Chapter 522. Disparity (2/2)
After being tormented for days and days, Wu Junling was at the edge of either a physical or mental breakdown. It was only with the support of her mother and maidservants that she was finally able to ascend the stone stairs to Huguo Temple after taking many breaks along the way.
However, when they inquired after the grandmaster, they discovered that he had gone traveling. After asking in more detail, they discovered that Grandmaster Yuanhui would only be back in about a dozen days. Jiang Meiyi and Wu Junling felt their hearts drop in despair. It had only been half a month and Wu Junling had been worn down until she was starting to resemble a ghost herself. If she continued to have ‘ghosts swirling about her’ for the next dozen days, she might not be able to hold on and become a ghost herself!
Fortunately, the person left in charge of Huguo Temple, Grandmaster Huiming, who was also the head disciple of Grandmaster Yuanhui, felt sympathy for these two women after hearing their story and had them sent into one of the side courtyards to live in until Grandmaster Yuanhui came back. The two women listened to scriptures every day and were living on consecrated temple lands now. Only then did Wu Junling’s ‘nightmares of seeing ghosts’ stop and she was finally able to sleep comfortably for a few nights in a row.
By the time Wu Junling and her mother had reached Huguo Temple to wait for Grandmaster Yuanhui to come back, the grapes on the back mountains of the Imperial Plantation had ripened. There were green grapes, purple grapes and the milky-white long white grapes. All of them were sweet and fresh and left a delicious flavor in a person’s mouth. When they came on the market, they were as blazingly popular as the honey peaches and caused a sensation. Naturally, the lines to buy these grapes grew longer with every passing day.
He Wanning, Royal Princess Minglan, Ning Donghuan and the other people who had gone picking peaches last time all succeeded in receiving invitations from Yu Xiaocao to go to the Imperial Plantation for a fun outing. In addition, they also added on Yu Wanqing, who had just reached the age of thirteen.
Originally, Lady Yu was planning on accompanying her on this trip. Her daughter had almost never left her side since she was small. Because her face had that issue, she took special care of her and raised her in a way that made her very sheltered and almost everything had to be decided by her. Suddenly, her daughter was about to go out with a bunch of young masters and maidens out to play and she even heard that they were planning on hunting. How could Lady Yu feel comfortable about that?
This was the first time Yu Wanqing did her best to resist her mother’s intent. She acted spoiled and whined that the other older sisters didn’t have their parents accompanying them. If her mother came along, then those older sisters would definitely laugh at her.
However, Lady Yu’s thoughts were that her daughter was the youngest out of the group and had never gone out alone. In fact, she had only started learning how to ride a horse. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became…
Yu Wanqing then brought out Older Sister Xiaocao as an example and stated that when the other girl was around eight to nine years old, she was even doing business at the docks, selling recipes to Zhenxiu Restaurant, planting vegetables and watermelons...when Xiaocao was ten, she was starting to help Royal Prince Yang plant the newly brought over crop from the western hemisphere, corn, and coming up with ways to breed crops to make them more high-yielding.
“When Older Sister Yu was titled as a sixth-rank agricultural official by the emperor, she wasn’t even as old as I am today! Even then she rode a horse daily to go back and forth between the capital and plantation. Although I’m not as smart and capable as her, as her friend, I can’t be too weak. Don’t you think so too, Mother?” This was one of the main reasons why she managed to convince Lady Yu.
Yu Wanqing had been bright and considerate since she was young. It was only because of her face that she had been bound to the inner courtyard for long. Although she was a bit more on the shy side and a bit more cowardly, she was still optimistic and strong in spirit. In fact, she frequently helped to comfort her mother, who loved her dearly.
Lady Yu didn’t believe that her daughter was inferior to other people. She was incredibly intelligent and was skilled at all of the four arts. Her poetry was very lively. If it wasn’t for the fact that her skin disease had hindered her, she might even be a very famous and talented young maiden in the capital at this point!
Lady Yu felt her heart soften after looking at her daughter’s eyes, which were full of expectation. In addition, her husband had also said that it would be hard for a pine tree raised in a pot to reach the skies, and that chicks raised under a mother’s wings found it hard to fly. It wasn’t as if she didn’t understand these concepts. Thus, although she was still worried, she still agreed to her daughter’s request.
That day, everyone ate to their fill and were able to play to their hearts’ content, especially the little lass Yu Wanqing who had run around ecstatically. She had picked bunches of grapes, trapped wild hares, gone on a picnic, helped brew some wine...she even tried crushing grapes with her feet and enjoyed the experience. She was incredibly happy after this outing!
When she got back, her face had turned red from sun exposure and the smile on her face was exceptionally bright. She chattered happily about everything she had experienced that day and talked endlessly to her father and mother. She even gestured excitedly with her arms and hands and let out small peals of laughter. Compared to that timid and gutless Yu Wanqing who pretended to be strong, it was as if another person had appeared.
Official Yu, Lady Yu, and Yu Wanqing’s older brothers were all incredibly gratified to see the change in her. An optimistic, open, and lively Yu Wanqing was a complete stranger to them but they were also glad to see her in this way.
Lady Yu decided that the two best decisions she had ever made in her life were this: One, she had persevered in marrying her husband despite her parents' opposition; Two, on that warm spring day, she had nervously brought her daughter into ‘Blossoming Beauty’s’ doors.
Her first decision had led her to have a husband who loved her dearly and a blissful and happy family. The second decision had given her a healthy, beautiful and confident daughter! She truly felt like she had hit the jackpot in life and was now pleased with everything!