Lu Jiangbei also looked back at Gao Jue, telling him firmly, “I went back to Yingtian Prefecture of the capital yesterday, and went to Changye Tower to find the informant who provided information. It had been confirmed that the news is true. Gao Jue, do you remember what we have learned from the subordinates who pried into information in the Taoist temple? He said He Danggui’s mother, Luo Chuanxiong, was the legitimate daughter of Luo’s Mansion in Yangzhou City, but Ms. He’s father, He Fu, was just a man of a depressed family in Yangzhou City. This year he just made an Eighth-Grade Guarding Commander of the Capital. The year they got married, everyone thought it was inconceivable, even suspected some possibilities like that ‘The two elope first and then get married’, ‘the man board first and then buy the ticket’ or ‘the woman looks ugly or has unmentionable disease’, and these made Master Duan very angry.”
Gao Jue loosened Lu Jiangbei’s plain brocade collar and recalled
Gan Cao was arguing with Mammy Tang, advising that even if she had something urgent to tell, she’d better wait until Madam Luo woke up the next morning. But she was scared when the door bounced open all of a sudden.Mammy Tang’s expression changed from anxiety to comfort, and she hastened to help Madam Luo into the room. Although Mammy Tang was 4 years older than Madam Luo, she could not change the habit over the years. Once she saw Madam Luo standing alone, she could not help rushing forward to support her.“Madam, don’t worry, the Taoist temple is very good, and Third Miss lives there well. I come back by myself to tell you something.” Mammy Tang helped Madam Luo into the room and turned to enjoin the maid, “Gan Cao, light the lamps quickly, half open the window of the outside room, and serve Madam Luo a bowl of fresh coix seed congee with two teaspoons of honey.” Gan Cao agreed.Madam Luo’s heart still hung in the air. She asked anxiously, “
Mammy Tang understood how Madam Luo felt, so she said sadly, “I know that among all the ladies in the family, in addition to First Miss, Fourth Miss is closest with you. Now not her parents but you feel sorry for her the most. In my opinion, Fourth Miss is only 9 years old. How could she distinguish between good and bad? It must be some of the servants around her who urged her to do so! Madam, you know, Second Mistress Luo is the busiest person in our family. Even in her spare time, she cares about Second Miss’s things first. With time goes by, she neglected her instructions for Fourth Miss and let those servants around Fourth Miss exploit the loopholes. Fourth Miss is now like a piece of noun-shaped nephrite, i.e. she would become the kind of person that people around her say what she should be.”Seeing that Madam Luo couldn’t accept the fact, Mammy Tang thought for a moment and said, “Just now when I went back to the mansion, the first thing I did was to ask someone t
“Oh, my god, you are back! I have been waiting here all day. Where have you been, master? Why didn’t you take me with you?”The manservant Xiong Huang came out from the stone lion in the East Yard of Luo’s Mansion, raised his head to lift up the window of the carriage, and said in a low voice, “Come inside the mansion quickly, Master! Something big happened in our family. First Younger Mistress is going crazy looking for you! I’ve tried everywhere as well. But there was no trace of you in the Academy, the medicine shop, the other homes, or Master Ding’s Mansion. Everywhere! First Younger Mistress was so worried and determined that she would go to the government tomorrow morning to report your missing!”Luo Baiqian seemed to have drunk a lot of wine before. When he lifted the curtain, there was a strong smell of wine surrounding the carriage. He refused to let the coachman help him. Instead, he pushed the coachman’s arm impatiently, and jumped out of the car
“Miss, didn’t Mammy Tang ask you to wait for her to pick you up in the mountain?” Zhen Jing, whose name was Chan Yi now, ran after He Danggui, and panted heavily as she shouted, “It’s about 5:00, only the second morning now. Even if Mammy Tang can fly, she cannot come back overnight! My legs are breaking. Let’s have a rest!”“I agree, Miss. Let’s have a rest at the edge of the mountain road, and my hands hurt!” Huai Wen, whose name was Huai Hua now, stopped, and putted the baggage on the road, shaking her hand, “I can’t make it! I really can’t walk any further!”He Danggui walked in the front, stopped and complained, “You need to rest again?” Excuse me, are you maids? As your Miss, I’m not tired of carrying such a heavy load about 100 jin, and you’re still panting with almost empty hands. How come you claim yourselves as people who often walked on mountain roads?” In spite of complaining, she put the carrying pole down, sitting on the luggage to have a rest
Two years later, Luo Chuanxiong brought Third Miss He Danggui back to Luo’s Mansion again. At that time, her mother First Madam Luo had passed away. Being disheartened by her two failed marriages, Luo Chuanxiong avoided meeting acquaintances whose expressions made her feel like being pricked by tiny needles on her heart. So, after she made her daughter He Danggui settled, she ran to Sanqing Temple overnight to start her meditation.He Danggui just came to Luo’s Family a few days but had already occupied four bolts of silk patterned by “Rosy Clouds of Dawn Raising from Mountains” that the Third Lord gave to three Misses and a Younger Mistress of the first and second branches. The silk wasn’t precious, but Luo Baiqiong who was always regarded as a core thought that someone was more important than her this time. She locked herself in the room to think about that again and again with a feeling of resentment. If she didn’t vent her anger, the pretty face and the eyes full of
Lu Jiangbei frowned. He wasn’t offended by this question but was so confused, “I’m half a year younger than Gao Jue. Why did you say that ‘we two don’t match’? Everyone loves the beauty. Miss He is a rare beauty. I admire her, but I don’t offend her. Isn’t that okay?”Liao Zhiyuan did not answer the question but asked, “Do you want this dagger?”Lu Jiangbei put the dagger in his palm and observed it for a while. Then he put the dagger into the scabbard, gave it to Liao Zhiyuan and said with a smile, “You just said you would sell it to Childe Duan. How can I take it? Next time you make another one, maybe I’ll buy it for 50 liang silver.”Liao Zhiyuan shook his fingers and said shrewdly, “Ask the white finch for white feathers and ask the colorful finch for colorful feathers. I ask Childe Duan for 100 liang silver because he has a lot of money. But you have a lot of Zhenqi... I have an idea. I make another one and sell it to Childe Duan. I will g
Mammy Tang was stunned and shook her head quickly after a moment. “I don’t mean that, and I haven’t thought about that!” Seeing the suspicious look on Madam Luo’s face, she burst into laughter and said, “My lady, are you still groggy due to the sleep? Do you forget that we heard an interesting story that day? The Fortune-teller Li’s family had a mishap. He was shocked to know that the son of his concubine was not his biological son. Then he locked up this concubine and tortured her for inquiring who was the adulterer. But the concubine ran away with the property of 200 liang in the midnight. Since he can’t predict his own life, how can he divine for others? Qi Xuanyu, the real master of fortunetelling, has divined the life of Third Miss, saying that she is a blessed girl!”Madam Luo relaxed and said with a sigh of relief, “Well, I have a hard time in concentrating because of Zhu’s illness.” After a pause, she helplessly looked at Mammy Tang whom she trusted the most and
“That guy? How could he hurt you? He even can’t beat me. He is just a kid of 15 or 16 years old.” Liao Zhiyuan shook his head and refuted.Lu Jiangbei said in a deep voice, “Whether who hurt me yesterday, I’m pretty sure that Zhu Quan has a gift for learning kung fu, and he always keeps his strength under wraps. You said he can’t beat you, but I want to tell you that maybe he could beat you two or three years ago.”Liao Zhiyuan still didn’t believe it. Just as the saying went, seeing was believing. He could beat Zhu Quan every time when they practiced kung fu at Northwest Drill Ground. After the competition, Zhu Quan admired his skillful kung fu and bought him a drink!Refraining from spitting blood, Lu Jiangbei said, “Now I only know that the Gezhu of Wuying Tower who fought with me is a boy under the age of 18 with bizarre kung fu skills that are different from the schools in the Central Plain. To protect his identity, he used a salix-leaf sh