The magpie couldn't stand it any longer, so it spat on the ground and muttered, "Pah! What kind of high monk is he? He's nothing but a lackey!"

“Yes, lackey,” Bai Lu spat as well, her little face contorted with rage.

The remaining young monks: "..."

Rumor has it that Princess Chonghe and her maid were originally bandits.

Bandits are really scary!

They even dared to confront the Empress Dowager to her face, and the Empress Dowager had to give way to them!

The midday sun in early summer was already scorching.

Ji Fengyao lay comfortably in the carriage, eating fruit from an icebox.

Fearing that the three girls would get sunburned, she used her voice to tell them to get on the carriage as well.

The four of them, master and servants, gathered together, eating fruit and playing cards, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Hu Ji and several guards thoroughly searched the residence that the monks of Jin'an Temple had given to Ji Fengyao. Using his ancestral special skills, he found many men's personal clothing and ornaments hidden in the shadows.

Hu Ji carried these items on a tray and went directly to Ji Fengyao's carriage: "Your Highness, these were all found in the meditation room prepared for you. The monks in this temple are not clean!"

Ji Fengyao pressed the mechanism, raising three sides of the carriage. While playing cards with the three maids, she gave a clear order: "Find the abbot and the monks in charge of this temple, beat them until they confess."

"Yes, Your Highness!" Hu Ji replied in a deep voice.

Seeing that something was wrong, one of the clever young monks tried to slip away.

Ji Fengyao threw a card in her hand, hitting the back of his knee and forcing the young novice to his knees. She then ordered, "It seems there aren't many clean people in this temple. Immobilize them with acupressure and make them kneel. Once the matter is investigated, we'll deal with them together."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Hu Ji handed the tray in his hand to a guard behind him, walked up to the few young monks, and with a few swift movements, subdued them all and kicked them to their knees.

Meanwhile, secret guards had already gone to arrest the abbot Xuan Ci and the steward.

After Xuanci settled the Empress Dowager in her care, he received a large sum of "incense money" from her.

He was happily planning how he could secretly keep some of the silver for himself.

Suddenly, several men dressed as guards rushed over, and they were holding the abbot of the temple, Monk Hui'en, as a prisoner.

"Who are you, daring to disturb the sacred Buddhist grounds?" The Empress Dowager lived in the courtyard not far behind him. If he called out, a large number of Imperial Guards would rush over. Xuan Ci was not flustered at all.

The guards in front of him saw him and asked, "Who are you?"

"This humble monk is the abbot of Jin'an Temple, with the Dharma name Xuanci..."

"We've been looking for you!" Before Xuan Ci could finish his boastful words, several guards rushed up, grabbed him, and dragged him toward the temple gate.

Upon seeing this, the several lackey monks following behind Xuanci immediately chased after him, shouting loudly, "Who are you? Release Abbot Xuanci at once! He is the foremost monk of the Great Zhao Dynasty, personally appointed by the Emperor. He is highly regarded by the Empress Dowager, who is currently in the temple. If you disturb the Empress Dowager, you won't be able to bear the consequences even if you have ten lives!"

The guards were all veterans who had fought alongside Shang Xiye on the battlefield, and were deeply trusted by him. They were the best in the Ninth Prince's mansion.

Moreover, they had already undergone five medicinal baths and body-tempering pills, and all of them had cultivation levels ranging from the second to the fourth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm. Why would they care about the shouts and threats of these few lackeys?

They dragged Xuan Ci and Hui En directly to Ji Fengyao's carriage and threw them onto the scorching hot bluestone slabs like dead dogs.