Chapter 548. Seaside Outing (2/2)

When she entered the prince’s estate, she found out that Zhu Junyang had been summoned by the emperor to enter the palace and it sounded like the emperor had some sort of task in mind for him. See, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to bring him along; it was that he was unfortunate enough to have other duties stopping him from coming. She spent some time chatting idly with Princess Consort Jing and ended up being invited over for lunch. At the table, she encountered Wu Junling, who had come to pay her respects to Princess Consort Jing.

Perhaps it was related to the fact that Wu Junling now burned incense and spent her days in Buddhist prayer, but her personality seemed to have changed tremendously compared to before. In the past, she was charmingly beautiful but was like a delicate pretty flower vase without a soul. She had no inner substance and every movement she made was tainted slightly with a tacky secular element.

Now, it was obvious that her soul and mind had calmed down. She no longer seemed to be frivolous and had completely removed all hints of fickleness and impatience from her demeanor. She was graceful and peaceful. With that added onto her natural good looks, it even made Xiaocao, who once didn’t see eye to eye with her, unable to feel disgusted by her.

Wu Junling was only a bit startled after she saw Xiaocao sitting closely to Princess Consort Jing in an intimate manner. Apparently, she didn’t expect to see Xiaocao there. After that, she smiled faintly at her while she absentmindedly stroked the Buddhist prayer beads on her left wrist. This bracelet was only obtained after her mother kowtowed at Huguo Temple for ninety-one consecutive days and moved Grandmaster Yuanhui by her sincerity. Only then was he willing to create this prayer bracelet for Wu Junling. Ever since she started wearing it, the nightmares and ghosts that plagued her previously never appeared again.

When Grandmaster Yuanhui gave these prayer beads to her, he gave her a piece of advice, “Chasing stubbornly after your desires may not lead to your desired outcome. You need to open your heart and see that the world is much more vast than you previously thought. One cannot force fate or destiny!”

After being frightened by her older cousin, Wu Junling didn't have any desire to get closer to that alluring and devilishly handsome face again. Ever since she got back from Huguo Temple, she stayed in her own courtyard and set up a small Buddhist shrine there. Every day she would burn incense and chant scriptures as she sincerely prayed there. It felt like her entire body had lightened up and relaxed more.

Yu Xiaocao was a bit flabbergasted by the complete change in Wu Junling. The little white lotus, who once tried to grasp Zhu Junyang, had unexpectedly mended her ways. It was truly inconceivable. Xiaocao returned the other girl’s smile with a tranquil smile of her own and continued to chat with Princess Consort Jing on the previous topic of conversation.

“I don’t know whether that mountain ravine has any other precious and beautiful camellias. Xiaocao, when you go, help me keep an eye out...however, I doubt your ability to appreciate flowers, so don’t just bring any old plant back to fool me!” From the tone of Princess Consort Jing’s voice to the expression on her face, Wu Junling realized that aunt regarded Yu Xiaocao quite highly. In fact, the degree of how much her aunt liked the other girl frightened her. It made her realize that her aunt had always been courteous to her, but never that intimate.

Yu Xiaocao smiled bashfully at the princess consort’s comments. She knew she wasn’t an elegant person and she was never truly interested in the different types of flora. Other than the difference in colors or species, she never paid much attention to them. As for identifying what sort of subspecies or shapes, she was out of her knowledge sphere——she had no clue where to start.

She glanced at Meixiang, who was standing behind Princess Consort Jing muffling her laughter, and said, “Isn’t there an easy solution to this? Older Sister Meixiang’s knowledge of camellias were taught by Your Highness. If you simply let me borrow her for a few days, wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

“You lass, I knew you were trying to come up with some idea to steal my maidservant away from me! Alright ah, in order to make that lady surnamed Feng truly accept her defeat at the next flower admiring banquet, then I will lend my precious maidservant to you temporarily.” For the past few years, Princess Consort Jing had roundly defeated Lady Feng using her improved collection of camellias, so she was in quite a good mood about it!

Yu Xiaocao teased, “Don’t worry, Your Highness, I’ll return her to you with nary a hair out of place!”

Meixiang pretended to be astonished and stated, “Then this servant won’t even dare to brush my hair every morning. If I’m not careful and lose a hair, then Miss Yu will find it very hard to report back to Her Highness ah!”

Yu Xiaocao also revealed an alarmed expression and then frowned to remark in a concerned manner, “Then what should be done? Your Highness, how about...I send my most capable personal maidservant——Wutong, to compensate you?”

Wutong, who had just been mentioned, also began to play in this act and put on a distressed expression on her face, “Young Miss, please don’t send this servant away to another person. In the future, this servant will eat half a bowl less rice. I swear I’m easy to provide for!”

Princess Consort Jing couldn’t take it anymore and covered her mouth with a handkerchief as laughter spilled out of her, “No need to compensate me, no need! I can still afford to send out a maid!”

“Your Highness, in the future, this servant will also eat a half bowl less rice at each meal. Please don’t send me to serve Miss Yu.” Meixiang also copied Wutong’s expression and phrases, which made Princess Consort Jing laugh harder in amusement.

Wu Junling couldn’t help but feel envious when she saw them interact with their servants in such a relaxed and teasing manner. However, it was only envy and nothing else. She had engraved the words that the grandmaster in charge of the temple had told her: ‘It is useless to force anything. Everything has its own karma and fate.’