The carriage was moving at a brisk pace. It took less than a day to leave the capital city.
While waiting for the boat, Lin Qiao caught sight of the locust flowers on the mountain.
In this season, locust flowers should not be in full bloom. However, on the nearby mountain, there were many locust trees, with large white locust flowers blooming everywhere.
They were so beautiful that they caught one's eye.
Lin Qiao recalled her childhood in the orphanage in the 21st century.
At that time, she couldn't get enough to eat. As she was in the stage of growing up, she felt even hungrier. So she discussed with her little friends to steal the locust flowers in the yard.
But the locust tree in the yard was planted by the orphanage director to make locust flower honey for herself.
They stole the locust flowers and even stripped the whole tree bare, leaving only a naked trunk, which was very conspicuous in the yard and looked extremely pitiful.
The director couldn't make the locust flower honey, so she naturally took her anger out on them.
For those few days, Lin Qiao only got a dry steamed bun.
The hungrier she was, the clearer the taste of the locust flowers that day became in her mind.
Now that she was here, having sumptuous feasts every day, but none of the food tasted as good as the locust flowers that night. They weren't as fragrant or as sweet as the locust flowers that night.
As Lin Qiao was looking at the locust flowers, her eyes unexpectedly became a bit moist.
Alas, she always recalled the past. She really hadn't outgrown the age of being a bit childish.
Luo Nanchen saw Lin Qiao in a daze and walked over on his own initiative. "Madam, are you wondering why the locust flowers are in bloom out of season?"
Zou Lvrui moved closer to Li Gusong and whispered, "Look and learn. If you were half as proactive as the emperor, your happiness would have come long ago."
Li Gusong looked at Zou Lvrui in surprise.
Qu Yinghan's look was even more surprised.
Hearing Luo Nanchen's voice, Lin Qiao came back to her senses and nodded blankly.
"This mountain is called Hongdong Mountain. There's a temple on it called the Moon Goddess Temple," Luo Nanchen knew Lin Qiao was thinking about something else but didn't expose it. He just seriously told Lin Qiao, "There are osmanthus trees in the Guanghan Palace and locust trees in the Moon Palace. The temple of the Moon Goddess is located here. The spiritual energy permeates the area, causing the locust flowers to bloom all year round."
Lin Qiao asked, "The Moon Goddess? What does she oversee?"
"Marriage."
Lin Qiao's eyes lit up.
Seeing Lin Qiao's reaction, Luo Nanchen quickly added cleverly, "She also tells fortunes."
Lin Qiao's eyes lit up again.
Luo Nanchen turned to ask Mo Xiujie, "When will the boat arrive?"
"Right away..." Mo Xiujie was confused, but seeing Luo Nanchen's cold look, he immediately changed his words. His desire to survive was at its peak. "It will still take a while, Young Master, you—"
Luo Nanchen nodded. "Well, then let's go up the mountain and take a look. Since there's a divine being here, it would be disrespectful not to go."
Before his voice faded, Lin Qiao looked at Luo Nanchen in surprise. How did he know she wanted to go up the mountain?
Mo Xiujie was full of questions. His fearless emperor, why did he suddenly think it was disrespectful not to take a look? If Luo Nanchen had to visit every place with a legend, when would they ever reach the south of the Yangtze River?
As Luo Nanchen's subordinates, Li Gusong and Dong Peirong naturally put Luo Nanchen's wishes first and had no objections. Qu Yinghan looked cold and aloof, seemingly indifferent to everything, so she naturally had no objections either.
And Zou Lvrui was the most excited one. She ran even faster than Lin Qiao.
The group set off up the mountain in grand style.
The mountain path was rugged, filled with large rocks, making it difficult to walk. One couldn't fly when going to a sacred mountain to pay respects. It seemed that the temple didn't have many pilgrims.
Luo Nanchen always followed closely behind Lin Qiao, afraid that Lin Qiao, who was running in a hurry, would fall. But Lin Qiao was only eager to run into the temple and didn't notice at all.
Hongdong Mountain was a group of continuous mountains. The lofty, green mountains, the lush trees covering the mountains, the vast blue sky, and the wispy clouds just formed a simple and elegant ink landscape painting.
When they reached the top of the mountain, an imposing and ancient gate appeared in front of them.
The gate was wide open, and the scenery inside was clearly visible. Two young Taoist boys were cleaning the courtyard. In the center of the main hall was probably the legendary Moon Goddess.
Lin Qiao walked over. "Hello, I'd like to find the most powerful Taoist priest in your temple."
The two young Taoist boys bowed in the Taoist way. One of them said, "Miss, we don't exorcise demons here. You'd better find someone else."
Lin Qiao quickly explained, "No, no. I don't want to exorcise demons. I want to tell my fortune."
"To tell your marriage fortune?"
"Yes, that's right."
The young Taoist boy looked at Lin Qiao again and nodded. "Miss, please wait a moment. I'll go and invite my master."
"Thank you, thank you."
Lin Qiao stood there waiting for the young Taoist boy when she suddenly remembered... Since she entered this book, no demons had ever harassed her.
Moreover, judging from the young Taoist boy's reaction just now, it seemed that demons might appear at any time and would harass people. Otherwise, when she said she wanted to find the most powerful Taoist priest, the young Taoist boy's first reaction wouldn't have been exorcising demons.
As a person from the 21st century, it was normal for her to think there were no demons. But in this world, it seemed a bit abnormal.
Could it be that the demons all knew the original owner was not to be trifled with, so they didn't dare to come?
Lin Qiao couldn't figure it out, so she simply stopped thinking about it.
The young Taoist boy just now led someone over.
It wasn't an old man with white beard as one usually imagined, but a young and beautiful Taoist nun with a charming appearance and an excellent figure.
Mo Xiujie's exclamation could be heard even from a long distance by Lin Qiao.
The young Taoist boy couldn't hide his pride in his words. "This is my master, the True Person Yue Yi. She's the most powerful Taoist priest in our temple."
The Taoist nun nodded slightly at Lin Qiao. Every move of hers exuded a unique celestial air. "Is it you who wants to tell your fortune?"
Lin Qiao nodded. "Sorry to trouble you."
"Come with me."
The True Person Yue Yi smiled slightly. Her smile was gentle but with a sense of distance. Every move of hers was extremely charming. Looking at her, Lin Qiao suddenly had an absurd thought... Maybe even a fairy was no more beautiful than her.
Lin Qiao drew a fortune stick and handed the one that fell out to the Taoist nun. "True Person, please interpret this for me."
The True Person Yue Yi took the fortune stick, looked at it, and smiled. "Don't be in a hurry. Miss, do you know why this temple was built?"
Lin Qiao nodded. "I know. The Moon Goddess once stopped here. It only tells marriage fortunes."
The True Person Yue Yi led Lin Qiao to sit down. "That's right. Among the people traveling with you today, there's your lover, right?"
Lin Qiao was stunned and quickly denied it. "No, no..."
"Don't be in a hurry to explain," the True Person Yue Yi smiled. "I knew it when you were waiting at the front gate."
"... Ah?"
"Among the group traveling with you, almost everyone was looking around, looking at the Moon Goddess Temple. But I saw that one person's eyes were always on you."