Ji Shisu was the one most qualified to testify whether Zhao Luoning was chaste.
Under Yu Chi's questioning, Ji Shisu quickly replied, "What are you thinking about? Of course she's chaste! How could you believe the words of that heartless old woman, Nurse Xu?!"
Yu Chi nodded upon hearing this.
"Right. No wonder you plucked out that evil woman's tongue. That tongue really shouldn't have been left!"
When Ji Shisu stood up for Zhao Luoning, he had already made up his mind.
Whether Zhao Luoning was chaste or not no longer mattered to him.
Even if she wasn't, he could understand why she had kept it from him.
After all, for a woman, it would be a disaster.
He just felt heartache, heartache that she might have been violated, and heartache that she was being blackmailed and slandered by someone like Nurse Xu.
Perhaps many men demanded that their wives be pure, but Ji Shisu didn't think so.
He wasn't chaste either! He hadn't kept himself pure!
After experiencing certain things, he thought the unreasonable requirement for a woman to be completely pure was quite absurd.
As long as Zhao Luoning didn't fool around after marrying him, he could forgive her.
Thinking of what Zhao Luoning had asked earlier, Ji Shisu inquired, "Is there any follow - up on what the Second Young Mistress asked us to investigate?"
Hearing this, Yu Chi's expression immediately turned solemn.
"My lord, that matter is a bit troublesome."
"How so?"
"Caixue's background might be quite extraordinary!" Yu Chi couldn't explain it clearly in just a few words. "My lord, I'd better take you to see the spy. You can ask him yourself."
Ji Shisu nodded, took Yu Chi with him, and left the mansion again.
...
Zhao Luoning moved into the Buddhist hall, which surprised those who didn't know the inside story.
Zhao Luoning explained that she felt guilty about Lianxiang's incident and had moved into the Buddhist hall to copy the "Precepts for Women" in the hope of seeking forgiveness from the Grand Old Mistress and the Lady of the mansion.
The Grand Old Mistress was initially quite shocked. Although Zhao Luoning had indeed been a bit negligent in Lianxiang's matter, it wasn't to the extent that she deserved such punishment.
Later, when she learned that it was the order of Lady Ji, the Grand Old Mistress was immediately unhappy.
Lady Ji's punishment of Zhao Luoning also made the Grand Old Mistress lose face.
After all, the servants who served Lianxiang were sent by the Grand Old Mistress. Lady Ji's complaint that the servants hadn't taken good care of Lianxiang was like blaming the Grand Old Mistress as well!
The Grand Old Mistress immediately sent Mumian to fetch Zhao Luoning out.
However, Zhao Luoning refused.
The Grand Old Mistress got angry.
Since the incident with Lianxiang, she had already had complaints about this granddaughter - in - law who always defied her. Now, when she was kind enough to rescue her, Zhao Luoning actually refused?!
Then let her take the punishment!
Unexpectedly, Zhao Luoning stayed in the Buddhist hall for half a month.
In the first three or five days, the servants still knew their duties and did their jobs well.
But as time passed, the situation got out of control.
The most troublesome thing was that it coincided with the Grand Old Mistress's birthday banquet.
The Grand Old Mistress's 70th birthday was only half a month away. Lord Ji had already given instructions to hold a grand celebration.
Not only were none of the preparations for the birthday completed as the date approached, but even the arrangement of the servants for the banquet had become a problem.
Helpless, everyone had to go to Lady Ji.
Lady Ji hadn't managed the affairs of the mansion for a long time. First of all, it was questionable whether she could handle it.
Just taking the matter of purchasing goods as an example, the accountant was a new one hired by Ji Shisu.
Since this accountant wasn't very familiar with the people in the mansion, he was afraid of making mistakes. So he simply followed the rules and only recognized the family - heirloom jade bracelet. Otherwise, he would never approve the silver.
Finally, Ji Shisu was urgently summoned back. After he went to talk to the accountant, the accountant was willing to approve the silver. Unexpectedly, the first thing he asked for stumped Lady Ji.
It turned out that when Zhao Luoning used to purchase things, she would first make a list of the required items and mark the market prices.
The accountant could then tell how much silver was needed and allocate it accordingly to prevent the servants from over - reporting and embezzling money.
This first problem stumped the Lady.
In the past, when she stocked up on goods, she would only write down the items needed in the mansion. Based on experience, she would estimate how much silver was needed, make a list, and send the servants to the accountant to get the money, with the surplus returned and the shortage made up.
She was different from Zhao Luoning. Zhao Luoning was a businesswoman and was very familiar with the prices of all items in the market.
But Lady Ji was different. She hardly ever left the Ji Mansion. Even when she did, it was just to go to the temple to burn incense and pray. How could she know the specific prices?
Checking the prices one by one might take until after the Grand Old Mistress's birthday, and she still wouldn't be able to find out.
The Grand Old Mistress finally noticed something was wrong and frequently sent people to inquire about the situation.
Lady Ji never expected that Zhao Luoning would take so long to copy the two hundred copies of the "Precepts for Women". So she ordered her personal maid, Nurse Liu, to go and take a look.
When Nurse Liu pushed open the door of the Buddhist hall, Zhao Luoning was burying her head in copying. The floor was covered with pieces of paper. Nurse Liu picked up a stack and saw that they were all copies of the "Precepts for Women"! There must be a thousand or even ten thousand copies of the "Precepts for Women" in this room.
Knowing that Nurse Liu had come in, Zhao Luoning didn't even lift her head. It was only when Caixue was tidying up the papers on the floor that she saw Nurse Liu come in and stood up to greet her.
"Nurse Liu, why do you have the time to come today?"
Although Caixue already knew the purpose of Nurse Liu's visit, she still pretended to ask.
Nurse Liu only said, "The Lady sent me." Then she went to call Zhao Luoning. After calling several times, Zhao Luoning didn't respond. She just kept writing, as if she couldn't hear anything.
Caixue pulled the confused Nurse Liu out of the Buddhist hall, looking extremely worried.
"Nurse, you don't know. Miss has become more and more obsessed with copying. She finished the two hundred copies of the 'Precepts for Women' in just three days. But she said she didn't understand them deeply enough, so she copied another two hundred times. She also found the 'Diamond Sutra' and the 'Great Compassion Mantra' in the Buddhist hall to copy. These days, her words have become more and more out of tune. Yesterday, Miss was still telling me that she wanted to see through the mortal world and become a nun."
Going crazy?
Could one go crazy from copying the "Precepts for Women"?
Nurse Liu broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this.
Seeing that Nurse Liu still didn't believe it, Caixue took out a jade bracelet from her sleeve and handed it to Nurse Liu.
"I was just about to go back and report to the Lady. Since you're here, please help me give this to the Lady."
Nurse Liu had been by the Lady's side for many years. Of course, she recognized this jade bracelet.
Wasn't it the family - heirloom jade bracelet that the Lady had given Zhao Luoning on the day she served tea?
Now, the situation had become serious.
At first, Nurse Liu suspected that Zhao Luoning was acting. She thought that perhaps this Second Young Mistress felt wronged and was just throwing a tantrum.
But taking off the family - heirloom jade bracelet was no small matter.
Everyone knew that once the family - heirloom jade bracelet was put on, unless it was passed on to the next mistress of the mansion, it could never be taken off. Taking it off meant giving up or death!
What did Zhao Luoning mean by taking off the jade bracelet now?
Was she giving up her position as the Second Young Mistress of the Ji Mansion?!