Glossary:
Pinni: a humble way that nuns use to address themselves; “this humble nun”

Shitai: a respectful form of address to a nun

Shizhu: a term used by monks’ and nuns’ to people who donate to the temple or a term to people in general; “patron”/“benefactor”

Anzhu: the superior of a nunnery/convent; ~Mother superior; ~Abbess

One Zheng: =3.33m; =3.65 yards

One Mu: =0.0667 hectare; 0.165 acre; =667 square metres

Inside the carriage, Wan Lu enthusiastically spoke to Ran Yan about everything concerning Ge Lan.

The more Ran Yan heard, the more she thought Ge Lan was an amazing girl; intelligent and calm, she could counter the endless tricks from Madame Gao. Sometimes she appeared to be cunning and despicable, but when she had to give someone some leeway, she would leave them only a ray of hope; when she had to hit someone when they were already down, she would always do it with no hesitation. It was hard to believe that this was a girl barely older than ten years old.

“Xing niang said that Yu niang was a clever, sensible and reasonable person, so we can assume that Ge Lan resembled her.” Wan Lu said emotionally.

Ran Yan faintly smiled. A person like Ge Lan was suitable for surviving inside a wealthy and influential clan. But whether it was the previous Ran Yan or the current Ran Yan, both of them weren’t suitable to the troublesome fight in the residence’s rear. [1]

It wasn’t that she wasn’t able to fight. On the contrary, if she really fought, Madame Gao may not be Ran Yan’s opponent. Besides, has she ever been an aggressive person? If a forensic doctor wants to kill someone, there are plenty of ways to do it so that it will never be discovered.

She was too serious during her past life, there was nothing besides work for her. She was doomed to not achieve anything in her career as a coroner in this life, so she will lie back and live however she wants to.

If the people in the Ran Fu treated her with honesty, she would then mind her own business [2]; but if they insisted on provoking her, she wouldn’t mind using her pair of coroner’s hands to cut a few living people.

The carriage gradually slowed until it finally stopped. The sky outside had already darkened, and the lamps on the corners of the carriage could only illuminate a distance of not even one zheng around its circumference. Ran Yan observed the vast grassland that seemed unparalleled in its bleakness and silence.

“Miss, we have arrived.” Xing niang spoke from the outside.

Wan Lu supported Ran Yan to exit the carriage, and they stood at the desolated mountain foot.

Wan Lu sized up the surroundings and was taken aback; she then soon sighed helplessly. She was someone who had a lot of self-knowledge; besides her loyalty, and her courageous and daring spirit, she isn’t useful for anything else, and will never be able to be like Ge Lan who could plan ahead and take precautions for Miss.

Ran Yan was aware of the motive of Wan Lu’s sigh, and while patting her hand, she said: “This is such a quiet place, quite fitting for us to lie low until the storm pass, so what are you sighing for? Also, Tenth Brother will not let me suffer.”

“Miss is right.” Wan Lu nodded. Although everyone in the Ran Fu is cold and uncaring, at least there’s still Tenth Master to treat Miss well.

There was a gauzy mist on this mountain foot, and the higher someone climbed, the denser the mist became.

There was a dim fog on this mountain foot, and the higher you climbed, the denser the fog became. Ran Yan raised her head to look at it, but she could only make out some indistinct flickering lights amidst the fog, and a desolation she couldn’t explain.

“Amitabha.” Voices calling out to Buddha echoed through the foot of the mountain.

Ran Yan withdrew her gaze and follow the source of the voices.

Ran Yan withdrew her gaze and followed the source of the voices. Three nuns wearing wide sleeve ziyis [3] came down to welcome them. The leading one seemed slightly old, probably around thirty years old; her figure was tall and thin, with a long and slim neck, and a skinny oval face; her indifferent appearance was even more accentuated by the ziyi. The two nuns following her were younger; the youngest one was between twelve and thirteen years old and still had a childish nature seeing that her eyes were curiously sizing up Ran Yan’s group.

“Pinni is Jing Hui” The leading nun walked to the front of Ran Yan and put her hands together in front of her chest, bowing slightly as she spoke.

“Child is Seventeenth Miss Ran, Ran Yan. I greet Jing Hui shitai.” Ran Yan replied using a Buddhist courtesy.

Jing Hui dropped her eyes a little, saying: “Thank you, I don’t dare deserve it.” [4]

Jing Hui spoke and courteously greeted Xing niang and Wan Lu before leading the group of people to the mountains. Luckily, the path upwards wasn’t very steep, and the path in the mountain was a bit leveled. Although the carriage couldn’t go on it, the porter had enough strength to follow along.

Ying Mei Convent was in the middle of the mountain, at a distance of over fifty meters from the foot of the mountain. Halfway up, there was a raised platform that, together with its patios, should have an area smaller than a mu. There was a precipice cliff behind it, forests on both sides and only one main gate to enter.

A huge bamboo forest was located near the main entrance. It was a dense forest of long, thin bamboo, all aiming at the heavens as if they were a natural screen isolating the Ying Mei Nunnery from the outside world.

The moonlight was scattered yet dense, and the sound of the wind seemed to continually rise and fall.

The night wind brushed along the bamboo sea, creating a soft but irregular sound; it traveled along with the faint smell of bamboo, blowing across their faces. Ran Yan immediately took a liking to this place.

If the night in this place looked this beautiful, the day must be even better.

“Ran shizhu, pinni already arranged people to tidy up a small courtyard. We’ll provide the incenses that Ran shizhu will use in her prayers to Buddha. Ying Mei Nunnery’s incenses are not abundant, only a few simple and crude ones; I hope Ran shizhu can tolerate it.”

Jing Hui’s unhurried and gentle tone was very pleasant to the ears.

“Since it is prayers for Buddha, they only required sincerity. Moreover, I like this place a lot.” Ran Yan replied.

Jing Hui looked sideways at Ran Yan’s face, her heart highly disapproving of her words. There were noble girls who came here to worship Buddha, but there was never one that stayed for more than three days.

Jing Hui silently took Ran Yan and the others to the arranged courtyard and then explained that they would pay a formal visit to anzhu tomorrow morning.

The courtyard allocated for Ran Yan had four rooms. The main room was a wooden room with a veranda; then there was the bamboo room next door which was quite modest; and the other two rooms were wing-rooms, with one of them being a small and simple kitchen. It seems that this place is normally used to receive worshippers.

[1] I didn’t know what I could use besides the direct translation; this means the fight between the concubines of a household. ↺

[2] It literally means ‘the water from a well does not mix with the water from the river’ = each person will mind their own business. ↺

[3] I didn’t find any good images, but it is a type of black clothes used by monks – or court officials. ↺

[4] It literally means “I dare not deserve it/accept it.”, it is used as a reply to compliments – in this case, is for the word shitai that RY uses -, like ‘it’s too much of a compliment’, ‘I’m flattered/honored’, etc. ↺