Translator: Tuiwen Editor: Tuiwen
“Don’t you think Madam Jiang and Zhu Ming Jing already knew each other?”
Ye Lan raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think that’s likely. Didn’t that girl grow up in a nunnery on top of a mountain? How could she even get the chance to meet Madam Jiang?”
Gao Jia shook her head. “Didn’t you see Madam Jiang’s expression when she first saw Ming Jing?”
Then she turned to Zhu Xiangxiang. “How about you, what do you think?”
Zhu Xiangxiang slowly sipped her tea before answering. “It would be better if you asked Madam Jiang regarding this matter.”
Gao Jia rolled her eyes. ‘If I could just come up to her and ask, why would I even waste my breath on you?’
A tall figure walked into the courtyard then, blocking the sunlight from the outside. Gao Jia’s gaze went past Zhu Xiangxiang’s shoulder and fell on the person who had just arrived.Beside her, Ye Lan cleared her throat and straightened her back. She reached up and tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear, her movements calculated and rehearsed.
Zhu Xiangxiang narrowed her eyes at the two other girls. Her senses perked up, and an alarm bell started going off in her head. She wasn’t about to be done in. She suddenly stood up, her fingers still holding her teacup.
She whirled around and promptly spilled her tea on the boy’s chest. “Oh, no! I’m so sorry…”
Zhu Xiangxiang stared up at his handsome face, her eyes wide as saucers, her expression meek and full of regret. Even the most callous person would have felt a twinge of pity at the sight of her face.
Gao Jia and Ye Lan glared at her back, their eyes burning with rage.
‘This shameless wench! What a horrific scheme she has managed to pull!’
Jiang Jinchen scowled down at himself and stepped back, putting a good distance between him and Zhu Xiangxiang.
He looked as cold and aloof as ever, and the girls felt a slight chill run through their spines.
Despite this, Zhu Xiangxiang gritted her teeth and soldiered on. “I’m really sorry, Senior. I’ve dirtied your clothes now. Please change and I’ll take them to the dry cleaners for you.”
Gao Jia and Ye Lan rolled their eyes and took on similar expressions of disdain. ‘It’s all a trick, Jiang Jinchen. You must not fall for it.”
Jiang Jinchen’s long fingers flicked at the wet stains on his shirt and his sleeves. “That won’t be necessary,” he said in a curt tone.
Then he walked past Zhu Xiangxiang and into the villa without sparing the girls another glance.
“Senior!” Zhu Xiangxiang turned to chase after him, but Gao Jia quickly pulled her back.
“He obviously doesn’t want to talk to you. Take your seat and stop embarrassing yourself.”
Zhu Xiangxiang shook off her grip. “What does it have to do with you anyway?”
Zhu Xiangxiang shook off Gao Jia’s hand. “What does it have to do with you?”
“What’s this? Are you mad because you can’t hook up with Jiang Jinchen? You call yourself the top socialite in the city, yet here you are, throwing yourself into his arms without a second thought. Do you even know the meaning of the word shame?”
“Well, I don’t think Miss Zhu did it on purpose.” Ye Lan smiled at Zhu Xiangxiang. “Isn’t that right, Miss Zhu?”
Zhu Xiangxiang flashed them a scornful smile. “Of course, I did it on purpose. I’m not some people, who only plot in their heads but have no guts to put their plans into action.”
…
Two years ago. Jiang Chunlan had gone to a small town close to the Snowy Peaks to take care of some business. She met an accident on the way and got separated from her bodyguard and assistant. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she also ran into a group of bandits. She was nearing her wits’ end when a hunter suddenly appeared out of nowhere and came to her rescue.
She thanked the man profusely, but he told her, “You are thanking the wrong person. It was the Young Master Ming Jing who told me to come and save you.”
Jiang Chunlan was confused by his words. “Young Master Ming Jing? Who is this person? How did they know that I was in trouble?”
The hunter then pointed toward the peak, his expression turning reverent. “Lonemoon Nunnery sits on top of the Snowy Peaks. It is run by the Grand Master Heartless, and her second disciple, Young Master Ming Jing, is nothing short of a god. There is nothing in this world that she doesn’t know.”
When Jiang Chunlan heard this, her initial thought was that someone had set her up. Noticing the suspicion on her face, the hunter continued, “If you have nowhere else to go, stay at the nunnery for now. The Grand Master Heartless is benevolent. She often takes in homeless people.”
She had always believed that one must know one’s enemy before the battle. No matter what happened next, Jiang Chunlan was determined to go into what she thought to be her enemy’s den. And so, she let the hunter lead the way up to the nunnery.
The moment she arrived, she marveled at the truth of the nunnery’s name. Indeed, it hung above the world like a lonely moon in the snowy peaks. What was more, it was perched at the edge of the mountain cliffs. The nunnery itself wasn’t large, and even looked dilapidated for the most part, but it was quiet and filled with an air of sanctity.
Jiang Chunlan did not meet the Grand Master Heartless. She was told that the elder had gone down the mountain for business.
She was ushered inside, where a golden statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was enshrined in the main hall. A young and skinny nun was kneeling in front of the likeness, with her back to Jiang Chunlan. Sandalwood incense wafted all around, and the steady rhythm of a wooden gong bounced off the hallowed walls. It had a calming effect.
“You…” Jiang Chunlan said tentatively, approaching with caution. “Are you the Young Master Ming Jing?”
The wooden gong stopped then, but resumed its steady beats in the next moment. A soft and ethereal voice rang in the hall, seemingly from beyond the gates of the mortal world.
“What brings the Madam all the way here?”
Jiang Chunlan looked around, but nobody else was in sight. This nun in front of her was much too young to be so learned. “How did you know that I was in trouble?”
“The secrets of heaven must not be revealed.”
Now, the nun was being vague on purpose.
“Since the Young Master is so powerful, then you must already know my reason for coming.”
“To know the hearts of Heaven and Earth, to better the mortal life, to realize one’s full potential.”
Jiang Chunlan was taken aback. “Young Master…”
She stayed in the nunnery for the next three days. Each day, she had a simple meal and sat for tea with the Young Master to discuss Dao. Those were the most relaxed and comfortable Jiang Chunlan had been for as long as she could remember. Finally, her assistant and bodyguard came to take her home.
Before she left, the Young Master gave her some profound parting words: “Hide your strength and bide your time. If fate permits it, we shall meet again.”
Jiang Chunlan’s thoughts were filled with the young nun, long after she had returned to civilization. She was but a mere child, but her eyes spoke of an old soul within her body. Moreover, she exuded holy energy, which made people want to bow down and worship her.
Never had she imagined, even in her wildest dreams, that the esteemed young master was, in fact, the real daughter of the Zhu family.
‘How could those people do such a thing?’ Jiang Chunlan thought now, with no small amount of indignation.
At the back of her mind, she was itching to ask about the incident at the Orchid Garden. Although the Azure Dragon Society was notorious far and wide, little was known about the organization apart from what was on the surface. Yet her Young Master had known that they would strike. Even the skills she had displayed as she had fought them off weren’t something an ordinary martial artist was capable of.
She looked into Ming Jing’s eyes as she mulled this over. They were just as deep as she remembered, like twin pools holding a thousand years’ worth of knowledge.
Jiang Chunlan’s question was stuck in her throat, and she changed her mind.
All she had to know was that the Young Master would never harm her. And that was enough.
“Madam,” Zhou Xue spoke up in a hushed voice. “The Young Master is back.”
This was followed by the sound of light and even footsteps.
Jiang Chunlan smiled and patted Ming Jing’s hand. “Come, I have someone I want to introduce to you..”