You've Got Mail: Cautionary Tale (YGMCT)

Chapter 77 - Yan Wenxin

In the suburbs of the capital, there was a Taoist temple called Chongxu Guan. The royals of the Great Xia dynasty followed both Buddhism and Taoism, and many of their customs, temples and rituals were a mix of both religions. However, Chongxu Guan was a very traditional temple, a rare sight in the Great Xia. It had many believers, and it received the royals’ great trust, so it was responsible for the annual ceremony of the emperor’s sacrifice to heavens.

Chongxu Guan was located at Qingyun Peak, about a half-day journey from the capital. Qingyun Peak was not extremely inaccessible or dangerous, its terrain gentle, and the scenery along the way was beautiful. Not only were there rugged mountains and towering rocks, there were also fields of blooming flowers, the variation of landscapes causing one to be unable to take them all in. After the gradual incline of the mountain, the height then rose steeply near Chongxu Guan. One needed to climb nine hundred and ninety-nine stone steps before they were able to reach the gates of the temple.

Of course, the royals and noble ladies were not able to climb this near one thousand steps. There was a path at the back of the mountain that was suitable for horses and carriages, leading them directly to Chongxu Guan.

Ping Yifan had invited Wu Xingzi for a hike on Qingyun Peak, and they could even reach Chongxu Guan around lunchtime for a vegetarian meal.

It was not that Ping Yifan was cheap, and that he wanted to freeload a meal from the temple. The vegetarian dishes of Chongxu Guan were very well known, and although they were all very simple, without any flowery cooking techniques, just one vegetarian dumpling could make countless believers constantly think about it. During the first and fifteenth days of the month where people would have vegetarian meals, many women from noble families liked to request their family to go up to Chongxu Guan and buy their dumplings home, never getting sick of it. Furthermore, the Taoist priests of the temple normally had their classes to attend to, and the vegetarian dishes could only be consumed in Chongxu Guan, with the food being available for purchase only on the first and the fifteenth of the month, making people scramble for it.

Wu Xingzi was not very interested in the famous view. His entire focus was on the man next to him.

He recalled how the moment he woke up in the early morning, the two girls had quickly helped him wash up and dressed him up. They somehow managed to get some money and bought him a well-fitted Confucian robe that was made of a light and soft material. Despite it being a dull, dark grey colour, the stitching on the cuffs, collar and hem was neat and precise, and it could be seen that the work was exquisite.

Knowing that Wu Xingzi did not like to be dressed too conspicuously, there were no designs or ornaments on the robe. However, the material itself seemed to gleam gently on Wu Xingzi’s body. Even if he believed himself to be an ordinary man from the countryside, he had to admit that he now had a gentle and stylish air around him.

He had never worn something so good in his lifetime, and in that instant, he did not know where to place his limbs. Stiffly, he sat in front of the copper mirror, letting Mint comb his hair for him. After some time, he finally forced the words out. “W-where did these clothes come from?”