After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

"Abbot, regardless of whether she is a hermit or not, she is a citizen of the Southern Xia Kingdom. If she has made a mistake, she should bear the consequences. Let's hand her over to the authorities and punish her according to the law." Rong Yingluo showed no leniency.

She has no tolerance for injustice.

No matter the reason, mistakes must be punished.

If she hadn't been alert in advance, she might have really perished in the fire tonight, and also implicated the innocent Sister Ke.

"No, please don't. Madam Gu, please, don't hand me over to the authorities. I'll kill myself." Huizhen knelt before Rong Yingluo, begging for mercy.

If she were to enter the government office, her reputation would be completely ruined, and it would implicate her daughter. Even though she had become a nun, those who knew her would still know that she was her daughter's biological mother.

"Guards, take him away and lock him in the woodshed. He will be handed over to the authorities tomorrow," the abbot ordered directly.

Two nuns came in and dragged the person away.

"Amitabha Buddha, Benefactor Rong, I am truly sorry. It is my fault for not disciplining you properly and causing you trouble." The abbess stood up and respectfully bowed to Rong Yingluo.

"Master, there's no need for that. Someone is trying to harm me. Jing'an Hall was taken advantage of. In fact, I'm the one who implicated Jing'an Hall." Rong Yingluo knew it wasn't Jing'an Hall's fault, but because of her arrival, Huizhen was manipulated, causing Jing'an Hall to catch fire and lose a row of rooms.

"Yinghong, give the master one hundred taels of silver to repair the burned-down rooms," Rong Yingluo instructed.

She was also a person outside the secular world, and held a deep respect for the lands of Taoism and Buddhism.

The Buddha's land is inherently without sin; it is only the human heart that is unpredictable and sinful.

"You mustn't accept my money, benefactor." The abbot had no right to take her money.

"Please accept it. I'll stay here again once it's repaired." Rong Yingluo said firmly, "Please don't tell anyone about tonight's incident. Just say that a guest accidentally knocked over a candlestick."

She did not want the Buddhist holy site to gain a bad reputation, as that would be blasphemy against the gods.

The abbot had no choice but to accept it, even though it was a shameless act.

After the abbot left, Rong Yingluo looked at Ke Miaoran, who had been put to sleep by acupressure on the bed, and felt guilty.

During the day, she noticed someone at the back window, and she knew it wasn't a coincidence.

If Huizhen was just doing something under the back window, even if she made some noise, she didn't need to hide; she could just explain it clearly.

However, her action of immediately hiding in the woods after accidentally stepping on a branch and making a sound aroused Rong Yingluo's suspicion.

She had a vague feeling that someone wanted to harm her, so she told Yinghong to call Zhong Sheng to come up the mountain quietly and keep an eye on things.

She didn't know how the other party intended to harm her, but based on what she had seen, she guessed that the methods were limited to a few.

They sent assassins to kill her, poisoned her, found a man to ruin her reputation, and burned her alive.

She explained to Zhong Sheng how to deal with each possibility.

As a result, the villains chose to set fire to the place, and they didn't even spare Ke Miaoran.

This is an attempt to create another enemy for Gu Ce. If Ke Miaoran gets into trouble, the Qi family will definitely hold Gu Ce responsible, because she was the one who brought her out and got killed.

Leaving a letter in Huizhen's room was enough to achieve his goal; his methods were truly ingenious.

She wanted to retaliate but couldn't find the enemy.

But it doesn't matter, just put it on the Su family's head.

She made a note of this debt.

She could poison her again and see how long Su's body could hold out.

With some time before dawn, Rong Yingluo lay down next to Ke Miaoran and went to sleep.

The next morning, Ke Miaoran woke up first and found Rong Yingluo lying next to her, which she found very strange.

She then saw Yinghong asleep on the table, and her own maid sleeping on the soft couch.

Why did their mistress and servants come to her room? She had no idea.

Why does this room feel different from the one I rested in last night?

The Buddha statue on the wall has changed; it is no longer the Guanyin Bodhisattva I saw yesterday, but the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

How could they have changed their rest rooms for no reason?

Something must have happened.

Thinking of this, she was terrified.

"Sister Rong, Sister Rong!" Ke Miaoran anxiously nudged Rong Yingluo.

Rong Yingluo was woken up by the noise.

"Sister Rong, I don't know what happened, but we've been moved to a different room," Ke Miaoran said anxiously.

"Don't worry, Sister Ke, I've moved you to a different room," Rong Yingluo immediately reassured her.

Then she recounted what had happened the night before.

But she only said that the room caught fire in the middle of the night and that she was knocked unconscious by the smoke; she didn't say anything else.

There are some things it's better not to let her know.

"Sister Rong, thank you for saving me." Ke Miao was terrified.

If it weren't for Rong-mei, she might have burned to death in the fire.

After having breakfast, Ke Miaoran asked to see the side room that had been destroyed by fire.

The four of them arrived at the room where they had rested the previous day.

The fire burned down four entire side rooms, which shows how intense it was.

Ke Miaoran was terrified.

Actually, Jing'an Hall was located on a mountaintop, and there wasn't enough water to extinguish the fire, which is why it burned like this.

Back at her residence, Ke Miaoran dismissed her maid.

Seeing her serious expression, Rong Yingluo knew she had something to say in private, so she sent Yinghong away as well.

"Rong sister, tell me the truth, is someone trying to harm you?" Ke Miaoran was not naive or ignorant; she was very clever.

There are no such things as coincidences in this world.

"Why do you say that, Sister Ke?" Rong Yingluo was taken aback.

"Sister Rong, Prince Gu has married four wives, all of whom have died. The whole capital is saying he's cursed to bring misfortune to his wives. My mother-in-law and I have analyzed this, and it's impossible. Someone must be behind this. Last night, the room we were sleeping in caught fire. It must be that person behind it trying to harm you," Ke Miaoran said urgently.

Seeing her anxious expression, Rong Yingluo felt a warm feeling rise in her heart.

You made the right friend.

A sweet smile crept onto Rong Yingluo's face.

"You can still laugh? You're about to die!" Ke Miaoran became even more anxious.

"I'm perfectly fine, aren't I? Sister Ke, don't worry. I was prepared, I won't die."

"I will live a long and hard life to find the person behind this and tear him to pieces." Rong Yingluo said with unwavering determination.

"Do you know who wants to harm you?" Ke Miaoran's heart, which had been pounding, eased slightly.

"It should be the Duchess of Zhenguo, the second uncle of the Gu family, and Gu Ce's political enemies in the court."

"With so many, can you be sure which one it was last night?" Ke Miaoran felt that what she said was as good as saying nothing.

"I can't be sure, but I'm about 60-70% certain. It should be the Duchess of Zhenguo?" In Rong Yingluo's mind, it was either yes or no.

"She's such a good actress; she's fooled everyone in the capital for so many years. There aren't many good stepmothers, and that's no exaggeration," Ke Miaoran said through gritted teeth.

The reputation of the Duchess of Zhenguo was highly praised in the capital. She was considered a role model for all stepmothers, and even the Empress praised her.

It turns out he was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"She definitely wants her son to become the heir apparent. But she doesn't dare to kill your husband directly, so he can't marry or have a son. A heir without an heir can't hold onto his position." Soon, Ke Miaoran understood the key point.

"Sister Ke is so smart, I will learn a lot from you in the future." Rong Yingluo was very happy to have found a kindred spirit. She hugged Ke Miaoran's arm and rubbed against her, showing a coquettish little girl's charming demeanor.

The person she lived with the longest was her master. An old man, she never dared to act spoiled in front of him, but she was only sixteen, a flower-like age, with the liveliness and thoughts of that age. But she didn't have a woman like Sister Ke to accompany her, and now that she had met her, her true nature was revealed.

The two are five years apart in age, but in Rong Yingluo's eyes at this moment, this is her own older sister.

The two had no desire to stay in Jing'an Hall any longer, so they packed up and prepared to go down the mountain.

However, on the way back, they encountered even greater danger.