Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 419 Old Case
Master Miaojing wanted to deny it, but she had been trembling all day yesterday and hadn't slept a wink last night. Her mind was already on the verge of losing control. Suddenly, Xie Yuyan asked her such a sharp question and she realized that all her secrets had been discovered. The last bit of strength that supported her body was gone, and she collapsed immediately.

When Madam Gao saw Miao Jing's appearance, she couldn't help but frown.

Miao Jing's face was trembling uncontrollably, and the Buddhist prayer beads in her hand fell to the ground. Her disheveled appearance said it all.

Xie Yuyan continued, "No wonder the members of the demonic sect were able to take root in Yunqi Temple. You call yourselves Buddhist disciples, but instead of refraining from all evil and practicing all good, you use the name of Buddhism to bewitch and deceive. You appear respectable on the surface, but are filthy behind the scenes. How are you any different from those members of the demonic sect?"

"I heard that Abbess Miaojing had a tragic life. When she was practicing at Yunqi Temple, she was almost abused by the evil monks there. The abbess risked her life to expose the evil monks' behavior, which is why she was respected and eventually took over the management of Yunqi Temple..."

Xie Yuyan's words deepened the fear in Abbess Miaojing's eyes.

Xie Yuyan seemed somewhat surprised, and his words faltered. His gaze was full of scrutiny. Abbess Miaojing dared not meet Xie Yuyan's eyes and simply lowered her head.

Xie Yuyan stood up, walked over to Master Miaojing, and blocked the sunlight falling on her.

Master Miaojing felt as if she were shrouded in darkness.

Xie Yuyan hit the nail on the head: "Why are you not ashamed, but fearful?"

"Could there have been other reasons behind his taking over Yunqi Temple back then?"

Master Miaojing clenched her hands, trying to calm herself down, but Xie Yuyan wouldn't give her the chance and pressed her relentlessly.

“No…no,” said Abbess Miaojing. “I’m not lying…Magistrate Li knows…it was that monk Huizhen…who…substituted the imperial relief grain for the good.”

“It was Huizhen who did it, he did it all.”

“It has nothing to do with Magistrate Li. Magistrate Li... Magistrate Li made me... what I saw.”

“There are silver coins under Huizhen’s bed, all gold and silver, gold…” Master Miaojing gestured with her hand, “Forty of these are very heavy… It will take many trips to move them all.”

"There are also many silver ingots..."

He also made a golden bowl.

Xie Yuyan walked around Miaojing a few steps, and only spoke after he was behind Miaojing: "Did he make a golden bowl, or did he make a golden bowl for her?"

Miao Jing couldn't help but turn her head to look at Xie Yuyan. Due to the large movement, she fell off the chair. Then she looked at Xie Yuyan's eyebrows and eyes.

He felt that the person in front of him was far more terrifying than the Buddha in the main hall who could see through everything in the world.

Xie Yuyan emphasized, "Did he make a golden bowl, or did he make a golden bowl for him?"

Miao Jing suddenly realized she couldn't lie, and dared not lie anymore. She almost shouted, "Give...give it to him...it's for him..."

"And the women in the courtyard... they were all arranged for him."

“If Huizhen refuses to confess… woman… one will die today… another will die tomorrow… and the child too…”

Miao Jing suddenly covered her head: "It wasn't me, it wasn't me... It was Hui Zhen who wanted to sue the officials. He wanted to sue the Ministry of Agriculture, saying that the amount of grain they distributed for disaster relief was insufficient and that the grain distributed to the disaster victims was not at a fair price."

“They found me… As long as I tell Huizhen… After Huizhen is dealt with, they will move all the monks away and leave the entire Yunqi Temple to us.”

“From now on, I will be the abbot of Yunqi Temple, and I will not dare to disobey them.”

Xie Yuyan stopped talking.

Shen Zhongzhen, who had been sitting silently to the side, now spoke with a face full of anger: "Who are they?"

Miao Jing said, "Magistrate Li and those merchants... they hid goods here and asked me to help them stockpile land, but these are not things I wanted to do." "They also hid the women they had kidnapped in the temple, but I refused, so they took them away."

Miao Jing suddenly felt a surge of strength; she stopped the matter, as if that would make up for her mistake.

“I didn’t take much money,” Miao Jing said. “I had wanted to quit a long time ago, but they wouldn’t allow it.”

Shen Chongzhen never expected that there were still so many things about Yunqi Temple that hadn't been investigated.

In particular, it involves Master Huizhen, who was a famous monk, but was exposed for committing evil deeds in private and died in prison.

It now seems that Huizhen was wronged, and his death may have been suspicious. He came to Yunqi Temple to bury Si Niang, but unintentionally overheard an old case.

Xie Yuyan continued, "Who is trying to seize my shop? Is it Magistrate Li or some other merchant?"

Miao Jing was already powerless to resist, and answered whatever Xie Yuyan asked: "No... not merchants... but the two young masters of the Xia and Xie families."

Shen Zhongzhen's eyes lit up: "Which Xia family?"

"Xia Wulang, the son of the Minister of Justice, and... Xie Erlang, the son of the Privy Councilor Xie."

Shen Zhongzhen wanted to deal with Xia Mengxian, but he didn't have a way to start yet. Now, this nun just happened to provide him with evidence.

Upon thinking of this, Shen Chongzhen excitedly stood up and looked at Xie Yuyan: "I wonder if you could hand this nun over to me so I can take her to the yamen for questioning?"

Xie Yuyan naturally agreed.

Shen Chongzhen didn't delay and ordered people to lift Miao Jing up and walk outside.

Yunqi Temple will surely uncover a lot more inside information. It is likely that the people who instructed Miaojing to frame Huizhen back then were not only the Ministry of Agriculture and Magistrate Li.

Why was Xia Ziqiao able to order Miao Jing around? Perhaps the Xia family was one of them.

Over the years, they have colluded with Yunqi Temple and must have done many shady things. If these are all investigated, we will surely reap great rewards.

After Shen Chongzhen left, Xie Yuyan said to Madam Gao, "Today I will have someone take all the belongings away, and this land will be handed over to you, Madam."

Madam Gao had witnessed everything that had just happened, and felt only gratitude and admiration for the woman before her. She had never seen such a clever and quick-witted woman before.

Despite being a merchant, she had no trace of greed; instead, her every move resembled that of a lady from a wealthy family.

Xie Yuyan did not ask the Shen family for anything, which made Madam Gao feel even more indebted: "Our Shen family will definitely not let you suffer any loss."

Xie Yuyan looked at Madam Gao and smiled, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Madam."

After they finished speaking, the group walked outside, where Duan Dalang had already started having people move things around.

Madam Gao then realized that the hired workers were carrying out porcelain, which meant that the pavilion had already been repaired, otherwise these items would not have been placed there.

Just as Madam Gao was about to ask Xie Yuyan what kind of shop he wanted to find, and that she would instruct someone to make it, she saw someone bring out a reliquary.

Madam Gao stared at the reliquary, almost frozen in place.

The lotus's lid, its vibrant color...

She suddenly remembered the object that Jingxuan had mentioned.