A young monk at the door, expressionless, stopped Xiangli Mingzhu: "Madam, please wait. The abbot is truly unable to do so."
Xiangli Mingzhu was not an unreasonable person. He took two steps back, and the hostility on his face subsided a lot, but he still couldn't hide his anger: "In that case, I will go find Master Yuanjue."
The young monk said, "Amitabha," and then turned and went into the house.
Xiangli Mingzhu was very unhappy. As she left, she complained to Jiang Juncai, "We donated so much money to Wuxiang Temple, but the abbot didn't even give us this much face."
Jiang Juncai explained in a low voice, "Mother, please don't be angry. When the abbot came out to see Song Xianglimu just now, I noticed that his breathing was unstable, so he must have been injured. For this matter, we can consult Master Yuanjue."
Xiangli Mingzhu was furious when she thought of this: "He was injured and he still had the mood to see Yuan Qi. What's wrong with seeing me?"
Although Jiang Juncai was unwilling, he had to admit that Yuan Qi was not as simple as he seemed.
"Mother, it seems that Seventh Sister has a close relationship with the Abbot and the Xiangli family. We should treat her better."
Xiangli Mingzhu glared at her son: "Look at you, so spineless! You're the leader of the Imperial Guards, yet you value even a child's connections. Do I need the connections of a mere brat like her?"
Jiang Juncai had nothing to say.
On the other side, Jiang Bailu wholeheartedly agreed with her mother's opinion and joined Xiangli Mingzhu in belittling her brother: "That's right, maybe they just like her because she's pretty and want to talk to her a bit more. Big brother, really, our family is one of the four great families that are on par with the Xiangli family, how could we possibly care about the connections of a little kid?"
Jiang Juncai felt that the two of them were short-sighted.
Li Guifei and her three children followed behind without saying a word.
It was very simple to tell Yuanjue to go to the Jiang residence to perform the ritual; Xiangli Mingzhu didn't even need to show up. Jiang Juncai only needed to say a word.
Xiangli Mingzhu kept recalling the scene of Yuan Qi calling the abbot "old monk," and the abbot's smiling, doting eyes. They were clearly old friends.
However, the abbot showed no respect to Madam Jiang, one of the four great families in the capital, and she resented it.
She lost face in front of Consort Li and her illegitimate children today, all because of that little girl Yuan Qi.
She even saw Consort Li secretly laughing at her several times.
Her anger could not be extinguished.
After finishing their business, the Jiang family realized that Yuan Qi had not followed them and they didn't know where he had gone.
Jiang Jiulu was a little worried: "Mother, Aunt, Seventh Sister is missing. Shall we send someone to look for her?"
Before Xiangli Mingzhu could speak, Jiang Bailu interrupted, "What are you looking for? I told her to go back to the carriage first. Let's go. If we delay any longer, we won't be able to get back before dark."
Jiang Bailu scolded Jiang Jiulu fiercely: "Didn't you see? The Xiangli family head and the abbot were both very kind to her. She's very capable, why should we worry about her?"
Jiang Jiulu and her two older brothers looked at each other, all feeling that Jiang Bailu and Xiangli Mingzhu had not asked Yuan Qi to wait for them at the carriage in advance. The three of them strongly suspected that they had done it on purpose.
The three wanted to say something more, but Li Guiqie stopped them with a look, so they had no choice but to follow Xiangli Mingzhu back.
After getting into the carriage, Jiang Jiulu discovered that Yuan Qi was nowhere to be seen.
She got out of the car and went to the car in front to explain the situation to Xiangli Mingzhu. Xiangli Mingzhu wouldn't let her get in the car and said directly through the curtain, "She fell asleep in my car, don't worry, let's go."
Jiang Jiulu wasn't sure if Xiangli Mingzhu was telling the truth, but she felt that Xiangli Mingzhu wouldn't lie about such a small matter, so she returned to her carriage.
The convoy slowly drove away.
Yuan Qi was still filling her water bag on the back mountain of Wuxiang Temple. By the time she returned to the front gate of Wuxiang Temple, the Jiang family's carriage had already left.
The convoy had driven quite a distance, but there was still no sign of Yuan Qi. Xiangli Mingzhu sneered, "Let's see how she gets back. She dared to make me lose face, so I'll teach her a lesson!"
Jiang Bailu and Jiang Songlu smiled slightly, finally releasing some of the pent-up frustration they had been feeling for days.
Jiang Songlu lifted the curtain to look at the scenery outside. The flowers and plants were lush, and the woods were dense. She said softly, "I heard that some people in this area specifically target wealthy people to beg for money, and sometimes they even rob them. Sister, what do you think would happen if Yuan Qi were to encounter this?"
Jiang Bailu revealed a malicious smile: "That's right, she's only been here a few days and hasn't received her monthly allowance once. She probably doesn't have any money on her, right? If she encounters a beggar asking for money and doesn't have any to give, she might get beaten up."
Xiangli Mingzhu finally felt relieved: "That's right, if she met a bad guy, he might even be attracted to her beauty."
Jiang Bailu knocked on the window, and Jiang Juncai rode over.
Jiang Bailu whispered something to Jiang Juncai.
Jiang Juncai frowned: "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
Jiang Bailu reminded her with great displeasure, "Brother, maybe she's the one who set fire to your Qingyun Tower. Aren't you upset?"
Jiang Jun felt a chill run down her spine when she thought of the swarms of ants and rats. Yuan Qi should have the ability to do this. Maybe it was really her who used some evil trick to attract those ants and rats. It was only right that she was punished.
"Okay." Although he felt that using such despicable means to deal with a little girl was not in line with his upright character, he still did it.
He summoned a trusted aide, gave him instructions, and then gave him some loose change.
Jiang Junyu chatted casually with her brother on horseback as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Junjing asked, "Guess what Big Brother sent Zhao Ke to do?"
Jiang Junyu said slowly, "It's not a good thing. Given Seventh Sister's personality, she probably won't get on Mother's carriage. Mother doesn't like Seventh Sister, so it's unlikely that she would let Seventh Sister ride in the same carriage as her."
Jiang Junjing: "You also think that Seventh Sister is still at Wuxiang Temple?"
"Let's go back and look for it."
“I’m afraid Mother won’t agree.” Jiang Junyu knew Xiangli Mingzhu very well. He looked at his brother with a half-smile, his gaze gradually moving down to the jade pendant at his waist. “You go, I’ll stay.”
With a "thud," Jiang Junjing's jade pendant fell into the grass.
The two continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Jiang Junjing rummaged around on his body: "My jade pendant! That's a magical artifact I bought at a high price!"
The line became somewhat disorganized, and the back had to stop.
Jiang Bailu poked her head out and asked, "Why did you stop?"
Jiang Junjing shouted, "My newly bought jade pendant is missing, and I don't know where it fell."
Jiang Bailu pulled her head back and reported this to Xiangli Mingzhu.
Xiangli Mingzhu got out of the car and said, "What jade pendant? It's not worth much, so don't bother looking for it. I'll just buy another one later."
Jiang Junjing ran over very respectfully, bowed, and replied, "Mother, this jade pendant is a magical artifact I bought a few days ago. It is said to be able to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune, and it is not an ordinary jade pendant. You go first, I will go back and look for it."
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