Chapter 103 Amorous eyes or fishy eyes
All the people widened their eyes to look at the Side Hall that Chan Yi pointed at. They used to hear someone saying they had seen ghosts. But this was the first time for them to hear some saying, “Look! There is a ghost!”
He Danggui was also amazed. Immediately. She turned to see what it was. But after her first glance, she knocked Chan Yi’s head, “What nonsense are you talking about? Go and apologize to First Miss! How could she be a ghost? You should be punished seriously when we get back!”
It turned out that the ghost appeared was exactly Luo Baiying, the First Miss of Luo’s Family. He Danggui knew her eldest sister was cantankerous and couldn’t stand anyone speaking ill of her. She was afraid Chan Yi would be punished because of her words, so she intended to take the initiative of her punishment first. But then again, even the people who were familiar with Luo Baiying were also startled when they saw her standing at a dark corner of the Side Hall silently with a white cloth, bare feet, loosened hair and wet body.
Mammy Tang was shocked. She ran to Luo Baiying, then went around her twice. She wanted to support her but didn’t know where to start, so she inquired anxiously, “Why are you here, First Miss? What happened to you? Why are you wearing such thin middle clothes in such a cold weather? Your clothes…”
“I just heard that Grandma had come back home. As I have something urgent to tell her, I come to Ting Zhu Yard hurriedly.”
Luo Baiying answered. She was wet through, and her voice was hoarse and weak, as if it were from a fifty-year-old woman who had experienced many vicissitudes of life. And the voice was in stark contrast to her beautiful and young face. It was the first time for Chan Yi to hear her voice, and she couldn’t help trembling to hear that.
Luo Baiying raised her hand and pushed the wet hair away from her face. Some green algae and a mess of mud fell to the ground as she acted. Her appearance was just above the average. Unlike Luo Baiqian who had inherited the fine skin of First Lord, her chin was long and pointed, which looked a little discordant at first sight, and made people feel it was a blemish on her appearance. Luckily, she had a pair of tapered almond eyes, which were called “Amorous eyes” by most people. However, Ms. Dong liked to call that “Fishy eyes” privately. Though it sounded mean, it was actually appropriate. Because when Luo Baiying was speaking, she never looked at other’s eyes, even during her talk with Madam Luo. Her view was always focusing on the space above her nose, which let people feel she was noble and inviolable.
So, many servants in Luo’s Mansion said that though Second Miss was beautiful, her features were not delicate enough, and her nose was slightly enlarged, so she was a not sustainable beauty. As for First Miss, though you wouldn’t think of her as a standard beauty at first sight, the more you looked at her, the better you would feel her beauty. It seemed that her eyes could talk with others. Although she didn’t look at you, you would still feel you were exposed in her eyes. Fortunately, those words had not yet heard by Ms. Sun and Luo Baiqiong, or the servants of Luo’s Mission would be substituted completely.
“After I arrived here, I heard Qian’s wife quarreling terribly with someone at the door. So, I went to the Ting Xiang Shui Xie pavilion to have a sit and intended to come in after all people left.” Luo Baiying took the blanket Mammy Tang brought and covered herself, then continued to speak plainly, “When I passed by the bridge, I was tripped by something and then fell into the pond. I couldn’t swim, so I cried for help, but my voice was covered by the loud voice of Qian’s wife. I struggled for a while under the water, and then I found that under my feet was the bottom of the pond. The water only reached my waist after I stood up. At that time, my coat and cloak were full of water and I wasn’t strong enough to climb ashore, so I took off my clothes and threw them at the pond.” Her tone was so clam like she was talking about the new embroidery patterns that came out the other day instead of her sad story.
Madam Luo and Mammy Tang shook their heads and sighed, “Poor girl”. While Ms. Dong’s face was livid and her teeth clenched. She thought, “Annoying fishy eyes! Since you had fallen into the pond, why not just drown yourself?! I’ve being polite to you all the time. Why do you always ice me out as we are talking?!
Luo Baiying looked straight ahead and then raised her chin slightly to adjust her sight. She looked around at all the people and finally stared at Chan Yi. She raised her chin and said, “Come here and serve me with my changing.”
Hearing this, Chan Yi moved closer to He Danggui unconsciously. He Danggui lowered her head and thought for a second, then patted Chan Yi’s shoulder and said softly, “Chan Yi, First Miss is calling you, hurry up! In our family, First Miss doesn’t like to repeat what she ordered the servants to do. You should be more attentive later, and make amends for your mistakes. First Miss is merciful and she won’t aim at a ten-year-old child like you.”
So, Chan Yi was pushed by He Danggui and took some steps forward. She followed Luo Baiying to the East Flower Hall in fear as the latter dripped along their way. Miss Ji hesitated for a moment, and then turned her head and said, “I’ll go to get some clothes and hot water for First Miss.” Then she followed them to the East Flower Hall, too.
Seeing Madam Luo was pallid and got frightened, Mammy Tang persuaded her apprehensively, “What happened to First Miss is just an accident. And now she is safe. She was just wet for a little while and will be fine after taking several medicines. To say the least, even if there is something wrong, as the young old man predicted, we had already suffered the disaster…” This time, even Mammy Tang couldn’t continue the story after she said that. She had already repeated the words twice: the first time was when the dead crows appeared, and the second time was when First Miss fell into the pond. And she was afraid that after she finished speaking, there might be something more happening——“Ah!” Her eyes twitched. Was this her hallucination?
“Ah!” This sound was made by Luo Baishao, “It’s falling off! Ah!” Then she got down and put her hands on her head. The next moment, all the people noticed that one of the nails on the one hundred jin plaque that hung on the central nave was loosened, and the plaque was going to fall off. Madam Luo patted her leg and yelled with her eyes wide-open, “Oh my god! Hurry! Catch it! The plaque was awarded by the royal!”
Though she shouted loudly, except herself and aged Mammy Tang, the others here were three delicate Misses and ladies, none of whom were able to carry a one hundred jin plaque.
He Danggui frowned. In her memory, though this plaque was awarded to Senior Lord Luo by the deceased Crown Prince, the signet on it was not the prince seal but a literati seal. So, this plaque wasn’t something that couldn’t be damaged, and they wouldn’t be decapitated for damaging it. At the very beginning, she wanted to imitate Luo Baishao to get down, put her hands on her head and yelled. But when she saw Mammy Tang was going to protect the plaque with her life, she almost saw the sense that Mammy Tang protected the plaque with her body, then vomited blood and died with her last words, “Whether alive or dead, I belong to Luo’s Family…”
He Danggui didn’t know if her Zhenqi for protecting her body was still working and whether she would feel painful after the one hundred plaque hit her. But she couldn’t bear to see Mammy Tang losing her life in this way. So, she took a compromising way by using the kung fu “lion strikes rabbit” of Kongtong Sect, planning to kick off Mammy Tang with her left foot while kicking off the plaque before the plaque fell down with the other foot. In this way, Mammy Tang might only sprain her waist. As for that plaque, her action could relieve the impact force, but it was impossible to predict the damaged condition.
Surely, Madam Luo didn’t know either He Danggui’s intention or the girl knew a little kung fu in her previous life and she could deal with this situation. Seeing He Danggui rushing to save the plaque, Madam Luo cried out again, “Help! Yi is gonna die!”
While Madam Luo was yelling, He Danggui rushed a few steps forward, then she felt her collar was caught by someone, and her feet were away from the ground afterwards. No matter how she managed to run, she was always at the same place. She looked around confusedly, and then her eyes happened to see Nie Chun’s sepulchral eagle eyes and his haughty nostrils.
Nie Chun used three fingers to hold her and threw her at Madam Luo’s side. Then he turned back and noticed Pan Jingyang. The latter had curbed Mammy Tang with one hand, supported the plaque with his foot, and then set it beside the wall with the other hand.
Mammy Tang finally brought back to herself. When she found that besides Pan Jingyang, the three guards, Guang, Xiao, and Wei, also came here, she hurriedly told them the fire situation of Bitter Bamboo Grove, let them order someone to put out the fire and guard the entrance of Bitter Bamboo Grove. She also asked them to search the Bitter Bamboo Grove completely after dawn.
At the other side, after Madam Luo made sure He Danggui was safe, she then patted her head with exasperation and gratitude, “I just said ‘catch it’ casually, but I didn’t really mean to let you and Hong Jiang to catch it. Silly kid, don’t do that again!” Actually, Madam Luo also knew that this plaque was not a standard award of the deceased Crown Prince, but a gift that he gave Senior Lord Luo in private. But since the deceased Crown Prince had died, the Emperor didn’t set a new Crown Prince. She guessed that the Emperor planned to let the deceased Crown Prince’s son, Zhu Yunwen, inherit the throne. Therefore, although it was just a private plaque of the deceased Crown Prince, after some years, it might be the evidence of Senior Lord Luo and the deceased Crown Prince’ friendship. That was why she was so nervous and let people to catch that plaque desperately.
He Danggui was still immersed in the shock of being caught and thrown away by someone. Though she was in a little kid’s body, she was 28 years old in her previous life, just as old as Nie Chun right now. It was a shame for her to be treated like that. Madam Luo thought she was too frightened, so she patted her head again to comfort her.
The sense made Luo Baishao and Dong Xinlan feel jealous. Ms. Dong thought of her purpose of this visit, so she reminded Madam Luo, “Whoa, my poor Zhu. You are so intelligent, but just because someone had wicked intentions…”
“That’s enough. Let’s stop here today.” Madam Luo interposed Ms. Dong’s words testily. Since she put all the blame on Ms. Dong secretly for what happened today, she rebuked her, “We could have safely avoided today’s troubles, but you suddenly came here and bothered our rest, so we have suffered so much! I wonder if we are still safe now, or do we have to suffer the bloodshed disasters before everything settled? My god, where should I found Qi Xuanyu to drive out the evil spirits? Xinlan, Zhu just woke up, as his mother, you didn’t take care of him but ran here to make troubles. The plaque had fallen down because of you!”
Ms. Dong was dumbfounded for the blame. She couldn’t say a word even if she was the “The first meritorious person of Luo’s Family”.
Looking away, Madam Luo found Luo Baishao lowing her head and snickering, so she rebuked her, too, but her tone was gentler than before, “So do you, Shao. You didn’t join in the class at daytime, and refused to practice calligraphy at night. You even can’t write a word well, how do you housekeep after you get married? It’s already late at night, but you still stand there having fun. Now your eldest sister had an accident, but you’re still so naughty. Quickly get back to your Tao Yao Yard. If I hear that you are still hanging around here, I will ask your mother to let you transcribe the Analects for Women tomorrow!”
Madam Luo hadn’t been so furious before. This time, she rebuked both Ms. Dong and Luo Baishao, and it was obvious she was asking them to leave. So, she successfully dislodged the two. On the other side, Nie Chun and the four guards were leading the servants to put out the fire. When there were only Madam Luo, Mammy Tang and He Danggui in the hall, Madam Luo suddenly slumped in the chair. Mammy Tang rushed to catch her and cried out, “Doctor! I’ll get them to call Dr. Wu here!”
“Calm down.” Madam Luo waved her hand wearily, “I’m too tired and don’t want to see anyone. And I’m well aware of my body condition. It’s just my old maladies relapsing. By the way, had Dr. Wu treat the patient sent by Yang? Had Yang arrived?”
Mammy Tang shook her head and sighed, “I don’t know. I was too busy to care about that. Don’t worry about other people’s business. Nothing is more important than your health. Third Miss, please call Gan Cao here, and let her… Eh, where is Third Miss?”
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m