High-class maid

Inside the courtyard, a mother and daughter were happily trying on new clothes and jewelry, planning how to spend their money. Meanwhile, the scene at the government office in the capital was far from harmonious.

"Your Highness, the bandit leader has confessed. He said that their leader, Duan Laohu, bribed Abbot Yin Kong to obtain a map of the residences of the women in the Minister's mansion, which is why they were able to find them so accurately."

The second prince's trusted subordinates reported the results to him.

The second prince pursed his lips and remained silent, only tapping his fingers incessantly on the table, clearly showing his agitation.

"This matter involves too many people. Keep a close eye on them and don't let them harm themselves. The rest of you should not alert them," the Second Prince instructed.

After the subordinate withdrew, Song Wenyang stepped forward and asked, "Brother Rong, should this matter be reported to the Emperor?"

The second prince said, "Since Father has entrusted me with this matter, I will no longer let him worry. This Yin Kong is truly a man of great hidden talent."

"Since we've decided not to alert him, why don't we have our people find the evidence? With witnesses and physical evidence, let's see how he can still deny it," Song Wenyang said.

The second prince nodded, and the two began to discuss how to capture Yin Kong in one fell swoop.

At midnight, inside Lingshan Temple.

Abbot Yin Kong opened the door and looked around. When he found that all the candles in the temple had been extinguished, he excitedly returned to the room, tiptoed and locked the door from the inside, and took out a small box from a hidden compartment under the bed.

When the box was opened, it contained a thick stack of silver notes. It turned out that this was the ill-gotten gains that Yin Kong had obtained by selling information.

He spat into his hand and then began counting the silver notes, over and over again, as if counting them would increase the number of notes.

Then, he took out a small booklet from the box. It was covered with dense writing on it. He wrote some more on it, and then put it back in its place, satisfied, and went to sleep.

Unbeknownst to him, his every move was already being watched by the man in black outside the window.

“Brother Rong, Yin Kong was indeed not wronged. There was a hidden compartment under his bed, and inside the box in the compartment were many silver notes!” Song Wenyang said as he untied the black silk scarf from his face. It turned out that the man in black was him.

"Hmph, you old fox, I'll send men to capture him right now!" The Second Prince slammed his hand on the table, about to summon his men.

"Brother Rong, don't be anxious! That old man Yin Kong is cunning and treacherous; there might be a trap. I have an idea that you can listen to," Song Wenyang said, stopping the Second Prince.

"Good brother, you've always been full of schemes, tell me about them."

Then Song Wenyang whispered something in the Second Prince's ear, and the Second Prince clapped his hands and cheered.

"Excellent, excellent! This way we can catch them off guard without alerting them. Brother Song, you are truly wise!"

"Brother Rong is too kind."

Inside the old lady's room in the Minister's mansion, only the old lady and her servant Danxue were present.

"Danxue, have you accepted all the rewards from your masters?" the old lady asked.

"Reporting to the old lady, it was already packed away last night."

"That's good. If you're not comfortable leaving your valuables at home, you can take them home. I'll give you a day off."

"Ha, home is not as safe as the manor. My mother only takes my things and gives them to my sister-in-law. If I take all the rewards from the masters home, they will be gone in less than ten days."

Danxue gave a mocking laugh and said self-deprecatingly.

The old lady sighed but didn't say anything. Every family has its own troubles. Danxue was beautiful and tall, and loyal to her master, but she had a pair of muddle-headed parents who only knew how to use her things to please her sister-in-law, so Danxue rarely went home.

"You've done a great service in protecting your master this time, and it's brought me honor. Tell me, what reward do you want?" the old lady asked.

"I don't want anything, I just want the old lady to be healthy."

"Let's keep things separate. How about I arrange a marriage for you, so you can leave the Minister's mansion and get married? That would be a respectable way for you," the old lady asked.

To everyone's surprise, Danxue knelt on the ground, her eyes red, and said...

"Grandma, as you know, my parents favored boys over girls and only cared about my brother and sister-in-law. I have never felt the warmth of a family. I don't want to get married at all; I just want to serve you."

The old lady looked distressed as well, and she gestured for Danxue to get up, saying...

"Alright, alright. The other maids can't wait to get married and leave the manor. But you're different. Since that's the case, I'll give you a small house. If you don't want to go home anymore, you can go there."

Moved, Danxue kowtowed to the old lady and from then on worked even more diligently.

As night fell, Lingshan Temple was pitch black and silent, with everyone fast asleep.

"Fire! Fire! Help!" someone shouted, the sound particularly jarring in the quiet night.

Yin Kong sat up abruptly in bed. Lingshan Temple couldn't afford to catch fire. If the scripture pavilion burned down, it would be all over. The reason why Lingshan Temple was so prosperous was because it had more scriptures than other places.

He hurriedly threw on a coat, not even bothering to put on his shoes, and opened the door to see that, sure enough, the direction of the scripture pavilion was on fire. Without thinking, he rushed over.

What he didn't see was that after he left, a man in black came into his room.

When Yin Kong arrived at the Scripture Pavilion, he found that there was a fire on the side, caused by a pile of firewood that had come from somewhere and started to burn fiercely.

He instructed the young monks in the temple to put out the fire, and then leisurely returned to his room.

Meanwhile, inside the residence of the Second Prince of the capital, Song Wenyang walked in carrying a box.

"Quickly open it and see what's inside, that old fox treats it like a treasure." The Second Prince stood up impatiently and said.

After Song Wenyang opened the box, he saw that there were only silver notes and a booklet inside. They tacitly opened the booklet and saw that it contained records of when, when, and who bought information from him.

It turns out that this hidden man not only stole the temple's incense money, but also sold information for silver. The booklet contained the names of several high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

The two of them counted the silver notes, which totaled a full ten thousand taels.

"Old Song, I need to deliver this box to Father Emperor tonight. You stay here to handle the aftermath," the Second Prince said.

"Brother Rong, go ahead with peace of mind. There is too much information in this booklet for you to make a decision on your own."

"If you ask me, you should come with me. You've done a great service this time. My father will give you an official position. Let's see if your stepmother will still dare to look down on you then," the second prince advised.

“No, if my father finds out that I didn’t study in Jinling and have been staying in the capital all along, he will beat me to death,” Song Wenyang said politely.

"You, you! He doesn't pave a way out for you; all he cares about is his youngest son. Can't you even find your own way out?" the Second Prince said, speaking up for him.

Song Wenyang didn't speak, but just shook his head with a wry smile. Every family has its own troubles; once he secretly becomes stronger, everyone around him will be a good person.