Chapter 149 Leaving the Capital (33) Burning Incense and Paying Respects to Buddha.
The princess pretended to offer prayers and blessings to the Consort, even as many suspected the Consort of bribing witnesses to frame Prince Zhao. This suggests either the princess was magnanimous, or the Consort's high position and power forced the princess to maintain a carefully carefully maintained facade.
As Yu Qi was pondering this, Jiu Li said, "The princess keeps scolding even a maid. She doesn't seem like a magnanimous person. I think she's probably afraid of the Consort's favor. Everyone is worshipping Buddha on behalf of the Consort. She is supposed to be a daughter. If she doesn't do the same as everyone else, I'm afraid the Consort will hold a grudge in the future."
That made sense, so Yu Qi could only nod slightly and slowly walked out of the alley. He saw the Imperial Son-in-Law, Chu Minzhong, carrying a bundle, coming out of the gate. A servant was waiting at the foot of the stone steps with a horse. The Imperial Son-in-Law took the reins, put the bundle on the horse, shooed away the servant, and led the horse alone into the street, not knowing where he was going.
Jiuli cried out "Ouch!" as Yu Qi pulled her back into the alley. Only after the prince consort had passed by the alley entrance did he pull Jiuli out and say, "Follow him."
The two followed the prince consort at a distance of several feet, traveling more than ten miles east of the city. After walking for nearly an hour, the population gradually thinned out, and the fields opened up. A small path led up a hillside covered with tall grass, partially concealing a four-cornered pavilion called "Sun-Viewing Pavilion." Not far from the pavilion, there was a wild temple. The prince consort entered the temple, and Yu Qi and Jiu Li waited quietly at the Sun-Viewing Pavilion for most of the day before the prince consort came down the hillside. The two quickly hid in the tall grass outside the pavilion.
But the prince consort didn't descend the mountain. He simply tied his horse outside the pavilion, took out his bundle, and started burning paper money and ingots in the corner of the pavilion. Yu Qi saw the smoke rising from the weeds and glanced back at Jiu Li. Jiu Li lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then remembered seeing in the Ministry of Justice's files that it was Shu Qiang's birthday today. It seemed that Chu Minzhong had come here specifically to celebrate her birthday.
After Minzhong finished burning the offerings and went inside the pavilion to rest, Yu Qi and Jiuli climbed up the slope and bowed to Minzhong's back outside the pavilion, saying, "We two humble people pay our respects to Your Highness, the Prince Consort."
Minzhong hurriedly turned around from behind the stone table. When he saw Jiuli, his face calmed down. He stood up and turned his eyes to examine Yu Qi. "This must be the Imperial Envoy, Mr. Yu Qi."
Yu Qi cupped his hands in greeting and stepped into the pavilion. "It's rare to have such a warm and pleasant day. Why is Your Highness not at home enjoying yourself? Why have you come to this desolate place to offer sacrifices? I wonder who you are worshipping?"
Minzhong waved his hand, inviting the two to sit down, and said with a smile, "Since you two have followed me here, you probably already know everything about me, so why ask such a question?"
Jiuli sat down, her skirt fluttering. "Today is Miss Shuqiang's death anniversary. The Prince Consort has come to pay his respects to her, is that right?"
Minzhong was quite frank: "Shuqiang's body was taken back to her hometown by her parents for burial. There is no tomb in the capital. I was afraid that if I paid my respects nearby, the princess would see it and it would hurt the harmony. So I came here to pay my respects. It's also because I've been cooped up at home lately and I'm feeling restless. I came out to relax."
"You and Shuqiang are in love, aren't you?"
He nodded. "Didn't you find out? Why are you still asking?"
Jiuli pursed her lips. "She was a palace maid, and you were the prince consort. How could you two have developed feelings for each other over time?"
"She was a palace maid in Consort Chen's palace. The princess and I would go to the palace to pay our respects to the Emperor and Empress at the beginning and end of each month. On the third day of the fourth month this year, the princess and I went to the palace and went to Consort Chen's palace. We saw Shuqiang kneeling as punishment in the corridor. During our conversation, I spoke on her behalf, and the Empress told her to get up. She was grateful to me. I saw that she was often bullied in the palace, and I thought that I was also helpless, so I felt sorry for her. However, she could not leave the palace often, so we did not have many opportunities to be together."
"You're following me because you suspect I killed her?" he said, glancing around with a smile. "We're all unfortunate people in this world, why would I kill her?"
"Marrying a princess of noble birth and becoming the emperor's son-in-law—how many men in the world dream of this? Is this what you call a miserable life?" Jiu Li smiled with lowered eyelids, her expression tinged with sarcasm.
Minzhong stood up abruptly. “I don’t know how many men in the world want to climb up the social ladder by clinging to women, but I, Chu Minzhong, am not that kind of person. I come from a poor family and have studied hard for many years in order to serve the court and make a name for myself in history. I have never wanted to be someone who gains wealth and honor by relying on women! If that’s the case, I would rather be a lowly soldier who dies on the frontier!”
Jiuli chuckled, "Anyone can't say pretty words. You say you have no reason to kill Shuqiang, but I can find one for you right now. Shuqiang asked you for something, whether it was a title or benefits, and you refused to give it to her. Shuqiang then threatened to tell the Imperial Concubine about your affair, and you got scared. So you went to the palace during the night banquet, pretended to be drunk, and slipped out through the back door of Qingniao Pavilion to kill her! And the dagger that killed her was something you stole from Prince Zhao's residence. You are the prince's brother-in-law, and you can come and go from the residence freely. Even if something is lost, no one will dare to suspect you."
Minzhong paused for a moment, then asked, "If I wanted to kill her, I could just grab any dagger. Why would I go to the Prince's mansion to steal one?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Qi's brows twitched slightly, and he turned to look at him.
He met Yu Qi's eyes, his gaze narrowed, and he sighed with a smile, "Whether you believe it or not, Shu Qiang has never asked me for anything. Even when I gave her a gold ring, she only accepted it after much persuasion. In the palace, anyone with a little money would try to curry favor with their superiors to secure a good position, but Shu Qiang has never used that ring. She's not a greedy girl, nor is she good at flattery, so she's always been bullied by the people in Cangwu Pavilion."
After saying this, seeing that the two remained silent, he added, "Besides, although I left the table that night, I rested in the back hall of the Azure Bird Pavilion and did not go out."
Jiuli said, "But no palace servants saw you inside the palace the whole time."
"Shouldn't I only be a suspect if someone saw me leave the inner palace?" Minzhong smiled and sighed. "However, if you want me to prove that I was in the inner palace the whole time, I can prove it. I remember that after the little eunuch served tea, I heard a little eunuch outside the door break a bowl while passing by. He was scolded by the head eunuch and cut his hand while cleaning up the broken pieces. You two can go and ask the eunuchs on duty that night if this happened."
Do you remember the exact time?
Minzhong smiled and shook his head, "I was already a little drunk at the time, so I didn't pay attention to the time. But you can go to the palace to ask."
Seeing that his expression was quite honest and he didn't seem to be lying, Jiu Li could only nod. "Are you sure the princess will stay with you in the back palace the whole time?"
Minzhong blinked, a look of grief appearing on his face. "I heard that Shuqiang was raped and murdered. Do you still doubt the princess?"
"It's true that she was raped, but it's not necessarily true that the person who raped her and the person who killed her were the same one." Jiuli sat up abruptly, walked behind him, and glanced at him sideways. "Perhaps the princess heard that the Consort's maid had sent someone to have Shuqiang deliver something, and the princess wanted to take this opportunity to teach her a lesson. So, while you were half asleep, she went to the other end of the camellia garden to ambush Shuqiang, only to find Shuqiang lying in the camellia garden. Suddenly, she had murderous intent and killed Shuqiang with a dagger!"
Just as she was about to say that someone had seen the dagger in the princess's room before the incident, Yu Qi suddenly coughed lightly. Seeing his expression, she changed the fact to a guess, "It is also very possible that the princess took the dagger from the Prince Zhao's residence."
"Young lady, you're quite the storyteller. The prince is the princess's own brother. Why would she steal his personal belongings from the palace and kill him? The princess is merely a bit arrogant, but she's not that stupid. Even if she wanted to kill someone, she wouldn't implicate her brother. Besides, according to you, the princess is jealous of Shuqiang. A princess of the nation, even if she's jealous of a palace maid, would she secretly kill her? She only needs to tell the Imperial Concubine. Do you think the Imperial Concubine would protect Shuqiang? You've probably heard that Shuqiang was appointed to work at Cangwu Pavilion by the Emperor, and the Imperial Concubine dislikes her very much."
This left Jiuli speechless, and she could only sit back down, swinging her arms. "You're quite protective of Princess Mo, aren't you? Haven't you always resented her for choosing you as her husband?"
“Even if there is some resentment, we have been married for many years. Why would I fabricate a story to frame her? Besides, apart from her bad temper and her tendency to take her anger out on the maids, she has never beaten or killed any servants. You think too badly of her, Miss. She is not that ruthless.”
Jiuli secretly pursed her lips, thinking to herself: He's quite a "fair" person! He can comment on people impartially, regardless of whether they're from the family or the countryside; no wonder he's a top scholar. This kind of fairness would be perfect for the Ministry of Personnel when it comes to appointing officials!
The three looked at each other in silence. Seeing that they had no more questions, Minzhong got up to take his leave. Yu Qi strolled to the horse outside the hall, then suddenly glanced at the wild temple on the hilltop, and put his hands behind his back. "Just now I saw the prince consort enter that temple on the hill. Why didn't he burn offerings inside the temple, but instead came here to burn paper money?"
Minzhong's cheek twitched slightly, and he smiled. "Shuqiang once told me that she had been burning incense and praying to Buddha since she was a child, but she had never had any good luck. It's a pity that the Bodhisattvas in the temple are also opportunistic and never bless the poor, so she stopped praying to them. I was just fulfilling her wish. I had tea at that temple and came down here to burn paper money. Actually, it doesn't matter where you burn it. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Is there really a netherworld where you can get money? If the netherworld is the same as the human world, then what's the difference between the dead and the living?"
Having said this, he climbed into the stirrups, mounted his horse, said "Farewell," and rode away in a cloud of dust.
Immediately, Jiuli emerged from the pavilion, stood beside Yu Qi, and looked up to ask, "Shall we go back too?"
Yu Qi smiled at the overgrown temple on the hillside and said, "It's such a nice day, the sun is warm, why are you in such a hurry to go back? Why don't we go to the temple and ask for a cup of tea?"
Jiu Li was puzzled. Did he still have the leisure to stroll around in the countryside and bask in the sun at this time? However, after talking with Chu Minzhong for so long, he was already thirsty. It would be good to go up and have a cup of tea. So he turned his head, grabbed his skirt, and walked towards the road.
Unexpectedly, the temple, though seemingly close, took nearly half an hour to reach its gate after a winding, circuitous ascent. Jiuli, exhausted from the journey, sat down to catch his breath on a large rock beside the gate. Once he was calm, he was about to knock when he suddenly heard the sound of carriages and horses. This was strange. Could this temple be exceptionally efficacious, not only knowing of it by the prince consort, but also attracting other pilgrims who had come specifically by carriage?
Turning his head to look at the road, sure enough, a carriage soon came into view, piercing the sun. Jiuli stepped forward, close to Yu Qi, and watched as the coachman stopped the carriage, removed the footstool, and lifted the curtain. A woman emerged first, startling both of them.
It was truly an unbreakable fate. It turned out that the person who got out of the carriage was Niangzhuang. When Niangzhuang saw the two of them, she was both surprised and delighted. "It's you!" She turned her head and said to the carriage, "Miss, isn't it a coincidence that we met Mr. Yu and Miss Xiaoyuer here!"
Guan Youjun immediately emerged from the carriage, still dressed in simple clothes and wearing a jade-white fur-trimmed cloak. She stepped down onto the footstool and walked straight toward the two of them with a smile. Although there was joy on her face, she did not show the surprise of her mother.
"Mr. Yu, Yu'er, what brings you to this desolate temple? I heard you were ordered by the Emperor to investigate the case of Prince Zhao. How come you have time to offer incense?"
Jiuli curtsied and smiled, "We came here because we were investigating a case."
Youjun's gaze sharpened, and she smiled as she looked up at the mountain gate. "The investigation has led you to the temple? Could it be that King Zhao's case is related to the temple?"
Jiuli shook her head. "No, we were investigating someone related to this case. We came to this rural area with him, and when we saw a mountain temple here, we came up to ask for some water. Why did you come here, Aunt?"
“I came to the store in the east of the city yesterday to check the accounts. The shop assistant told me that there was a wild temple here. I don’t like to crowd into those big temples, so I came here instead.”
Yu Qi suddenly said, "Has the eldest young lady become a believer in gods and Buddhas again?"
“It’s almost New Year’s, whether you believe or not, you should come and offer incense.” Youjun looked at him intently. “Besides, I’ve heard that Princess Yuan of the dynasty once sent things to this temple to add incense and oil to worship Buddha, so this temple must have some merit.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Qi fell silent. No wonder Chu Minzhong was able to find this temple just now; he must be familiar with this mountain temple.
As they were talking, Niangzhuang stepped forward and knocked on the door. Jiuli stepped aside slightly and still asked Youjun, "Isn't Auntie going back to Nanjing for the New Year?"
“Even if we rush to finish this business and set off, we’ll probably be spending the New Year on the road. We might as well wait a few more days and go back after the New Year.” Youjun said, looking to Yuqi on the right. “I’ve arranged for Manager Ding’s cargo ship to take some goods back to Nanjing. If you want to go back to Nanjing, why don’t you take our ship back with you?”
Yu Qi smiled faintly and replied. Just then, a monk opened the mountain gate. Upon asking if they had come to offer incense, he hurriedly welcomed them inside. The four of them looked around at a neat and spacious courtyard. Several rooms on three sides had their doors wide open, but two meditation rooms were tightly closed, with statues of Bodhisattvas inside. After looking through them one by one, they asked the young monk for tea.
The young monk led the group to the abbot's room, where they found an old monk meditating on a couch. The young monk explained the situation, and the abbot quickly got up to greet them, inviting Yu Qi to sit on the couch and the other three to sit at the table in front. He then instructed the young monk to prepare tea and snacks.
Yu Qi sat down and asked, "Old Zen Master, this temple is very quiet. I wonder how many monks there are and how many worshippers there are on a daily basis?"
The abbot said, “There are five monks. They usually just take care of the pilgrims from the nearby villages. About ten villagers come and go every day.”
Jiuli chimed in from below, "I heard that the Bodhisattva at your temple is very efficacious, so why are there only so many worshippers?"
The abbot laughed and said, "Oh, that's just the neighbors being too kind. Our little temple is nothing more than a rural temple; where would we get such a thriving incense offering?"
Yu Qi nodded and smiled, "The old Zen master is too modest. I have heard that even the princess and her consort often pay homage to Buddha at this temple, which shows that this temple is no ordinary place."
"Oh, it's nothing. The princess and her husband were originally praying for the nobles in the palace. They are also very charitable and have made offerings at many temples. They also donated some things to our small temple. Amitabha, this is truly a blessing for our small temple." As he spoke, the young monk brought over tea and snacks. The abbot then said, "It's just simple food. Please make do with it, gentlemen."
After drinking tea, the group decided to go offer incense and spent a full hour exploring the temple before bidding farewell. Seeing the time, Youjun suggested they ride in her carriage down the mountain. Jiuli had assumed that, given Youjun's usual personality, she would immediately take them back to the Qi residence, but upon reaching the market, Youjun bid them farewell.
The two had no choice but to hire another carriage on the street to return to the Qi residence. Sitting in the carriage, they were both lost in thought. After pondering for a while, Jiuli couldn't help but say to Yu Qi, "Uncle, don't you think that Aunt Guan isn't as warm towards us as she was in Nanjing?"
Yu Qi snapped out of his daze. "Really?"
She nodded vigorously. "Yes! You see, she said she was checking the accounts at the store in the east of the city, but she didn't invite us to sit down, nor did she send a carriage to take us back. People say that people from the same village are close, but they've become distant since coming to the capital." As she spoke, she straightened her back and glanced at him. "Could she be tired of you?"
Yu Qi just smiled and said, "Probably, isn't that good?"
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Author's note: Thank you for reading.
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