Chapter Thirteen: Buddhist Rites

  Jinzi and Xiaoxiao, master and servant, arrived at the gate of Qiufengyuan in the rain, but unexpectedly, they were blocked by a maid guarding outside.

  Xiao Yatou naturally knew Jinzi, and on that day she went to Qingfengyuan with the lady and Song Niang. Moreover, Jin San Niang was so beautiful that she left an unforgettable impression. However, this morning, the lady said that idle people cannot enter or exit Qiufengyuan, disturbing Wu Lang, and must follow family rules.

  "Is my wife a vagabond?" Laughter laughed with annoyance, even her neck turned red.

  "I don't dare, but since Madam has spoken, I don't dare disobey!" The little maid replied in a low voice with her head bowed.

  Jinzi didn't force his way in, but instead asked faintly: "What did Lang Zhong say?"

  The little girl looked up at Jinzi's amber eyes filled with worry and stuttered: "Lang Zhong said it was an invasion of cold evil!"

  Is it because you caught a cold?

  "What about Gorō's food?" asked Kinuko again.

  "Wǒ Láng, from yesterday afternoon after lunch, didn't eat dinner at all, just kept crying, cried until his throat was hoarse, and then..."

  Jinzi was an impatient person and couldn't stand Yatou's hesitance, urging her hastily: "What happened next?"

  "It's diarrhea..." The little girl blurted out.

  There seems to be some problem with the digestive system, I reckon we'll have to go in and take a look to know the exact situation.

  Jinzi also had a natural talent for medical knowledge. In modern times, her father was born into a family of traditional Chinese medicine, and her mother was the director of Western medicine neurology department and the chief surgeon. From a young age, under the influence of both traditional Chinese and Western medicine doctors, she initially wanted to pursue a career in medicine as well. However, unexpectedly, she developed a strong interest in forensic medicine during university, and filled out "forensic medicine" on her elective course form. When her parents found out, they didn't scold her much, but later thought that as long as their daughter was happy, they would support her decision.

  "Go in and tell Song Niang, just say that San Niang has come to see Wu Lang!" Jinzi said to the little maid, hoping that Song Niang would not be as ignorant as others.

  The little girl didn't dare disobey Jinzi's will either, and sulkily turned around and entered the courtyard.

  Before long, the little girl came out and bowed to Jinzi, saying: "Tell Third Sister-in-law that my aunt says thank you for your kind intentions, but Fifth Brother has been tossing and turning all night and just fell asleep. It's not convenient now! You'd better go back!"

  Kanako smiled wryly, and indeed she had overestimated her!

  Since that's the case, she didn't force it anymore. She turned around and walked back without looking back, smiling as she lifted her skirt hem and chased after him, saying: "Young lady, slow down, the road is slippery!"

  Inside the house, Song's mother looked haggard, gazing at her son who had lost weight in just half a day, and she felt as if someone was cutting into her flesh.

  "Is he gone?"

  "Yes, auntie, I had just finished speaking when the third daughter-in-law turned around and left without a word!" The little maid replied.

  Song Niangniang nodded, her eyes gazing out of the house. The eaves below were shrouded in misty rain, with sparkling dew drops hanging from the green tiles, one drop after another, like a broken string of pearls, or like the tears she was holding back at this moment. Gnashing her teeth, looking towards the main courtyard, she said bitterly: "You wicked woman, for your own sake, you actually laid such a vicious hand on my son..."

  The little girl knelt down with a thud and hastily advised: "Auntie, don't dare to say such things, be careful of eavesdroppers!"

  Song Yiniang came back to her senses, put away the resentful look on her face, and calmly asked the little girl: "Is the medicine ready?"

  "It's being decocted now, auntie, what should be done with the medicine that the lady asked for?"

  "Infuse it, and then pour it into the slop bucket for me! Those medicines, I don't dare to give them to Rong Ge!" Song Niang coldly responded.

  "Yes!" The little girl responded with a single word and then retreated in an orderly manner.

  Song's aunt appears gentle on the surface, but in reality, she is not a soft persimmon. From the time Rong Geer started crying and making a fuss, she had been paying attention to her son's condition, starting with loss of appetite, later refusing to drink even the wet nurse's milk, crying all night, having night sweats, diarrhea...

  After carefully inquiring about the ingredients used for lunch, it was discovered that someone had mixed tapioca flour into Rongge's rice porridge. This tapioca flour is not suitable for adults to eat too much of, as it can cause indigestion and is difficult to digest, let alone for children?

  And this cassava flour was just bought back by someone under Feng's mother...

  This wretched woman, for the sake of that person in Qingfengyuan, has truly gone to great lengths! But no matter how you want to deal with Jin Sanniang, what does it have to do with me? Just don't use my son as cannon fodder or a stepping stone! How innocent is this child?!

  Song's aunt was resentful, but couldn't do anything about it. Even if she knew that the cassava flour had caused the problem, that person could simply say "I don't know" and push everything off onto her, making herself be remembered by her for nothing. All these years, in order to let Rong's son grow up safely, she hadn't hesitated to fawn all over her, yet still couldn't make her completely let down her guard against her.

  Since that woman had the heart to make Rong Ge's matter a fuse, she would naturally not let Rong Ge be so well soon. So, she asked the doctor to prescribe medicine and firmly refused to let her brother drink it!

  In the Xing Rong courtyard, Qing Dai drew up the curtain and welcomed Song Niang into the room.

  "Song Yiniang, how is Wu Lang?" Qing Dai asked with a smile on her face, looking at Song Yiniang whose eyes were sunken and even the makeup couldn't cover up.

  "Ah, just woke up and started crying again..." Then she began wiping away tears.

  Lin heard it in the east wing and hurriedly said: "What's wrong with him? He was fine, how did he suddenly become like this?"

  Song Yiniang walked through the beaded curtain and went in.

  "It's all the fault of those concubines, they didn't take good care of our son!"

  "How can you blame him! Have you taken Langzhong's medicine?" Lin asked, gesturing for Song Niang to sit down.

  "Eating, no improvement!" Song Yiniang replied.

  "Could it be that I have really brought bad luck?" Lin's face was full of suspicion, her eyes slightly darting back and forth.

  Look, it's really using my son's life as a gun...

  Song's aunt had no expression on her face, she just sobbed quietly.

  "Alright, if all else fails, let's go to Putuo Temple to pray for good fortune and have a vegetarian meal while we're at it!" said Lin.

  "Everything depends on Madame's decision!" Song Yiniang nodded and bowed her head.

  For a time, the news that Wu Lang's son had been afflicted with evil spirits and fallen ill spread like wildfire in the mansion, with fingers pointing directly at Jin San Niang of Qingfeng Garden. Even people outside the mansion knew about it, and these days, relatives and friends would often come to visit. Lin Shi was busy entertaining the visiting guests and relatives, and also said that she wanted to follow the instructions of a high-ranking monk in the temple, hold a Buddhist ritual, perform a ceremony to drive out evil spirits.

  About Jin San Niang - Jin Jingluo, this autistic idiot was seriously ill and on the verge of death, but came back to life, regained consciousness, opened his mouth and spoke, and had just passed the inauspicious air, almost harming his younger brother. The incident spread throughout Taoyuan County overnight. On the streets, in tea houses, people's leisure time was spent discussing this matter. Just the fact that he came back from the brink of death was enough to make a big fuss, let alone someone who never spoke before suddenly speaking up - isn't this shocking news?

  Too abnormal, abnormal is precisely demonic!

  No wonder they want to hold a Buddhist ritual, could it be that Jin's third daughter is possessed by an evil spirit?

  Jin Yuan's face turned green with rage when he heard the news in the government office. He didn't even bother to attend to his official duties, hastily assigning them to his subordinates and rushing out of the office without even changing out of his official robes. He hurriedly got into his sedan chair and urged the bearers to carry him back to his residence at top speed.

  "Tomorrow, Qianyu has something to attend to and will be out for a few days. I may not have time to visit friends until February 1st, sorry about that! Please don't worry about the update schedule, Qianyu has already made arrangements. Until the end of the month, there will be one update per day, and starting from February 1st, there will be two updates per day, one in the morning and one at night. The book review section's posts will be replied to by my deputy moderator Xuehua, and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to her! Mwah!"