“County Mistress, Qinghua Temple has been reached.”
The carriage stopped. The attendant driving it dismounted, set up a small stool, clasped his hands, and stood respectfully outside.
Linglong and Linlang flanked Shen Yunshu, helping her down from the carriage.
“Mother! Grandmother!”
Shen Yunshu hurried straight toward the carriages of the Princess Consort and the Old Madam of the King Who Stabilized the North.
The Old Madam of the Shen family, being a first-rank titled lady and the head of the Shen household, carried a natural air of authority whenever she went out.
She wore a deep indigo robe embroidered with auspicious clouds. Her hair was adorned with tourmalines and rubies, and around her neck hung a red-gold double-phoenix necklace, giving her an imposing yet dignified appearance.
“Take your time. There’s still a chance to catch the vegetarian meal in the temple.”
The Old Madam waved at the approaching Shen Yunshu with a kindly smile, teasing her playfully.
“Grandmother’s teasing again! I hurried over not because of the meal, but because I didn’t want you to get sunburned!”
Shen Yunshu pouted in mock irritation, her childish expression making the Old Madam and the Princess Consort laugh.
“Not that I blame Shu’er,” Ji Shuyao added, stepping in to smooth over her daughter’s words. “The vegetarian meal at Qinghua Temple is truly delicious because of the rare green bamboo used. Especially the bamboo-tube rice cakes—they’re so sweet and fragrant. On the first day of each month, it’s a special vegetarian day. Miss it, and you’ll remember it for a long time!”
“So that’s why Shu’er is so fond of food!” the Old Madam chuckled, laughing along with Ji Shuyao.
Qinghua Temple was famous and always busy with worshippers. Many noble families and officials came to pray and make offerings, so the mountain road had been rebuilt to allow carriages to pass.
The Shen family’s carriage stopped at the temple steps. Laughing and chatting, the group slowly made their way to the entrance, where a novice Daoist guided them to the main hall.
The Old Madam and the Princess Consort led Shen Yunshu inside to kneel and make offerings, then rested and ate in the temple’s dining hall before waiting for the Daoist Master Shande to give his sermon.
Because Shen Yunshu was still young, the Old Madam and Princess Consort did not restrain her. Her attendants stayed behind, letting her wander the temple freely.
Shen Yunshu could understand the teachings of the Daoists, but she preferred exploring the temple grounds. Children had their privileges, and she saw no need to force herself to act overly mature.
During the Yang Dynasty, Daoism flourished, and temples were numerous.
Qinghua Temple was the largest temple in the imperial city, aside from the royal temple. Its grounds were vast, with numerous halls, ancient trees providing shade, and rows of pine trees, making it picturesque.
Even a physically fit man would need a full day of walking to explore the entire temple.
Shen Yunshu wandered happily. In her previous life, she loved visiting scenic spots and temples, feeling that such places brought peace to the mind.
Passing a bamboo grove, she noticed the tall, straight stalks with jade-like nodes and felt a surge of delight. She asked the Daoists there for permission and cut a few stalks to take with her.
The bamboo grove at Qinghua Temple was famous throughout the Yang Dynasty. Anyone who loved bamboo had come to take a few stalks.
Perhaps it was the grandeur and constant incense burning at the temple, but bamboo from elsewhere never seemed to possess the same vitality as that from Qinghua Temple.
Shen Yunshu did not expect to recreate the entire grove in the Shen residence; she only wanted a few stalks to display in her own Bamboo Cloud Pavilion.
On her sixth birthday, she requested to live alone in the only courtyard in the palace with a small bamboo grove and named it the Bamboo Cloud Pavilion.
Though it was not the best courtyard in the residence, Shen Yunshu did not mind. For her, a home’s value depended on the people within it.
Sure enough, the day after she moved in, her father arranged for renovations, connecting two previously unused sections of the courtyard. One became a small garden, the other a pond, giving her space to wander and play.
With these expansions, her courtyard became the largest in the palace after her parents’ main residence.
As the Daoist sermon was ending, Shen Yunshu wandered toward the main hall in the front courtyard, preparing to escort the Old Madam and Princess Consort back.
“Yunshu, come quickly! I’ve heard that Master Jingyun’s divinations are extremely accurate. He happens to be here today. Can we ask him to give our little daughter a reading?”
The Princess Consort called to the approaching Shen Yunshu and spoke to a young-looking Daoist in plain robes.
The Daoist glanced at Shen Yunshu, furrowed his brows, and, just as he was about to make a gesture for divination, paused and calmly lowered his hands.
“The County Mistress’s fate… this humble Daoist cannot divine.”
“What do you mean, Daoist?”
The Princess Consort’s voice showed faint concern and curiosity, worried that something might be wrong with her daughter.
“Your Highness need not worry. It is not that the County Mistress’s fate is inauspicious. This humble Daoist simply lacks the skill to calculate her destiny.”
Jingyun shifted his hands behind him, made a hand gesture, and shook his head again.
Shen Yunshu, who had initially been indifferent, raised an eyebrow in surprise.
In her previous life, she had read many online novels in which the heroine crossed time or was reborn, and often encountered a high monk in a temple or a wandering Daoist who claimed to see destiny, forcibly performing a divination.
They would predict phoenix-like reincarnation, or dangerous stars, or some other ominous fate. If the protagonist was fierce, the monk might even admonish her: “Karma is cyclical; do not commit murder. Lay down your blade and become a Buddha.”
Shen Yunshu had imagined countless scenarios of how she would respond—boldly, arrogantly, or politely.
But instead, the Daoist simply said, “I cannot divine it.”
Shen Yunshu was momentarily speechless. She had no chance to perform her witty comeback.
Was this the difference between ordinary people and the protagonist? Others got all the highfalutin destiny readings, but she got nothing?
Clearly, she wasn’t “worthy.”
However, in her previous life, most so-called fortune-telling was just a set of tricks to fool people.
Shen Yunshu had never really believed it. But the calm expression of Daoist Jingyun and his simple statement of “I cannot divine it” made him seem somewhat credible.
At the very least, he was honest.
In her heart, Shen Yunshu gave him a thumbs-up.
Perhaps, in ancient times, there really were people capable of reading fate. After all, she had managed to traverse time herself—so a divining master was hardly impossible.