Chapter 54: The Temple

"Husband, although this matter is not difficult, judging by what I have to say, I am afraid you would neither be willing to believe nor care to listen," Song Xirui said, her tone laden with reluctance.

Seeing her hem and haw, Su Yun felt a fire rise in his heart.

They were already at death's door, yet Song Xirui was still playing mysterious games. Truly detestable!

Slightly angered, he said, "My wife, the bond between us is deep. Is there anything you cannot say? Why must you hesitate like this? Could it be that watching me suffer one misfortune after another brings you great joy?"

Did this woman really not know the severity of the situation unless he lost his temper?

Upon hearing this, Song Xirui assumed a cowardly appearance and fell silent.

After a moment, she flared up with indignation. "You slander me, Husband! It is precisely because I fear for your peace of mind that I remained silent! Besides, that Yun'er is the apple of your eye. Am I supposed to persuade you to carve out the very apple of your eye? No doubt you would end up calling me a vicious-hearted woman!"

Her voice sounded like weeping and pleading, her eyes brimming with tears.

She looked as though she were truly in agonizing pain.

At these words, Su Yun was stunned, a trace of confusion in his voice. "You mean this matter is related to Yun'er again?"

Could this simply be a story fabricated by Song Xirui to trick him into growing cold toward Yun'er?

"Hmph!" Song Xirui let out a cold laugh, her lovely eyes burning with anger. "I knew my husband would not believe it. Whenever it concerns my cousin, my husband acts as though he has been hexed, casting everything else to the winds!"

"No, no, no." Su Yun hurriedly interrupted, "My wife, what are you saying? It's just that last time you mentioned Yun'er and I clashed, but days have passed since then, how could it so soon..."

He was this close to shouting "You are deliberately lying" right into Song Xirui's face.

Song Xirui's voice also turned cold, and she replied indifferently, "If my husband does not believe it, then let us wait and see how things develop. After all, whatever Rui'er says is nothing more than nonsense anyway!"

With that, she angrily sat down to the side and refused to look at Su Yun anymore.

For a moment, Su Yun felt extremely awkward, not knowing what to say.

Right at that moment, Hongdou rolled her eyes, opened her mouth, and piped up, "Master Husband, our mistress has only your best interests at heart. Please do not be angry with her. You have no idea how many times our mistress has wept for your sake!"

It would have been better had she remained silent, but the moment she spoke, Su Yun recalled what this wretched girl had previously done to Yun'er.

A wild, uncultured girl dared to offend them?

Since he couldn't deal with Song Xirui, could he not deal with her?

He opened his mouth to hurl abuses, but unexpectedly, a single sentence from Hongdou blocked his words. "About this matter, I, Hongdou, have a good idea. Since Master Husband doesn't believe our mistress, and now that Miss Cousin has gone to the estate to recuperate and is temporarily away from you, why not just wait and see what happens in a couple of days? During this time, Master Husband can simply visit the estate less often and let the Old Madam check in on her instead."

Su Yun's eyes lit up as he listened.

That's right, now that Yun'er had gone to the estate to recover, wouldn't that eliminate any astrological conflict between them? No wonder Song Xirui favored this Hongdou; she truly had a head full of clever ideas.

Thus, Su Yun softened his tone and said to Song Xirui, "Wife, let it be as Hongdou suggests. If my fortune turns for the better, I will certainly come and make amends to you."

Song Xirui's eyelids twitched. She merely gave a faint acknowledgment and promptly showed this "great Buddha" out, still pretending to be harboring a petty grievance.

---

"Yun'er, are you truly not going to accompany me to visit Yun'er?" Lady Li asked with a hint of perplexity. Luo Yun'er had always been regarded by Su Yun as an absolute treasure—so much so that even she, his own birth mother, couldn't say a word against her. Yet now that the girl was pregnant, he wasn't even going to see her?

As it turned out, after Luo Yun'er was sent to the estate, though she was no longer at the Su residence, she demanded that Su Yun visit her once every three days and strictly forbade him from growing distant from her.

Faced with such a demand from his fair beauty, Su Yun naturally agreed.

Hearing this, Su Yun shook his head slightly and made an excuse: "Mother, I am truly too busy today and have no time to see her. How about this: you buy a few more of the rouge and face powders that Yun'er likes and take them to her. I have already prepared the silver notes."

Lady Li took the silver notes and glanced at them. They amounted to a full three hundred taels!

A wave of sour resentment rose in her heart; this unfilial boy had never been this generous to his own mother!

Unaware of his mother's expression, Su Yun urged, "Hurry along now, don't keep her waiting anxiously."

In his heart, he was still deeply enamored with Luo Yun'er; he simply couldn't visit her for the time being.

Lady Li took the money, but paid little heed to Su Yun's instructions. Instead, she merely bought a few mediocre hair ornaments before heading over to Luo Yun'er's place.

When Luo Yun'er saw that Su Yun hadn't come, she asked about him repeatedly, only to be rebuffed and silenced by Lady Li.

And so, for nearly half a month, Su Yun did not go to see Luo Yun'er.

Miraculously, the string of bad luck plaguing Su Yun greatly diminished.

This made him secretly overjoyed. Thank goodness he had listened to Song Xirui—he and Yun'er truly had conflicting destinies!

He remained entirely unaware that the true reason behind this was simply that Song Xirui had been feeding the evil ghost, and having tasted the sweetness of the offering, the spirit had temporarily spared Su Yun.

---

Seven days later.
Xiangguo Temple.

Lately, everything had been going smoothly for Su Yun, and even the Third Prince had begun to view him with greater regard.

The prince had invited him to meet here at Xiangguo Temple, ostensibly to discuss Buddhist scriptures, but in reality, to conspire about some critical matters.

After discussing for the better part of the day, the men were preparing to leave.

The abbot of Xiangguo Temple came out to see them.

As it turned out, the abbot had long since noticed the wisps of black qi clinging to Su Yun, knowing that he was haunted by a ghost, yet realizing that this ghost was being nourished by offerings.

For a time, he couldn't determine whether this was a benevolent spirit or an evil entity.

Being a man of the cloth, though he generally disliked meddling in worldly affairs, since he had witnessed it, he could not simply stand by and do nothing.

Therefore, as Su Yun was leaving, he handed a yellow talisman to both Su Yun and the accompanying Third Prince, saying, "This talisman can ward off evil and has been consecrated in our temple. I present it to the two of you as a humble affinity."

The Third Prince thought nothing of it and merely accepted it casually.

Su Yun, however, was entirely different!

Right now, what he feared most was being entangled in misfortune.

Never mind some talisman; if they had pried up a brick from the temple floor and told him to take it back for courage, he would have gladly done so.

He immediately accepted it with the utmost solemnity, tucked it into his bosom, and kept it safely secured.

The moment this talisman paper appeared, the ghost immediately fled from Su Yun's body.

Terrified that the eminent monks of the temple would subdue him, the spirit hurriedly fled all the way back to the Su residence.

---

That night.
Song Xirui was fast asleep when, between wakefulness and slumber, she felt waves of chilling wind.

A voice strikingly similar to Su Yun's kept echoing in her mind: "Mistress, save me! Mistress, save me! Mistress, save me!"

Her head throbbing from the noise, Song Xirui sat up, opened her eyes, and looked—who could it be if not that ghost?

Its blue-faced and fanged countenance was plastered with terror and unease.

Furious, she rebuked, "Instead of following Su Yun, what are you running over here for? Or... has something happened?"

The ghost immediately wore a weeping expression and wailed, "I can no longer get close to his body!"