Chapter 215 Lord liked men
After hearing this, He Danggui was even more annoyed than Chang Nuo. She gritted her teeth and sneered, “It was Empress Dowager Lv’s means for power that Empress Zhang Yan was married to her uncle Emperor Hui. It has been known as a joke and a scandal. How can you take it as a role model? Did you all learn in vain? I just don’t want to replace the Infanta Shaochan, Mei Yuchan. Let her do it by herself!” Unexpectedly, Zhu Quan wanted her to be the same grade as Xie Qiaofeng. Two wives? He really thought highly of her.
The roast was sizzling. Chang Nuo also gritted his teeth and said, “If it were not for you, how could Lord Ning marry his nominal niece at such a great risk? A friend of mine persuaded the Chang’s Family in the capital to allow you to take Mrs. Chang as your adoptive mother and get married from the Chang’s Family. But Lord Ning thought that if outsiders knew that you are not Mrs. Chang’s biological child, your status will still be not noble enough. It is inevitable that someone will attack you with this matter in the future. On the other hand, if you and Xie Qiaofeng are both wifies at the same statuses, it will be very difficult for Lord Ning to explain to Earl Yongping, Xie Cheng, and Lord Jin, Zhu Gang. After all, you are nearly 10 years younger than Xie Qiaofeng. Only if you are the infanta could you be perfectly justifiable to become the Consort of Lord Ning. He has arranged these all for your benefit. And he has negotiated several times with family of Princess Ningguo until now. Why are you so ungrateful? Don’t you know how much energy he expends on you?”
He Danggui held a chicken wing in one hand and a fat rabbit leg in the other hand. After she quickly ate them, she threw the bone into the fire. Then she exclaimed, “He is a fantasist, with a little unsubstantial unrequited love, fabricating a girl who waits day and night for him to marry. You are a political strategist, perverting right and wrong. It is ridiculous to say that the pitiful girl who is forced to marry is an ungrateful evil, but the evil man is innocent and pitiful! There is a nasty person behind me who has done something deliberately, should I be grateful to him and marry him? Why don’t you marry Luo Baishao? I heard that she writes your name every day. Are you touched?”
Chang Nuo was speechless. He had showed the trump card, but it couldn’t bring back any of her gratitude and joy, which made him feel angry and frustrated. He strode over to He Danggui and put the bamboo pole with the roasted chicken on the ground in front of her. And he took a whole roasted rabbit and ate it to vent his anger. He Danggui also took the roast chicken and ate it. While eating, she was wondering, “How can I find out if Zhu Quan know anything about the previous life? How can I escape from Zhu Quan’s entanglement? How can I land Zhu Quan in serious trouble and give me up for the rest of his life? How can I deal with the troubles about ‘flour’ and ‘Feng Yang’ left by Bai Yangbai tonight?”
After eating in silence, they both looked at the last half-bamboo tube of water. He Danggui first took a few sips, and then put back on the ground. And Chang Nuo picked it up and quickly drank the rest of the water from the other side of the bamboo tube. Then Chang Nuo dropped the hollow bamboo tube on the blood-stained futon and emitted a long breath. He said, “I thought it was a good idea to send Lord Ning to Luo’s Mansion for medical treatment three years ago, but he left Luo’s Mansion with a more serious injury. I envy you, Sister He. Lord Ning transferred Zhenqi to you with injuries twice, but he never did this for me.”
“Well, I am flattered for knowing he is Lord Ning.” He Danggui coolly smiled. In the previous life, Zhu Quan also never transferred Zhenqi to her, even when she took a sword for him and lost 2 of her children. What a surprise. He even transferred Zhenqi to her as a stranger, and saved her from the masked assassin! Was it possible that fate carelessly shuffled the wrong cards? So, the bad things were shuffled to the previous life, and the good things were happened to this life?
He Danggui raised her eyebrows and said, “Childe Feng, are you asking me to repay him for his kindness?”
Chang Nuo poked at the fire with a bamboo pole and recalled, “At that time, I pretended to be Lord Ning in Daning and worked for him for a month. After I got the message and went to Zhenjiang, Lord Ning just ended his meditation and looked very haggard. He was furious that Ming Ri and Ming Yue had given him and Xie Qiaofeng a betrothal without authorization. And he broke an arm of Ming Ri, who has been with him for fourteen years.”
Ming Ri? He Danggui stroked the rabbit in her arms and smiled. He was a snob whom she was familiar with. She turned her head aside and asked curiously, “How can they be so bold as to make a decision on their master’s marriage? What if that Xie Qiaofeng is an ugly woman, or Lord Ning is not satisfied?”
Chang Nuo hesitated and said, “Before Lord Ning met you, he intended to make an alliance with the Lord Jin. And he also met Xie Qiaofeng, the Lord Jin’s sister-in-law. Although she was four years older than Lord Ning, Lord Ning was not too averse to her. Her beauty, intelligence and mild manner proved that she was qualified to be his princess in both status and appearance.”
He Danggui laughed heartily and felt a little sad for Xie Qiaofeng. It turned out that Xie Qiaofeng became the Princess Ning, marrying the most noble husband, only because she was not a nuisance to Lord Ning? Well... How about herself? When he was tired of dealing with his beautiful concubines, he would go to her room to ask for a cup of tea and fall asleep. Did he sleep in her bed only because the fragrance of her bed did not suffocate him?
Chang Nuo fixed his eyes on the fire as if it contained a story. He told the story in a deep and low voice, “When first I met Yuan, he was so badly bullied that I couldn’t tell how handsome he was from his badly injured face. The second time I saw him, I was stunned. He dressed in white, and his disposition was totally different. His face was more beautiful than all the girls I have ever met. He also had a good feeling for me, so he began to have an intimate association with me...”
“… Have a love affair?” He Danggui had a bit of misapprehension because of Chang Nuo’s tone and expression.
Chang Nuo nodded his head and said softly, “When I was young, I hated the over-perfumed waiting-maids that my mother found for me. On the contrary, every time I saw... a valiant general in the army, I would be happy from the bottom of my heart. Later, I felt very sad to hear that that general had a wife and children.” When Chang Nuo told these secrets, he looked at He Danggui. Her face was calm, and she was not even a little surprised. So, he was relieved and went on, “Then I got to know Yuan. After getting to know him better, I found that he, like me, never touched those women such as Zhou Jinglan and others whom the Imperial Noble Consort asked him to marry. He even refused to let them get close to him. So, we were together, and inseparable like shadows.”
He Danggui couldn’t tell what the feeling was in her heart. Even the absurd malicious speculation she thought was proved to be true! So, in the previous life, Zhu Quan also liked men? He was really good at pretending. Were all the women in his house used for decoration and reproduction? Well, when she remembered that she had thought of him as her immortal and her life, she really wanted to travel through the space-time tunnel and back to many years ago. She really wanted to push the bewitched Concubine He to the door of the Water Dungeon and kill her.
Chang Nuo saw her sharp eyes. In case she misunderstood, he quickly explained, “Don’t think too much, Sister He. We were all young at that time. How can there be any reverie to the man’s body? We even don’t understand the matter between men and women. We just slept together, and that’s all.”
“Oh?” He Danggui looked at Chang Nuo and asked sarcastically, “When did you get the hang of things between men?”
Although the girl was young, she was not shy. Chang Nuo frowned and said, “Before we got to that state, I was out. One day I told him that I thought the maid who served me was quite comely and witty. And I think only the contact between men and women can live long and prosper. Otherwise, why there are men and women in the world? After I said these words to him, I was afraid that he would break with me. But he was as good as ever with me, and still don’t like women. He would rather pet two or three painted eunuchs, than pet Zhou Jinglan and other several women.”
He Danggui had a big smile on her face, except for her eyes. She asked, “So, Childe Feng, you felt guilty and worried about that your former ‘lover’ was still unable to get away from that ‘situation’. So, when he showed interest in me, you couldn’t wait to send me to him, right?”
Chang Nuo carefully looked at the beautiful girl in front of him. He did not know what soul laid beneath that beautiful face. And he didn’t know what bad experience she had experienced so that she had none of the meekness and sympathy of an ordinary woman. Her whole body seemed to be covered with sharp and cold thorns. What he did not understand more was why Yuan was so obsessed with such a stone-cold woman. Chang Nuo sighed and said, “Ming Ri said that his master fell in love with a little siren of Luo’s Family, who named He Danggui. And Ming Yue added that the little siren was the one who was not hurt by the horseshoe in the street. Hearing that, I was not happy. Instead, I felt more worried.”
He Danggui held her cheek as she listened to the story. She asked with interest, “Why? Did you already know that I was a bad woman at that time?”
Chang Nuo raised an eyebrow and snorted. He said, “Don’t you remember, girl? At that time, you were only ten years old. I was very worried that he has fallen in love with such a little girl unexpectedly. I was afraid that he would have an abnormal love orientation again, so I made a little trouble in the north, and tried everything I could do to get him out of Zhenjiang. After all, Zhenjiang is only half a day’s drive from Yangzhou. No one knows if he would come to visit you suddenly. After that, I kept making trouble for several months, making him be too busy to think of you, and even to visit you. Six months later, I was relieved that he was no longer frequently pulled out and kissed the hair of you.”
He Danggui held the rabbit and grasped its hair tightly. She was disgusted to hear that Zhu Quan had kissed her hair. Suddenly, it became clear why women despairing of the secular world would shave off their hair and become nuns. It turned out that the long black hair sometimes became an extension of the body, instead her to bear the humiliation of the devil.
Chang Nuo took a deep breath and smiled. He said, “Later, I realized that for the last six months, I have misunderstood Yuan. What he likes are normal women, instead of little girls. One day I went to the Lord Ning’s Mansion for tea. I found that six months ago, Senior Concubine Zhou, who had been languishing and haggard, actually became radiant. She flew a kite in the garden, and her laughter was as sweet as a silver bell, as if she were not the same person. I went to ask Yuan. He calmly told me that he has made a pet of all his concubines. He thought women were better for him, and he has sent away several young eunuchs. After listening his words, I was very happy for him and Zhou Jinglan. Zhou Jinglan is a good woman. She has waited for him persistently for many years. Finally, she got his favor.”
Suddenly, the rabbit violently struggled and left several shallow scratch marks on He Danggui’s wrists. He Danggui was startled. She realized that she pulled off a tiny pinch of the rabbit hair. So, she patted its head to apologize quickly.
Chang Nuo looked at He Danggui and suddenly asked, “Sister He, your stepfather’s name is He Fu, isn’t it? He seems to be a Guarding Commander of the Capital, right?”
“He Fu?” He Danggui raised her eyebrows and said, “Why do you mention him all of a sudden? I have no idea what his official position is. It seems to be a small official of Eighth-Grade. He went to the capital to take up his post a few years ago. I don’t know whether he has been promoted or not.”
Chang Nuo shook his head and said, “He has been an official for four years. Not only has he not been promoted, but now he has been found guilty and lost his official position. You must hate him very much, don’t you?”
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om