Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life Chapter 153 - 152: Treating the Daoist Temple as a Picnic Sp

Mrs. Yuan and Fu Yinan were talking when a maid ca to report: "Madam, the lady in the Bamboo Garden has also gone out."

Mrs. Yuan frowned and said, "She just returned from Lingyin Temple on New Year’s Eve, and it’s been less than six days. Why is she going out again? Are there any guards with her?"

The maid replied, "The mistress didn’t allow us to follow today. However, I noticed that skilled mute maid and the Southern Barbarian woman are following."

Mrs. Yuan sighed, "I understand, you may go. Stay by the door and report back as soon as she returns."

"Yes, ma’am."

Mrs. Yuan and Fu Yinan exchanged a glance, seeing helplessness reflected in each other’s eyes. Clearly, Xiao Yixun’s wayward behavior often gave her, the mistress of the house, headaches.

Compared to the bizarre and domineering Xiao Yixun, Lin Wanwan, the charming guest, was much more reasonable and considerate.

A large group from the Xiao Mansion followed the traffic out of the west city gate, heading towards Ge Ling on the north shore of West Lake. Many people visited the Ge Xian Temple today.

In the Great Tang, there weren’t many entertainnt venues for won, and temples and Daoist temples were among the few good places to visit. They were places of teaching and also served certain social functions such as inns, schools, clinics, charity houses, ceteries, hos for the elderly, polo fields, etc.

In comparison, Daoist temples catered to high-ranking officials and thus the community-oriented activities were smaller in scale compared to temples that focused on the lower classes. This made Daoist temples quieter than temples.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, those on horseback could continue riding up, but those in carriages had to disembark and walk, as the mountain path was not suitable for carriages.

Fortunately, those in carriages didn’t mind, enthusiastically holding their children’s hands and climbing the mountain with veiled hats on. The coachn, anwhile, led the carriages to rest in a small village adjacent to Ge Xian Temple at the mountain’s foot.

Today’s outing from Xiao Mansion included the young n and won, as well as Lin Wanwan, her three married cousins, and their spouses and children.

The first family, Mrs. Yuan’s elder sister-in-law, had one son and one daughter; the second sister-in-law had two daughters and one son, and they were considered quite fortunate. However, Mrs. Zhu of the second family was less fortunate. She originally had one son and one daughter, but her daughter did not survive, passing away last year. Today, she brought along her legitimate son, one illegitimate daughter, and one illegitimate son.

The children were at most eight years old and as young as three, each accompanied by a wet nurse, sparing their mothers from concern.

It was rare to see soone like Lin Wanwan, who personally carried or cuddled her daughter for play during the mountain climb.

The children of the Xiao family saw how close Qingyu was with her mother, and their clear eyes were filled with envy.

Oh, how joyful it must be to be a countryside child, free from learning so many rules and able to sleep with your mother.

After a brief interaction, the children had already heard about Qingyu’s enviable life from her chatting. Making friends was much simpler for children compared to adults; a shared glance was all it took to beco instant companions, disregarding social status.

"Mommy, Mommy, can you let fly again? Just one last ti, I promise!" Qingyu was in fits of laughter from being lifted twice by Lin Wanwan, repeatedly promising it to be "just one last ti."

With newfound strength, Lin Wanwan easily handled her thirty-sothing-pound Qingyu without any strain, effortlessly performing certain moves. But she didn’t want to be too conspicuous, considering they were climbing the mountain with a large group.

After indulging Qingyu one last ti, Lin Wanwan feigned exhaustion, saying, "Oh dear, I can’t go on, Mommy is worn out, my arms are going to break, I can’t hold you anymore."

Qingyu obediently slid down from Lin Wanwan’s arms, chirping, "Then Little Yu’er will walk on her own."

Yun Shang laughed, "If the little lady gets tired, Hua Nong and I can take turns carrying you up the mountain."

Qingyu confidently declared, "I’m not going to get tired. I can walk very well!"

With that, she let go of Lin Wanwan’s hand and dashed off to join the other children from the first family, squeezing into their group. The little ones giggled as they walked a significant part of the mountain path unaided.

However, Lin Wanwan worried that Qingyu might overexert herself, leading to nightti leg cramps, so she alternated between carrying her and letting her walk, never allowing her to walk entirely on her own.

Upon passing through the entrance, the group headed straight for the bustling and crowded God of Wealth Hall.

At tis like these, the last thing you’d want is to let kids wander around carelessly; kidnappers could be lurking in the crowd.

The female guests from the Xiao Mansion had a rest area, and after donating incense money, were arranged separately by a Daoist, sparing them from squeezing with common folks in the main hall. But since the God of Wealth was there, incense still had to be offered amidst the crowd.

Even though Lin Wanwan had a Space-Ti Bracelet allowing her to travel through ti, her ingrained atheist beliefs from twenty-two years of education made it hard for her to revere gods and Buddhas.

She was the type to optimistically think left-eye twitching ant fortune, while right-eye twitching was dismissed as superstition.

She had no interest in jostling with the crowd for incense offerings and preferred enjoying the scenery on the sidelines with Qingyu.

If she really wanted to offer incense, the big Kun Lun could easily carve out a path for her, but she didn’t want to draw attention.

Mrs. Yuan, Mrs. He, and Mrs. Zhu were different. They were accustod to privilege everywhere. After offering incense at the celestial and terrestrial altars, they watched their servants rudely clear the commoners away, creating a spacious area for them to respectfully and ceremoniously complete their incense offerings.

"Let’s go, there are too many people here. Let’s rest in the back room for a while. We can visit Daoist Xianyun for a fortune-telling when the crowd thins," Mrs. Yuan said to her sisters-in-law.

Being the eldest, everything naturally followed her lead.

Today’s back room, reserved for the guests of honor, was crowded with many gentry madams aside from the Xiao family. Compared to others, the Xiao clan, a branch separated from the Imperial Uncle’s House, was relatively impoverished, reflected in their cramped room allocation.

Mrs. He, in a foul mood, muttered sarcastically, but besides enduring so scolding, the little Daoist could do nothing.

Mrs. Zhu advised, "Second Sister-in-law, let it go. There are many people today; let’s not make a scene."

Lin Wanwan didn’t much care about these matters, and the young n and won were also indifferent. Their minds were set on exploring the Daoist temple after incense offerings. The temple’s hillside boasted many plum blossoms, in full bloom at this ti.

Xiao Xianghua exchanged a glance with her sisters and approached the elder sister-in-law, Mrs. Yuan, saying, "Elder Sister-in-law, we were thinking of playing polo for a while. Is that okay?"

Mrs. Yuan, holding her three-year-old daughter, had just sat down, and upon hearing this, she smiled, "Go ahead, go ahead. I know you can’t sit still. It’s a rare outing, so enjoy it while you can."