Chapter 421: Su Xin’er wants to see her

To this end, Zhao Ru Jun even pierced her own finger and used her blood to copy a whole volume of the Great Compassion Mantra in front of the Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Less than two months after she left the mansion, there was good news from the Zhao Manor. One of Master Zhao’s new concubines was pregnant!

When the news came out, everyone was in an uproar.

When the excitement died down, naturally there were many people sighing for Zhao Ru Jun. It was said that her sincerity had moved the Guanyin Bodhisattva, which is why Master Zhao’s concubine could become pregnant so quickly.

In addition, Zhao Ru Jun’s people spread all kinds of favorable remarks in the local teahouses, immediately restoring her image. Now when people mentioned her, they didn’t just talk about her embarrassing conduct, they also praised her for accepting her mistakes and improving herself.

People’s hearts are always more tolerant and generous towards people who acknowledge their mistakes and correct themselves.

Coincidentally, this was also the season for cotton harvesting.

The Zhao family had hundreds of acres of cotton fields. Though the quality was not the same as the Lian family, the produce was not small.

Less is better than nothing, right?

The huge profits of the cotton made the Zhao clan members red eyed with excitement. Without the prestige of the Zhao family and Zhao Ru Jun to control matters, Master Zhao could not contain his family members at all.

The Zhao cotton fields were almost completely divided up by the clansmen!

Angry and anxious, Master Zhao sent his stewards out to chase off those people but in the end it was the stewards who were chased back by the united clansmen, beaten and insulted as ‘dog slaves’.

Master Zhao was furious! He was not willing to lose such a big benefit with his own hands. In desperation, he sent his stewards out again, this time to lead a large group of hired hands to help pick the fields faster than the clansmen.

As a result, the cotton fields were ruined! During the scramble between the crowd, many plants were trampled and broken and many more were picked before they were mature.

It was devastating. In the end, Master Zhao had no choice but to send someone to bring Zhao Ru Jun back now that her reputation was recovering.

In any case, she was of his own bloodline which was different than those clansmen.

After Zhao Ru Jun returned to the manor, she couldn’t stop those people from frantically snapping up the cotton. She could only continue having their people rush to pick them first.

While she was doing this, she didn’t forget to keep an eye on her. Honestly, she didn’t care much about stopping the clansmen, doing so would only cut their fortune short and draw their hatred towards her.

It was total unnecessary!

Instead, she stayed calm on the surface and focused on Lian Fang Zhou’s cotton. Ever since she had heard of Lian Fang Zhou’s success, her jealousy had been overwhelming…

~

Lian Fang Zhou was alert for any tricks by the county magistrate’s wife or Zhao Ru Jun but she didn’t expect that the first to appear would be Su Xin’er personal maid, Ju Li.

Lian Fang Zhou had only been working in the cotton fields for a short while when Ju Li came to the end of the field, wearing a luo skirt and a look of disgust.

Obviously, Lian Fang Zhou was very surprised. When she had gone to visit the Su family in Shuangliu county not long ago, she hadn’t seen Su Xin’er and neither Fang Qing or Su Jing He mentioned her.

Who would have expected that she would send her maid to speak to her?

“Is something the matter, Miss Ju Li?” Lian Fang Zhou asked politely, coming out of the cotton fields with a smile.

Ju Li glanced at Lian Fang Zhou, her chin nearly up in the air. “Our young lady wants to speak with you, follow me!”

“Young Lady Su is here?” Lian Fang Zhou asked in surprise.

The maid sneered. “How can our young lady come to this kind of rural place? The young lady is at the county capital. Miss Lian, hurry up and come with me! Our young lady’s temper has always been indulged by the Madam and Young Madam!”

The implication was that Lian Fang Zhou was just a poor relative relying on the Su family so it was best not to put on airs.

At this time, the sun had not yet risen overhead and it was still a long time until noon.

Lian Fang Zhou thought about it. Since Su Xin’er wanted to see her, it would not be good to ignore her. In any case, she wanted to hear exactly what this young lady had to say!

“Alright.” Lian Fang Zhou nodded. “Let me go home and change my clothes, okay?”

Ju Li glanced at Lian Fang Zhou’s dress, which was a short brown shirt made of common linen with a pea green linen skirt. Her hair was pulled into a bun wrapped with a headband made of purple and red flowers. Every inch of her looked like a village girl.

She immediately sneered in disgust: “In that case, I will accompany you back to change! Hurry up! Our young lady never waits for anyone!”

Waiting for her would be flattering you!

Ignoring Ju Li’s dissatisfaction, Lian Fang Zhou smiled and asked her to wait a moment. After explaining the matter to Aunt Zhang and asking someone to pass a message to Ah Jian, she took Ju Li back to the village.

By the time Ah Jian arrived, Lian Fang Zhou had changed her clothes, washed her face, and recombed her hair.

Despite Ju Li’s urging and tugging at Lian Fang Zhou’s hand, Lian Fang Zhou waited until Ah Jian signaled to her to leave.

Ju Li’s carriage was very brisk and left Dafang village in the blink of an eye. However, Lian Fang Zhou didn’t expect that the carriage did not head to the city!

When the carriage finally stopped, Ju Li jumped out and said: “We’re here!”. Lian Fang Zhou looked at the surroundings scenery of majestic mountains and green trees and her heart froze. She stared at Ju Li and shouted: “Where is this? Where did you take me?”

Ju Li pouted impatiently: “This is the foot of the Zhulin Temple mountain, where do you think you are?”

Zhulin Temple?

Thinking about it, Lian Fang Zhou did vaguely remember there was indeed a temple in Yuhe county called the Zhulin Temple. It was on the other side of the county from Dafang village, about 17 to 18 miles away from the county capital. It was said that their incense was quite powerful.

Lian Fang Zhou laughed: “How did your Miss arrange such a meeting place? This is too strange!”

Ju Li’s eyes went wide! Angrily, she shouted: “This is our young lady’s choice, how dare we question her? Let’s go, let’s go! Hurry up the mountain, the young lady is still waiting!”

As she spoke, she took the lead up the mountain.

Lian Fang Zhou was helpless to resist and had to follow her.

After walking a while, she looked around and frowned: “This is the foot of the back mountain of Zhulin Temple? Why is it so clean?”

“It’s the foot of the back mountain!” Ju Li snapped. “Since it is the back mountain, naturally it is cleaner!” She glared at Lian Fang Zhou impatiently: “I say, why are you so stubborn? There is no end to it!” After saying this, she muttered that Lian Fang Zhou was just like this, daring to compete with the young lady for the young master…

Lian Fang Zhou was secretly amused.

As they climbed the bluestone paved path winding up the mountain, the bamboo on either side became denser and denser. After about half way up the mountain, there was mostly bamboo and a few rare trees.

The dense bamboo branches and leaves were connected to each other, blocking out most of the light. Walking in the late autumn season, her whole body felt cool.