The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 239
by Little PandaExtra 14
I Said Two Taels
The incense stick burned down. The buyer had placed his bid, and the monks fixed their gaze on a man in the crowd. Before long, soldiers went over and brought him out.
Zhao Jiayu watched the man being led away, her face bright with amusement—not a trace of frustration or disappointment at having lost the auction.
Inside the temple, medicine pills were already being sold. Zhu Ming’an had long since stationed someone there to wait, and they had purchased some as well.
Xiao Bingying and Cheng Xi took the pills and sniffed them carefully, identifying the ingredients.
Just common supplements—and nothing expensive, either—but laced with cannabis anesthesia powder1. No wonder the devotees claimed their aches and pains faded or vanished after taking them.
The crowd slowly dispersed, and Qu Sheng and the others left the Ascension Platform.
Zhao Jiayu rejoined them, and they took the carriage back to the small courtyard house, chatting about the auctioned monk’s robe along the way.
Zhao Jiayu clutched the sachet against her chest. “Good thing my ajie2 was afraid someone might spirit me away and made me this sachet. You have no idea—I actually saw that monk transform into a little golden figure. But I’m quick on my feet. The moment I noticed the colors in the sky looked wrong, I pulled out the sachet and took a sniff. Cleared right up in no time.”
She turned to Xiao Bingying and the others. “Hey, ajie, what was that water they were sprinkling?”
“It was a juice infused with a hallucinogenic herb,” Cheng Xi explained. “The effect doesn’t last long, but what you saw of the ascension was directly connected to it.”
Most of the people in the front rows who had been sprinkled with the “holy water” experienced brief hallucinations, and the afternoon sunlight had indeed looked golden—which was why those who saw it up close described it so vividly.
Zhao Jiayu nodded. Jin Mingyi asked, “Why did you stop bidding at the end?”
When Jin Mingyi had heard Zhao Jiayu’s bold bidding, she’d been so envious she’d nearly decided to follow her example.
“Please. A robe that cost a few taels to make, and they wanted five million taels from me? I’m not stupid. Those people were obviously shills3. I’ve been burned once before—no way I’d fall for it again.” Zhao Jiayu finished and hastily poured tea down her throat. “I’m dying of thirst.”
“When were you ever burned like that?” Xiao Bingying asked, puzzled.
Zhao Jiayu realized she’d let something slip and shot Lin Xizhao a pleading glance.
Lin Xizhao seemed to remember too. Back then, Zhao Jiayu had been browsing a shop with her. The place was odd—everything priced suspiciously low, but you had to bid for it.
Zhao Jiayu had taken a fancy to a hair ornament. Every time she raised her price, someone outbid her. Lin Xizhao had studied the other bidders and spotted something wrong, but by the time she went to pull Zhao Jiayu back, Zhao Jiayu had already shouted out a price—and the others stopped bidding.
The price Zhao Jiayu paid was several times the ornament’s true value. They had no choice but to buy it at her bid, though fortunately the silver spent wasn’t much.
Afterward, Zhao Jiayu admitted she’d been acting out of spite, her head hot with anger, and begged Lin Xizhao to keep it secret so people wouldn’t laugh at her.
Lin Xizhao gave a helpless, soft laugh and explained, “There was a shop in the capital of the former dynasty that specialized in exactly this kind of business.”
She said only that, and nothing more.
But Qu Sheng didn’t think Zhao Jiayu had been bluffing during the bidding.
Qu Sheng watched Zhao Jiayu finish her tea and reach for the pot to pour more. “Are you sure you didn’t have even the slightest urge to buy that robe?”
Zhao Jiayu’s hand trembled as she poured. She looked guiltily at Qu Sheng, who seemed to see right through her. After finishing the pour, she put on a brazen face and mumbled something indistinct: “If it’d been cheap, buying it wouldn’t have been out of the question.”
Zhao Jiayu had genuinely wanted to buy it at first. But as the price climbed, she spotted the telltale signs. When one of the shills deliberately provoked her, she knew she’d been targeted.
The others in the room broke a sweat on Zhao Jiayu’s behalf.
Qu Sheng held her temper, without reproach. They all worried about Qu Yu’s health, but the best doctors had already pulled him back from death’s door, and Cheng Xi checked on him periodically—things should be fine.
Zhao Jiayu, still guilty, held her teacup to her lips, taking absent sips. Before long, a servant came to report that someone from the temple had come looking for them.
This was a courtyard house purchased by the Zhu family. Few people knew of it.
Zhu Ming’an rose, her brow lightly furrowed. “Looking for us?”
“They said they’re looking for Patron Zhao Yu,” the servant reported.
Surname Zhao, given name Yu—that could only be Zhao Jiayu. Their current identities were extremely prominent; a single name alone wouldn’t matter, but if more than one name were put together, anyone would recognize them as imperial kin.
“Looking for me?” Zhao Jiayu was more bewildered than the rest.
Guanhe Treasure Temple.
Zhao Jiayu was brought to Guanhe Treasure Temple. Qu Sheng and the others came along as well.
Along the way, Zhao Jiayu questioned the young novice monk, but he never said a word—only that the abbot had sent him to invite an honored guest.
Before they’d left, though, Lin Xizhao had already warned them: these people were likely coming for Zhao Jiayu to claim the robe.
Sure enough, when Zhao Jiayu met the abbot, he smiled and explained, “It’s like this, Patron. The other patron who bid against you for the robe at the Ascension Platform today has never donated incense money to our temple, so his bid is void.”
Zhao Jiayu nodded thoughtfully. “Ah, so the abbot means he isn’t a destined recipient of the immortal Lu Fa’s relic, is that right?”
“Correct. The patron has great wisdom and affinity. So the robe ultimately belongs to you.” The abbot was still rolling prayer beads in one hand, smiling.
“So you’re asking me to buy the robe now?” Zhao Jiayu asked, playing along.
The abbot nodded. “Yes. The patron may take the robe at her final bid price.”
Zhao Jiayu nodded and asked, “And what was that final price?”
“Your final bid was four million taels,” the abbot reminded her.
“Four million taels…” Zhao Jiayu tapped her forehead and turned to look at Qu Sheng and the others. She winked, then turned back. “Ah, what an unfortunate coincidence. It’s not that I don’t want it—it’s that I can’t lay my hands on that much silver right now. Such bad timing. I’d just purchased a shipment of goods on my way back today, and I don’t have that much on hand.”
The abbot blinked and glanced at someone behind him. That person nodded. The abbot turned back with a smile. “Then how much does the patron have?”
Zhao Jiayu slowly extended two fingers from her sleeve.
“Two million taels?” The abbot guessed the amount, putting on a troubled look. “Since the patron has affinity with the immortal Lu Fa, and we Buddhists do value such connections, two million taels would be acceptable.”
Lin Xizhao studied the abbot for a long moment. Seeing Zhao Jiayu slow to respond, she lowered her eyes briefly, then leaned toward Cheng Xi beside her and murmured a few words.
Cheng Xi listened, then took Zhu Ming’an and left the temple.
“When might the patron bring the silver notes?” the abbot asked.
Zhao Jiayu looked at the abbot and smiled. “I think the abbot has misunderstood.” She raised her two fingers and flipped them over. “I said two taels.”
The heat of the moment had passed. If the robe were offered at two taels, she’d take it. Any more, and she wasn’t interested.
At the shift from two million to two taels, the abbot’s warmth vanished instantly, his face darkening. “You’re toying with me?”
“Hey now, old monk, you smile when you see money—no need to flip a face just because you don’t see enough of it.” Jin Mingyi chimed in to back up Zhao Jiayu.
“I’ve got two taels, that’s it. You said it yourself—we’re talking about affinity here. Since we have such deep affinity, what does money matter?” Zhao Jiayu raised an eyebrow.
The abbot’s face went cold. He caught the mockery in her words and snarled, “If you want to run wild, look where you are first!”
The moment Zhao Jiayu saw the abbot’s expression change, she was pulled behind. Xiao Bingying and Qu Sheng stepped in front of her.
“What, you’re planning to force a sale?” Qu Sheng said with disdain.
The abbot saw two people suddenly step forward—somewhat taller than before, but he still gave the order to attack.
“Seize them!”
Monks flooded in from inside and outside the room.
Zhao Jiayu looked back. They were armed with staffs, and some carried long knives.
Jin Mingyi took in the martial monks surrounding them on all sides and shouted, “Hey! A temple is a place of quiet cultivation! The Buddha won’t forgive you for this kind of violence!”
“Enough talk!” The abbot’s words fell, and the martial monks closed in.
The group formed a circle, shielding Lin Xizhao in the center. They weren’t afraid of these men.
Xiao Bingying kicked the first staff-wielding monk flat to the ground, hooked a fallen staff up with her toe, and caught it in her hand. Another swing sent the monk beside him tumbling.
Xiao Bingying kicked another fallen staff toward Zhao Jiayu, who quickly ducked and scooped it up.
She’d trained with a spear in her day.
The temple’s martial monks, seeing Xiao Bingying’s formidable skill, exchanged glances. The ones with long knives moved in to strike.
Qu Sheng drew the flexible sword from her waist, flicked her wrist, and the blade wrapped around a long knife. She yanked it free and tossed it to Jin Mingyi.
Then they all began fighting the temple’s martial monks in earnest.
Between exchanges, they edged toward the exit, but there were simply too many people in the temple. They had to use Lightness Skill4 to get onto the roof.
Qu Sheng carried Lin Xizhao up first, and the others followed.
The sun had set long ago. The city gates would close soon.
“Back to the courtyard to get Ning’er and the others first,” Qu Sheng said to the group.
These people had roused so many common folk here—the local magistrate5 had to be in on it. If they were still inside the city when the gates closed, they’d certainly be found. The adults could manage, but they had children with them.
“No need. We’re heading straight out of the city. I already had Cheng Xi and Ming’an take the children out.” Lin Xizhao had seen from the start that this abbot was no good.
Combined with what Qu Sheng had said earlier about the temple keeping a large number of martial monks, today—whether Zhao Jiayu toyed with the abbot or not—they were never going to be let go. Even if they didn’t buy, the money would likely be taken by force.
And if she guessed correctly, the temple’s people were already heading for their courtyard house.
The group exchanged glances and sprinted across the rooftops toward the city gates.
Zhao Jiayu’s Lightness Skill wasn’t great. When leaping, she needed Xiao Bingying to give her a boost, and she nearly lost her footing on landing, stumbling forward.
“Let me catch my breath, just a moment.” Zhao Jiayu bent over, one hand waving. She genuinely couldn’t go any farther. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have shown off.
“The gates are just ahead. Rest after we’re out of the city,” Xiao Bingying said, supporting her.
Jin Mingyi was panting too. She looked up and saw Qu Sheng carrying Lin Xizhao, not looking at all like someone who’d just been fleeing alongside them. “Cousin, how are you not even out of breath?”
Qu Sheng glanced down at her and ignored the question, taking Lin Xizhao’s hand and walking forward. “If we don’t move, the people behind us will catch up.”
They looked back. Sure enough, staff-wielding martial monks were in pursuit.
Jin Mingyi stopped resting and bolted for the gates. Xiao Bingying simply hoisted Zhao Jiayu onto her back.
Once through the gates, they hadn’t gone far when Qu Sheng spotted their carriages.
Zhu Ming’an stood on the carriage, looking their way.
“Hey, it’s Ming’an.” In the deepening dusk, Jin Mingyi could just make out Zhu Ming’an’s figure.
Qu Sheng led the group toward the carriage. She lifted Lin Xizhao onto it, took the reins from a guard, mounted the horse, and led everyone away.
After the carriage had traveled some distance, Zhu Ming’an told the group, “The children have been settled with a family. Cheng Xi and the other guards stayed behind to watch over them.”
When Qu Sheng and the others had left the courtyard, they’d stationed all the guards there to protect the children.
They went to a village outside the city. Seeing the children safe and sound brought a measure of relief.
But after this, Qu Sheng’s frustration only deepened. She’d originally wanted to wait for the Ministry of Justice to investigate, but these people had dared to openly attempt murder and robbery.
Every moment these people remained, the thorn in Qu Sheng’s chest drove a fraction deeper.
Early the next morning, guards left behind in the city came to report: at midnight, they had seen the man who’d “ascended to immortality” yesterday slip down from the Ascension Platform and return to the temple.
Qu Sheng immediately ordered horses prepared, intent on going to the military camp stationed here.
Lin Xizhao saw Qu Sheng’s agitation and hurried to dissuade her. “If the troops in that camp can be mobilized, it must be with the local commander’s approval. I remember the commander here is Chen Ziqian. He’s skilled in martial arts, but ruthless by nature. If you rush over and he’s the mastermind, he could very well do you harm to protect himself.”
Lin Xizhao’s words reminded Qu Sheng. Back then, Lin Xizhao had warned her that this general should only serve as a vanguard and never be given command authority. But Qu Sheng had felt the man had earned enough merits—that denying him a regional command would chill the soldiers’ hearts.
And so it turned out to be the consequence of not listening to advice back then.
The author has something to say:
Qu Sheng: “I shouldn’t have ignored my wife’s advice.”
Zhao Jiayu: “Before you kill the old monk, remember to dig out that monk’s robe for me.”
Qu Sheng: “…”
Leave a comment for a red envelope!
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Footnotes
- A traditional Chinese anesthesia formula attributed to the legendary physician Hua Tuo, made from cannabis and other herbs, historically used to induce numbness before surgery.
- An affectionate term for an older sister, used within families or between close associates.
- A colloquial Chinese term for a person who pretends to be a genuine customer but is secretly working for the seller to artificially drive up prices.
- A martial arts technique allowing practitioners to leap great heights and move swiftly across rooftops or other elevated surfaces.
- A traditional Chinese term for local officials, literally meaning 'father-mother official,' reflecting the Confucian ideal of officials as benevolent parents of the people.
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