Editor: kllua
As a fellow victim, Fang YingYing was well aware of Xia Min’s possible misgivings so she did not visit her directly. Instead, she planned to act weak and collapse on a path that Xia Min would definitely take. In the end, Xia Min was not suspicious at all as despite recuperating for some time, Fang YingYing had still appeared thin and haggard. Besides, Xia Min was a kind-hearted person. Upon seeing the state Fang YingYing was in, she kindly helped Fang YingYing into her house.
While Xia Min’s husband came from a humble household, Xia Min’s family was not very affluent either. So, with their son, they were just a small family with only an old woman to help with some manual work. Additionally, although Fang YingYing could be considered slightly well known in the capital, she was not in the same social circle as Xia Min so the latter was unaware that she was the daughter of Minister Fang.
With just a few sentences, both women soon became familiar with each other and became sisters who could converse without much reservations.
“Sister looks as if she came from an affluent family. What has happened for you to be reduced to such a state?” Xia Min was not a fool. This coupled with the little snippets of information Fang YingYing revealed from time to time had caused her to deduce that the other woman was troubled by something but had no one to talk to, appearing gloomy. So, one day after sending the old woman off, she closed the doors and windows, intending to inquire further.
Fang YingYing sighed deeply. “Sister, my life has been so miserable!”
Saying that, she proceeded to narrate her previous experiences. After all, no matter how brave a person was, who would not be despondent when they encounter such a thing? At the end, Fang YingYing was in tears. “Perhaps they all do not understand. If a woman who experienced something like this does not hide, she will be scorned by everyone. However, I am unwilling to accept this. If I cannot find out who had hurt me, I will not be able to die peacefully! Why am I bearing the consequences when it was someone else who is wrong? Even if I go to hell, I will drag the vile person down together!”
At this moment, Xia Min’s eyes reddened. She grasped her handkerchief tightly in her hands and trembled. “You-you also met with such a thing?”
Fang YingYing asked in surprise, “What do you mean by this?”
Xia Min painfully closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “I once experienced the same thing as you. If it was not for my family and husband, I would have turned into white bones!”
Fang YingYing quickly grabbed Xia Min’s hand. “Sister, why are our lives so miserable? I obviously have not done anything evil and even often go to CiYun Nunnery to burn incense and worship the Buddha. Why did the Bodhisattva not bless us?”
“CiYun Nunnery? You have been there too?”
Fang YingYing nodded. “Not long after I came back from there, I found out that I was pregnant. At first, I thought it was a poor appetite, who knew that… Since things have reached this state, I will not hide it from you anymore. I am the daughter of the Minister of Rites and used to be the fiancee of Prince Si Zhao. However, now, I have nothing.”
Xia Min was surprised. She knew that Fang YingYing had a noble upbringing but she did not expect her background to be so great. Thinking that the other party must have trusted her extremely to share such things with her, she felt closer to Fang YingYing.
“I also got pregnant soon after I came back from CiYun Nunnery.”
Fang YingYing’s eyes widened. “Isn’t that too coincidental?!”
Xia Min’s gaze turned sharp. “In fact, I had always thought that CiYun Nunnery was strange.”
“Sister, why do you say that?”
Xia Min gritted her teeth and replied, “I cannot sleep well at night. No matter how tired I am, I will wake up once or twice at night. However, during my stay in CiYun Nunnery, I slept till dawn. At first, I thought it was because of the calming effect of the place but later, I found that there were some red marks on myself. Initially, I did not know where they came from and only later, when I got married that I understood… These red marks are left when two people are intimate with each other. Besides, it is also easy to leave marks on my skin. On normal days, a slight hit would have resulted in a bruise.”
Although Xia Min did not explain directly, Fang YingYing understood her words. “You-you mean… How is this possible? CiYun Nunnery is even favored by the empress. How can it be so impure?”
“That was why even if I knew there was something fishy, I cannot do anything. After all, how can I offend CiYun Nunnery? At that time, it will bring me more harm than good.” Xia Min sighed deeply and her expression turned helpless. “My husband has always wanted to get justice for me, so he has been trying to get admitted to the law college. He heard that there was someone who is good at solving cases there and wished that he had the honor to learn some skills from him.”
When Xia Min said this, her original resentment dissipated a lot and was replaced by sweetness.
Due to the distance between men and women, Fang YingYing had no interaction with Xia Min’s husband. However, from what Feng Huan discovered and her own feeling, she felt that the person was a real man who treated Xia Min well without a care for her past.
“Sister is really blessed and it is me who made you recall such sad things. I actually approached you on purpose and I do not want to hide it anymore. However, I promise that my feelings were sincere! Don’t be angry with me, okay?”
Hearing that, Xia Min was temporarily at a loss before smiling. “I was just thinking how could there be such a coincidence in the world but even then, how could I blame you? If you can find the vile person, it will also help me!”
“Thank you and don’t worry. On the day I find the real culprit, I will ask Lord Zhuang and his Highness to remove records involving you so as not to put you in an awkward position.”
“Lord Zhuang? His Highness?”
Fang YingYing said with a smile, “Lord Zhuang is the expert in solving cases that you mentioned before while His Highness is Prince Si Zhao.”
Xia Min finally understood and said happily, “If Lord Zhuang investigates, he will definitely find the real culprit! My husband will also be happy to know that as he admires him the most. My husband has even written down Lord Zhuang’s ways of solving the case one by one and regards it as a treasure.”
“Lord Zhuang is a gentle man. However, it is a pity that I do not know him well and am currently dependent on another. Otherwise, I would have helped introduce your husband to him.”
“You also mentioned Prince Si Zhao, are you…”
Fang YingYing hurriedly interrupted, “The situation between Prince Si Zhao and me is different from that between you and your husband. In the past, I was not even considered acquaintances with the prince so it is very unlike the childhood friendship you had with your husband. Besides, with the prince’s status, even if he valued our relationship, I will only be a concubine when I marry him. Although I am in dire straits, my pride will not make me willing to be a concubine.”
Xia Min sighed deeply and patted Fang YingYing’s hand. “It is good that you thought it through. There will definitely be someone that you like who will return the same feelings in this world.”
Seeing Fang YingYing’s eyes darkened, Xia Min quickly changed the topic, “Speaking of CiYun Nunnery, there is a person that always makes me feel uncomfortable.”
Fang YingYing immediately perked up and asked, “Who?”
“Do you know Master Kong Jing?”
Fang Yingying paused before shaking her head.
“She is the one who is responsible for entertaining pilgrims that are staying overnight. She is about thirty years old and about as tall as you. She also has a wide forehead, a pointed chin, and triangular-shaped eyes. She often carries a kettle.”
It was only here that Fang YingYing remembered. “Oh, it is her! When my mother and I went to CiYun Temple, we did not pay much attention to others except for some of the older nuns so I forgot about her. What is the matter with her?”
“I always thought the way she looked at people was strange. Actually, I was not interested in worshipping the Buddha and it was my mother who took me there. So at that time, I was secretly looking around. I saw her looking at me with that kind of, how to say… very strange gaze. As soon as our eyes met, she shifted her sight.” After saying that, Xia Min added hurriedly, “Perhaps I am just being too suspicious.”
“However, she is a woman.”
Xia Min laughed. “Can’t she collude with outsiders? Anyway, I just think she makes me uncomfortable, so I mentioned it. I am not sure that there is something strange regarding her.”
After that meeting with Xia Min, Fang YingYing truthfully repeated all the information she found to Zhuang Zhong and Feng Huan.
Feng Huan was no stranger to the name “Kong Jing”. The people he sent had already found out the situation of CiYun Nunnery and there was indeed such a nun. Additionally, as Xia Min said, those collecting information also found this person strange. However, since she had not done anything filthy, they had assumed that she was just displeasing to the eye.
However, what was certain was that the nun was definitely a woman.
Zhuang Zhong said, “Although there are still no specific clues of the culprit, it can still be determined that the whole thing is related to CiYun Nunnery when taking into account Xia Min’s words.”
Feng Huan nodded, “I will continue to order people to pretend to be pilgrims, sneak in and keep a strict eye on them. They are all great beauties and I do not believe that the person will not get tempted.”
“Where are you going to find so many beauties? Besides, what if something goes wrong and those women lose their innocence?”
Feng Huan raised his eyebrow. “You seem to have a tender heart for women.”
Zhuang Zhong rolled his eyes. “Are you speaking nonsense? As someone who wants to catch the real culprit, we obviously cannot let other women fall into the same situation.”
“Don’t worry, those women were picked out from the brothel and are kept strictly confidential. Anyway, I will send someone to watch over them too. There will not be such an accident.”
In the end, although such an approach was not virtuous, they could only do so.
“Even then, will the culprit dare to act? After all, the victims we know are daughters of officials. It was only Xia Min’s status that is lower but even then, her father is also a seven grade official.”
“Most of the prostitutes I looked for are untouched, and some used to be the daughters of sinners.”
Zhuang Zhong nodded his head. “Now it depends on whether the other party’s aesthetics is the same as ours.”
After another half month, news finally came from CiYun Nunnery. Someone had made a move!
When Zhuang Zhong heard the news, he hurried over while Feng Huan was already there.
“Where are the people?”
Feng Huan nudged his chin and Zhuang Zhong followed the direction he was gesturing to. It was Kong Jing!
“She is alone? What about the man?” Saying that, Zhuang Zhong looked around.
“Just her, there is no one else.”
Zhuang Zhong asked in surprise, “What did she do?”
Feng Huan replied, “The tea sent by this nun in the afternoon was laced with knockout drugs. At night, she sneaked in with the intention to do something vile.”
The people lurking in the dark have long noticed that there was a problem with the tea. However, they took no action and only observed the house after the bait fell asleep. It was around midnight that Kong Jing snuck in and stripped the sleeping woman of her clothes. Like this, she was then caught in the act.
Zhuang Zhong asked, “Kong Jing is a man?”
Feng Huan shook his head. “We have just checked, she is really a woman.”
Although relationships between females were not common here, they were not considered unusual. It was also not unheard of for a nun to feel lonely and lay her hands on pilgrims. However, a woman could not make another woman pregnant. Unless the one who violated Fang YingYing was another person?
