A Beautiful Duchess with a Dark Heart – Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Disaster Strikes

Wen Yu, dressed in a turquoise cross-collared dress and a light gray gauze cape, was heading towards the backyard of Heavenly Dragon Temple.

The mountain gate, the courtyard, the main hall, and the pond were all bustling with activity, but the path she was taking was becoming increasingly deserted.  

Being able to pass through that small door was a privilege she had obtained by bribing a young monk with pine nut candy.  

Since yesterday, the Wen family had been making daily trips to Heavenly Dragon Temple. They would arrive early in the morning, worship Buddha, burn incense, listen to scriptures, and then engage in social interactions with other worshippers – chatting, having lunch, and enjoying tea.  

Upon arrival, she would instruct Xiao Ji to inquire about the Qi family’s presence.  

Yesterday, and today, they hadn’t come… 

Li Jiang was quite capable. He had gathered all the information he could about the Qi family.  

Their family background, wealth, population, official positions, and even the exclusive Qi Family Army… Anyway, they were all quite impressive, needless to say.  

Crucially, he had also discovered: Madam Qi seemed to have intentions of arranging marriages for her two sons here… 

This truly shocked Wen Yu. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why. There were so many high-ranking noble ladies in the capital! With Qi Wu’s talent, he could even match a princess or a county princess! Why would they come to this small, remote place to find wives?

She guessed it was most likely to find a wife for the fourth young master, who was born to a concubine, and the news had been misconstrued.  

However, it was said that Madam Qi had a stepmother-in-law, and this stepmother-in-law also had sons. Therefore, if the news was true, it was highly probable that Madam Qi didn’t want her own sons’ marriages to be interfered with by the old madam.  

Previously, although she admired Qi Wu, it was merely a girlish infatuation. As for marrying him, she had never dared to dream of it.  

There was a huge gap between the Qi and Wen families!

Even if her father was promoted to the capital, it would still be far from enough.  

Not to mention that she was an unfavored eldest daughter who had lost her mother… 

But once this door was opened, it couldn’t be closed again.  

Let’s not even mention his handsome appearance… 

Just the Qi family’s social status… Marrying into their family and then dealing with the Wen family would be both effortless and exhilarating!

It was full of advantages, and Wen Yu felt an itch in her heart.  

But then she suddenly thought: What if Madam Qi wanted her to marry the bastard Qi Si? It was very possible! At least the gap in social status would be smaller… 

If she hadn’t seen Qi Wu, this would certainly be a good marriage.  

But she had seen him, hadn’t she? No matter how outstanding Qi Si was, how could he possibly catch her eye? 

Then how would she live in the future~~~ she thought melodramatically! 

What should she do? It was truly a dilemma! 

My life is so hard!

These thoughts were swirling in her mind.  

If anyone knew what she was thinking at this moment, they would definitely think: This person is crazy!

So far, this matter has nothing to do with you, why are you agonizing over it?! The only thing that could give you a slight advantage is that you saved his cousin!

I don’t care! I just want to! Wen Yu grinned foolishly, truly feeling that ever since her rebirth, heaven had been showering her with good fortune!

Today, she had sent Qing He to stay by Old Madam’s side and observe who she interacted with. This grandmother of hers probably wanted to take this opportunity to find a family and marry her off.  

In the past, she hadn’t really cared. If she wasn’t satisfied with the marriage proposal, she would bring out her grandfather to challenge it and anger the old woman to death!! 

But now it was different. She had to make some calculations.  

The backyard had a stone wall painting that leaned against the mountain. On the other side was a forest of stone steles.  

Last year, Old Madam had actually taken the whole family to the newly built Heavenly Dharma Temple. It was grand in scale, with impressive architecture, and even the wood used had a fragrance. It was quite impressive.  

However, just with the wall painting and stone steles alone, Heavenly Dragon Temple was streets ahead of Heavenly Dharma Temple, something it could never catch up to even in hundreds of years!

After carefully examining the wall painting, she stood in front of a large stone stele. This was an inscription by the great calligrapher Mi Zan from over two hundred years ago. Every time, she would spend a long time looking at each character one by one.  

It was truly beautiful!

Suddenly, a small door in the courtyard wall opened slightly.  

She knew that outside the courtyard wall were some high-class meditation courtyards for rent by dignitaries and nobles who came to burn incense. The pavilions and towers in those courtyards were built at different heights, creating a scene reminiscent of ancient paintings, and they were not open to ordinary people.  

The Wen family didn’t have the social standing to stay there.  

Perhaps not wanting people to see her, a young lady, standing there alone, she quickly dodged into the forest of stone steles.  

While her body was hidden, she curiously peeked out with one eye.  

She saw a woman emerge from the door, supported by a young maid.  

Just after entering the courtyard, the woman turned back to face a man standing inside the doorway.  

Wen Yu didn’t see the woman’s appearance clearly, but she first noticed the man. The man seemed to be chuckling… and he even reached out to pat the woman’s head.  

Then, the maid helped the woman turn around and walk away.  

A man and a woman alone… Wen Yu had a feeling something wasn’t right and quickly retracted her body.  

She heard the sound of the woman walking past her and then the soft click of the door closing.  

As the two walked forward, Wen Yu watched their retreating figures. As they were about to exit the forest of stone steles, a large lock of the woman’s hair seemed to fall loose.  

The maid hurriedly whispered to her, and the two stopped to fix it… 

After waiting for a while, they walked away.  

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, the door suddenly creaked open again. Wen Yu quickly pressed herself against the stone stele and gathered her skirt.  

Footsteps approached, and she sensed someone walking to the side of the forest of stone steles. The angle was just right for her to see him – a tall and imposing figure. He wore a dark purple robe, the fabric thick and lustrous!

The man was looking around, and when he turned his face, Wen Yu, with nowhere to hide, saw him clearly.  

He was a man in his forties, with ordinary features and a prominent cinnabar mole between his eyebrows. 

✿✿✿ 

Prince Wu?! 

Although she had never seen Prince Wu up close, the cinnabar mole between his eyebrows was quite famous.  

Coupled with his attire and this residence… 

It had to be him! 

The man’s face showed some doubt as he scanned the area and called out in a low voice, “Zhang Zhong?!” 

Wen Yu quickly shrank back, pressing herself against the stone stele. She felt her legs weaken and a strong sense of unease gripped her: If he discovered her… it would be very troublesome.  

“Hmm?! Zhang Zhong!” The low, deep voice held a hint of anger.  

Wen Yu even held her breath… 

She didn’t even hear footsteps, but suddenly someone spoke, “Master!” 

“Where did you go?!” The man was clearly displeased.  

“Master, I deserve to die. My stomach suddenly felt a bit… Please punish me, Master!” 

“Hmph…” The man snorted softly and, ignoring him, walked away.  

Wen Yu was afraid that they would turn back after walking past, and then they would see her. So she dodged to the side, but unexpectedly, her foot stepped on a dry twig, making a soft cracking sound.  

Fortunately, she was light on her feet, and as the sound rang out, she had already moved to the other side of the pagoda.  

She stood there quietly, not daring to peek anymore.  

Thus, she didn’t know that although the sound of the twig snapping was faint, it was still heard by the man named Zhang Zhong. He abruptly turned his head, but saw no one. After waiting for a while, there was still no movement.  

He wanted to come over and investigate, but seeing his master already walking away, he hesitated for a moment and then followed.  

The master and servant hadn’t walked far when they saw a young maid carrying a bunch of flowers, just coming from the other side of the stone steles.  

The man stopped and asked, “What are you doing?” 

The young maid was quite polite, “Replying to this gentleman, I am gathering flowers for my young mistress!” 

“Oh?! Your young mistress is here?!” 

“My young mistress is listening to scriptures up ahead!” 

The man glanced at Zhang Zhong, put his right hand behind his back, and walked away.  

Zhang Zhong, with his honest appearance, seemed to be walking forward, but suddenly he struck the young maid’s neck with a swift chop. The maid collapsed without a sound, and Zhang Zhong effortlessly caught her.  

He hoisted her over his shoulder and in a few strides, he was on the courtyard wall, jumping down.  

Wen Yu witnessed it all, her mouth agape, nearly crying out.  

Before she could react… 

The man outside the wall jumped back in, but the maid was gone… He didn’t pause, following his master with light footsteps.  

Wen Yu didn’t dare to move, nor could she.  

That maid… 

Did he kill her? 

Killing someone… in a temple?

She waited for a long time, the cold sweat on her body drying, before her legs regained their strength.  

She had narrowly escaped disaster! But why? 

As she hurriedly walked away, passing the spot where the woman had stopped to adjust her appearance, she suddenly noticed a purple object wedged in the crevice of a stone on the ground.  

She didn’t know what came over her, but she picked it up, hid it in her sleeve, and without daring to look, she quickly exited through the small door… 

A while later, the young maid who had been supporting the woman returned to the same spot. Her expression was tense, and she kept looking around as she walked, searching the ground. She lingered for a long time at the place where they had stopped to fix their appearance, even parting the grass to look… 

This young maid didn’t notice the elegant woman in green standing behind the broken wall at the far end of the forest of stone steles.  

✿✿✿ 

At this moment, Wen Yu was almost back among the crowd and had just breathed a sigh of relief… 

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed her…