Chapter 170 Uncovering the Secret
The next morning.
After having breakfast, Meng Jinyao prepared to take Qingqiu and Ningdong to Lingyun Temple.
Although there was a coachman, Gu Jingxi was worried about her. With only three girls and one coachman, the coachman wouldn't be of much use if anything happened. So he ordered ten servants who knew martial arts to follow them.
Looking at the ten strong and powerful servants, Meng Jinyao felt that the scene was quite impressive. Apart from her wedding day, she had never experienced such a grand display. She was a little unaccustomed to having so many people following her when she went out, and said softly, "Husband, is this really necessary?"
Gu Jingxi glanced at her indifferently, knowing what she was thinking without even asking, and said calmly, "Which lady goes out without maids, servants, and servants accompanying her? They all know a little martial arts, so they can protect you if anything happens."
Meng Jinyao was taken aback: "I've been to Lingyun Temple before, what could have happened there?"
Gu Jingxi said without allowing any refusal, "Madam, please bring them all. Aren't we going to stay at Lingyun Temple for a day or two? Bring them along. If there's anything you need, just tell them to do it. If there's nothing to do, just pretend they don't exist."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao no longer refused and set off with ten servants.
Lingyun Temple is very efficacious, and its incense is very strong.
When Meng Jinyao arrived at Lingyun Temple, it was during the busiest time of day for worshippers. Not wanting to squeeze in with others to offer incense, she asked Qingqiu to find the monk in charge of the guest rooms and ask for a room to rest for a while.
At noon, Meng Jinyao and her two servants had a vegetarian meal in the guest room and rested for a while before going to offer incense. However, the summer weather was as unpredictable as a child's face, and a sudden downpour forced them to wait for the rain to stop before offering incense.
The afternoon after the rain was even hotter than before the rain.
Meng Jinyao and her two servants went to the main hall to offer incense and donate money for incense oil before heading to the Hall of Rebirth.
The Hall of Rebirth is a place to enshrine memorial tablets, specifically for the deceased, called the Lotus Tablet of Rebirth. These tablets are enshrined in temples in the hope that Buddha will bless the deceased so that they may have a good place to go.
The memorial tablet of Meng Jinyao's birth mother, Zhou, is enshrined in the Hall of Rebirth at Lingyun Temple. This was decided by Meng Jinyao's maternal grandfather, Old Master Zhou, who hoped that his daughter, who died young, could be blessed by Buddha and have a good place to go. The Meng family also agreed to this.
Because of this, it was much more convenient for Meng Jinyao to pay respects to her birth mother, as she did not need to enter the Meng family ancestral hall.
It had been a year since she last came to offer incense. She originally wanted to come before her wedding to tell her mother that she was about to get married, but she caught a cold before her wedding and was very sick. It took her a long time to recover, and she was just about to get married.
Unexpectedly, she encountered more unpleasant things after getting married, and so on, it was a long time before she finally came to Lingyun Temple to offer incense to her mother.
The monk led the mistress and her servant to the outside of the Hall of Rebirth and then left. There were no monks guarding the Hall of Rebirth, since people would come to offer incense and sometimes say a few words to the deceased, and it would be inconvenient to do so with monks guarding the place.
The door to the ancestral hall was slightly ajar. Meng Jinyao was about to push it open when she suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from inside. She stopped trying to open the door and didn't go in to disturb them. She figured someone inside was probably offering incense to their ancestors, since the hall wasn't just dedicated to her mother's memorial tablet.
Meng Jinyao said softly, "Let's wait a bit."
Qingqiu and Ningdong nodded gently.
Just as Meng Jinyao was about to leave, she suddenly heard a voice inside, filled with remorse yet also relief: "Madam, rest in peace. Although the eldest daughter did not marry the heir of the Marquis of Changxing, the Marquis of Changxing treated her very well."
Upon hearing this, she immediately stopped and gestured for Qingqiu and Ningdong to be quiet and listen attentively.
There is only one Marquis of Changxing in our dynasty, and that is her husband. The eldest daughter that the woman mentioned must be her. Who else but her can offer incense to her mother?
The only person who could call her mother "Madam" is a servant. Could it be someone who served her mother back then?
The next moment, she heard a voice coming from inside, much softer than before. She could barely hear it through the crack in the door. She heard the person say in a choked voice, "Madam, I had no choice about what happened back then. Now I am nearing the end of my life. I will go down to the underworld soon and apologize to you in person." After saying this, the woman began to weep softly and did not speak again.
What happened back then?
What happened back then?
The woman's words echoed in Meng Jinyao's mind, her head buzzing. In a flash, many possibilities surged through her mind, the most likely being her mother's death. But didn't her mother die in childbirth?
Could there be some other hidden story?
Thinking of this, Meng Jinyao's heart tightened. She suddenly reached out and pushed open the door, her gaze fixed on the middle-aged woman kneeling on the prayer mat, dressed in a faded white dress, thin and somewhat hunched. She tried her best to keep her voice steady and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
The middle-aged woman seemed startled by the sound, her body stiffening. With her back to them, her expression was unreadable, but judging from her frantic wiping of tears, one could guess her state of mind.
She was very flustered.
Panic is a sign of a guilty conscience.
Meng Jinyao asked again, "Who exactly are you?"
The middle-aged woman steadied herself, stood up, and slowly turned around to look.
She should have looked away, because the moment she saw Meng Jinyao standing backlit, her face, somewhat blurry yet remarkably similar to her memory, turned deathly pale. She staggered to the ground, staring at Meng Jinyao with her pupils constricted, and called out in a trembling voice, "Madam?"
Meng Jinyao frowned. She was certain that the woman in front of her was calling her mother, but she looked seven parts like her mother, so she mistook her for someone else when she was distracted.
She squinted at the woman in front of her. The woman had sunken eyes, was extremely thin, and was in very poor spirits. She looked like she was terminally ill, and it was impossible to tell how old she actually was.
Taking advantage of the other person's dazed state, she played along and softly replied, "Yes, it's me, but why do you look like this?"
As she spoke, her expression changed. She glared at the woman, her eyes cold and menacing, like a vengeful ghost seeking revenge. She angrily demanded, "You apologize to me? What will you use to apologize to me? I have treated you well, why did you betray me?"
Seeing this scene, the middle-aged woman, who was in a daze, was completely immersed in the situation. She hurriedly got up and knelt down, saying in a panic and helplessness, "Madam, I was forced. They threatened me with the lives of my family. I had no choice."
"Who is it?" Meng Jinyao took a step forward and slowly walked towards her, asking as she went, "Who is threatening you?"
She was advancing, and the middle-aged woman panicked, instinctively shifting her knees backward. But as she watched her get closer, she became even more terrified, her mind reeling. She dared not hide anything, and burst into tears, speaking incoherently: "It's...it's the young master! No, no, it's the prince! Yes, it's the prince!" The woman kowtowed as she spoke, "Madam, spare my life! Please spare my family! It was my fault. You can take my life, but my family is innocent."
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