Chapter 71: Chopped Pepper Fish Head (Part 22)
Leng Yue had already sensed it before raising her hand to knock—two people were approaching the door from within the courtyard.
One possessed remarkable lightness skill; though not walking fast, their steps were buoyant, suggesting a cheerful disposition. The other had no Inner Cultivation nor mastery of lightness techniques, their heavy, scattered footsteps betraying a physique and mood far from light.
Just as Leng Yue finished speaking, the door was pushed open cheerfully by the light-footed individual.
Jing Yi entered with an ingratiating smile, holding a hemp rope. The other end of the rope was tied into a sturdy loop, snugly fastened around the abbot’s thick neck—the only substantial part of it.
Thus, with a darkened expression, the abbot was politely led in by Jing Yi.
"Master, watch your step—mind the threshold, don’t trip."
"……"
Ever since Jing Yi mentioned going to clean up the broken shards, Leng Yue had guessed what he was up to.
Knowing Jing Yi’s temperament, since he had sworn to Prince An that he would never grow hair in this lifetime if the vase shattered, he would resort to any unscrupulous means to keep the prince from learning the vase was now a pile of fragments. He’d prefer those shards to vanish silently—why would he eagerly gather them to present to Prince An?
His excuse to leave was merely out of concern that Shenxiu’s martial arts were too profound. If Jing Yi went openly to fetch the abbot and Shenxiu intervened, even both of them together would be powerless to stop him.
So, Leng Yue had anticipated Jing Yi would bring the abbot here to confront Shenxiu. But she never imagined he’d employ such a crude and direct method to usher an abbot inside.
The method itself wasn’t the strangest part. What was odd was Jing Yi’s unwavering respect and politeness toward the person he had leashed by the neck. Stranger still, the abbot—only restrained by the neck, with hands and feet completely free—showed no resistance. Despite his clear displeasure, he obediently allowed himself to be led in.
Shenxiu was stunned, his face a mask of silent Amitābha chants.
"Well, here’s the thing…" After the abbot entered, Jing Yi closed the door and led the rope-bound abbot straight to Leng Yue. "I was just going to clean up the broken vase when I heard a thud from the master’s courtyard next door—the kind of sound a heavy, elastic object makes when it hits the ground. So I went in and found the master lying face down on the floor…"
Both Leng Yue and Shenxiu instinctively glanced at the abbot’s prominent belly.
The abbot twitched the corner of his mouth slightly and uttered a solemn Buddhist chant, "Amitābha… Get to the point.""Master, don't be impatient. I'm getting to it now..." Jing Yi turned his head to respond to the abbot with a cheerful smile before facing forward again. He raised the broken end of the rope in his hand and continued, "At that time, Master had this section of hemp rope tied around his neck, with a slipknot at the end. According to Master, he always thought this type of knot was most suitable for hanging himself because its characteristic is that the heavier the object, the tighter it pulls. In theory, given his stature, slipping his neck into it should have resulted in a quick death. Unfortunately, it was a bit too heavy - the rope snapped as soon as his neck went through the noose. The other half is still dangling from the beam in Master's room..."
As he spoke, Jing Yi solemnly handed the clearly tension-snapped rope end to Leng Yue.
Holding the lead rope attached to the abbot of the capital's most popular temple, Leng Yue felt indescribably conflicted.
Jing Yi explained in an official tone, "I explained to Master the importance of preserving evidence to prove he genuinely wanted to die and that I had nothing to do with it. As a compassionate and enlightened senior monk, Master expressed complete understanding of my anxiety about being present at his attempted suicide scene. So he agreed not to touch anything that could serve as evidence and to remain as he was when meeting the ever-perceptive Constable Leng, to prove my innocence."
After Jing Yi finished speaking, the abbot added an "Amitabha" in a tone as compassionate as one saving all living beings.
Leng Yue didn't know if Shenxiu could see it, but she clearly noticed that despite Jing Yi's innocent and obedient expression, his fox-like eyes were sparkling with triumphant delight directed at her.
Leng Yue sighed inwardly.
Sharing a bed with Jing Yi might only require a body that could withstand his antics, but working with him definitely required a soul that could endure even more.
However, Leng Yue had to admit that Jing Yi had pulled off quite an impressive maneuver this time...
So steeling herself, Leng Yue lifted the hemp rope tied around the abbot's neck for closer inspection. After studying the broken end with apparent seriousness for a moment, she thoughtfully hummed and nodded. "It's indeed broken from heavy weight... But Abbot, you survived perfectly well when the Goryeo prince was causing trouble in the temple. Now that we finally have peace and quiet, why have you suddenly lost the will to live?" As she spoke, her gaze drifted vaguely between Shenxiu and Jing Yi before adding, half-seriously, "Did someone persuade you to die too?"
The word "too" struck the abbot's mind like a solid club, making his whole body tremble. In his shock, instead of looking at the person who delivered the blow, he instinctively turned to Shenxiu.
"Abbot, rest assured," Leng Yue said lightly, watching the master and disciple exchange glances, "Master Shenxiu didn't expose you. He intended to make us believe he was the one who persuaded Zhang Lao Wu to die, but unfortunately, we didn't buy it."
Seeing the complexity deepen in the abbot's gaze toward Shenxiu, Jing Yi couldn't resist adding, "Well... Master, you can rest a bit more assured. Your disciple didn't actually witness you persuading Zhang Lao Wu - he just guessed it in his heart, and we all just guessed it too... But judging by your reaction just now, we must have guessed correctly."The abbot turned his gaze to Jing Yi, his eyes carrying a strange intensity as he solemnly chanted a Buddhist invocation and heaved a deep sigh. "You little rascals..."
"..."
After his drawn-out sigh, the abbot's eyes swept over the three of them one by one, finally settling heavily on Leng Yue's face. "Patron Leng, have you heard the saying 'saving one life is greater than building a seven-story pagoda'?"
Even with her limited reading, Leng Yue knew this commonly quoted phrase and nodded.
"What do you think is the most important word in that saying?" the abbot asked.
Leng Yue answered without hesitation, "Life."
The abbot seemed to completely forget the hemp rope still tied around his neck, a trace of approval appearing between his brows as he nodded slightly and pressed further, "Why?"
"What's there to explain? You said it yourself just now—one life is worth seven pagodas."
"..."
Jing Yi lowered his head and rubbed his nose, hiding a chuckle he couldn't suppress.
Everyone in this world who tried to lead his wife step by step through reasoning—including himself—had ended up thoroughly defeated. It seemed even a bodhisattva descending to earth would be no exception.
The abbot was so choked up he had to chant "Amitabha" twice before recovering, reluctantly nodding. "Patron Leng isn't wrong... When I advised Patron Zhang to seek early rebirth in the Pure Land, I also began with this saying."
Here, the abbot concluded with another Buddhist invocation.
Shenxiu followed with his own chant. Jing Yi frowned slightly, clearly having understood the implication, leaving her as the only one still in the dark.
Leng Yue patiently asked, "And then?"
"You guess."
"..."
Watching his wife's face turn from pink to dark, Jing Yi feared Leng Yue's temper would flare along with her strength. If she tightened her grip on the rope...
Jing Yi quickly took the rope end still held in Leng Yue's hand into his own.
"I'll guess, I'll guess..." Jing Yi smiled appeasingly at both sides as he said, "I guess that then you mentioned Prince Hui to Zhang Lao Wu, saying what a stubborn child Prince Hui is, and that since he'd had that incident with Consort Hui, Prince Hui would definitely use any means to bury the matter completely. If it wasn't buried properly, many people would die. Anyway, at his age, life was already hard, so he might as well go down early to keep his grandson company. Then Zhang Lao Wu thought you made sense, and then... he bashed his head and died... Right, Master?"
The abbot made an approving "hmm" sound.
Jing Yi's explanation couldn't have been cruder, but it also couldn't have been clearer. Not only did Leng Yue understand completely, she thought it through thoroughly. To put it most directly—the abbot and Prince Hui were in cahoots, while the abbot and Shenxiu were even closer.
Who was aligned with whom was immediately obvious.
After acknowledging the answer, the abbot added with interest, "That's not all. Guess again."
"..."Jing Yi looked down with a mix of amusement and exasperation at the hemp rope—one end held in his hand, the other still looped around the abbot’s neck. "Then... Prince Hui was quite satisfied at first, but later he suddenly heard that Prince An had sent me here. Since Prince An didn’t tell you, Master, exactly why he sent me, you couldn’t inform Prince Hui either. Prince Hui grew more and more anxious... so anxious he couldn’t stand it anymore. He mustered his courage and took a vase fired by Zhang Lao Wu to visit Prince An, hoping to chat and glean some information. In the end, he sacrificed the vase but gained no answers. Still worried that the matter of Zhang Lao Wu might leak, he decided it was best to send you to paradise early."
Leng Yue listened, stealing a glance at Shenxiu. She saw him slightly nodding, his gaze fixed on an ordinary spot on the ground, lips pressed together, his expression already grave. Even without Jing Yi’s assessment, she could sense that Shenxiu was hearing these details for the first time.
"Originally, this matter needn’t have been so troublesome... If you, Master, had explained things clearly to Senior Brother Shenxiu earlier, he wouldn’t have gone to the guesthouse and stirred up such a commotion. The Ministry of Rites is still in chaos because of it—they’ll undoubtedly investigate thoroughly..." Jing Yi sighed with a touch of melancholy. "But given the relationship between you, Master, and Senior Brother Shenxiu, if the two of you could speak openly with each other, my wife would be composing poetry and matching couplets."
"..."
Leng Yue suddenly felt an urge to recite poetry—a poem about a swordsman effortlessly cutting down everyone around him with a wave of his hand. But what she wanted to know even more was: What other relationship existed between this master and disciple?
This relationship might not be as close as that of master and disciple, yet it seemed even more unshakable. It was this bond that had driven the abbot to meticulously tidy Shenxiu’s room for so long, and though Shenxiu was reluctant, he couldn’t refuse—even going so far as to sacrifice his own reputation within the monastic community to protect the abbot’s position in the temple.
Moreover, at Jing Yi’s casually uttered words, both master and disciple had visibly changed expressions.
This seemed to be no ordinary relationship.
Yet Jing Yi deliberately stopped there, offering them only a meaningful smile. He affectionately tugged the hemp rope around the abbot’s neck and said, "Master, if you don’t truly wish to meet the Buddha in the Western Paradise immediately, I have an idea... But I need to speak with Senior Brother Shenxiu first."
Without another word, the abbot took the end of the rope from Jing Yi’s hand and led himself out at a leisurely pace.
Jing Yi leaned out the door, watching until the abbot had strolled back to his own courtyard, then closed the door with a smile. Turning to Shenxiu, whose expression remained somewhat complicated, he said, "All that talking has left my throat parched. Could we brew a pot of tea and continue our conversation over a cup?"
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