After leaving the clinic and seeing the young man off, Meng Ping’an slowly made her way toward the abandoned temple in the east of the city.
Whenever she got tired, she would find a place to rest for a while. Whenever she got thirsty, she would drink some spiritual spring water.
There were steamed buns and sesame flatbreads in her space, so whenever she got hungry, she would take one out to fill her stomach.
The journey should have taken only half an hour, but it took her two hours to get back to the abandoned temple. By then, it was already completely dark.
Using the moonlight to find her way back, Meng Ping’an returned to the abandoned temple and rested for a long while before sitting up.
She drew a bucket of spiritual spring water from her space, heated it in the iron pot, poured it into the wooden basin, and washed herself.
After washing with the spiritual spring water, the injuries on her body didn’t hurt as much anymore.
She stayed in the abandoned temple for four or five days.
Only after all her injuries had healed did she leave the temple.
By now, Meng Ping’an no longer went to the restaurants in town to beg.
The group of beggars had people keeping watch there, so she couldn’t get anything from that area anymore.
A few days earlier, she had heard someone mention that there was a temple called Linshan Temple north of the abandoned temple.
The temple had a thriving incense trade, with many people going there to pray and make offerings.
Meng Ping’an wanted to go take a look and see if begging there would be easier than begging in the city.
At her age, begging was the only way she could make a living.
What could a six- or seven-year-old child do?
No one would hire a child that young, so she could only rely on begging to support herself.
She left the abandoned temple and walked north for more than half an hour.
At last, she saw the temple halfway up the mountain.
But from the foot of the mountain, it would take another half hour or so to climb up.
Looks like she’d have to get up earlier tomorrow.
Most people who came to offer incense and pray arrived before noon. Coming after noon was considered disrespectful to the gods and Buddha.
Meng Ping’an climbed for a while, then rested for a while.
There were no stone steps on this mountain. The entire path was simply a dirt trail worn smooth by people’s footsteps.
Whenever she encountered a steep section, she had to hold onto the trees beside the path to dare climb upward because the road was somewhat slippery.
By the time she reached the temple entrance, the sun was already high in the sky.
Meng Ping’an found a conspicuous spot and carried over a flat stone from the side of the road. She sat down on it.
She placed her broken ceramic bowl in front of her.
Whenever someone passed by, she would call out a few words.
“Kind sir, kind lady, please have some pity and spare me something! Buddha will surely hear your prayers and bless you!”
Those with kind hearts would toss her a few copper coins.
Some people ignored her, but they were few.
By noon, Meng Ping’an had begged for more than a hundred copper coins.
It was much better than before.
Previously, she had needed four or five days of begging just to save up one hundred wen.
Now she could earn that much in a single day.
If she happened to encounter a festival, she could probably earn two or three times as much.
She continued begging throughout the morning and into the afternoon.
After eating lunch, there were fewer and fewer people around, so Meng Ping’an put away her bowl and prepared to leave.
She couldn’t go into the city anymore.
Why not take a look at the academy that the Little Young Master had told her about?
Meng Ping’an happily descended the mountain and headed toward the academy in the south of the city.
It took her a full hour to walk from the temple to the academy.
The academy’s main gate was wide open, and there wasn’t even anyone guarding it.
She quietly made her way into the courtyard and approached several of the largest rooms.
Under the eaves, she saw many people dressed like young servants and maids.
Some were dozing off.
Some were gathered together chatting.
Several young maids were sitting together doing embroidery.
Meng Ping’an found a quiet corner where she could see the teacher giving his lesson inside.
Beside the teacher was a large wooden board with a wide, thick sheet of white paper hanging from it.
Several characters were written on it.
They looked very similar to the traditional Chinese characters she knew from modern times.
Meng Ping’an found a small twig nearby and followed the teacher, writing the characters along with him.
Occasionally, she would quietly repeat the words under her breath.
For the entire afternoon, while the teacher taught, she listened, read, and practiced writing from the side.
When class ended, she would hide somewhere with no one around and rest until class started again, then return to her original spot.
She stayed until evening before heading back to the abandoned temple.
The distance from the academy to the abandoned temple also took nearly an hour to walk.
After all, she was still young and walked slowly.
An ordinary adult could make the journey in less than half an hour.
Although the road was far, Meng Ping’an didn’t find it tiring.
Instead, she felt that this kind of life was quite fulfilling.
And so, time passed like flowing water.
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.
Meng Ping’an was now ten years old.
During those three years, she learned many characters.
She could even read an entire book by herself now.
After spending so much time at the academy, she became familiar with the maids and young servants.
They would lend her some of the miscellaneous books from their young masters’ and young ladies’ book chests.
A few of the young maids also taught her embroidery.
There weren’t many young ladies studying in the city. The entire academy couldn’t even gather ten of them.
There were even fewer young maids—only four.
After spending so much time together, the four young maids became quite fond of Meng Ping’an.
Whenever they had something delicious, they would share some with her.
They would chat with her, teach her embroidery, and draw patterns for flowers and shoes.
They treated her like their own little younger brother and doted on her.
Even the teacher would smile and nod kindly whenever he saw Meng Ping’an.
Sometimes he would even come over to where Meng Ping’an was and look at the characters she had written on the ground.
“Not bad. You’re a good child who knows how to learn!”
After that, the teacher began paying more attention to her.
Sometimes he would even give her a book to read.
Once Meng Ping’an finished reading it, she would return it to the teacher in perfect condition.
As time passed, everyone became accustomed to the little beggar’s presence.
If they didn’t see her one day, they would even wonder where she had gone and why she hadn’t come that day.
Recently, fewer and fewer pilgrims had been visiting the temple.
Meng Ping’an was puzzled.
After arriving at the academy, she heard several of the young maids talking about it.
“Things haven’t been peaceful in Luozhou lately. I heard that the army was defeated at the border, and the enemy country is going to invade.”
Some wealthy families had already begun moving their entire households toward the capital.
After all, being closer to the emperor would be safer.
“My young master is also going to the capital to stay with some relatives. Maybe we’ll even travel there together.”
One of the young servants came over and spoke to one of the maids.
The young maid’s face lit up.
“Really? That’s wonderful! I was worried that my young lady wouldn’t know anyone after going to the capital. I didn’t know your young master was going too!”
Meng Ping’an looked at them reluctantly.
“Are all of you leaving?”
The other three young maids shook their heads.
“We don’t know. Our masters haven’t said anything. We probably won’t be able to come here to study anymore.”
“That’s right. My master also said that my young lady isn’t allowed to go out anymore. After finishing these last few days, she probably won’t be coming back.”
“Ah…”
Meng Ping’an sighed, looking at them reluctantly.
“Don’t worry, Ping’an! If we stay in town, we’ll still have a chance to see each other again.”
“Exactly! If you ever happen to beg in front of our residence, I’ll go to the kitchen and get you some meat!”
One of the young servants joked from the side.
“Go, go, go! Who even cares about your family’s meat? Ping’an, don’t listen to him. If you ever come into the city, you can come visit us at our residence!”
“All right!”
Meng Ping’an smiled as she answered.
The teacher was also deeply troubled as he watched the number of students at the academy decrease day by day.
One day, he stopped Meng Ping’an as she was about to leave.
“Ping’an, you shouldn’t come here anymore either. Qingshan County has already been occupied by the enemy forces. I’m afraid Qingcheng won’t be safe either. Find somewhere safe to hide, and make sure you take good care of yourself.”