Perfect Encounter - Chapter 55.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 55.2
Mr. Xie looked at the Jing Xin Temple. He walked over to the wall and was about to enter when the back door suddenly creaked open. Priestess Jing Yuan was standing behind the door.
“Priestess.” Mr. Xie smiled as if nothing had happened.
Priestess Jing Yuan had no expression on her face. She didn’t seem surprised to see a big live person standing there. She raised her eyes to look at the lantern on the tree and asked, “What is it now?”
“A change of plan for now.”
“No more killing?” The tone was like, no more grocery shopping today? In a usual way.
“Yes.”
“Changing things around, do you think killing is child’s play?”
Mr. Xie’s face twitched. Who on earth is treating murder as child’s play?
Priestess Jing Yuan ignored his reaction and added, “Okay, I know. Take the lantern down. No need to hang it. I won’t see you off.” After finishing her speech, Priestess Jing Yuan did not turn around and enter the gate. She just stood there and watched.
Mr. Xie was a bit dissatisfied, but he couldn’t say anything. He took down the lantern and put it back under the tree, patted his hands to brush away the nonexistent dust, and asked inadvertently, “Has Priestess Jing Yuan gone out these two days?”
“No.”
“Have there been any outsiders in the temple?”
“There were visitors.”
“Are there any suspicious people?”
“None other than you.” Jing Yuan replied flatly.
Mr. Xie was disappointed and couldn’t help but say, “Priestess Jing Yuan is not a good talker.”
Priestess Jing Yuan replied, “If you want to find someone nice to talk to, go to the Brothel, this is a temple.”
Mr. Xie choked with discomfort. Temple? Humph, do you still think you are a proper priestess? Is there such a murderous temple?
“If you see any suspicious people, let me know.” Mr. Xie didn’t bother to talk to her anymore and left in a huff.
Priestess Jing Yuan calmly watched his back disappear on the mountain road, then turned around to go back to the courtyard.
In the doorway of the small side courtyard of the Jingxin Temple, someone was peeking outside. Priestess Jing Yuan walked over, and the person behind the door stepped back. Priestess Jing Yuan opened the door, and a girl of about 12 or 13 years old smiled and called sweetly, “Priestess.”
Priestess Jing Yuan nodded in answer and walked in. The little girl followed her into the only small room in the side house. Previously, this room stored miscellaneous items, but now it was clean. With a bed, a cabinet, and a chair, simple and comfortable to look at.
Priestess Jing Yuan sat down on the only chair in the room. She called the girl, “Jing’er, sit down. I want to talk.”
The little girl called Jing’er sat down by the bed. She was beautiful and cute with her small clean face and big eyes.
Priestess Jing Yuan looked at her while saying, “Have you remembered anything?”
On the 15th of October, she met this little girl at the south gate of Zhonglan City. When she was about to leave the city, this little girl came over and pulled her sleeve, whispering, “Priestess, please help me.”
Then Jing Yuan took her out of town. When asked during the journey, she said she couldn’t remember. She woke up in a shabby house with a headache while two people she didn’t know were talking outside about selling her to a brothel. She was scared and tried to escape. When she saw a bundle in the house with clothes that looked like hers, she took it and ran out of the window. She couldn’t remember who she was or where she came from. She panicked and ran to the city gate with no one to turn to, and when she saw Priestess Jing Yuan, she begged her for help.
Jing Yuan sheltered her. She let her hide in this small room in the side courtyard and did not allow her to come out on weekdays so that those people would not find her, and named her Jing Er.
Jing’er shook her head: “I still can’t remember anything. I’ve caused trouble for you.”
“It’s not that I want to expel you. It’s just that since you are separate from your family, it’s better to reunite with them as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will worry a lot.”
Jing’er bit her lip, panic in her eyes.
Priestess Jing Yuan looked at her and said, “Don’t be afraid. It won’t be an issue for me if you stay here. I’m only providing you with a mouthful of food.”
Jing’er nodded her head and thanked her.
Priestess Jing Yuan said, “Recently, many families have lost their children. I heard that there is a family surnamed An in Zhonglan City who has also lost their young daughter.”
Jing’er lowered her head and whispered, “How pitiful. I hope she meets a kind person like you.”
“I heard that her age is about the same as yours, a little girl of twelve.”
Jing’er asked cautiously, “So, how is the An family now?”
“That is unclear. I just heard this from the community. I have not made a detailed inquiry.”
“Oh.” Jing’er nodded her head.
Priestess Jing Yuan looked at her and said, “Since you don’t remember anything, do you want to go to the An family in the city to check whether you are the one those bandits took away from the An family ……”
Jing’er hurriedly waved her hand: “No, no. I remember I seem to be from outside the county. When I heard them talking in the outer room, they mentioned that it was hard to come all the way here, so I guess they should be coming from outside the county.”
Priestess Jing Yuan said nothing.
Jing’er thought about it and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to find my relatives, but I came from outside the county, so I’m not the An family’s young miss. If I go there, they will think I’m a liar and that I want to blackmail them, or if those bandits found me, it would be a problem.”
Priestess Jing Yuan said, “That’s reasonable. Then you can stay here in peace. When you remember where your family is, you can look for them again.”
“Thank you, Priestess.” Jing’er thought about it and asked, “By the way, Priestess, that day out of the city, I saw a large flag with the character ‘Long’ written on it. Is General Long Teng stationed in this city?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Ah, I have heard of the Great General Long’s reputation for a long time, and I admire him very much. When you have a chance to meet him, can you take me with you?”
Priestess Jing Yuan smiled, “I am a nun. How can I have the opportunity to meet the General?”
“Oh.” Jing’er couldn’t hide her disappointment.
Priestess Jing Yuan said, “Don’t think about it too much. If you feel bored, recite the sutra. By the way, what about the scriptures I gave you yesterday?”
Jing’er blushed: “That, that, I don’t remember, I can’t even write.”
Priestess Jing Yuan smiled, “It’s okay. That’s not a big deal.” Priestess Jing Yuan comforted her a few times and let her play with herself. She would call her when it was time to eat.
Jing’er waited for Priestess Jing Yuan to leave and sat in the room by herself, pondering, and suddenly knocked herself hard on the head. So stupid! She could not read. How could she say she saw a flag with the character “Long” written on it? Fortunately, Priestess ignored this flaw.
Priestess Jing Yuan returned to her room, closed the door, picked up the half-cleaned sword on the table, and continued to polish it. The blade was white, reflecting her cold face. Having finished wiping the sword, she lifted the floor tiles, which revealed a large wooden box. She opened the box and put the sword back inside after wrapping it with the black cloth. Since there was no need to kill anyone tonight, she stowed it away.
Speaking of illiteracy, An Ruochen was also contemplating.
The incident of Zhao Jiahua killing her daughter by mistake and then succumbing to grief has become a topic of discussion in the streets and alleys. After the courthouse closed the case, An Ruochen naturally couldn’t pretend she was unaware. She was concerned about Zhao Jiahua’s movements before, so it was only reasonable to react strongly to the news of her death.
Therefore, she went to the courthouse to check the case file, but Jiang Hongqing rejected her. He said the case was obviously unrelated to the matter of espionage and military affairs, while An Ruochen was only a steward of the Purple Cloud House, not entitled to see the case file. If she wanted to see it, she had to bring a letter from the military.
Then, An Ruochen returned to the Purple Cloud House to find Li Mingyu to ask for permission to access the case file at the courthouse. Li Mingyu frowned and dismissed her first because he was busy, then she came back, and he inquired which lord had allowed her to ask for such permission. After some tug of war, he said the case was a matter of espionage, and she should wait for the General or Lord Xie to come back and handle it. He was firm: “Steward An, don’t forget. What were the General’s instructions when he left? Steward An, do your part well, do not act without permission.”
An Ruochen felt annoyed. She turned her head to look for Jiang Song, but he was nowhere to be found. Thus, she went to the Liu Residence. When she got there, the gatekeeper blocked her. The gatekeeper’s reason was logical; too many family members were visiting the house, it was a mess, the master was busy running the funeral, he couldn’t spare time to treat the guests properly, and he was afraid of oversight and negligence, so except for the relatives, he would welcome no other guests for the time being. After finishing all the affairs, the master will naturally invite everyone to express gratitude.
An Ruochen immediately expressed her condolences, saying that although she and Mrs. Liu had not known each other for a long time, they shared the same fate, it was painful to hear the sad news, and she hoped to have the opportunity to offer condolences in person. The gatekeeper promised to convey her words to the master. An Ruochen returned to the Purple Cloud House with a helpless and anxious face.
Very good, she behaved normally. The commotion was noteworthy. The city’s spies probably knew she couldn’t act anywhere, forced to only sit and do nothing. She regretted that she could not see Zhao Jiahua’s case file and wondered if it contained any clues.