The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 36 The Han Family of Yidu
'Imperial edict to govern the world?! What does that mean?'

Du Yuan really wanted to study this in detail to find out what it was.

Unfortunately, the feeling of dizziness and disorientation grew stronger.

To avoid actually falling, Du Yuan had no choice but to stagger back a few steps and sit down while leaning against the wall.

Whether she had recovered or not, Du Yuan still felt unwell after sitting down, but she no longer felt the same way she had before, as if she were about to faint at any moment.

At least my breathing became much easier, and my eyes became clearer.

This made Du Yuan look at the broken statue with suspicion.

Before she could think further, Du Yuan heard a sound coming from outside:
"Second brother, we've walked this road several times already, but I don't remember there being a temple here?"

"What's the big deal? Don't you know how long this road is? Besides, this temple is so remote, it's normal that we didn't notice it before."

"Hehe, what Second Brother said is right, but I still feel a little scared. After all, it's dark, and being in a dilapidated temple in the middle of nowhere is really unsettling."

"What's the panic? There are two of us men here. Besides, do you really want to sleep in the wilderness?"

As the two walked into the dilapidated temple, they immediately noticed a Du Yuan sitting by the wall.

"Second brother, look, there's someone here."

The two men looked at Du Yuan one after the other, and then both raised their eyebrows.

There's no village or shop in sight here, so it's not surprising that some people stay overnight.

This person looked neither like a beggar nor a monk.

It looks weird.

However, the leader didn't think much of it and simply cupped his hands in greeting, saying:
"It's a pleasure to meet you, brother!"

Before Du Yuan could respond, he turned to his companion and said:

"What did I tell you? There are people here, what is there to be afraid of in this place?"

The man being talked about scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

The two did not sit down with Du Yuan, but instead found another place to rest. Judging from their conversation, they planned to sit for a while and then go get some firewood for lighting.

Not long after the two sat down, they heard the one who had been more timid earlier suddenly point to the door and exclaim in surprise:
"Oh dear! Who are you?"

"what?"

The leading man hurriedly got up and looked over. In the dim light, he saw that another swordsman was standing at the door.

The other person was tall and had a cold face. Most importantly, he had a long knife hanging at his waist.

Extremely terrifying!

Because the other party didn't speak, the two men worried that they might have encountered a strongman.

Fortunately, after the other party scanned the dilapidated temple, they heard someone shouting outside:
"how?"

The warrior immediately turned around and said:

"There's nothing much inside, just two or three passersby taking a break."

"Wait."

Not long after, Du Yuan heard sounds coming from outside again.

This time, however, there were significantly more people, and most of them walked with a steady gait. This reminded Du Yuan of the several martial arts practitioners from the Qian family that Qian Youcai had brought.

Are they from a prominent family again?
"Madam, I am incompetent and misjudged the itinerary. Now, I can only ask you to condescend to rest in this humble temple."

"It's alright, after all, you haven't walked this road before."

The first voice was steady and powerful, clearly indicating years of martial arts training. The second voice sounded like a woman's.

"Thank you for your understanding, Madam. I will drive away those passersby inside right away."

Upon hearing that they wanted to drive them away, the two men immediately got up timidly and prepared to leave on their own.

The martial artist at the door made way for them, and judging from their expressions, he was quite pleased that these two country bumpkins knew how to behave. However, after a moment, he glanced impatiently at Du Yuan sitting next to him.

Can't this person hear me? And is this a monk or a beggar?
"Why drive them away? The Han family of Yidu has never acted in this way!" "But Madam, you are of noble status, how can you be with a few lowly people?"

"Shut up! All people under heaven are His Majesty's subjects; how can there be a distinction between noble and lowly?"

"I misspoke! I misspoke!"

Even so, the two men were clearly more eager to leave.

The Han family of Yidu is a famous and prominent family throughout the entire prefecture.

Not only did his grandfather hold the official position of Vice Minister of the Secretariat, but countless of his sons and relatives also held positions in various regions.

They are a truly prestigious and powerful family!

They are worlds apart from peasants like them.

"Second brother, it's...it's that Han family from Yidu who became the Vice Minister of the Secretariat. Let's...let's go quickly."

They didn't actually know what kind of official the Vice Minister of the Secretariat was; they only knew because locals would spontaneously promote the local powerful clans.

But they knew that he was an official close to the emperor, and they also knew the difference between nobles and the poor.

"How dare we leave? The important person hasn't given the order yet!"

Du Yuan overheard the trembling conversation between the two men, which gave her a general idea of ​​their origins and made her even more curious about the structure of the court.

How come there are officials of the Ninth Rank and prominent families, as well as officials of the Three Departments and Six Ministries and the Cabinet?

While I was lost in thought, the woman who had spoken had already entered the dilapidated temple.

The brocade cloak was trimmed with gold, and the golden phoenix hairpin on her cloud-shaped hair swayed gently with her steps. The agarwood incense on her lapel was overpowering the incense burner held by the maid.

She looks beautiful. Although she should be in her early thirties, she is still a rare beauty and has a lot more charm than a young girl.

However, Du Yuan's focus was not on that, but on the phoenix hairpin on her piled-up hair.

Instead of swaying left and right or fluttering up and down, it steadily followed its owner's steps, moving forward and backward.

Sure enough, netizens were right. Besides adorning women's beauty, the greatest purpose of these ornaments is to prevent the holder from losing their composure and to demonstrate their good upbringing.

Upon finally meeting a genuine aristocratic woman, Du Yuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly—today's artists are still far too incompetent. It's all show and no substance, just fooling the audience!
Du Yuan examined the phoenix hairpin on the woman's head, while the woman's phoenix eyes, after sweeping over the two timid men, landed on Du Yuan.

This made a strange look appear in her eyes.

Unlike the awe that ordinary people used to feel when they saw her, and unlike the greed of those so-called nobles.

But
After frowning and glancing at Du Yuan, who remained seated on the ground, she suddenly came to a precise description.

It's an overview, a scrutiny!
This surprised the woman, who was clearly a noblewoman from a wealthy family, while he was just a dirty monk.

Even though she was in a superior position at the moment, it felt like the monk was surveying and looking down on everything.
This monk is unusual.

"Give this monk some food. Monks don't eat meat. Give him my portion of boxed pastries. It's the one that the Lady of Fenyang gave me before I set off."

"Prepare a meal and drinks for the other two. You don't need to be reserved. After you've arranged the people on night watch, you can all go to the temple to rest."

"As ordered."

After receiving the order, the warrior waved his hand, and immediately someone brought in a screen, bedding, incense burner and other items. Before long, a place to stay specially prepared for women was set up in the temple.

Du Yuan also received that box of pastries.

"Here you go, monk, this is something we can't usually afford to eat!"

Looking at the maid who brought the box of pastries, Du Yuan smiled and said:

"I am not a monk."

This aroused the woman's curiosity:
"Oh, you're not a monk, you're a Taoist priest?"

Du Yuan nodded and said:

"Indeed, and since you are staying at the temple, why not offer incense to the host?"

(End of this chapter)