Chapter 58 I’ll do it even if it means selling myself!
Before going to bed at night, Zongying had nothing to do, so he played with the treasure mirror given by the master for a while.
As a result, I had clear and strange dreams all night long.
She dreamed that she had her hair in a bun, sitting alone at a dimly lit desk, writing a letter:
"Dear Mr. Weiqiang: I heard that you intend to establish a girls' school to educate the poor and orphaned, and to open up a path for career advancement. I am deeply impressed. There is a woman named Xue Luwei, the widow of a former vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. She has a long history of poetry and prose, and a naturally noble character. I would like to take the liberty of recommending her to take the position of teacher, so that she can teach the students the art of rhetoric..."
In her dream, she had married Xie Xuanlan. Today, she met her sister-in-law Meng at Congshan Academy. She heard that Princess Chun'an had been allowed to open an academy in Yunjing and was willing to teach poor and orphaned girls. However, due to the lack of teachers, there has been no progress.
Knowing from Yingqing that he had no chance to help, he remembered his old friend Xue Luwei, who was noble and outstanding, so he wrote a letter to recommend her to the princess.
However, the relationship between Xie and the princess became increasingly tense, so Cong Ying only dared to tell her about this matter in private. Just as he had finished writing the letter and the ink was not yet dry, he heard a maid outside the house calling out, saying that the third young master had returned.
She hurriedly took the letter and went to open the door. She saw Xie Xuanlan standing under the moonlight, knife in hand, his body covered in blood. His handsome face was filled with a ferocious look, and he shouted, "Today, we killed thirteen evil ghosts and captured six fierce ghosts alive. It's really lively in Yama's Palace!"
Congying was already feeling guilty, and her face turned pale when she heard that. She slammed the door shut with a bang.
The atmosphere outside seemed to be frozen, and there was no movement for a long time. When he looked outside quietly again, Xie Xuanlan had left. Cong Ying breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little lost.
The next morning, she went to Xuandu Temple and hung the poem plaque containing the letter of recommendation on the tallow tree next to the Linshan Pavilion.
The wind chimes of the tallow tree jingled, and she clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and silently prayed for the princess's health and all the best for the girls' school.
Little did she know that all this was seen by the female official Gan Jiu. After Cong Ying left, Gan Jiu stepped forward to pick up the poem plaque and took the letter of recommendation back to Dayi Palace to present it to the princess. Seeing the princess's frown relax and ordering someone to prepare gifts and invite Xue Luwei mentioned in the letter, she finally couldn't help but reveal the truth:
"I have seen the true identity of this Luoxishan person. She is Jiang Congying, the daughter-in-law of Prime Minister Xie and the granddaughter of the late Censor Jiang."
Princess Chun'an's expression grew colder upon hearing this: "Did you look carefully?"
Gan Jiu nodded and advised her, "Xie Dang first instructed the students of the Imperial College to slander the girls there, accusing them of improper behavior and seducing women. Rumors are already spreading within and outside the court. If Xue Luwei harbors evil intentions and stirs up trouble in the academy, I'm afraid Your Highness's career will become even more difficult."
Princess Chun'an seemed to recall all the things Xie Dang had done. She held the letter in her hand, lowered her eyes, and remained silent for a long time.
She did not issue any instructions to Gan Jiu, but Gan Jiu was indignant that the princess was deceived and had her own idea: she sent people to intercept her when she was going from Ying to Xuandu Temple, and threw her into the Dali Temple prison on the false charge of "great disrespect", forcing her to confess how she was instructed by Prime Minister Xie to pretend to be a man from Luoxi Mountain and intend to harm the princess.
Cong Ying refused to admit his guilt, and even refused to look Gan Jiu in the eye, and just remained silent.
Although Gan Jiu didn't dare to torture her openly, he had many ways to torture her without leaving any traces.
Fortunately, Du Rupan came to the Dali Temple on business and saw her. He hurried to inform Xie Xuanlan. Xie Xuanlan led his men into the Dali Temple, killed and injured several jailers, wrapped her in a cloak, and took her out.
Only then did Cong Ying start to cry, feeling a pang of regret in her heart: "After something like this, I'm afraid the relationship between the Prime Minister and the Princess will become even more incompatible."
Xie Xuanlan silently wiped the blood off his hands and asked her how she had caught the eye of Princess Chun'an. Cong Ying did not dare to mention the man from Luoxi Mountain and the hermit from Weiqiang. Seeing that she remained silent, Xie Xuanlan had his own guesses.
He chuckled coldly and said, "You only care about Du Rupan's future, not your own? I advise you to stay out of these politicians' shady affairs, lest you harm others and yourself... harm him."
Cong Ying woke up from her dream with such a depressed mood. She saw that it was already bright outside the tent. She had slept until noon.
Ah He knocked on the door: "Sister, sister!"
Congying stood up with his heavy head in his hands, straightened his clothes and went to open the door for Ah He.
Ah He held a slingshot in his right hand and a plump quail in his left. He jumped back and forth outside the door excitedly and couldn't wait to show the quail to Cong Ying: "This is what I hunted. Give it to Madam to deal with. I'll make soup for Yin'er tonight!"
Cong Ying was surprised: "Where did you get the slingshot? When did you learn how to use it?"
Ah He said: "Yin'er made this for me, it's very interesting, look at it, sister——"
She picked up a stone the size of her knuckle, aimed at the sparrow on the branch, stretched her hand fully, and suddenly let go. A sparrow fell down in response, as if it was effortless.
"You're quite strong," Zong Ying borrowed the slingshot from her, "Let me try."
She also aimed at the place where Ah He had shot down the sparrow. The stone flew out of her hand without even hitting the tree trunk. She couldn't help but laugh and touched Ah He's head: "You are awesome!"
Ah He became even more proud.
Cong Ying and Ah He went to visit Wei Yin'er. Her injuries had improved a lot, and she was willing to walk around and bask in the sun when the weather was good. At this time, they met Zhou Mama who came to deliver food. She complained that Wei Yin'er was not only greedy, but also wanted to spend money on the ginseng supplements at home. She said something very unpleasant:
"The Jiang family is an orphan and a widow. Others don't need to pity them, but now there's another mouth to feed. It's like a creditor. The poor ginseng that the master left for our young master has also been taken away. Alas!"
Wei Yiner had a gentle smile on her face. She took out the food one by one without saying a word. It seemed that she had heard this many times.
Cong Ying was unhappy, and Ah He was so angry that she gritted her teeth. Cong Ying gently touched her and said, "Where's your slingshot?"
Ah He walked to the back of the corridor with a hunched back, squinting his eyes to watch Madam Zhou's opening and closing mouth. With a "pop" sound, Madam Zhou's chattering stopped abruptly. She covered her mouth and said "ouch" twice. Just as she was about to jump up and scold Ah He, she met Cong Ying's half-smile on her face.
Because she had just committed a crime some time ago, Madam Zhou was a little afraid of the gentle Fourth Young Lady and said awkwardly, "This is not something a girl should play with..."
Cong Ying said, "Ah Qian needs ginseng. I'll go to the storehouse to get it for him this evening. If we find that Phytolacca root is used as a substitute again, I'm afraid we'll have to use Madam Zhou's private reserve to supplement the cost."
Madam Zhou hurried away dejectedly. She went up to Ying to look at the food box. It was indeed a shoddy affair. The soup had little oil in it, just brown rice and vegetable stems. She couldn't help but sigh, "My family's management is lax, and now you've been treated so poorly."
She wanted to take the lunch box away and ask someone to make another one, but Wei Yin'er stopped her: "This is much more exquisite than what I used to eat. Sister Ying, don't worry about it. I'm used to it."
She was clearly the same age as Ah He, but she was very well-behaved and sensible, able to swallow many grievances. Cong Ying sympathized with her and asked her, "After your injury heals, do you still want to return to Congshan Academy to study?"
"I do, but..." Wei Yin'er smiled bitterly and lowered her eyelashes. "I'm just afraid that the Prince of Huai is too difficult to deal with, and I don't know if I can get rid of this unfortunate marriage. I heard that he has a good relationship with the Xie family. I don't think Congshan Academy will tolerate me, right?"
Cong Ying thought of Xie Liuniang and Wang Jiuniang, and was afraid that they had already started telling Wei Yiner's life story.
So she said, "It doesn't matter if you don't go back. I will help you with the matter concerning the Prince of Huai. As for studying, we can find another way."
Cong Ying had intended to return to Xuan Du Monastery that afternoon, but Senior Sister Yi Yun had arrived at the Jiang family first. She had bought a ton of toys and clothing that the young nuns would love, spending all her money until she was broke, and then she stopped by to ask Cong Ying for some money.
Cong Ying took out all her private money, thought for a while, and then gave Yiyun the two pieces of colorful satin given to her by Madam Xie and the golden lion paperweight given to her by Xie Xuanlan, and asked her to go to Ji Caibing's shop to exchange them for money.
Yiyun was amazed as he weighed the lifelike golden lion. "This is terrible. Madam Jiang doesn't like poor Taoists like us. If she knew I took so much money from your family, I'm afraid she would report me to the police."
Cong Ying said, "She has no right to control my husband's family's money. Besides, this is the money I paid you for selling my body."
Yiyun was shocked: "Ah?"
Seeing her touching her face in fear, Cong Ying laughed: "If I sell you to a brothel, I'm afraid you'll kill everyone and they'll ask me for compensation. After you learn the arts of literature and martial arts, you can sell them to the emperor. Sister, I have another good place to go and I need your help."
Since it is a "good place", why do you need to say "please help"?
Although Yiyun knew that Congying was not a mischievous person, seeing the serious and guilty expression on her face, he felt that something was wrong.
Cong Ying whispered a few words into her ear.
Yiyun took a deep breath after hearing this: "Although I don't know much about the laws of the court, but this... this seems to be deceiving the emperor, right?"
Cong Ying said, "It's known only to heaven, earth, you, and me. As long as you nod, you will be a member of Luoxi Mountain from now on."
Yiyun asked her puzzledly, "Since you and she are of the same mind, why don't you go by yourself?"
The fireflies reminded me of last night’s dream, and it is as vivid as before my eyes.
Ordinary dreams are disorganized and will gradually be forgotten after waking up, but last night's dream unfolded before her like a clear and complete picture scroll. Not only were the details very reasonable, but it was also unforgettable and almost identical to her own memory.
Whether it was in the past life or in the future, it was a wake-up call for Congying, forcing her to face up to her own identity.
A look of melancholy flashed across her face, and Yiyun asked carefully, "What happened?"
Cong Ying said, "I am the daughter of Censor Jiang and Sanlang's fiancée. She is destined not to trust me, and I don't want her to know that the person she has always considered a confidant is actually her enemy."
After saying that, he smiled and said, "But this relationship is not completely useless. At least it can find a good place for the girls in Xuandu Temple...as long as Senior Sister is willing."
Yiyun understood her intentions and was speechless. This required her to lie, to go against her conscience and flatter the powerful, especially since she had a feud with the princess's favored court lady Gan Jiu. But compared to what Cong Ying had given up, her reluctance seemed insignificant.
Ah He was very happy to see them loading things onto the ox cart one by one, so she joined in the fun. She neatly folded the new clothes that her sister made for her and piled them on the ox cart. She also brought a few newly copied books.
"This was copied by Yin'er. She couldn't stay idle even though she was injured. The teacher praised her handwriting and writing, and she said she wanted to give it to her sisters in the mountains."
Yiyun looked up and saw Wei Yin'er standing by the door. Her face was pale and weak, but she gave her a shy and reserved smile, as if she was embarrassed by the smallness of her intentions.
Yiyun felt sour, soft and heavy in the heart.
Finally, she nodded and agreed to Cong Ying's idea: "Okay, even if it means selling my body, I will do it!"
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