Chapter 445: Chapter 9: Mei Family Ancestral Hall (Part 2)
Otherwise, merely relying on the good skills of "Bai Juyi" could never truly bring several acres of Bulgarian Roses to life.
Early this morning, Sister-in-law Hua was first loudly hollering that the ice cellar in the village could be used again. After the people of the village had gathered at the fruit cellar, Xiao Xian then led them to the rose fields.
Xiao Xian spotted Mei Nian standing on the outermost edge of the crowd, the very person she was waiting for.
"Stop just standing around, everyone. Trim the branches and leaves in the flower beds just as she did earlier," Mei Nian had already inspected the flowers in the field. The clusters, neglected for months, had unexpectedly regained some vitality, and those that were trimmed displayed even stronger life force.
"Now you can’t come to me to settle debts anymore. By the way, I’m returning the item that Mei Xiang left behind to you," Xiao Xian raised her hand, and a bottle-shaped object flew into Mei Nian’s hands.
Mei Nian caught it abruptly. It was a crude canning jar holding a watery liquid. She opened the bottle cap cluelessly, and a long-lasting, deep fragrance of rose floated out.
"Rose perfume?" Mei Nian was stunned. The clear liquid in her hand was a bottle of rose perfume, and in her mind, a natural scene slowly unfolded. The white roses of July, on the most beautiful moonlit night, quietly bloomed at their most enchanting moment, harvested together with the dew.
A rose has different fragrances at different stages. Just like a woman, from a girl with a hint of green to a mature young wife, the woman’s fragrance becomes smoother.
This bottle of rose perfume initially carried the astringent scent of a young girl, then quietly transformed into the sweet aroma of a young woman, and finally the charming allure of a young wife. The fragrance, at times soft and at times rich, teased every olfactory nerve in the nose.
"This perfume?" Mei Nian’s fingers, holding the bottle, trembled with excitement, and as the liquid inside collided, the fragrance became even denser.
"It seems like Mei Xiang used the Biological Extraction Method and put the rose buds in alcohol, quickly making them go through the stages from bud to bloom to full flourish. It sounds quite cruel, but the scents of the three stages are completely locked in this bottle, and a bottle of perfume can only use one rose. I can’t yet achieve what Mei Xiang did, but in the near future, I will definitely grasp the Biological Extraction Method, don’t worry," Xiao Xian said spiritedly, confidently swearing.
The Biological Extraction Method used to produce rose essential oil is a secret not shared with the world. Mei Nian had no idea that Mei Xiang had discovered such a method, and Xiao Xian dared to confidently assure her that she would surely grasp this method in the future.
"The rose fields have been tidied up. Next year, when the roses bloom again, I will try hard to master the Biological Extraction Method to repay your losses. That eyesore of a Vincetoxicum fern has been removed too," Xiao Xian deliberately concealed the whereabouts of the Vincetoxicum fern; it seems to be a treasure.
Worried that Mei Nian would pursue the issue further, Xiao Xian quickly continued: "My body has also recovered." After last night’s activities, her skill with the Spiritual Rhinoceros Scissors improved greatly, and even if Xu Changfu really came knocking, she should be able to save her own life.
Mei Nian, unusually, did not retort but fixed her gaze on the perfume in her hand.
Mei Nian suddenly said: "Come with me."
The place Mei Nian took Xiao Xian to was the Divine Temple of the Mei Family.
The Divine Temple in Meijia Village, occupying the largest area in the village, was built by a renowned Feng Shui Master from the late Qing Dynasty.
The architecture of the Divine Temple mimics the old style of the Late Qing. Upon entering, a lucky mural of a Qilin spitting out books adorn the main wall.
Below the mural, there are stair-like, tiered Han white jade tables. On them are the ranked ancestral tablets of the Mei family and a smoking incense burner.
A few steps further stood freshly lacquered pillars, and in the middle hung a sacred box with the Mei family genealogy.
Beyond the main hall and into the side halls, somewhat smaller, were tables and chairs used for discussing important family matters. The wall behind the chairs was engraved with a list of notable members of the Mei family, giving the entire Divine Temple a solemn and respectful air.
"Isn’t it inappropriate for an outsider like me to enter the Mei Family’s Divine Temple?" Xiao Xian’s understanding of divine temples stemmed from Yunteng Sect. Yunteng Sect had no family temple, but had a so-called Divine Temple, where the tablets of past Sect Leaders and revered disciples who had ascended were honored. Generally, only a few highly respected Yunteng Female Masters and favored disciples were allowed entry. Mortal world temples were even more strict, prohibiting women from entering; could it be that the Mei Family did not follow such tradition?
Xiao Xian’s doubts were met with a scoff from Mei Nian, cold and scornful.
"Outsider? Woman? If even I, a woman, am forbidden to enter, then there would be no one left to worship and offer incense to our ancestors inside," Mei Nian’s tone was somewhat desolate. There was a time when her grandfather also forbade them, sisters, from entering the temple, but unfortunately, the Mei family had dwindled, almost to the point of extinction, and the Divine Temple was merely a name with no substance left.
After hearing this, Xiao Xian had no choice but to follow Mei Nian across the threshold of the Divine Temple.
"Kneel down," Mei Nian knelt down first, not in the direction of the ancestral tablets, but on the other side, where the column that should hold the Mei family genealogy stood.
**
Today I went to work without my glasses, and it was excruciating to type out this Chapter as a half-blind person with a degree of four hundred.
**(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian () to cast recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)