Chapter 60: The Maid, the Matron, and the Monk

Luo Yunyao hurriedly bowed to the middle-aged woman, then asked respectfully, "Pardon me, auntie. You are exceptionally wise, and I am indeed here to inquire about this household. However, if I may ask, what has become of..." Luo Yunyao pointed toward the empty, desolate house and asked with a puzzled expression, "Where has this family gone?"

The middle-aged woman was instantly tickled pink by Luo Yunyao's inquiry, a bright smile blossoming across her face. Overjoyed, she eagerly explained the mystery to Luo Yunyao: "That family you speak of is truly pitiful. They originally had a single son, but he was conscripted into the army during the mandatory drafts back then. Wasn't that right when the realm was sliding into chaos? In those days... well, you young folks might not remember, but I can give you a comparison. It was even more chaotic then than when Tiansheng launched its campaign against Biluo!"

Luo Yunyao had not expected that asking such a simple question would unearth events from before she was even born, let alone historical details of the old wars concerning Biluo. Luo Yunyao secretly thought to herself that this was bad; the woman was simply too enthusiastic, and judging by the momentum of her story, it would easily take an hour or two.

Normally, Luo Yunyao would have been quite happy to listen to such tales, but she simply did not have the time to spare. More importantly, General Qin certainly would not want to listen.

Luo Yunyao cast a cautious glance at General Qin, especially since, in a way, this woman had been drawn over by her own questioning.

However, General Qin Jinghao showed not the slightest trace of impatience on his face. Luo Yunyao looked closely to see if Qin Jinghao was truly as calm as he appeared, only to catch him offering her a slight, subtle smile. Luo Yunyao was momentarily startled. With the middle-aged woman standing right beside them, she dared not make any overt gestures and quickly lowered her head, though her heart fluttered as she suddenly understood the meaning behind the General's smile:

*So, it turns out you are not the one who talks too much.*

Luo Yunyao pondered this carefully. Was General Qin implying that she talked too much? A cold shiver ran down her spine. The Minister of War, Lord Luo, suddenly grew terribly worried that General Qin might conclude that as she grew older, she would turn into someone even more talkative than the woman standing before them.

Thinking along these lines, the Minister of War was seized by a strong impulse to offer General Qin an explanation, yet for a fleeting moment, she felt utterly at a loss. In the end, Luo Yunyao resigned herself to her fate, deciding to simply listen attentively to the woman and banish all other distracting thoughts from her mind. Deep down, however, she firmly resolved to explain everything to Qin Jinghao the moment the woman left!

"…That battle was fiercely contested! The God of War, General Qin, was probably just a toddler of two or three back then, so naturally, he couldn't have led that campaign—we always said later that if General Qin had been there, given his god-like military tactics, the casualties wouldn't have been nearly as severe! What a pity... And so, the elderly couple's only son ended up perishing on the battlefield!"

The woman shook her head as she spoke, her face filled with deep regret and a long-drawn sigh.

Luo Yunyao, however, missed the key moment to observe the expression of the praised and renowned General Qin. True to form, the General's thick-skinned composure had been thoroughly honed; facing such praise, his expression remained completely unchanged, and not a single eyebrow twitched.

***

General Qin was far more reliable than the Minister of War, who kept talking about investigating cases only to constantly stray from the main points. He listened as if casually, and then spoke with apparent nonchalance: "If I recall correctly, when that war concluded, it coincided with His Majesty's ascension to the throne. Consequently, a policy of recuperation and economic recovery was adopted, which granted quite substantial subsidies to the families of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country."

The woman was startled for a moment by the interruption, but seeing that although Qin Jinghao's manners lacked Luo Yunyao's polished refinement, every single word hit the mark. Most importantly, he lacked the tedious and elaborate polite formalities, making him much more suited to a simple, poorly-read woman like herself. Her favorable impression of this cool, clear-as-jade young gentleman instantly skyrocketed—oh my, this young man's voice simply could not sound any more pleasant!

The middle-aged woman immediately nodded eagerly and enthusiastically picked up the thread: "What the young gentleman says is entirely true—anyone can see at a glance that he is a person who understands the bigger picture. As for me, I don't know anything about policies and such. But just as the young gentleman said, after that war, the couple lived a smooth and quite prosperous life—though, I must say, their life still fell far short of wealthy gentry and squires, and even further behind esteemed noble young masters like yourselves."

Luo Yunyao was no longer surprised that the woman had seen through their upper-class identity. After all, given their attire and the fact that they had come to investigate an incident that had long been the talk of the town, their status was not hard to guess. Luo Yunyao merely felt a touch of emotional irony at the woman's words—here lay the helpless resistance of the peasant and proletarian classes exploited by the landlord and bureaucratic classes!

Sentimental as she might feel, Luo Yunyao—a modern youth from the twenty-first century steeped in socialist core values—had no choice but to bow her head under low eaves, as she could neither save this woman nor bring any fundamental change to the vast peasantry and proletariat.

Luo Yunyao quickly reined in her occasionally overly compassionate tendencies and, following the opening left by the woman, cooperated very smoothly: "If that was the case, why did this family eventually end up..." The remaining words were unsuitable to be spoken aloud, but the woman knew them all too well. *How did they end up living in such a desolate, dilapidated house? How did they come to such a bleak end?*

Having been handed a respectful stepping stone, the woman eagerly jumped down to the next part of her tale. With a sorrowful look still lingering on her face, she continued in a melancholic, sighing tone: "Although they achieved a modest level of wealth, the family was far from happy. For one thing, they had never recovered from the death of their only son; for another, they had no other sons, and to make matters worse, years passed without a single child being born."

Listening to this, Luo Yunyao thought to herself that she now understood the entire history of this family more thoroughly and conscientiously than a household census registry. Yet she dared not interrupt the woman's dramatic flair, out of both politeness and reluctance.

Whether the woman frequently listened to professional storytellers or simply spent her days gossiping about her neighbors' private affairs, she told the tale with a true narrative flavor, continuing with great zest: "Life was truly unbearable for this aging couple—that is why I say they are a pitiful family. Even though they had more money than the rest of us in the early days, I didn't envy them in the least. Naturally, they couldn't just go on like that, so they exhausted every possible method of praying to deities and Buddhas. But the real story begins on that particular day..."

Luo Yunyao suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and patiently listened on.

"That day was bright and sunny, with a gentle breeze. I am an uneducated woman, so I don't know how to use fancy literary phrases, but as long as you understand the meaning, that's enough.

On that day, the elderly couple were just coming out of the Temple of the Goddess of Mercy. As they walked out, crestfallen yet harboring a faint glimmer of hope, they heard an elderly yet vigorous voice ring out: 'Benefactors, stay your steps.' They turned around to look, and it was a monk, continuously striking a wooden fish with a rhythmic beat. But this monk was a strange person—if you ask me what was strange about him, auntie will tell you: he was not a monk from that temple at all, but a traveling monk! The couple assumed the monk was seeking alms. Being kind-hearted souls, they were about to reach for their purses when the monk stopped them. He performed a Buddhist salute and chanted 'Amitabha'—monks are always fond of saying that phrase. As for the reason why, auntie knows, but the two of you probably aren't in the mood to hear about it. The monk respectfully asked them a single question: 'Originally, the two benefactors accumulated heavy sins in your past lives and deserved no such blessings. However, because the two of you have prayed piously to our Buddha every single day for three consecutive years, you have truly moved the heavens and touched our Buddha. It is your good fortune. Now, this poor monk presumptuously asks you on behalf of our Buddha: Is a male child strictly necessary?'

The couple were stunned. They looked at this ordinary-looking, rather tattered monk, not taking his words truly to heart. Without giving it much thought, they replied to the monk, 'Of the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the worst. Without a son to carry on the ancestral incense and lineage, we would have no face to meet our parents beneath the Nine Springs.' The traveling monk lowered his head and tapped his wooden fish, letting out what sounded like a sigh, and the couple faintly heard him say, 'Indeed, destiny cannot be defied. So be it. Since this poor monk has decided to help you two, I suppose a little extra trouble matters not. You must take good care of this daughter.' The monk gave the couple a meaningful look. 'Your paths through life will be fraught with twists and turns, but things should improve in your old age; whatever you seek shall be granted.' The traveling monk performed another Buddhist salute, chanted 'Amitabha' again, and left while tapping his wooden fish."

Judging by how smoothly it was delivered, the woman must have told this story countless times. It was so vivid and lively that even Luo Yunyao felt a stir in her heart.

Can past and present lives truly be pierced through and foreseen?

Luo Yunyao couldn't help but steal a glance at Qin Jinghao out of the corner of her eye. If past and present lives truly existed, or if destiny was real, could she interpret her own journey—crossing a millennium and traversing space—as being destined solely to meet Qin Jinghao, to meet him, and to fall in love with him?

And then... what about the future?

Luo Yunyao dared not think any further. The middle-aged woman didn't give her time to dwell on it either, chattering right along: "At first, the couple simply regarded this incident as an amusing dinner-table anecdote and never took it to heart. Who would have thought that, seemingly starting from that very day, the wife actually conceived..."

Qin Jinghao raised his gaze and interrupted without warning: "They had fraternal twins."

Seeing that it was Qin Jinghao who had interrupted her, the non-stop middle-aged woman became even more amiable. Hearing his words, she widened a pair of eyes framed by deep crow's feet in astonishment and admiration, repeatedly praising: "The young gentleman nailed it! I told you this young man doesn't look like an ordinary mortal; could it be that you, young gentleman, are a being from the heavens just like that monk?" The woman looked up toward the sky, practically on the verge of kneeling before Qin Jinghao and addressing him as an immortal.

"You flatter me, auntie. This humble person merely remembered what you said just now."