The head cook monk heard subtle bubbling sounds coming from the sealed kitchen. He wondered if it was another starving monk who had gone in to search for food.

Ever since the treasure offerings on the Precious Pagoda were stolen and Lotus Temple was closed, all the monks had been trapped inside the temple, unable to move freely. This famous monastery, built during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, had become a heavily guarded prison. All monks who could approach the Precious Pagoda were arrested as suspects, while the remaining monks, though confined and forbidden from leaving, could still continue their religious practice within the temple.

The monks believed themselves innocent and thought that by persevering and waiting, the truth would eventually come to light. Who could have known that after two days, when all the rice, flour, and vegetables stored in the temple were completely used up, the authorities would not permit them to go out to purchase supplies.

“Let them starve for a few days to reflect on their sins. Only when the precious pearl is found will they have something to eat.”

This was what the guarding bailiffs said. The order came from some high-ranking official with great power, and they could only carry it out without any accommodation. Unless the guilty party came forward to confess, not a single person would be allowed to leave.

Lotus Temple was a large monastery, and including the traveling monks staying temporarily, there were over one hundred and fifty monks in the temple. They customarily stored large quantities of food, but the Feast of Universal Giving held for Guanyin’s Enlightenment Day had already consumed most of it, leaving little in reserve. Moreover, Lotus Temple was built within the city, and all the temple’s farmland and vegetable gardens were in the countryside outside the city, completely inaccessible at this time.

The monks, accustomed to having no worries about food and clothing, suddenly panicked. But with Abbot Monk Liaoru not even daring to leave his abbot’s chamber to defend himself, who could help them appeal?

By today, they had been starving for nearly three days. The head cook monk felt weak and powerless throughout his body. He thought it was fortunate that the temple had a water well – he had heard that as long as people had water to drink, they could survive for ten days to half a month without immediately starving to death. Those monks who hadn’t been arrested for interrogation all felt themselves lucky, not knowing that more cruel torment lay ahead. If that treasure was never found, wouldn’t they all starve to death within these walls?

The entire monastery had been thoroughly searched several times. Yesterday they had divided and eaten all the offerings before the Buddha statues. Even grains of old rice that had fallen in corners were found and eaten. Where could there be any remaining food? Even the rats had probably starved enough to move away. It was said that the monk in charge of the main hall had already begun to consider the beeswax candles.

Hearing the sounds from the kitchen, the head cook monk’s legs felt weak and sore. He didn’t want to deal with this futile theft, but there was still some firewood in the kitchen, and if a fire started and burned the place down, the responsibility would fall on him. He could only sigh and drag his heavy legs to open the kitchen door.

“There’s no food, stop looking…” he called out weakly. The kitchen, once bustling with activity, was now empty with not a soul in sight.

In the center of the kitchen, the large oil pot was emitting wisps of smoke, with flames burning fiercely beneath it. This large iron pot was used to make Lotus Temple’s famous vegetarian dishes. It was as big as a bathtub and could deep-fry whole mock chickens and ducks. Previously, even the fine oil dregs settled at the bottom of the pot had been scooped up and eaten. Now only a pot of clear oil remained inside.

The head cook monk thought someone had become so hungry they wanted to drink oil, and muttered to himself: “Drinking oil directly will give you diarrhea, and you’ll lose all the oil in your intestines too – that would be such a waste.”

Although he said this, he smelled a strange odor – a rich fishy stench mixed with the aroma of meat. This wasn’t the smell of vegetarian food, but real meat and fish.

Could someone have caught wild cats or dogs to cook here? Such acts of breaking Buddhist precepts should be immediately reported to the supervising monk, but the smell of food was like an invisible chain binding the hungry monk, making him involuntarily walk toward the large oil pot. While silently chanting about his sins, he couldn’t help but lift the pot lid…

He saw the large iron pot boiling, with a human head fried to a golden brown color rolling up and down in the hot oil.

The head cook monk let out a wild scream, his vision went black, and he fell backward.

That afternoon at the hour of the Monkey, Bao Lang formally presented his calling card, requesting to visit Yang Xingjian in the name of Cui Keyong’s special envoy and Military Supervisor, specifically mentioning that his beloved daughter, Miss Yang, should also attend.

After reading the visiting card, Yang Xingjian sighed: “Misfortune lies within fortune, fortune lies within misfortune. Whether it’s fortune or misfortune, there’s no escaping this encounter.”

Bao Zhu looked at the handwriting on the card, which was barely formed, sloppy and ugly, yet every stroke was tense like drawn swords, slashing horizontally and vertically. It seemed to come from a military officer’s hand, offering a glimpse into the writer’s temperament. She asked: “What position is this Military Supervisor? It doesn’t seem to exist in the capital.”

Yang Xingjian’s worried expression didn’t fade as he said: “This is a specialized subordinate official exclusive to regional military governors. In the army, they handle law enforcement and punishment. To subdue many military ruffians and villains in such places, one must be ruthless and merciless. Fang… Fangxie should value your status and preferably not appear.”

Bao Zhu knew that both of them were under house arrest in the county office’s inner residence, all controlled by this person behind the scenes. Curious at heart, she actually wanted to meet him face to face to see exactly how many heads and legs this person had.

She said: “It doesn’t matter. Whether I meet him or not, he won’t let us leave this place. To defeat the enemy, one must first understand them. I haven’t met this person face to face, so I can’t think of any countermeasures.”

Seeing her determined attitude, Yang Xingjian could only agree, thinking to himself with admiration: Although Princess Wangshou grew up in the deep palace, having practiced martial arts, her courage was indeed different from ordinary palace women.

When the princess was still young, she enjoyed archery and horseback riding. His Majesty, to please her, overcame all objections and arranged for famous teachers to carefully instruct her. The Tang Dynasty had many renowned and fierce generals, and when they returned to Chang’an for imperial audiences, they would all be invited to teach her a move or two. Raising such a small Miss Li, even during the emperor’s imperial tours, he would bring her along. Such favor could truly be called shocking to the court and the people.

Such a favored imperial princess, who ended up buried alive in an underground palace due to an unspeakable conspiracy and fell to such a miserable state, still had the courage to go to Youzhou alone to search for relatives. She was truly a girl with a broad and open heart.

After Bao Zhu and Yang Xingjian reached an agreement, both parties arranged to meet that evening at the hour of the Dog.

Although Yang Xingjian was sixth rank, he carried a silver fish pouch, so according to the unspoken rules of officialdom, he should be treated with the courtesy due to a fifth-rank superior.

When Wu Zhiyuan arranged the seating order according to status, Bao Lang finally showed modesty for once, positioning himself in the secondary seat. He sat with the other officials of Xiagui County in the hall waiting for Yang Xingjian to appear. As footsteps approached from the inner hall, servants lifted the bamboo curtain, and several people politely stood up.

They saw Yang Xingjian wearing a deep green official robe with a silver belt, walking out with the square official gait. On his head, he had replaced his soft wrapped headband with an upturned-corner headband, commonly known among the people as a black gauze cap. After entering the hall, he stepped aside to make way. The sound of jade ornaments tinkling, silk skirts swishing, and subtle fragrance floating could be heard as a beautiful young woman in a goose-yellow shirt and skirt slowly walked in from behind the bamboo curtain.

She didn’t greet everyone, walking past the hall as if no one else existed, looking straight ahead, and went directly to the central main seat. She gracefully lifted her skirt hem preparing to sit down, but suddenly remembered something and quickly stood up again. Pretending to use her sleeve as a handkerchief, she wiped the chair, then turned around and walked to Yang Xingjian’s side, supporting his arm and inviting him to sit.

“Father, please sit here.”

Yang Xingjian stood stiffly and awkwardly nodded, following her words and sitting down, but his buttocks only lightly touched a small part of the chair while he silently chanted “shortening my lifespan.” The young woman in the yellow skirt then stood beside Yang Xingjian with her hands clasped, attending to him like any filial daughter in the world.

The interaction between father and daughter was extremely subtle, but Bao Lang keenly observed it all, not understanding the reason for the moment, and smiled with great interest. County Magistrate Wu Zhiyuan glimpsed that Miss Yang was wearing the gold and silver jewelry he had given, feeling greatly comforted and very much admiring his wife’s idea.

Though they were clearly hostile to each other with hidden agendas, everyone still put on airs and exchanged pleasantries. Bao Lang smiled while engaging in small talk, and Wu Zhiyuan, Hao Jin, and others who had personally witnessed him kill people all felt their hair stand on end, constantly feeling he might stand up and draw his sword to strike at any moment.

Finally meeting this mastermind who had placed them under house arrest, Yang Xingjian couldn’t help but look at him several more times.

He saw that this young Military Supervisor was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, wearing a black round-collar dark robe embroidered with subtle xiezhi patterns, leather arm guards on both wrists, and a three-chi horizontal sword with a shark-skin sheath hanging from his belt. He cut an impressive figure with hard features and a pair of eyes like cold lightning. Even while engaging in false smiles and pleasantries, he still gave off an extremely strong sense of oppression.

This military officer standing among a group of civil officials had a very distinctive temperament. Even as an enemy, Yang Xingjian couldn’t help but secretly admire this person’s extraordinary appearance.