Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2603 Atonement for Crimes 66.0
After sorting out his thoughts, Boss Luan took the warm water Ying Wu handed him, thanked him, and took a couple of sips to moisten his throat.

According to Master Falian's description, the day he first met the Empress Dowager was the birthday of her elder brother. He was invited to her brother's birthday banquet and met the Empress Dowager for the first time. At that time, the Empress Dowager was still a little girl, about eleven or twelve years old.

"Eleven or twelve years old?" Xue Ruitian looked disgusted. "The girl is so young, and he already has wicked thoughts about her? Is he even human?!"

"My lord, at that time, Master Falian didn't have any particular thoughts. Besides, you gentlemen have all met the Empress Dowager. Her appearance—" Boss Luan put his hands together in apology, and said, "wasn't particularly outstanding, was it, Master Falian?" He looked at the portrait, smiled, and said, "If we're talking about beauty, Master Falian's appearance would probably be several streets ahead of most people, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, that's true." Xue Ruitian nodded. "So, Master Falian wasn't interested in the Empress Dowager because of her appearance, is that what you're trying to say?"

"This isn't what I wanted to say; it's what Master Falian said himself. He said that an eleven or twelve-year-old girl could arrange everything perfectly for all the guests. She not only knew the head manager of her own shop, but also the head managers of other shops, and they were very familiar with each other. Her speech and behavior were particularly proud, and she was very organized. He said that he had seen many children of this age, whether boys or girls, but none of them were like her. She didn't need her elders to step in at all, and she could make every banquet feel like home."

“Hmm!” Shen Cha nodded, exchanged a glance with Shen Haolin, and said, “I’ve heard about this too. From the age of ten, she was basically in charge of the family’s shops. Her father and mother only occasionally meddled. It is said that they discovered her talent for business when she was very young, so her parents let her manage them, starting from a small shop and gradually expanding to all the family’s shops. Although the rest of the family was not very satisfied with this decision, the Empress Dowager managed the shops very well, and the money allocated to them each year increased, so the rest of the family stopped saying anything.”

"Her family isn't."

“Those all happened later, including the abduction of Ke Dajia, which also happened later.” Shen Cha sighed. “The Empress Dowager also said that if it weren’t for that accident, if her father and grandfather hadn’t used her to make a deal with the Emperor, she would likely have been a wealthy merchant, instead of being locked in the deep palace as a dispensable family honor.”

“I never met the Empress Dowager when she was young, but her decisive and efficient manner certainly allowed her to make a name for herself in the Jiangnan business world,” Boss Luan sighed and said. “Master Falian also said that when he was invited by the Empress Dowager’s family, he always had to have a separate table at any banquet. The Empress Dowager was very considerate and found out in advance what he liked to eat, what he didn’t like to eat, and what dietary restrictions he had, and she prepared everything very carefully.”

"The master they hired?" Shen Cha frowned slightly. "At that time, the Qinglian Sect had been prevalent in Jiangnan for many years. Their family must have been believers for a long time, right?"

"Yes." Boss Luan nodded. "Our family has been a follower for a long time. We always thought it was just ordinary teaching and guidance, nothing more. Who would have thought it would develop like this? Most of the merchants in Jiangnan, apart from the century-old families like the Wang, Xie, Li, and Qin families, who don't follow the Qinglian Sect, almost all the smaller families are involved to some extent. There are quite a few like the Empress Dowager's family who are devout believers. So, whenever there's anything going on in their family, they have to ask someone from the Qinglian Sect. If Master Falian is in Jiangnan, he will go there in person. However, even though he's been there so many times, this was the first time he met the Empress Dowager. He had never seen her before."

"You were immediately attracted?"

“Yes.” Boss Luan nodded. “According to him, he had never seen such a straightforward girl in the Jiangnan region, and he fell in love with her at first sight. Because of this girl, he stayed in Jiangnan for longer and longer periods of time. However, before the Qinglian Sect was besieged, he had never been to sea. Later, because the Qinglian Sect was besieged, he had to move to the sea in order to preserve his strength. Of course, all of this happened before I was born, so I didn’t experience it.”

"Judging by their ages, the Empress Dowager is from your father's generation." "Yes, so when I saw Master Falian, so young, being treated with such respect by my father, it would be strange if I didn't have suspicions." Boss Luan chuckled. "Master Falian met the Empress Dowager for the first time, and after returning home, she found this young girl increasingly interesting. Despite her young age, she acted with remarkable maturity, unlike what one would expect from a girl her age. As a relatively famous master of the Qinglian Sect..." Seeing everyone looking at him, he explained, "from beginning to end, no one knew that he was the mastermind behind the Qinglian Sect."

"All you know is that he's a master, and he's very accurate, right?"

“Yes!” Boss Luan nodded. “He can put aside all the other things he did, but when it comes to Buddhism alone, he is truly talented and knowledgeable.”

"Really?"

"Yes." Boss Luan smiled. "His understanding of Buddhist scriptures is very profound. The few Buddhist ceremonies my family hired him for were very authentic and genuine, completely different from the ceremonies popular in temples in Jiangnan. They were very solemn." He looked at everyone. "There's something I want to say, but I don't know if I should."

"explain."

"His style of performing rituals is very reminiscent of the Xiangguo Temple of the previous dynasty. Although it is very expensive, it makes me feel very at ease."

Shen Haolin and Shen Cha exchanged glances, then looked up at Jin Miaomiao who was looking at them. The three of them exchanged a look and sighed at the same time.

He studied under a highly accomplished monk at Daxiangguo Temple and mastered all of his master's skills. Looking at it this way, none of his skills were wasted; on the contrary, he put them all to good use.

Boss Luan glanced at them and noticed their expressions were a little off. He asked cautiously, "Is something wrong?"

“No.” Shen Cha shook her head gently. “The Buddhist ceremonies at Daxiangguo Temple are not for ordinary people. So what if they’re expensive? You business people are just looking for peace of mind, aren’t you?”

"Yes." Boss Luan sighed. "The Empress Dowager's family has a large business, so they hold quite a few religious ceremonies. The Empress Dowager is in charge of organizing these events and arranging the priests. Over time, the two of them gradually became familiar with each other, and their communication was no longer limited to just religious ceremonies."