Inside the ancient, richly styled Buddhist hall, the Buddha statues stood solemn and dignified, candlelight flickering as the atmosphere remained grave and solemn.
Yet now, within this once solemn hall, two extremely discordant figures had appeared.
Although a man and a woman—both naked—had been covered with sacks to conceal the indecent scene, their discarded clothes were carelessly scattered beside them, disordered and chaotic, clearly indicating how disgraceful and obscene the situation had originally been.
What was most shocking, enough to make one’s pupils tremble, was that the woman’s clothing was a haiqing robe.
That was monastic attire worn by nuns!
The matter of the “fake blessing ritual” had already caused public unease. Although Shen Honglang had attempted to calm the crowd with explanations, some people’s trust in Kongwu had already begun to collapse.
And now such a scandal had erupted within Kongwu’s Buddhist hall—it was simply…
“How could illicit affairs take place within a Buddhist hall? How is Master Kongwu managing her disciples?”
“First a man eight feet tall hidden under the altar, then the Buddha statue breaking was revealed to be man-made, and now there are nuns committing adultery in Jingming Hall! Master Kongwu, you must give us an explanation!”
Leng Zhu was already nearing her limit.
She scratched fiercely at her arm, trying to relieve the unbearable itch, forcing herself to maintain composure and step forward to take control of the situation.
“Jingming Hall has extremely strict discipline. Such filthy behavior is absolutely impossible. This must be slander!”
There were only she and Shen Honglang who secretly met within Jingming Hall—how could anyone be so audacious?
【Of course there is. And it’s your favorite disciple, too.】
【The gossip is practically being fed right to you—don’t tell me you’re going to miss it again?】
Fearing that Leng Zhu would once again suppress the matter and prevent her from enjoying the drama, Shen Zhiyi—who had been quietly observing—stepped forward at once with a serious expression and nodded.
Just as she was about to speak, Shen Jingxuan beside her firmly declared, “It must be someone impersonating a nun from Jingming Hall to commit such acts!”
The Ministry of Personnel Minister’s scandal with a nun from Jingming Hall—he absolutely could not miss this juicy gossip!
Chen Wanyan followed immediately, speaking righteously, “The marquis household will thoroughly investigate this matter. Men, remove the sacks from their heads immediately so we may clear Master Kongwu and Jingming Hall of suspicion!”
She sneered inwardly.
She had thought Leng Zhu and Shen Honglang were already disgusting enough—but it turned out Jingming Hall itself was a den of filth.
The other nuns, red-faced with shame, quickly agreed, “We ask all of you to bear witness for Jingming Hall!”
The guests were all nobles—ladies, young masters, and young ladies from prominent families. Though they initially felt the matter was too indecent, since it concerned Master Kongwu’s reputation, it was better to verify the truth on the spot.
【Ahhh, where is Wang Zimo? If he finds out this adulterer is his father, his expression will be priceless!】
Xu Jiangchen lowered his gaze slightly.
He too had not expected that the Buddha statue incident alone would be enough to bring down Leng Zhu. But if combined with this scandal in Jingming Hall, it might be enough to reopen old cases…
Silently, he pushed Wang Zimo forward into Shen Zhiyi’s line of sight.
Wang Zimo, having just suffered a huge humiliation, desperately wanted attention diverted elsewhere so no one would think of him again. Hidden in the crowd, he shouted loudly to stir things up:
“Who is so brazen as to disrespect the Buddha like this? Drag these adulterers away and drown them in a pig cage!”
Leng Zhu’s face had already begun to show patches of redness. She had not yet figured out why Chen Wanyan was suddenly defending her so righteously, but instinct told her something was wrong.
Just as she was about to stop it, the crowd’s voices overwhelmed her.
The bound man and woman struggled upon hearing the commotion, but their mouths were gagged, producing only muffled “wu wu” sounds.
Under everyone’s gaze, the sacks were cut open. The two seemed unwilling to reveal their faces and struggled desperately to hide.
But the hall was surrounded on all sides; no matter how they tried, it was useless.
Servants pushed aside their messy hair, revealing their faces.
“Drag them away and drown—”
Wang Zimo was still shouting when he suddenly fell silent upon seeing the man’s face.
“It’s the Minister of Personnel… Wang Ying!”
The crowd immediately recoiled from the Wang family as if avoiding plague.
“The Shen family young lady’s broken engagement was truly wise. Good thing she got out of it—otherwise being associated with this would be disastrous.”
“Wang Ying dared commit such blasphemy—his official position is surely finished.”
“Tsk tsk, first Wang Zimo’s engagement is broken, now Wang Ying caught in adultery in a Buddhist hall. How will the Wang family even survive in the capital?”
Shen Zhiyi watched with great interest as Wang Zimo’s expression changed from red to white, from white to green, from green to black.
Finally, he rolled his eyes and fainted straight away.
Madam Wang let out a piercing scream and also collapsed in a faint.
“And that woman… why does she look so familiar?”
Monk Kongyi inwardly cried out in alarm and tried to step forward to stop it—but it was already too late.
“Isn’t she the future successor of Master Kongwu—Nun Kongnian?”
“Hiss—she really is from Jingming Hall!”
All eyes turned toward Kongwu. Her expression was strange, as if she was desperately suppressing something. Her exposed skin was covered in abnormal red patches, with scattered red spots appearing.
She looked almost like she was having an allergic reaction.
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, Kongwu ignored all of it and began scratching her face.
Having watched everything unfold, Shen Ruoyue’s heart panicked. Her earlier confidence had completely vanished.
Seeing her mother’s condition worsen while the other nuns did nothing, she could only step forward herself to support her.
“Master Kongwu seems unwell. Perhaps she should rest first and let Master Kongyi handle this matter.”
But the moment she touched Leng Zhu’s arm, Leng Zhu abruptly shoved her away.
Shen Ruoyue had not expected this at all and staggered backward in full view of everyone.
Instinctively, she reached out to grab something.
Unexpectedly, her hand caught the edge of Leng Zhu’s nun’s cap as she bent over scratching her face.
With that light pull, something came loose along with the cap.
In the chaos, everyone saw it clearly—
A woman who was supposed to have already shaved her head as a nun… now had long black hair cascading down like a waterfall.
The entire Buddhist hall fell instantly silent.