Xianglan was still unaware that Lin Jinlou had nearly turned Jinling upside down searching for her. She pushed open the window of the meditation room, hooked the curtain on a small silver hook, and gazed into the distance. The setting sun cast long shadows over the distant mountains, weary crows returned to their nests, and a clear stream rushed over stones. A cold breeze swept by, crisp and refreshing. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if expelling all the pent-up restlessness from her lungs. Turning back to the desk, she picked up a brush and lightly dabbed a few strokes of flowing clouds onto the painting, instantly bringing Sunset Mountain Village to life. Pleased with her work, Xianglan inscribed the date, took a small stone seal, dipped it in ink paste, and stamped it in the lower right corner. Wiping her hands on a small towel by the desk, she glanced out the window again. This serene and peaceful life was exactly what she desired—no scheming or power struggles within the household, no forced flattery or trampled dignity. It felt almost like a dream.
That day, she had stumbled out of the temple and begged the young monk to alert the guards. Only when she saw them enter the temple did she breathe a sigh of relief. After resting for a while, she heard shouts and the sounds of fighting, then watched as black-clad figures fled the temple in panic. Leaning against a tree trunk, she stood up and thought to herself, "Lin Jinlou’s Personal Soldiers are all highly skilled. They should be able to rescue Madam and Fourth Miss." But then another thought crossed her mind: "Lin Jinlou saved me twice. Now that I’ve saved his mother and sister, we’re even. But I fear he won’t let me go and will imprison me back in the Lin residence... Why not... why not take this chance tonight to disappear?"
The idea took root. She pondered, "There’s a small temple called Lotus Nunnery nearby. I visited it years ago. My aunt, Abbess Dingsu, is the head nun there. She watched me grow up and has always been fond of me. I’ll go to her first and figure out my next steps."
Under the dim moonlight, she cautiously made her way down the mountain. Fortunately, she had often played on this mountain as a child and knew the paths well. After walking for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, she finally spotted the small temple. The nuns were conducting their morning prayers. Abbess Dingsu was startled to see Xianglan and quickly ushered her into her room. Xianglan recounted her experiences over the past two years, and the abbess listened with deep sympathy, sighing repeatedly and clasping her hands in prayer. She then asked, "What are your plans now?"
At these words, Xianglan knelt on the floor, tears welling in her eyes. "I’ve reached this point, and I shamelessly beg you, Aunt, to save me. I cannot return to the Lin family. Please hide me for now. I’ll find a way to go to Yangzhou to seek my master. If my parents come looking for me, please quietly inform my family. I could never repay your kindness, even if I were crushed to dust." She kowtowed repeatedly.
Abbess Dingsu helped her up and said, "Hiding you isn’t difficult, but traveling alone to Yangzhou... Ah, a beautiful young girl journeying by herself is bound to face dangers. If you were kidnapped by traffickers or met with some misfortune, it would be even worse." After a moment’s thought, she suggested, "How about this? There’s a wealthy local gentleman named Yu nearby, known for his generosity and integrity. Coincidentally, his daughter is being escorted to Yangzhou for her wedding. I’ll ask him for a favor, telling him you’re my secular niece heading to Yangzhou to join relatives. You can disguise yourself as a maidservant and travel with them."Xianglan was overjoyed and settled in Lotus Nunnery. Later, when Lin family soldiers came searching several times, she managed to evade them all. After two more days, she disguised herself and hurriedly boarded a boat, traveling along the desolate Grand Canal to Yangzhou. Upon reaching Yangzhou, Xianglan took out silver to reward the Yu family. When planning her escape earlier, she had hidden some silver and jewelry inside the monastic robe she made. Before leaving Lotus Nunnery, she secretly left some silver under Abbess Dingsu's pillow, so she still had plenty left. However, the Yu family refused to accept it and instead hired a large carriage, sending servants to escort Xianglan to Xiansheng Nunnery where Abbess Dingyi resided.
Abbess Dingyi showed no surprise upon seeing Xianglan and simply allowed her to stay, instructing her to clean a second-floor meditation room for herself. Every day, Xianglan followed the nuns in the nunnery for morning bells and evening drums, chanting scriptures and practicing cultivation. During the day, she carried water, worked in the vegetable garden, helped in the kitchen, and in her spare time, painted in her room, leading a rather leisurely life. Chansu, who served Abbess Dingyi, once joked with Xianglan, "Junior Sister, it hasn't been long, but you seem like a different person. Before, though steady, you had a lively and spirited nature, always laughing and chatting. Now you're much more subdued, but also more sensible."
Xianglan was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Growing a year older means a year older—how can I always act like a child, causing trouble and upsetting the abbess and senior sisters?" After Chansu left, Xianglan sat in her room, staring out the window in a daze. These past two years had brought her more bitterness and despair than when the Shen family fell from grace, her husband died during exile, and she herself succumbed to illness. No matter how difficult it was back then, she always felt someone was with her through life and death, and by enduring hardships, they could carve out a path to survival. She carried a faint flame in her heart, defending her last shred of dignity and hope with fierce courage. But she fell ill and passed away less than half a year into the exile, her pride not entirely trampled underfoot.
In this life, however, she was first forced into servitude, suffering endless humiliation. Just when she glimpsed a ray of hope, she was abandoned by Song Ke. Later, to save her father, she became Lin Jinlou's concubine. While others envied her glamour, she knew the difficulties of serving Lin Jinlou, the dangers of her position in the Lin residence, and the unspeakable sorrow in her heart. Step by step, sigh by sigh, life had molded and crushed her, grinding her face into the dirt for others to trample, wearing away nearly all her edges. Only a stubborn bone remained in her heart, reminding her in midnight dreams that she had never truly bowed her head. Looking back now, though she had stumbled through these days with her head lowered, bleeding from the bumps, they had also tempered her once somewhat arrogant and haughty heart. From then on, she understood the myriad flavors of life and treated others with more tolerance than before.The nuns in the convent also grew fond of Xianglan. At first, seeing her exceptional beauty and refined demeanor unlike an ordinary girl, they wondered why she chose to reside in the monastery and maintained a distant attitude. Later, observing her amiable nature—always greeting everyone with a smile, willing to endure hardships, and undertaking any chore without complaint—they warmed to her. She would wash clothes in the courtyard even in deep winter, her hands turning bright red from the cold, yet she never minded. Braving the biting wind, she made trip after trip to fetch water, her shoulders chafed and sore without a word of complaint, managing every task with meticulous order. As time passed, everyone grew fond of her and enjoyed her company. Some, curious about her origins, asked where she came from. Xianglan would explain that she was originally a disciple of Dingyi Shitai but had spent several years as a maid in a wealthy household. Now that she had bought her freedom, she had returned to serve her master.
Later, Xianglan received a letter from Dingyi Shitai, informing her that her parents still did not know she had gone missing. The Lin family seemed to have kept it secret and had not informed them, so Dingyi Shitai also refrained from speaking up. The letter also mentioned that the Lin family had sent exceptionally generous gifts during the New Year, startling Chen Wanquan so much that his eyes nearly popped out. He wanted to visit the Lin residence to express his gratitude but was stopped by Jixiang, who had delivered the gifts. After the initial shock, Chen Wanquan became smug, boasting to everyone about his prestige and face, exaggerating how much the Lin family had gifted him and how glorious his daughter’s status was in the Lin household. This attracted a crowd of people vying to curry favor with him, even Han Yaozu, the county magistrate who had once caned Chen Wanquan, made a special visit. Han’s son, Han Guangye, spent a fortune to purchase several of Xianglan’s paintings, praising them as unparalleled masterpieces, which made Chen Wanquan even more puffed up with pride.
Knowing her parents were safe, Xianglan felt relieved and focused on living a quiet life. Although she had some savings, she worried about depleting them and planned to earn money so she could eventually bring her parents to Yangzhou. She took her calligraphy and paintings to a stationery and antique shop near the temple to sell on consignment.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye. One day, Xianglan carefully carried two scrolls of paintings to the shop, quietly entering through the back door. The shopkeeper, familiar with her by now, invited her to rest in the elegant room reserved for distinguished guests while he went to the front to fetch some silver. As soon as Xianglan sat down, two people entered. One was a woman wearing a green gold-patterned sleeveless jacket and a dark brown satin skirt, with a seductive figure, glossy black hair styled in elegant coils, and a face radiant like a spring dawn—heavily rouged and adorned with gold and silver. Her slender fingers bore six gold stirrup-shaped rings, giving her the appearance of a noble lady from a prestigious mansion at first glance. Yet, her haughty demeanor, roving eyes, and subtle air of coquetry betrayed a less refined background. The other was a handsome, fair-faced young man with flirtatious peach-blossom eyes, tall and dressed in blue silk robes, holding a folding fan. His entire demeanor exuded frivolity and flirtation, resembling a wealthy playboy.
At the sight of the woman, Xianglan was greatly startled—the stunning beauty was none other than Chunyan, who had been expelled from the Lin residence by Lin Jinlou! Glancing sideways, she noticed the man’s slickly groomed and powdered face, finding him unfamiliar. Xianglan quickly pulled her hood over her head, stood up with her head lowered, and hurried to leave. Just then, a shop assistant came in with tea and refreshments. Seeing Xianglan rushing out of the room, he smiled apologetically at the two newcomers and said, “My apologies, my apologies. I didn’t realize someone was in here earlier. Please, have some tea.” With that, he set the tea on the small table.Chunyan snorted and sat down in the chair. She picked up the tea and took a sip, then frowned at its heat and set the cup aside, complaining, "I'm thirsty and exhausted, my throat's gone hoarse, and now I can't even drink this tea." As she spoke, she took a flaky pastry from the dish. She hadn't recognized Xianglan earlier—Chunyan had entered the Lin household early, while Xianglan grew up in a temple, so they had rarely met. By the time Xianglan joined the household, Chunyan had already been sold off by the Lin family.
The fair-faced young man also sat down, but his eyes followed Xianglan's figure until she disappeared from sight, his neck still craned. Chunyan glanced up and saw this, her anger flaring. She threw the pastry in her hand at his face and sneered, "What are you staring at? I ought to gouge out those eyes of yours!"
Startled, the young man saw Chunyan's brows furrowed in rage and laughed, "Are you jealous? You're always flirting with men, and I can't even look at someone else?" Seeing Chunyan about to glare and scold him again, he quickly begged for mercy, "Alright, alright, my lady, I admit I'm wrong. Since you find the tea too hot, I'll ask the shop assistant to bring a lukewarm cup." With that, he picked up the tea and left.
As the saying goes, there are no coincidences in life—this fair-faced young man was none other than Qian Wenze, who had narrowly escaped Lin Jinlou's grasp. Back then, realizing he had provoked a demon, he had fled Jinling in a panic, as if chased by dogs, and after twists and turns, deceit and lies, made his way to Yangzhou. The affair with Zhao Yuechan was a scandal, and Lin Jinlou, having shaken off the trouble, had no interest in pursuing it further, which gave Qian Wenze a chance to survive. He hid for a while initially, then gradually emerged from the shadows. Seeing no one was after him, he grew bolder.
Qian Wenze was accustomed to mingling in the streets, so he changed his name and resumed his old ways in Yangzhou. Once he had money, he indulged in drinking, gambling, and visiting brothels. Spoiled by his past, having been involved with a beauty like Zhao Yuechan, he looked down on ordinary women. He went to the Yicui Pavilion and spent lavishly to request the popular courtesan, Girl Yan, to sing for him. Soon, Chunyan arrived with her lute. Delighted to see such a handsome young man, she flirted with him, and that very night, they became intimate. In bed, Qian Wenze probed into Chunyan's background, and she claimed to be a maid from a prominent family in Jinling, sold into the brothel after angering her mistress—though she refused to specify which family.
Qian Wenze compared his options privately: those more beautiful and famous than Chunyan were beyond his means, while lesser ones didn't appeal to him. Among the courtesans of her rank, Chunyan was the cream of the crop, so he frequented the Yicui Pavilion, booking her for a month or two when he had funds and vowing to buy her freedom once he saved enough money. Two years passed this way, and Chunyan, believing she had hope, devoted herself wholeheartedly to him. In private, they lived as husband and wife.
That day, Qian Wenze and his companions had invited the sons of several local gentry to drink and had brought Chunyan along to sing for entertainment. On the way back, Chunyan mentioned that a painting in her room had been torn by a drunk guest and she needed to buy a new one, insisting on choosing it herself. Thus, they came to this shop. The assistant, seeing Chunyan arrive in a curtained sedan chair and Qian Wenze dressed elegantly, assumed they were from a wealthy family and treated them with respect, leading them to a private room—unexpectedly running into Xianglan.Qian Wenze carried a teacup as he stepped outside, just in time to see the shopkeeper slip a small coin purse into Xianglan's hand. Xianglan bowed in thanks before turning to leave, but because she was wearing a Guanyin hood, her face was no longer visible. Qian Wenze hurried forward and asked the shopkeeper, "Who was that girl who just left? I found a handkerchief earlier—perhaps she dropped it." As he spoke, he indeed pulled out a handkerchief embroidered with peach blossoms from his sleeve.
The shopkeeper glanced at it and chuckled, "This certainly isn't hers. She's a lay nun from the Xiansheng Nunnery who has taken vows but keeps her hair. She only uses coarse cloth and wouldn't own such a delicate item. Her clothes are plain, and the hairpin in her hair is made of wood."
Qian Wenze tucked the handkerchief away and remarked, "A nun? What a pity—such a beauty wasted. What was she doing here in the shop?"
The shopkeeper replied, "Some of the nuns at the nunnery paint in their spare time and entrusted her to sell their artwork here." With that, he picked up a painting from the counter and slowly unrolled it.
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