tallest building

Chapter 167 A Farce

After listening to Madam Lu's words, Madam Leng smiled and said, "This Wen Mingqian is the most cunning person. In my opinion, she is probably trying to deceive you, Madam!"

"What do you mean by that?" Madam Lu asked. "I told her that as long as she's willing to name a price, I won't haggle. She's not a man; she can't bear to part with a beautiful woman. With that money, she could buy countless maids."

“If the Princess really wanted this girl, she would have eagerly sent her over long ago. Why would she keep her by her side?” Lady Leng said. “Couldn’t the Princess teach this girl manners? Could she teach her manners better than the ones in the palace?”

"But I still can't understand why she did this?" Madam Lu had been thinking about it all the way.

"Firstly, she simply doesn't want Madam to be satisfied. She's always had her complaints about your household. I knew this, so I've always kept my distance from her. Who knew that second maid would be so bewitched and keep trying to get close to her?" Madam Leng smacked her lips, stirring up trouble. "Besides, I suspect she has ulterior motives. Think about it, she's divorced, and she's taken in a beautiful maid and occupied a nunnery. Could it be that she's trying to seduce someone? Have you forgotten that vixen named Chen Yunqiao from years ago? Wasn't she the same kind of woman?"

A single sentence reminded Madam Lu that Chen Yunqiao was known as a vixen by the world, and that although she came from a respectable background, she had married into a higher social class.

However, she had a strained relationship with her husband, and they divorced after only a few years of marriage.

After that, she moved into a nunnery under the guise of spiritual cultivation. Because of her kindness, generosity, and proficiency in chess, music, calligraphy, and painting, she became quite famous.

He associated with all sorts of people from all walks of life, demonstrating his remarkable social skills.

Many women who were unhappy with their parents' arranged marriages or who were disheartened by other things went to her for help.

She accepted almost all women who came her way, taking them in. Some became nuns, while others practiced Buddhism while keeping their hair.

She was thus regarded as a benevolent person who saved people from suffering, and was later called "Bodhi Lady" by those who admired her.

She held this title for over a decade before it was revealed that her taking in these orphaned and helpless women was all for her own selfish reasons.

She used these naive women to win over lustful high-ranking officials and nobles, then exchanged power and sex for favors, acting as a go-between for those who bought and sold official positions, and earning high returns in return.

After these scandals were exposed, Chen Yunqiao committed suicide by poisoning himself. Even so, because of the enormity of his sins, his body was left to rot for three months.

Many years have passed, but her story is still occasionally brought up.

It was simply too shocking to forget.

"If that's really the case, then it's terrifying. But that girl is truly beautiful; even I, an old woman, can't take my eyes off her," said Madam Lu. "And Wen Mingqian's looks and figure are also top-notch."

“That’s right!” Madam Leng laughed. “These two beauties are not short of money to rent a house, so why do they have to go to a nunnery? They even seduced our second daughter to leave home.”

Jingxu of Wuqiu Nunnery doesn't care about anything; there hasn't been a single offering of incense there in recent years. Therefore, I say that the man surnamed Wen didn't go there to find peace and quiet; he was plotting something sinister.”

"This is just your guess. Even if she really has this intention, we can't do anything about it right now since she hasn't done anything!" Madam Lu said helplessly.

"Does Madam really want to bring that maid over?" Leng Shi was extremely shrewd and calculating. She figured out Madam Lu's thoughts and addressed them accordingly.

"Why wouldn't I want to? What can you do?" Madam Lu asked her.

"Didn't she say that the Princess has taken a liking to this maid? Then let's ruin their reputations. Will the Princess still want them then?" Although Madam Leng hadn't left the house these past few days, she was far from idle, constantly plotting how to harm Wen Mingqian.

"Go on," Madam Lu said. She wasn't a good person either, and once she heard about her harmful methods, she couldn't help but listen.

“Madam, if I succeed in helping you with this matter, you must also lend us a hand,” Madam Leng said, seizing the opportunity.

"Of course, I won't mistreat you." Madam Lu said without hesitation. "How about this..." Madam Leng whispered in Madam Lu's ear, chattering away for a long time.

Madam Lu's brows furrowed at first and then gradually relaxed, as if the wrinkles in her clothes had been ironed out with a hot iron.

A day later, Wen Mingqian took Sang Er out.

Madam Fang, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Marquis of Changrong, arranged to meet Wen Mingqian at the Xiang'ai Tea House. It was probably because Wen Mingqian had recently divorced and remarried, and Madam Fang was afraid that it would be awkward for her to come to the mansion, so she arranged to meet him at the tea house.

Upon arriving at the teahouse, Wen Mingqian asked Sang Er to mail the letter and clothes to Gong Chang'an before going upstairs himself.

This teahouse is newly opened; she hasn't been here before.

Fang sent someone to tell her that she had booked a private room on the third floor called "Stealing Leisure".

The teahouse was doing very well; even the dozen or so tea servers were too busy to keep up with the demand. The manager had no choice but to put on a smiling face and let Wen Mingqian go upstairs by himself.

Wen Mingqian didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She went up the stairs to the third floor and looked at the two rows of private rooms on the north and south sides, searching for them one by one.

But after taking only a few steps, the white jade bracelet on her wrist suddenly broke. The eighteen jade beads scattered and rolled far and wide.

Wen Mingqian squatted down to pick them up, but only found seventeen.

If it were just ordinary jewelry, it wouldn't matter, but this bracelet was extremely important to her, and she had to find this last one no matter what.

She searched carefully, and fortunately the doors to the private rooms on both sides were closed, so she only needed to look in the corridor.

She came upstairs from the east side, so naturally she looked to the west side, and before she knew it, she had arrived at the innermost part.

At the end of the aisle were two flower stands. Wen Mingqian squatted down and saw the last bead roll down to the bottom of the flower stand, and it was on the innermost side closest to the wall.

She could only reach it by pressing her face against the wall and then slipping her hand through the gap.

Just as she was struggling to reach the beads, the door to the private room next door opened.

A pair of eyes stared at her coldly, with a scrutinizing gaze.

Wen Mingqian instinctively felt a chill run down her neck. She turned around abruptly and met those eyes.

"Eavesdropping?" The man sneered, leaning forward and looking down at them. "Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Wen Mingqian's posture was awkward. She struggled to pull her hand back and replied, "Sir, you should be careful what you say. I'm not here to eavesdrop."

"If you weren't eavesdropping, why are you so close to the wall?" The man didn't believe him and moved even closer, his breath hitting Wen Mingqian's face.

Wen Mingqian couldn't help but feel angry: "Sir, please have some self-respect and step back so I can stand up."

"How did you know I was a soldier?" The man frowned, his tone becoming even more unfriendly. "Isn't that a self-admission?"

He cornered Wen Mingqian, treating him like a criminal.