Chapter 182: More Villainous Than the Villain
The autumn wind was cool.
The two nuns had arrived secretly, likely slipping through the blind spots of the crowd’s surveillance.
They had waited until there was no one around to approach.
There was also a carriage not far from the Jiang Mansion.
But they waited and waited, yet no one came out.
Could it be that the hosts were too enthusiastic, and the two masters were staying the night?
The wealthy and powerful were all superstitious, and they trusted the words of masters and abbesses implicitly.
Staying the night was certainly possible.
However, the carriage still waited, not daring to leave.
Until a carriage approached from the opposite direction.
Qin Luoxia and Jiang Changtian had returned. Previously, they knew nothing about the Prefecture City, and they still didn’t know much, but because their children were waiting at home, the Prefecture City had become their home, so they were in a rush to return.
As they neared the Prefecture City, the road became smooth, and their spirits felt lighter.
They felt quite relieved.
The carriage wheels pressed against the bluestone road, the squeaking sound like a melody, cheerful in its tune.
Qin Luoxia couldn’t help but lift the carriage curtain to look at the scenery outside.
The first time she came, it was to settle down, so she hadn’t paid much attention to the outside.
Now, because she had a home here, looking at it again, she felt a sense of familiarity.
Qin Luoxia saw a carriage.
It was a rather beautiful carriage, looking quite sturdy.
Its center of gravity seemed very stable, even better than the carriage Magistrate Huang had prepared for her.
The coachman looked like a martial artist.
But for some reason, when the coachman looked at her, he seemed a bit nervous?
Qin Luoxia considered her public persona to be very kind and generous. Having learned from Aunt Yin for so long, she could now hide herself better. Aunt Yin had said that the world made many demands on women; you could want to soar, you could want to rise in status, you could want to do anything, but you had best learn to disguise yourself—disguise yourself into the image the world expected, as that was the least troublesome path.
There was no need to explain to everyone why you were the way you were.
You only needed to disguise yourself into a universally accepted image, the image everyone expected, and you could save a lot of time to do the things you truly wanted to do.
Therefore, when outside and dealing with strangers, Qin Luoxia had mastered her appearance; if not noble, she was at least a kind and gentle lady.
Yet, with her appearance, the moment the coachman saw her, his pupils changed, and he became inexplicably nervous.
This person had a problem.
What was this carriage doing, parked not far from her mansion?
Qin Luoxia did not make eye contact with him; she merely glanced at him before letting her gaze fall elsewhere.
As if she hadn’t seen him at all.
The carriage continued forward.
They passed each other.
It seemed like a meaningless encounter.
The coachman was somewhat surprised to see who had arrived.
He hadn’t expected the couple to return so quickly.
However, he showed no abnormalities, and his expression did not change.
The other party surely hadn’t noticed anything.
Although his parking spot was close to the Jiang Mansion, it was still separated by a street.
There were many mansions here; pretending to be a carriage from another residence was very normal.
The carriage wheels rolled past at a steady pace.
He was just curious that Commander Jiang would go out without even bringing guards, only taking his wife.
He had heard it was to attend a funeral.
This speed was a bit too fast.
…
Returning to the mansion.
Jiang Changtian and Qin Luoxia saw the two nuns who were tightly bound.
They were both startled.
Fortunately, they had made it back in time.
Aunt Yin recounted the scene word for word.
And Qin Luoxia immediately thought of the carriage she had encountered today.
The nuns’ mouths were gagged with cloth strips.
They squirmed like silkworms.
Making “wuwuwu” sounds.
Like innocent, good people who had fallen into a villain’s den.
As soon as Jiang Mianmian saw Father and Mother return, her mouth began to pout, and big drops of tears fell down.
She cried so sorrowfully, aggrieved and terrified.
“I was almost carried away by them; ancient times are so scary.”
If she had really been taken to a temple to chant scriptures and sweep the floors, that would have been one thing.
But these two nuns spoke so strangely; she didn’t know if it was just deceptive tactics or if it was real.
What if they really discovered something was wrong with her and cut her up to eat her…
Thinking about it made it even scarier.
Jiang Mianmian wailed loudly.
She cried until Mother’s bodice was soaked.
She cried until Father’s shoulder was soaked.
The two nuns on the ground squirmed even more violently.
What are you crying for?
They only said one sentence and tried to pull the little girl, but couldn’t pull her.
From beginning to end, they only touched the little girl’s clothes once.
And she was crying like this.
Others would think they had done something to her.
The little girl’s crying made the hearts of Qin Luoxia and Jiang Changtian ache.
Thinking of the scene where the child might have been carried away, Qin Luoxia wanted to go mad.
She didn’t believe in karma. If there really were karma, her Father and so many strong warriors who died in the wilderness, whose bodies couldn’t even be recovered—their wives and children lived more miserably than anyone else; there was no blessing, only endless suffering.
All that talk about being meant for the Buddhist order and not meant to stay.
When they were eating tree roots and dirt, unable to survive, where was the Buddhist order? Why didn’t they come to find them?
Bullshit liars.
Qin Luoxia had always thought she had a good temperament, but even the best-tempered person had a sore spot.
Mianmian was the child she had carried for ten months and risked her life to give birth to.
She was her life, more important than her own life; for her child, she could give up her own life.
Jiang Changtian’s expression was gentle as he held Mianmian, coaxing her with every word and smiling to tease her.
Finally, he managed to coax the wailing little one into calming down before letting Great-Aunt take the little one away.
He listened to the child’s crying, and it broke his heart.
He thought of what Fenger had said.
“She is meant to be one of us in the Buddhist order, and should not remain in the mundane world; otherwise, it will be bad for the whole family. Everything should return to the right track.”
What was the right track?
Was watching his whole family die the right track?
Jiang Changtian smiled.
He looked at the two nuns with a gentle smile and said to his wife, “Xia Mei, let me interrogate them.”
Qin Luoxia nodded.
At night.
Jiang Feng and Meng Shaoxia returned from training the troops.
The mansion seemed a bit too quiet.
The fright of the day had passed.
But Jiang Yu was still very excited and recounted the thrilling events of the day to Brother Meng and her own elder brother again.
“It was terrifying. The nun’s figure was so fast, like she had magic, suddenly flashing in front of Mianmian and trying to drag her away.”
Jiang Mianmian had cried herself to sleep.
Now she was still a bit dazed and listless.
Jiang Feng carefully checked Mianmian from head to toe.
He ruffled her hair, and she lazily slapped her brother’s hand away.
“Were you scared out of your wits?”
Jiang Mianmian nodded: “A little bit. But I think it was because I ate too much. I had swan meat at noon; it was too tough and hard to digest, so my tummy is uncomfortable.”
Jiang Mianmian pointed to her round, bulging belly.
This made Jiang Feng laugh again.
He felt lingering fear in his heart as well.
Meng Shaoxia, on the other hand, was carefully examining whether little Yu’er was alright or had been frightened.
Jiang Yu shook her head: “I’m fine, I just feel a bit scared thinking back on it. That nun was dressed so brightly and beautifully, and she was very pretty too; I didn’t expect her to do such things.”
Meng Shaoxia said to Jiang Changtian, “Father, your son-in-law knows a little about interrogation methods. I can help interrogate them.”
Meng Shaoxia was a smooth talker.
After getting married, he didn’t call them Father-in-law and Mother-in-law in a stiff, scholarly way, but called them Father and Mother directly.
At first, everyone was a bit unaccustomed to it.
But after spending time together, they got used to it.
In terms of character, after observing him for this period, Jiang Changtian and Qin Luoxia felt that Little Meng was a good man, and for him to be with their daughter was indeed a bit of a waste.
It was their daughter who had married up.
To have such an illustrious status and yet be so approachable was truly rare, and it didn’t seem like he was faking it.
However, even if he were faking it, as long as he could keep their daughter happy, he had better fake it for a lifetime.
Jiang Changtian took Meng Shaoxia and Fenger to see the people.
They were actually in a cellar in the house.
Meng Shaoxia was startled.
He was quite sensitive to his surroundings and was also a cautious person.
Since arriving at this mansion, he hadn’t even discovered this cellar.
It was hidden right under that tall tower in the backyard.
Then he saw the two nuns who were on the verge of death and covered in wounds; their magnificent robes were unrecognizable, soaked in blood.
And there was also a man.
It was that coachman.
Qin Luoxia had returned to the mansion, seen the two nuns, coaxed the child, and turned around to go out.
When she reached the carriage, seeing no one paying attention, she went up to talk to him, knocked the coachman out with one arm, and drove the carriage into the house.
The two nuns and the coachman looked too miserable, bloody and gory.
On the cellar wall hung iron shovels, spears, knives, swords, whips, and also a stove and branding irons. In the corner, there was a pile of cabbage and radishes.
One of the nuns had one side of her face charred black, but one could see that the other side of her face was indeed that of a very beautiful woman.
Meng Shaoxia gasped.
In such a short time, they had caught an accomplice and tortured them to this extent; at first glance, he thought he had entered the Ministry of Justice prison.
He asked cautiously, “Father, have you interrogated anything out of them?”
Jiang Changtian shook his head: “No, I don’t know if what they are saying is true or false. I was just practicing some interrogation techniques. It’s good you’re here; you’re more professional, so you interrogate them.”
The two nuns twitched all over:…
The coachman twitched all over:…
Meng Shaoxia’s mouth twitched slightly:…
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