Chapter 226 Hot spring bath
“Tai Shan has become a sorceress? Is that what Huai Hua told you?” Taking off her cloak and outermost skirt and throwing them on the ground, He Danggui quickly went into the shower room. She scooped out a ladle of hot water heated on the stove and washed her hands and face, slightly removing the uncomfortable smell of blood.
Chan Yi brought 2 buckets of cold water from outside like a strong man and said with a big breath, “Actually, one day more than 2 years ago, I was going to the medicine pharmacy to send food to you. When I went out of the side door, I met a homeless biddy. She took a look at me. Then she suddenly jumped on me and shouted, ‘Zhen Jing! Zhen Jing!’ I recognized that she was my master Tai Shan. I wondered why she became a beggar, and she said that it was because of the ungrateful Huai Dong. But she didn’t say more when I asked anything else.”
He Danggui undressed as fast as she could. First, she simply washed herself with warm water. Then she went into the bath and opened the small sluice between the bath and hot spring. As she motioned for Chan Yi to add cold water to the bath, she asked, “Why haven’t you ever told me that you met her? Why did she appear near the side door of Luo’s Mansion? Was she begging?”
Chan Yi lifted the bucket and poured cold water into the bath slowly according to the inflow speed of hot spring. She said anxiously, “Miss, I gave her all the money you gave me, which was 32 liang in total, at that time. Will you blame me?”
In the early spring of last year, there was a small-scale earthquake in Yangzhou City. After it, a ground crack opened in the backyard of Tao Yao Yard. Large amounts of water vapor rose from the crack and a small hot spring opening gradually formed. Luo’s Mansion already had 3 hot spring openings, but they were all second-class Ganjiu hot spring. The newly formed one in Tao Yao Yard was the first-class Zhusha hot spring. Its water was milky white. It was said, “Huangnv Hot Spring in Lushan County is not only used to bath but also steam rice, which can cure all kinds of diseases. If a Taoist priest soak in it 3 times a day for 40 days, he will recover from all his illnesses.”
Everyone in Luo’s Mansion was curious about the Zhusha hot spring in Tao Yao Yard. However, the water yield of this spring was very small. It could save only 2 or 3 barrels a day, so it was impossible for everyone to enjoy it. After hearing the news, Dong Xinlan was furious. Over the past few years, Madam Luo used to send water from Ganjiu hot spring to Tao Yao Yard alone, which made Dong Xinlan very angry. Now even the immortal was biased, creating a hot spring eye just right behind He Danggui’s boudoir. It was said that the water of the Zhusha hot spring was as hot as boiled water. People in Tao Yao Yard often used it to cook hot pot, sweet soup balls and tea eggs. Dong Xinlan secretly scolded them for being too wasteful.
“You gave 32 liang silver to Tai Shan?” He Danggui raised an eyebrow and said, “It’s too wasteful. In my opinion, you should not even give her 3 liang.” Looking at the blushing and drooping Chan Yi, she sighed and said, “What a silly girl! Tai Shan isn’t your master, but your enemy! She loaded money to your parents at an exorbitant rate of interest and cheated you into being a child laborer in the Taoist temple. Hey, look up and listen to me. I don’t blame you this time, but next time, you can’t give her money secretly any more. Giving money to real beggars and poor people is a blessing, while giving money to her can only help her continue to do evil.”
“No,” Chan Yi raised her eyes slightly with a red face and said haltingly, “Miss, you are so good-looking that I’m embarrassed to look at you. You...are more beautiful than fairies in the sky...”
He Danggui blamed gently, “None of your nonsense. If you see Tai Shan again, you must be careful of her.” At the same time, the bath had been filled with water.
Chan Yi pouted and said, “Miss, I’m already an adult. Please do not always treat me as a child. At first, I couldn’t bear to see her in such a poor state, so I gave her my pouch and a basket of food I was going to send to you. But when she saw that there was only several liang silver in the pouch, she asked if I had any more. I was unhappy for her greed. Although I did save some money, I was to send it home. She was very mean in the past. In her eyes, we disciples were even not as good as servants. So, I kept a straight face and told her that was all.”
He Danggui dipped in some powder that Qing’er gave her to wash face and asked, “How did she get 30 liang silver from you later?”
Chan Yi explained, “A few years ago, Fourth Miss burned the Taoist temple. Even Master Tai Xi was frightened and soon died. Taoist nuns took the money sent by Luo’s Family and drifted apart. Since then, Shui Shang Temple has declined. I heard that at that time, Fourth Miss stole oil from the kitchen and spilled it all over the floor, so the fire was very strong when it broke out. All the property in the temple was burned and several nuns trying to save it were also burned to death. One of the most valuable things burned down was the title deed for 100 mu (a unit of area) fertile farmlands at the foot of the mountain. Without it, although the lands wouldn’t immediately belong to tenants, as long as the tenants planted them for 3 consecutive years, they could go to the government to apply for land occupation.”
“That’s right. Lands without title deed for a farm can be regarded as ‘wasteland’. According to the land reclamation regulations, it can really be occupied after 3 years of planting.” He Danggui scooped a handful of hot water and slapped it on her face. The heat was steaming in the room.
Chan Yi said bitterly, “My family was also planting 4 mu land of the Taoist temple, so my master Tai Shan accused my family of taking advantage of the Taoist temple. She shook her head and scolded me for having no conscience. According to what I wore, she insisted that I must have lived a noble life and should not pretend to be poor in front of her. She also said that it costed her lots of money to develop me from a baby to a lady. I was defeated. At that time, the market price of farmland was about 8 liang silver per mu, so I had to pay her 32 liang for 4 mu of land. In addition to the several liang silver that I had given to her, I went back and collected a total of 32 liang silver for her as the cost of buying those lands. She left with the money and the bucket holding a lot of food. I didn’t see her again until this evening. Huai Hua came to me in a hurry and said that there was a sorceress called Sorceress Ma practicing witchcraft in Lu’s Family. She recognized that the sorceress was Master Tai Shan!”
The water flew down slowly from He Danggui’s fingers and splashed on the surface. She shook her head and sighed, “You were so stupid. How could you buy those lands from Tai Shan with money? You were cheated, Chan Yi! Even if you wanted to buy lands, you should go to the government’s land department where you could buy it at the price of wasteland, about 2 liang silver per mu of land. After paying money, you could get the title deed for lands, which meant you were the owner of the land. Not only did Tai Shan not have title deed for a farm, but I heard that she was no longer a member of Shui Shang Temple. As early as a few months before the fire, she had been expelled from the temple for having an affair with a man. How could she sell any land to you?”
“Master... not only had an affair with a man, but also cheated me out of the money that I had saved for more than a year?” Chan Yi stood still with an empty bucket in her hand, digesting the amazing news.
He Danggui couldn’t help comforting the poor girl, “Don’t be sad and regretful any more. I will give you another 32 liang silver, but you really need to be smarter. She got money easily from you this time, and she will probably cheat you again. Now I suspect that she is looking for an opportunity to cheat Sister Zhenzhu. Practicing witchcraft in Lu’s Mansion is just a coincidence? Why did she bring people from Sister Zhenzhu’s ex-husband’s family? It seems that Tai Shan is really well prepared.”
“I was cheated because I was silly. It’s not reasonable for you to make up for it.” Chan Yi said in embarrassment, “My salary is as much as that of an administrator, and you pay me out of your own pocket.” She was really very remorseful now. Her master cheated her out of her money and also became a famous sorceress with the money. Now Tai Shan was even going to destroy the relationship between Sister Zhenzhu and her husband Governor Lu.
He Danggui said with a smile, “I’m very good at earning money, which enables me to hire even 10 or 20 of you. Tell me more details of your talk with Huai Hua.”
Chan Yi squatted down, gently touched the water with her fingertips, and reported, “Sister Zhenzhu had always been in good condition. Although her embryonic breath was not very strong, she seemed to be no different from other pregnant women. But today, Huai Hua told me that Sister Zhenzhu has been feverish since yesterday, and gradually it’s hard to wake her up unless slapping her cheeks heavily. Every time Sister Zhenzhu woke up, she just sat up and drank some water, and then fell asleep again. Finally, she didn’t wake up at all.”
He Danggui frowned and asked, “Fever? Somnolence? Did it happen suddenly?”
Chan Yi nodded and said, “It’s said that Sister Zhenzhu enjoyed 2 plays performed by a troupe that usually performed in the street during the day. After rewarding the troupe leader with 2 strings of 1,000 qian, she suddenly fell down, which scared the troupe leader a lot!”
“Was the troupe detained?” He Danggui felt that something was wrong and didn’t want to miss any clues.
“They have left.”
“They have left?” He Danggui thought for a moment and then said, “Well, go on. How did Tai Shan find her way to Lu’s Mansion? Did she show her true face?”
Chan Yi shrugged and said, “Anxious Governor Lu invited a large group of doctors, but no one could identify the problem. It’s neither an emergency nor a cold. Later a doctor said that the disease was so urgent that it might be a current epidemic. He heard that some people in several villages in Northern Zhili Area (areas directly administered by the capital) were affected by the current epidemic, and the symptoms are similar.”
Shaking her head, He Danggui didn’t agree with it, “The current epidemic couldn’t fly into governor’s mansion because of the distance. Also, Governor Lu must care for Sister Zhenzhu in every way during the pregnancy. How could she come into contact with dirty things? What’s more, I had a good knowledge of the current epidemic in Northern Zhili Area. A few days ago, I asked someone to bring me a sample of it and found it was a kind of fever. Most of the infected people had rashes. Did Sister Zhenzhu have a rash?”
“Huai Hua didn’t mention it.” Chan Yi said anxiously, holding the corner of her clothes, “Ever since Governor Lu heard that Sister Zhenzhu might be infected by the current epidemic, he was totally in a mess. He went to San Qing Tang several times, but Doctor Ma and Doctor Wu didn’t here today. So, he made a rush decision. He brought home a sorceress and a group of Taoist priests and nuns with ghost charms on their face. They said that they would drive away evil spirits. That sorceress is my master who is a half way nun. Before she became a nun, Ma was her common surname. So now, she’s known as Sorceress Ma. She is a minor celebrity in the North Street. Many people believe that she is controlled by the Queen of Fairyland and can cure all diseases.”
While listening, He Danggui sank herself into the water. She failed to handle with so many things in such a short time. She immersed her whole head in the water, and felt that all her thoughts overflowed and dissolved in the warm and tolerant spring.
He Danggui immediately felt comfortable and thought that, in fact, she didn’t cheat Zhoushi. Hot spring could really cure her. She seemed to be suffering from a disease of trying to hide herself.
While Chan Yi didn’t realize He Danggui’s sleepiness and tiredness, and was still reporting faithfully, “The worst thing is that as soon as Madam Ji heard that Sister Zhenzhu was infected by the current epidemic, she isolated the yard where Sister Zhenzhu lived. At the request of Huai Hua, guards finally allowed her to go in and out. However, the other people, including Governor Lu, are forbidden. That is to say, Sister Zhenzhu and Governor Lu are separated by Madam Ji. They cannot meet each other!”
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