Chapter 123 Old enemies met again
On the Go board in Xin Rong Hall, He Danggui played Go with Meng Xuan three times. In the first round, both of them experienced inadvertence, attention, solemnity, hesitation, and anxiety. Finally, the game ended in a draw.
It ended in a draw? He Danggui stared at the man in front of her angrily and thought that there was really a child prodigy in the world who could combat with her on the Go board and draw a match in his teens, wasn’t there? Playing Go was one of her best skills. How could she be defeated! He Danggui thought about the match. She was perfunctory to a child in the first half of match, then she was in stalemate gradually. If she took it seriously in the beginning, she believed she could win in thirty steps!
However, Meng Xuan also stared at He Danggui angrily. He actually lost the game, didn’t he? Even if he started first, he lost the game by one step! How ironic! He had lived for nineteen years in the previous life, and eleven years in this life. With over 20 years of experience in playing Go, he was defeated by a green hand. He couldn’t accept it. So, Meng Xuan said, “One more time!”
“OK!” He Danggui took a deep breath and became serious. This time she would rout him!
Both of them had same thought that they had lived twice and couldn’t be defeated by a child in their favorite game! Perhaps they were too eager to win and ignored two problems. First, ordinary children would never have such wonderful Go skills. What kind child he/she was if he/she could draw a match? Second, they were playing the role of children and hiding themselves from others. Was it necessary to expose to win once?
Then, the second round began.
After some struggling, He Danggui finally won by four steps with painstaking efforts. At this moment, both of them looked at each other and were shocked. Each of them thought that there should be a child prodigy in the world! As the old saying went, there was always someone better than you. It was a truth!
More trouble of them was that the match with its big Go board was so wonderful that attracted Peng Shi, Peng Jian, Ning Yuan and fake Feng Yang. These men all gave up their matches and came up to watch the match.
At their request, He Danggui and Meng Xuan began the third round.
This time, they regretted that they had just accidentally exposed themselves, and attracted others attention. So, they determined to play Go like an ordinary child. As soon as it began, they exposed weaknesses to each other and wanted to be defeated by the other quickly. They played Go like an idiot which made others feel disappointed.
Then, Peng Jian gave up obeying the principle, “A true gentleman should keep silent while watching a Go game.” He couldn’t help giving advices to He Danggui and teaching her how to win the game. Then Peng Jian, Ning Yuan and fake Feng Yang all joined in guiding the game. So, the match between two guys turned to a war of words among six people.
He Danggui felt as if a swarm of flies were buzzing overhead. She wanted to put down the Go bowl and then went back to her seat to have snacks. But when she saw Madam Luo looking at her with appreciation and uncertainty, she had to continue the poor match.
“May good fortune be with you, Madam Luo! I’m late, please forgive me!” With clear voice like a yellowbird, a twelve-year-old girl in formal dress went into the hall slowly.
He Danggui frowned and turned to the girl. It was Luo Baiqiong. Although her appearance, smile, expression and behavior looked like a child and not like a 30-year-old coquette in the previous life, she was the one who killed her, her mother and her daughter with Zhou Jinglan, and set traps to her over and over again in the name of kinship. She was the one who finally led her to death. She was her Second Sister, Luo Baiqiong.
Of course, dressing was very important. The age of twelve was not the best time of a woman, but it meant youth and innocence. No one knew whether Luo Baiqiong even had an innocent life. Now, she was well-dressed with delicate clothes and accessories. The dress was made by floral brocade, gold yarn, and an emerald gauzy skirt outside. Her hair was in two topknots with double Ruyi ring. And there was a gold hairpin carved flowers and a tortoise shell dangling ornament with jewels. She was smiling and walking charmingly. When she came in, everyone was attracted.
He Danggui had been prepared to meet with Sun Meiniang, Luo Baiqiong and Luo Chuangu. Even though one of her goal was to find them, and she had become so callous, she almost tried her best to hide her hatred when she saw her old enemy.
She had saved Zhou Jinglan’s life, but Zhou Jinglan and Xu Siniang returned evil for good. She didn’t hate them like this even they framed her. She despised them but could understand them because they were fighting for men, honor, and status. They killed her because she was just in their way of promotion.
After she gained the honor and power in the Mansion, she was always working for the Luo’s Family, thinking about them first, and constantly paying for nothing. However, they were not grateful, and sometimes bullied her. She used to be so patient to play with them for more than ten years.
In those years, Luo Baiqiong asked her to get a Fourth-Grade Transmission Officer for her husband, Liang Yizhou. Although it was difficult, she still strived for it day and night. When she finally succeeded, she was threatened by Luo Baiqiong to reveal that she had abused power. After that, as long as the people of the Second Branch asked her for business, they always mentioned the matter to threaten her. Even so, she still did all kinds of things for them patiently for thinking that they would be moved by her kindness. But she was unable to fight against when she finally knew their evil intentions.
She never let them down. How could they trample on her kindness!
She didn’t mind her injuries, but cared for her daughter’s life. However, when she and her daughter were dying in Water Dungeon, Sun Meiniang and Luo Baiqiong still hurt them by putting snakes into water. Her daughter was killed by the snakes. She could only put her daughter’s body into the water, then caught snakes and threw them on the wall madly. Seeing she was still alive, Sun Meiniang told her that her mother was seriously ill, and later would be fed with a bowl of soup with arsenic. As long as she was willing to die, the three of them could be together after death.
She regretted and hit her head to the wall. If she had not married into the Mansion, or she was ordinary, or she had never come to this world, her mother would not have died so miserably!
“Are you cold, Third Sister? Your shoulders are shaking all the time!” Peng Jian interrupted her thought and dragged her out of the nightmare. Now his voice was not unpleasant. “Oh, you must have a cold when you were sitting at the door. Why don’t you go with us to have a cup of hot tea!” He suggested.
He Danggui nodded and was about to say something. Then, the clear and sweet voice sounded again, “It’s our Mansion’s fault to let you wait for a long time. I made some fruit tea in person to show our apology. Please have a taste, and is it delicious?”
Madam Luo nodded approvingly with her decent behavior. It thanked to the cultivation of the Second Daughter-in-law that Qiong grew up as a beautiful and smart lady who had no competitors in Yangzhou City. Mammy Tang followed Luo Baiqiong into the hall. Gan Cao and Deng Cao followed Mammy Tang, holding a large steaming porcelain bottle on their hands.
Then eight people, including the six thirsty Go seniors, Madam Luo and Earl Baoding Meng Shan, all seated and waited for the beauty to serve the tea.
Luo Baiqiong first served a cup of tea to Earl Baoding Meng Shan and Seventh Childe, Meng Xuan, then to Madam Luo, fake Feng Yang, Ning Yuan, Peng Shi, Peng Jian. Finally, she held a cup of tea in her hands and walked to the center of the hall. She said with a smile, “This tea is an appetizing fruit tea made from the finest fresh fruit and a variety of herbs. It’s suitable to have it before a meal. It is dry and windy in autumn, so I put some herbs which benefit the lungs into it...”
The voice echoed in the hall. Everyone who got the tea couldn’t help taking deep breaths. It was sweet! The sweet smell was mixed with natural odor of herbs. They could almost smell the taste before having it. It was also a pleasure to listen to Miss Luo. Everyone gradually calmed down and relaxed from the anxiety of waiting for the feast. Even the serious Earl Baoding Meng Shan showed a relaxed expression, closing his eyes to sniff the tea.
At this moment, Gan Cao, who stood behind the audience with a large half-empty porcelain bottle, suddenly noticed the Third Miss’s table was empty. So, she served a cup of tea to her.
Even since He Danggui had recalled painful memories, she had been stunned, not paying attention to the hall and snakes. Now, Gan Cao served tea to her. She suddenly noticed her table was empty. Later, she remembered there were snakes on the table before. But Peng Jian came here to chat with her with a dish of double-flavored dumplings. He ate his dumplings and all her snacks. He was really a boring guy saying a lot of nonsense while eating.
He Danggui gradually came over from the terrible memory. She sighed and looked up. Meng Xuan who just sat opposite also looked at her at the same time. She felt that Meng Xuan read her mind. She lowered her head immediately to hide her feelings and tried to drink tea to warm up. But she stopped when she was about to drink. The smell and the color showed that the orange tea was Hawthorn tea made by her. Why did Luo Baiqiong say she made the fruit tea?
He Danggui was confused and looked up at Mammy Tang, trying to figure out what happened. She found that Mammy Tang also stared at her. Seeing that He Danggui discovered “this tea was that tea”, Mammy Tang smiled guiltily and said to herself, “The Second Miss is good at making tea. This fruit tea is a specialty of Luo’s Mansion.” She appreciated Luo Baiqiong and also hinted He Danggui not to tell the truth! Because this matter was about the honor of “Our Luo’s Mansion!”
He Danggui took the hint from Mammy Tang. Then she pretended to be a coward as usual and stared at the tea. But she chuckled in her heart. Luo’s Family was really an interesting family where many strange things happened. Someone falsely claimed a tea and showed the benefits of tea without embarrassment. He Danggui thought that now that she could recognize this Hawthorn tea, Madam Luo who had several cups of tea in the carriage that day could also recognize it. But now Madam Luo who sat on main seat in the center of the hall was appreciating the fruit tea and praising her lovely granddaughter for her smartness and being good at medicine. Did she feel a little bit uneasy?
At this moment, Luo Baiqiong finished introducing her fruit tea to the public. Then she picked up her silk handkerchief and bowed to Earl Baoding with a smile, “Uncle Meng, help yourself!” Then she looked around and smiled, “Please!”
Then everyone except He Danggui drank a mouthful of tea.
Luo Baiqiong smiled and saw Earl Baoding Meng Shan holding up the cup with his hand and enjoying the tea. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and covered mouth for a while. Then he turned away to spit tea into a tumbler!
Foll𝑜w current novℯls on fre𝒆web(n)ovel.co(m)