Chapter 49: Chapter 48 Accident_1
Lu Tong hadn’t expected to encounter Pei Yunmeng here.
After a hurried glimpse in yesterday’s rain, she saw Pei Yunmeng leaving the temple with a monk by his side, heading in a direction that wasn’t this one, perhaps he had other matters to attend to within the temple. She hadn’t expected to run into him first thing this morning here.
Before she could respond, a tall man in green clothes beside Pei Yunmeng asked him, "Who is this..."
He chuckled, "An acquaintance."
Lu Tong considered herself nothing more than a casual acquaintance of this Princely Heir Pei, definitely not on familiar terms. But being here and ignoring him would only draw more attention. She nodded politely, "Lord Pei."
Pei Yunmeng approached her with a smile.
Most of the devotees who came to Wan’en Temple to offer incense were women, and because of the religious assembly, they were dressed modestly. Although his attire was not brightly colored, the golden crown and black clothing he wore, against the backdrop of fresh willows and fragrant spring grass, always added a touch of elegance and charm that ordinary people lacked.
A handsome young man was always eye-catching, wherever he stood. Soon, those who had been rattled by the previous incident began to come back to their senses, casting frequent looks in his direction.
Pei Yunmeng turned to Lu Tong and glanced at the corridor leading to Wuhuai Garden behind her, asking, "Why is Doctor Lu here?"
Lu Tong replied, "I came to offer incense."
He spoke with a laugh, "Isn’t it said that healers and Yama are sworn enemies, why does Doctor Lu still believe in gods and Buddhas?"
Her tone unchanged, Lu Tong said, "Healers also seek marriage luck."
Upon hearing this, Pei Yunmeng seemed somewhat surprised, and quickly looked towards the garden gate, where more clad in soap-colored robes were heading toward the dharma hall.
Following his gaze, Lu Tong heard him say, "Someone died in the Fangsheng Hall."
Pei Yunmeng turned back to look at her, his tone uncertain whether serious or joking, "Why doesn’t Doctor Lu go take a look?"
Last night’s rain hadn’t dried yet, and behind him, drops rolled off the banana leaves, scattering like a shower of gleaming pearls on the ground.
Yin Zheng’s palms were sweating nervously.
Lu Tong spoke calmly, "Doctors attend to the living, the coroners to the dead. I am not a coroner."
He nodded, "That’s true." He looked at Lu Tong again, sighing, "Doctor Lu, why do I feel that you are always on guard around me? After all, I’ve saved you before, and as far as I remember, I’ve done you no wrong."
Although he sounded wistful, his face was smiling. The lighting in the Rouge Shop last time was dim, but now under the gently warm sun, you could clearly see when he smiled there was a small dimple by his lips, which added a fair amount of youthful cheer and warmth typical of the young.
If you could disregard the probing look in his eyes, that is.
Lu Tong remained composed and indifferently said, "Lord Pei is overthinking."
He gave Lu Tong a look, gearing up to speak again when suddenly someone ran over and stopped beside him, "My Lord!"
It was a young man in a wisteria-colored silk robe, with a round face and round eyes. Catching sight of Lu Tong, the young man was also startled, then exclaimed with joy, "Isn’t this the lady we met down at Baoxiang Tower last time?"
Lu Tong recognized him as well; last time, it was this young man, Pei Yunmeng had sent to take Lu Dashan back. She vaguely remembered his name, which seemed to be Duan Xiaoyan.
Duan Xiaoyan seemed to have a belly full of hot and cold pleasantries to exchange with Lu Tong, but with just a faint glance from Pei Yunmeng, he could only stand to attention, reporting the news he had just received, word by word.
"Someone died in the Fangsheng Hall, drowned in a tank used for releasing turtles. The coroner came to inspect and said he was drunk and not in his right mind, that he fell into the tank and couldn’t get up, and that’s how he died."
Xiao Zhufeng on the side heard this and frowned, asking, "If he was drunk, how did he end up in an abandoned side hall?"
Duan Xiaoyan stepped forward, lowering his voice, "Exactly, and in that hall, they found paper offerings and incense ash on the altar. This person came to worship the gods, and out of all the gods, he chose to worship a figure from the previous dynasty. This time it’s a big trouble; although the person is dead, his family might still cause issues."
Although there was no explicit ban on worshipping figures from the previous dynasty, whether it was a crime to do so was clear to everyone.
Pei Yunmeng snorted, "Drank alcohol and wanted to make offerings, this man’s heart was indeed capacious."
"I also find it strange," added Duan Xiaoyan. "But later on, they interrogated the deceased’s servant, and apparently, the deceased had been bewitched, uttering nonsense about seeing ghosts, and he had even sought out a Taoist to exorcise evil from his home a few days ago. It’s said that he came to the Dharma Assembly this time to ask the bodhisattvas for help to deliver the resentful ghosts."
As he spoke, he too felt a shiver down his spine, "I just never thought the vengeful ghost haunting him would be so powerful. Not only did it evade extermination, but it also muddled his mind, leading him to drown himself in the pool."
Pei Yunmeng sneered, "You believe such ghost stories?"
"At first, of course, I didn’t!" Duan Xiaoyan protested, "But the coroner found no other issues, and it appears he drowned himself."
Pei Yunmeng pondered for a moment, then asked, "What was the servant doing last night?"
"He said his master went to bed early last night. He attended to the deceased, who went to bed. Once the deceased was sound asleep, he went next door to play leaf card games with several other servants all night long. The coroner confirmed that by the time the man died, he had been playing cards for quite a while. There are witnesses to verify that it wasn’t him who killed the man."
Pei Yunmeng did not speak.
Carefully, Duan Xiaoyan inquired, "My lord, do you think there’s more to this matter?"
Xiao Zhufeng spoke coldly, "Whether there is an underlying issue or not, this man was secretly worshipping deities from the former dynasty. The matter ends here."
His death was not as significant as his private transgressions. No one would seek the truth for a potential criminal, and even the deceased’s family might have to bear the brunt of his actions.
Pei Yunmeng said indifferently, "This case is not under the jurisdiction of the Palace Front Office, Duan Xiaoyan, you should stay out of it."
Duan Xiaoyan sheepishly acknowledged.
Their conversation had not avoided Lu Tong, perhaps because there was nothing secretive about the discussion, with many pilgrims present at Wan’en Temple today. Such information would eventually become public knowledge, sooner or later.
Lu Tong did not intend to stay here long. With a death in the temple today, the Blue Lotus Dharma Assembly might not proceed as usual, and at this moment, the temple gates had not yet been sealed by the officials.
It was best to descend the mountain as soon as possible...
Just as Lu Tong arrived at this thought, she suddenly heard a commotion ahead in the crowd, accompanied by cries of panic, "A dead person!"
Looking up, she saw the crowd in front dispersing rapidly, scrambling to get away as if avoiding a plague. As the dispersing crowd cleared the blocked view, she saw not far from the Wuhuai Garden, in a small pavilion, a slightly chubby young man was gasping heavily as he lay half-prostrate on the ground.
Lu Tong’s brows furrowed slightly, and after only a moment’s hesitation, she quickly stepped forward.
Yin Zheng was alarmed behind her, "Miss?"
"It’s all right." Lu Tong said, "Bring my medical kit."
In a few steps, she was in the pavilion and saw the young man’s face was crimson, gasping desperately like a dying fish, struggling to grab at his own throat, almost losing consciousness.
Yin Zheng had fetched the medical kit in haste and hurried over. Lu Tong opened the kit, took out golden needles from the cloth roll and began to puncture acupuncture points such as Baihui, Fengchi, Dazhui, and Dingchuan on the young master’s body.
Yin Zheng asked, "Miss, he is..."
"Phlegm stagnating in the lungs, triggered by an inducement, causing obstruction in the airways, spasms in the air passages, loss of lung’s downward directing function, and an inverse flow of lung Qi leading to phlegm choke and asthma," Lu Tong said as she held down the man’s hands to prevent him from moving and dislodging the needles, simply telling Yin Zheng, "No worries, acupuncture will suffice."
No sooner had she finished speaking, than a woman’s anxious and drawn-out cry came from behind, "Lin’er—"
Before Lu Tong could speak, she saw a luxuriously dressed, plump woman quickly approaching, parting Yin Zheng and Lu Tong, and throwing herself beside the young man. She repeatedly called out endearments like "my heart", "my Lin’er," then glared at Lu Tong, "Who are you? How dare you treat my son so rudely!"
Lu Tong saw her accidentally touching the golden needles and couldn’t help but frown, stepping forward to explain, "He’s having an asthma attack..."
Before she could finish, a tall bodyguard emerged from beside the woman and shoved Lu Tong hard, pushing her back several steps almost to the verge of falling to the ground.
Just at that moment, someone behind her supported her arm and her back pressed against his chest as if she was being embraced. Lu Tong smelled the faint, cool fragrance of orchid and musk from his chest.
Then, the arm that had supported her let go immediately. Pei Yunmeng stood behind her—yet not too close or too far, his expression indifferent as if the previous closeness were but an illusion.
Before Lu Tong could thank Pei Yunmeng, over there, the young master’s mother—the richly-dressed woman, furiously pointed at her and shouted, "You scoundrel, what have you done to my son?"