The eunuch whom Sang Kunrou trusted the most was nad Shouzhen. However, this person died from illness before Sang Ziming got married.
Years later, a maidservant from the Prince Mansion, who was from the sa hotown as Shouzhen, went on a trip to Qingxia Temple with her family. She accidentally wandered into the back of the mountain and unexpectedly encountered Shouzhen.
At that ti, Shouzhen’s hair was all white. He was ditating and cultivating under a huge ginkgo tree, exuding an immortal aura and seeming otherworldly.
She called out, "Shouzhen."
The person suddenly opened his eyes, and she felt as if a sharp knife was placed against her neck.
The other person waved a horsetail whisk and said she had mistaken him for soone else. He claid to be Qingxu, the 32nd successor of Qingxia Temple and the temple master. He explained the back of the mountain was a restricted area, where visitors were forbidden, and ordered her to leave promptly.
After saying this, he turned and vanished into the vast mountain mist. When she tried to follow, a Taoist child ca over and led her away from the back mountain.
Upon returning, she thought more and more about how sothing was off. Even though decades had passed and ti had left its marks on his face, the purity and immaculate quality of that face were exactly the sa as she rembered Shouzhen. She was sure she couldn’t have mistaken him.
She recounted this story to her granddaughter-in-law, who insisted that she had indeed mistaken him.
Taoist Qingxu was famous far and wide. How could he be the eunuch from the Prince Mansion from so many years ago? They were two completely unrelated people.
She was already advanced in years, her health was deteriorating, and with worries adding up, she soon fell ill. In those days, dical technology was not advanced. After suffering for over a year, she passed away.
On her deathbed, she still clung to the belief of whether Qingxu was really Shouzhen or not, but she would never know the answer.
Thus, when Hongyu’s investigation led to her, her granddaughter-in-law revealed this long-buried story, which turned out to be a significant clue.
Supposing that Qingxu was indeed Shouzhen, Sang Kunrou’s vast fortune needed a most trusted confidant to guard it. That person could only have been Shouzhen.
So Shouzhen was made to fake his death and disappear from public view, taking the wealth with him to hide in a paradise-like place, and this precious fortune was Sang Kunrou’s trump card for herself or her descendants.
Shouzhen, being originally from a Taoist background, naturally returned to his old trade, ticulously choosing Qingxia Mountain as his place of seclusion.
Qingzhou was a remote place, and Qingxia Mountain was even more removed from the world, a perfect paradise outside of society.
Before Shouzhen arrived, Qingxia Temple had been abandoned for a long ti. After his arrival, he took in a few orphaned apprentices and renad himself Qingxu, gradually rebuilding the temple. The incense offerings flourished, and countless believers ca to pay homage. Decades later, Qingxu passed the temple to his first disciple, Qingsong, and then devoted himself entirely to cultivating, away from worldly affairs.
Of course, all of this was just Hongyu’s speculation, but it seed very close to the truth.
Yu Fusheng pointedly asked, "Is Qingxu still alive?"
It’s unlikely; if he were living, he would be over a hundred years old by now.
"He died twenty-four years ago."
Yu Fusheng abruptly stood up. "Twenty-four years ago?"
Hongyu said, "Quite a coincidence, isn’t it? That was just the second year after Yu Fuli’s fire incident."
When there are too many coincidences, it’s definitely not a coincidence.
Yu Fusheng paced back and forth inside the room, his brows deeply furrowed.
"Did Yu Fuli ever visit Qingxia Temple?"
"He did. When his wife was pregnant with their first child, they went to Qingxia Temple to pray for a peace charm, but it was only that one ti. Whether he secretly visited at other tis couldn’t be found."
Yu Fuli had contacts with his forr leaders and colleagues, but they all spoke of him as a dedicated professional and a family man, revealing no useful information.
Then there was his brother-in-law’s family, but to avoid alerting them, Zhang Jian was not disturbed. Zhang Jian’s ex-wife, Zhou Qin, had been missing for a long ti, rumored to have run off with another man. So they found Zhou Qin’s cousin, Kong Lili. This woman was loud and unreliable, but they managed to pry out so information about Yu Fuli from her.
Hongyu asserted firmly, "The secret must be hidden inside Qingxia Temple. I’ll go to scout it out tonight when it gets dark."
Yu Fusheng nodded, "Be careful."
——
Ren Mingze waited until the fourth day before Amos finally left his ho.
He boarded his Rolls-Royce, with assistants and bodyguards in tow, and they headed grandly west towards Qingzhou.
Ren Mingze followed from a distance in his car as the surroundings beca increasingly desolate.
Assistant Wen said, "This is the road to Qingxia Mountain."
Ren Mingze paused. "Does Amos, a foreigner, also believe in Taoism?"
"Sothing’s off. Hongyu just went to Qingxia Temple last night, and now Amos is going? That’s unusual."
Ren Mingze had kept track of all Yu Fusheng’s movents. Otherwise, if Yu Fusheng did sothing disadvantageous, Ren Mingze would be caught off guard.
Thus, even though Hongyu had sneakily crept to Qingxia Temple in the early hours of the morning, his covert actions had not escaped Ren Mingze’s observation.
He was puzzled at that ti—what was Hongyu doing at Qingxia Temple, and what was Yu Fusheng planning?
The next day, Amos also headed to Qingxia Temple, which seed very suspicious.
Ren Mingze connected it to the treasure. Could Qingxia Temple be related to it sohow?
Driving two hours from the city to Qingxia Temple, the lush mountains gradually manifested before them.
Qingxia Temple was in the off-season for tourism, with few visitors, just a handful of believers.
Amos’s car drove directly to the halfway parking lot, but the rest of the mountain path had to be climbed on foot.
Amos and his assistant and bodyguard hiked up the mountain.
Ren Mingze stood at the mountain’s base, watching Amos’s tall figure fade into the mountains and forests.
His gaze fell on the temple’s golden roof at the summit, gleaming independently under the sun.
As a native of Qingzhou, Ren Mingze was not unfamiliar with Qingxia Temple. More than a decade ago, when the temple needed renovations, major entrepreneurs in Qingzhou all made donations, and he was no exception, contributing the largest sum. At that ti, the temple master Qingsong gave each major donor a certificate and consecrated peace charms in his na.
That certificate and charm still gather dust in so corner of his ho.
The current temple master of Qingxia Temple is surnad Zhang, with the Taoist na Spiritual Spring. He is a disciple of the previous temple master, Qingsong, and has been in position for ten years, managing the temple well. With his significant achievents in Taoism, many believers co to the temple, adding considerable prestige.
Ren Mingze had t Temple Master Zhang a few tis. Because of Ren’s substantial donation for the temple’s renovation, the master once perford a divination for him.
However, the fortune was not good; Ren Mingze could not rember the specifics, only that it advised him to dispel the confusion in his heart, renounce desires, cultivate himself, and only then could he overco calamities.
Ren Mingze scoffed at this and had not returned to Qingxia Temple since.
Unexpectedly, he was visiting Qingxia Temple again under such circumstances.
Standing at the mountain’s base, Ren Mingze gazed at the golden temple complex on the peak.
Two significant figures arriving in one day.
What secrets lie hidden within Qingxia Temple?
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