The next day, the silent master was about to help Ye Mu circulate the internal energy in her body when a large group of people came knocking on the temple.
The Zhong Family was one of the three major families. They were used to oppressing and bullying other people. Although they’ve restrained themselves in the past year, they would still fight back if they were bullied.
Madam Zhong personally brought someone here personally. Yesterday, she was scared away by Ye My, but after pondering over the events for a night, she felt that something wasn’t right. So, she came here to destroy the temple today!
“Find that woman and that bastard child!” Under her orders, the people she brought with her began to force their way in. The monks didn’t dare to hurt anyone, so they couldn’t prevent the outsiders from forcing their way in.
The silent master was in a difficult position after hearing the news because the woman hadn’t woken up yet.
Ye Mu said, “Why don’t you give her some internal energy to temporarily wake her up? Then, we can figure out the situation after she explains everything to us, and we can make a decision.”
The silent master practiced the Clear Heart Cultivation method. It was a gentle style of cultivation.
After he awakened the mother, Ye Mu carried the child in her arms. Her eyes became tender and soft with the child in her arms.
The child had been drinking goat milk since his mother was unconscious. Ye Mu asked her, “Who are you? Do you know how to write? There are some questions we want to ask you now because the Zhong Family is here.”
The woman’s complexion immediately turned pale as soon as she heard the Zhong Family was here. She nodded her head and looked at them pleadingly. She was indeed a mute.
Ye Mu brought a pen and paper to her. She asked her, “They said you’re a concubine from the Zhong Family. Is that true?”
The woman shook her head quickly and wrote down her bitter experience/
It turned out that she was a prostitute working in official brothels. Her name was Fang Ru. When the emperor ascended the throne a year ago, she was finally let go as a prostitute. She used the silver she accumulated over the years and bought her freedom. Then, she met the young master of the Zhong Family.
Young Master Zhong liked her, but because she was a prostitute in the past, the Zhong Family forbade Young Master Zhong from marrying her. They didn’t allow him to even take her in as a concubine. She could only become his mistress living outside the Zhong Family.
A few months ago, she found out that she was pregnant. Because she was afraid that the Zhong Family would force her to abort the child, she broke off her relationship with Master Zhong. However, her pregnancy was discovered by the Zhong Family ten days ago. The Zhong Family forced her to abort her child, but she refused. She decided to go to the countryside to lie low until the matter died down. But before she left the city, she went to the temple to burn incense for her unborn child. But she was caught at the temple, leading her child to have a premature birth.
Ye Mu looked at what Fang Ru wrote and snorted, “The Zhong Family really are a heartless bunch, they don’t even want their own flesh and blood.”
Fang Ru revealed a sad expression and pulled Ye Mu’s hand, hoping Ye Mu could save her!
She also wrote——as long as her child remained safe, she was willing to pray for her child’s blessing in the temple for the rest of her life!
Ye Mu looked at the silent master, “Do you accept nuns here?”
For the first time, the gentle expression on the silent master’s face cracked a little, “No, we don’t.”
Ye My scratched her head and said, “We should meet them head-on first!”
The Zhong Family couldn’t find the woman or child, and they couldn’t enter the rear court either. So, they resorted to slandering the temple and the monks.
“Everyone please come and take a look. Look at what kind of monks they are! They’re forcibly detaining a concubine from the Zhong Family in the temple. Don’t even know what they’re planning to do with her!”
Her words became more slanderous and unpleasant each passing second. Many of the Buddhist worshippers overhead the commotion and gathered around. They also felt that it was against the Buddha’s teaching for Tianshou Temple to imprison a pregnant woman in the temple.
When the silent master came out, he heard Madam Zhong’s loud voice and frowned. “Who is making such a racket in the temple?”
Madam Zhong stood in front of the servants and put her hands on her hips. “It’s me! Silent master, I see that you’re still young, so it’s natural for you to fall in love. Even so, you shouldn’t have fallen for an escaped concubine! What’s more, she’s pregnant with someone else’s child.”
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