C9 Sending a Nun Nunnery 1

"Nanny, can you tell me what's inside the Anhe Temple?" Mu Yunhua was brimming with curiosity. Judging by the nanny's demeanor, it seemed as though the temple harbored something sinister.

"That temple..." The nanny, despite her advanced age, hesitated as if struggling to find the words, her discomfort evident.

"Is it haunted?" Mu Yunhua ventured a guess, a hazard of her profession, but was met with a bittersweet shake of the head from the nanny.

"If it were truly haunted, those with a clear conscience wouldn't fear a ghost's knock. But indeed, there are ghosts within that temple."

The nanny's revelation left Mu Yunhua bewildered, yet she grasped at an understanding, "So, if not ghosts, someone must be causing mischief?"

The nanny nodded in affirmation. "The affairs of Anhe Temple aren't exactly secret, but they're not widely known either... The temple is a two-day journey from the capital, and the capital's ladies rarely visit to offer incense; it's somewhat remote and lacks renown. Yet, Anhe Temple's incense burns fervently, with male pilgrims regularly visiting to seek divine blessings..."

At this point, the nanny's gaze grew distant, as if lost in thought. Mu Yunhua noticed but chose not to pry.

A nunnery frequented by men.

Mu Yunhua didn't need to ponder deeply; it was clear as day what was transpiring.

"Sheep's heads on display, but selling dog meat!" By day, a solemn retreat for spiritual discipline, by night, it transformed into a den of vice.

The nunnery conducting fleshly trade was no novelty. A nun devoted to asceticism was known as a 'Solitary Mat', while one engaged in the flesh trade was termed a 'Jade Mat'. In the Jiangnan region, post-Ming and Qing dynasties, such temples and monasteries were numerous, almost fashionable.

Mu Yunhua saw through it all, but her precise remarks left the nanny agape, "Miss... you know?"

Mu Yunhua gave a nonchalant shrug. "It's not a difficult puzzle. A nunnery visited by men... Well, when men and women come together, it's usually for one thing. Monks have their secular indulgences; why can't nuns have their own vices?"

She explained herself with clarity and openness, yet the wet nurse looked as if she had just seen a ghost. After gaping in shock for a moment, the wet nurse lowered her eyes, lost in thought. When she finally looked up again, her expression was serene, as if the previous conversation had never occurred. "The Peace Temple is indeed as the Miss described it."

Mu Yunhua was oblivious to the wet nurse's odd behavior, her gaze fixed on the wildly overgrown weeds outside the door. The air of a philosopher in her eyes grew more profound. "It seems Aunt Wan is preparing to strike against me."

And why wouldn't she? The Mu Estate was vast and wealthy; supporting someone like her, who contributed nothing, was hardly a burden. She had been easier to maintain than a dog over the years. Yet, having someone with her tarnished reputation in the mansion was not only an eyesore but also a potential threat to the two unmarried daughters of the house.

What of the reputations of the Mu Estate's young misses? One was even celebrated as the Da Xi Kingdom's foremost talented girl!

"Miss, you mustn't go to the Peace Temple, not even if it means begging on the streets!" The wet nurse was frantic. Though the young miss's prospects for marriage were dashed, going to the Peace Temple—where being with one man versus many carried entirely different implications—was unthinkable.

To be divorced and treated as a courtesan, how could one equate the two!