The Rebirth of an ill-Fated Consort
chapter-30-1

The night passed.

When the sun rose the next morning, a cacophony of sounds arose from the temple courtyard. All around the temple, doors were knocked upon in a flurry, and Li Mi’s anxious voice could be heard calling, “Miss Jiang, Miss Jiang!”

Jiang Ruan pushed herself off the bed. As she dressed herself hurriedly, she instructed Bai Zhi to check on the situation outside. After she had put on her coat, she pushed open the door, and the thick scent of blood rushed into the room.

Li Mi drew in a deep breath when he saw that Jiang Ruan was unharmed. The strain was evident in his voice as he questioned her, “Miss, are you all right?”

Jiang Ruan looked at him doubtfully. “What on earth has happened to cause Darento ask this kind of question?” When she had finished speaking, she craned her neck to see what was happening behind Li Mi’s back. With a startled cry, she turned her head and said, with a fearful quiver, “This . . .”

Several bodies lay in a disorderly state on the snowy ground. Blood ran everywhere, as if a massacre had taken place on the Shura field*. Bai Zhi and several others rushed to block Jiang Ruan’s view of the gory spectacle and stood in front of her wordlessly.

*Xiuluo chang ( 修罗场 ) – lit. Shura Field. An asura in Buddhism is a demigod. A shura field refers to the scene where asura fight to the death, and therefore is used to denote a battlefield with fierce fighting. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asura_(Buddhism) and https://baike.baidu.com/item/修罗场/5734692

Li Mi shook his head and said, “A group of thieves came here last night, and this is the scene we encountered this morning. I was worried that something might have happened to you. Thankfully, you are all right.”

Jiang Ruan frowned. “That . . . how could it be that I am unharmed?”

“You were probably not their target,” Li Mi said grimly. “Perhaps the motive was the usual seeking after revenge, which generally does not harm the innocent. Unfortunately, I need to remain here to investigate this matter. Miss Jiang, my duty lies here. My deepest apologies, but I will stay here today. There is not much farther to go on your journey. I will leave it to the horse guard to accompany you back to the capital.”

Jiang Ruan hurried to return the courtesy and said, “Daren does not need to be concerned about me. On the contrary, it is the situation here which is of prime importance as human life is beyond value. And since the murders occurred here, the temple personnel cannot disassociate themselves from the deaths. I wonder if I might be of any use to you here.”

Li Mi noted her evident sincerity and said consolingly, “Miss Jiang is worrying too much. The situation at hand has nothing to do with Miss Jiang. We have to conduct a proper investigation into the temple, but it would be better for Miss Jiang to set off on your journey as soon as possible. There is no need to hold you back from returning to the capital.” He did not speak falsely. Although he had grounds to suspect the temple personnel, Jiang Ruan was the person with the least amount of suspicion hanging over her. For one, she had only passed by this temple by chance. For another, the bodies on the ground were all marked with injuries caused by martial arts. Since the previous night’s massacre had not been noticed by a single person in the temple, the people responsible for the killing must have been highly skilled in martial arts. Thus, it was even more unlikely that the culprits were Jiang Ruan and her maids, four delicate ladies.

Since he had already given such a reply, to ask once more to remain at the scene would only be added trouble. Jiang Ruan instructed Bai Zhi to tidy up their belongings, then stepped into the horse carriage with Imperial Censor Wang. The both of them said their farewells to Li Mi.

They were already quite close to the capital, and the carriage reached the gate of the capital around noon.

Lu Zhu had never been to the capital, and her curiosity led her to lift up a corner of the window curtain and peer out. She exclaimed, “Ah, so this is the capital! Previously, I heard people say that the capital is always bustling. Now, I see that it is really true! So beautiful!”

Bai Zhi and Lian Qiao also looked outside. They had been away from the capital for five years, and on this occasion of returning, they were filled with an unspeakable excitement. They were also happy for Jiang Ruan, and it felt as if the bitterness of life was over, and the sweetness was about to begin. Unlike them, Jiang Ruan bore no happy or excited expression. Slowly, she lifted up the corner of the curtain nearest her, and was just in time to see a fine, jet black horse brush by the carriage as it sped away. That steed was a rare breed and she could not help taking another look. By that time, it was only a distant silhouette, but she felt that the rider had an incomparably graceful bearing.