Chapter 268 - Teach You How to Be a Human! (2)

Baili Qingcang’s eyes were filled with rage as he stared at Liaochen. “Liaochen, is what Wang said true?”

Liaochen’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He almost couldn’t maintain his demeanor as an esteemed monk. “Your Majesty, I don’t know this woman, let alone having a son.”

“He’s lying!”

Just as Liaochen finished speaking, a loud shout came from outside the door. A woman came in, leading a child about eight or nine years old.

“Greetings, Your Majesty. Greetings, my lords.” She was wearing an extremely simple blue dress that looked very old but was very neat and clean.

Baili Qingcang’s eyes were as sharp as those of an eagle. “Who are you?”

“I am the wife of this fake monk. My surname is Li!”

What? This time, everyone was not shocked. They were dumbfounded! It was already ridiculous when a monk had a wife and children, but he had more than one wife?

Li knelt on the ground and said with a sharp voice, “Your Majesty, I was from a relatively rich family. This fake monk came to my house to take shelter from the rain. My father talked to him and admired him greatly, so he asked him if he had a wife. Learning that he was single, my father intended to make me marry him. This monster gladly agreed. Who would have thought that not long after we got married, he ran away with all the money and property of the family? My father was so angry that he was bedridden and died a few days later. My mother also drove me out of the house. I never thought that this cruel and unscrupulous monster would actually become a monk!”

“You’re slandering me.” Liaochen’s face turned purple. “I’ve been a monk for more than twenty years. How can I have anything to do with you?”

“Haha, been a monk for more than twenty years? Everyone knew that you have been hiding for more than twenty years, but who knows where you have been hiding? As long as you have a good reputation outside, you can do whatever you want to do!”

Wang was so angry that her face turned pale. She covered her chest with her hands and almost couldn’t speak. “Ding Haoyun, you already had a wife and a child, but you even took another woman as your wife?” Although men can have a wife and a number of concubines, there could be only one legitimate wife. All the other women he took could only be concubines. Ding Haoyun lied to Li’s father that he did not have a wife, so he must have married Li as his legitimate wife. Then what was she, the original legitimate wife?

Li turned to look at Wang and asked, “Sister, are you also here to settle scores with this fake monk?”

Wang gritted her teeth and nodded. “Sister, I didn’t expect you were also deceived by this heartless monster.”

Li immediately got up and grabbed Liaochen’s kasaya. She raised her hand and slapped him in the face. Seeing her movements, Wang also became angry. She got up from the ground and went to help Li.

“Let go of me! Ah! Stop!” Liaochen cried out in alarm. His face was scratched three times by Li. His kasaya was in a mess, and his prayer beads were torn off. After he fell to the ground, Wang and Li continued to kick him with their feet.

“Bah! I was blind to take a fancy to you, a human-faced beast. So much for the eminent monk. You, a monk who can’t even control the lower part of your body, aren’t you afraid of being struck to death by Buddha’s lightning when you enter the temple?” Li put her hands on her hips and spat on Liaochen’s face.

Wang directly kicked him in the crotch. “I was blind for a moment, but I can’t be blind for the rest of my life. Today, in front of His Majesty and all the officials, write a letter of divorce for me. I will live a good life with my son. I will take the marriage as a bite from a dog.”

Everyone was stunned by this scene. When had they ever seen such shrewish women?

After a long pause, someone shouted, “How dare you! How can you be so rude in front of His Majesty?”

“Stop it!”

Wang and Li stopped, each holding their own son and kneeling on the ground, kowtowing to Baili Qingcang. “Your Majesty, please uphold justice for us.”

Liaochen’s face and neck were full of scratches. Baili Qingcang glanced at him and immediately turned his head. “What a disgrace!”

Bu Yunqing curled her lips. “Your Majesty, although Li and Wang’s behaviors are somewhat inappropriate, they have acted merely out of anger. We should deal with them with leniency. It’s just that this Liaochen…When Royal Prince De married his side concubine, he appeared and framed Prefectural Princess Yi and even wanted to take away Ninghua who was pregnant. He was simply trampling on the face of the royal family!”

Baili Qingcang’s face was ashen. “Governor of Capital Guards, arrest Liaochen and lock him into the Heavenly Prison. He framed the royal princess and his crime is unforgivable. Investigate Wang and Li’s cases and write a report to me.”

“Yes.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes moved slightly. Baili Qingcang didn’t immediately deal with Liaochen. This showed that he still had some doubt in his heart. After all, the lightning was not a small deal.

At this time, Liaochen did not care about the pain coming from his body. He immediately got up and knelt on the ground. “Your Majesty, I am wronged. Someone must be framing me. Prefectural Prince Yi, Princess Zhaohua, you can’t ignore the safety of the country just because of your selfish desires.”

Bu Yunqing was angry and coldly reprimanded, “Master Liaochen, now that things have ended up like this, you still dare to slander others. People call you a master, and you should be the role model for all the monks in the country. But you actually don’t even know how to be a human! At this time, you still want to confuse the public. Do you really think you can deceive His Majesty?”

“Your Majesty, please trust me. Otherwise, you will definitely regret it.”

Baili Junyi stepped forward. “Father Emperor, it is not difficult to investigate what Li and Wang just said. Moreover, they have two children with them. The paternity test is the simplest way.”

Liaochen’s righteous cry of injustice stopped abruptly as if someone had grabbed his neck, and he stood there blankly with a pale face.

Some officials immediately burst into laughter. Liaochen’s reaction indicated his guilty conscience. They had thought that Liaochen was an accomplished monk. Who knew that he was actually a fake monk?

Baili Qingcang frowned and shouted coldly, “Bring him down!”

The Governor of Capital Guards didn’t dare to hesitate. He quickly ordered the guards to drag Liaochen away.

Baili Qingcang looked at Baili Jinchuan, who had remained silent. “Jinchuan, your good day is ruined. You can rest for three days before going to court.”

“Yes, Father Emperor, thank you for your consideration.” Baili Jinchuan bowed respectfully. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Shen Ninghua standing there with an indifferent expression. His eyes unconsciously deepened. After a while, he forced himself to take his gaze back from her.

Just as Liaochen was jailed, Zhao Huiying received the news. The jade bone fan in her hand suddenly fell to the ground and broke. “Meixue, you said that Liaochen was caught?”

“Yes, His Majesty locked him up in the Heavenly Prison.”

Zhao Huiying suddenly pounded on the table, and the exquisite nail armor on her fingers immediately turned into two pieces. “Liaochen, Liaochen! He actually has wives! Doesn’t he know how to properly deal with them? He even allowed his wives and children to look for him. What a trash he is! He was unable to accomplish anything but liable to spoil everything! He ruined my big plan!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

Zhao Huiying’s chest heaved violently as she swept everything on the table to the ground. “Today, we have all the necessary conditions, good timing, nice place and sufficient support, but we still failed. Shen Ninghua, does she really have the blessing of the heavens and so she can avoid all our attacks?”

“Your Majesty, although Liaochen was caught, His Majesty did not immediately punish him. I think His Majesty still has some doubts. There is still room for maneuver.”

Zhao Huiying took a deep breath and slowly calmed down. “Liaochen is a dud. Let the people of Biyun Pavilion and Qingtian Pavilion take action. Since His Majesty has a seed of doubt in his heart, we should take the opportunity to let the seed take root and grow. Stir up the court thoroughly these days. I don’t believe that Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi can handle them all!”

“Yes.” As long as there was a turmoil, they could be related to Shen Ninghua’s fate. At that time, the suspicion in the Emperor’s heart would definitely grow stronger and stronger.

Inside Zhichun Palace, Bu Yunqing carefully watched the things dug out from the ashes of the willow tree. She frowned slightly, “Send these things to Prefectural Prince Yi’s mansion.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua sat in front of the desk and watched as the craftsmen examined the things sent from the Palace.

“Your Highnesses, these things are all pieces of metal. It is summer now, and lightning is frequent. Zhichun Palace’s trees are tall, and if someone inserts metal pieces into the trees and sprinkles some flammable powder, it can indeed attract lightning.”

“Yes, I see. You can go down and receive the reward.” When the craftsman left, Baili Junyi sneered. “The Empress is really confident. She didn’t even clean up the messes left behind.”

Shen Ninghua looked at the black pieces of metal on the ground. “I can’t say for sure about Liaochen’s other skills, but he is really good at forecasting weather.”

“Yes, there is news from the Palace. Father Emperor has asked the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to carefully observe the weather these days. I think he is still suspicious.”

“This is inevitable. The people are also talking about it.”

Baili Junyi held her hand, placed it in his palm and played with it carefully. “The rumors outside are easy to deal with. What Father Emperor thinks matters the most.”

Shen Ninghua raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes shone when she saw the smile on his lips. “You have an idea?”

“Aren’t we thinking of the same?”

Shen Ninghua withdrew her hand and looked at him with a slightly provocative expression. “Who says we must be thinking of the same?”

Baili Junyi took writing brushes and paper. “How about writing it down? Let’s see if our hearts are connected.”

The two of them looked at each other and smiled. They each took a writing brush and quickly wrote a word on the paper. Then they covered it with their hands in unison.

Shen Ninghua said, “Show me first.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because the baby wants to see it first.” Shen Ninghua said in a bold and assured manner.

Baili Junyi laughed and compromised. “Alright, alright. Let our baby see it first.” After he said these words, he looked mischievously at Shen Ninghua’s belly. “I don’t dare to bully you and your mother now.”

Glancing at the word he wrote, Shen Ninghua smiled and withdrew her hand.

The words written on the paper were the same—thunder!

Baili Junyi’s eyes had a deep look. “This matter was caused by the lightning, so it can only end with the lightning. In the current weather, it is very normal to have rain and lightning. Today, it struck Zhichun Palace’s willow tree. Perhaps tomorrow, it will strike Ningkun Palace’s pine tree.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “Well, I think the Empress’ expression will be very good then. By the way, there is also that Liaochen.”

“I will deal with Liaochen. You don’t have to worry about him. As a monk, he has wives and children. This matter is enough for the people to talk about for a long time.”

“Well, you should let your people take care of Wang, Li, and their children. After all, they are innocent.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already given my orders.” Although they did not leave any leeway for the enemy, they would not kill innocent people.