Glossary:
Dabo = uncle = father’s older brother

Laonu = how older servants called themselves – it literally means “old slave”

One Sichen = 2 hours

Zaixia = A humble way of addressing yourself

Ran Yan turned her face away, no longer looking at him again, and so the journey back to the Village was a quiet and uneventful one.

As soon as they got off from the carriage, they could see that Ran Yunsheng and Miss Xing had brought a few maidservants and were waiting at the gates. Ran Yan sneered; what is meant to happen, has finally happened.

Miss Xing had been incessantly wiping her tears with a handkerchief, and the tears that had just come to a stop immediately gushed from her eyes again when she saw Ran Yan.

“Miss Xing, what happened?” Wan Lu asked perplexed.

Miss Xing’s throat was a little hoarse from all her bawling, so she spoke in a strangled voice: “The clan wants to send Miss to Ying Mei Nunnery for her to venerate Buddha and purify her body. Miss is so young but will have to go and light a lamp before Buddha…” [1]

Ran Yunsheng frowned. This was a thorny matter indeed. If the clan wanted to punish Ran Yan, he could speak out and help block it, but prayers for Buddha to purify oneself is already seen as something not particularly heavy. Ran Yan needed a way out of this predicament, and even if Ran Yunsheng had a silver tongue [2], he wouldn’t be capable of reversing it.

“This isn’t such a bad thing, there’s no need to worry.” Ran Yan softly comforted Miss Xing.

“Ah Yan, you are going to stay in Ying Mei Nunnery for a couple of months. After I finish handling things in Suzhou, I’ll bring you to Chang’an. I’ve thought about this for a long time, and I’m ninety percent sure that I can persuade dabo and the clan elders.” Ran Yunsheng said.

Ran Yan momentarily paused, saying: “Ok.”

When she leaves Suzhou, she will be able to extrinsic herself – to a certain degree – from this family’s shackles. She won’t let everything be dictated by others. Ran Yan had no reluctance to leave this family, and if she could go to the north with Ran Yunsheng, it would be the best outcome possible.

Since Ran Meiyu had spoken about this Buddha matter in the morning, Ran Yan has been continuously thinking about its pros and cons, and regardless of the perspective she analyzed, she shouldn’t struggle against it.

Because the topic of the autopsy has stirred up the whole city, Ran Yan was now in the eye of the storm. [3]

The reasoning behind autopsies wasn’t especially prevalent during the Tang dynasty. People wouldn’t usually know that autopsy is also a technical work, they would think that it only needed a little of medical skills and some courage to be able to become a coroner.

The reasoning behind autopsies wasn’t especially prevalent during the Tang dynasty. People wouldn’t usually know that autopsy is also a technical work, they would think that it only needed a little of medical skills and some courage to be able to become a coroner. Presently, she is merely being disdained by others, that’s all. If you don’t know how to pull back, people will set their minds on taking advantage of you. It is exactly how Madam Yan had said, rumors can turn into the sharp knife that will kill her.

In addition, the identity of the people who spread the rumors is unknown; therefore, the more inconspicuous her behavior, the better. Hence, her best choice right now is to go to Ying Mei Nunnery.

“When does the clan wants me to go?” Ran Yan asked.

Miss Xing resentfully wiped her tears and said: “Laonu thought that Miss should spend a few days in the temple, but Master is far too ruthless and ordered Miss to move tonight!”

The whole village would have been notified of this new by supper time. Ying Mei Nunnery is on the west part of the city, and it’s an extremely long distance from the south part to the west part of the city. Not to mention that the journey will also take about two sichen. Ran Yan sighed, no wonder Miss Xing was so aggrieved.

“Miss has to go to the west part of the city?” Sang Chen asked. He has gone to nearby areas of Ying Mei Nunnery; this nunnery was situated in a remote and desolate place, its courtyard was in a sorry state, and to get there you have to endure a share of hardships, “Why?”

Ran Yunsheng sighed and replied: “Because of the autopsy issue. Presumably, Mr. Sui Yuan has already heard about it.”

Not only did he know about it, but he has also been frightened to the point of unconsciousness. Ran Yan raised her brows when she looked at Sang Chen, and really wanted to know why such a timid person, after personally watching her perform an autopsy, didn’t show any intention of keeping a distance but actually started to be even more attentive to their relationship.

“Autopsy?” Sang Chen’s face turned white, and he pursed his lips, saying: “Zaixia asks to be excused.”

After saying this, he turned around and ran towards the village.

[1] 青灯佛家 Sitting by a Buddha statue with an oil lamp is an allusion to the cold and lonely life of Buddhism. ↺

[2] 口中生化 The idiom here says: to have flowers in the mouth; it means that the person is good with words/good at persuading others. I tried using an English idiom close in meaning. ↺

[3] So here we have two idioms: the first one 闹得满城风雨 literally means ‘noisy enough to cause wind and rain through the city” = a big scandal, ‘the talk of the town’; the other 风口浪尖 means ‘where the winds and waves are the fiercest’, a metaphorical way of saying ‘where the fight/struggle is the most intense/violent.’ ↺