Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 244 Blind Spot
"But Xi Mei is still alive, and Xiao Zhengde hasn't killed her yet! Why do you think he did that?" Ren Yuan couldn't help but raise his voice.

"Seduced by beauty? It is said that Xi Mei is the most beautiful woman in the world? So Xiao Zhengde was reluctant to kill her and wanted to possess her for a long time?" Chen Lingzhi guessed.

"I don't think it's just because of beauty. Even if Xi Mei was so beautiful that people couldn't bear to kill her, twenty years have passed. She must have aged and lost her beauty, right?" Ren Yuan shook his head and said, "It's more likely that it's out of a winner's mentality."

"The winner's mentality?" Chen Lingzhi tilted his head and looked at Ren Yuan, his puzzled look was very interesting.

"If I were Xiao Zhengde, I would not be willing to kill Xi Mei. This is a woman that even the emperor cannot get! As long as she is in my hands, I will always be the winner psychologically." Ren Yuan said with a beaming face:
"Whenever I think about the throne that I can't get and feel aggrieved and resentful, I can use this woman that the emperor can't get to find balance."

"..." Chen Lingzhi couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead, smiled bitterly and shook his head: "It's really unreasonable."

"He is an unreasonable person!" Ren Yuan said in a deep voice:

"In short, no matter what the reason is, the purpose of not killing her is to possess her for a long time. And he took such a big risk to possess Xi Mei for a long time, so he must be unable to help but visit her often!" Ren Yuan said decisively:

"If he is no longer interested in Xi Mei, he will definitely kill her and put an end to it all!"

"That makes sense." Chen Lingzhi nodded and asked, "When you said 'go see her', do you mean Xiao Zhengde didn't hide Xi Mei in the mansion?"

"I guess so." Ren Yuan nodded.

"How do you know he doesn't have a mistress in his mansion? It would be so convenient to hide her in his house." Chen Lingzhi asked.

"The possibility of hiding in the mansion is very small." Ren Yuan determined: "It's not that he doesn't want to hide in the mansion, but he doesn't have the conditions, you know?"

"How do you mean?" Chen Lingzhi asked.

"Thank you, Prince Consort," he said, "Xiao Zhengze does have a magic weapon that can put Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed. But I asked the Lord of Guards, and he said that this magic weapon can only hide living people for a short period of time. It is only enough for him to bring the princess and her son out of the princess's mansion. But if they are not released in time, they will be suffocated to death in there." Ren Yuan explained:
"So there must be a magic weapon that can allow people to survive for a long time."

"Where can I find such a magic weapon?" Chen Lingzhi couldn't help but shook his head and said, "Even your Immortal Traveling Pillow won't work. It will force you to wake up from your dreamland. You need a paradise like Peach Blossom Spring to do it."

As she spoke, she suddenly realized, "The entrance to the blessed land is fixed. The possibility that it happens to be in his mansion is very small. Besides, it is impossible to teleport in the capital, and it is impossible to set up a teleportation array in the palace."

"It is more likely that he hid Xi Mei outside the mansion, in a paradise somewhere!" Ren Yuan said in a deep voice: "This requires him to leave the mansion to see her. And as you said, teleportation is not allowed in the capital, so he will leave traces of his actions every time!"

"Besides, he was reluctant to kill Xi Mei for twenty years. I think he would see her quite often!" Ren Yuan patted the pile of confessions on the table and said, "The answer is most likely here!"

"How can there be so many blessed places in this world? Otherwise, the secret of Peach Blossom Spring would not be worth nine merits." Chen Lingzhi couldn't help but lower his voice and said, "As far as I know, there is only one blessed place in Beijing that meets the requirements."

After saying this, he felt it was ridiculous and said, "But that is a truly sacred place for Buddhism. How could it possibly help him hide filth?"

"Are you talking about Tongtai Temple on Purple Mountain?" Ren Yuan asked back.

"Yes." Chen Lingzhi nodded and said, "That is the Buddha's dojo. All sins will be exposed there, and you cannot search there."

"The most unlikely place is the best place to hide." Ren Yuan's dislike for the Buddhist religion made him not believe this. Instead, he became more excited and said, "Let's see if our guess is right now!" So he spread out the thirty confessions on the table and asked with concern, "Can you see it?"

"Of course I can." Chen Lingzhi rolled his eyes at him and said, "Do you think my third eye is open for nothing? If I can't see words, who would have sorted out so many files?"

"Okay, then take a look and see if there is Tongtai Temple up there?" Ren Yuan asked excitedly.

"It's on every one of them." Chen Lingzhi quickly scanned the photos with his Heavenly Eyes and couldn't help but gasp, "He goes there almost every month."

"Really? Do you believe that a beast like him can be a good man or a believer?" Ren Yuan asked excitedly: "Why does he go to the temple? Eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures regularly to eliminate his sins?"

"Pfft..." Chen Lingzhi couldn't help laughing and said, "You have such a mean mouth."

"In short, I don't believe he has any reverence in his heart." Ren Yuan raised his eyebrows.

"I remember now." Chen Lingzhi tapped his forehead and said, "It is said that when he was young, he organized a gang of bandits and robbed houses in the suburbs of Beijing, making everyone feel insecure. Later, the Danyang Yin found out that they had killed hundreds of people and reported it to the emperor. The emperor reprimanded him and asked Xiao Zhengde to go to Tongtai Temple to reflect on his mistakes and practice Buddhism, trying to influence him with Buddhism."

"After that, he went to Tongtai Temple regularly to worship Buddha, and his behavior became more restrained." Chen Lingzhi continued: "The emperor even regarded this as an example of a prodigal son returning home, and mentioned it several times."

"Look now, has he turned over a new leaf? Has he been reformed?" Ren Yuan asked back.

"How can such a stubborn villain be reformed?" Chen Lingzhi shook his head and said, "It's just that he is getting older and the bad things he does are becoming more and more hidden."

"So I guess he has another purpose for going to Tongtai Temple every month!" Ren Yuan punched hard and said, "He wants to see Xi Mei hiding there!"

"It's unbelievable..." Chen Lingzhi said in disbelief: "The Buddhist sect will also allow him to pollute the pure land of Buddhism? Aren't they afraid of the wrath of Buddha?"

"Maybe they hope that he will lay down his butcher knife and become a Buddha right away." Ren Yuan curled his lips and said, "Since ancient times, Buddhism has been a place of filth and dirt, and I have never seen Buddha destroy a temple in a fit of anger."

"Okay..." Chen Lingzhi was about to ask, "You have such a big prejudice against Buddhism?" But then he thought of Ren Yuan's identity and felt that this was reasonable.

"I'm not guessing this because of my position!" Ren Yuan pointed at the last confession and said in a deep voice, "The key point is that he went to Tongtai Temple the day after the fire at the Princess's Mansion, saying that he was praying for his sister and nephew!"

"I think it would be better to send them both in and hide them there!" he said finally in a decisive tone.

"Your guess is really bold, but I really can't refute it." Chen Lingzhi thought for a moment, and finally nodded: "This possibility does exist, and it is not small."

"But the problem is that Tongtai Temple has a very high status. Even my father cannot send people in to search without an imperial decree." She spread her hands and said, "But if we don't search, there will be no evidence. How can we get an imperial decree?"

"It's okay, I'll find a way." Ren Yuan was full of confidence.

(End of this chapter)