Chapter 120: Chapter 119: Offering Incense
"The Imperial Prison?"
"Yu Nianzhao!" Pei Yunzhi shouted in exasperation, "Are you trying to ruin me? What are you thinking?"
"The one trying to ruin you is your grandmother, it’s you yourself! Did I tell you to go to the black market? Did I ask you to misappropriate funds? You’re a grown person and have no judgment?" Yu Nianzhao mocked, "Might as well go home and drink milk."
Pei Yunzhi was reduced to tears with anger.
Mrs. Pei comforted Pei Yunzhi painfully and pointed at Yu Nianzhao’s nose, scolding, "You’re the one with the black heart. Why scold Yunzhi, making it seem like you never went to the black market."
"I went to the black market with Xie Jiuxiao to investigate a case, unlike you who went to buy unholy things!" Yu Nianzhao tore away their last shred of dignity.
Pei Yunzhi cried even louder.
Finished, finished!
Now that this matter was known, she was completely finished.
"Black market? Imperial Prison? Buying unholy things?"
Hearing these hair-raising words, Pei Yunqing felt completely unsettled, his eyes filled with rage as he gritted his teeth and questioned, "What on earth is going on? You better explain it to me clearly."
"Yunqing, don’t listen to Yu Nianzhao’s nonsense. Ask her to get the money back first." Mrs. Pei’s mind was only on those twenty thousand taels of silver, even Pei Yunzhi pulling on her was of no use.
"What money? Grandmother, you embezzled the funds from the estate. Why are you asking Zhaozhao for them?"
"It’s because she went to the black market that everyone ran away, and we got nothing but were cheated out of twenty thousand taels of silver. If we don’t ask her, who do we ask?" Mrs. Pei justified herself righteously.
"It was I who led the Dragon Shadow Guards to besiege the place; isn’t it Mrs. Pei who should be asking me for money?"
Xie Jiuxiao’s icy voice rang out, making Mrs. Pei’s heart pound with fear, suddenly dropping the earlier arrogance significantly.
"Prince... Prince Su!" Mrs. Pei stammered.
"For the honor of the Marquis Wu’an’s estate, I’ve already been lenient, just asked some questions before releasing the individuals. Now that the case isn’t clear yet, what? Do you want to enter the Imperial Prison once more for a thorough interrogation?" Xie Jiuxiao sneered coldly, and with a wave of his hand, Mu Hongxuan and the Dragon Shadow Guards appeared behind them.
The air carried the bloodlust of the battlefield, making Mrs. Pei and Pei Yunzhi tremble in fear.
Pei Yunzhi, tears streaming, helplessly shook her head, "No, I don’t want to go back to the Imperial Prison. I haven’t done anything; please don’t lock me up again."
The ghostly place like the Imperial Prison, having been there once was enough to scare her senseless; she didn’t want to go a second time.
Pei Yunqing couldn’t bear to watch Pei Yunzhi being taken away and quickly clasped his fists, "There must be some misunderstanding here. I ask Prince Su for mercy. I will surely take my grandmother and Yunzhi back to get a good explanation."
"But it’s twenty thousand taels of silver..." Seeing that asking for the money was hopeless, Mrs. Pei slapped her thigh, tears flowing.
Twenty thousand taels of silver was several years of the Pei Family’s expenses; it was truly a huge disaster.
Yu Nianzhao twirled a strand of hair by her ear and said nonchalantly, "The black market was besieged by the Dragon Shadow Guards, and as far as I know, the Dragon Shadow Guards are directly managed by the Emperor. Mrs. Pei, you’re asking the wrong person for money. You might as well go cry in front of the hall and see if the Emperor will give you the money."
Mrs. Pei’s cries came to an abrupt halt, her eyes avoiding; how could she dare to ask the Emperor for money?
Princess An Nan nodded lightly, "Zhaozhao is right, it is indeed so."
"Yes, since the Dragon Shadow Guards handled it, why are you looking for Yu?"
"Being foolish and getting cheated out of money, still having the nerve to come extort my cousin?"
Everyone voiced their opinions, making Mrs. Pei and her companions feel deeply embarrassed.
"Grandmother, Yu Nianzhao has too many backers; let’s leave first, or we’ll lose face completely." Pei Yunzhi’s face turned red as she tugged on Mrs. Pei’s sleeve, ready to leave.
Mrs. Pei, realizing she was in the wrong, could only follow Pei Yunzhi’s lead and leave.
Pei Yunqing looked at Yu Nianzhao with a pang of guilt, "Zhaozhao, I will inform Father about this matter and have him deal with it properly, rest assured."
Then, he glanced at King Yan Temple, a melancholic look in his eyes, "I didn’t even know you set up a temple here, Zhaozhao. No matter what you do in the future, elder brother will always support you. In a few days, I’ll come to contribute some incense money, okay?"
Bringing money?
Yu Nianzhao certainly wouldn’t refuse anyone coming to offer incense, "Contributing incense is welcome, as for anything else, good riddance."
Pei Yunqing only wanted to slowly close the distance between him and Yu Nianzhao, and hearing her say that, he quietly sighed in relief, offering her a gentle smile, "Alright, I’ll come another day."
As for those robust men lying on the ground, they were unceremoniously taken away by the Dragon Shadow Guards.
"It really is a mess," Princess An Nan sighed, "Who would have thought, that Yunzhi child went to the black market, what on earth did she spend twenty thousand taels on?"
"Bought little ghosts, intended for use by your son," Xie Jiuxiao coldly glanced at her, revealing the truth with a bit of malicious amusement.
"Ah? To use on Yunzhe," Princess An Nan’s eyes widened in disbelief, "It’s too ridiculous, how could she be so muddle-headed as to do such a malicious thing?"
"Don’t worry, she didn’t succeed!"
Princess An Nan patted her chest in relief, "Forget it, let’s not mention them. Your temple is open. I’ve already mentioned it to the acquainted madams around. They’ll gradually come over the next few days."
"Thank you, Princess," Yu Nianzhao smiled sweetly, welcoming more people to enthusiastically donate incense; she certainly wouldn’t mind.
"King Yan Temple? Yu, you gave it such a flashy name."
Song Jiling had no objection, feeling rather excited about it.
After all, after going to the black market, his courage seemed to have grown considerably.
"I will first donate ten thousand taels of incense money, and for the next year’s sandalwood and golden ingots, I’ll take care of them as well," Princess An Nan declared generously, truly deserving of being the benefactor.
"I’ll also contribute incense money."
Song Caiwei and Ling Xiangyun reverently bowed to the statue of Yu Nianzhao.
A small temple, the incense was flooding in.
Yu Nianzhao with her palm upward, wisps of incense gathered in the transparent Purification Bottle in her palm, but it was only a shallow bottom filled with these donations.
[Master, this incense is delicious. I wish I could come out and eat my fill.]
[Want to eat, want to eat! Stomach hungry!]
Smelling the aroma of incense, Jiu Ying was drooling, his shadow already appearing behind Yu Nianzhao.
"Hold on! If you come out, the incense in this temple won’t be enough for you to eat!" Yu Nianzhao forcibly pushed Jiu Ying back in.
She was joking; the just collected incense wasn’t even enough for Jiu Ying to fill a tooth gap.
"After donating incense, each donor can register with me, and the names of incense donors will be carved onto the temple walls."
The carefree Jing Rui, clad in monk’s robes, lazily went about his work.