Chapter 76 The Immortal in the Hermitage (19) The "Female Bodhisattva" on the Lotus Platform. ...
After a night of rain, the clouds lingered, and the weather was extremely hot and humid. It seemed that it would rain again in the next few days. This alternation of dampness and dryness, hot and cold, was most likely to cause the corpse to decompose. Considering this, Yu Qi discussed with Xu Bai and invited a midwife to examine Ci Lian's body so that it could be handed over to the nuns for burial as soon as possible.
The tests revealed that, as expected, none of them were virgins, which was exactly what Yu Qi and the others had anticipated. However, no one said a word, and they kept it a secret from the nuns in the temple. They only told Jingzhen that everything had been verified. Two days later, Jingzhen chose a spot on the mountain behind Qinglian Temple to bury the coffin. The nuns circled the grave and chanted sutras to pray for the deceased before they all went down the mountain.
Jueming and Jueguang deliberately pulled Jingzhen back a little, watching Jiuli's retreating figure from afar. They whispered to Jingzhen, "We've found out that Jiuli's parents died early, and she now lives with her uncle. There's also an elderly lady in the family. As long as Mr. Yu dies, we can make up some excuses to persuade her to become a nun. That country woman is illiterate and has no experience, so she'll do whatever we say."
Jingzhen glanced around, remained silent, and only uttered a Buddhist chant. Jueming continued, "Now that Cilian is dead, Huixin is getting old, and I don't think Miaohua is of much use anymore, we're afraid our business won't be able to sustain itself. We need to hurry and find some replacements. Right now we have the newcomer Jingyue, and if we also get Yu Jiuli, we'll have two lotuses blooming side by side, wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Jueguang nodded repeatedly, "With Jingyue and Yu Jiuli forming a pair of twin beauties, no woman in the world can compare to us. Not only can we make a fortune, but it will also greatly benefit our master's career."
Jingzhen tilted her eyes slightly, making them appear even narrower, like slits emitting black light. "This is the real issue, but that Mr. Yu is difficult to deal with. Let me report back to my master before we discuss this further."
The three of them were whispering and talking behind her. Jiuli, who was in front, could only guess what they were talking about. After a while, they went down the mountain and returned to the temple. They saw that the temple was quiet and the gods and Buddhas were not in the light. Not long after lunch, Yanshu came.
Yan Shu was originally unaffiliated with any faction in the court, but he was still afraid of giving Chen Jia the impression of being perfunctory and irresponsible. He felt it was inappropriate to talk to the two imperial brothers-in-laws about it after returning to the capital. Therefore, he specially took some time to come to the temple, greeted Chen Jia, and then called Yu Qi to Xu Bai's room to inquire about the progress of the case.
Xu Baichao glanced at Yu Qi, then stood up and reported, "There are no leads yet, but a nun named Miaohua has not been in the temple since the incident. We haven't questioned her yet, but we have ordered Zhang Da to investigate outside, hoping to get some clues out of her."
Yan Shu glanced at Chen Jia, then loosened his grip, slamming the porcelain lid onto the teacup with a clang. His expression was solemn. "Everyone else in this temple knows nothing, so what could she possibly know?"
Xu Bai chuckled awkwardly and bowed, "We'll have to find her and ask her to find out."
Yan Shu nodded, then glanced at Yu Qi and asked, "What about Mr. Yu? Does he have any thoughts?"
Yu Qi shook his head with a smile, glanced at Xu Bai, and said, "Even Lord Qi can't figure it out. I'm just a mediocre person, and I'm even more incompetent."
Chen Jia saw that Yan Shu was just putting on an act, not trying to impress anyone but making everyone uncomfortable. So he stood up, fanning himself, and said, “I’ve been here for two days and I’ve seen that Lord Qi and Mr. Yu haven’t relaxed for a moment. Since you, Lord Yan, your yamen has been working tirelessly day and night. My father often said that being an official is nothing more than overcoming difficulties. What’s a little trouble? With officials like you and your yamen, this case will surely be resolved in time.”
Yan Shu felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this, and then encouraged Yu Qi to speak.
While they were talking, Jiuli overheard a few words from under the eaves. They were just polite conversation, nothing important, so she told Madam Gu to go to the first few halls to offer incense and pray. The halls were shrouded in mist, and the Buddhas inside either had fierce expressions or cold gazes, each one exuding a somber aura. Jiuli looked up, wondering what purpose these bodhisattvas served here. She couldn't concern herself with the filth and misunderstanding before her, let alone what lay beyond.
However, she still placed the incense sticks into the incense burner and knelt on the prayer mat, kowtowing several times.
Madam Gu pulled her young son to his feet and said to her in a low voice as they walked, "My maid has become quite familiar with her maids these past two days. She has asked them all the questions she needed to, but those two maids still can't explain her background. It seems they're not lying to us; they genuinely don't know."
The "she" in this context naturally refers to Granny Chen. Jiuli frowned slightly. "Do you think she might also be a nun who came from this temple? You saw what happened at that restaurant that day. Do you think she might have practiced in this temple before, then left the monastery and gained power, and now she's come back to show off her power?"
"Judging from her bossy manner all day long, she really does seem like that." Madam Gu smiled and pulled her aside. "Hey, although my two maids didn't get any information, they did hear two important things. When this Third Madam Chen first arrived at the Chen residence eight years ago, guess what? She had short hair! She said that when she first entered the residence, she was afraid of having lice, so she simply cut her hair short. Thinking about it, it's probably what you said, that she was originally a bald nun!"
"She went to the Chen family eight years ago?"
Madam Gu nodded. "That's what her two maids said. Eight years ago, Third Master Chen brought her home from outside. He first kept her as a maid in his room, and later she was made a concubine. It took her eight years to get to where she is now. When someone like that suddenly becomes successful, she's extremely proud. Wouldn't she want to revisit her old haunts in nice clothes? No wonder she's always at odds with the people at Qinglian Temple. She probably suffered some mistreatment here before."
Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. Ever since Granny Chen left Qinglian Temple eight years ago, people have been coming and going. The nuns who came later naturally didn't recognize her, but those who came earlier must have known her. Everyone kept quiet about it to maintain their own secrets and dignity.
Jiuli pulled Madam Gu aside and asked, "Did you see her today?"
"It seems she took her maid and went out quite early."
"Going to do what?"
"I'm not quite sure," Madam Gu shook her head, looking confused.
As they were talking, the two saw Jingzhen and Jueming walking towards them and quickly fell silent. Madam Gu smiled at Jueming instead, "Thank you so much for the plaster that day, Master. It really worked wonders! Look, my foot is all better in just two or three days."
Jueming clasped his hands and chanted the Buddha's name. Jingzhen then said, "The weather has been bad these past two days. It's been raining all the time. You two should not go far."
Jiuli laughed and said, "We won't go far, just stroll around the lotus pond outside the gate."
The group laughed and passed each other. Jingzhen Jueming emerged from behind the main hall and saw Yu Qixu, Bai Duzhong, and Yanshu coming out of the guest courtyard, presumably to see Yanshu off. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, Jingzhen Jueming went to the guest courtyard and headed straight for Chen Jia's room.
Just as the two were about to close the door, Chen Jia, sitting on the chair above, waved a folding fan and laughed, "Don't close the door. The more you close the door, the more it looks like you can't be seen by anyone."
Jingzhen and Jueming looked at each other, then stepped forward to kowtow again. But Chen Jia simply waved his fan and said, "Hey, you are monks who have left home to cultivate yourselves, how can you kowtow to a layman like me?"
Jingzhen put her hands together and said, "Now that our young master has returned to us, we should kowtow to him as the proper etiquette."
Chen Jia leaned back in his chair and chuckled dismissively. "Don't give me that formality. I'm not your elder brother; I don't stand on ceremony like him. Now that my elder brother has been appointed to an official post, it's inconvenient for him to come. I've taken over your business. You don't need to pay any silver or tribute. All the profits are yours. There's only one thing: you have to make sure the people I introduce are happy. I couldn't ask you the other day, but when Wei Xiao came last time, did you serve him well? Did he enjoy himself when he left?"
Jueming quickly smiled and said, "Young master, don't worry. What men want about women is nothing more than novelty and wonder. Where else can women be more fresh and interesting than the women here? The women here are like Bodhisattvas on lotus thrones. He has even won over Bodhisattvas, so what more could he want?"
As she spoke, she became reproachful again, putting her hand on Chen Jia's shoulder, "That young master Wei is really something, insisting on messing with our Cilian along with two servants. To please him, Cilian has fallen ill. We wanted her to rest and recuperate for a while, but who knows which murderous god has managed to ruin things right in front of the Buddha!"
Chen Jia brushed her hand away with her fan, her smiling eyes looking up. "You don't know who the murderer is either?"
Jingzhen stepped forward, clasped her hands together, and said, “Amitabha, it would be good if the murderer could be caught, so that our temple would not be in turmoil. Those who died were people I had painstakingly trained. Although there are many nuns in the temple, most of them are mediocre and not suitable for the task. So I came here to ask for the young master's instructions. What do you think of that Yu Jiuli? Is he to the liking of those noble people?”
Chen Jia tilted her head and thought for a moment, then quickly exclaimed in admiration, "What man wouldn't be picky about her? Master has excellent taste!"
Jingzhen had some concerns, "But her uncle—we've found out that he's the pillar of the Yu family. We originally planned to take advantage of the murder to poison him and lure Miss Jiuli here, but we're afraid that if he dies, the yamen will hold us accountable."
Chen Jia sneered, "A doctor and clerk, he's dead, so what? Do you know how many insignificant officials like him die every month in the capital? I don't even care about Yan Shu. But that Jiu Li girl has a fiery temper, I'm afraid she's hard to control."
As he spoke, he glanced at the two old nuns with a smile, “But you two are the most skilled at manipulating chaste and virtuous women. I believe you have plenty of ways to do it. In officialdom, winning people's hearts is either through coercion or bribery, and the desired benefits vary from person to person. Some people are greedy for money, some for fame, and some for lust. Everything else is easy to handle, but I don’t know much about the ‘lust’ business. I’ll leave it all to you. You’ll handle things for me, and I’ll do you a favor, won’t I? Let’s do it your way. If the government becomes suspicious, I’ll take care of it for you. I happen to think that Yu Qi is quite shrewd. I heard that Prince Zhao met him in Nanjing in person. If he becomes Prince Zhao’s subordinate in the future, he’ll be a real handful.”
Suddenly, a thunderbolt struck, followed by a sudden gust of wind that whipped the willows into the wind. Yu Qi turned around and waved to Jiu Li, "It's going to rain, let's go inside."
Jiuli rushed forward, "If we rush in like this, won't we bump into them? What if they haven't finished speaking yet?"
Yu Qi smiled and said, "It's not like we're just chatting casually. The important things will only be said in a few words, how long can we talk about it?"
Xu Bai smiled and glanced at him, "How did you figure out that Chen Jia was related to Qinglian Temple?"
Yu Qi seemed not to hear, and looked somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately, Du Zhong asked again, and Yu Qi said, "I was just guessing. I wonder how that young master Wei Xiao came to Qinglian Temple, how he knew about the existence of this temple, and how the person who told him praised the temple's benefits so much that it would make a powerful young master from the capital make a special trip here."
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Author's note: Thank you for reading.
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