Proud Feather

Chapter 59 Chanting
The old lady acted decisively and sent her housekeeper over the next day to serve.

Chu Ling was shocked to discover that the information he wanted was available at the Duke of Anguo's Mansion!
"The Wei you're talking about is the second wife of the Fifth Master of the Jingping Marquisate. Although the Fifth Master was born out of wedlock, he has a very close relationship with the Jingping Marquis and is responsible for managing the Marquisate's assets. Previously, Wei mostly lived in her ancestral home, supporting her parents, and only came to Beijing in the past two years, so not many people know about her."

The Miao lady spoke slowly, explaining the relationship between the two families clearly.

"I see……"

Chu Ling pondered in his mind. Although the clues had led him to the Marquis of Jingping's mansion, this alone was not enough to bring down the Pang family.

Wenxianju is owned by the Wei family, but so what? The disappearance of the shopkeeper does not mean that the Dahuai Temple incident is related to the Wei family, nor can it prove that the Pang family is behind it.

She had learned a bloody lesson in her previous life. If she wanted to avenge her elder brother, she had to aim for the weak spot and strike with one strike. Before she was sure of victory, she must not alert the enemy.
-
The next day, Chu Ling returned to the palace. As soon as she entered the alley, she saw a warm sedan slowly coming from the other end.

"A Ling!" The curtain of the sedan chair was lifted, and it was Princess Pang Yu of Prince Xin.

"Second sister-in-law." Chu Ling's sedan chair stopped. "Are you here to pay your respects to Concubine Shu?"

"Yes!" Pang Yu sighed, "Mother is in a bad mood and blames herself for not managing her family well. Your second brother is worried and asked me to come and see her and give her some comfort."

Chu Ling said "Oh" and did not respond.

Seeing he couldn't move her, Pang Yu cursed her inwardly, "What a heartless girl!" He forced a smile and asked, "I heard you left the palace again these past two days? What were you doing?"

Chu Ling said: "Go see grandma and relax at the same time."

"Really? I thought you were out on a case." Pang Yu asked with concern, "By the way, how is the case going? Have you found any clues?"

"I found out." Chu Ling answered casually. Seeing Pang Yu staring at him, seemingly a little nervous, waiting for the next sentence, he continued, "But it was interrupted again. The three judicial departments are all useless. We finally found relevant witnesses, but some died and some ran away. I really don't know what they are doing. It makes me so angry."

Hearing this, Pang Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said soothingly, "Don't worry, this matter is not that simple. Just investigate it slowly."

Chu Ling's anger was still lingering: "It's because the deadline hasn't arrived yet, otherwise I would have asked my father to punish them severely!"

Pang Yu agreed and changed the subject: "I'm going to see my mother, does A Ling want to come with me?"

She just asked casually, but Chu Ling thought about it and replied: "I haven't seen Concubine Shu for a long time. Since I have nothing to do when I go back, I might as well go and see her!"

Pang Yu had said all he wanted to say, so he could only smile and reply, "Okay, let's go!"

The two of them arrived at Yongchun Palace one after the other, but found it quiet inside and outside, with only a few palace servants on duty. However, the sound of wooden fish could be heard regularly.

"Princess, Princess Xin." The head aunt hurried out to pay her respects, apologetically saying, "The Queen is currently reciting scriptures, and I'm afraid she might stop mid-recitation and lose her sincerity. Please look at the flowers first, and come back when the Queen is ready."

Pang Yu said, "We are not guests, so there is no need to do this. Since my mother is reciting the scriptures, I will go and help her recite more."

After saying that, she turned her head and said, "A Ling, what about you?"

Chu Ling was bored: "Second sister-in-law, since you've already gone, what's the point of me looking at the flowers alone? Of course we'll go together."

"Okay," Pang Yu said with a smile, "Then you can sit next to me for a while."

So the two of them left the palace maids outside and went to the small Buddhist temple together.

After not seeing her for a few days, Concubine Shu seemed even thinner. She was wearing a plain dress and kneeling in front of the Buddha statue, looking pious and harmless.

Chu Ling remembered Zheng Qiu saying that when her mother first married her father, then Duke Jia, her grandmother, the then-old Princess Jia, disliked her daughter-in-law. But her mother was too busy to bother currying favor with her mother-in-law. It was Concubine Shu who volunteered to accompany her grandmother in copying scriptures and performing Buddhist rituals, fulfilling her filial duty.

To this end, Concubine Shu read the scriptures carefully, won the favor of her grandmother, and later successfully became a concubine.

When Chu Ling heard about this, she was still young and asked her, "Qiuniang, is Concubine Shu deliberately trying to please Grandmother? Is this considered betrayal?"

Zheng Qiu said with a hint of disdain, "Maybe! However, the Queen does need someone to solve her troubles, and if not her, there will be someone else." "Troubles?" Chu Ling didn't understand. "Are you talking about Grandmother's difficulties? But wouldn't that take away Father's favor?"

"My little princess," Zheng Qiu said with a doting yet helpless smile, "Where did you hear all this? Love that can be shared away is unreliable."

"What is reliable?"

Zheng Qiu was silent for a long time, then slowly said, "I don't know. Your Majesty left too early, and I didn't have time to find out."

……

"Mother." Pang Yu walked closer and called in a low voice.

Concubine Shu opened her eyes but did not respond. Her lips continued to move as she recited scriptures in a low voice.

So Pang Yu knelt down beside her, took the scripture handed to him by the palace maid, and recited along with her.

While the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were worshiping Buddha devoutly, Chu Ling sat in the back, took the tea and snacks handed to her by the palace servants, and ate while listening.

While eating, Chu Ling suddenly said, "Second sister-in-law, you read it wrong."

Pang Yu paused.

"It's Prajna. If you don't believe me, ask the Concubine Shu."

Concubine Shu had to stop and nodded, saying, "Princess, that's right."

Pang Yu smiled awkwardly: "I didn't hear it clearly before, thank you A Ling for telling me."

Chu Ling sighed: "Second sister-in-law, you can't do this. If you recite the sutra incorrectly, it will be in vain, right?"

Pang Yu glanced at Concubine Shu and whispered, "I, I'll read it from the beginning."

So I started again.

As she was reciting, Chu Ling said, "Second sister-in-law, your kneeling posture is wrong. You can't sit down. This is not pious. The Buddha will be offended. Your recitation will be in vain."

"..." Pang Yu gritted his teeth and knelt straight, "I'll read it from the beginning."

This time, halfway through reading, Chu Ling exclaimed "Ah".

Pang Yu, tense, immediately asked, "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" Chu Ling looked at her in confusion.

"What about you?"

"My legs are numb from sitting for so long!" Chu Ling's eyes widened. "Second sister-in-law, you're so angry! This isn't good. If the Buddha hears you, he'll think you're angry with him!"

"..." Pang Yu didn't know whether she should be angry or not. She looked at Chu Ling with doubts. At first, she thought she was deliberately looking for trouble, but Chu Ling's face was full of confusion, and it seemed that she was just telling the truth.

Could it be that I am overthinking it?

"Alright!" Concubine Shu finally stopped chanting and spoke out in time, "Ayu, you don't need to chant anymore. You are pregnant, and it is not good to kneel for too long. The Buddha will also understand you."

"Oh, right!" Chu Ling took over, "I almost forgot, sister-in-law, you're pregnant, so you shouldn't have knelt! Oh, why didn't you tell me earlier? If something goes wrong, wouldn't it be the Buddha's fault? Then you won't get any merit, and you'll even owe it!"

I'll adjust back!