Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 388 - 387: Brothers Meet

Chapter 388: Chapter 387: Brothers Meet

From the twelfth day of the eighth lunar month, Chen Afu began to lead the making of mooncakes in the small kitchen. She mainly set an example and watched over others.

There were also mooncakes in this era, all filled with five kinds of nuts. She led her staff to make fruit-filled mooncakes, duck egg yolk mooncakes, and mooncakes filled with beef and ham.

Once the mooncakes were made, eighty of them were sent to each of Capital Marquis Mansion, the Royal Rui Mansion, and the Luo’s in Dingzhou. Additionally, Abbot Liao Chen and Marquis Chu in Lingyin Temple each received twenty boxes of vegetarian mooncakes.

On the fourteenth day, twenty mooncakes were separately sent to the families of Chen Shiying, Chen Shi, The Fus, The Lius, The Qins, and Chen Ming.

Marquis Chu and Chu Lingzhi liked sweets; ever since the mooncakes were made, they ate them at every meal instead of ordinary meals. Eating too many sweets is not good, so Chen Afu had to limit the supply for fear they would get sick.

On the evening of the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the sky was deep and bright moon shone like a mirror. In the cool autumn wind, bursts of intoxicating fragrance of osmanthus floated in the air.

Chu Lingxuan still hadn’t returned, so Chen Afu, old Marquis Chu, and the children sat in the main court’s courtyard to appreciate the moon. Alu was also invited to celebrate the festival and would stay at Chaohua Courtyard for the night. Four long tables were arranged in the courtyard with apples, grapes, and mooncakes on them. The old marquis had a table for himself, Chen Afu and Ms. Chu, and Li Xuan shared a table, and the other three boys shared one.

Dabao thought he should sit with his sister and mother at one table. But seeing the encouraging look in their mother’s eyes, he guessed her intention. He had grown up, and should sit with his peers to appreciate the moon. His teacher went to the wine-shop tonight, saying he was going to appreciate the moon and write poems with those scholars.

They ate mooncakes while moon-gazing. To liven up the atmosphere, each person had to perform and entertain the others.

Chen Afu took the lead and told the story of "Chang’e flies to the moon." Ms. Chu sang a nursery rhyme "little swallow, in flowered dress", and Dabao and Alu each recited a moon-themed poem from the poets of this era. Chu Lingzhi performed a set of martial arts moves.

Except for Chen Afu who sat and told the story, the children all performed in the open space.

There were many funny moments, and the laughter never ceased.

After everyone had performed, they thought it wouldn’t be right if old Marquis Chu didn’t. Except for Alu, the other kids ran to grandpa and strongly asked him to perform. Some crawled into his lap; others clung to his back.

Grandpa laughed heartily and performed a set of martial arts moves.

After that, everyone’s sights were on Xiao Lixuan.

Li Xuan wanted to perform but was afraid, hiding behind Chen Afu with his mouth puckered.

Li Xuan’s illness was not serious, just that he was frightened when he was little. After half a year’s psychological counseling, the company of the other children and the treatment of Yanchen Fragrant Leaves, he was almost like a normal child, except for being a little timid and a slightly slow reaction. If he could perform alone tonight, he would really overcome his fear.

Chen Afu pulled him forward, touched his hair and laughed, "Xuanxuan is the most capable, wasn’t your performance great this late afternoon? Auntie and your sister have seen your performance, now there are only Grandpa Chu, Dabao, Uncle Chu, and Uncle Chen, what are you afraid of? If Xuanxuan performs well, auntie will give you a big reward."

Xiao Lixuan looked up, his big eyes watching Chen Afu. The bright moonlight seemed to fall into his eyes, shining brightly.

Chen Afu whispered again, "Neither your brother, sister, uncle, nor your cousin have this, only you will have." She specially made a big frog doll for Li Xuan, and also put some Yanchen Fragrant Leaves in it.

Dabao and Yan’er know their mother’s bias, so they join in the fun and start yelling, "Mother, how can you be so partial? We won’t stand for this."

Chu Lingzhi also joins in, "My big sister-in-law is unfair to me. Grandpa, I want to go home and tell on her."

Li Xuan, feeling very smug as everyone is jealous of him, blushes and slowly makes his way to center stage. Reciting to them, "The moon lady loves me and follows me wherever I go. When I wash my face in moonlight, she enters the basin to kiss me."

Although he’s a bit coy and not very loud, he recites smoothly and has clear pronunciation.

As soon as he finished, he quickly ran to Chen Afu’s side and buried his face in her armpit. He originally wanted to bury it in her stomach, but he knew his aunt has a little brother in her tummy, so he dare not touch it.

Everyone applauded. Including the servants behind them, even Mrs. Wei couldn’t help but cry excitedly.

Next came the free performances. The schoolboys each recited a moon-worshiping poem, and Ms. Chu sang a nursery rhyme. Chen Afu told a joke about "Three Sons-in-Law" that made both the children and servants laugh until their stomachs hurt.

Everyone in the courtyard was having fun, but they didn’t realize when the courtyard door had been opened. Under the two camphor trees outside the yard, a group of people were overcome with emotion.

These people were Marquis Chu, Prince Rui, and a man in his twenties—the "Ninth Master," Ninth Prince Li Zeping, who had met Chen Afu once before.

Under Chu Lingxuan’s company, they had already been standing there for nearly half an hour.

Prince Rui had never dreamed that his son would change so much in half a year. He became fluent in speech, nimble in running, and dared to sing nursery rhymes in front of everyone. Although the nursery rhyme was simple and childish, nothing compared to the poems of the other boys, his improvement was undoubtedly the largest...

There was no one else around them, and Chu Lingxuan inadvertently stood between the Ninth Prince and Prince Rui. So even if the Ninth Prince was a little out of sorts, no one else noticed.

Marquis Chu was pleased with the ever-increasing cleverness of his granddaughter, and also happy for the other children. Raising Dabao well was a return to the Emperor and the Yuan family. If Li Xuan was raised well, Prince Rui would be in total alliance with the Ninth Prince and could also bring his maternal family into the Ninth Prince’s camp.

The excuse for them to come here from Lingyin Temple was to accompany Prince Rui to check on Xiao Lixuan.

After Monk Gui Ling received the three colored balls, he let Chu Lingxuan send a message to the Ninth Prince through a few channels, asking him to come to the temple for treatment in seven days.

On the ninth day, the Emperor asked Prince Rui to visit Lingyin Temple for three days of vegetarian prayers, asking heaven to bless the Li Dynasty for a thousand generations to come.

Everyone understood the Emperor’s decision. Although he did not publicly acknowledge that Princess Rong Zhao had incurred divine wrath, causing the group of birds to attack her in Lingyin Temple, he was still afraid.

Marquis Chu, who was Princess Rong Zhao’s husband, had already practiced vegetarianism and prayed at Lingyin Temple for a month. This additional visit by someone from the royal family demonstrated that the Emperor genuinely believed the remarks from the imperial scholars, even though he had not stated it openly.

The Ninth Prince, whose legs were already much better but still slightly "lame," went to see the Emperor after hearing the news. He said that Master Wu Zhi of Lingyin Temple had healed his legs. Although the master was no longer in the temple, he still wanted to return to Lingyin Temple to express his thanks to the Buddha and Bodhisattva.

The Emperor, upon hearing this, approved his plea. He told him to pray to Buddha further for a complete recovery of his leg. Only when he stopped limping could he share the worries of the nation with his other brothers.