Chapter 50 – CiYun Nunnery

It was not long after that Feng Huan’s imperial bodyguards brought over the maps of CiYun Nunnery and Minister Fang’s residence. As Feng Huan spread out the maps, he told Fang YingYing and Lu Lian to mark out their paths on those days clearly. According to those marks and the fact that Minister Fang’s house was heavily guarded, it was not easy for someone to sneak in even if he was capable.

“Was there really nothing strange on those days?” Zhuang Zhong asked for reconfirmation.

Both Fang YingYing and Lu Lian shook their heads. Lu Lian added, “The master and madam are very strict so us servants did not dare to slack off. Not mentioning taking a nap, people on the night watch do not dare to even yawn.”

Fang YingYing bit her lower lip and her eyes reddened. “I can’t be pregnant with a ghost fetus right? Otherwise… otherwise how can…”

Zhuang Zhong instantly felt something was wrong and hurriedly asked, “Otherwise what?”

To that, Fang YingYing and Lu Lian did not say anything else besides having tears falling silently from their eyes. While Fang YingYing’s face became more and more pallid, Lu Lian wiped her tears and said, “Young lady, you should not think too much about it. There definitely must be something we missed somewhere!”

Zhuang Zhong and Feng Huan shared a glance with each other. Zhuang Zhong then thought about it and carefully said, “According to my calculations, the child should be about eight months old now. However your stomach is flat, can it be…”

Fang YingYing raised her head fiercely. “No, it is not that I did not want the child! After all, he is my flesh and blood so how could I bear to do anything to it? Although–although I once hated him and wanted to remove him, I have already considered this child as mine!”

Pregnancies out of wedlock, whether for mothers or children, were hard to survive unless they hid the truth. So, when Zhuang Zhong saw that Fang YingYing’s stomach was flat, he had thought that she had lost the child. Besides, Fang YingYing was not living well these days. Even if it was not deliberate, she was likely to lose her child due to her dark moods and the hardships she was suffering. The reason Zhuang Zhong did not ask initially was because he was afraid that she would be uncomfortable.

Zhuang Zhong comforted, “This is not your fault, you and the child are just not fated. You should take good care of yourself now and a child will be possible again in the future.”

Fang YingYing shook her head. “I am no longer chaste so who will want someone like me? Even if such a person exists, he will probably be someone subpar and I will not be able to accept it. Although the child’s father was an animal, I originally thought the child could accompany me but… Anyway, I have already thought it through. It was not the child’s fault and I really wanted to keep him. However, in the end, I have nothing.”

Saying that, Fang YingYing looked downcast as if she had lost all her vitality.

Although she had really wanted to abort the child before, she had finally figured it out. It was just that in the end, it appeared that the child did not want her. Was this retribution? However, she never did anything evil so why was she plagued with bad luck constantly?

“Young lady, it is not too bad to lose the child… Even if he was born, he would have been…”

“I will not allow you to talk like that!” Fang YingYing glared at Lu Lian harshly and said, “Since he appeared in my body, he is my child and it does not matter how the child appears! I do not believe that he was a ghost fetus, there must be a mistake!”

Fang YingYing wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, and continued, “I will not hide it from both of you either. I was so down because I lost my child when he was six months old for unknown reasons and he was a monster with a long tail. At that time, although I ran away from home, I had brought enough gold and silver jewelry to live the rest of my life like the common people. However, despite living in the countryside for a while, I was driven out when it happened. They said I was pregnant with a ghost fetus and that I was an ill omen.”

“I originally did not want to fight and accept that this is my life. However, the heavens took away my child! I do not accept this, I am going to catch the man who hurt me so badly and made me lose everything. Even if it is a demon, I am going to fight it to the end!”

Fang YingYing then slammed the table agitatedly and managed to hit the cup. As the cup broke, her hand was pierced and started bleeding.

“Young lady!” Lu Lian hurried up to bandage her wound.

However, Fang YingYing’s face was expressionless as if she did not feel the pain. “If you think I am an ill omen, please say so.”

Zhuang Zhong said, “Although fetal malformation is not common, it is not a rare thing. It has nothing to do with demons so young lady Fang does not have to take it too seriously.”

Hearing that, Fang YingYing breathed a sigh of relief and her eyes brightened. “Does this mean that Lord Zhuang is promising me to investigate it?”

Zhuang Zhong replied, “Of course, this matter is very strange. If we cannot find out the truth, I am afraid more people will suffer.”

At this moment, the imperial bodyguard who was collecting information entered. He whispered something to Feng Huan which caused the latter to frown. “Xu Yuan also stayed at CiYun Nunnery for ten days before dying of a violent illness a few days after her return. Not only that, there have been similar occurrences of such things before.”

Zhuang Zhong angrily added, “That CiYun Nunnery is indeed strange!”

Fang YingYing and Lu Lian could not believe it. Fang Yingying said, “That is impossible. CiYun Nunnery is a quiet place of Buddhism so how can there be such filthy things? It is also a place favored by the current empress and I have even thought about going there to become a nun after this!”

Feng Huan coldly hummed, “Whether it was a man or a ghost, we will know when we investigate it.”

“That person is hidden so deep that if we go to investigate rashly, he will be alerted. Besides, their reputation is illustrious. We should plan before acting.” Hearing such words from Zhuang Zhong, Feng Huan nodded. Even if they had a plan, it was not convenient to say much at this time.

Meanwhile, despite the fact that Fang YingYing and Lu Lian still could not believe it, they did not say anything either.

“Young lady Fang, we will investigate this matter as soon as possible. If we have any news, we will inform you immediately. Where do you live now?”

Fang YingYing named a place and Zhuang Zhong was surprised. After all, it was a place where good and bad people were mixed together, totally not a place for young ladies like her. In addition, although Fang YingYing was very haggard and looked a lot worse than before, she was still a great beauty. With only a servant girl and an old servant woman, it was really unsafe to live there.

Lu Lian angrily said, “Our young lady originally bought a field and a house in the countryside, but she was driven out because of her child and all her possessions were taken away. If my mother had not sewed a few pieces of silver in her clothes, we would have been sleeping on the streets. Those people are so hateful!”

Fang YingYing was embarrassed as when such a thing happened, they could only keep their grievances to themselves. After all, if such news were to be spread, there would be no way they could live as Minister Fang would not tolerate it. At that time, her other brothers and sisters in the Fang family would also be implicated. Besides, if it was not for her family turning a blind eye, she would not have been able to escape in the first place either.

“There is even such a person?” Zhuang Zhong was furious and thought that it was no wonder that she looked so haggard. After a miscarriage, she was driven out and her possessions were taken away. It had not been easy for her to live until now. If it were other young ladies, they might have already been dead.

Fang YingYing blushed and said, “It was only because there is no other way that I look for Lord Zhuang. This is really…”

At this moment, Feng Huan interrupted them, “I have a house in the suburbs of the capital. I will order someone to send you there later.”

Hearing that, Fang YingYing was very grateful. Although she was embarrassed, she had to lower her head and do what she disdained to do before. After all, her former arrogance has long been shattered in front of reality. She was making a gamble to search for Zhuang Zhong and for now, she appeared to be right. Regarding her future, she could only take one step at a time.

“I just felt that she is pitiful. She also used to be my fiancée and I cannot let her live too badly, so I took her in. Unless it is a case, I will not go to find her either. Notwithstanding marriage, I will not take her in even as a concubine.”

At this moment, both of them were walking in the street when Feng Huan suddenly sprouted such words.

Zhuang Zhong was temporarily at a loss. “Huh? Why are you telling me this?”

Feng Huan stared at Zhuang Zhong before continuing, “Why are you not talking to me ever since we left the tavern?”

Zhuang Zhong blinked. “I was just thinking about this case… Hey, where are you going? Wait for me!”

As Feng Huan walked away too quickly, Zhuang Zhong was left standing in the street with a baffled look on his face.

“Huh?”

Half a month later, no abnormality was found in CiYun Nunnery. Feng Huan had sent someone to sneak into the nunnery and arranged for someone to monitor at the foot of the mountain. However, he did not find any men coming in and out. The management at CiYun Nunnery was also very strict. At night, worshippers were not allowed to move around at will and could only stay in their own courtyard.

Meanwhile, there was no progress for Zhuang Zhong who was investigating those who died after returning from the nunnery either. The other parties did not cooperate at all and only expounded that those people died of a violent illness. So, in addition to finding some gossip, he could not get more information. Besides, even if he knew that they committed suicide because they were pregnant, he still would not know who the man responsible was. Everyone could guess wildly but there was no real evidence, and no one mentioned CiYun Nunnery.

There had been no progress in the case.

Zhuang Zhong’s eyebrows knitted together tightly. The case could not be said to be complicated, but just that the women in this world paid great attention to chastity, especially the family. Therefore, there were many difficulties in the investigation as no one was willing to cooperate, causing Zhuang Zhong to be unable to obtain any useful information. For the sake of reputation, all were adamant to sticking to death by severe illness.

It was also unknown whether it was a coincidence or a deliberate choice that most of the women affected were daughters of officials who were really beautiful. With such a high rank, more attention would be paid to their reputation. Even if you break their teeth, they would swallow it, making it more difficult for Zhuang Zhong to find anything. Operating under the banner of Prince Si Zhao was useless too. A forfeit of one’s integrity was considered a severe matter and they would rather let their daughter die unjustly than allow these scandals to spread.

Zhuang Zhong sighed, “Ah, I have been blacklisted by a few households and I cannot find anything at all. Is there still nothing on your side?”

Feng Huan shook his head.

“Is my deduction wrong? In actuality, was it all just coincidence and has nothing to do with CiYun Nunnery? Did those women also really die of a severe illness?” Zhuang Zhong irritably asked.

“There is no rush, it has only been half a month. After all, a gluttonous cat will always be tempted. Let us wait patiently.” Feng Huan looked at Zhuang Zhong’s list and continued, “Isn’t there a person on this list you have not investigated? This woman is still alive so maybe she can provide more information.”

“It was exactly because she was alive that I did not dare to check. This woman now has a blissful life with a husband and children. If I mention this old matter, she may lose everything and not everyone is as courageous as Fang YingYing.” Throughout this half a month, Zhuang Zhong had been receiving constant setbacks. He initially thought that the parents of those dead women would provide some clues to avenge their daughters. However, he ran into a wall everywhere. They would rather have their daughters die without knowing the truth than let outsiders know the real reason. Even Zhuang Zhong repeated assurances that it would not leak did not help.

Zhuang Zhong could understand the perspective of these parents. After all, people could not come back from death and besides bringing shame to the family, nothing else could be done about the truth. However, he still felt bitterly disappointed that they were just like Fang YingYing’s family. Originally, it was already hard enough on Fang YingYing and yet the family gave no support to her. Instead, they were vicious for the sake of their reputation. How could this not make people despair?

Despite that, Fang YingYing still has the courage to ask him to find out the truth. So, faced with such rare courage, Zhuang Zhong could not let her down.

The living woman’s name was Xia Min and her father was a seven grade official in the HanLin Academy1. Meanwhile, her husband, Wang WenXuan was his father’s student and they were childhood playmates. Three years ago, Xia Min had attempted suicide and even contemplated becoming a nun. It was only later that she was sincerely moved by Wang WenXuan’s sincerity and married him a year ago, even giving birth to a son recently.

As there were a lot of worshippers staying in CiYun Nunnery, Feng Huan only discovered her recently and felt that her experience was suspicious. Sure enough, it was found that she was also pregnant. At that time, although she hanged herself, she was saved while the child was lost.

Feng Huan thought for a moment and said, “It is not easy for us men to visit so let Fang YingYing do it. As both of them are victims, they might be more comfortable. Moreover, they are both women so they could converse without her husband.”

Zhuang Zhong’s eyes lit up. “That’s true, how can I forget young lady Fang!”

*Translator’s Notes:

1

“翰林院” (HanLin Academy) is an academic and administrative institution of higher learning subordinated to the central government and entrusted with the draft of official documents.