Chapter 155 Smelling the perfume of the beauty
Mr. Bao, a pupil of President Wei, was about 30 years old. He became a Jinshi in the 22th year of Hongwu Period. He became an inferior official when he was young, but he was dismissed because he offended the superior official. He knew that being upright was impractical in officialdom, so he stayed in Chengxu Academy and became a teacher.
Compared with the officialdom, the air of the academy was fresh and it was really like a paradise. The nepotism existed in the academy, because the students’ family pulled the strings in order to make sure their children were taken good care of. For example, President Wei had asked Mr. Bao to take good care of Luo Baiqian several years ago, because Senior Lord Luo Maitong had helped him in his early age. The benefactor of the teacher was his, so Mr. Bao genuinely cared about Luo Baiqian, especially in his studies, and then they established a very close relationship.
After a hot topic of “the public denunciation of The First Miss’s life experience” two years ago, Mr. Bao also heard that He Danggui was a Miss of Luo’s Family. So, he had to stand on her side. And if she offended an official, she would earn a bad reputation whether she committed a crime or not.
Thinking of this, Mr. Bao said confidently, “Let’s make it clear. There is no doubt that Qian Mudan fell into water by herself. I do believe that He Danggui is really warm-hearted whether she has dissuaded Liao Qing’er from going diving or not, because she dived into the water regardless of her own safety. Therefore, He Danggui is a kind person who is eager to help classmates, but not a selfish and indifferent person. We all feel sorry for Qian Mudan’s death. We are genuinely remorseful. Some of us are not good at swimming, and some of us dared not to save her breaking a rule. We are so angry that we inevitably wronged the kindness of He Danggui. Do you think so?”
Mr. Bao, a veteran, talked a lot and asked seriously in a threatening tone, “Isn’t it?” Everybody had to fall in with his wishes but say “No”. Therefore, the female students who had been fighting injustice for Qian Mudan were silent at this time. And a group of male students, who came over on the single-log bridge, only echoed a few times. After all, a charming and lovely girl, Miss Qian, died in front of them. They all chose to be bystanders even if they could help. At this moment, they felt so guilty.
With the support, Mr. Bao nodded and concluded, “It was just an accident. Nobody reacted to it because everyone didn’t expect it. Qian Mudan won’t blame everyone in her grave.” At the same time, he looked at Qian Shuixian with a saddest expression and persuaded her, “Qian Shuixian, please restrain your grief. The academy must take responsibility for the death of your elder sister. If your parents hear this bad news, they will hope to pay their respects to the remains of your elder sister at once. How could we ask the official to take the corpse away? There is no doubt about this drowning incident. She fell into water by herself and died. I advise you not to disturb the government but deal with it secretly. What do you think of it?”
Then Qian Shuixian lowered her head and thought about his suggestion with tears in her eyes. While Qi Mu’er, who had been gentle and shy, said sharply, “Mr. Bao, I heard that you are always righteous and never willfully helped one’s relatives because of a close relationship. So, I want to explain why He Danggui suddenly jumped into the water. Mr. Bao, I wonder if you can accept me.”
Hearing this, all people were surprised. Qi Mu’er usually looked very vulnerable. When any young ladies laughed at her identity as an illegitimate daughter, or suggested that she had an affected air, she always kept silent and bore it silently. She never showed her invincible spirit to the full extent, but she was against Mr. Bao–Everyone knew that Luo Baiqian had a very close relationship with Mr. Bao in Chengxu Academy, and he often treated Mr. Bao and chatted with him. What Qi Mu’er said just implied that Mr. Bao was partial to He Danggui!
Chengxu Academy stressed the importance of respecting teachers and honoring truth. Even Han Fang and Han Qiqi, the children of Han Fei who was the chief official in Yangzhou City and the high officer of the frontier, they didn’t dare to contradict their teachers openly. How dared Qi Mu’er, a daughter of a salt merchant to do it? Didn’t she want to study at Chengxu Academy anymore? It was said that she only missed two points in the entrance examination. Her father did a lot of efforts, such as standing treat and presenting gifts, to get her into Chengxu Academy. Shouldn’t she cherish this hard-won opportunity? Or did she really know the truth and she wanted to get justice for the dead?
He Danggui looked puzzled. She didn’t know when she offended Qi Mu’er. Why did Qi Mu’er suddenly target at her? It seemed that she had never dealt with Qi Mu’er. She didn’t understand it.
Mr. Bao nodded slowly and said with a serious face, “Qi Mu’er, you can tell me now. Are there any reasons for He Danggui to dive into the water bravely?”
Then Qi Mu’er said clearly, “Before the Guqin class the day before yesterday, I saw Qian Mudan secretly put a sharp string to the Guqin of He Danggui. Later, He Danggui’s fingers were scratched and bled, while Qian Mudan laughed at her. Then He Danggui just took a glance at Qian Mudan and then went to bind up her wound. I guess she began to hate Qian Mudan from that time, so she tried to stop Liao Qing’er to save Qian Mudan. As I saw this scene, she also suddenly looked back and glanced at me. She was in a state of panic, as if she was afraid of being exposed by me to the fact that she intended to revenge Qian Mudan. Next, in order to cover up the truth, she paused for a while, and then she jumped into the river to pretend to save Qian Mudan. Qian Mudan couldn’t be rescued by Liao Qing’er because of this stay and the joke on the day before yesterday, so finally the beauty died.”
Hearing this, all the people thought deeply. They didn’t expect that there was such an intricate reason in this event. If that was true, it was like a storm in a teacup. However, no one could blame her for Qian Mudan’s death, because Qian Mudan was drowned indeed by herself.
Qi Mu’er glanced at the corpse of Qian Mudan and said sadly, “I have talked with Sister Mudan several times. She is really nice. I secretly admire her grace, and I set her as my model. Just now I saw her without vitality, so I was so furious that I blamed Miss He for Sister Mudan’s death. Actually, there is nothing to do with Miss He. Miss He, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t regard you as a murderer.” At the same time, Qi Mu’er turned to He Danggui and apologized, while He Danggui nodded, “It doesn’t matter, and I forgive you. Stand up.”
Qi Mu’er choked for a while, and then she took a firm stand on this matter but as a cowardly lady. Then she sighed and said, “Miss He, since I can acknowledge the mistake and correct it, should you accept the good advice to kowtow to the corpse of Sister Mudan? Even if you don’t want to let her rest in peace, please think about for your conscience.”
Qian Shuixian also said in tears, “You should kowtow to my sister. She died really wrongly. It was just for a string! You act terribly!”
He Danggui sneered at them, and she thought the new students in this year were really ridiculous. That pair of sisters of Qian’s Family had behaved very badly. Unexpectedly, Miss Qi framed a case against her, and she said in a roundabout way. First, Qi Mu’er regarded her as a murderer and then “corrected” that she was the indirect murderer. And Qi Mu’er still framed her in front of the public... Qi Mu’er, where was she from? Was there any conflict?
He Danggui was calm, and all the people were watching her. Then they made all kinds of guesses at this event. Wen Han couldn’t help asking, “He Danggui, Miss Qi told the truth, right? You did nothing to save Miss Qian and you are just a stander-by, really?”
Stander-by? “Stander-by” was the literary name of Dou Haiqin, who taught her medicine in the farm when she was a child. Many years ago, the world called him Dr. Dou of “Lifesaver”. Later, the Dr. Dou was betrayed by a man he cured, and no one stuck up for him. Finally, he was exiled for 3000 miles after receiving “Five Punishments” (corporal punishment). After escaping from there, he disguised himself and wrote the medical book on the farm. However, after being punished, he had no ability to work, so he had to make a living by running a clinic. Although his medical skills were amazing, he was only willing to treat a minor illness, and he refused the seriously injured. So, he made a name “Stander-by” for himself.
In her opinion, Dr. Dou would rather save the wild animals, such as cats, dogs or wolves, than save people. It was obvious that he was heart-broken. It was a pity that she had lived an easeful and wealthy life for half a year, but she prayed no more once on shore. She didn’t seek for troubles, but troubles came to find her. That was reality, and she had to face it.
“Miss Qi is right. The day before yesterday, in the Guqin room, I accidentally cut my fingers by the string. At that time, I was still very surprised why the string was so sharp.” He Danggui said honestly, “After the hand injury, Mudan next to me seemed to laugh. I’m not sure. At that time, Miss Qi was also here, and witnessed the whole process of changing string by Qian Mudan. So, Miss Qi really told the truth.”
Wu Yuying, Guan Zhan and others were secretly happy when hearing this. Well! He Danggui pleaded her guilty! Her reputation was going to be ruined. Without those young childes’ protection, she dared not to be arrogant and ignore them!
He Danggui continued to plead, “As for what Miss Qi said, it’s true that I blocked Qing, but it’s not as exaggerated as the later ‘witnesses’ who said, ‘They saw Qing’s leg was in the water, but I dragged it back’. If you don’t believe me, you can see Qing’s skirt. It’s really dry. At that time, everyone was nervously watching the person under the water. The young childes standing opposite us didn’t see this scene, so I don’t know why the young ladies standing side by side with us had seen our action. At that time, Qing really intended to save people, but I held her up and said to her, which spent some time. Damn it! Then I discussed with Qing and jumped into the water. I didn’t have any ‘eye contact’ with Miss Qi. Maybe she was looking at me, but I didn’t see her. That’s all.”
Qi Mu’er said coldly, “Don’t argue. At that time, you clearly saw me and showed an expression of guilty, which was found by me. In order to correct the mistake, you pretended to jump into the water to save her. He Danggui, please respect the dead. How can you tell a lie in front of the corpse of Sister Mudan?”
These words were really true to life, and the people could almost describe a lady with carefulness and scheme in their minds.
He Danggui crooked her head and asked suddenly, “I gave Qing something before I jumped into the water. What was it?”
“Well? What was it?” Qi Mu’er was stunned and repeated it.
“Yes.” He Danggui nodded and said, “I have a precious thing, and I can’t take it into the water, so I took it off and gave it to Qing. Now it’s in her pouch.” she said and patted Liao Qing’er’s plump waist. She questioned, “Hadn’t Miss Qi seen my expression before I went into the water? Didn’t you see an act of picking and delivering something? Didn’t you see that?”
Qi Mu’er bit her lip and said, “Of course, I saw it. Isn’t it a jade pendant? I didn’t see the specific shape and the color of that jade pendant because of the distance… Do you want to go on arguing?”
He Danggui patted Liao Qing’er and said with a smile, “A jade pendant? Please show it to Miss Qi.”
Liao Qing’er took off her assorted pouch slowly. Firstly, she took out 2 silver ingots from it and put them on He Danggui’s hand. Then she took out 2 pairs of hand-made puppets and stuffed them into He Danggui’s sleeves. Next, she took out a round Zhuyu jade pendant and explained to Qi Mu’er, who was smiling, “This is mine. My name was engraved on it. Here you are, and you can see it.” Then she turned and handed it to Meng Xuan who stood on her left. She pointed to the middle ring with her fat finger and said, “It’s carved for 15 wen. It’s a small seal script in ancient style.”
Meng Xuan took a look at it and then read out, “Extraordinary Qing? Well, there is a word ‘Qing’. This jade pendant belongs to Miss Liao.”
Liao Qing’er put her hand into the pouch again. Then she found a semicircle golden box and laughed, “Ha-ha! Xiaoyi gave me this, a gold lock representing wealth and longevity. It’s a kind of thing that little babies love the most! Qi Mu’er, you said that you witnessed everything before Xiaoyi went into the water, but why can’t you tell me what she gave me before she went into the water? I think you just made that all up. You only vaguely glimpsed a movement I came to the bank, so you said all that ridiculously. Tell me! What’s your meaning? Why did you frame my sister? How did she offend you?”
Qi Mu’er cried and whispered, “It’s up to you to say everything. How can I know that the gold lock didn’t belong to you? And how can I know that the jade pendant is not the souvenir that you engraved your name on and gave to He Danggui? Luo Baiqiong and Luo Baishao didn’t come. Who can prove that the gold lock belongs to He Danggui? Does the gold lock be engraved the name of He Danggui? Can she open that gold lock?”
He Danggui’s gold lock was not engraved, and there were many strange things in the box of the gold lock. She didn’t want to open them to the public, so she thought for a moment and said, “My gold lock is a perfume box, which contains my self-made ‘Carefree Fragrance’. It’s very easy to verify the owner of this gold lock. Usually, I hang the gold lock in my inner neckline. Please invite a classmate to smell the gold lock, and then smell the neckline of mine and Qing’er’s. Finally, it will all be cleared up.”
Ms. Zheng thought it was reasonable, and then she ordered Guan Zhan and said, “You go and smell them.”
Hearing this, the expressions of Liao Qing’er and Guan Zhan were both ashamed. Liao Qing’er often ignored Guan Zhan, although she had been living in Guan’s Mansion. She often called Guan Zhan “the daughter of a concubine who is cunning”, so Guan Zhan was very angry. Just now, Guan Zhan exposed Liao Qing’er’s lie for protecting He Danggui, which was about her poor ability in swimming and her cough, so Liao Qing’er believed that Guan Zhan was a slippery person. And Liao Qing’er became unhappy immediately when she heard that Guan Zhan would come to smell her.
Guan Zhan was rather angry after seeing this, so she said firmly, “Ms. Zheng, I have a stuffy nose and can’t smell anything.”
Ms. Zheng frowned, and she was just about to order another female student to carry out this task of smelling the perfume. Meng Xuan, standing next to Liao Qing’er, suddenly volunteered to say, “I have a good sense of smell. Let me help you.” At this time, he grabbed the gold lock in Liao Qing’s hand and smelt it slightly. Then he tore the silk handkerchief hanging on Liao Qing’s front button and smelt it. Finally, he went toward He Danggui. In others’ eyes, he put his whole head on He Danggui’s neckline and smelt it for a long time.
He seemed to be addicted to smell it, while the “Ice beauty”, which had been smelt, stood peacefully. Many young childes were not happy with it, because the ‘Ice Beauty’ was the private property of their academy, and none of them could conquer her. How could an outsider get first?
Han Fang said unhappily, “Childe Xuan, it will be dark if you smell it again and again. If you don’t have a good sense of smell, let me do it for you.” Then Song Qiao, Guan Mo and others all said that they had a very good sense of smell.
Meng Xuan pulled his head out of the perfume and told others seriously, “The perfume dispersed by the water, and the scent mixed with the taste of aquatic plants, so I should carefully smell it to show justice, neither wronged Miss He nor Miss Qi.”
Guan Mo asked impatiently, “What’s the result? Does the gold lock belong to Sister He?”
“Sister He?” Meng Xuan raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, do you understand? If you don’t understand, ‘please’ get away!” Guan Mo gnashed his teeth at the word “please” in a high tone.
“Oh, I understand absolutely.” With a vivid recollection of the past, Meng Xuan nodded and said, “That gold lock belongs to Miss He. It’s absolutely right. I promise. Because her body is filled with the scent of orchid.” Han Fang and other five people who jumped into the water didn’t smell the “scent of orchid”. However, only Meng Xuan, who was an outsider, smelt it well. Immediately, the five people’s nostrils closed and opened from time to time, and they became rather angry.
“Qi Mu’er! What else can you say? “Liao Qing’er was also angry, and she was determined to teach this ‘little white rabbit’ a lesson.
Suddenly, Qi Mu’er became pitiful instead of being aggressive, which immediately made Liao Qing’er look like a stepmother. But Ms. Zheng who looked like her biological mother came out and said, “Just a misunderstanding. It’s just really hard to lose Qian Mudan. That’s enough for today. Good night! Well, there will be a month-long New Year holiday from tomorrow, so you should always review your lessons at home and make a good progress every time!”
“Wait!” Meng Xuan and He Danggui stopped her together, “Please wait for a moment!”
“Why?” Ms. Zheng asked in surprise.
Meng Xuan said with a smile, “It’s not over yet. I think that Miss Qian doesn’t seem to have been drowned, and then I asked a manservant to notify the local government about it early because she died in suspicious circumstances. The officials will be here soon. Please wait for a moment and stay for as witnesses.”
Mr. Bao kept his eyes open and looked at the corpse on the ground. He asked with disbelief, “Not be drowned? But we all saw that she was drowned in the water!”
Meng Xuan didn’t speak anymore, and then he turned around with his hands clasped behind the back. Suddenly, he picked up He Danggui and went deeper into the Bamboo Grove while others were gulping.
He held her and stood on the top of a sturdy verdant bamboo. Then he said in her ear, “If an ant falls into the water, and throwing a leaf can save it, I will do such a thing. But if a person falls into the water, and he can only be saved by someone jumping into the water, I will balance the advantages and disadvantages before deciding whether to save or not. I used to save him, but now, although I’m good at swimming, I may not do that. If my kindness can only reach the level of a leaf, Xiaoyi, do you think I am a nice person?”
He Danggui tilted her head and looked at him in surprise. She said, “You’ve known that, haven’t you? How do you know...?” She widened her eyes in surprise, and then she was too stunned to speak as if her breath suddenly had been stopped for a moment, because he kissed her.
The clear eyes close at hand were filled with tears.
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