Chapter 8: Misfortune from the East

Chu Si looked at him, a slight smile playing at the corner of her mouth. She turned and lifted her skirt, stepping on footprints that had already been stepped on by someone else as she walked away.

The man watched Chu Si's figure gradually disappear into the wind and snow, letting out a soft sigh. "Yesterday, Miss Liu gave me a precious jade."

Miao Yin hurriedly ran out, but all that was left behind were messy footprints, making it impossible to tell whether they belonged to a man or a woman. "Master Miao Yin, what should we do?"

"What should we do? Go after her, she can't have gone far!" Miao Yin said anxiously, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "You all come with me to find Chu Si!"

With that, they headed towards Chu Si's room.

When Miao Yin and the others arrived, Chu Si was heating water in the courtyard. Normally, they were not allowed to use hot water from the front courtyard and had to heat it themselves.

"Master Miao Yin, what's wrong?" Chu Si asked calmly.

Miao Yin stepped forward and questioned, "Where did you go after leaving our room?"

"I was heating water. Lv Ya is sick and there's no medicine, so I thought of letting her take a hot bath," Chu Si replied calmly.

Miao Yin looked at the pot of water, which was close to boiling and had been cooking for some time.

"Did you go near the temple hall?" Miao Yin asked suspiciously.

Without hesitation, Chu Si nodded. "I just went there."

"Went there? But did you see anything?" Miao Yin's steps drew closer, and the two strong nuns behind her also approached.

Chu Si smiled lightly. "Yes, I went. I intended to find the abbess to get some medicine, but on the way, I saw a young man hurrying out from the side door of the temple, and he dropped a jade pendant. I wanted to return it to him, but I also noticed that the fire in the courtyard was about to go out. I couldn't catch up with the young man, so I decided to come back and add some firewood, and then go ask later." Chu Si finished speaking and took out the piece of ink jade.

Miao Yin looked at the ink jade and knew it couldn't belong to Chu Si. Seeing her clear and truthful demeanor, and recalling that she had indeed heard a male voice earlier, Miao Yin became somewhat convinced. She turned to the people who had followed her. "Did a young man come up the mountain today?"

The two nodded. "Yes, a young man who seemed like a scholar. It seemed like he had already packed up his things and was heading down the mountain."

"Uh-oh, quickly stop him!" Miao Yin said, then hurriedly led the others away.

Seeing Miao Yin leave, Chu Si finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Lv Ya seemed to be feeling better at this point and struggled to come out. "Miss, what's wrong?" Lv Ya asked anxiously.

"It's nothing," Chu Si said as she lifted the hot water. "You take a hot bath first, and I'll be going out later." She remembered that these two days, the imperial censor would pass by here. In her previous life, he hadn't noticed anything unusual on the mountain, but in this life...

After settling Lv Ya, it was already close to afternoon. Chu Si tidied up the things in the room, but only found four or five copper coins, which were not enough to buy medicine.

"Miss, please don't go down the mountain," Lv Ya urged with concern.

Chu Si smiled faintly. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. When Miao Yin comes, just tell her that I went down the mountain to buy medicine." With that, she quickly walked out. Judging by the time, the imperial censor should have arrived at the small town at the foot of the mountain by now, and his troubles were about to begin.

The journey down the mountain went smoothly, without any nuns watching her. She took the usual route that everyone else took, so there shouldn't be any problems.

At the foot of the mountain, it was bustling with activity. Chu Si saw a group of people not far away, chattering and arguing about something. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she walked towards them.