"Watch out, Fourth Miss!"
Inside the room, Meng, in a crazy state, lunged at Song Yihuan. Nanny Chen was walking behind Song Yihuan. By the time she realized something was wrong, it was too late to stop her!
At this critical moment, a tall and imposing figure rushed in from outside the door. He wrapped his arms around Song Yihuan's waist and pulled her behind him. Another person stepped in front of Song Yihuan and kicked Meng, who was lunging forward.
With a "thud", Meng was kicked flying and fell heavily to the ground. She rolled twice and then fainted.
All this happened in an instant. When everyone came to their senses, they saw Ji Lingchuan firmly protecting Song Yihuan, his face as cold as frost, while Feixue stood in front of them.
Presumably, it was she who had kicked Meng just now.
After Song Nanxin came to her senses, her face was full of anger. "Where did this lowly maid come from? How dare she hurt the Marquise! Someone, arrest her!"
"Who dares?" Ji Lingchuan said coldly. He looked at Meng, who was lying unconscious on the ground. "She almost hurt the heir of the Prince Ning's Mansion. She deserves this kick."
"Your Highness!" Song Nanxin stared at him with wide eyes, looking completely incredulous.
Nanny Chen was also extremely angry. This was the first grandchild of the Prince and Princess Ning. If it was a grandson, even if he was a bastard, he would still be highly regarded.
Moreover, Song Yihuan had lost her virginity to Ji Lingchuan and got pregnant because of Song Nanxin's scheme. In the future, the child would be recorded under the name of the legal wife, which meant it would be Ji Lingchuan's legitimate son. How could there be any mistakes?
"Your Highness is right. The child in Miss Song's belly is the eldest son of Your Highness. Not to mention the Marquise of Ding'an, even the Marquis of Ding'an should not be spared any courtesy," Nanny Chen said coldly.
"If the Princess Consort is dissatisfied, you can go and talk to the Princess. I will report everything that happened in the Marquis Mansion today to the Princess in detail. The Princess will surely give the Princess Consort an explanation."
Song Nanxin watched as one by one they protected Song Yihuan. She was so angry that she had no choice but to turn around and tell the other maids in the room to help the fainted Meng onto the bed.
Ji Lingchuan then let go of the person in his arms and looked down at her. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt just now?"
Song Yihuan tightly grabbed the sleeve of his robe, looking still in shock. When she heard his question, tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to remain calm and said,
"I'm fine. I... I didn't have time to react just now. I almost hurt the child. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
She was clearly frightened but still crying and apologizing to him. Even the most hard - hearted person would probably be moved, not to mention Ji Lingchuan, who was just pretending to be cold.
He felt extremely heart - broken at this moment. He gently stroked her face and wiped away the tears on her face. "It's not your fault. You've been doing your duty by taking care of your seriously ill parents while being pregnant."
Nanny Chen was a bit relieved to see that Ji Lingchuan's cold attitude towards Song Yihuan had softened a little.
After comforting Song Yihuan, Ji Lingchuan walked forward. Standing in front of the couch, looking at Meng, who was in a sorry state, he said coldly,
"I just went to see the Marquis of Ding'an. He is also very ill. Although the Marquise is awake, she not only doesn't recognize people but also behaves like a crazy person. Princess Consort, you are the legitimate daughter of the Marquis Mansion. In your opinion, how should this matter be handled most appropriately?"
Song Nanxin had come back to visit the Marquis of Ding'an and Meng today because Nanny Zhao had told her that there were "ghosts" in the Marquis Mansion, so she wanted to come back and find out. Now that she had seen Meng's condition with her own eyes, her heart had already turned cold.
She didn't know if there were really ghosts in the Marquis Mansion, but with Meng in this state, her life was over.
The once - glorious mistress of the Marquis Mansion would now be locked up in this Qiushuang Courtyard and would never be able to see the outside world again.
Song Nanxin bit her lower lip tightly and didn't answer. Seeing this, Song Yihuan said,
"Your Highness and Nanny may not know. Recently, Father and Mother have fallen ill one after another, and even the maids beside Mother have fallen ill. So there have been rumors of ghosts in the mansion. I was worried about Father and Mother's health, so I went to Changyue Nunnery and invited the abbot, Reverend Mingfa, to the mansion."
"When the Reverend arrived at the Marquis Mansion last night, it was already late. Nanny Zhao said that Sister would come back to visit Father and Mother today, so we agreed to wait for Sister to arrive and then let Reverend Mingfa hold a religious ceremony to exorcise the evil spirits for the Marquis and the Marquise. Presumably, Sister was going to make a decision after the Reverend finished the ceremony."
Song Nanxin suddenly remembered that Reverend Mingfa was in the Marquis Mansion. She looked up and said, "Yes, quickly invite Reverend Mingfa to come and chant scriptures to exorcise the evil spirits!"
She didn't believe in ghosts in the world before and always thought that the rumors of ghosts in the Marquis Mansion were caused by someone's tricks.
But now that she had seen Meng's crazy state with her own eyes, not only mistaking Song Nanzhe for Song Yixuan but also Song Yihuan for Concubine Rou, she couldn't help but believe it!
Moreover, she knew very well how Concubine Rou and Song Yixuan had died. She was so nervous that her palms were full of cold sweat.
Ji Lingchuan glanced at Song Nanxin and said, "In that case, let's invite Reverend Mingfa then."
Noon was the time when the yang energy was the strongest in a day. Reverend Mingfa placed the Buddha statue brought from Changyue Nunnery in Meng's room. She sat cross - legged on the cushion and, together with the little nun beside her, knocked on the wooden fish and chanted the "Sutra of the Earth Treasury Bodhisattva" to Meng.
Ji Lingchuan, Song Yihuan, Song Nanxin, and Nanny Chen were sitting around, watching all this.
The Buddhist chanting filled the whole room. Although the scriptures were originally ethereal and full of Buddhist meaning, they sounded eerie at this moment.
Meng was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Her breathing gradually became steady during the chanting. However, after a while, she rolled her eyes again and mumbled in her sleep.
"It wasn't me. I didn't kill you!"
"Hahaha, you seductress. You deserved to die!"
"Go to hell with your short - lived son!"
The chanting suddenly stopped. Reverend Mingfa opened her eyes, looking a bit solemn.
Song Nanxin immediately asked, "Reverend, why did you suddenly stop? Is there something wrong?"
"It's not good. It's not good," Reverend Mingfa shook her head.
"The 'Sutra of the Earth Treasury Bodhisattva' is a Buddhist scripture for exorcising the souls of the dead. Normally, after hearing the scriptures, the souls in the world should be guided by the Buddha's Dharma to the Pure Land."
"However, this soul still lingers in the Marquis Mansion and refuses to leave. It continues to pester the Marquise, which means that the soul had a very strong grudge when it was alive and may have suffered a great injustice when it died."
Reverend Mingfa paused. "They say that every grievance has its origin and every debt has its debtor. This soul is so difficult to deal with. I'm afraid the Marquise is related to the soul's death."
Song Nanxin's face turned pale. She subconsciously tightened her grip on the armrest of the chair and said, "Is there no other way?"
Song Yihuan quietly looked at Reverend Mingfa. As if sensing her gaze, Reverend Mingfa straightened her back slightly and said,
"Actually, there is a way. If we can invite a god to possess someone and let me talk to the wronged soul personally to understand its grievances, maybe we can resolve them."
Song Yihuan's eyelashes fluttered. "As long as we can save Mother, any method is acceptable. Everything will be up to you, Reverend."