Union

Chapter 105 I'm really not!

Yunying walked around the village and, feeling that the time had passed, took Liu'er and Suiyun back to Sui'er's house.

Unbeknownst to her, while she was out and about, news of a distinguished person's arrival in the village had already reached the ears of every household in the village.

Sui'er's family lives in a village called Xi Wangmu Niangniang Village. As the name suggests, the people in this village worship Xi Wangmu Niangniang.

When the village children saw this beautiful girl, who looked like the Queen Mother of the West, they thought she was the Queen Mother of the West descended to earth.

The children excitedly ran to the fields to call for help, and soon almost the entire village, who were working in the fields, returned.

When Yunying returned to Sui'er's house, she noticed that there were more people on the road. When they saw her, they all stopped and stared at her.

But Yunying didn't care, after all, her appearance was indeed quite outstanding.

Besides, it's normal for villagers to stare at a few strangers who suddenly arrive in the village. She had experienced this in both Qiantang Village and Houtang Village, so she was used to it.

Yunying couldn't help but think to herself that the villagers were quite easygoing, finishing work so early. She remembered when she went to Houtang Village with her second master; the villagers there were incredibly hardworking, never returning home for dinner before dark.

It was only after entering Sui'er's house that Sui'er pulled Yunying aside and explained the misunderstanding. Only then did Yunying realize that it wasn't that the people here had been staring at her, nor that they were so easygoing and finished work so early. They had mistaken her for the Queen Mother of the West who had descended to earth, and upon hearing the news, they had rushed back from the fields just to see her.

Yunying was so embarrassed at that moment.

She could feel her blood rushing to the top of her head; her mind went blank, and all she wanted to do was faint right then and there.

Unfortunately, Suiyun and Liuer, who were not far away, were completely unaware of Yunying's predicament.

Sui Yun chuckled and turned her head to the side, while Liu'er beamed with pride, her face practically screaming: "Yes, our girl is stunningly beautiful, she's just like the Queen Mother of the West!"

Yunying closed her eyes briefly, then looked elsewhere.

Then she noticed that Sui'er's parents, as well as her younger siblings, were all watching her with a knowing look.

Noticing her gaze sweep over them, they quickly turned their heads away. As soon as her gaze shifted away, they would immediately look back.

Yunying looked outside the courtyard again, and wow, she was shocked by what she saw.

It turned out that while Sui'er and Yunying were talking, the villagers quietly gathered around. Now they were all perched on the fence of the courtyard, watching Yunying intently.

Yunying was completely numb.

"Everyone has misunderstood. I am just a minor steward in the county government, not some kind of Queen Mother of the West."

"You are, you are!"

The one who said this was actually Sui'er's mother-in-law.

The old man, leaning on a cane, was helped out by another old man with gray hair, a wrinkled face, and a back bent like a bow.

The old man kept saying, "Slow down, slow down. Your bones have just been set, and the doctor said you can't walk on the ground yet."

Sui'er's father was also startled and quickly went forward to help the old lady sit on a stool.

Sui'er's father also said, "If you want to come out, call me first, and I'll carry you out. What if you dislocate your bones again if you walk on your own?"

The old lady completely ignored Sui'er's father and, as if finding him annoying, pushed him aside.

She looked at Yunying, who was no longer timid and shy as before, but was extremely excited.

“Girl, even if you are not the Queen Mother of the West, you must be her reincarnation. My eyes are very sharp, I will never be wrong again.”

Yunying: "No! I'm really not, you've mistaken me..."

“Good girl, you really are! You went out just now, did you not visit the temple at the entrance of our village? The temple at the entrance of our village enshrines the Queen Mother of the West. Your face looks exactly like the Queen Mother of the West.”

As soon as the old lady said this, a loud "whoosh" was heard.

The onlookers started talking all at once.

"It really does look exactly like the Empress."

"Could this be the reincarnation of the Empress?"

"Unbelievable! I thought my son was just teasing me, but it turns out he was telling the truth."

"No wonder this girl looked so divine to me; she really is a goddess descended from heaven."

The common people said so, and even Sui'er, recalling the Queen Mother of the West in the village temple, looked at Yun Ying with surprise and doubt, "Girl, your appearance is quite similar to the Queen Mother of the West in our village temple. Girl, tell me the truth, were you really a celestial being in your past life, and are you here to undergo tribulation in this life?"

Sui'er's mother-in-law tapped her cane and said, "That must be it!"

Sui'er's mother exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! The Queen Mother of the West has come to my house!"

The crowd was even more in an uproar, and they crowded into Sui'er's house, bowing their heads in worship.

Even Sui'er's mother-in-law, who had injured her leg, and her father-in-law, whose back was bent like a bow, couldn't wait to kneel down and kowtow, praying that the Queen Mother of the West would bless them with good health and a bountiful harvest every year.

Yun Ying: "..." She was completely dumbfounded!

Yunying had no idea how this farce ended.

When she came to her senses, only Liu'er was left beside her. She and Liu'er were now in the room of the Sui'er sisters.

Looking further out, Suiyun stood like a demon blocking the entrance, shutting out the overly enthusiastic crowd.

Meanwhile, Sui'er was frantically trying to coax the villagers to go home quickly.

This village has a small population, but everyone is related by marriage.

Most of those people were Sui'er's elders, so Sui'er didn't dare to say anything harsh. She could only gently persuade them to go home and cook.

The villagers ignored all of that and grabbed Sui'er's hand, saying with great excitement, "In our village, you are the most promising girl."

"That's right. We originally thought that your parents were degrading you by selling you. You're a pitiful girl, and you're no longer a good citizen."

"Who would have thought that you, girl, would be so lucky? You were actually chosen to serve a noble person in the county government, and that noble person is none other than the Queen Mother of the West from our village."

"Fate! It's all fate!"

"The Empress said she's not a deity, which is impossible. She must have forgotten her past life when she descended to earth and can't remember her identity. But it doesn't matter, we know she's the Empress."

"Yes, yes, oh dear, I suddenly remembered, we haven't prepared any offerings for the Empress yet..."

The word "offering" opened a new door, and the people who were just reluctant to leave immediately scattered.

Everyone was racing to see who could run the fastest. One said, "I still have a piece of cured meat at home. I'll cook it right away and send it to the Empress." Another said, "My son just caught a big fish, weighing at least three pounds. I've braised it!" Yet another said, "My chicken laid some double-yolk eggs. I was originally planning to sell them for money, but now I'm going home to cook them and bring them to the Empress..."

Hearing these words, Yunying's heartbeat became even more unsteady.

She's a person! She really is a person!

She remembered her past life; she was a graduate student who hadn't graduated! She wasn't a goddess, really not a goddess at all! And certainly not the Queen Mother of the West from heaven!
But these cries could only be kept inside, because no one would listen, and no one would believe them!

Looking outside the courtyard, all the outsiders had left, but Sui'er's parents and grandparents were busy.

The whole family went into the kitchen, crowding the small space so much that there wasn't enough room to turn around.

Sui'er's mother said, "Grandma, your glutinous rice is the most fragrant and sweet. In previous years, when you offered sacrifices to the Goddess, you would also send her a bowl of glutinous rice. Let's make glutinous rice again today. Maybe when the Goddess eats the familiar incense, she will remember us."

Sui'er's mother-in-law nodded repeatedly, the old lady was so busy that her legs seemed to have become much more nimble.

Yun Ying: "..." She felt like fainting even more.

Yunying waved to Suiyun outside the door, inviting him to come in first.

Sui Yun shouldn't have come in, as he needed to avoid suspicion. But given the urgency of the situation, he suppressed a laugh and came in.

Yunying naturally didn't miss the smile in Suiyun's eyes. In fact, not only Suiyun, but even Liu'er was grinning like a fool.

Of course, Yunying felt she was even worse off than them! She couldn't even be a fool now! At least a fool was human, but she had to be a god!
Yunying whispered, "We'll go back to the county office when no one's looking. Have the coachman quietly prepare the carriage."

With a smile, Sui Yun asked, "Are you sure you want to leave, young lady?"

"What else can I do? Stay here and be worshipped? I don't want to wake up tomorrow and find myself not at Sui'er's house, but at the shrine in the village temple."

It seemed that Yunying's description was too vivid and funny, because Suiyun and Liuer both burst out laughing.

After laughing, Sui Yun shook his head under Yun Ying's earnest gaze and said, "Miss, I think you should stay here for a couple of days. Even if it's impossible for you to go back to the city tonight."

"why?"

Sui Yun smiled and pointed outside, "I'm not lying to you, I just know these people too well. They'll definitely be waiting for you outside tonight, and they might even light some incense and paper money..."

"Stop talking, please stop talking, it's giving me a headache."

Sui Yun laughed again, "So, Miss Yunying, you should settle down here for now. Since you've already made the trip, you can't go back empty-handed. Let's stick to the original plan and just treat today's events as a joke, laugh it off and move on."

Yunying rolled her eyes.

Nice words.

If you were the one making this joke, I doubt you could still say such sarcastic things!

Suiyun smiled again, cupped his hands in greeting, and walked out the door.

As expected, Yunying and her companions did not leave that night. Just as Suiyun had said, many people lit incense and candles and prayed to the gods and Buddhas outside Sui'er's house.

They were still chanting blessings, their voices buzzing louder than the mosquitoes in the mountains.

Yunying was already having trouble sleeping in her new place, and the noise outside made it even harder for her to fall asleep.

Yunying got out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and went to the door.

Sui'er and Liu'er were not asleep either. When they noticed Yun Ying's movement, they also stood up.

"Miss, do you need to get up in the middle of the night?"

Yunying shook her head and asked a very profound question, "I'm already an immortal, why would I still need to go through the cycle of reincarnation?"

Sui'er and Liu'er didn't understand what he meant, but Sui Yun, who was guarding outside the door, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Sui'er and Liu'er belatedly realized what the "reincarnation of grains" joke meant, and for a moment they couldn't help but laugh, both finding Yun Ying's mischievousness adorable.

Yunying didn't think she was cute at all; she only felt pitiful.

Through the door, Yunying asked Suiyun, "I want to go to the temple at the village entrance to see what the Queen Mother of the West looks like. Can you take me there?"

"I'm afraid we can't go," Suiyun said in a low voice. "There are too many people outside. And from what I heard, almost the entire village didn't rest today. Some are outside, and some are inside the Temple of the Queen Mother of the West. Everyone is still awake. Do you want to go over there now and attract even more attention?"

Yunying quickly shook her head, "Then let's not."

Suiyun added, "However, I took advantage of the fact that there weren't many people around just now to visit the temple of the Queen Mother of the West."

"What did you see?"

Sui Yun coughed lightly. "It's no wonder everyone mistakes you for the Queen Mother of the West. Your eyebrows and eyes do indeed resemble those of the Queen Mother of the West on the Buddhist shrine."

The resemblance in appearance is only two or three parts; the most important thing is the figure and expression, which are really seven or eight parts similar.

To be honest, the village of the Queen Mother of the West was truly impoverished. At the very least, everyone they saw today had patches of all sizes on their clothes.

The bitterness on the faces of the people and their weary spirits could not be hidden from anyone; from all of this, it was clear that the people here were truly living in extreme poverty.

In such an impoverished place, the temple at the entrance of their village was built with blue bricks. Inside the small temple, the statue of the Queen Mother of the West was kept clean and tidy.

The paint on the goddess's body had not peeled off, her cloak was brightly colored, and her eyes had been carefully depicted, revealing divine compassion.

But the goddess's face was aloof and cold, just like the other high and mighty deities.

Yunying's public persona has always been aloof and detached, like a goddess untouched by worldly affairs.

That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

Sui Yun spoke softly about what he had seen, and couldn't help but tease at the end, "Maybe in your past life, you were truly a celestial being!"

Yunying rolled her eyes dramatically in the room, then slumped onto the bed in dejection. "Now this is completely impossible to explain."

Sui'er had a look on her face that said, "Do I need to explain? This girl is like a goddess descended from heaven."

As for Liu'er, she was an observer and didn't think Yunying was some kind of celestial being descended to earth.

But this is really funny.

She couldn't stop laughing.

After a long while, Liu'er finally suppressed her laughter and walked up to Yunying.

"Young lady, look on the bright side. If everyone treats you like a goddess, won't it be much easier for you to hire people to work on your tea plantation?"

After all, that tea mountain used to belong to Changshun, and Changshun had a bad reputation among the people.

Because of Chang Shun's incident, it became difficult to find people to work on the tea mountain afterwards.

Now things are different. "Not only is it much easier to hire people, but there are also many more supervisors available for free. I'm afraid you won't even need to show your face anymore. The people of Xiwangmu Niangniang Village alone can take good care of the tea mountain for you."

That's what they say, but...

Yunying sighed deeply, "But I still don't want to be an empress. I still want to explain things clearly as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)