Chapter 6 Monkey
The peddler Zhang looked at Jiang Li in a daze.

He knew these two girls, and had known them for several years. He heard that they were young ladies from wealthy families who had made mistakes and were sent to this nunnery. But looking at their clothes, it was hard to believe that they were from wealthy families. The maid was more lively, but the young lady got angry easily. Every time the peddler Zhang finished selling things, he left in a hurry. This was the first time he saw Jiang Li talking to him so kindly.

Speaking in this way, her gentle and kind appearance really makes her sound like a lady from a wealthy family, but being the daughter of a prime minister, this is a bit too exaggerated.

Although he had doubts, Zhang the peddler still had to hurry to the other end. He thought Jiang Li was joking and would not really use all the money to buy cakes and pastries. After all, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the life of the master and servant here was not affluent. It was nothing for an ordinary wealthy family to use forty strings of copper coins to buy cakes and pastries, but it was not reasonable for two children who could not even keep warm.

"You bought so many cakes and pastries. If you don't finish them, they will go bad." Zhang the peddler couldn't help but remind.

"It's okay," Jiang Li said, "I can finish it."

Having said this, Zhang the peddler didn't say anything more. The copper coins belonged to other people. Jiang Li bought almost half of the cakes and pastries on his shoulder pole. He wanted to go down the mountain and go home as soon as possible. He was so happy that he didn't have time to worry. What was there to worry about?
Tong'er, on the other hand, although confused by Jiang Li's words, had probably never disobeyed Jiang Li's orders before, so she had to suppress her anxiety. When she was carrying a large drawer of cakes and pastries back, the gray-robed nuns passing by looked at her from time to time. Tong'er was afraid that they would come to snatch the cakes and pastries, so she held the cakes and pastries tighter.

When they returned to the damp room, Tong'er put the basket of cakes on the table, closed the door, and finally couldn't help asking, "Why did the girl buy so much... this?"

Jiang Li didn't look at her. She opened the window. Outside the window was the rolling hills of Qingcheng Mountain with undulating beautiful peaks. The winter snow had melted long ago. The peach blossoms all over the mountains dyed the usually grim peaks with a layer of pink, like a gentle and stunning beauty.

"Look." She pointed to the distance and asked Tong'er to look.

Tong'er walked closer and saw a palm-sized curly-tailed monkey squatting on a peach tree in the distance, happily eating a fruit.

"It's a monkey." Tong'er was puzzled. "What's there to see in a monkey?"

There are many monkeys on Mount Qingcheng, and they are naughty on weekdays. The monkeys here get along well with people, especially those at the Helin Temple. Because there are endless pilgrims coming and going on weekdays, sometimes when they see these monkeys squatting on the trees playing, they will throw some peanuts and candies. In winter, when food is scarce, the monkeys ask for food more frequently from the pilgrims. In spring and summer, when the monkeys have no shortage of food, they will not disturb the pilgrims and play by themselves.

However, in places like the nunnery, monkeys rarely come because it is deserted - there is nothing interesting to attract people to a place where they can't get food.

"Go get some cakes." Jiang Li said.

Tong'er followed instructions and went to get a few pieces of walnut cakes.

Jiang Li broke the walnut cake into small pieces and waved them at the monkey on the tree from a distance. Perhaps the cakes from Zhang the peddler's house were really sweet. The aroma of the walnuts quickly attracted the little monkey with curly tail. It rushed to the window and stared at the walnut cake in Jiang Li's hand vigilantly, eager to try but not daring to move forward.

Jiang Li stretched out her hand again, and the monkey finally couldn't resist the temptation of the walnut cake. It stretched out its paw, touched a piece, turned around and ran away. It ran to a rock on the side, ate the cake with its back to Jiang Li, then turned around to look at Jiang Li. Seeing that Jiang Li was still standing in front of the window with a smile on her face, holding some broken cakes in her hand, the monkey became bolder and turned back to ask Jiang Li for food.

After a while, when the monkey had touched all the food in Jiang Li's hand, Jiang Li clapped her hands at the brave monkey, indicating that she had no more food. The monkey looked at Jiang Li's palm reluctantly for a while, then left with its tail up.

Tong'er, who had witnessed the whole process, asked: "Miss, do you want to feed the monkeys? Why do you want to feed them with cakes? It's better to use wild fruits picked from the mountains. These cakes are expensive and not worth it." Not to mention the personal maid of the daughter of the Prime Minister, even if it was Jiang Li or Xue Fangfei, the personal maids around the girls when they were in Tongxiang, they would never feel sorry for a few cakes. If others saw this scene, I don't know how sad they would be. Jiang Li reached out and touched Tong'er's head, and smiled: "But monkeys like delicacies more than wild fruits."

Before Tong'er could say anything, Jiang Li turned around and walked to the table and sat down. There was only one stool in the room, which Tong'er made from wood picked up outside. The legs of the stool were not stable. Jiang Li said, "Tong'er, starting tomorrow, you will use these cakes to feed the monkeys."

Tong'er's eyes widened: "Miss, why is this happening? I don't understand."

Why should we care about monkeys when people are hungry? What's the logic behind this?
"I want these monkeys to do something for me," Jiang Li smiled, "these cakes can be regarded as money for my passage."

"But……"

"It's just a few cakes," Jiang Li interrupted her, "When we get back, I'll ask the kitchen to make them for you every day. Don't worry about these few."

Tong'er was silent. Speaking of returning to Beijing, Jiang Li was probably more sad than her. Tong'er didn't dare to say anything that would make Jiang Li sad.

"These cakes," Jiang Li reached out and knocked on the basket drawer. The aroma of cakes filled the room. The master and servant could only eat porridge and pickles every day, and the aroma had already made them hungry. Jiang Li suppressed her hunger and said, "Divide these cakes into 15 parts and feed the monkeys one part every day until the 19th. On the 19th, you don't need to feed them anymore."

Tong'er was puzzled, but still responded: "I'll save you the trouble."

"It's half an hour's journey from here to Helin Temple," Jiang Li said, "I can't leave the temple every day, so you have to go. You go out at 11:00 every day, and at 12:00, take these cakes and pastries to feed the monkeys in the forest behind Helin Temple until the 19th. You don't have to go on the night of the 19th."

I don't know if Master Jing'an got someone's instructions, but Jiang Li couldn't leave the nunnery. She could only stay in the nunnery every day, and her every move was watched by others. But Tong'er could walk around, because she had to go to the mountains to chop firewood during the day. Tong'er had been in the mountains for six years, and she was very familiar with the roads in Qingcheng Mountain, so she would not get lost.

There are often noble ladies coming to Qingcheng Mountain to burn incense. To ensure safety, there are few bandits in the mountain, so it is very safe. Otherwise, Jiang Li would be worried if Tong'er went out at night.

After listening to Jiang Li's instructions, Tong'er suddenly asked, "Miss, are you doing this to plan for returning to Beijing?"

Jiang Li looked at her and smiled: "Are you scared?"

Tong'er was not afraid when she heard this. Instead, she looked eager to try. The little girl was very brave and was willing to do it for some reason. She rubbed her hands and said, "Don't be afraid! I've wanted to do this for a long time!"

"Very good." Jiang Li nodded, "Let's start tonight."

　Do you think Ahri is a gentle girl╭（╯^╰）╮

　　
　
(End of this chapter)