far, so I hurriedly got here. Yingfang likes to play, and grandfather had told me to look after her carefully before we left. I was afraid that she would cause trouble if I wasn’t with her.”\n
Fu Rong’s lips curled sarcastically. She wanted to stab him with a sentence, but seeing Liang Tong’s forehead covered with sweat, she also couldn’t bear to. If Liang Tong was a stranger, she would definitely take her older sister back rudely, but with Liang Tong…\n
He was one of the few people who didn’t look at her strangely after she had divorced in the previous life.\n
Feeling complicated inside, Fu Rong turned to luck and decided to allow Liang Tong to get closer to her older sister. After this, if her older sister didn’t like him, she would never give the Liang brother and sister another chance.\n
As the eldest brother, Fu Chen sympathized with Liang Tong’s worries, “Alright, let’s go together. We’ll keep an eye on each of them, and none of them will get into trouble.”\n
Liang Tong chuckled, and after joking for a moment, approached Liang Yingfang’s sedan, and Fu Wan was in front of him.\n
Liang Yingfang didn’t expect that her older brother would be so impatient. She bit the bullet, and deliberately complained for Fu Wan to hear, “You really obtained wild chickens? You didn’t go down the mountain to have fun, and order a servant to go buy two wild chickens to fool me?”\n
Liang Tong stared at Fu Wan’s barely visible face under the weimao, and replied absent-mindedly, “Don’t talk nonsense, when have I ever fooled you?”\n
His low voice had a breath that had not yet calmed down.\n
Fu Wan clenched her hand quietly, and she felt some sweat.\n
Was she thinking too much? Why did she faintly feel like Liang Tong’s rush was entirely for her?\n
This was the first time in her life that she had encountered something like this. The other party was also her older brother’s senior brother, the first young master of the Liang family who had no bad records besides looking at her rudely. When she noticed the scorching eyes of the man on her again, the face under the weimao gradually heated up.\n
This person was so unscrupulous. Was he too thick-skinned or did he think that she didn’t notice him?\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator">\n[1]Concubine-aunt: In ancient China, men of power usually took concubines. They were wives that were of lower rank than the main wife. Qiao Shi’s concubine-aunt was a concubine of her father, but not her mother.\n
[2]Main wife: The main wife of a household was the master’s number one wife. She was in charge of all his concubines and was the Madam of the family.\n
[3]Aunt: Aunt in this context does not mean biological-aunt, but rather the mother of a friend.\n
[4]Someone who sprays dog blood on the head: A harsh Chinese idiom insulting someone who has angered someone else.\n