The real daughter's life was stolen, and she was reborn and became the best in the capital

"I have been to Penglai for a few days..."

At night, Wu Ji told Ming Jin and Gu Ming Heng everything he had learned from Penglai, no matter how big or small the matter was.

"I was afraid of being discovered by Song He, so I didn't alert the officials there. I only asked the people there, but they didn't know Song He."

"But I found something very strange."

As Wu Ji spoke, he took out a portrait from his arms and spread it out in front of Ming Jin and his wife.

Mingjin and Gu Mingheng looked at the portrait on the table together.

Looking at the woman dressed as Guanyin in the portrait, she was different from the Guanyin images she usually saw. It didn't look like an orthodox Guanyin portrait, but more like a folk woman dressed up. Ming Jin frowned and asked Wu Ji, "Who is this?"

Wu Ji replied: "It is the Guanyin statue in Penglai."

Gu Mingheng had also been to many temples, so he could tell that this was different from the ordinary Guanyin statue. He did not say anything directly, but looked up at Wu Ji and asked directly, "What did you find out?"

Wu Ji did not dare to hide anything, and quickly replied truthfully: "When I arrived in Penglai, I did not know where to start, so I followed what the princess said and asked them if there was anything special in May. From the local people in Penglai, I learned that May is the birthday of the goddess Guanyin there."

"May?"

Ming Jin felt something was wrong when he heard this, and asked curiously, "Isn't Goddess Guanyin's birthday on February 19th? How could it be in May?" Even if it was the day of her enlightenment, it was June 19th. As for the day of her ordination, it was September 19th. How could it be related to May?

"I also felt it was strange at the time, but looking at the expressions of the people, I didn't think there was anything wrong."

"At first, I thought that every place has its own customs, but there is nothing special in May except this festival. After that, I couldn't find any trace, so I just went into a Guanyin temple and took a look. I found that the appearance of the Guanyin goddess here is also different from other places."

Mingjin and Gu Mingheng looked at each other.

In fact, it is normal that the statues of Guanyin are different.

Just like the image of Guanyin that Ming Jin had painted for Empress Yuan before, he had referred to Empress Yuan's appearance and incorporated her appearance into the image.

However, most of the Guanyin statues, out of respect for the Goddess of Guanyin, will only incorporate some of the other elements, while the basic features will still be retained.

It will not be like the Guanyin statue in front of us, where even the basic characteristics of Guanyin Bodhisattva cannot be found.

If it weren't for this appearance, Ming Jin might not have recognized that this was Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara for a moment.

Ming Jin looked at the portrait and frowned without saying anything.

Gu Mingheng looked at Wu Ji and said, "Go on."

Wu Ji answered "yes" and continued, "At first I thought this was just a special case, but later I visited all of Penglai and found that all the goddesses of Guanyin there looked like this."

"There are a total of 72 temples in Penglai, of which Guanyin temples are the most numerous, and the Guanyin statues in them all look like those in the paintings."

"I thought this goddess of mercy looked different from other goddesses, so I went to inquire whether these temples were built with donations from wealthy families."

"What's the result?" Ming Jin asked him.

Wu Ji shook his head and said in a deep voice: "No result."

No one knows who built these Guanyin temples.

It's like it appeared out of nowhere.

But that is why it is even more suspicious.

There are so many Guanyin temples, and they all look the same, so it is obvious that the person behind them is the same person.

It is not cheap to build such a temple, let alone one with dozens of rooms.

After all, he was alone in Penglai, and it was not easy for him to investigate further. Moreover, he was afraid that Song He's people would find out. Then they would not find out anything, but Song He would find out the whole thing first, which would bring trouble to his master. Therefore, Wu Ji did not dare to investigate these things.

"but--"

Before Mingjin and Gu Mingheng could say anything, Wu Ji said, "I have heard something."

He didn't keep anyone in suspense.

He started talking and continued without waiting for them to question him: "I went to the market that day and thought of asking a few elderly locals to see if anyone knew about this matter."

"I didn't expect that I would find out something!"

"One of the old men said that the goddess Guanyin looked a bit like an oiran who used to work in a flower shop. It just so happened that the oiran's birthday was also in May."

Ming Jin frowned when he heard this.

She and Gu Mingheng looked at each other and had some guesses in their minds.

But no one spoke at this time, but continued to wait for Wu Ji to finish telling what he had found out.

"I heard that the courtesan died more than 30 years ago. As for the flower shop, it has also been gone for a long time. I heard that a fire broke out that day and burned down the entire flower shop. Everyone inside died in the fire. No one escaped."

"The old man wasn't sure, he just said it looked like it, but I think there must be something fishy going on."

The unusual Guanyin Bodhisattva changed her birthday.

And there are dozens of Guanyin temples...

With such a big move, the identity of the person behind it cannot be simple.

It would be reasonable to say that the person behind this is Song He.

Song He is extremely powerful, so it is not surprising that he would make money by doing these things.

According to age.

If their guess was correct, this courtesan should be Song He's mother.

But did Song He conceal his identity simply because he didn't want others to know that his mother was an oiran, or was there some other hidden secret?

But that is unknown.

Gu Mingheng looked at the portrait and pondered.

With Wu Ji's ability, if he can't find anything, it will be useless even if he sends more people to investigate.

Moreover, if this matter is really related to Song He, he would have already cleaned up the mess in Penglai and would never let anyone trace him.

Otherwise, he would not dare to build so many Guanyin temples so unscrupulously and openly.

Besides, everything now is just their guess.

But both Gu Mingheng and Ming Jin felt a little strange.

Is there anything behind this incident that they could not imagine?

If you just want to cover up your origins, there is no need to go through so much trouble.

After all, with Song He's current status, no one would dare to say anything even if others knew that his mother was an oiran.

I'm afraid there are quite a few people who, in order to please Song He, deliberately changed the Guanyin statues in their own provinces into this appearance in order to please Song He.

Instead of building so many Guanyin temples like he is doing now, he dared not let others know that he was involved in this matter, and even forged his own identity and never dared to set foot in Penglai.

What is River Song hiding?

Perhaps if this mystery is solved, many things will become clear.

The night is already deep.

For a moment, the three of them were at a loss.

Gu Mingheng said, "You've been traveling all the way, go down and rest first."

Wu Ji answered yes and was about to go down.

Eunuch An came over.

Eunuch An is here to deliver midnight snack.

Seeing Wu Ji about to leave, Eunuch An was surprised: "Is that all? I thought you guys were going to talk until late."

But since Wu Ji is leaving.

Eunuch An said, "Then you can take this midnight snack away."

When Wu Ji heard this, he smiled and agreed.

"My father-in-law still cares about me. When I was away for a few days, I missed the chef in our palace the most."

"The food outside is so disgusting."

Eunuch An smiled and said he was a chatterbox, and then said to him, "Don't thank me, this is all the princess's idea. After knowing that you came back, she specifically asked me to go to the kitchen and give you the order."

Wu Ji hurriedly said to Ming Jin: "Thank you, Princess!"

Ming Jin smiled at him and said, "It's okay." Then he added, "You've been working hard these days. Take a good rest when you come back."

Wu Ji said, "I'm fine."

He was used to running outside anyway, so he didn't think anything of it.

Eunuch An went to set the supper on the table and gave Wu Ji his portion. He caught a glimpse of the portrait on the table out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly he saw a picture of Guanyin and he wondered, "Why is there a picture of Guanyin here?"

He just said this casually at first, until he saw the content of the portrait clearly, and his eyes suddenly widened.

He put the stew pot in his hand on the table.

Eunuch An quickly picked up the portrait and looked at it carefully.

The three were surprised to see his reaction. Gu Mingheng asked first, "Do you know the woman in the portrait?"

There was still an expression of shock on Eunuch An's face that he could not hide.

He did not speak immediately, but looked at the portrait carefully. His hand holding the portrait was trembling slightly. After a long while, he raised his head, looked at Gu Mingheng and murmured, "Where did the prince get this portrait?"

Wu Jixian replied, "I drew this from Penglai."

"The Guanyin in Penglai all looks like this."

Without waiting for Eunuch An to speak, Wu Ji looked at his expression and hurriedly added, "Eunuch, this is very important to us. The prince is investigating something related to the woman in this portrait."

"If you know anything, don't hide it."

When Eunuch An heard him say this, he struggled and hesitated for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said the next bombshell: "This woman...had a relationship with the late emperor."