Purdu Temple.
Because another murder had occurred nearby, Purdu Temple had very few visitors. The moment Ming Huashang entered, she was immediately greeted with eager hospitality by the novice monks. The temple had specifically assigned a young, handsome novice to follow Ming Huashang at her side, attending to her every need and answering her every question.
Ming Huashang naturally had no objection to a young, good-looking little monk. She first went to the Great Hall to offer incense to the Buddha. She wasn’t sure if it was simply her own limited knowledge, but she always felt that the magnificently robed, crown-adorned Buddha enshrined above looked different from the ones she usually saw.
Ming Huashang asked, “Little master, which revered figure is this?”
The novice pressed his palms together and introduced him: “This is Vairocana Buddha. In Sanskrit, the name means ‘radiance illuminating all,’ and so the people of the Central Plains also call him the Great Sun Tathagata.”
Ming Huashang gave a slow “oh” and humbly asked, “And these ones here?”
The Great Sun Tathagata sat cross-legged upon a thousand-petaled lotus throne, his hands forming a mudra, his body wreathed in flames, his features neither clearly masculine nor feminine — more resembling the bodhisattvas Ming Huashang had grown up picturing. On either side of the Great Sun Tathagata stood four more Buddha statues. Each time the novice approached one, he would pause to bow in reverence and then say devoutly: “This is the Jeweled Appearance Buddha of the Southern World of Delight. This is the Amitabha Buddha of the Western Pure Land. This is the Akshobhya Buddha of the Eastern Fragrant Accumulation World. This is the Subtle Voice Buddha of the Northern Lotus World.”
The novice went through the manifestations and mantras of the Five Directional Buddhas one by one. Ming Huashang did not believe in Buddhism, and these Buddhist terms washed over her in a half-understood haze, but she still listened attentively and gave them full respect.
After coming out of the Great Hall, Ming Huashang expressed a desire to take a stroll around the area. The novice agreed to everything without exception and accompanied Ming Huashang on a leisurely walk through Purdu Temple. Ming Huashang looked through the halls one by one and asked, “Little master, why are there so few people today?”
The novice looked utterly miserable: “Honored patron, you may not know — a dead person was found on the official road not far from here, and everyone in the city is saying it’s because those women came to Purdu Temple that they met with misfortune. Many worshippers have simply stopped coming. The temple was already badly affected four years ago, and now things are worse — even fewer visitors.”
Ming Huashang feigned ignorance, responded softly, and asked with an expression of guileless curiosity: “What happened four years ago?”
“An official’s beloved daughter came to Purdu Temple to offer incense, and for some reason wandered into the forest behind the rear gate, where she met with misfortune. Her father insisted our temple was inauspicious. Several of my senior brothers were even arrested on suspicion and questioned repeatedly — only released when nothing could be found out.” The novice grumbled, “This time is even more outrageous — a female patron left the temple after offering incense and was killed on the official road back to the city, and somehow that gets blamed on us too.”
Ming Huashang ventured a probing question: “What time did that female patron leave? Could she have set out too late and run into mountain bandits?”
“On the tenth, the temple was holding a religious ceremony, with people coming and going, extremely busy. We were occupied setting up the altar and chanting sutras — how could we keep track of when one female worshipper left? Besides, the ceremony concluded at the Hour of the Rooster, and we saw off all the worshippers, then closed the gates and tidied the altar. All the brothers can vouch for one another. By the Hour of the Dog we had finished putting away the sutras — everyone was exhausted, and after eating the vegetarian meal they each retired to their rooms to rest. The temple gates were shut the entire time. At the Hour of the Rooster it was still light out, so there was plenty of time to return to the city. How were we to know why the patron lingered outside the city walls and ended up losing her life?”
The novice did not say it outright, but everything he said implied that the victim was a woman from a pleasure house, and that she had perhaps behaved loosely, dallying with someone and missing her chance to return to the city, resulting in her death — and that it had nothing whatsoever to do with Purdu Temple. Ming Huashang caught his meaning. She did not comment, but asked with a show of concern: “After the temple closes its gates, would anyone secretly open them to slip out?”
“Impossible.” The novice said with certainty. “All the keys are kept by the abbot. After the gate is locked each evening, everyone must remain in their rooms to do their spiritual exercises and are not permitted to go out without leave. The abbot is a man of great virtue and renown; he always has disciples following him in practice. He would not do anything improper.”
Ming Huashang fell into thought. Purdu Temple drove everyone out at the Hour of the Rooster — meaning Chu Jun had left at the latest by that hour. Between the Hour of the Rooster and the Hour of the Dog, everyone at Purdu Temple had been together and could vouch for one another. After the Hour of the Dog, the gates were locked and only the abbot could access the key. Ming Huashang had just met the abbot of Purdu Temple — he appeared to be seventy or eighty years old, gaunt yet hale, and did not look like someone who had the strength to kill a woman and sever her legs.
Could it be that the culprit was not someone from Purdu Temple? Then why were the crimes being committed in the vicinity of this temple?
Ming Huashang could not work it out, and continued drawing the novice out in conversation. She asked with a look of puzzlement: “If that’s the case, then why does everyone outside say it’s Purdu Temple’s fault?”
“Who knows?” The novice said miserably. “Our temple has no great name or standing; it was built entirely through the merit of our patrons, and we have always had few worshippers. We don’t know whose eye we’ve offended to suffer such undeserved disaster. After what happened four years ago, the abbot had no choice but to rename the temple. All this time has passed, and now the rumors have been stirred up again — someone must be deliberately fanning the flames behind the scenes.”
Ming Huashang also felt there was something suspicious about how the topic of serial killings had suddenly exploded in Chang’an, but from the novice’s manner, he seemed to believe someone was maliciously poaching their worshippers. Ming Huashang did not understand Buddhist affairs and had no grasp of the tangled rivalries among Chang’an’s temples, so she put on an air of righteous indignation and added fuel to the fire: “You’re right — blaming you without a shred of evidence is utterly unreasonable.”
She went along with the novice’s complaints, observing his expression all the while. Finally, she asked in an offhand tone: “Little master, to resolve the rumors, one must understand where the real problem lies. The recent case has nothing to do with Purdu Temple, but what about four years ago? Is it possible that something was overlooked back then, giving outsiders cause for misunderstanding?”
The novice frowned and said: “The victim four years ago was the beloved daughter of the National Academy’s Chancellor. We would have been treating her like a treasured guest — why would we neglect her? But she had a peculiar temperament. Every time she came to the temple she had no interest in the main halls, and always preferred to worship alone with her maid in a side room, never asking us to disturb her. On that day she came as usual to the side room she always used, then shut the door, dismissed her servants, and we thought nothing of it and went to attend to the other worshippers. We got busy and forgot about her. It was only when the Huang family suddenly came bursting in that we realized she was still in the temple. The abbot hurried over with everyone to the side room, only to find the doors and windows intact, but the person gone.”
Ming Huashang asked: “Were there lamps lit inside at the time?”
The novice shook his head: “No, the room was dark — which is why we assumed she had already left.”
The doors and windows were intact yet the person was gone — meaning she had walked out herself. Ming Huashang asked: “A person that size can’t simply vanish into thin air. Did no one see her leave?”
“This is precisely what we cannot explain.” The novice said. “Not a single brother noticed her — we truly do not know when she left. Because of this, our brothers were suspected of lying and were questioned by the authorities many times.”
Ming Huashang noted that the novice had mentioned Huang Caiwei had a private side room in the temple. Perhaps visiting the actual site might turn up some leads. She asked casually: “Does your temple provide separate side rooms for guests?”
The novice took this as a matter of course and led her eastward: “Over here. There are often worshippers who come out to the countryside for quiet cultivation and wish not to be disturbed; the abbot set aside some side rooms for guests to worship in private. However, the rooms are limited — one must inform the abbot in advance, and as long as a room is free, the abbot will prepare it and offer it to patrons at no charge.”
Ming Huashang nodded as if receiving instruction, but in her mind she knew that even though the novice called it “no charge,” the rooms would certainly be given first to patrons who had donated the most — plainly speaking, one still had to contribute money at Purdu Temple. Ming Huashang walked along the covered corridor and let out a soft sound of surprise: “Little master, why are the pathways of your temple so winding and convoluted, just like a private residence?”
“You have a sharp eye, honored patron. This temple was donated to us as an act of merit by a benefactor. My master originally practiced at Linggan Temple, and after attaining the Way he moved here to establish his own order, and only later took on us brothers as disciples.”
Buddhism was flourishing at this time, and it had become fashionable among many of the court’s noble families to donate their private residences to Buddhist temples; even princesses and princes often did so. It seemed Purdu Temple had come about this way — its original form had been a private residence, later donated to the Buddha, renovated, and transformed into the Purdu Temple of today.
Ming Huashang said: “So that is how Purdu Temple came to be. This generous benefactor who donated their home must have accumulated immense merit — if I may ask, which family was it?”
“The Zheng Family,” the novice added specifically. “The Zheng Family of Xingyang.”
Ming Huashang understood at once — it was the Zheng Family of Xingyang, one of the Five Clans and Seven Great Houses. No wonder. She now looked at the buildings around her with new eyes: the eaves soaring high, the thresholds one after another, permeated with an air of antiquity — it was no wonder so many people wished to come here for quiet cultivation.
Ming Huashang passed through the garden and genuinely remarked: “This garden is truly beautiful.”
“After all, it was the former residence of the Zheng Family of Xingyang — the spirit of a great house lingers here, so of course it is remarkable.” The novice seemed to glow with a certain vicarious pride and, once he had opened up, could not stop: “My lady, you see — this section here is the courtyard specifically built for the upbringing and instruction of women, with locks at every step and strict rules on entry and exit. It is just what you would expect from a family renowned for propriety and ceremony. The Zheng Family of Xingyang’s residence is rarely seen, and many young ladies enjoy coming here to worship, hoping to absorb something of that great-house grace.”
Though the great clans no longer held real power, it did not stop them from looking down upon the imperial family — especially those Li family princesses who conducted themselves with no regard for propriety and went about freely in public. The women of the Five Clans and Seven Great Houses took pride in never showing teeth when they smiled and never letting their feet be seen when they walked; a courtyard this austere and lofty was indeed very like what those families would have used to raise their daughters.
Ming Huashang asked: “Was the young Miss Huang’s side room also in this area?”
“Indeed.”
Ming Huashang had just been wondering what pretext to use to naturally ask which courtyard Huang Caiwei had stayed in, when she turned the corner and saw a courtyard gate tightly shut, a yellow official seal plastered across it.
…Very well. Now Ming Huashang knew exactly where to look.
With the location known, the next steps became much simpler. Ming Huashang politely thanked the novice and said she wished to stroll through the garden on her own. The novice pressed his palms together, murmured a Buddhist salutation, and turned to leave. Once Ming Huashang had watched him walk away with her own eyes, she immediately went back to the sealed gate and stood there gazing at the character “Sealed” on it, lost in thought.
Zhao Cai saw that Ming Huashang had not moved for some time and asked in puzzlement: “My lady, what are you looking at?”
Ming Huashang stared at the seal before her and said to Zhao Cai in a conspiratorial tone: “Do you want to know what’s inside?”
Zhao Cai’s skin broke out in goosebumps the instant she heard that, and she hurriedly shook her head: “My lady, please don’t act rashly. This is the place where someone once died, and it has been sealed by the authorities — we cannot go in!”
Ming Huashang gave a light snort and said: “It’s only a piece of paper. We just stick it back on after. If you don’t tell and I don’t tell, who would ever know we went in?”
“Is that so?”
At the sound of a voice behind her, Ming Huashang froze from head to toe. Zhao Cai was so startled she gave a violent jump and spun around in panic: “Second Young Master? My lord, how did you get here? My lady, she…”
Ming Huazhang had arrived at some unknown moment and stood behind them, hands clasped at his back. His official robes of crimson red were like river blossoms mirrored in water or red leaves against a frosty sky — a beauty that was both cold and razor-sharp. He glanced at Ming Huashang, who was fidgeting and refusing to meet his eyes, and asked in an unreadable tone: “What happened to her?”
Zhao Cai looked at Ming Huazhang’s expression and did not dare say another word. A person in official robes really was different. In the past, the Second Young Master had been like three inches of snow on the eaves — cold and beautiful, untouched by the world. But now he was like the moon in the ninth heaven: imposing without a hint of anger, his bearing stern and commanding.
Ming Huashang discreetly made gestures at Zhao Cai; Zhao Cai gave Ming Huashang a helpless look and silently stepped away. Once Zhao Cai and the others had moved out of earshot, Ming Huashang sidled up with a winning smile and said in a honeyed voice: “Elder Brother!”
Ming Huazhang was unmoved, and asked with an air of unconcerned nonchalance: “What was it you just said you wanted to do?”
Ming Huashang did not dare say she had intended to tear off the Chang’an Prefecture’s official seal. She laughed, her eyes darting rapidly as she scrambled to think of something to argue in her defense: “I… I was saying this courtyard has been so well sealed off — only you would have thought of everything, Second Elder Brother! I was just about to walk around the perimeter to see if there were any gaps.”
Ming Huazhang’s eyes still held no emotion. He simply looked at her, without speaking, without smiling. Ming Huashang felt a guilty conscience under that gaze. She gave two dry laughs and abruptly changed the subject: “Second Elder Brother, why are you here? Where is the Jing Zhaoyiin?”
“After the Jing Zhaoyiin finished inquiring about the progress of the investigation, he returned to the yamen to handle official business. I remembered someone had promised me to act with caution and not make any rash moves, so I came in to have a look.”
Ming Huashang’s eyes swept quickly over Ming Huazhang. She carefully took hold of his arm, gazed up at him with wide, imploring eyes, and said: “Second Elder Brother has to investigate the case and deal with the pressure from his superior — it’s truly too hard on him. Second Elder Brother, I’ve found some leads — they’re right inside this courtyard. Will you come in with me to look?”