After a few days went by, Chu Yue got used to her new identity.
She had trained for a bit, and while her body felt rusty and heavy, she was still better than when she first came. At that time, she had to stop and catch her breath after taking a single step.
"Milady, I'm going downhill to buy cotton cloth," Hupo said.
"Remember to buy some jujubes and ginger. If you find honey, buy some as well," Chu Yue said.
"Alright." Hupo nodded.
"Can you carry so many things? Should I go with you?" Chu Yue asked after a moment's consideration.
"Of course not. Milady, remember your status. How could you show yourself in the streets and do such things?" Hupo firmly rejected the offer.
Even if her mistress had changed a lot, there were certain things that Hupo would absolutely not allow her mistress to do.
Chu Yue felt resigned and said, "You can spend a few copper coins and ask someone to help you carry everything back."
Hupo nodded. "Milady, don't wander off on your own. While Shangqing Temple stays out of our way and we do the same to them, some of them are not easy to get along with."
She had been scolded by a really fierce nun before.
"I know. Ask Yuhe to go with you. I think she has to settle some matters," Chu Yue said with a nod.
Yuhe was a nun staying beside them. She was an orphan Shangqing Temple picked up and a good person. She had gotten to know the master and servant pair over the past few days.
Hupo nodded and asked the young nun to accompany her downhill.
Chu Yue did not idle at home. After Hupo went downhill, she took a stroll around the mountain.
Since she was not the original, she was more courageous. Because of it, she had already explored the entire mountain over the past few days. There was nothing worth seeing, and it was not even easy to pick up firewood there.
A lot of firewood was required for cooking and boiling water, but Hupo and Chu Yue were not the only ones on the mountain. Their neighbor, Shangqing Temple, was also around.
The nuns in it were very hardworking. They picked up all the firewood in the mountain.
Hence, Chu Yue cast her sights on the mountain next to theirs.
She had already spoken to Yuhe, and she did not mention anything about wild beasts roaming the mountain. Hence, there was no need for Chu Yue to be hesitant. She just went to the mountain.
Soon, she saw a monk picking firewood and quickly said, "Master, please let me have some firewood as well."
The monk had to not have thought that a woman would come over, so he turned his head around to look at her.
Chu Yue did not look him in the eye. After calling out to him, she quickly started picking up firewood. She had no other choice. If she did not start picking up firewood, she was going to freeze to death when winter came.
After all, she had heard from Hupo that pure hardwood charcoal was expensive. Chu Yue and Hupo only had a few dozen taels of silver left, so they would not be able to buy a lot of charcoal even if they wanted it.
Besides, winter was around the corner. If they spent all their money on buying pure hardwood charcoal, what would they do about the other resources?
Also, Chu Yue had not secured her job for next year. She was not a person who led an easy life with everything provided for her, so she naturally knew that she had to live a frugal life right now.
"Master, I'm not bothering you by picking up firewood here, right?" Chu Yue asked while she picked up firewood.
The monk did not answer.
"I can't help it. My husband died, and I'm the only one left. I can only come out to pick firewood to live through winter. I'm from the mountain next to this one. Speaking of which, we can be considered neighbors," Chu Yue explained.
The monk understood now that he was facing a widow. It was no wonder then why she came out by herself to gather firewood. Still, he said nothing and continued gathering his own firewood. She was a woman, and it was not appropriate for them to converse with each other.
"Ack! A toad!" Chu Yue was shocked, and with a few jumps, she arrived beside the monk.
The monk was stunned. He cast her a glance, then looked in the direction from which she came. There was indeed a toad there.
Chu Yue watched the toad hop away with stiff movements. Since it was so slow, she was no longer afraid, and she said, "It's already this time of the season, but there are still toads around even though it's so cold? Aren't they supposed to hibernate?"
She found toads to be the most disgusting things on Earth. Not only were they ugly, they were also poisonous!
"Thanks, Master." Chu Yue looked at the monk.
Then, she finally saw the monk's face clearly, and she found herself stunned for a moment. 'Do monks in ancient times look so good?' she thought dumbly in her heart.
The monk was around 185cm tall, so in ancient times, he would be worthy of being said to be eight feet tall.
But not only was he tall, he also looked incredibly handsome.
He was full of life, and there was an intelligent spark in his eyes. He was also drop dead gorgeous. The modern actors who specialized in historical dramas and had legions of fangirls worshipping them when they dressed in historical clothes could not hold a dime to him.
Chu Yue believed that even the monk [1] of a certain princess in Chinese history was not as handsome as the one before her.
He had a pretty face, but still looked masculine. He seemed to be full of life, but also appeared to be level-headed. Even if Chu Yue was used to seeing all sorts of pretty boys, she was still starstruck.
The monk frowned a little. After casting her a glance, he turned around and left.
'That monk is such eye candy.'
Chu Yue did not stop him. She just wiped the corners of her mouth. Good. She did not start drooling. Hopefully she did not look very eager to hook up with him just now, which would have scared him away.
Even though the monk was pure eye candy, Chu Yue did not forget what was important. She bound a small bundle of firewood and brought it back to her mountain.
When she left, the monk returned to the courtyard.
A man in black appeared. "I was careless. Please punish me, Master!"
He had just gone off to take a dump, and a woman had come to the mountain and bothered his master.
"It's fine."
The monk did not blame him. He was a martial artist, and with just one glance, he could tell that the woman did not know any martial arts. She was just a normal woman and not an assassin.
"Thank you for pardoning me, Master. Next time, I will definitely not let her bother you," the man in black said.
"Let her be. She's a widow, and life isn't easy for her."
The monk did not mind. Even though the widow had committed a social faux pas, it was fine. How could he make a fuss over a woman and a widow to boot?
"Master, you're really kind!" Once the man in black finished speaking, he disappeared.
By then, the "widow" Chu Yue had returned home. She began boiling water to make porridge. While she cooked, she remembered the monk on the other mountain.
The monk was just too handsome. His bald head made him look incredibly aloof, and even when he started frowning because of how hard she was staring at him, his face was still as cold as ice. He looked unapproachable. But now she really wanted to get to know him precisely because he appeared to be unapproachable...
"Milady, why are you cooking on your own? I should be doing all this hard work."
When Hupo came back, Chu Yue had already finished making porridge. Tears pooled in her eyes when she saw this.
Chu Yue could not deal with the sight of Hupo lecturing her with tears in her eyes. It caused her a great deal of dread, so she quickly said, "Hurry up and put the things in order. If you take too long, the porridge will turn cold."
"Milady, you have to promise me that you won't do this kind of work anymore; otherwise, even if I have to starve in the future, I won't eat," Hupo said stubbornly.
In the past, Chu Yue had never had to do unskilled work like this. She could just order the maids to do it. But now, they were reduced to poverty. Yet even so, while Hupo was fine with doing this sort of work, she could absolutely not allow her mistress to do these things.
"Alright, just eat," Chu Yue quickly said.
It was only then that Hupo stopped crying and came over to eat with her mistress.