The Taoist priest Yuan Zheng put his hands together, uttered "Amitabha", took off his cassock, divided it into two parts, stepped forward, wrapped the "babies" born to Jiang Mian and Mo Zhizhang respectively, and placed them beside the two of them.
"I didn't expect the prefect's wife to come to Ling'an Temple to take shelter. I... cough, I, a poor monk, am late. I hope the lady won't blame me." Yuan Zheng said to Mo Zhizhang.
Mo Zhizhang replied, "The master opened the temple for the common people to take shelter during this natural disaster in Cangzhou. It's a great deed of merit. It doesn't matter that you're a bit late."
Yuan Zheng put his hands together and played the role of a monk very responsibly: "Amitabha. If the lady has any needs, just tell me. I'll surely do my best to meet them."
On the other side, Jiang Mian fell silent. She pretended to be "asleep".
Mo Zhizhang picked up the pillow wrapped in the cassock and, avoiding Jiang Mian with Yuan Zheng, walked to a place not far from Jiang Zhiqing and Li Zhao.
"Just now, master, you said that if I have any needs, you can meet them all?"
"Then please master take a look at my daughter. Is her birth date that of a blessed person? Can she help her father's official career?"
Every word they said was pre - instructed by Jiang Mian.
Jiang Mian didn't forget that when she was in Dongli Town, she had once asked Yuan Zheng to read her birth date.
But Yuan Zheng said that it wasn't her birth date. Strangely enough, Ye Wanxing's birth date didn't match hers either. She had always hidden this detail in her heart. Now, taking this opportunity, it was just right to test Jiang Zhiqing's reaction.
Yuan Zheng pretended to calculate with his fingers and said, "Oh, unfortunately, the birth time of the lady's baby is a bit off. It just crosses a lucky time. The time is extremely inauspicious. Not only will the baby have a short life, but it may also bring bad luck to the family."
"As for the baby born by the other lady just now, it was born at a lucky time and can help the family rise to prominence. It's a pity, such a pity."
"You mean her baby has a better fate than mine? And my child will die young?" Mo Zhizhang said coldly. "A country woman, how could she deserve such a fate?"
Over there, Jiang Zhiqing slowly raised her stiff head and looked at the two people talking in the shadows. Her fingers trembled imperceptibly.
Mo Zhizhang continued, "Does the master have any way to change the fate? So that my child can survive and even become a blessed person?"
The monk played by Yuan Zheng quickly said, "Even if I knew such a way to change fate, I would never do it. It goes against the will of heaven."
Yuan Zheng refused no matter what and made an excuse to leave in a hurry. Mo Zhizhang had no choice but to give up.
She carried the "baby" back to the center of the main hall, looked down at Jiang Mian, and sneered, "It's all because of you. You gave birth at the same time as me and took the lucky time that should have belonged to my child. If it weren't for you, my child wouldn't have such a short - lived appearance."
"The child of a country woman actually has a prosperous and noble fate. Why?"
Mo Zhizhang paused and continued, "That's right. Since your child has a good fate and my child is doomed to die young, it's better to exchange them from the very beginning."
As she said this, there was another thunderclap outside. The candles lit in the main hall flickered on and off, as if there was a gust of wind blowing.
Mo Zhizhang squatted down, placed the pillow wrapped in the cassock beside Jiang Mian, then picked up the baby in Jiang Mian's arms, slowly stood up, and walked out.
The candles in the hall flickered more violently. Jiang Mian even felt a cool breeze swirling beside her, as if it wanted to wake her up and stop all this from happening.
Jiang Mian held her breath, not daring to make a sound, for fear that any noise she made would disturb the swirling wind.
Could it be the lost soul of her mother?
Mo Zhizhang walked further and further away. Just as she was about to step out of the hall door, suddenly, a hoarse and shrill female voice came from behind:
"No, don't, don't take my child away!"
Jiang Zhiqing, who had been sitting stupidly in Li Zhao's arms, suddenly moved. She broke free from Li Zhao and staggered towards Mo Zhizhang: "That's my child, the child of my husband and me. No one can take it away. Give my child back to me!"
She rushed in front of Mo Zhizhang, snatched the pillow from her arms, hugged it tightly, and her body trembled violently.
"Since the lady has her own child, she should raise her own child well. Just because of the so - called fate, you try to take away someone else's child. The prefect's wife is just a hypocrite!"
Her words were前所未有的 clear, and this sentence made Li Zhao and Jiang Mian's hearts skip a beat.
Jiang Zhiqing immediately lowered her head and gently patted the "baby" in her arms, coaxing, "Be good, my child. This time, mother won't let anyone take you away from mother again. Mother will protect the last trace of your father's blood in this world. You must remember, except for mother, everyone in this world - "
She gritted her teeth and said word by word with hatred, "Are all man - eating devils!"
Li Zhao was greatly shocked. Looking at Jiang Zhiqing protecting the "baby" in her arms, his fingertips were trembling slightly.
How could a person change so much?
On Qianren Mountain yesterday, she was like an unenlightened child, talking incoherently and looking confused.
But now, her protection of the child in her arms, the hatred in her eyes, and her clear words all showed that she was now in a clear state of mind -
Jiang Mian had succeeded!
Then, Jiang Zhiqing immediately noticed something was wrong.
The "baby" in her arms was not only soft but also didn't cry. She looked down and found that what was wrapped in the cassock was a pillow, not a baby at all.
Her pupils shrank, and she looked up in a panic: "This isn't my child. Where's my child? The child..."
The next moment, someone threw herself into her arms, hugged her waist tightly, pressed her cheek against hers, and choked, "Mother, I'm your child. I'm right here."
Jiang Zhiqing was stunned. She blinked her eyes, and her brain, which had been dull for a long time, started to turn with difficulty.
This person, why does this person call her... mother?
Her voice, why does it sound so familiar?
As if sensing her hesitation and doubt, the girl in her arms rubbed her cheek and choked, "Mother, I'm your child. I was born in Ling'an Temple eighteen years ago but was taken away by others."
"Don't worry. No one can take me away from you. Your child is back, back by your side. From now on, we mother and daughter will never be separated again."
The child taken away eighteen years ago had come back?
Jiang Zhiqing was in a daze. She gently pushed Jiang Mian away and sized up the girl in front of her.
Although there were candles lit in the hall, the light was not sufficient. This also reduced the effect of the Tianli vine juice on Jiang Mian's face. At the first sight of this face, Jiang Zhiqing felt as if something had hit her heart hard. Her eyes quickly became moist. She opened her mouth and said with a choked voice:
"You are... the child of my husband and me. You didn't die. You're still alive. That's great, that's great!"