A Nighttime Raid on Pure Brahma Temple

"The only pity is that there isn't much of this down, and processing it is a lot of trouble. We can't produce it in bulk. If only we had cotton."

Jiang Nuan spoke with some regret.

Compared with down coats, cotton-padded coats were actually better suited to conditions in Great Xia, and cotton was less complicated to process than down.

Unfortunately, cotton did not yet exist in Great Xia. She did have some cotton seeds in her box, but there was no telling how long it would take before they could produce it in bulk.

Still, she believed that with her around, all the people of Great Xia would soon have cotton-padded clothes to wear.

An Yan also felt it was a pity, but she had never even heard of this cotton, so there was nothing she could do to help.

She must not reach for the clouds before her feet were firmly on the ground. She should get the shop and the down coats sorted out first.

For a fleeting moment, she seemed to see herself saving one child after another who was just like her younger self, and her interest in making down coats grew even stronger.

The most obvious sign of this was how excited she became, keeping Jiang Nuan with her for hours to work out how to make them.

Even when dusk began to fall and Jiang Nuan said she had to leave, An Yan was still reluctant to let her go.

"Can't you stay?"

An Yan tried to persuade her.

"All right, big sister, I'll come tomorrow. I still have something to do now. Goodbye!"

Jiang Nuan waved her sleeve, taking not a single cloud with her.

Then she had Chunhua Qiuyue drive the carriage toward the imperial palace. Halfway there, they turned straight into a narrow side road.

By the time it was completely dark, they had arrived at the foot of a mountain.

At its summit stood Pure Brahma Temple.

A moonless, windy night was a night for murder—no, that wasn't right. They weren't going to kill anyone!

A moonless, windy night was a night for robbery.

By the time they reached the rear gate of Pure Brahma Temple, Jiang Nuan was already panting, even though Chunhua Qiuyue had carried her for most of the way.

At night, whether because the people at Pure Brahma Temple had guilty consciences or for some other reason, no visitors were admitted after the hour of the boar. Anyone already inside also had to leave; they never let anyone stay overnight.

That meant Jiang Nuan had no way of entering through normal means now.

After thinking for quite a while, Jiang Nuan came up with an idea!

As luck would have it, she knew of a place where she could get into Pure Brahma Temple.

After darting this way and that, she stopped beside a hole and crawled through without hesitation.

Once inside, she saw two familiar pairs of shoes right in front of her.

"Chunhua Qiuyue, how did you get in?"

Jiang Nuan sounded rather bewildered.

Chunhua pointed at the wall and said, "Your Highness, we climbed over the wall."

Jiang Nuan realized she had done something stupid.

Chunhua and Qiuyue were unlike her, who knew no martial arts. They could simply leap right in.

They could even have brought her along, but that possibility had never crossed her mind. Instead, she had chosen to crawl through a dog hole...

Jiang Nuan nearly cried at her own stupidity.

Fortunately, not many people knew about it. She could only talk herself into reluctantly accepting it.

The place where they stood was remote and desolate. Fallen leaves had long since piled up on the ground and begun to rot. Their surroundings were utterly still, without a single sound.

In such surroundings, Jiang Nuan felt a creepy unease, and her hands unconsciously tightened around Chunhua Qiuyue's hands.

Here, even the slightest disturbance seemed magnified without limit. The three of them moved slowly, trying not to make a sound.

Suddenly, Chunhua Qiuyue's expressions changed. They picked Jiang Nuan up and ducked behind a nearby wall.

Chunhua explained to Jiang Nuan in a whisper, "There are footsteps outside."

Jiang Nuan had heard nothing, but she knew Chunhua Qiuyue would never act without reason. She began to slow her breathing.

After quite a while, two figures appeared in Jiang Nuan's field of vision.

[Chunhua Qiuyue are amazing. They could hear footsteps from so far away.]

Jiang Nuan's inner voice was full of envy.

Now she began studying the two figures carefully.

The monk in front wore gray robes washed until they had faded slightly. A string of prayer beads hung from his hand, and his face bore a faintly sorrowful expression, as though he pitied all living beings.

The young monk behind him bore a slight resemblance to him and was following closely in his footsteps.

[Guagua, who are these two? Why are they here?]

For Guagua to dig up gossip, it at least needed to know someone's name. That would reveal most of the gossip, but to get the whole story, it had to see the person in the flesh.

[Host, the older man in front is Huijue, the abbot of Pure Brahma Temple. Following behind him is his son, Wuchen.]

[Monks can have sons? Did he marry and have a child before seeing through the illusions of the mortal world, then bring his son with him into monastic life?]

In Jiang Nuan's preconceived notions, monks were not supposed to have children. But after seeing Huijue and Wuchen, she had come up with this guess.

Guagua, however, rejected her guess.

[Host, that's not what happened. Let me tell you, this Huijue's story is absolutely explosive.]

Hearing Guagua say that, Jiang Nuan grew interested. They had dug through plenty of gossip together, but this was the first time she had heard Guagua use the word "explosive."

*[Before Huijue became a monk, both his parents were already dead. He was a street thug who often roamed the streets and alleys, scrounging food and drink.

But one year, Great Xia suffered floods. Many people could not afford food and starved to death. To get something to eat, he wormed his way into Pure Brahma Temple.

He was especially good at disguising his true nature. Everyone saw him as a young disciple with considerable spiritual aptitude, but every so often, he would use collecting alms as an excuse to go out drinking and carousing.

By chance, You Fengzhe discovered his true colors. In a flash of inspiration, You Fengzhe realized he could hide the money he had embezzled in the temple, where no one would ever think to look. He also cultivated an image of himself as a devout Buddhist and occasionally came to the temple to offer a stick of incense.

On the surface, he came to offer incense. In reality, he came to tally up his treasure.]*

[My goodness, You Fengzhe really is too devious! But if that's all, it hardly counts as explosive, does it?]

Jiang Nuan felt this was nowhere near explosive.

*[After Huijue became You Fengzhe's man, he gradually rose to become the abbot of Pure Brahma Temple with You Fengzhe's help, and began managing his ill-gotten money.

You Fengzhe had taken Huijue's measure and gave him a substantial sum of silver every month. But his greed was like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. He wanted even more silver, yet dared not tell You Fengzhe, because someone with You Fengzhe's power could have him removed and replaced with someone more obedient.

He did not dare touch the silver You Fengzhe had deposited with him, either. After all, every sum was recorded in the accounts. If the figures failed to match, he would have more trouble than he could swallow.

As time went on, he began looking for a way to make money fast.]*

At this point, Jiang Nuan knew the explosive part was coming. She held her breath and waited for Guagua to continue.

[Most visitors to Pure Brahma Temple were women and children. Looking at them, he hatched an evil scheme. He tied up a mother and daughter who were ordinary commoners and sold them to someone else for a huge sum of silver!]

Wasn't that human trafficking? Hearing this, Jiang Nuan was furious!