Chapter 122 Six people played Go
He Danggui remembered that Earl Baoding Meng Shan had eleven sons. The Seventh Childe Meng Xuan should be his legitimate son, who was a Young General of the Earl Mansion. But why he was chased by imperial guards?
As far as she knew, Meng Shan was brave and battle-wise. He was not only a trusted follower of the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, but also was one of the scarce founding fathers commanding a large number of troops. Liu Bowen, Lu Zhongheng, Chen Huan and others, who were labeled at the same time, were all demoted, whereas Meng Shan always kept his position in the field. Since he followed Zhu Yuanzhang, who was over-suspicious, for 30 years and was always trusted, it could be described as a marvel. It was obvious that Meng Shan was not a simple person and different from other lead soldiers.
Meng Shan was a man with a full forehead, a round chin, long eyelashes and deep eyes. He must be a handsome man when he was young. It was no wonder that his son Meng Xuan was as pretty as a girl. Meng Xuan’s delicate features were as lively as a figure cut off from the painting. He Danggui curled her lips and thought. It was estimated that dressing up him with women’s clothing maybe surpassed her beauty. Fortunately, he had been unconscious when she saved him, or today he would suddenly say, “I have seen this sister!” She didn’t know how to explain it. After all, it was a felony to obstruct imperial guard’s case.
At this time, fake Feng Yang and Ning Yuan went into the hall, sitting on the seats opposite to Meng Shan and his son. He Danggui put chrysanthemum cake in front of her face as a cover for sizing up Meng Xuan’s expression. His clear black eyes stared at Ning Yuan’s face for a moment, which was similar to the face of Lu Jiangbei. And then with a slight sigh of relief, he picked up his glass and began to drink as if he knew it was not Lu Jiangbei. He Danggui was sure that he was the severely injured man that chased by Lu Jiangbei and then hid in the grass on that day. If she remembered correctly, Meng Shan was a commander-in-chief stationed in Shanhai pass. He took the soldiers through Yangzhou City to go to the foreland of Fuzhou City this time...
“Third Sister!” A deep voice came in her ears. “Why do you just look at it but not eat it? Is your chrysanthemum cake not delicious? Maybe you can eat my food!” Holding a dish of double-flavored steamed dumplings, Peng Jian ran from the opposite seat to the last seat on her side, pulled a stool and sat down. Then he asked in a low voice, “Hey, what’s the matter with you? Are you sick?”
He Danggui was scared by him suddenly, so she said angrily with a low voice, “I am willing to eat chrysanthemum cake, and I am not sick. My face was just blowsy.”
As for Madam Luo, it was clear that two juniors adored each other and were whispering, so she was overjoyed immediately. Madam Luo turned back to see Little Childe Xuan, Peng Shi, Ning Yuan and others, who were holding flagons to drink ceaselessly. She couldn’t help concerning and said, “The feast hasn’t started now, and all of you cannot drink a lot.” So, she asked someone to replace all the wine in front of everyone except Meng Shan with grape juice mixed with honey and asked the Mammy Tang when the feast would start.
Meng Xuan, Peng Shi, Ning Yuan, fake Feng Yang and other people picked up the new grape juice to drink at the same time. Then Meng Xuan, Peng Shi, Ning Yuan frowned immediately and put down the cups. They thought that only women would like to drunk such a sweet wine! The fake Feng Yang drank half of it directly, but he looked up inadvertently and realized the other three people were staring at him, so he put down his cup with a little bit embarrassment.
Meng Xuan saw his father and Madam Luo were talking about the past of the first highly-skilled doctor Luo Maitong around the world, so he looked at Feng Yang, Young Lord of Caobang Organization who was sitting opposite to him. Then he asked, “Childe, you must be the person referred by warriors in Jianghu ‘Fuliu sword’ Feng Yang, aren’t you?”
Fake Feng Yang nodded foolishly and said, “Huh.”
Meng Xuan said with a smile, “I heard that Childe Feng has learned the skill for ten years in Wudang Mountain and obtained the real skills of the outstanding person Jiao Youwu. You are the newly rising first famous person in Jianghu. I have been admirable about the Jiao but never see him. Since today I meet his outstanding disciple, I would like to ask for advice. Please favor me with your instructions.”
“Ah?” Fake Feng Yang became hesitated for a moment. But after he saw the slightly sarcastic eyes on the opposite side, he couldn’t help saying, “Well, it’s better to pass time by comparing notes before the banquet held.” At least he was one of the masters in Wuying Tower. Was he still afraid of an eleven-year-old guy?
Ning Yuan felt something wrong immediately. Since Meng Shan dared to put his little son on the battlefield, he must have full confidence in him. And on the other side, Meng Xuan was in fine fettle, which showed the profound internal force clearly. No matter whether Ming Yue could win Meng Xuan, he should not pretend to be Feng Yang to fight with Meng Xuan. How should they do if something happened? It would reveal their secrets. So, Ning Yuan interrupted immediately and said, “Feng Yang, didn’t you say that you are dizzy today?”
Hearing it, fake Feng Yang shocked and understood the meaning of Ni Yuan. Then fake Feng Yang covered his face and said, “Dizzy. I’m so dizzy!”
Madam Luo was talking with Earl Baoding. She shook her head toward fake Feng Yang and said, “Yang, I said that children should not drink. He is drunk now. Come on, bring him a bowl of sober-up soup!” Oh, he liked to show off. Now he had to drink sober-up soup before the feat started!
At the same time, Peng Shi turned to see his brother sitting on the most inferior seat near the door and eating chrysanthemum cake. Even his mouth was filled, but he kept talking. The hall was noisy, and he was far away from his brother, so he did not know what his brother said. However, from the serious expression of Third Sister of East Yard, he could know that she was so impatient. So, Peng Shi called across the hall, “Jian, come back quickly. We have not finished playing Go!”
All the people in the hall were so bored since they were waiting for the feast started. Suddenly, they heard such a voice, so it attracted all people’s attention immediately, which made them turn to see Peng Jian, who was eating at the door, and He Danggui, who was bending to see her fingers. Peng Jian stopped eating and speaking. He looked up at his surly brother and was reluctant to leave. Eventually, he went back slowly to his seat and continued playing Go.
The Go board was carved on the wall of the hall. When people were sitting there, they could see it around them. A Go stone was a small semicircular ball that could be embedded in a Go board. There were a dozen similar Go boards carved into the walls here, while they were hardly used in Luo’s Mansion. They had been purely ornamentation since they were made, so each of them was polished. They looked at a crowd of people waiting for dinner with empty stomachs. On the other side, Ning Yuan got inspiration from Peng Shi, so he pulled fake Feng Yang to also play Go on one of the Go boards. Therefore, Meng Xuan couldn’t chat with him.
So, everyone there began to enjoy themselves in pairs, either playing or talking except Meng Xuan. Of course, He Danggui was not in all of them. She had the ability to make herself become more unremarkable than those servants, which was her rule of living in Luo’s Mansion. But Madam Luo was very concerned about the situation in the hall. For a while, she noticed that the little Childe Xuan was not only sitting there alone, but didn’t dink his grape juice.
Earl Baoding Meng Shan was a respected guest in Luo’s Mansion for years, so was his Little Childe. Even the little Childe Xuan was more distinguished than Shi, Jian, Yang and Yuan. It was unsuitable for him to be bored and neglected. Madam Luo saw the figure of her grandchild at the door for the first time, and shouted across the hall, “Yi! Didn’t your mother teach you how to play Go? Play it with the Little Childe Xuan!”
Hearing it, He Danggui slowly went to the table of Earl Baoding. Looking at the eleven-year-old pretty boy, she asked with patience, “Hello, would you like to play Go?”
The pretty boy nodded and said, “Up to you.” Although playing Go could kill time, he didn’t want to play Go with a ten-year-old girl.
“Oh,” He Danggui also nodded and said, “Actually, me too.”
The beautiful boy thought for a moment. Perhaps he was so bored that even if his opponent was only ten years old, he wanted to play Go to pass time. So, he asked, “Little sister, which Go board should we choose?”
He Danggui skewed her head and said, “It’s up to you.”
Meng Xuan skewed his head too. He went to the largest Go board in the hall straightly without saying anything more. This Go board had a size of four or five other Go boards. He Danggui followed him, and found that he was a head taller than her and looked more beautiful than her. She couldn’t help murmuring, “Little boy, you are so cocky. I have taken off your clothes before.”
They stood at the side of the large Go board which was engraved on the wall. Meng Xuan adjusted his sight slightly, frowned and sized He Danggui up. Based on what Madam Luo just said, Meng Xuan guessed that He Danggui just learned to play Go. Since He Danggui saw Meng Zhen keep silent for a moment, she took off the hanging Go bowls from the wall directly and said, “Do you want white stones or black stones?” Meng Xuan replied naturally, “Up to you.”
He Danggui rolled her eyes and took the black stones. But she found he was about to take that. Then she turned to took the white one, but there were also two fingers hanging above them. Therefore, she stopped to choose but allowed her opponent to take firstly. His hand paused slightly and then grabbed the black one. It was late last time on the mountain road, so she didn’t pay attention to his hands. When she looked closely now, she found that his fingers were not as delicate as those of other pretty boys. There were thick cocoons on many joints. She guessed it was because he had held a sword for a long time. Moreover, compared with a few masters she had met, such as Lu Jiangbei, Duan Xiaolou and Ning Yuan, his hands were rougher than others’, which could show that he was really diligent.
Then, when it was time to set the Go game, she didn’t ask him again. She turned to pick up two long lathy leaves from the fruit plate on the table. Then she crossed them and passed another end to Meng Xuan. She said, “Who wins first!” Meng Xuan stared and laughed himself. He had been reduced to drink sugar juice and then played grass with the little girl, hadn’t he?
Each of them held one end of the leaf to pull backwards. “Splat.” The leaf in He Danggui’s hands was broken, so she nodded and said, “You go first.” He wouldn’t win her if she let him go first twenty pieces.
At that time, Earl Baoding went to change clothes. Madam Luo went out of the hall hurriedly to find Mammy Tang and asked her directly, “Hong Jiang, what are you doing? Why hasn’t start the feast yet? Where are Ying, Qiong and Qian? Where is my second daughter-in-law? The guests don’t like the grape juice. Is there any other drink?”
Mammy Tang said with a bitter face, “The Administrator in kitchen was replaced by Yang Wu’s wife five days ago, while now she was unable to do with it. At such a feast, the kitchen is at a mess, so she has to ask the guests to stay a little longer. It’s not suitable for them to waiting like that, but there are a few men in our family, and there are no dancers. How about I call some performers for Forth Miss to act in an opera?”
Madam Luo waved her hands and said, “Now they are all playing Go and enjoying themselves. I will have a headache when I hear the plays by the performers. I will send them away tomorrow, and it’s time for Shao to go to the academy to study after she comes back from the Taoist temple!”
Mammy Tang continued saying, “Second Madam went back to her natal family at noon. She was in a hurry, so she had no time to take leave from you. I do not know what happened to Sun’s Family. First Master has been away from home for a whole day, and his personal manservant Xiong Huang had gone, too. The First Miss sent for a letter, saying that ever since that day when she fell into the water, she had been in poor health. For avoiding misbehavior during the feast, so she will not come here.”
“What about Qiong?” Madam became agitated for there was no reliable one at the critical moment! The men were not at home. The elder son was still busy in San Qing Tang, while the second son was busy with his business!
Mammy Tang wiped a handful of sweat and answered, “Second Miss was to come here earlier, but she has not picked up the right clothes. Now she is still choosing clothes!”
Madam instructed with a deep voice, “Send someone to urge Qiong, send more people to help in the kitchen, and tell Yang Wu’s wife that the level of feast can be reduced a little, but they must serve guests as soon as possible. If not, they will leave like Wang Qi Family!”
Mammy Tang nodded, then she remembered something and asked, “Since the guests do not like to drink juice, and desserts should not be served before the meal. How about the Hawthorn tea?”
“The Hawthorn tea?” Madam Luo became a little confused.
“Yes,” Mammy Tang reminded, “That is the Hawthorn tea which Third Miss gave you last time in the carriage. Few days ago, she also made two jin Hawthorn tea and sent it to Fu Shou Yard with Gan Cao, which you haven’t drunk. That kind of tea is fragrant and refreshing, and you want to drink it when you smell it. We have enjoyed it, so you can share it to the guests.”
“Well, it’s time to get ready!” When she saw that Earl Baoding had already changed clothes and came back, she was in a hurry, waved her hands to Mammy Tang and said, “Then, you can go to the kitchen to urge them!”
Madam Luo turned around and went into Xin Rong Hall quickly. To her surprise, she found that Peng Shi, Peng Jian, Ning Yuan and fake Feng Yang who had been playing Go before stopped playing it. They were behind Little Childe Xuan and Yi, pointing at the big Go board on the wall and talking about something. So, what happened?
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