A snowy day.
The scenery in the temple was especially beautiful.
White snow covered the red tiles of the temple buildings, creating an exquisite landscape.
The bells hanging in the corners of the temple were frozen.
They were also covered in snow.
Everything was snow-white.
The monks in the temple had also put on hats.
For a moment, only by their robes could one tell if they were monks or not.
With hats on, some monks looked like handsome young men, while others resembled plump officials.
The monks in the temple probably walked more slowly, so the snow hadn't been trampled dirty.
There were only faint footprints crisscrossing each other.
On a snowy day, there weren't as many worshippers coming to burn incense and pray to Buddha.
Because praying to Buddha isn't usually an urgent matter.
The Buddhist temple doesn't take emergency cases.
With few worshippers around, the arrival of the Jiang family made things lively.
Having come for a ten-day ritual, the monks were already familiar with Qin Madam, as well as the Miss and Young Master.
They must be related to the mysterious VIP in their temple.
No one else was allowed to enter.
Even the Abbot needed permission to go in.
Yet this family came in every day.
They ate and drank, and even took things back with them.
Although they had only paid a thousand taels, the scale of the ritual was worth over twenty thousand taels.
Every day, senior monks chanted sutras, and the old Abbot himself had even come to sing.
Qin Luoxia thought that the monks in the Capital City deserved to make money, as even the elderly monks had to come and chant sutras, which wasn't easy.
In the village, people of that age would be village elders who needed to be taken care of.
The Capital City was indeed different.
Yes, it was just as her daughter said, too competitive.
Even the elderly monks had to come out and work.
Qin Luoxia felt that this temple was quite good and reliable.
She decided to hold all future events, big or small, at this temple.
Oh right, there would soon be one - she could ask the people at the temple to calculate which day would be an auspicious date suitable for a wedding.
Jiang Changtian didn't have a good impression of temples.
He didn't know why.
Perhaps he naturally disliked bald heads.
He had an inner aversion.
In one aspect, he was similar to his son Jiang Feng - he extremely craved liveliness and needed to be surrounded by people, afraid of being alone.
Monks were too solitary, spending all day tapping wooden fish in front of wooden statues, such a life seemed endlessly long.
However, the scenery of this Tai'a Temple was indeed nice.
And it was conveniently located.
Even carriages could reach it.
The parking area was also very spacious.
There were several stone blocks at the temple entrance.
These were mounting blocks, quite advanced. They were for horses to stop by, for people to dismount. The high stone blocks were just right for getting down.
It wasn't possible for everyone to have someone bend over for them to step on, like in TV dramas.
These stone blocks were very convenient.
Arriving at the entrance, they found that the Meng Family had just arrived too, getting off their carriage.
The two families merged into one, walking in boisterously.
The two chubby babies were indeed not afraid of strangers or the cold weather.
They seemed very excited outside, making "yi ya yi ya" sounds.
Meng Shaoxia even deliberately extended his little one out to catch some snow, then got his hand slapped by his mother.
"Slap!"
"Dong!"
The temple bell rang.
Some snow fell from the pine trees at the entrance.
Snow-covered pine trees were at their most perfect state.
Very upright and proud, yet pure white.
Everyone entered the temple gate together.
They first saw the outermost Buddha statue.
The Hall of Longevity.
For protecting long life.
People with children in the family couldn't help but worship it.
Or those with illnesses.
When young, people pray for wealth, love, official positions, and many other things. When older, those things may have been obtained, or maybe not yet, but more urgently they begin to pray for peace, health, and longevity.
After a slight bow, they arrived at the ritual hall.
The monks didn't recognize Jiang Er's family, but they knew the Meng Family.
The Meng Family were regulars in praying for children.
Meng Madam and Old Madam Meng were also big clients of the temple.
They had given so much money for incense that the monks felt embarrassed to accept more.
It wouldn't be right to just take money without doing anything.
Now it was good, they had brought two chubby grandsons to fulfill their vows.
Whether the monks had helped or not, anyway, you made a wish, you got grandsons, so you had to fulfill the vow.
The madam who came for the ritual had an extraordinary and dignified appearance, and both children were exceptionally good-looking.
They originally thought she was doing the ritual for her husband.
But unexpectedly, a handsome man got out of the carriage today.
It turned out to be her husband.
Qin Luoxia was quite good at keeping secrets.
She liked to hide things.
Today she had specially dressed up her husband.
He looked even more handsome than when he wore his official robes.
She had started washing his hair and bathing him yesterday.
Jiang Changtian just thought it was because they were going to the temple.
If one needed to be more devout, they would bathe and burn incense before going to the temple.
Today was cold, so she prepared a fur cape for her husband, and a robe with a fur collar.
Qin Luoxia felt that her husband was most suited to dressing like a rich young master, the more luxurious the better.
Although they were here for a ritual, where it's best to wear white, there are also luxurious whites.
The white satin could have intricate embroidery, and fur could be added to the cuffs and collar.
In terms of luxury, the Capital City was indeed advanced.
Qin Luoxia would also observe others' attire when she went out.
She wasn't idle at home either, arranging for clothes and shoes to be made for her family, at least so they wouldn't be mocked for their attire.
Even when she was poor, she dressed neatly and cleanly.
Now that conditions were better, she naturally didn't skimp.
Today, Jiang Changtian was still the most beautiful Attendant Jiang in the court.
Wearing casual clothes, he looked even more noble and gorgeous.
A face of a beautiful middle-aged youth, with slight traces of time, yet more charming and flavorful.
Not the kind of youthful feeling, after all, he was the father of several children and had even been promoted to grandfather, so he couldn't always be youthful.
But rather the beauty of a middle-aged man with experience, grace, knowledge, and cultivation.
Graceful and refined, forgetting worldly matters upon seeing him.
Like a beautiful jade, finally polished to perfection.
Mountains and rivers couldn't hide his elegance.
Wind and snow couldn't conceal his countenance.
Jiang Changtian's handsomeness, under his wife Qin Luoxia's careful grooming, was displayed more thoroughly.
For some reason, walking into the temple, the thousand-year-old ancient monastery, Qin Luoxia felt this scenery suited her husband perfectly.
Jiang Mianmian also felt that her father's attire today matched the temple very well, it would make for great photos, pity there was no camera, and she couldn't paint such landscape portraits herself.
Today was the last day of the ritual.
The temple still arranged many monks solemnly.
The ritual was very complex, with lots of knocking and beating.
Jiang Changtian felt that this standard didn't seem like it was worth just a thousand taels.
He was quite familiar with the prices of high-ranking monks.
For a thousand-tael ritual, having five or six monks knocking and beating for you would be considered fulfilling their duty.
The Meng Family, Old Madam Meng and Meng Madam had also come.
Although they agreed to let their two precious grandsons go out, the two were still worried, anyway it was to the temple, so they came along, the more respect shown to Buddha the better.
Large temples all have places for female guests to rest.
It was quite troublesome for women to go out at this time, they needed special places to rest and use the toilet, it wasn't possible to go out to public toilets, and their clothes were very complex, it was easy to get feces on them in outside latrines.
Going to the toilet was all done with people serving, with maids lifting your clothes to avoid getting them dirty.
The Meng Family had a large side room, they took their grandsons there first to tidy up and rest.
They left Jiang Yu and Meng Shaoxia behind to help out.
Actually, there wasn't much for the hosts to do during the ritual.
It was just about having everyone present, burning incense together and bowing.
Zi Congheng felt at ease.
When his father was alive, he seemed to like lively atmospheres too.
After death, he had gained a bunch of family members, including himself, this way, he should truly be able to rest in peace.
Today when burning incense, there was no situation of the incense falling over.
Perhaps even if there really were spirits, they were blocked outside the temple, after all, ghosts find it difficult to enter, there are too many local deities in the temple.
After burning incense, everyone added a little oil to the eternal lamps.
With this, the ceremony was considered complete.
Qin Luoxia finally said, "There's one more important matter today. I've found an important relative, and since the whole family is here, let's meet them together."
Today when the family met, Qin Luoxia didn't rashly go in.
Instead, she let Mianmian go and say a word.
The place where the aunt lived was also strange, it seemed others couldn't enter.
Mianmian trotted over and quickly found Granny.
She saw that Granny was in good spirits, brewing tea on a snowy day, with baked sweet potatoes and some frozen persimmons and tangerines on the stove, anyway it looked very suitable for posting on social media.
Mianmian ran up and pounced in front of Granny, originally wanting to jump into her arms, but Granny stepped back several steps.
She panted and said, "Granny, my mother asked me to tell you, she's brought father for you to see."
Princess Huiyun widened her eyes. In this icy, snowy weather? Did they really dig someone up? Or was it that Xiao Qin was even more unwell than her?
Princess Huiyun was also dressed all in white today, like a snow fox, wearing a veil that only revealed her eyes.
She steeled herself and said, "Your mother is truly enthusiastic. Since we're already here, it would be good to meet."
Qin Luoxia accompanied her husband.
A string of people followed behind them.
Heavy snow, a thousand-year-old temple, winding paths.
Princess Huiyun saw a group of people before her, and when she saw the man at the front, her heart suddenly stopped beating.
She had a dream where her child hadn't died, but had grown up, married, had a wife and children, and the whole family lived in harmony. Her child looked like her, but even more like his father.
He was a jade-like gentleman of the mortal world.
His smile was gentler than Jingjue's.
He was her child.
Her eternal pain.
The cause of her illness.
The reason for her countless attempts at self-destruction.
She always thought that if she died, she would be able to see her child again.
But now he was standing alive before her.
Princess Huiyun felt her heartbeat and breath stop, but her tears couldn't be halted. An overwhelming sense of bitterness surged through her, leaving her in disbelief.
She worried that she was having another episode. During her episodes, she couldn't even recognize those around her, often mistaking others for Jingjue...
