Dazhao Temple was an ancient temple from the previous dynasty, its grand gate towering high, with gray-white stone bearing the mottled marks of time. Close to the ground, faint traces of moss could be seen.
Lu Jinxi gazed at it, feeling somewhat dazed.
The temple's reception monks, having already received word, were now waiting at the gate.
Upon seeing her emerge, they respectfully lowered their heads and bowed, gesturing for her to enter. "All the offerings have been prepared, Madam. Please come in."
"Thank you for your trouble."
Snapping out of her reverie, Lu Jinxi was slightly startled. She retracted her gaze, turned to face them, and after a moment's pause, smiled and expressed her gratitude.
Truth be told, she still wasn’t quite accustomed to her current identity.
She had gone to bed as a failed entrepreneur, only to wake up as the widowed wife of a general, having narrowly escaped death from illness.
Fate had not been kind to her, tossing her from one frying pan into another.
Fortunately, the heavens hadn’t truly intended to end her. After lingering in sickness for half a month, she finally began to recover.
During this time, Lu Jinxi had kept her ears open, seizing every opportunity to thoroughly familiarize herself with the ins and outs of the general's household.
She had carefully analyzed the original owner's circumstances and devised a series of plausible reactions for her to display after recovering from her illness.
Apart from her personal maid, Bai Lu, who occasionally muttered that she seemed much more assertive and shrewd, no one seemed to suspect anything.
But it wasn’t assertiveness or shrewdness—it was simply her unwillingness to suffer losses.
It couldn’t be helped.
Having been an entrepreneur, Lu Jinxi was accustomed to meticulous calculations, always wary of falling into financial ruin.
Her sharp tongue and cunning temperament had been honed through countless battles of wits with unscrupulous business rivals.
She knew how to adapt her words to suit her audience, and her survival skills were top-notch. After a few hard lessons, she had learned never to let herself be taken advantage of again.
Even after transmigrating, her nature remained unchanged.
While it wasn’t difficult for her to mimic the original Lu's gentle and kind demeanor, given the current state of the general's household…
There was no room for her to play the role of a naive little rabbit.
Thinking of this, and of the general's household, Lu Jinxi sighed inwardly, feeling a headache coming on.
Outwardly, however, she showed no sign of distress. She slightly lowered her head and prepared to step through the temple gate.
Just as she lifted her foot, before it could touch the ground, a panicked voice called out from behind her, "M-Madam!"
Lu Jinxi's eyelids twitched.
She recognized the voice—it was Pan Quan'er, a quick-footed servant who often ran errands around the estate.
Turning around, she confirmed it was indeed him.
Pan Quan'er was dressed in a green robe, running in the cold weather until he was drenched in sweat, his face flushed red, his breath visible in the frosty air.
When he reached a spot about two zhang away from Lu Jinxi, he didn’t dare come any closer. Instead, he dropped to his knees, kowtowing on the ground. "Madam, Y-Young Master, he… he…"
Lu Jinxi's lips twitched slightly.
She knew this couldn’t be good news. She halted her steps and stood still, speaking calmly, "Get up. Catch your breath before you speak."
It had just snowed, and although the area in front of the temple gate had been swept clean by the monks, the ground was still icy cold.
Pan Quan'er knew that Lu Jinxi was showing mercy by allowing him to stand and speak. Grateful, he thanked her and scrambled to his feet.
After catching his breath for a while, he finally found his voice.
"Madam, this afternoon, Young Master went to school and… he got into a fight with Second Young Master Luo next door. He injured his arm, drawing blood."
"..."
Silence fell over the area.
The servants from the general's household who had accompanied Lu Jinxi all gasped in shock!
Second Young Master Luo was the second son of the Duke of Ying's household!
How… how could he have gotten into a fight with him?!
And even drawn blood?!
Bai Lu, standing beside Lu Jinxi, trembled, her face turning pale in an instant.
Along with the others, she instinctively turned to look at Lu Jinxi.
To their surprise, Lu Jinxi remained perfectly composed, her hands still tucked into her muff, appearing quite calm.
Xue Chi was the child born to the original Lu after her husband, Xue Kuang, had passed away.
As the only legitimate son of the great general and having lost his father at a young age, he had been excessively pampered by the household, turning him into a fearless little tyrant with a reputation for bullying.
Since transmigrating, Lu Jinxi had been bedridden due to illness.
On one hand, she was afraid of exposing herself in front of the children, and on the other, she worried about passing her illness to them. As a result, she had yet to meet any of Lu's children.
When Pan Quan'er mentioned Xue Chi, she had initially thought something had happened to the young master. Instead, it turned out he was the one causing trouble.
Since Pan Quan'er hadn’t mentioned Xue Chi being injured, it seemed he was unharmed.
Thus, Lu Jinxi actually felt relieved. Without asking about the circumstances of the fight, she simply inquired, "Did Second Young Master Luo injure his head?"
Pan Quan'er shook his head. "It doesn’t seem so. There’s no injury to his head, just his body… but no doctor has been called yet…"
So, it was hard to say for certain.
"Has a doctor been called?"
Her previously relaxed brow furrowed slightly as Lu Jinxi asked her second question.
"Huh?"
Pan Quan'er was momentarily stunned, seemingly caught off guard by the question.
He shook his head again. "As soon as the incident happened, the Duke of Ying's household took him away and called for a doctor outside."
"So, we haven’t called one?"
Lu Jinxi's long lashes cast a heavy shadow over her lower eyelids.
Her voice, though still the same in tone, carried a completely different feeling now.
It sounded calm, but not gentle.
A gust of wind blew by, causing Pan Quan'er to shiver as he replied, "When I left, our household hadn’t called for one yet."
The one in charge of the household was Lu Jinxi.
If her aunt, the princess from the second branch, had been present, the matter could have been handled smoothly.
However, the princess had gone to the palace this morning to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager and had stayed for a meal, so she wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
As for the rest of the household…
Lu Jinxi inwardly snorted. It would be a miracle if they didn’t make things worse by adding fuel to the fire.
The soft rabbit fur in her muff kept her hands warm.
Glancing at the freezing weather outside, she decided against taking her hands out.
After a brief moment of consideration, Lu Jinxi lowered her gaze, her expression gentle but her tone firm.
"Go back immediately. When you pass through the city gate, borrow a few men from Lord Liu, the Nine Gates Commander. Head to Huisheng Hall in the eastern part of the city and 'invite' Zhang the Ghost Hand to the Duke of Ying's Mansion to properly examine their child. Also, inform them that someone has already been sent to Dazhao Temple to notify me, and I will return shortly."
Pan Quan'er nearly collapsed in fear upon hearing this.
Lord Liu, the Nine Gates Commander, was a loyal former subordinate of the great general, known for his straightforward and generous nature. If he heard that the Xue household needed help, he wouldn’t hesitate to lend even an entire battalion of men!
As for Zhang the Ghost Hand, that poor old fellow…
Pan Quan'er mentally lit a row of white candles for him but quickly responded, "Understood! I’ll take care of it right away!"
Lu Jinxi nodded.
Pan Quan'er then swiftly retreated, dashing down the mountain, mounting the fast horse he had left by the roadside, and galloping off with a crack of his whip.
At the temple gate, the reception monks, aware that something had happened to the general's precious son, remained silent.
Lu Jinxi stood still for a moment, watching, then turned and walked back toward the temple.
Bai Lu asked in surprise, "Didn’t you say we would return immediately?"
This girl’s head really wasn’t working.
Lu Jinxi had only said that as a formality. Whether they would actually return or not was anyone’s guess.
She shook her head and simply replied, "Since we’re already here, it won’t take long to offer some incense before leaving."
She figured that the great general, who had died on the battlefield, might not have been a good husband, but he must have held an important place in Lu's heart.
On the bookshelf, inside a box, lay numerous victory reports from the frontier, which Lu must have read and touched countless times.
"The bones by the Wuding River are still the dream of the woman in the spring chamber…"
Waking from dreams with a wet pillow, her beloved no longer there.
Lu Jinxi was an outsider, having never met this "husband" who had died young, but she pitied Lu's deep affection and sacrifices.
She decided to offer some incense and recite a few scriptures on Lu's behalf.
Her hands still tucked into her muff, Lu Jinxi walked inward with an air of calm.
However, after taking a few steps, she paused and glanced toward the corner of the mountain path to her left.
The two figures were still there.
She had noticed them when she got out of the sedan chair earlier.
One was an elderly monk, draped in kasaya robes, likely a revered figure within the temple; the other was a man dressed in a deep blue robe, cloaked in a black overcoat, who cut a striking figure.
They stood at a distance, neither too close nor too far, and made no move to approach.
The people from the General's Mansion had always acted without restraint, while others would naturally keep their distance out of propriety.
Lu Jinxi didn’t recognize them, though she vaguely guessed why they stood there. Logically, she should have felt a sense of goodwill toward them.
But…
Her delicate willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly.
Lu Jinxi felt that the man in the overcoat had eyes that were far too penetrating and clear, as if they could see right through her. Yet, there was not a hint of emotion in them, which made her deeply uncomfortable.
Had she encountered an acquaintance?
She pondered this slowly, but without Lu Jinxi's memories or any mention from her maids, she couldn’t be sure.
So she calmly averted her gaze, pretending nothing had happened, and gracefully entered the temple.
Bai Lu and the others quickly followed her inside.
The mountain gate soon emptied, and the sedan bearers found some relatively clean steps to sit on while they waited outside.
The small green-curtained sedan chair remained quietly parked in the open space before the gate.
Gu Juefei’s furrowed brows finally relaxed.
The moment the General's Mansion's stewardess turned and looked at him, he had already discerned the peculiarity in her eyes.
From Wei Yi’s descriptions, he had learned that Lu Jinxi was gentle and timid, someone who avoided conflict at all costs.
She had no schemes, no ability to manipulate others.
Balancing kindness and authority?
Wei Yi had said such a thing was impossible for her; she was only ever kind to a fault. The most correct thing she had ever done in her life was obey her father and marry Xue Kuang.
But the Lu Jinxi Gu Juefei had just witnessed handled an unexpected crisis with just five sentences—showing compassion for her servants, thinking meticulously, not wasting a single word, each one striking at the heart of the matter.
And…
She was bold.
From start to finish, her hands never left the warmth of her hand warmer.
This proved she wasn’t the least bit flustered, even unnervingly composed.
Six years…
The Lu Jinxi whom Wei Yi had mocked as “a rabbit who wouldn’t even bite when cornered” had completely transformed, as if her very core had been replaced.
How many things in the capital had changed without his knowledge?
Standing at the end of the mountain path, Gu Juefei noticed the drooping branches of a small tree beside him, with a single dried leaf still clinging to it.
This was a tree planted in the temple a few years ago, called the “Diospyros lotus.”
Its fruit was sweet yet astringent, cool in nature, and could be used medicinally to quench thirst, dissolve phlegm, and clear heat toxins.
He reached out and plucked the solitary leaf, his fingers slowly tracing the clear veins on its back.
They were like wrinkles on the leaf’s surface, deep and aged, yet they pressed into the warmth of his fingertips.
Monk Jueyuan watched him.
This was a hand that had penned brilliant essays and crafted strategic theories.
He didn’t ask why Gu Juefei had been observing Lu Jinxi for so long, but after glancing at the half-yellowed Diospyros leaf, he understood. “When do you plan to descend the mountain?”
Gu Juefei pinched the dried leaf, clasped his hands behind his back, and smiled with a hint of complexity, his voice low and hoarse. “When the snow on the mountain melts…”
