Chapter 364: Pleasure Boat

Pan Bai looked at the serious Pan Yun, turned his head to look at his father, his eyes conveying: 【Father, how about we redeem Little Sis back from the Daoist temple? I keep feeling that if she keeps being a Daoist Priest like this, she'll go mad.】

Pan Tao gave him a warning look, nodded to Wang Cong and the others, and said gently to Pan Yun: "Yun'er, don't worry, I'll definitely remind him to wear it on him at all times."

Pan Yun then took out another pouch and gave it to Pan Tao: "Ershu, this is for you, it also has a peace talisman, a Clear-Heart-Tranquil-Spirit Talisman, and a Wealth-Attracting Talisman, oh, and a Many-Sons-Many-Grandsons Talisman, this one goes under the pillow."

Pan Tao:...

He accepted the pouch, and asked casually: "Yun'er, have you ever thought of coming back?"

He said: "Although I can't bring you home, I know a few households, they have no daughters and want to adopt one to raise. If you come back, it'll be just like before, only you'll have to change your surname, but here, your grandmother and I can look after you at any time."

Pan Yun refused outright, "I don't want to change parents."

Pan Tao deliberated: "But a Daoist temple... is always full of inconveniences."

"There's no inconvenience at all," Pan Yun said: "I'm very happy at the Daoist temple, my senior brothers and sisters are all good to me, I even went to Long Hushan Academy to learn Daoist arts..."

Hearing this, he became even more worried.

Pan Tao tucked the pouch into his sleeve, deliberated for a moment, then said: "Yun'er, you must know, the Master did not speak of strange forces, disordered spirits, and gods; one should respect ghosts and gods but keep one's distance from them..."

Pan Yun nodded repeatedly, "Right, Ershu, you are Confucian scholars, you should respect ghosts and gods but keep your distance."

Seeing Pan Tao looking at her.

Pan Yun realized, pointed at herself and said: "Me?"

She shook her head, "I'm a Daoist Priest, I'm different from you. I respect ghosts and gods, but I cannot keep my distance."

Pan Tao held his forehead.

Pan Yun: "This is my job, you know. The first lesson at the Academy is that as a Daoist Priest, one must slay demons and vanquish evil, and not let ghosts and gods disturb the people."

She said it so convincingly that even Pan Bai got confused, and couldn't help asking, "Little Sis, are there really ghosts and gods in this world?"

Pan Yun lowered her voice mysteriously and said: "Third Brother doesn't believe it either, right? I used to be half-believing, half-doubting too, but later on..."

Pan Tao: "Yun'er!"

Pan Yun immediately stood up straight, and said with a grin: "Yes, Ershu, I won't say any more."

Pan Bai felt like he was being scratched at the heart, he both believed Pan Yun and yet had some doubts.

Pan Yun saw someone walking toward them, so she smiled at Pan Tao and said: "Ershu, we'll be leaving first. We're staying at Fu'an Inn. If you need anything, go there to find us. If nothing comes up, we'll meet you at Wanhe Restaurant tomorrow at noon."

Pan Tao: "Alright, you may go."

Pan Yun then cupped her fists in a salute, "Many thanks to Mr. Pan for resolving my doubts."

Wang Cong also immediately cupped his fists in a salute, "Many thanks to Mr. Pan, farewell."

The five immediately left. The person walking over only heard the last sentence, and asked: "Mr. Pan, were those five Daoist Priests?"

Pan Tao smiled and nodded.

"Why would Daoist Priests come to Mr. for resolving doubts? Could it be because of that essay by Xue Jingxuan in Mr.'s hand? I heard that Xue Jingxuan is quite versed in Daoist learning, he combined Zhu's learning with Daoist learning, and his theory surpasses even Zhu's learning."

Pan Tao did not answer this question, but asked in return: "Have you read Xue Jingxuan's essay?"

Pan Yun walked far away, gradually unable to hear their conversation, she curiously asked Wang Cong: "Who is Xue Jingxuan? Is he very impressive?"

Wang Cong glanced at her and said: "Xue Jingxuan is the former Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Xue Xuan, his courtesy name is Jingxuan."

Pan Yun was stunned, "It's him?"

Pan Yun lowered her eyes in thought, and after a moment asked: "Where is he now?"

"I don't know," Wang Cong said: "Maybe at his old home in Hedong, or perhaps traveling around. If you want to inquire about his whereabouts, you'd have to go to Qianxi Lou."

"Then we'll find time to visit Qianxi Lou," Pan Yun said: "Speaking of which, Qianxi Lou actually has quite a deep connection with us."

Wang Cong: "... Little Xiao Shishu, what are you looking for him for?"

"I want to ask if he's interested in collaborating to overturn the case," Pan Yun said: "My father is just a minor Censor, Xue Xuan is the real big fish."

"Originally, this wrongful case was targeting Xue Xuan from the start, my father was just a fish caught in the crossfire."

Wang Cong thought briefly and said: "Qianxi Lou is divided into day and night. Entering during the day to ask for information, entering at night to ask for favors. If you go in at night to ask for information, the cost doubles."

Pan Yun absolutely would not waste a single coin, and said: "We'll go during the day!"

But before going to Qianxi Lou, Pan Yun still had to meet her grandmother first.

Originally, coming to Changzhou Prefecture was also to see them.

Pan Yun did not let Wang Cong and the four others accompany her, "You all go have fun tomorrow. I know, those goods on your hands need to be sold, and the Lantern Festival is the best time. I can go by myself."

Wang Cong also didn't treat her as a child, and didn't think there was any problem with her going alone, he directly nodded in agreement, "Then I'll go sell goods with my junior brothers and sisters."

Pan Yun agreed, and gave each of them a talisman, "This is a Positioning Talisman, keep it with you. When I'm done, I'll come find you."

Wang Cong was full of wonder, "There's such a talisman? Why haven't I ever heard of it?"

Pan Yun said proudly: "This is a talisman from my memory, it probably isn't in any books."

Because it hasn't been invented yet.

Wang Cong sighed: "Little Xiao Shishu, your previous life must have been an era where Daoist arts flourished. Could it be that it wasn't in the Great Ming, but in the Yuan?"

Seeing no change on Pan Yun's face, Wang Cong tilted his head, "Could it be even earlier? Song? Tang? No, does reincarnation really take this long?"

Pan Yun said expressionlessly: "Shut up, why do you keep guessing earlier? Please guess later."

Wang Cong burst out laughing and said: "How could I guess later? Time cannot be reversed, only predecessors reincarnate to the present, how could there be successors reincarnating to this point?" Because we aren't even in the same spacetime, on the same line...

Pan Yun swallowed down an answer that might take up a lot of time, and waved her hand: "Go on, go on, don't you need to go find a stall in advance? Let's split up and look."

Wang Cong had no objections, he took one direction alone, Pan Yun went with Miao He, and Miao Zhen went with Tao Yanbai.

Three teams, three directions.

Changzhou Prefecture was very large. Although they only needed to browse one-third of the area, they still browsed until night.

At night, the number of people did not decrease, but instead increased.

Lanterns were lit on both sides of the streets and the riverbanks, the entire city was red and hazy yellow, exceptionally beautiful.

The Grand Canal ran through Changzhou Prefecture. At night, there were not only painted pleasure boats with music and dance on the canal, but also small boats selling all kinds of snacks rowing past, for the pleasure boats and people on the shore to choose from.

There were still many boats moored at the shore, doing business ferrying passengers on pleasure cruises.

Pan Yun pulled Miao He along as she threaded through the crowd, counting on her fingers to follow the directions forward, and quickly found Miao Zhen, Tao Yanbai, and Wang Cong. "You three are quick, meeting up early. Have you found a stall spot yet?"

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"I've got my eye on three places, but I haven't decided yet. What about you, Little Martial Aunt?"

"There's one spot, right in front of a silk fabric shop," Pan Yun gestured as she spoke. "That silk shop is huge—three wide-open frontages. This side, and this side, each has a wall about three zhang long, facing the main street, the same direction as their front door. I asked already, and the wall on the west side hasn't been rented out."

Wang Cong's heart stirred at this. "Why haven't they rented out such a good spot?"

"Because they have a lot of demands, and the rent is high too."

She said, "Just for the one day of the Lantern Festival, they want two taels of silver in rent, but the stall-keeper can't sell silk or satin, and can't sell any food with a strong smell."

Wang Cong raised an eyebrow. "The rent really is high."

He looked toward Miao Zhen and asked, "Junior Sister, cast a divination for us. There are four places in total—which one should we pick?"

Miao Zhen: "Write down all four directions for me."

"Easy, easy," Pan Yun pointed at the boat and said, "Let's get on the boat. We can cruise and eat while we divine."

After half a day, she really was hungry.

The five of them rented one boat and boarded. Pan Yun and Miao He bought lots of delicious food from the food boats nearby.

The food on the boats came in many varieties and was cheap. Each person picked two items, and in no time the table was covered.

Miao Zhen tossed the copper coins nine times, then finally tapped the slip of paper Pan Yun had written and said, "The spot Little Martial Aunt picked is the most suitable."

Wang Cong couldn't help sighing, "Sometimes I really do regret it. If Little Martial Aunt hadn't taken the Mountain God as her master, how good would her luck be?"

Pan Yun said, "I've had good luck since I was little."

Pan Xiaohei, sprawled on her shoulder, let out a snort of laughter.

Pan Yun glanced at it sidelong. "You're better off never making a sound. Why did you have to speak up today?"

Wang Cong and the others bowed their heads, holding back laughter.

Pan Xiaohei jumped down from her shoulder, stood on the bow and stretched lazily, then let out a long howl at the moon all by itself.

The old boatman couldn't help laughing. "Daoist, this cat really has spiritual nature. It's clearly a cat's cry, but the way it carries on, it looks a bit like a wolf."

Pan Yun: "Its heart is too big—the little cat's body can barely contain it anymore."

Pan Xiaohei was about to retort when it sensed something. It immediately turned its head, eyes bright and intent, staring fixedly at the two-story painted pleasure boat ahead, and let out a loud "Meow!"

Pan Yun's smile paused slightly, and she sat up straight.

Wang Cong hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, what's wrong? What did Xiaohei say?"

Pan Yun said, "It says Hong Yan and Xiao Hong are on the pleasure boat up ahead."

Wang Cong and the four others immediately turned their heads to look.

They saw the pleasure boat ahead, hung all over with lanterns. The hull was red overall, with gauze curtains mainly in pink and white, the two colors layered together, looking very pretty in the lamplight.

Through the gauze windows, one could faintly see people inside singing and dancing gracefully.

Pan Yun exclaimed in admiration, "This boat looks very expensive."

Miao Zhen: "The music sounds expensive too—there are guzheng, guqin, pipa, and all kinds of sheng instruments."

Miao He: "Are Hong Yan and the others really that rich?"

Wang Cong: "……It's also possible they didn't go there to spend money, but to earn money."

Tao Yanbai swallowed hard and said softly, "Hong Yan would be one thing, but if Xiao Hong stays by someone's side for too long, won't that person get sick, and unlucky too?"

Pan Yun thought it over, then said, "Not necessarily. What if the other party has an excess of yang energy? Everything needs yin and yang to be in harmony—only in the right measure is it good. Someone like that meeting Xiao Hong might actually be his good fortune."

Wang Cong: "……Little Martial Aunt, would someone who hangs around pleasure boats really have an excess of yang energy?"

That was true enough.

When the five of them looked again at the men laughing merrily inside the pleasure boat, a look of sympathy appeared in their eyes at the same time.

Wang Cong cleared his throat lightly and asked, "Little Martial Aunt, should we board the boat and call them down?"

Good night

(End of this chapter)