Marry a Duke

Chapter 3 Heartbroken

"But when I looked back, I saw the moon in the water. Now it's even worse. It's bad enough that I don't have freedom, but my life is not in my own hands."

She was muttering to herself until she heard footsteps outside the hall. She immediately knelt up and continued to read the scriptures.

A young monk entered the temple and brought her some water.

"Donor, the most important thing to do during this day and night of chanting is to be sincere. Also, you cannot eat grains in the Hall of Eternal Life. You cannot be disrespectful to the deceased. Donor, as long as you are past noon tomorrow, you can have a vegetarian meal in the temple."

The little monk is not very old, about ten years old, and his round head looks particularly cute.

Fu Ran took a big gulp of the life-saving water. She was hungry now, but she was being punished at the moment and didn't want to make things difficult for the young master.

"Thank you, Master. I can bear it." She swallowed, "What if, I mean what if, I accidentally get too hungry and faint here, would that be considered disrespectful to our ancestors?"

They were not treated harshly when it came to food in the *** mansion, and they were provided with three meals a day. However, all the good dishes went into the mouths of the maids in charge.

The young master had obviously never encountered such a question before, and he didn't know how to answer.

"This..." the young monk looked embarrassed, "I don't know the question about the donor, I will go ask the master." With that, the young monk turned around and left the Hall of Eternal Life.

Fu Ran's stomach also started to growl in response.

Zen Room in the Back Hall

Bi'an brought dinner into the room. The food in the temple was light, which was just right for the master to recuperate.

In addition to the food, there was also a bowl of thick medicine on the plate.

"Master, this is the medicine prepared by Master Xuantian himself. Although it tastes a bit bitter, you'd better drink it while it's still warm." Bi'an looked at the bowl of black medicine and felt extremely guilty.

Bi'an was a close confidant of Duke Weiguo and went to the battlefield with him.

But the battlefield was in chaos, and although they wanted to protect their master, they were overwhelmed by the large numbers of people.

Seeing that defeat was imminent, the enemy focused all their efforts on the Duke of Weiguo. If it weren't for the Duke of Weiguo's extraordinary skills, he would have had no chance to return to the capital.

Wei Xuan half leaned against the window, without saying much, took the medicine and drank it all in one gulp.

The medicine was bitter and hard to swallow, but he didn't even frown.

"Master, there is still food——"

"Take it down."

Bi'an was in a dilemma. If he didn't eat, how would his body recover? But he had already drunk such a big bowl of medicine, who could eat? His master must be feeling very bitter.

"Master, I just went to the Hall of Eternal Life again. The maid from the *** Mansion asked the little monk if it would be disrespectful to the ancestors if she fainted from hunger in the hall."

Wei Xuan raised his eyes and curled his thin lips slightly, forming a mocking arc.

"She knows how to manipulate people's hearts."

Bi'an responded immediately.

"The little monk went to ask someone, and they summoned her out of the Changsheng Palace and gave her a bowl of porridge."

Bi'an had been watching from the side, and when he saw that she really left the temple and drank the porridge, he felt a little surprised that the monks in the temple were too kind.

She was supposed to kneel and recite scriptures for a whole day and night, but not only did she not recite according to the rules, she also said some incomprehensible words. Now she was directly called out to drink porridge.

"If she stays in the Changsheng Palace, it's fine. But if she still finds a reason to leave the Changsheng Palace, let someone keep an eye on her."

"Yes."

Fu Ran had read the scripture seventy-seven times and had not slept the whole night. There was a dark spot under her eyes and her head was groggy. She vaguely felt that someone was sitting there listening to her.

No one brought breakfast, not even water.

She gritted her teeth and endured until noon, when finally the little monk came and called her to have vegetarian food.

Fu Ran had been kneeling on his knees for too long and could no longer stand up.

She sat on the futon and relaxed.

"Young Master, go first. I'll come over when my feet are no longer numb and I can walk."

The little monk left first.

After resting for a while, Fu Ran was able to get up. She left the Changsheng Palace and turned two corners. She was a little confused. The several halls looked similar and she could no longer tell which was which.

It was lunchtime and the masters in charge of each hall had all gone to the dining hall to eat. She couldn't find anyone to ask.

She only remembered that the cafeteria was at the back.

The further he walked, the more it looked like a Zen room. Fu Ran finally realized that he must have taken the wrong path.

She was about to go back, but when she turned around, she was knocked unconscious by someone.

Someone picked her up like a sack, brought her into a meditation room, and threw her on the ground like a piece of rag.

"Master, she came all the way here after leaving the Changsheng Palace. It seems that the people in the *** Mansion know that Master is in the Huguo Temple."

Wei Xuan's eyes were hard to distinguish.

"Wake her up."

"Yes."

Bian shook her awake. Fu Ran felt pain in the back of her neck, her head was still dizzy, her legs hurt, and her whole body hurt. She grimaced in pain.

"You--." She was startled and opened her eyes. In front of her, there was a person standing and a person sitting. Judging from their attire, they were not the masters of the Huguo Temple.

Could it be that they are the nobles that Alin mentioned? Those who can enter the Huguo Temple are not ordinary people.

She had just finished chanting sutras and paying off the debt to the dead, so she wouldn't have offended a living person again.

"My two nobles, please be magnanimous. I am a maid in the *** Mansion. If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me."

Fu Ran apologized first, and then brought up her status as a *** man, hoping that they would consider her status as a *** and not treat her as a small person.

She had no recollection of how she fainted or how she ended up here.

It was just the pain at the back of her neck that stimulated her, making her feel as if someone had hit her.

"*** Mansion--." The man sitting there spoke lightly, his voice low and a little cold.

Fu Ran felt vaguely familiar with what he heard.

She seemed to have heard this voice somewhere before.

"Do you know who my master is?" Bi'an asked with a frown.

Fu Ran shook his head in confusion.

"I don't know. I'm just a maid in the inner house of the *** Mansion. I don't know any of the nobles in the capital."

Bi'an glanced at his master.

Wei Xuan saw that her confused expression did not seem fake. A maid who dared to announce the name of the *** mansion as soon as she arrived was a stupid girl even if the *** really wanted to use her.

"Take it out."

These three words are even colder.

Fu Ran finally reacted. His voice had the same timbre as the four words she heard when she made a wish in the side hall.

He said she was greedy.

Fu Ran was worried.

After having the vegetarian meal, Fu Ran waited for the people from the *** Mansion to pick her up.

In fact, she still held on to a lucky mentality. What if the people in the mansion forgot about her? She waited for a long time. If no one came to pick her up, she couldn't escape openly.

When she first found herself becoming a maid in a *** mansion, she also thought about escaping.

Not to mention that the *** mansion was heavily guarded. Even if she really escaped, the *** still had her indenture contract in his hands.

Runaway slaves can be beaten to death directly.

As a ***, it is easy to find a runaway slave.