After Transmigration, Her Whole Family Are Villains-Chapter 191: Death of a Rumor

In the prison cell.

No one dared to torture Master Jingren.

Originally, after Judge Yu's death, everyone was thinking about dividing power and seizing positions.

But then Jiang Er suddenly threw this hot potato at them, and no one was willing to take it.

Not only did they not dare to accept it, they didn't even want to touch it.

Whoever touched it would die.

Since Jiang Er arrested her, naturally it was up to Jiang Er to interrogate her.

Jiang Er didn't personally interrogate her, but had his subordinates come and ask her over and over what she had done wrong, recording it three to five times daily.

They didn't use torture either.

Perhaps because they were all highly respected monastics, Jiang Er even started building a structure in the prison cell. The workers said it was to be a meditation room.

He built it quite meticulously, with layers of outer walls and a very sturdy door. The only thing was that due to the short construction period, there were no windows.

He even specially placed meditation cushions inside.

He also made an altar and put a wooden Buddha statue on it.

Everyone was quietly observing.

Had Jiang Er reached a dead end?

Was he trying to clean up his own mess?

It was too late now. Even if he built a beautiful meditation room with Buddha statues and cushions, Master Jingren wouldn't forgive him.

Master Jingren had deep private connections with royal relatives in the capital, and had once been an honored guest in the imperial palace.

Last time Heir Apparent Han came, he had specifically visited Shangqiu Convent to pay his respects.

In prison, Jingren's emotions were very stable.

She ate very little, but still looked to be in good condition. She continued to maintain the temple's daily schedule, morning and evening prayers, as if she wasn't in prison at all, but rather like a bodhisattva who had simply changed to a simpler temple, adapting to circumstances.

On this day, three escaped prisoners were brought to the jail - two nuns and a carriage driver.

Among the group of nuns, they didn't stand out at first.

But those two nuns were too badly injured, covered in wounds, barely breathing, looking like they had suffered inhuman torture.

The usually composed Jingren's gaze was no longer so calm.

She still looked peaceful, but the blue veins on her hands striking the wooden fish betrayed her emotions.

On this day, the nuns confessed much more content than the usual scraps from previous days.

They went through two notebooks recording it all.

The days in prison seemed particularly long.

But actually it wasn't that long. Based on how they came to question them daily, asking them to confess what they had done three to five times a day, it probably hadn't been more than a few days.

It seemed things outside must have changed dramatically, and in a few days she should be able to get out of prison.

Those matters could eventually be smoothed over.

Jingren was very careful, and had never really touched the children of those in power who couldn't be offended.

On this day.

It was raining.

The prison was very damp and cold.

Finally, Commander Jiang came to the prison.

His shoes were wet, and there were water stains on the hem of his clothes.

Jingren saw the legendary Commander Jiang, saw the culprit behind it all.

The day she was arrested, the temple was in chaos, and she hadn't seen this man.

Now in prison, seeing Commander Jiang for the first time.

The usually composed Jingren's pupils shook, and her hands clenched into fists several times inside her large sleeves before she managed to adjust her emotions.

Commander Jiang calmly gazed at Jingren.

"Do you know why I arrested you?"

In front of him was a blank interrogation notebook. Over the past few days, the others had confessed quite a lot, but Jingren hadn't said a word.

Jingren forced herself to stay calm and said, "We didn't kill Judge Yu. His death has nothing to do with us."

Seeing that he remained silent, Jingren continued, "The northern regions are poor, and many people drown their baby girls. Shangqiu Convent is willing to take in these baby girls and give them food to eat. Just for this alone, we have saved countless lives."

Jiang Changtian still didn't speak, just looked at her.

Jingren went on, "The baby girls don't grow up, they die - it's fate, natural selection. The numbers may have increased somewhat, but without us, they would have died much earlier."

Jiang Changtian just kept looking at her.

His gaze made Jingren extremely uncomfortable.

Mainly because facing such a face, Jingren felt an inexplicable fear.

As a monastic, she still felt fear in her heart.

"I heard your master was Princess Huiyun?" Jiang Changtian asked.

Jingren hurriedly shook her head, "No, Princess Huiyun just liked me a lot and took me along to chant sutras. She never accepted me as a disciple."

Jiang Changtian smiled.

"Seeing my appearance, are you afraid? Does it seem familiar?"

Jingren lowered her head in silence and began to chant sutras.

Her lips moved faster and faster.

Jiang Changtian revealed a faint smile.

When he smiled like this, he looked especially handsome, almost glowing, though also a bit annoying.

He smiled as he looked at Jingren.

"You still don't know why I arrested you? The mystery of your origins? The death of the judge? Countless corpses? No, I don't care about any of that. I arrested you because you spread rumors about my young daughter, saying her fate was inauspicious. Whether her fate is good or bad is for us to decide, not for you to spread rumors about."

Jingren continued chanting sutras, her lips moving faster and faster. She felt this was just an excuse. It was just a rumor, casually saying someone's fate was inauspicious. She didn't need to find a reason, she didn't even need to look at the child's birth chart.

She said it because she wanted to say it.

As long as it was beneficial and useful, what did it matter if it was a rumor?

Even if there was no benefit, she spread the rumor anyway. She could forget about it, say it was just a casual comment. If you really came to confront her about it, she wouldn't remember. Maybe she had seen it a long time ago and forgotten.

But Jiang Changtian took it very seriously.

He had suffered from such rumors before.

Being looked at with strange gazes every day.

Any random person on the street could accuse him of being a beast.

They had no grievances with him, didn't care if he was truly unfilial or disloyal, if he had really wronged his brother and sister-in-law, if he had really accidentally killed his own father.

They didn't know him, but they could call him a beast, say his character was vile.

They didn't know the reasons, but they just said it, following others and joining in the abuse, reveling in it.

Look, there's a person, he's a beast. He looks so handsome, he works so hard, but it doesn't matter, he's a beast.

He had experienced it.

He had experienced it day after day. Even his children and his wife had to endure unfair treatment because of these rumors.

The rumormonger Old Lady Jiang, years later, lightly said, "How can there be overnight grudges between mother and son?"

The rumormonger Master Jingren, lightly said, "Amitabha Buddha."

They all deserved to die.

A young girl judged to have an inauspicious fate from childhood, harming her family and friends - she would either be sent to a temple, lonely for life, or live under the strange judging gazes of the world. Once anything bad happened, it could all be blamed on her. People could curse her, bully her, wrong her. And she had done nothing, didn't even understand anything.

For their own selfish interests, rumormongers made up stories without needing reasons. The reason could be that they forgot, but it definitely existed. They might not even remember it themselves, but it must have happened long ago, others should know about it too. Anyway, they said it existed, and if it didn't, they could just make something up.

Jingren looked at Commander Jiang in disbelief.

Looking at that face, familiar, strangely familiar.

Commander Jiang kept repeating one thing.

Saying they had spread rumors that his daughter's fate was inauspicious.

Jingren felt wronged.

They had said many girls had inauspicious fates.

Master Jingren was famous for her mastery of Buddhist teachings and fate reading.

When noble ladies wanted to assess people, or their own descendants, if they had the chance to see Master Jingren, they would all ask her to take a look.

She also cherished her reputation, and her readings and predictions were quite accurate.

However, this time, the fate of Commander Jiang's young daughter was truly quite strange - it was a fate that should have led to death, yet she was still alive.

She had unexpectedly obtained the girl's birth data and portrait, and was amazed.

Actually, she knew the "unexpected" was certainly not unexpected.

But it didn't matter, she wanted this girl.

She had spread rumors, but this was just the most common tactic.

Their mouths were their own, they could say whatever they wanted. You couldn't stop all the gossip.

As long as enough people spread a rumor, even falsehoods could become truth.

Seeming true was enough, there was no need to clearly distinguish truth from lies.

You couldn't explain to everyone you met: "No, that's not true. My daughter's fate is good, she won't harm her family."

Just like before, Jiang Changtian couldn't explain to everyone he met: "I'm not unfilial or disloyal. I didn't do those things."

People didn't care, they just wanted to step on you. Whether out of envy, jealousy, disgust, or indifference - they just wanted to step on you.

Who told you to be so hardworking, so upwardly mobile, so driven? You should be like me, like a maggot crawling in the dark - weak, dying. You shouldn't smile, shouldn't rise up, shouldn't have family and friends, shouldn't show off, shouldn't be alive.

Jiang Changtian didn't interrogate anyone else, he only interrogated Jingren.

It couldn't even be called an interrogation; it was merely a conversation with her.

He rambled on and on to her.

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He repeatedly said, "You mustn't spread rumors. You can't spread rumors. How could you do such a thing? This is not right."

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He said it so much that Jingren felt annoyed.

She had just said it casually.

Wasn't it always like this?

Spreading rumors costs the least. You don't have to pay anything, just say something casually, and you can achieve your goal. It's good for you, good for me, good for everyone.

As for whether the victim of the rumors dies or not, it doesn't matter.

Jiang Changtian smiled.

Yes, it doesn't matter.

He didn't care either.

He didn't need morality, righteousness, rules, or human sentiment. He just wanted these rumor-mongers to die.

If you say one bad thing about my Mianmian, I'll make all of you die.

Go spread rumors in hell, go spread rumors to the King of Hell, whatever, he didn't care.

He wanted them to regret, to be haunted, to either die or from this day forward, every day, every moment, pay the price for their rumor-mongering.

Either die or live a life worse than death.

That day, Jingren was politely invited into the newly built meditation room. Inside were cushions, a table, blankets, tea and snacks, and a Buddha statue.

But the door was closed, closed, closed, closed.

Four layers of doors were closed.

Everyone thought this was Commander Jiang's compromise.

Treating her well with food and drink, not daring to torture her, closing the doors probably out of concern that someone might accidentally enter and harm Jingren, for which he would be held responsible.

Commander Jiang was just letting her reflect alone for three days, under public scrutiny, and promised to release her after three days.

Jingren shook her head helplessly, thinking, "You see, it's just rumor-spreading, it doesn't matter."

"Actually, with your looks, if we had met in a different setting, we would all be willing to follow you."

"But we'll talk about that later. There's plenty of time ahead."

The last look Jingren gave Commander Jiang was almost loving.

Commander Jiang ultimately understood the rules of officialdom; he ultimately had to compromise.

...

Three days later.

The door opened.

Master Jingren had entered nirvana.