tallest building

Chapter 171 Karma and Retribution

Before we knew it, more than half a month had passed, and the Chinese New Year was almost here.

The weather is a bit unpredictable, but it hasn't snowed for quite a while.

That day, Wen Mingqian went to the Buddhist hall to burn incense for the memorial tablets of Ahui and Ashou, who lived there and would come to burn incense every day.

After each incense offering, a few pieces of osmanthus sugar are placed on top.

She had just come out of the Buddhist hall when she met Huixin carrying a bundle, about to leave.

Although Huixin's time as a nun was short, she was very devout and diligent, and Abbot Jingxu liked her very much. He often personally taught her Buddhist teachings.

"Master Huixin, are you going out?" Wen Mingqian asked her with a smile.

“Yes!” Huixin nodded. “My lady went to offer incense again? The Cui family was expelled from the capital, so I brought them some clothes and travel expenses.”

Huixin did not shy away from the topic, speaking calmly and indifferently.

Wen Mingqian had also heard that Cui Rong had been dismissed from his post and exiled, and was not allowed to return to Beijing for ten years.

The scandals involving Leng Shi and Fengxian Hou were also exposed, not by others, but by Fengxian Hou himself in an attempt to shirk responsibility.

He said that Leng had seduced him and asked him to help her husband get a promotion.

Unable to bear the humiliation, and since her household had no servants left, Lady Leng cooked a meal for the children, then closed the door and hanged herself.

Not only that, the fact that the Cui family planned to sell their daughter for personal gain was also brought to light, which was also revealed by Marquis Fengxian himself.

The rumors about Wen Mingqian were naturally dispelled.

As for the Marquis of Fengxian, he was stripped of his title and demoted to the position of Vice Prefect in Tingzhou.

His son, being mentally challenged, only received a beating.

Of course, with almost all of their assets confiscated, the Lu family was inevitably ruined from that point on.

It is said that this punishment was only given because the King of Chu and others pleaded for him.

Now, Cui Rong is penniless and has to be exiled thousands of miles away with his three children; one can only imagine the hardship he is going through.

Looking at the small bundle she was carrying, Wen Mingqian figured there wasn't much inside. Cui Rong and Leng Shi were certainly despicable, but those children were pitiful.

So he asked Huixin, "I happen to have some silver here. Why don't you go and buy some warm clothes for your younger brothers and sisters?"

“No need,” Huixin said. “I still have some money here. It’s enough to buy them a couple of simple clothes.” “What goes around comes around. They deserve this. I hope they can all turn over a new leaf and do good in the future, and get a good outcome for themselves!”

After Huixin left, Wen Mingqian was still standing there when Sang Er came over to look for her.

“Why are you standing here, Mother? It’s so cold,” Sang Er said. “Is that Master Huixin up ahead?”

“It’s her. She went to see the Cui family off,” Wen Mingqian said. “Things in this world are truly unpredictable. I used to think it was a pity that she became a nun at such a young age. Now that the Cui family is like this, she has escaped a calamity because of her becoming a nun, which is quite lucky,” Sang Er couldn’t help but sigh.

“As a woman, she is born with countless difficulties, and to make matters worse, she encountered such a father and stepmother.” Wen Mingqian felt sorry for Huixin. “It’s like a poisonous net is covering her. Unless she breaks free from worldly conventions and severs kinship ties, she can only let them suck her blood.”

That's why I didn't stop her from becoming a nun. We could save her temporarily, but we couldn't secure a long-term solution for her, simply because without a proper name, our words wouldn't be credible.

Living in this world, the saying "parents are never wrong" almost completely cuts off any future for their children.

If parents are reasonable and love their children, then it's fine. But if they are blinded by greed, children, especially daughters, will have to go through countless hardships to repay their kindness in raising and giving them life.

“That’s right. If she hadn’t become a nun, her stepmother would have taken her back anyway. We have no right to keep her here. Even if we sent her away, besides causing ourselves a lot of trouble, there’s no guarantee she’d survive.” Sang Er sighed. “It’s just that her life is a bit bitter. With a family like that, they treat her like livestock to be bought and sold, regardless of honor or disgrace. And in this world, most women can only depend on their natal family before marriage, and after becoming nuns, they can only depend on their husband’s family. They have little say in their own lives.”

Wen Mingqian and Sang Er sighed for a while and then went back to their room. They were thinking about how they had to send New Year's gifts to many people and had been busy preparing perfumes, face creams and other items these past few days.

Fortunately, Aoshuang was skillful and helpful. The three of them would get up early every day and start working until very late before turning off the lights and going to bed.

But being busy like this is also very interesting, and I feel that the days fly by.

A few days later, Sang Er returned from the street. After entering the house and putting down the pastries she had bought, she said breathlessly, "This is really news. Everyone on the street is talking about it."

"Sister, tell me quickly what happened?" Ao Shuang asked hurriedly upon hearing this. "If I had known there would be something interesting, I would have gone to the street with you."

“It’s good that you don’t go. The streets are packed with people buying and selling New Year’s goods. It’ll be so crowded it’ll kill you,” Sang Er said, rubbing her aching arms. “If someone like you went, you’d be crushed.”

"Sister, have some water, then we can talk about the news." Ao Shuang handed the tea to Sang Er. "What exactly happened?"

“When I went out on the street, I heard people saying that the Lu family had suffered retribution.” After saying this, Sang Er took a big gulp of water.

"Which Lu family?" Wen Mingqian stopped embroidering, looked up and asked.

“And which Lu family? The original Fengxian Marquis family!” Sang Er clapped her hands. “They were demoted to Tingzhou, but when they were halfway there, they stayed at Bairen Post Station. In the middle of the night, their stupid son went crazy and started slashing his parents with a knife.”

His mother was slashed more than a dozen times and died on the spot. His father managed to escape two miles, but also died from excessive blood loss.

"Ah?!" Ao Shuang exclaimed in shock. "This is terrifying! Why would he kill his own parents?"

“We weren’t there, so we don’t know, but people say that the maids he killed turned into evil spirits and haunted him. He was terrified and grabbed a knife and started slashing wildly, but he ended up killing his own parents,” Sang Er said. “Whether it’s true or not, a person like that shouldn’t be alive.”

"What happened to that fool in the end?" Ao Shuang pressed.

"What else could they do? He even killed his own parents, how could they keep him alive? They said he fell into an ice hole and died. I guess those people thought he was a nuisance, and it would be too time-consuming and laborious to escort him back to the capital, so they simply disposed of him," Sang Er speculated.

"Oh my god, that's truly terrifying," Ao Shuang said. "But they deserved their retribution; who told them to do so many heinous things!"

The tragedy of the Lu family spread like wildfire throughout the capital, but was gradually forgotten within a few days.

Not long after, the former residence of the Marquis of Fengxian was bestowed upon a new nobleman, and that was another story altogether.