Golden Pear Blossom - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The carriage swayed and jolted along.

Xiao Ba, the guard, sent the coachman away and took me to Xuanji Temple himself.

Ever since the new dynasty was founded, Xie Jin, the Prince Regent, had purged the court with thunderous force.

Whenever he came across treacherous officials and sycophants of the previous dynasty, his methods were always the same: kill, kill, and kill again.

I could not understand it. Xie Jin’s reputation was certainly terrible, but every time he killed, there had at least been a reason.

This time, there was truly no need to turn his blade on the monks of Xuanji Temple.

Inside the temple, the monks stood in several rows beneath the corridor.

Xie Jin seemed to be searching for someone, his expression faintly dark.

It appeared someone had already arrived before me to stop him.

Under the moonlight, a young girl in plain clothes knelt on the ground, tears clinging to her luminous pale face.

“Lord Xie, His Young Majesty is no more than your puppet. Why must you use searching for someone as a pretext to barge into Xuanji Temple?”

The young girl was innocent and guileless.

Though she was trembling with fear, she still forced herself to meet Xie Jin’s gaze.

In the moonlight, Xie Jin gave a very soft scoff.

The guards behind him immediately pressed one step closer.

The girl’s eyes were clear and distinct, her lashes quivering again and again.

“Today, if you wish to harm even one person in this temple, you will have to step over my corpse first-over Ning Yuan’s corpse.”

She pressed her forehead to the ground, exposing a slender stretch of neck.

Xie Jin suddenly went rigid. His gaze lingered for a long while on the back of the girl’s neck.

There, plain as day, was a peach blossom birthmark.

Compared to the one on the back of my neck, hers looked far more natural, as if it had always belonged there.

And yet Xie Jin only hesitated for an instant.

“Ning Yuan? Censor Ning’s only daughter?”

In the courtyard, Ning Yuan lifted her head in panic. “What are you trying to do?”

Xie Jin’s smile remained careless.

He merely tilted his head slightly and said to a trusted aide beside him, “Investigate.”

With just one look, the aide understood and withdrew.

Lady Ning was a devout woman who observed vegetarian fasts and prayed to the Buddha. The daughter she raised was kindhearted as well, the sort who would feel guilty even for stepping on an ant.

Then, more than half a month ago, Lady Ning contracted a strange illness.

The Ning household invited several physicians, but none could do anything.

Her daughter, Ning Yuan, made a vow at Xuanji Temple. She fasted, bathed in purification, and prayed for her mother for an entire month.

I did not know why Xie Jin had come to Xuanji Temple.

But I understood him very well.

Xie Jin had always been the sort to move only after every plan was in place.

Perhaps he had already sensed something amiss.

I walked out in a daze.

Xiao Ba stared at me in disbelief. “Miss, are we really just going to leave it alone? My lord’s reputation is already bad enough. Shouldn’t we try to persuade him-”

I cut him off and shook my head.

“Someone is already handling it.”

Just like back then, in the ruined temple on the outskirts of the capital, Xie Jin had been able to give up on seeking death for my sake.

Now, naturally, he would not disregard the wishes of his true younger sister and start a massacre.

“Xiao Ba, don’t tell my brother that I came to Xuanji Temple tonight.”