Some of the onlookers hurriedly went to inform their masters, while others followed Shen Linyi to find out what was going on.
Noticing quite a few people trailing behind her, a hint of cunning flashed across Shen Linyi's eyes. But in the next moment, she resumed her pitiful look.
Fortunately, in the past few days, Qinghe had been constantly assigning tasks to them, and Shen Linyi had got a general idea of the layout of the nunnery.
The group made their way in a grand manner towards the kitchen.
At this moment, Qinghe was having a meal with a group of nuns around a small dining table in the kitchen. Although their food consisted only of vegetarian dishes, it smelled so appetizing that it made one's mouth water.
"Qinghe, you're so smart. Since there are people who don't complete their tasks seriously, we shouldn't let them have a proper meal."
"That's right. Although Qinghe is young, she's the most intelligent among us. Since Master Wen is about to be promoted, I'm sure he'll reward you handsomely for dealing with that woman for him."
"That woman always wears a veil, but she acts so coquettishly. She clearly doesn't come from a good family. I despise women like her the most. Qinghe, you did a great job."
A group of nuns surrounded Qinghe, complimenting her in a hubbub, their faces full of flattery.
Qinghe raised her head proudly, enjoying the compliments around her, feeling even more arrogant inside.
Wen Heyu was a top scholar. In Qinghe's heart, such a person was as brilliant as a god.
Although it was Wen Heyu who had instructed Qinghe to torment Shen Linyi, wasn't Qinghe also driven by envy and jealousy deep down when she spared no effort to cooperate with him?
How could such a woman be worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with the top scholar!
So Qinghe didn't see anything wrong with Wen Heyu's actions. In her eyes, it was a blessing for Shen Linyi to be taken as a concubine by Wen Heyu.
Flattered by everyone, Qinghe became a bit dizzy with success. She tilted her chin up and said, "It was just sending some spoiled vegetarian food over. It's not a very ingenious method. Tomorrow, I'll go and collect their bedding. We can't let them sleep so comfortably."
A hint of malice flashed across Qinghe's eyes. Just as she was about to tell everyone how she planned to further torment Shen Linyi, she heard Shen Linyi's voice coming from the door, "So, Sister Qinghe, you admit that it was you who sent this vegetarian food?"
Qinghe looked up and only saw Shen Linyi and Liuyun. Then she smelled the stench of the food in Liuyun's hand and immediately frowned in disgust.
"Ugh! What are you bringing these here for! You've just polluted our kitchen! Ugh!!"
Liuyun threw the food onto the small dining table with a cold face. The spoiled food and soup splashed all over a nun, making them step back repeatedly due to the stench.
"Sister Qinghe, you know how stinky this food is. Then why did you send this kind of food to us? In the past few days, it's okay that you've been tormenting my lady and me openly and secretly, but do you even have to give us such bad food?"
Liuyun secretly pinched her own leg and stubbornly yet aggrievedly exposed Qinghe's malice.
Shen Linyi then spoke up in a soft and gentle tone, "Sister Qinghe, I don't know why you're targeting us like this. If you want to charge more for the accommodation, just speak up. Although my maid and I are poor, we're not unreasonable people. Why do you have to do this..."
Shen Linyi and Liuyun perfectly portrayed the image of innocent and stubborn young women being bullied by villains. As soon as they spoke, they put Qinghe on the spot. Their words implied that Qinghe was not only greedy for money but also fond of bullying others with her power. She was simply a heartless nun.
Qinghe was furious. For a moment, she didn't notice the many people behind Shen Linyi and started to speak without thinking.
"You! Do you think you're a good person? If you weren't so eager to cling to power and refused to be a concubine, you wouldn't have ended up like this!"
"That nobleman is such a magnificent and upright person. How could your lowly body be worthy of standing beside him?"
"Giving you spoiled food is already giving you face. If you're still so stubborn and unruly, don't blame me if you have to eat spoiled food tomorrow and the day after!"
Qinghe roared the last sentence so loudly that everyone behind Shen Linyi heard it clearly.
The corners of Shen Linyi's mouth under the veil curled up.
Fool. Shout louder so that everyone around can hear clearly.
"Sister Qinghe, how... how could you say such things about me?" Shen Linyi said with tears in her eyes, her body trembling as if she had suffered a great injustice.
"You're just slandering my reputation out of thin air. Is this how the nuns in this Meditation Nunnery treat pilgrims?"
Seeing Shen Linyi's affected appearance, Qinghe was enraged and was about to speak again when a nun beside her tugged at her sleeve and said, "Qinghe, stop talking. Look outside the door!"
The kitchen door was very narrow, only wide enough for one person. Since Shen Linyi and her maid were standing at the door, from Qinghe's perspective, she could only see them.
Now, being reminded, she saw through the gap that there was a group of people standing behind Shen Linyi. She immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
What had she just said...
It was over. If the abbess found out, she would be locked in a dark room and tortured inhumanely...
"I... I was just joking with this benefactor..." Qinghe quickly reacted and forced a stiff smile as she weakly explained to the people standing behind Shen Linyi.
Most of the people standing behind Shen Linyi were maids of noble ladies. They had come here with their masters for spiritual cultivation but had witnessed such a thing.
As women of low status, how could they not understand the despair and struggle of being slandered and being forced into the fate of being taken as a concubine by a nobleman?
Seeing Shen Linyi and her maid looking so pitiful and hearing Qinghe's malicious words, they immediately imagined a story in their minds where a nobleman forced a common girl to be his concubine.
"Pfft. They claim to be nuns who have left the secular world, but they're no different from the madams in brothels!"
"I'm so disappointed. My lady even praised this place as a good place for spiritual cultivation. But in my opinion, these nuns here are good at deceiving people."
"Fortunately, my master hasn't offended these nuns. If our master's reputation were slandered by these nuns with just a few words, would we maids have to follow our master to death?"
Hearing these remarks, Qinghe could hardly stand.
The nuns who had originally surrounded Qinghe scattered like birds and beasts and quickly went to comfort these people.
Seeing the people behind her starting to disperse, Shen Linyi pulled Liuyun and turned around to leave. But at a fork in the road, they turned and circled around to the back of the kitchen.
The kitchen of the Meditation Nunnery was close to a small hillside, with only a low stone wall around it. The two of them could squat behind the stone wall and hear all the conversations in the kitchen.
Liuyun was a bit puzzled when she saw Shen Linyi's actions. "My lady, what are you doing?"
Shen Linyi put her finger to her lips and motioned Liuyun to be quiet.
She had noticed something amiss just now. The way these nuns treated Qinghe was obviously very special. Qinghe was very young and surely didn't have any great reputation among them. This could only prove that Qinghe's identity was problematic.
Moreover, she had caused such a big stir. She had to find out how they were planning things behind her back.