Ex-Wife is a Big Villainess
Chapter 83 - 79: In a Predicament

Chapter 83: Chapter 79: In a Predicament

As a temple in the Capital with a prestigious reputation, Wuchan Temple’s incense offering was particularly prosperous, and its status in the hearts of the locals was also extremely high; the people visiting the temple to offer incense were continuous every day.

Every once in a while, Wuchan Temple would hold a Buddha Bathing Festival.

The so-called Buddha Bathing Festival involved taking a golden Buddha statue from inside the temple and placing it on a boat, mooring it on Huailan Lake, and carrying out a water bathing ritual.

It was said that the water that had bathed the golden Buddha was imbued with Buddhist spirit, and if not for the protection from the officials and the temple’s warnings that the water of the Buddhist spirit must not be stolen, else disaster would befall, the serene lake would probably have been drained long ago.

Zhang Yunwu arrived at Huailan Lake, where quite a number of people had already gathered around the lakeside.

Some held lotus lamps or incense candles and looked on eagerly, some sat by the shore silently praying with hands clamped together in devotion. There were also ladies from prominent families throwing handmade sachets and colored silks into the lake, waiting for the boat carrying the golden Buddha of Wuchan Temple to arrive and imbibe it with sacred spirit.

There were also many children running and playing around.

Zhang Yue’er, riding on Zhang Yunwu’s neck, ate the snacks Jiang Qing had bought her while excitedly watching.

Upon learning that there were blessing lamps specially made by Wuchan Temple nearby, and that placing them in the lake bathed by the golden Buddha was said to be very effective, Zhang Yunwu took his daughter and bought eight lamps.

He bought one for his mother, We Zhaodi and her daughter, and for Jiang Shouzhong as well.

As it was approaching the end of the hour of Xu, a stir came from the distance.

The golden Buddha appeared.

Zhang Yunwu was quite far away but could faintly see three boats slowly drifting over, with monks dressed in yellow kasayas standing on the boats to the sides, holding censers, their faces solemn, murmuring phrases, reciting Buddhist scriptures.

In the middle boat, there was a golden Buddha about two meters tall.

The Buddha statue shone brilliantly, reflecting the moonlight and the lamps, appearing especially sacred.

It was unclear what technique was used, but from the sides of the boat’s hold, threads of lake water rose into the air, intertwining and sprinkling onto the top of the golden Buddha’s head, creating ripples. Then, it flowed down the golden body and back into the lake through the mechanism designed into the boat.

The incense smoke curled around the boat, intertwining with the thin mist in the night sky, creating a mysterious and solemn atmosphere.

The little girl watched unblinkingly.

She didn’t even notice the tanghulu sticking to her father’s hair.

"Cousin, I have some friends over there, so I won’t accompany you guys. Try to get closer, maybe you can still hear Master Du E reciting the scriptures," he said.

Figuring that the medicinal effect of the silver fungus and lotus seed soup should be occurring soon, Jiang Qing found an excuse to part ways with Zhang Yunwu.

Zhang Yunwu nodded and didn’t think much of it, admonishing the other to be careful.

After thoughtfully buying a pack of preserved fruit for Xiao Yue’er, Jiang Qing finally waved goodbye, watching the father and daughter’s figures, his lips upturned.

"Cousin, I will take good care of your wife," he said.

Unconsciously, the sky began to sprinkle tiny, sparkling snowflakes.

The golden Buddha on the boat appeared even more compassionate.

The sandalwood incense wafted along, trailing fragrance.

As the big ship continued downstream, the blessing lamps on the lake were lit one by one, the small lights joining together like stars, reflecting the Milky Way in the sky.

On the quiet water waves, each halo of light drifted with the wind and flowed with the water.

Zhang Yunwu watched this beautiful scene, feeling a pang of regret that his wife wasn’t by his side.

The scene of a family by the lake would have been very warm.

——

Having finished the household chores as usual, We Zhaodi mixed the boiled hot water in the tub, undressed, and bathed her plump and tender body.

We Zhaodi was not ugly, but she was not stunningly beautiful either.

She could only be described as delicate.

Her skin was not as pale as many other women’s.

Especially after being driven out by her former husband’s primary wife, taking care of her daughter made it inevitable for her to do rough work, making it even harder to maintain her appearance.

The reason why she was known along with the fiery widow of the steamed bun shop as the "two beauties of Dongping Street" was not just her gentle character and full figure, but more so the demure charm of a matron that exuded from her very bones.

For some men who had a fondness for married women, this was undoubtedly very attractive.

So, after she married Zhang Yunwu, many men on the street could not help but be envious, and with some instigation from gossiping women, whispers naturally arose.

During the days she lived alone with her daughter, it was not that no other men wanted to take her as a concubine.

Among them, there were also wealthy merchants.

But We Zhaodi refused all of them.

She was very clear about why these people wanted to marry her, and if it were only for her, marrying a rich man would of course be good.

After all, her youthful hopes for love had long been extinguished.

But she had to consider her daughter.

She did not want Yue’er to follow in her footsteps.

Among these men, only Zhang Yunwu truly cared for Yue’er, and only the mother-in-law truly cherished this little granddaughter.

Having such a family was very fortunate.

In the eyes of others, Zhang Yunwu was unromantic, dull, and boring. But in her heart, she was the luckiest woman.

A slight rustling sound kept arising in the room.

Gleaming warm droplets slid over the woman’s well-proportioned body, steaming up a faint blush.

Whether it was because the bathwater was slightly too hot that day, We Zhaodi felt a heat spreading through her body. With time slowly passing, this warmth circulated to every part of her body.

Every time she brushed with the towel, her body gave off a strange sensation.

Unconsciously, the bewildered woman squinted her sultry, water-filled phoenix eyes, and a slight sound escaped her lips...

Smack!

Suddenly, as if something had hit the floor, a jarring noise erupted.

We Zhaodi abruptly came back to her senses.

Seeing where her hand had been, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she muttered a curse under her breath, then tentatively called out, "Wu?"

No one responded.

We Zhaodi knitted her brows, hesitated for a moment, grabbed a dry towel from the screen, hastily wiped her body, threw on her outer garment, grabbed the clothes at the collar with one hand, put on her shoes, and walked out of the room.

Leaving the steamy warmth of the small room, a chill crept up her delicate body.

The woman shivered.

At the same time, the heat within her body grew more intense, and her mind also became somewhat groggy.

We Zhaodi forcefully shook her head, glanced at the living room but saw no one there, and then went to the small room where her mother-in-law was sleeping, only to find a medicine bowl from the bedside table shattered on the floor.

The woman thought it had fallen because she hadn’t placed it properly earlier and was somewhat annoyed.

Suppressing the discomfort in her body, We Zhaodi grabbed a broom and dustpan and carefully cleaned up the broken medicine bowl.

As she turned around, a skinny hand suddenly seized her clothes!

Rustle!

The woman jumped in fright, and the dustpan fell to the ground, scattering the pieces of the broken porcelain bowl.

We Zhaodi focused and saw that her usually comatose mother-in-law had her eyes wide open, her dry mouth opening and closing as if she was using all her strength to squeeze a voice out from her throat:

"Go... go... "

"Grandmother!"

We Zhaodi held the old woman’s hand, at a loss, "Grandmother, what’s wrong with you?"

The heat in her body started to surge like waves.

The woman’s cheeks were rouge-like, and even her trembling voice carried an unintended seductive tone.

"Go... go... "

The old woman kept repeating it, her voice very weak.

We Zhaodi wanted to go out and call Mr. Zhao from not far down the street, but at that moment her body started to weaken, her legs felt as soft as cotton, making it hard to even stand... The outer garment she was wearing also slipped down, revealing her captivating body.

"Cousin-in-law?"

Suddenly, Jiang Qing’s voice came from outside.

The anxious woman was immediately relieved.

Just as she was about to speak, she accidentally stepped on a broken porcelain shard scattered on the floor. Pain instantly shot up from the sole of her foot, clearing her somewhat dazed consciousness considerably.

We Zhaodi was no naive girl.

Back when she had been a concubine in a wealthy family, if she hadn’t been vigilant, she would have been bullied and oppressed to death by the senior wife long ago.

The abnormality in her body finally made her realize something was wrong.

Plus, if Jiang Qing and her husband had come back together, given her daughter’s lively nature, she definitely would have run into the house ahead of them shouting.

But she hadn’t heard her husband or daughter’s voices.

It was clearly only Jiang Qing.

What was he doing coming here alone at this time?

Recalling how he had especially told her to drink the silver ear and lotus seed soup before he left, a terrifying thought surged into the woman’s mind, accompanied by a bone-chilling coldness.

"Cousin-in-law?"

Jiang Qing was still calling out.

Hearing footsteps getting closer, We Zhaodi, not knowing where she gathered the strength from, endured the pain in her foot and rushed to shut the door of the small room and bolted it with a wooden pin.

"Cousin-in-law, are you alright?"

The man stood in front of the door.

We Zhaodi caught her breath, striving to make her voice sound normal, "I’m wiping down grandmother, don’t come in. Where’s Wu?"