Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 461 - 452: Difficult to Settle

Chapter 461: Chapter 452: Difficult to Settle

The next day, Chen Afu was still in his dreams when he heard the voices of Miss Chu and Chu Lingxuan from outside the window.

It was just the beginning of the Chen hour. Chen Afu chuckled and got out of bed.

Today, Dabao and the others were washing and resting, but because Chu Lingxuan had not returned home for a long time, he and Chu Lingzhi didn’t sleep in either, getting up early to come here.

As they ate breakfast, Dabao said, "I heard from my uncle last night that Granny is inviting everyone to a ’flowing water banquet’ today and inviting an opera troupe to perform. Uncle Five and I are going to the Lu Garden for the feast."

Chu Hanyan hurriedly said, "Mother, I want to go too."

Dabao had grown up running wild in the village, and now his danger had been lifted. Chu Lingzhi had grown up on the border, and his mother had let him grow up carefree. Chen Afu wouldn’t restrict them, but he wouldn’t let Miss Chu go.

He said, "If Yan’er really wants to have fun, then go to the Fu Garden. You can hear the noise from Lu Garden there too. Have your little sister and aunts find a few little girls to play with you in the garden."

After breakfast, Chu Lingxuan went back to the Zen Courtyard to continue persuading Liao Chen, while Dabao and Chu Lingzhi led the Zhui Feng family to the Lu Garden. Passing Fu Garden, they saw Wang Cai and Yuan Bao guarding the gate and barking at the Zhui Feng family. Yuan Bao didn’t like crowds, so Wang Cai thoughtfully brought it to play in Fu Garden. Seeing this, the Zhui Feng family went into Fu Garden.

When Dabao and Chu Lingzhi arrived at Lu Garden, they saw that apart from the people who were helping with cooking and Chen Ye’s family, the other guests had not yet arrived. Dabao took the opportunity to express his regret to Mrs. Wang about his younger sister not being able to come.

Mrs. Wang wore a date-coloured embroidered dress and a long jade hairpin, looking several years younger. She smiled and said, "Today, there will be many people, both men and women, young and old from the village. Miss Yan is the daughter of the Marquis’ mansion, and we cannot let her be bothered. Your mother is also inconvenienced and can’t really come here. Tell your mother that Granny will send two tables of food to Fu Garden, so your in-laws, your parents and your sister can eat there, making it as though they are celebrating with us."

Dabao thought it was a good idea and asked Xiao Luzi to go home and tell his mother.

By the beginning of the noon hour, Liao Chen insisted on returning to the Yingxue Nunnery. Despite Chu Lingzuan’s pleas and even after Chen Afu brought the three children to kneel in front of her, expressing their willingness to stay in Tang Garden to keep her company, she still insisted on leaving.

Chu Lingzuan deeply regretted it. If he hadn’t persuaded his mother to follow religious devotion at home, would she have stayed in the Tang Garden a little longer?

Chu Lingzuan, Chen Afu, Chu Hanyan, and the two little brothers escorted Liao Chen to the gate of Tang Garden.

The two little brothers always played with Liao Chen, and this was usually the time they played in the Fu Garden. As they watched their grandmother hug them and kiss them without continuing to play with them, but instead get into a horse-drawn carriage and leave, they burst into tears.

Even when the carriage carrying Abbot Liao Chen had gone quite a distance, the loud crying of the two brothers could still be heard. Tears streamed down her face too; she was reluctant to part with them, her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. But she could not go to the Chus’ nunnery. If she did, what would that make her? She also couldn’t keep letting her daughter-in-law and grandsons stay in Tang Garden to keep her company. She simply couldn’t be so selfish.

She felt useless. Originally, she couldn’t let go of worldly affairs and wanted her son and daughter to be safe. She thought that once her son and daughter were safe, she could let go of these worldly affairs and devote herself to Buddha. But when her son and daughter were safe, she hoped for her granddaughter’s safety, and for her son to have descendants. Now that her granddaughter was safe and her son had successors, and the two grandsons were so cute, she still couldn’t calm her mind.

Liao Chen, when she first took this Dharma name, hoped it would mean an end to all worldly troubles, but after so many years, she found it too hard to let go...

After bidding farewell to Liao Chen, Chen Afu and his family went to Fu Garden, their spirits low. Especially Miss Chu and the two little brothers all had tears in their eyes.

The old Marquis breathed heavily and his gaze turned deep as he looked into the distance. "Ah, it should be soon, right? Then, all our big family can be together and never be separated again," he said.

Finished speaking, he got up to tease the birds under the corridor.

The main room, the east wing, and the west wing, there were many bird cages hung under every corridor, a total of over fifty, containing nearly a hundred birds, all brought back by Jin Yanzi. These birds seemed to prefer living here. They were usually well-fed, and occasionally they would go to the mountains with the bird king for a little relaxation, leading a comfortable and joyous life.

Fu Garden had indeed become a paradise for the birds. Chen Afu instructed Mr. Zeng to deal with the loneliness of living alone in Fu Garden, so he treats these birds very well. He not only feeds the birds in the cages, but also feeds any other birds that come looking for food.

Except for Qi Qi and Hui Hui, and the first Jin’er, Chen Afu only took a few small birds to the house in the capital city. The other birds stayed in Fu Garden, and a few stayed in Tang Garden and Lu Garden. Nowadays, almost all the people of the Dashun dynasty knew about Rong Zhao being attacked by a flock of birds, so she didn’t want people to see that her family had a special relationship with birds.

These birds could recognize people, they not only recognized Mr. Zeng who had been feeding them all along but also Chen Afu’s family and the people of Lu Garden.

Seeing the old master come to play with them, the birds were even happier, singing energetically. The birds that Jin Yanzi brought into Fu Garden were either exceptionally handsome or had delicate and melodious voices, so their singing was never annoying. It made people feel joyful instead.

But today, no matter what, they couldn’t feel joyous. Chen Afu saw Chu Lingxuan’s tightly furrowed brow and tightly pursed lips, and asked quietly, "Since grandma refuses to come home with us, and it’s so far away, what should we do?"

Chu Lingxuan whispered, "I suppose we can only build a nunnery outside Dingzhou and have mother cultivate her faith there."

At this time, Wang Xiaomei, leading Chen Daya and several village girls, arrived at Fu Garden. Chen Afu had Luo Mei lead Ms. Chu to play in the backyard with the girls, and then he asked Mrs. Lin and Mrs. Jiang to take the crying little brothers there as well.

By midday, Lu Garden sent over two tables of banquet. The masters sat at one table, Manager Luo and Mr. Zeng sat at another.

As they ate, they heard noises from Lu Garden, there were cries, and Mr. Zeng hurriedly got up to check on the situation. After a while, he came back and said that Mrs. Ding’s father had come with Wang Cai and his concubine, Mrs. Wu. He claimed that since his son had become an official, he wanted to enjoy the blessings with his son. He also said that since his daughter had now become a noble lady, she would require more pension.

Chen Ming was worried that Wang Laohan would disrupt the banquet, so he had Hu Laowu take the old man and the other two to the backyard to eat. Everything would be resolved after dinner, he said.

Upon hearing about that shameless old man, Chen Afu felt his scalp tingle. How shameless! Back then, he let Ding allow her son to be sold into a dangerous situation and then sold his daughter twice. Now, when his son had become an official and his daughter had gained status, he wanted to enjoy the blessings as well and wanted to increase the pension. However, no matter how shameless he was, Wang and Wang Cheng couldn’t ignore him. Just like Chen Shiying’s mother, despite the tribe’s pressure, Chen Shiying still tried to find a way to prevent her from being divorced.