Outside, there were the sounds of orderly footsteps. Su Qinghe poked a hole in the window paper.
Squads of soldiers carrying torches ran past the kitchen door. Looking further afield, soldiers could be seen moving about in all the passageways of the temple. At that moment, the entire Lingyan Temple was illuminated.
The commotion woke up the monks who were sound asleep, and they all opened their doors to check.
"Where did these soldiers come from? What are you doing?"
"Abbot, quickly go and inform the abbot!"
The monks had never seen anything like this before, and they were all in a panic. They all tried to run to the abbot's residence, but they were chased back after only a few steps.
"You all better go back to your rooms and stay put, or I'll kill you all with one stroke!"
A fierce-looking woman stood in front, carrying a knife, her eyes sweeping over the faces of the group of monks with ill intent.
The group of monks all looked frightened, huddled together in fear, and one of the older ones spoke up to ask a question.
"My lord, our temple is merely a place of quiet meditation. We don't often descend the mountain; when we do, it's only to do some shopping. Have we done something wrong? We..."
The woman interrupted him fiercely.
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. If you don't want to die, get back inside!"
As they spoke, the women took a few quick steps forward, startling the group of monks who hurriedly ran into the house.
Seeing this, the woman revealed an arrogant and sinister smile, closed the door, and led her men to guard outside the courtyard.
This is just one of the meditation rooms of the monks at Lingyan Temple; similar incidents are happening in several other courtyards.
These soldiers not only surrounded the monks, but also guarded all the passages to Lingyan Temple, and sealed off the temple gate.
The entire Lingyan Temple was surrounded, inside and out.
In the guest rooms, apart from Luo Pinzheng and the soldiers she brought, everyone else who had been captured was equally terrified.
Although they knew Luo Pin was plotting a rebellion, they didn't know how they would be treated in the future.
Inside the room.
Luo Pin was swirling the teacup in his hand, his face grim.
I just received news that Qin Anmin's family and Su Qinghe's family are still nowhere to be seen, and none of the people sent to the Su residence have returned.
A man who appeared to be a leader spoke softly from inside the room.
"Lord Luo, should we send a message over there to let that official make preparations, or perhaps not come at all, and wait until we've captured the man?"
"One of them escaped; our story might have already gotten out."
"Bullshit!" Luo Pin slammed his fist on the table, spitting as he spoke.
"The news has gotten out. This is such a big deal. How am I supposed to explain this to them? Are you going to take the blame for me when they blame me?"
"If that lord comes, we might still have a glimmer of hope. If he doesn't, things have already progressed to this point. Without someone to help us, we're doomed!"
The people inside remained silent as they listened, and Luo Pinzheng tried to console himself.
“Su Qinghe is just a mere merchant with no power or influence. We are dealing with matters concerning the imperial court. If she were smart, she would have run away and stayed far away. Whether we succeed or not has nothing to do with her!”
Although Luo Pinzheng said this, he was even more flustered at the same time.
If Su Qinghe really ran away, what will happen to the poison in her body!
No! She still has Qin Anmin in her hands. She and Su Qinghe are related by marriage, so he might come to her rescue.
After a long pause, she slammed the cup down on the table.
"Search the temple thoroughly, leaving no corner unchecked. Whoever finds Su Qinghe first will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver!"
"Also, send a few men to surround Shilixiang as well! If you don't want to lose your heads, you'd better find Su Qinghe by any means necessary!"
She stood up abruptly, and only after the soldier in charge had given his orders did she hurriedly leave the room. Looking in the direction she was heading, she saw Qin Anmin's room.
...
"You guys go over there, we'll go over here! Search thoroughly! Don't miss a single corner!"
The entire temple was noisy and bustling with people. Doors were being pushed open one after another, and even the main hall, which was locked, was being opened with a key.
The monks had no idea what was going on, causing widespread panic.
Su Qinghe naturally heard the sounds of people searching everywhere. Hearing the approaching footsteps, she left the kitchen without hesitation.
Given their thorough search, the kitchen was naturally not spared.
Su Qinghe changed into a night-clothes. At this time, the temple was lit up with firelight everywhere, which forced her to move slowly. She ran on the rooftops for a while and walked on the ground for a while.
Carefully avoiding the groups of soldiers, Su Qinghe had already decided on her destination.
About half an hour later, she found herself in a room.
The room was dimly lit, with only a single candle casting a faint glow.
Su Qinghe climbed in through the window and was standing in front of it. She looked around the room but didn't see anyone.
In the darkness, she heard a faint sound not far away.
She was positioned close to the bed, and the burning candlelight could only illuminate the area around her.
Su Qinghe held her breath and walked slowly toward the person's location.
Not far away, a dark shadow was swaying from side to side. Even in the darkness, the round thing looked brighter than the other things around it.
That's right, the person in front was a monk, and Su Qinghe was currently in a meditation room.
Wu Wang propped his head up and peered out through a small hole in the paper window with difficulty.
Because there were soldiers guarding the outside, the place he chose was relatively secluded, so the angle from which he could see was extremely limited.
Just as he was frowning and preparing to switch to another eye, a hand suddenly covered his mouth.
"Hmm!"
He was startled, almost scared out of his wits, and began to struggle violently.
Unfortunately, his strength was pitifully weak. The person behind him covered his mouth with one hand and used the other hand to hold him tightly in their arms.
The soft touch on his back told him that it was a woman holding him, which made him even more terrified.
"Mmm..."
Noticing warm liquid dripping onto her hand, Su Qinghe quickly comforted her softly.
"Don't be afraid, it's me."
A warm voice reached his ears. The voice sounded familiar; he felt like he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it.
Seeing that he had stopped struggling, Su Qinghe carefully dragged him toward a place with light.
When they arrived at their destination, she lowered her head and spoke softly.
"I'm letting you go now. Don't scream. You'll know once you see my face."
The man's mouth was covered, preventing him from speaking; Su Qinghe only felt the head in her hand nod slightly.
"Then I'll let go."
As Su Qinghe spoke, she withdrew both of her hands from the man.
As soon as she let go, Wuwang hurriedly ran a long way away, and when he turned around, he was still panting heavily.
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