Chapter 481

After the princess's mansion guards reacted and rescued Zongzheng Zhiyuan, Zongzheng Zhiyuan could no longer accept what was before his eyes.

Where did they all come from?

Weren't they all missing?

How exactly did they appear again?

Did they all hear it?

They……why are they all staring at me with that look?

No……none of this is real, it's just her hallucination before death!

"Seize that monk who intended to kill the princess!"

Prince Consort Zhang Tingji didn't even glance at the princess; he merely pointed at the exposed Xie Huaiyuan on the ground and then let out an angry shout.

Before Xie Huaiyuan could even struggle, he was already pressed firmly to the ground, unable to move.

"Good heavens, what on earth is happening? Isn't that Abbot Jiaguan?"

"It's him! Looks like that noble lady is a princess. But Abbot Jiaguan just had that fierce, murderous look—could he be trying to kill the princess?"

"He wants to kill the princess—didn't you hear what they just said?"

"He needs her dead so he can live!"

"Good lord, could it be that what we heard is actually true?"

"If it's all true, aren't they really having an affair? But he's the abbot of Ningyuan Temple—this is just too unbelievable!"

"Hah, there's more! You didn't hear? The abbot of Ningyuan Temple and the princess seem to have had a daughter—Princess Changning is actually their biological child."

"Tsk tsk, what a disgrace. And they're monastics—truly defiling the Buddhist gate."

"Pah! Shameless!"

"Then the incense money we donated before—was it given to a temple like this? Good heavens, haven't we all been deceived?"

"Such a corrupt, morally degenerate abbot—his temple is so filthy; can the deities we pray to still be efficacious?"

"Then weren't all the commoners within a hundred li radius deceived?"

"Good heavens, I've spent fifty taels of silver here! To pray for my son to pass the imperial exams, I spent all the silver my family had saved for over a decade at Ningyuan Temple—turns out the temple's abbot is a lecherous monk who swindled all our money!"

"Otherwise, we villagers wouldn't have bothered trekking from the front mountain to the back, crossing hills and rivers just to get here."

"The result is that we wanted to expose their affair and catch the abbot red-handed in his murderous act!"

"Exactly! Who's going to repay my silver?"

"Swindler, give me back my money."

"Return our money!"

"You thieving bald donkey, hurry up and return the money we've been swindled out of over decades, you—"

"You thieving bald donkey, hurry up and return the money to us, the people within a hundred-li radius, the money swindled over several decades, give it back to us——"

The commoners rose up in anger, all surging forward.

In an instant they didn't even bother with the princess's mansion guards; they all rushed forward, pressing Xie Huaiyuan to the ground and pulling and beating him.

Zongzheng Zhiyuan still wanted to crawl forward: "No……"

But Princess Changning suddenly let out a sharp scream: "Ah——"

She covered her ears, shaking her head while murmuring: "This isn't real, none of this is real——"

Because everything before her eyes was too absurd.

She turned her head to look at her father, Zhang Tingji.

"Father, is none of this real?"

"Did Mother deceive Changning?"

"Perhaps this is just a dream of Changning's?"

"Father, say something——"

Zhang Tingji looked at her, a flash of pain crossing his eyes: "As a father, I also wish you were my true daughter……"

Zhang Tingyi looked at her, a flash of pain flickering in their eyes: "As a father, I also hope that you could be my biological daughter……"

She covered her head and turned, rushing out.

Only then did Zongzheng Zhiyuan react: "Ning'er——"

When she tried to get up, she couldn't bear to leave Xie Huaiyuan.

"Don't, don't hit him——"

"Quick, someone, come!"

"Hurry, drag these troublemakers down for the palace!"

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and act!"

"Zhang Tingji, the palace orders you—quickly rescue Abbot Jiaguan!"

Zhang Tingji stared at her, gave a cold smile: "Zongzheng Zhiyuan, you're truly beyond help."

"In your eyes, no one in this world compares to your lover!"

Having said that, Zhang Tingji turned and, with ten guards, set off after Changning.

And while Zongzheng Zhiyuan wanted to follow to chase after his daughter, he still couldn't let go of the obsession he'd harbored in his heart for decades.

"Please, please come save him——"

She cried as she went forward to grab at those commoners.

The angry commoners shoved her away roughly.

"Get out——!"

Get out—!

"Hmph, still a princess? The princess is teaming up with this kind of monk to exploit the people, deceiving us, right?"

"We're going to beat the Petition Drum and sue you!"

Xie Huaiyuan's cassock and robes had long been torn to rags.

People were also being dragged east and west, scratched all over, with cries of agony ringing out.

Meanwhile, the few guards left by the Princess's Residence just stared at each other, and no matter how the princess shouted, they simply wouldn't move.

Just as Zongzheng Zhiyuan despaired, thinking it was all over, the ground suddenly rumbled.

Then, one, two, three... countless monks crawled out from under the table of the Guanyin Altar.

They all rushed forward.

"Abbot—"

"Abbot—we've come—"

They were precisely the missing monks from Ningyuan Temple; it turned out they were right here in the Guanyin Hall.

Seeing them, Zongzheng Zhiyuan's expression became even more dazed.

She knew that this time, her and Xie Huaiyuan's secrets could no longer be concealed.

And those monks rushed forward, exerting effort, finally dragging Xie Huaiyuan out of the crowd.

Xie Huaiyuan's fair body was covered in wounds and bruises everywhere.

And he had barely half a life left.

At this moment, he lay dying among the monks, straining to open his eyes to see everyone, his eyes filled with endless despair.

The people said: "Hmph, you bunch of thieving monks from Ningyuan Temple, you've finally shown your true colors!"

"Either we go see the official, or today we'll fight to the death!"

The people refused to give up.

These monks had long since heard all the truth and secrets clearly underground; although the abbot wasn't anything good, they had been following him and living off his money all these years.

If we really filed a complaint with the official, wouldn't we all be done for?

The monks immediately stood up, holding hands to protect Jiaoguan in the middle.

"Namo Amitabha."

They began chanting sutras right there.

"What is he, what are they doing?"

"Yeah, chanting sutras at this time—could it be they want to atone for their past deeds?"

"Hmph, if they were truly a group of conscientious monks, they wouldn't have deceived us for so many years and so much money."

"When things go against the norm, there must be something demonic; we'd better leave quickly."

"Exactly, let's go out first, then we'll go down the mountain to consult everyone!"

"We must definitely get justice back!"

Just as everyone was preparing to leave, a few monks suddenly rushed forward and shoved the door shut.

Even the door that had been knocked open was quickly shoved shut again, then blocked by people.

It looked like they were determined to stop everyone from leaving.