“How could it possibly be Master Kongwu?”
The courtyard erupted in an uproar.
【Oh—so Leng Zhu had witnesses when she tried to harm me?】
The young nun A Yi was the first to shout.
“You little girl! The abbess has treated you well—how can you slander her like this?!”
The little nun trembled in fear again.
Instead, Leng Zhu stopped A Yi.
“Amitabha.”
Master Kongwu had already regained her composure. She walked calmly up to the little nun, gently held her shoulders, bent slightly, and met her gaze.
“Don’t be afraid.”
“Think carefully. Yesterday I was chanting scriptures in the main hall the entire time—many disciples can testify. Could you have been too tired and mistaken someone else for me?”
The little nun looked into Kongwu’s calm eyes and began to doubt her own memory.
The abbess had always been noble and virtuous. Perhaps someone had impersonated her to frame her…
She could not help but regret speaking so carelessly earlier.
“Maybe I was too tired and mistakenly identified someone else as Master Kongwu…”
“I’m sorry, Abbess. I will go to the hall and repent immediately.”
Leng Zhu’s hand on her shoulder loosened slightly, and she let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief.
Good—she had gambled correctly. These little nuns revered her deeply.
“Good child, you must be exhausted. It was my negligence. Go rest. This is not your fault—you do not need to repent.”
Kongwu’s words earned further praise from those present.
【Little nun, wake up! You didn’t misremember—it’s Leng Zhu manipulating you again! You’ll be in danger soon!】
The little nun faintly seemed to hear something, but it was indistinct.
Exhaustion overwhelmed her after the emotional shock, and she assumed it was just her imagination. She shook her head and obediently left.
Xu Jiangchen immediately realized that the little nun had not heard Shen Zhiyi’s inner voice.
He exchanged a look with Shen Jingqian, who immediately understood and sent people to quietly follow her.
As for the burly eight-foot man, servants splashed several buckets of water on him, but nothing happened. If not for his breathing, they would have thought he was already dead.
Shen Jingqian secretly ordered men to watch him and seize him when possible.
“Truly… I was not prepared properly for this ritual.”
Having narrowly escaped disaster, Leng Zhu felt increasingly uncomfortable and only wanted to end things quickly.
“The ceremony is nearly complete…”
Just then, Xie Yu, who had been observing from the outskirts, said coldly:
“Abbess, shouldn’t you explain the mistake in your earlier prophecy?”
Under pressure, Leng Zhu quickly made a decision to protect her reputation.
“Amitabha. I was misled by wicked people and misinterpreted the Buddha’s message.”
“As monks do not lie, Shen benefactor is not an ominous or unlucky person. It is my insufficient cultivation. I ask for your forgiveness.”
Only now did Shen Zhiyi realize the topic had turned back to her.
Though slightly disappointed she couldn’t immediately escape into a carefree life, she was quite pleased that she could still earn money from her father’s rouge shop.
Shen Zhiyi responded calmly: “Amitabha.”
Yet this unexpectedly earned her even more praise.
“The young lady of the Shen family truly has extraordinary grace!”
“Such magnanimity—calm in the face of praise or criticism—she is the model of a noble lady in the capital!”
Xu Jiangchen casually remarked:
“For an abbess of such high cultivation, second only to Abbot Kongyuan of Qinglong Temple, to misinterpret a divine message… how could that be?”
【Heh. Kongyuan and Kongwu—they’re both the best at deceiving people!】
Leng Zhu forced herself to respond:
“The Buddhist teachings are profound and subtle. I have only cultivated for decades; mistakes are inevitable.”
Hearing her admit to possible error, doubt quietly took root in the crowd.
Leng Zhu thought she had escaped disaster, but an even bigger problem arrived.
Following Shen Zhiyi’s inner voice, Xu Jiangchen picked up a fragment of the shattered Buddha statue.
Under the sunlight, the fragments shimmered brilliantly. From a distance, nothing seemed unusual—but upon closer inspection, something was clearly off.
“Abbess, this Buddha statue…”
His tone was calm, but his words shocked everyone.
“It was deliberately destroyed.”
The edges of the glazed fragments bore faint black marks, and a faint unpleasant smell lingered.
The white-robed young man’s expression remained calm, yet both Leng Zhu and Shen Honglang felt their breathing tighten instantly.
“Abbess, is it truly divinely inspired and spiritually connected?”
With those words, Leng Zhu staggered slightly.
The revelation caused a huge commotion.
The Great Xia Dynasty revered gods and Buddha deeply. Master Kongwu’s reputation for “divine communication” was widespread. For five years, she had participated in nearly every major ritual in the capital.
Many nobles consulted her and treated her words as absolute truth.
It was no exaggeration to say that in some cases, her judgments were effectively matters of life and death.
“How is that possible?! For nearly a hundred years, no one has been more spiritually gifted than Master Kongwu!”
“I don’t believe it!”
When faced with something that shattered their beliefs, people’s first reaction is often denial rather than reason.
This was exactly why the Shen family, despite knowing the truth, had been unable to expose her earlier without preparation.
But the one raising the doubt now was Xu Jiangchen, the famed strategist and influential voice of authority.
“Even if the statue is damaged, it must not be disrespected—please do not—”
Leng Zhu tried to stop them, but it was too late.
Several people rushed forward and picked up the fragments.
They froze as if struck by lightning.
“So the Buddha’s wrath was man-made…”
“This is actually a scam…”
The crowd erupted into disbelief and then fury.
“Master Kongwu, were you truly aware of all this?!”
“You clearly never received any divine message—why did you deceive us?!”
“Kongwu! You must give us an explanation!”
In moments, the situation spiraled completely out of control.
Leng Zhu had never expected this. Just moments ago, Shen Zhiyi had been the one accused and condemned by everyone.
Now, the one being pressured was her.
Having faked divine authority for years—relying on the people’s extreme reverence for Buddhism—she had never faced such a complete collapse before.
After the earlier exposure, she was already shaken.
Now, with all her flaws exposed under the daylight and the crowd’s accusations pouring in, her mind went blank. Her body felt restless and overwhelmed, leaving her no capacity to respond.
Shen Honglang, who had always remained composed, felt a surge of fear.
He could not imagine how badly he would be implicated if Leng Zhu collapsed.
He looked at her with frustration and disdain, thinking women truly were unreliable, then stepped forward to stabilize the situation.
“Everyone, please calm down. Master Kongwu’s spiritual insight is something we have all witnessed.”
“She is not a deity, but someone blessed by the Buddha, able to interpret divine messages and foretell fortune and misfortune.”
“Perhaps she has just returned from travel and is fatigued, which led to a temporary misjudgment.”
“No one is perfect. Why must you all press her so harshly?”
Seeing the situation slightly stabilized, Shen Honglang felt pleased with himself.
At this critical moment, only he could handle things.
He signaled to Leng Zhu.
Sweat rolled down her forehead. She clenched her sleeves tightly, trying to take the opportunity to speak—but a sudden shout interrupted her.
“Something’s wrong! Something’s happened in the Buddha hall!”
A servant rushed into the courtyard, panting.
“Someone—someone is committing adultery in the Buddha hall!”
Shen Zhiyi immediately perked up.
She had just been wondering how to go over and enjoy the gossip—now it had arrived on its own.
【Ohhh—so Wang Zimo’s father is the one having an affair with a nun?!】
Shen Jingxuan: !
Good, good—this gossip, he definitely approves!