Chapter 191: Rumormongers Must Die
Inside the prison.
No one actually dared to use torture on Master Jingren.
Originally, after Judge Yu died, everyone was thinking about dividing up his authority and seizing his position.
As a result, Jiang the Second turned around and tossed such a huge hot potato over, and no one wanted to take it.
Not only did they not dare to take it, they didn’t even want to touch it.
Whoever touches it dies.
The person was caught by Jiang the Second, so naturally, it is up to Jiang the Second to interrogate her.
Jiang the Second did not personally conduct the interrogation either, but instead had his subordinates come over again and again to ask what she had done wrong, recording it three to five times a day.
There was no torture either.
Perhaps because they were all venerable monastics, Jiang the Second actually started building a structure inside the prison; the workmen said he wanted to build a Quiet Room.
It was built quite seriously, with layer upon layer of outer walls, and the door was very sturdy, though perhaps because the construction period was short, no windows were made.
He even specifically placed meditation cushions inside.
He also made a pedestal and placed a wooden Bodhisattva statue on it.
Everyone was secretly watching.
Is Jiang the Second unable to back down?
Is he trying to clean up after his own recklessness?
It’s too late, it’s too late; even if he builds a beautiful Quiet Room now and places a Bodhisattva and meditation cushions, Master Jingren won’t let him off the hook.
Master Jingren has deep personal connections with the imperial family and relatives in the capital, and was once a guest of honor in the imperial palace.
The last time Heir Han came, he also specifically visited Shangqiu Temple to pay his respects.
Master Jingren’s mood in prison was very stable.
She ate very little, but still looked to be in good condition. She continued to maintain the temple’s daily routine, morning and evening prayers, as if she were not in prison, but rather a Bodhisattva who had simply moved to a humble temple, content with whatever circumstances she found herself in.
On this day, three escaped prisoners were sent to the prison: two nuns and a carriage driver.
Placed among the group of nuns, they wouldn’t have been noticeable.
But those two nuns were too severely injured; covered in wounds, barely breathing, they looked as if they had suffered inhuman torture.
Master Jingren, who was always calm, no longer had such a peaceful look in her eyes.
She still looked calm, but the veins on the hand she used to tap the wooden fish betrayed her emotions.
On this day, the content the nuns confessed was quite extensive, much more than the scraps they had provided in the past.
Two notebooks were filled up.
The days in prison seemed exceptionally long.
Actually, it hadn’t been long; judging by the fact that they came to interrogate them and make them confess what they had done three to five times a day, only a few days should have passed.
I imagine the situation outside has already shifted, and in a few days, I should be able to get out of prison.
Those matters can eventually be smoothed over.
Master Jingren was very careful and had never touched the children of the truly untouchable powerful families.
On this day.
It rained.
The prison was very damp and cold.
Finally, Commander Jiang arrived at the prison.
His shoes were wet, and there were water stains on the hem of his robe.
Master Jingren saw the legendary Commander Jiang, she saw the culprit.
The day she was arrested, the temple was in chaos, and she had not seen this person.
At this moment in the prison, the first time she saw Commander Jiang.
The usually calm Master Jingren’s pupils shook, and she clenched her fists inside her wide sleeves several times before she could adjust her emotions.
Commander Jiang stared calmly at Master Jingren.
“Do you know why I arrested you?”
In front of him lay an interrogation log, blank. Over these past few days, while others had confessed quite a bit, Master Jingren had not said a single word.
Master Jingren forced herself to keep her spirits up and said, “We did not kill Judge Yu; his death has nothing to do with us.”
Seeing that the other party remained silent.
Master Jingren continued, “The North is poor, and many people drown their baby girls. Shangqiu Temple is willing to take in baby girls and give them a bite to eat. For this alone, we have saved countless lives.”
Jiang Changtian still did not speak, just looked at her.
Master Jingren continued, “If baby girls don’t grow up and die, life and death are fated; it is survival of the fittest. Perhaps the numbers are a bit high, but without us, they would have died long ago.”
Jiang Changtian still looked at her.
It made Master Jingren severely uncomfortable.
Mainly, facing such a face, Master Jingren felt inexplicably terrified.
As a monastic, she also had fear in her heart.
“I heard your master is Princess Huiyun?” Jiang Changtian asked.
Master Jingren hurriedly shook her head, “No, Princess Huiyun just liked me and brought me along to chant Buddha, she did not take me as a disciple.”
Jiang Changtian smiled.
“Seeing my appearance, are you afraid? Is it familiar?”
Master Jingren lowered her head and said nothing, beginning to chant sutras.
Her lips moved faster and faster.
Jiang Changtian revealed a faint smile.
Once he showed this faint smile, he would be especially good-looking, as if glowing, though of course, it was also a bit manipulative.
He smiled and looked at Master Jingren.
“You still don’t know why I arrested you? Mystery of birth? Death of the judge? Countless corpses? No, I don’t care about any of that. I arrested you only because you spread rumors about my young daughter, saying her destiny was bad. Whether her destiny is good or bad is for us to decide, not a single sentence of your rumors.”
Master Jingren continued to chant, her lips colliding faster and faster. She felt this was just an excuse; it was only spreading rumors. Saying someone’s destiny was bad was just something said casually. As for the specific reason, she didn’t even need to find one, she didn’t even need to look at her birth date.
She said it simply because she wanted to.
Anyway, as long as it was beneficial and useful, what did it matter if she spread rumors?
Even if there was no profit to be made, if she spread rumors, she spread them. “I forgot, I just said it casually. If you really come to confront me, I don’t remember; maybe I saw it a long, long time ago and forgot.”
Jiang Changtian, however, was very serious.
He had suffered the pain of being the target of such rumors.
Every day, people looked at him with strange eyes.
Any random passerby could accuse him of being a beast.
They had no grudge against him and didn’t care if he was truly unfilial or unbrotherly, if he had really wronged his brother and sister-in-law, or if he had really accidentally killed his own father.
They didn’t know him, but they could call him a beast and say his character was despicable.
They didn’t know the reason, but they said it anyway, following others in agreement, cursing together, reveling in it.
“Look, there’s a person, he’s a beast. He looks so good, he works so hard, but it doesn’t matter, he’s a beast.”
He had experienced it.
He had experienced it day after day. Even his children, his wife, had to endure unfair treatment because of these rumors.
The rumormonger, Old Madam Jiang, years later, said with a lighthearted remark, “How can there be overnight hatred between mother and son?”
The rumormonger, Master Jingren, said with a lighthearted remark, “Amitabha.”
They all deserved to die.
A young girl judged from childhood to have a bad destiny, hindering relatives and friends—she would either be sent to a temple to live a lonely life, or live under the judgmental, strange eyes of the world. Once something bad happened, it could all be blamed on her, she could be cursed, bullied, and wronged, yet she had done nothing, and didn’t even understand anything.
For their own selfish gain, rumormongers made things up without needing a reason. The reason could be “I forgot.” Anyway, it existed; I don’t remember it myself, but it must have existed a long time ago, others should know too. Anyway, I say it exists; if it doesn’t, I’ll just make one up.
Master Jingren looked incredulous.
Looking at Commander Jiang.
Looking at that face, familiar, strangely familiar.
Commander Jiang was repeating one thing over and over.
Saying they spread rumors that his daughter’s destiny was bad.
Master Jingren felt very wronged.
They had said many girls had bad destinies.
Master Jingren was famous for her mastery of Buddhist dharma and fortune-telling.
Noble ladies looking for marriage prospects, or for their own juniors, if they had the chance to meet Master Jingren, would beg her to take a look.
She also cherished her reputation and was relatively accurate in her readings.
However, this time, the destiny of Commander Jiang’s young daughter was truly quite strange; it was a destiny that should have died, yet she was still alive.
She had accidentally obtained her birth date and portrait and was shocked by her appearance.
Actually, she knew the accident was definitely not an accident.
But it didn’t matter; she wanted this girl.
She had spread rumors, but this was just the most common method.
The mouths were theirs; they could say whatever they wanted. Could he really stop the mouths of the masses?
As long as there were enough people spreading the rumors, the false could also become true.
Seemingly true but false, there was no need to distinguish right from wrong.
You cannot explain to everyone you meet, “I didn’t, my daughter’s destiny is very good, she will not hinder her relatives.”
Just like Jiang Changtian before, he couldn’t explain to everyone he met, “I am not unfilial or unbrotherly, I did not do those things.”
People didn’t care; they just wanted to step on you. Whether out of jealousy, envy, disgust, or just indifference, they just wanted to step on you.
Who told you to work so hard, to be so upwardly mobile, to try so hard? You should be like me, like a maggot in the darkness, crawling, weak, dying. You shouldn’t laugh, you shouldn’t rise, you shouldn’t have relatives or friends, you shouldn’t show off, you shouldn’t be alive.
Jiang Changtian did not interrogate others; he only interrogated Master Jingren.
Or rather, it wasn’t an interrogation; it was just a conversation with her.
He nagged her for a while.
Rambling on and on, like a sick person.
He kept repeating, “You shouldn’t spread rumors, you can’t spread rumors, how could you do such a thing? This is wrong.”
It made Master Jingren feel annoyed.
She had just said it casually.
When wasn’t it like this?
Spreading rumors had the lowest cost; you didn’t have to pay anything, just say it casually, and you could achieve your goal. You are good, I am good, everyone is good.
As for whether the person being rumored about died or not, it didn’t matter.
Jiang Changtian smiled.
Yeah, it didn’t matter.
It didn’t matter to him either.
He didn’t need the Great Way, morality, rules, or human sentiment; he just wanted these rumormongers to die.
“You say one bad thing about my Mianmian, and I will make you all go die.”
“Go spread rumors in hell, go find the King of Hell to spread rumors, whatever, it doesn’t matter to him.”
He wanted them to regret it, to have it follow them like a shadow, or to die, or from this day on, every day, every moment, to pay the price for their rumors.
Either die, or live a life worse than death.
That day, Master Jingren was politely invited into the newly built Quiet Room, which had meditation cushions, a table, a blanket, tea and snacks, and a Bodhisattva.
It was just closing the door, closing the door, closing the door, closing the door.
Closing four layers of doors.
Everyone thought this was Commander Jiang’s compromise.
Serving her with good food and drink, not daring to use torture, the closing of the doors was probably because he was worried that someone might accidentally go in and harm Master Jingren, and he would have to be held responsible.
Commander Jiang only asked her to reflect on her mistakes alone for three days, in plain view of everyone, and promised to let her go after three days.
Master Jingren shook her head helplessly, “You see, it’s just rumors, it doesn’t matter.”
“Actually, with your looks, if we had met in a different setting, all of us would have been willing to follow you.”
“But we’ll talk about that later.”
“There is plenty of time in the future.”
Master Jingren looked at Commander Jiang’s appearance one last time, her eyes even holding a sense of maternal affection.
Commander Jiang ultimately understood the rules of officialdom; he would ultimately have to compromise.
Three days later.
Open the door.
Master Jingren had passed away.
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