BXBX NOVEL Chapter 183 - Presenting the Buddha with Borrowed Flowers
Chapter 183 Presenting the Buddha with Borrowed Flowers
Yue Qi had stopped smiling much after what happened to Yue Ting.
She would only reveal a smile occasionally when she saw Lin Mengya.
“How have you been lately?”
Lin Mengya held Yue Qi’s hand. Lin Mengya’s heart broke as she saw that this guileless girl had lost much weight lately.
She had intended to keep Yue Ting by her side and had even discussed this matter with Uncle Yue.
However, out of her expectation, this little lass had requested to go back to the troubled mansion of the Yues.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me, Elder Sister Lin. I have you to back me up, so she doesn’t dare to make things difficult for me.”
Yue Qi lowered her head slightly as a faint smile appeared on her face.
However, the edges of her sleeves were fraying, and the color of the hairpin on her head was slightly faded.
Lin Mengya could imagine the effort she made to look presentable so as not to make Lin Mengya worry about her.
“Oh yes, I’ve something for you. Baisu, would you fetch the item which Elder Sister Yue Ting had left in my care here earlier on?”
Yue Qi had after all spent some of her days living in the mansion.
Having a noble status of the second daughter of her father’s first wife, Yue Qi was an extremely adorable little lass.
She got along really well with Baisu and the rest.
They would often address each other as elder sisters and younger sisters. There was completely no air of arrogance about her.
Lin Mengya’s maidservants also doted on her from the bottom of their hearts.
Seeing Yue Qi’s miserable state, Baisu came to realize what Lin Mengya’s intention.
She quietly wiped off the drop of tear at the corner of her eye and said, “Oh yes, Miss had been nagging about wanting to send this over to you just a few days ago, and coincidentally you’ve come today. It must be the effect of the nagging.”
She tapped Yue Qi’s forehead lightly with her fingers.
Everyone played along as they attempted to re-enact how they used to be in this courtyard.
Although Yue Qi’s temperament had changed through much turmoil , she was after all still simple at heart.
She looked at Lin Mengya and asked, “Item? You mean Elder Sister left something with you?”
Baiji nodded immediately.
With a gentle voice, Baiji said, “Quick Baisu, go fetch it for her. Finally you came, Second Miss Yue. Baizhi had lost so much weight ever since you left. She had been complaining that since you left, no one goes picking those fruits with her.”
Everyone in the room burst out laughing at Baiji’s words.
Yue Qi, too, smiled from the bottom of her heart, as her watery eyes came to life.
Lin Mengya felt a burden lift from her heart. The people in her courtyard had unwittingly developed a rapport among themselves so much so they were almost able to read each other’s mind.
“Elder Sister Baiji must be kidding, although I do indeed miss Second Miss Yue. Since you’ve come all the way here, why don’t you stay for a few days?”
Baizhi was the youngest of the maidservants, so she got along with Yue Qi the best.
The two would be chatting away once they got together.
Baiji gave Lin Mengya a knowing look and quietly left the room.
Baisu headed to the storeroom in the backyard, took a small box from it and walked out with some hesitation.
When she saw Lin Mengya in the backyard, she quickly walked up to her.
“Master, considering that Second Miss Yue might become suspicious, I have only placed the 300 pieces silver worth of banknotes in the box, among which 120 pieces of silver worth had been changed into smaller notes. Apart from the banknotes, I’ve picked a few pieces of jewelry that are suitable for Second Miss Yue’s use, although they don’t appear to be the most valuable ones.”
Lin Mengya opened the box to see the banknotes and pieces of jewelry placed neatly in it.
“Good girl, I can see you’ve put in much effort in this.”
Lin Mengya smiled as she saw that there were rings , earrings and hairpins in the little box.
She had given Baishao charge over all her possessions.
Baishao knew Lin Mengya loved Yue Qi dearly, therefore she had taken special care in choosing the pieces to be placed in the box.
It would not be an exaggeration to call this a miniature treasure box.
At least it would be sufficient for Yue Qi’s use until she got married.
“It’s not difficult for me to prepare this. I’m merely taking advantage of what you have. I hope you wouldn’t blame me for not keeping the house well.”
Baisu smiled a modest smile. Since Lin Mengya handed the responsibility of managing the little store to Baisu, she realized that this girl possessed a gift in keeping accounts.
She would be the one in charge of the finances for her business in the future.
“Oh yes, I suppose your family members had arrived?”
Baiji, who was now standing by Lin Mengya nodded.
“Yes, they’ve arrived some time back. I’ve made arrangements for them to stay in the backyard. If someone finds out, I’d say that they’ve come to present some gifts to you out of their gratitude for your kindness.”
So many perils had happened recently that Lin Mengya had put her business plan at the back of her mind.
She had done some calculations on her finances. Not only did she have to prepare the dowry for all her maidservants, now she had to account for Yue Qi’s portion too.
In addition, she had to think about the expenses on Xiaoyu’s marriage, as well as when her elder brother got married.
Ai, would she able to save enough for all of them in time?
Money was indeed so important, without which she would not be able to achieve much!
“How could you have forgotten to remind me? Your family members are after all elders. Bring me to meet them tonight.”
Baiji was about to say no, but she eventually swallowed her words.
She finally nodded.
“Yes, Master.”
Lin Mengya and Baiji had just stepped out of the room for a while, but the room was now filled with fun and laughter.
There was not much going on back home, and being unable to resist everyone’s kind invitation , Yue Qi finally agreed to stay in the prince’s mansion for a few days.
Under Lin Mengya’s influence, everyone in the Liuxin Courtyard was addicted to the poker card games.
When she returned to the room, what came into sight was the bunch of people surrounding the table playing poker cards.
“Aha, Miss Yue, why did you do that? Why did you use the Twos and Kings together, are you crazy?”
Qinghu was standing behind Yue Qi trying to give her advice .
His brows were furrowed as he watched the clueless Yue Qi.
“But... but Baizhi said I could deal two cards once I have four of the same cards. What did I do wrong?”
Yue Qi pouted, looking at Qinghu with pathetic eyes.
She did not know Qinghu’s identity but thought that he was just a guard in the Liuxin Courtyard.
However, she could sense that there was a special relationship between Elder Sister Lin had Qinghu.
For this reason, she treated Qinghu with added respect.
Simply put, she was a little fearful of him.
“Ai, alright, alright. You are going to lose all my stake sooner or later.”
Qinghu said in exaggeration, then took out his purse full of money and placed it on the table.
When Lin Mengya first stepped into the room, Baizhi and Lin Zhongyu were dividing the money from Qinghu’s purse among them.
“Don’t worry, he’s actually very rich.”
Was he pretending to be broke? Lin Mengya gave Qinghu a look of disdain. Apart from Lin Zhongyu, Qinghu was the richest person here.
Qinghu pretended to look miserable as he complained to Lin Mengya.
“What a heartless lass, you’ve lost all my money.”
He was actually just joking, but Lin Mengya was beginning to feel bad about it.
Yue Qi was also beginning to regret and decided to pull out of the game.
“Second Miss Yue, come and have a look. This was what your elder sister had left here in our care.”
Baisu was holding in her hands a delicate box. Everyone in room, except Baizhi and Yue Qi, who were kept in the dark, played along with Baisu.
“Oh, these... these items in box are too precious. I think it’ll be better if you keep them with you here, Elder Sister Lin. I’m afraid they would take these away if I bring them home.”
Yue Qi’s face fell when she saw the jewelry filled box.
After her elder sister passed away, her father’s concubines had moved into the main house.
Her father had fallen into depression and had been indulging himself in wine day and night.
Her mother had changed from her usual self and no longer doted on her. She even allowed those two concubines of her father to bully her as they liked.
All of Yue Qi’s pieces of jewelry had been taken over by them.
If not for the few pieces which her elder sister and she had left behind, she would not have anything presentable to wear when she went out.
“Silly girl, these have been left behind by your elder sister. You have to keep it with you. On top of that, I’m giving you this token which bears my name. You may use it to enter and leave the prince’s mansion as and when you like. The token is also representing me. With it, no one would dare bully you.”
Lin Mengya unfastened the jade hanging from her waist. She could have pawned this token earlier, which she did not.
“No, no, Elder Sister Lin, I can’t be taking anything more from you.”
Yue Qi was about to push the token back when it accidentally touched the wound on Lin Mengya’s hand.
Lin Mengya had purposed using her injured hand to hand the token to Yue Qi.
Yue Qi, fearing that she would hurt Lin Mengya, finally accepted her token.
“Elder Sister Lin, how did your hand get injured so badly?”
Yue Qi drew in a deep breath. Although Lin Mengya’s wound had been dressed properly, Yue Qi could not help but felt the pain in her heart.
She gently held Lin Mengya’s injured hand in hers as her eyes became watery with tears.
“It’s alright. They had overdone the wound dressing. It’s really nothing too serious. Didn’t you say you have good news for me?”
Lin Mengya changed the topic in fear that Yue Qi would start crying over her.
“Gee, look at how forgetful I am!”
Yue Qi patted her head and drew out a letter from her clothes.
“This letter had been secretly given to me by her personal maid. She claimed that his letter was sent by Big Brother Lin. Unfortunately, my elder sister did not have the chance to read it.”
At the mention of Yue Ting, Yue Qi started feeling downhearted.
Her sister, who had been her only reliance from young, had passed away in such a tragic way. It was no wonder she felt downcast.
“A letter from Elder Brother? This is indeed great news!”
Baisu quietly walked up to the door, looking around with vigilance to make sure there was no one around.
“Em, Big Brother Lin used to send trinkets to us every few months.”
Although Elder Sister Yue Ting’s ancestral tablet had been placed in the ancestral hall of the Lin Family, this fact was only made known to the few within the family.
“Elder Brother said in the letter that he would be coming back two days from now! Father is also coming back in the next few days!”
After a series of events, Lin Mengya’s elder brother and father were finally coming home.
While they were so familiar in her memory, in reality, they were family members who were stranger to her.
Lin Mengya shuddered from the excitement. She could not really describe the subtle feeling of anticipation.
“Really? Is the Master Lin coming back? That’s great!”
Among all the people here, Baizhi was the only one who understood how important Lin Nansheng was to Lin Mengya.
The others may not understand the implication, but their mood was lifted when they saw how happy their master was.