C15 – Go To The Mountain

After the New Year, Xie Zhen was six years old. As a girl, she would grow up fast. She was much taller than last year.

The summer shirt she had brought back from the capital was already small for her. When Madam Leng took it to her, she made a gesture, causing her cuffs and pants to both be shorter than before. “Tomorrow, I’ll let nannie Chen go out to buy some materials and make you some new clothes.”

There was no one who didn’t like the new clothes, and even Xie Zhen was no exception. She happily held Leng’s face and kissed it, “I want to wear a dress, a dress with flowers and birds!”

She was talking about the white flower-patterned embroidered dress of Madam Leng. Madam Leng had only worn it once during the birthday celebration of the Old Ancestor of Duke Dingguo, but this little girl had taken it to heart and wanted a dress that was exactly the same as hers. “When the little lamb grows up, I’ll give you that dress, okay?”

“Really, really?” she said, pestering her.

“Of course, it’s true.” Leng said.

She really liked that dress. She wanted to grow up quickly, and it would be best if she could be as tall as Amma and wear a beautiful dress.

The next day, nannie Chen brought someone to measure Xie Zhen’s height and Xie Xuan’s height. That afternoon, someone brought the materials into the house for them to choose from. Xie Zhen chose seven or eight cloths, and his skirt and tunic and robe were all made, so I’m afraid he won’t need any more clothes for a year.

Xie Xun was an undecided girl. She chose what Xie Zhen said was good, and ended up with four or five shirts for spring shirts.

Xie Rong pointed two colors at the same time. As for the others, they were all decided by Madam Leng.

Madam Leng let nannie Chen to record it. “By the end of this month, you have to have all your clothes made. Otherwise, if the weather gets warm next month, you won’t have any clothes to wear.”

Nannie Chen quickly replied with a “yes” before leading the maidservants away.

After the snow melted, there were several successive spring rains in the Qingzhou Province. Each one was more lingering than the last. The raindrops fell on the eaves and made a tinkling sound. However, it did not come down very fast. It kept going for half a month. On the last day at the end of the month, the weather finally cleared up.

Xie Zhen and Xie Xun had been stuck in the room for half a month. They had been bored to the point of hair growing out of their hair. After the rain had stopped, they played around the entire Xie Clan mansion once more. Only then did they feel satisfied.

That afternoon their clothes arrived, and together Xie Zhen made a dozen or so clothes and laid them out in a long row on the chaise bed. She picked them up one by one. There was a short dress made of delicate green and red silk, as if it were made from clouds, as well as a dress made from Heavenly Blue Lake crepe and a dress made of goose yellow silk. Because the weather was hot, most of the clothes were worn during the spring and summer, so it was relatively cool.

She tried them all, and all of they were the right size, and for a moment it was clear that the rain had darkened her mood. At once she selected the clothes she would be wearing in the next few days. They were a cherry blouse and a white dress, and she wore a pair of sandaled shoes, along with the accessories of the day, which she had chosen even better than the one that Lönnnnnnnnell had prepared for her.

One had to say, this young lady had quite the unique talent in dressing up.

On the seventh of February, when she had changed her clothes, she sat in front of the mirror and let Shuang Yu brush her hair.

她今儿个没扎花苞头，用红绦带扎成了两个小发鬏，带子从两边垂下来，更像是年画里的玉娃娃，娇憨可爱。 双鱼蹲下替她挂上香囊和平安符，由衷地感叹：“姑娘长大了一定是位倾国倾城的美人。”

Today, she did not have a flower bud on her head. She had tied her hair into two small ringlets with a red ribbon. The ribbons were hanging down from both sides, making her look more like a jade doll in a New Year’s painting, cute and adorable. Shuang Yu knelt down and put on the perfume bag and the safety amulet for her, sincerely sighing, “Miss will definitely grow up to be a devastatingly beautiful woman.”

Xie Zhen does not know what is devastatingly beautiful, she only knows the double fish is praising oneself, smilingly accept.

Originally, Madam Leng had been worried that she wouldn’t be able to clean herself up well, but she didn’t expect that she would not only make herself beautiful, but also dress up Xie Xun. The dress was very soft against her, like a new sprout in the spring, white and tender, and one wanted to pull her out of the ground and take her home and taste her slowly.

Her daughter seemed more beautiful than last year, and her features were more delicate. The daughters of others were born beautiful, and the older they grew, the less beautiful they would be. The only difference between her family and others was that she grew more and more beautiful, more and more beautiful every year. She was already so beautiful even though she was only six years old. She wondered how beautiful she would be in a few more years, and whether this would bring about disaster. Madam Leng began to worry.

Why parents were always worrying? Daughter does not look good to worry, Daughter looks too good to worry, it is really a dilemma.

Of course, Leng wouldn’t tell her. She just needed to grow up properly. No matter what she looks like, she’s her precious daughter.

Today, Xie Liqing asked for a day’s leave from the yamen to accompany his wife and daughter out.

When the family of five arrived at the door, the Li family’s carriage was already prepared.

The two families set off at the same time, rushing towards the Temple of Puning, which was located five miles away from the city. Five Li Mountain was about five Li away from Yidu County, and it would take the carriage about an hour to travel there. They mainly brought the children to the green fields. They stopped and walked on the road, and after two hours, they arrived at the foot of Mount Wuli.

Only then did the Xie Family learn that the old lords and madams of the Gao Family were also in the temple.

“The Gao Family originally didn’t plan to serve incense, but then they somehow changed their minds and actually came even earlier than us,” Madam Song said.

Madam Leng, on the other hand, did not have any objections. She did not have a deep impression of the Gao Family, so it was the same whether they came or not. Xie Xun, on the other hand, was pushed by Gao Tongtong last time, so far she was a little afraid to come out, hiding behind Xie Rong.

Xie Rong told her not to be afraid, and held her hand as they walked up the mountain. “With big brother here, no one will dare to bully you.”

The mountain path was slightly rugged. The horse carriage could not move halfway up the mountain. The rest of the road had to be walked on its own. Xie Xun was too young, so the nannie carried her along with the master and his wife, followed by Xie Zhen and Li Yu, and finally Xie Rong. Xie Rong was followed by several other servants who were also closely following behind him to protect their safety.

Xie Zhen refused to be carried by nannie Chen. She wanted to be hand in hand with Li Yu, “Big brother Xiaoyu, wait for me …”

Li Yu walked faster than her and refused to stand with her.

Today, when they stood together at the door, he noticed that she had grown a little taller. Li Yu, who was more than half a year older than she was, suffered a heavy blow. He didn’t pay her much attention along the way.

Was she a bamboo shoot? How could she grew so fast after just a few rounds of spring rain?

Li Yu hid his hands in his sleeves and wouldn’t let her hold them.

Who would have thought that this naughty girl would automatically reach into his sleeve, grab his hand, and forcibly open his fingers to successfully grasp his hand.

Li Yu had probably never seen anyone so thick-skinned. He was immediately shocked, unable to shake it off.

Xie Rong followed the two children, not saying a word to stop Xie Zhen, only helping her to avoid harm when she was about to fall. However, Xie Rong wasn’t that friendly with Li Yu … In Xie Rong’s eyes, it was his sister who always treated him passionately. Yet, Xie Rong’s response was neither cold nor hot. He really didn’t know what was good for him.

After walking for more than half an hour, they finally arrived at the summit of the mountain.

At first, Xie Zhen was able to persevere for a while before she was finally unable to move any further. She spread her arms and ran to nannie Chen to ask for carrying her. Her delicate appearance was so adorable that nannie Chen’s heart trembled. She didn’t grumble at all as she carried her up the mountain in one breath.

Arriving at the entrance of the Temple of Puning, there was a monk waiting for him.

Temple of Puning had been built with the Li family’s money. The temple master treated the Li family as honored guests, and when he found out that they wanted to borrow a room, he immediately arranged a few rooms in the backyard for the monks to lead them there. The room was clean and clean, the windows were bright and clean, the bedclothes, tables and chairs were all present, it was a good place to stay.

The Xie Family had a total of three rooms. Madam Leng and Xie Liqing stayed in one, Xie Zhen and Xie Xun stayed in one, Xie Rong stayed in one by himself. After everything had been arranged, Madam Leng then led them to the Main Hall to pray. Inside the hall, the treasure was solemn, and the eighteen Arhats had different postures. Under this solemn and dignified atmosphere, Xie Zhen and Xie Xun suddenly became much more docile.

A mother and daughter were kneeling on a prayer mat in front of them. When they stood up and turned around, they discovered that it was Madam Xu and Gao Tongtong.

Madam Xu smiled and said a few words of greeting to Leng, taking Gao Tongtong with her.

Gao Tongtong was mercilessly mocked by Xie Rong last time, and she felt so indignant that she didn’t want to see him again in her life. However, when she saw him today, she couldn’t help but be captivated by him. She felt that he was much more handsome and taller than he was a few months ago.

Xu walked a few steps and found her daughter still staring after him. “Tongtong, what are you looking at?”

Gao Tongtong quickly recovered her wits and caught up with her. “Mother, I’m not looking at anything.”

After paying respects to Lord Buddha, Madam Leng led them back to their room to rest.

After all, they woke up early today and climbed up the mountain for another half an hour. Everyone must be very tired, so they might as well rest for a while and then go to the back of the mountain to look at the peach blossoms in the afternoon.

He didn’t expect that when he woke up in the afternoon, it would start raining. The fine raindrops were like needles as they dug into the soil of Mount Five Mile. The rain was light and intermittent, and it did not stop until evening.

Their plans were disrupted and they could not get out. They had to stay in the temple.

In the middle, Madam Xu took Gao Tongtong, and the two adults talked in the back room, while the children played under the veranda. This time, Gao Tongtong was smart and was so polite to both Xie Zhen and Xie Xun that for a moment Xie Zhen thought she was out of her mind before she turned into a different person.

Xie Xun also felt apprehensive, because after the previous example, no matter how she tried to curry favor with them, the two sisters never had much enthusiasm.

Gao Tongtong accompanied them all afternoon with her face, but they showed no sign of it. She was a proud person, and it was already very difficult for her to do this. She angrily flung her sleeves and turned to leave.