She remarried a cold-faced, powerful man, and the scumbag regretted it and cried his heart out.

Shen Jingshu relayed the Empress's words to Jiang Jin'an.

Finally, Shen Jingshu asked him, "Could His Highness the Crown Prince have any designs on this?"

"will not."

Jiang Jin'an answered decisively.

The two lay side by side on the bed, the brocade curtains hanging low. Jiang Jin'an's voice was particularly clear in the night: "His Majesty has his own considerations and will not allow the Crown Prince to interfere."

Shen Jingshu looked at the brocade canopy above her head and responded in a muffled voice, "I'm just worried that His Majesty's indulgence of Prince Jing will one day lead to a great disaster."

In fact, Emperor Hui's thoughts were simple. In the eyes of an emperor, the struggle between princes was nothing more than a game of power. As long as it did not endanger the country, it was tolerable.

In Emperor Hui's eyes, Wen Huaiqing's methods were nothing more than petty squabbles, not worth mentioning at all.

As for Xie Wanqing's poisoning, he casually attributed it all to Xie Wanqing alone.

If she can resolve the situation, it is naturally due to her intelligence and quick wit.

If she really fell for his trick, in Emperor Hui's eyes, it would probably just be a matter of bad luck and fate.

Jiang Jin'an naturally understood this principle as well.

Noticing her emotions, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, comforting her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

That night, both of them tossed and turned, unable to sleep, each preoccupied with their own thoughts.

The following day, Emperor Hui indeed issued an edict, citing Prince Jing's lax management of his subordinates, which led to the theft of official silver, and ordered him to stay in Prince Jing's residence, where he was not allowed to leave without being summoned.

This decree, though seemingly severe, was actually quite ineffective.

Wen Huaiqing accepted the imperial decree and continued to leisurely play with the birds in his mansion, seemingly unaffected by the matter.

Upon learning this, Minister Wen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Wanqing, far away at Qingyun Temple, knew nothing of this. Every day, she copied scriptures in the Buddhist hall, surrounded by the ancient Buddha and the morning bell. These austere days made her feel like each day was a year, and she lost a lot of weight.

Fu Zijin would occasionally send people to deliver food, clothing, and other necessities to her, which gave her something to look forward to.

On this day, Fu Zijin's men did not come, but Cheng Wenhao arrived uninvited.

He was generous, donating a large sum of money for incense oil, and then specially pulled the young novice monk in charge of receiving guests outside the Buddhist hall, asking him to pass on a few words to Xie Wanqing.

Cheng Wenhao hurled a string of nasty insults, spewing out words like "heartless," "fickle," and "cheating for money and sex," making the naive young novice monk blush with shame, looking like a boiled shrimp.

The young novice monk tried to dissuade him, "Benefactor, monks must not speak falsehoods, especially not..."

Cheng Wenhao glared at him, looking like he wanted to devour him. "Then make her return all those jewels and ornaments to me! I earned them all with my hard work! If she doesn't return them, I'll shave my head and become a monk! I'll make her repent to me every day!"

"..."

The young novice was stunned by his shouting and thought to himself that this person was really unreasonable. He had no choice but to pick out a few words and grit his teeth to convey them to Xie Wanqing.

Upon hearing this, Xie Wanqing was so angry that she almost tore up the Buddhist scripture in her hand.

Back then, Cheng Wenhao tried his best to please her, calling her "my darling" and wishing he could pluck the stars from the sky for her.

Now look what's happened, they've turned on us like this, and they've even come here to ask for things.

What a complete scoundrel! What a dog of a man!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She suddenly pushed open the door of the Buddhist hall and stormed out.

Cheng Wenhao was squatting by the door, idly pulling up the grass on the ground. As soon as he saw her come out, he jumped up and pointed at her nose, cursing.

"You vicious woman!"

"You poisoned my sister! You deceived my feelings!"

"I, Cheng Wenhao, have a reputation built on a lifetime of glory. I must have been blind to have fallen for a woman like you!"

The pilgrims were stunned; they never expected to encounter such a lively event while offering incense and prayers.

The young novice monk quickly pulled him back: "Benefactor, this is a sacred Buddhist site, please be careful with your words!"

Xie Wanqing trembled with anger, "The Cheng family has already broken off the engagement, what more do you want!"

Cheng Wenhao sneered, flicked his folding fan, and tilted his chin up, looking arrogant: "What do I want? You've been lying to me for so long, causing me to lose both money and love. Don't you have any self-awareness?"

"You're talking nonsense! Cheng Wenhao, let me tell you, even if I, Xie Wanqing, am down on my luck, it's none of your business to step on me! My things are all in the Pingyang Marquis's residence. If you have the guts, go and get them yourself! What are you doing causing trouble here at Qingyun Temple!"

Cheng Wenhao stood with his hands on his hips, looking like a rogue, "You tricked me into giving those things back, why can't I get them back? If you don't give them back today, I'll... I'll..."

His eyes darted around, "I'm not leaving here! I'll let everyone see what kind of person you, Xie Wanqing, really are!"

As he spoke, he plopped down on the ground and started throwing a tantrum, yelling, "Oh my god, this is outrageous! Someone's cheating me out of money and my virtue! Everyone, come and judge this!"

Qingyun Temple is a famous temple in the capital, and most of the worshippers are from the capital. Naturally, they have heard a lot of gossip about Shen Jingshu and Xie Wanqing.

Seeing this scene with their own eyes, people couldn't help but stop and watch, whispering among themselves.

"Isn't that the spendthrift son of the Cheng family? What's he doing here?"

"The one next to him, isn't she the cousin of the Marquis of Pingyang? The one whose engagement was broken off..."

"This girl is Xie Wanqing? She's quite pretty, how can she be so vicious?"

"That's right! I heard she even tried to poison her own sister. What a vicious heart she has!"

"Sigh, the Cheng family is really unlucky. How did they end up with such a jerk?"

"Who says otherwise? I heard the Cheng family suffered a double loss this time. Not only did the marriage fall through, but they also lost a lot of money..."

Hearing the whispers around her, Xie Wanqing felt her face burning with embarrassment and wished she could disappear into the ground.

A deep voice rang out: "Amitabha, well said, well said."

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw an old monk wearing a scarlet brocade robe with gold embroidery, holding prayer beads, walking towards them.

The old monk had a kind face, with a compassionate air about him, and bright, piercing eyes. One could tell at a glance that he was a highly accomplished monk.

"It's Abbot Mingkong!"

Someone recognized the old monk and exclaimed in surprise.

Master Mingkong walked up to Cheng Wenhao, put his hands together, and said, "Benefactor, this is a pure Buddhist place. Please be careful with your words and actions."

When Cheng Wenhao saw that it was the abbot, he stopped being presumptuous, got up from the ground, and dusted himself off. "Master is right to teach me a lesson, but this woman cheated people out of their money and took their lives. She is truly despicable."

Abbot Mingkong glanced at Xie Wanqing, then at Cheng Wenhao, his eyes seemingly full of meaning. “Everything has a cause and effect. The cause sown in the past life is the result of today’s harvest. All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning. They should be viewed as such.”

After saying that, he turned to the young novice beside him and said, "Mingyuan, take this benefactor to the meditation room to rest."

“Yes, Master.” The young novice replied, then walked up to Cheng Wenhao. “Benefactor, please follow me.”

Although Cheng Wenhao was confused, he knew that Abbot Mingkong was giving him a way out, so he followed the young novice to the meditation room.

Abbot Mingkong then said to Xie Wanqing, “All the evil deeds I have committed in the past were caused by beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance. They arose from my body, speech, and mind, and I now repent of them all.”

Abbot Mingkong sighed softly and turned to leave.