The day that Yang had been waiting for arrived.
To make it look like what they had told—that they were busy—Yang Fu and his ladies did not show up around their daughters.
As the sun was beautiful, with the light like gold over the roof of the house, the gentleman Longwei arrived on time at the residence of Yang, with Lantian coming along. Also, she brought Xiaolan, and Longwei brought his private maid. As for Yang's young ladies, among the five, only Ehuang took her private servant, who named Xiaojie. Weird! Lantian just met Xiaojie for the first time, but she seemed to have a feeling that she had met her, but not face-to-face.
**
**
*
The first place for the young travelers to visit was the pagoda that was located in the middle of Lin'an city. It was the tourist site of the capital, which was very famous; everyone from everywhere did not miss visiting this locale. Since Yang's girls just came from the province, they were not familiar with the city.
"Young Master Wu, what is this place?" Ehuang said.
"It is the Central Pagoda," Longwei said.
"Central Pagoda!"
"Yes," Longwei grinned and wagged his head. "It is the biggest pagoda in Lin'an. It is believed to be the holy shrine. Everyone likes to come here to ask for help; most of them ask for passing exams, growing a business, marriage, and a baby."
They arrived at a temple.
"It is called a praying temple," Longwei narrated. "People come to pray and ask for help here."
Through the large double doors, all of them stepped into the hall. Before their eyes was the statue of Buddha, about five meters high, in the manner of giving a blessing, stored in the middle of the hall. On the floor, in front of the statue, there were pillows in the shape of lotuses, and between the statue and the pillows, there were few wooden containers with wooden sticks inside.
"In our hometown, we have this box too," Liqing said. "People wish in their minds and then shake the box until the stick comes out. On the stick, there is a number. We'll take the stick to find the meaning of the number to see if our wish is successful or fails."
"Correct," Longwei said. "It is the same here."
"Elder sisters," Li Ai stated. "We should pray for our parents."
"Right." Liqing nodded.
"Xiaojie," Ehuang said.
"Yes, Miss," Xiaojie said and went. A few seconds later, she came back with the incense that she had already made them to smoke, and she handed it to her mistress before she provided it to the siblings of her lady, but she did not give it to Caihong. As for Longwei, his male maid organized it for him and offered it to Lantian also, and Xiaolan received it instead of her.
"Give it to her," Lantian said and pointed her chin at Caihong, who was standing before her.
"Yes," Xiaolan said, and followed the instruction.
Caihong didn't have any idea who sent her; she just expressed thanks to Xiaonlan, then knelt down behind her sisters.
Alone, Lantian stood silently by the door while the brother and young ladies were praying. It did not mean she did not believe in Buddha, but in her own opinion, success was received by hard work, not by praying. However, her eyes did not stop following the second girl of Yang, and her mind was eager to know what this colleen was wishing in her mind.
After praying, Ehuang, Liqing, Li Ai, and Lifen shook the box.
"Where can we get the interpretation?" Liqing said.
"Young Master, the interpreter is outside," the maid of Longwei said.
"Um," Longwei nodded, and then he talked to the ladies. "I'll take you there."
When they crossed the door, Lifen said to Liqing, "Sister, I want to go to the restroom."
"The restroom is at the back," Longwei said.
"Then Li Ai, you help get the interpretations. I go with Lifen," Liqing said.
"Yes," Li Ai said.
"Shan," Longwei called his maid with motive to tell his maid to take the young ladies to the restroom, but Lantian suggested, "Let Xiaolan do it."
"Um." Longwei nodded.
**
**
*
At present, only Lantian and Caihong remained under the shade of a big tree before the shrine.
Still the same, while waiting, Lantian peeped at the lassie that was standing next to her. However, the girl's eyes didn't come at her. They were spotting the view around, and her face showed big excitement, which made Lantian be able to conclude that the junior did not ever go out of home often.
Well, what the female scholar guessed was not wrong. Since birth, Caihong has been raised in a separate homestead, and she was not allowed to get out of the home, not even to go near the front gate. Moreover, she was prohibited from showing up at the main house, and she was told to not disclose her identity as a daughter of Yang as well. When she was in her hometown, she had lived with an old wet nurse from day to night. That old lady had taught her housework and some needlework. In a month, once or twice, she would take her to the market. As she became a teenager, the wet nurse had retired and returned home, so she has lived alone ever since. At the present house, Caihong did everything by herself—cleaning, washing up, and doing laundry. She entered the kitchen too, and the ingredients were supported by the main house. Unless she needed her personal things or specific food, she was permitted to go to the market with the home maids to buy, but money was in the hand of the maid; if she wanted to buy something, she informed the maid, and then they would pay for it. There was another rule: she could not step out frequently and enjoyed the market longer. Life was like being in a prison; however, Caihong did not ever complain a word. She thought, at least, she did not starve to death and had a shelter to protect her from the rain and wind.
When it seemed that the brother and young ladies would not come soon, Lantian took a chance to go near the girl.
"What did you wish for?" she said.
Like the first meeting, Caihong did not utter.
"A lover?"
Still, she neglected.
"I think you asked for a lover, and that's my brother."
Oh, this sentence could not be ignored. Caihong stared at the female speaker and said, "Nonsense."
"Nonsense?" Lantian smirked. "Don't be shy. It's common." She leaned close to the ear of Caihong and then spoke in a low voice, "If you are interested in my brother, I can help."
In a fast move, Caihong pulled her body one step further and rotated her eyes to look straight. "Stop speaking nonsense. I don't have interest in your brother."
"Really?" Lantian simpered. "My brother is handsome and kind, and he is the heir of the family. There are many women wanting him. Look at your sisters; they are competing for him too. If you can marry him, you will be the young madame of Wu; you will live on money."
"Though it is a golden mountain, still I have no interest."
"Many women speak like this, but they lie."
"It's them, not me. If I say no, it means no."
"Don't you love my brother?"
"No," Caihong said. She kept her eyes straight. "Stop bothering me."
In mind, Lantian wanted to continue teasing her, but as she found her eyes were passionate about something, she followed and found that she was looking at a guy in the spot in front of them yelling, "Candy, candy."
Well, that kind of thing was not just for eating. Actually, it was related to a memory once Caihong was a child. There was one day when she wanted it after seeing each of her siblings hold it in their hands, but she was pushed away by the maid to fall on the ground. In tears, she went back home to her wet nurse. After learning what had happened, the wet nurse comforted her, and then she took her to the market and bought it for her in secret. Though many years passed, Caihong still remembered it. And this time, her mind missed the taste, and she really wanted to go to it, but her feet did not have the braveness to step out—because she had no money.
About this point, Lantian caught it. Actually, she wanted to buy it for her, but she believed she would not accept it from her; hence, she had to use someone else.
Later on, all the members came back. Lantian caught the opportunity. "Second brother, I want candy."
"Fine," Longwei said, smiling. Then he told his maid to buy it not only for his sister but for everyone, and he didn't hand it to any girl, just to Lantian only. This made Ehaung not so happy at all since she expected to get the sweet from the hand of Longwei.
However, Lantian did not eat it. She held it in her hand while her eyes threw toward the illegitimate daughter of Yang, who was extending her lips when she got the candy from the hand of Shan.
"Where do we continue to go?" Li Ai said.
"Over there, there is a lake. It has a lot of mandarin ducks," Longwei said.
"Good. I want to see the mandarin ducks," Lifen yelled.
"Let's go," Longwei said and led the group.
As for Lantain, she waited for others to go first, then she gave her pure candy to her maid. "I give you."
Xiaolan opened her eyes. She remembered that her lady said she wanted candy, but she did not touch it and gave it to her. The action of the mistress made her wonder; however, she could not refuse and had to receive.