Chapter 203
Chapter 203: He Is Also Very Lucky
During the whole winter month, Luo Ning stayed inside and did not go out.
At home, she either practiced with her whip, played the zither, or practiced her calligraphy. She also “learned” from the two nursemaids. Her days were very full.
She only learned about what happened outside from Luo You and Luo Wan.
Luo You had not gone back to school yet. Every day he went to the bookshops to look for new books and meet his friends. Luo Wan had close contact with Miss Chen.
Miss Chen, the daughter of the Yanping Commandery Princess, seemed to know everything and was best at digging out news.
“Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple’s abbot and two senior monks have all been sentenced to death. Those piles of bones were truly shocking. They used the murder cases to decide the verdict,” Luo Wan said.
“In the current dynasty, to hold back the special power of monks, monks who commit crimes are punished one level more heavily than common people. In other words, if that pit of bones at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple had been found at an ordinary place and they could not find the main culprit, they might only have gone to prison for a few years.
“Because the Imperial Court’s laws are stricter on monks, the abbot and the two senior monks were sentenced to a capital crime for this matter. They will be executed after autumn,” she went on.
“Those bones are still solid and hard. They should be less than ten years old. And the current abbot of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple has been in charge for almost thirty years.
“These things were done by them. They cannot argue against it, even if there is no direct proof pointing to him. It is right to punish them,” Luo Ning said.
They did not really count as taking the blame for the princess, because these sins truly were theirs.
For the Buddhist order to kill, the sin was even heavier.
Grand Princess Jia Hong had thought this far ahead, so she had easily slipped away.
“Big Sister, I also heard that the Imperial Court will not allow Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple to be repaired. They will send the monks from the temple to other places,” Luo Wan said.
Luo Ning nodded: “The Empress Dowager wants to kill the chicken to warn the monkeys.”
Because the Empress Dowager believed in Buddhism, the religion had grown strong in the last ten-plus years and almost seemed ready to become a new kind of powerful clan.
The Empress Dowager had already noticed that something was wrong. She would surely use this chance to strike them down, so she would not raise a tiger that would be hard to control in the future.
“Big Sister, they also mentioned you. They said your luck was good and you were not hurt. But Vice Minister Wang was hurt much worse. His right arm might be useless now,” Luo Wan said.
Luo Ning’s heart stirred: “So badly hurt?”
“We do not know the details. The Yanping Commandery Princess’s residence is not very close to the Wang family, so we cannot go to their door to watch the excitement,” Luo Wan said.
Luo Ning fell silent.
Wang Tang Yao had a very competitive and fierce personality. If he lost the use of an arm, who would he blame?
He could not blame Luo Ning.
Then he should hate Grand Princess Jia Hong instead.
Luo Ning had never been able to let go of what Grand Princess Jia Hong had done. She kept thinking of that innocent pair of grandparent and grandchild who had been buried alive in the secret room.
Besides them, there had been more than ten other people who died unjustly. They had all been nearby commoners, who had simply worked hard and lived quietly, yet had suffered such a cruel disaster.
“Did anyone mention where Vice Minister Wang was hurt?” Luo Ning asked.
Luo Wan was stunned: “At Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, of course. Where else?”
Then she asked: “Big Sister, what do you mean by that?”
Luo Ning shook her head: “It is nothing. Go and ask around again. See what other people say.”
She very much wanted to know if the outside world knew that she and Vice Minister Wang had once fallen into the secret chamber together.
Back then, the people who searched and rescued them had all been Prince Yong’s regional troops, so the news should have been kept under wraps.
Those who knew the truth, besides Grand Princess Jia Hong, Pei Ying, and Prince Yong’s trusted men, were only Luo Ning and Wang Tang Yao. The princess and Pei Ying would definitely not talk, and neither would Luo Ning.
The only one who might leak it was Wang Tang Yao.
If such a story got out, it might hurt Luo Ning’s reputation and would also help attack the name of Princess Consort Yong. Wang Tang Yao was very likely to do something like that.
Reputation was extremely important.
Luo Ning was afraid that man might take revenge because of his serious injury and lash out at everyone, including her.
“Alright, I will go ask,” Luo Wan said.
She was very gentle and careful about it and helped Luo Ning find out the truth.
No one spoke clearly about where Vice Minister Wang had been hurt. They only said it happened at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.
“The Wang family is a huge hidden danger,” Luo Ning thought.
Bai Ci Rong was still in the Wang family, and Wang Tang Yao had not come with good intentions.
Third Miss Wang was going to become Prince Yong’s secondary consort. She seemed to have a good relationship with Prince Yong. Last time at Summer Retreat Villa, she had even been able to talk to Prince Yong alone.
She looked very clever and quick-witted, as well as smooth and skilled in dealing with people.
She would not be easy to handle.
In the blink of an eye, it was already the twelfth lunar month.
One morning, Qiu Hua brought hot water for Luo Ning to wash and suddenly sighed: “Big Miss, we have been back in the capital for a year.”
Luo Ning was also taken aback.
“Only a year?” she said with a smile. “It feels like three.”
Too many things had happened in this one year. Luo Ning’s heart had never been at rest.
She had reversed the fate from her past life.
Luo Yin and Qiu Shi Dong were dead. Bai Ci Rong had become a discarded chess piece. Madam Bai’s thugs had all been taken care of, and Madam Bai herself had been forced into being a living dead person.
The Marquis of Zhen Nan’s household had been saved.
After solving the old troubles, her goal now was her future, and the title of Shao Yang Commandery Princess.
“Big Miss, you have done a lot in this year,” Qiu Lan said softly as she combed Luo Ning’s hair. “Your work in this one year really does equal three years.”
Luo Ning looked at herself in the mirror and smiled faintly.
Since the trouble at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, this was the first time her mood had felt truly good.
Nanny Kong, Qiu Hua, and Qiu Lan were all still by her side. She had protected them. She also had a little sister now, Luo Yan.
Her grandmother was still alive.
Her cousin Luo Wan was also living well.
Luo Ning had not done just one great deed. She had done many, enough for her to feel proud.
“They do,” she said. She and Qiu Lan looked at each other in the bronze mirror and shared a smile.
Because she was happy that day, Luo Ning handed out reward money early. She also told Nanny Kong to spend money at an outside restaurant and have a full table of dishes sent in.
Everyone in Wenqi Courtyard, including the rough-serving maidservants, sat around together and shared a good meal with Luo Ning.
Soon it was the Laba Festival.
The Empress Dowager sent Eunuch Wei to the Marquis of Zhen Nan’s residence with Laba porridge. Every courtyard received a share.
Luo Ning went to her grandmother’s room to serve her breakfast and talk about the Laba Festival.
Last year’s Laba Festival was still fresh in their minds.
“This year’s Sacred Artifact Festival probably will not be held, right?” Luo Ning asked her grandmother.
“After such a big incident at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, who would dare hold the Sacred Artifact Festival?” Grandmother said.
Then she added: “But it is not really something to regret. Praying to gods and Buddha is all for peace. If there is no peace, what is the point of praying?”
Luo Ning laughed and praised her grandmother: “You really see things clearly.”
“At my age, how could I stay foolish? You almost died at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. I still feel sad when I think of it. If I pray to Buddha all day long, what am I doing it for?” Grandmother said again.
Luo Ning held her hand.
She knew that the older a person was, the more they needed something to lean on. Once they felt empty inside, it was easy to grow weak and sick.
“I turned misfortune into blessing all because your faith in the Bodhisattva was sincere. That is why the Bodhisattva protected me,” Luo Ning said.
Grandmother’s mood lightened a little.
After breakfast, Luo Ning set out for the palace.
While she had been resting at home, the Empress Dowager had often sent people to check on her.
She cared a lot about her.
The Empress Dowager could not leave the palace easily, and she had not wanted to ask Luo Ning to come and tire herself on the road.
Now that Luo Ning was fine, she wanted to enter the palace in person so the Empress Dowager could see her with her own eyes.
When she stepped out of the gate, her heart still gave a sudden jump.
The events at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple felt as if they had just happened. That day when she had gone out, she had not guarded herself at all and had never imagined Grand Princess Jia Hong would strike at her so cruelly.
Luo Ning took a deep breath.
At the Palace Gate, she met Prince Yong.
Prince Yong got off the carriage first. When he saw her, he stopped and waited.