Although Manbao was no longer feeling unwell, she huffed at Bai Shan and turned away, basket in hand.
Bai Shan quickly followed after her, his neck still red. "Are you really angry?"
Manbao, her face flushed, humphed, "You are not allowed to carry me anymore. I am already a big girl."
Bai Shan couldn’t help but mutter, "Clearly still a little girl..."
But he still nodded in agreement.
The two of them walked side by side towards the village, Daji also came down from the mountain, quietly following behind them.
By then, the sun was already halfway up the sky, they had been talking for quite some time, so the village was bustling with people.
Most of them were heading towards Dali Village, as the temple fair was busiest at noon, so everyone tried to get to Dali Village before lunchtime.
The festivities would last until 9 p.m when everyone would disperse. Every year at the temple fair, Manbao and Bai Shan would join their village friends to play, mainly to worship the Earth God halfway up the mountain and pay respects to the gods in the Taoist temple, especially to the Heaven Master.
Seeing so many people heading towards Dali Village, Manbao couldn’t help but feel tempted. "Shall we go?"
Upon seeing her expression, Bai Shan knew she wanted to go and nodded, "Let’s go, let’s go."
Manbao then said, "Then wait for me, I’ll drop my basket at home first."
Bai Shan nodded, "We’ll go find Bai Er later, I wonder if he’s still around."
Bai Erlang had left early. His family’s servant said, "The Second Young Master went to look for you early in the morning. When you weren’t home, he went to find Miss Man, and since she wasn’t home either, he got a bit angry and insisted we all search together. We didn’t find you, and some classmates came to invite him, so the Second Young Master went with them to the temple fair."
Bai Shan turned to Manbao and said, "He clearly didn’t look hard enough, otherwise, your family would definitely know what we were up to. He’s saying all this just so we wouldn’t blame him."
The servant nearby shrank his neck and gave a pleasing smile.
Manbao nodded, "We won’t blame him."
Bai Shan said, "Right." At most, when they see him, he’ll give him a slightly harder punch on the shoulder for going out to play without waiting for them.
Daji asked, "Young Master, are we going by foot or should we take the carriage?"
Bai Shan looked at Manbao, who glanced at the sun and said, "It’s getting late, let’s take the carriage."
Daji went to get the horses and hitch them to the carriage.
While Bai Shan and Manbao chatted outside their home, they kept feeling they had forgotten something until Daji arrived with the carriage. Bai Shan suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no, I forgot to pay respects to my grandmother and mother."
Manbao also remembered this issue, and they looked at each other.
Daji said casually as he drove up, "The Old Madam and the lady have gone to the fair too. Young Master, if you want to pay respects, why not do it at the temple?"
Manbao scratched her head and said, "I forgot to tell my mom too; I just threw the basket in the yard and ran off."
Bai Shan said, "No worries, we have a carriage, we have time. You go home and tell your mom first, so she won’t worry if she can’t find you later."
Daji then said, "Mrs. Zhou also went with them. The Old Madam arranged to go with Old Master Zhou and Mrs. Zhou; they left at 9 a.m."
Manbao and Bai Shan looked at each other and smiled, climbing onto the carriage, not knowing quite what they were so cheerful about.
The carriage couldn’t even reach the foothills of Dali Village as the roads were packed with people and the grass beside the road was filled with goods from temporary vendors.
The most popular items were incense sticks and firecrackers, followed by various kinds of food.
Manbao jumped from the carriage, looking at the throng of people climbing up the hill, exclaimed, "This year is even busier than last year."
A nearby old man heard her and loudly replied, "Indeed, the temple on the mountain is truly efficacious. Even celestial beings under Heaven Master come here to worship, so people from the neighboring county city are also coming here to pay respects. I reckon it’ll be even busier in the next few years."
Bai Shan looked at the celestial being under Heaven Master.
Manbao, slightly embarrassed, smiled shyly, "Has the story spread to other counties already?"
Bai Shan, suppressing a laugh, said, "Who knows, it might even spread to Yizhou City in the future."
Meanwhile, the county magistrate of Huayang County in Yizhou City was listening, dumbfounded, as the villagers enlightened him about the Heaven Master and the celestial beings under his command.
These stories obviously weren’t started by Ms. Qian, but by others adding their interpretations. At first, County Magistrate Tang listened as if it were just a legend, but the more he heard, the more he felt something was amiss, and the more it seemed that the celestial being under Heaven Master seemed familiar.
County Magistrate Tang promptly stopped a chattering old woman, asking, "Madam, is this celestial being still around?"
"Oh yes, she is. Why wouldn’t she be? She’s still a child. Although a celestial being, she descends to undergo tribulations and is just like any mortal. It will be a hundred years before she can return to her celestial status."
County Magistrate Tang was astonished to find such ignorance under Yang Heshu’s jurisdiction and blinked, asking, "May I know where this celestial being is from?"
"She’s from Luojiang County, just nearby in Qili Village of the Zhou Family. She’s quite lucky, one person bringing fortune to the whole family."
County Magistrate Tang couldn’t help but burst into laughter, asking, "Her name wouldn’t happen to be Zhou Man, would it?"
"I don’t know her name, but her mother is from Qian Family Village, also a very fortunate person. Oh my, she had six sons and two daughters, each one better than the last."
County Magistrate Tang was certain this was Zhou Man.
He burst into laughter again, turning to Jiang Qi and said, "Do you elders know about this?"
Jiang Qi nodded, "Yes, sir. You had just taken office and encountered Miss Man. You knew then already, but you didn’t take it to heart, thinking it was mere rumors. Who could have expected these tales to spread so widely and the temple to thrive more each year?"
County Magistrate Tang’s eyes were nearly teary from laughter as he said, "Who would have thought Zhou Man had such ability, to be a celestial being?"
Manbao, mingling among the crowd climbing up, seemed to hear her name and looked abound, saying to Bai Shan, "I think I heard someone calling me."
Bai Shan also said, "I think I heard your name too."
County Magistrate Tang, sitting slightly above them on a roadside stone, heard this and looked down to see the two standing on the steps looking up.
Everyone looked down and then looked up, meeting each other’s gaze.
County Magistrate Tang expressed his surprise, asking, "What are you doing here?"
Manbao and Bai Shan were even more surprised and exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
Manbao said, "This is our hometown. It’s the February 2nd holiday, and we’re here for the festival. Lord Tang, what brings you here?"
County Magistrate Tang coughed lightly, "County Magistrate Yang isn’t here, I came over to temporarily manage county affairs. Hearing that the temple fair in Dali Village was lively, I came to check it out."