Chapter 229 An erotic dream left trace
“Miss. Miss!” He Danggui heard Chan Yi’s voice above her head, and she painfully opened her eyes to look up. Then this strange dream shook and was torn a tiny hole, where Chan Yi’s round face squeezed in.
Chan Yi held a shallow bowl of water and said, “Take the medicine and then sleep. Take it all in one breath!”
He Danggui looked at Chan Yi and asked in some mystification, “Why should I take the medicine when everything is perfectly all right? What kind of medicine is it?” While she was saying, the bowl was stuffed into her mouth, so she was forced to swallow the sweet and sour medicinal soup in the bowl. After that, a small bowl of salt water was passed over, and she gargled with it.
Chan Yi supported her to move, and then changed her bed sheets and inner clothes. Chan Yi said in a powerful voice, “Miss Qing was here a moment ago, and I told her about Sister Zhenzhu. She said that it didn’t matter, and she would take full charge of it. Then she came to see you and found that you were abnormal. Pouting the squirmy mouth and mumbling something, you are pinned down by us and shouted, ‘Both of you stop! If you don’t stop, I’ll throw stones to you.’ It sacred us.”
He Danggui seemed to be stuffed with cotton in her head and asked dully, “Did I just drink the ginger soup with radix astragali and wolfberry?”
“Yeah,” Chan Yi nodded and continued, “Later, just when there was nothing we could do, Second Master came. Originally, he heard that you were sleeping and was going to leave, but I remembered that he read a lot of medical books in the Medicine Room and often came to borrow books from you. I thought that he must know some medical skills, so I asked him to treat you.”
“Second cousin…Luo Baiji?” He Danggui was still dull.
Chan Yi had spread the sheets, helped He Danggui back on the bed and said with a smile, “Second Master knew by touching your pulse that you are suffering from a cold and a period, and the distortion is caused by menstrual colic. And we watched that the sheet indeed went red. Second Master decocted medicinal herbs and left. He told me that you should take ten medicines to get rid of the chill. He also said that he had just learned to make a tonic and medicated diet to treat cold. He will bring it to you in the evening, so you should keep a corner for the medicated food. Anyway, Miss, your menstruation used to be extremely punctual, but this time it is four days earlier. Is it because you were in the hot spring too long this morning?”
Originally, He Danggui didn’t feel any abnormality in her body. But as soon as she heard that she had a cold, she immediately felt that her body was heavy. Her eyes looked dull and her mouth was parched. She frowned deeply and said to herself that since she had internal force, her body was very strong. But she didn’t know if it was a coincidence. Every time she got sick, bad things happened around her.
Last time when she had a throat disease and coughed for half a month, she heard about her mother encountering robbers on the way home from the Taoist temple. Although she was alright, a wet nurse died, which made her feel sad for a while. There was also a time she got a bad cold, and she became debilitated, so she was attacked by a hidden arrow at the dragon boat meeting. Qing’er who wore a life jacket saved her and was shot by the arrow. This time she was nearly at the gate of hell. Then the relationship between Qing’er and her made a qualitative progress, and they exchanged their inmost secrets.
In short, she gradually couldn’t help having the idea that her illness was a signal of misfortune. She fell feebly on the chrysanthemum pillow and was covered with quilts by Chan Yi. She thought for a moment and asked, “Have Madam Luo’s distinguished guests arrived? Has the banquet begun yet?”
Chan Yi smiled and said, “Miss, guess who the distinguished guest of Madam Luo is!” Without waiting the cooperation of effectual answer, Chan Yi revealed the mystery, “Do you still remember Earl Baoding? Earl Baoding Meng Shan!”
“Earl Baoding came to Luo’s Mansion again?” He Danggui’s nose was overflowing with the fragrance of chrysanthemum from the pillow, but for some reason, she always felt that there was a hint of tea fragrance around her. It was Meng Xuan’s exclusive taste, which she just gave a brush-up yesterday.
Chan Yi tucked her quilt and said excitedly, “It’s not Earl Baoding but his sons, Third Childe and Seventh Childe. Miss, do you remember Seventh Childe Xuan, the most handsome man? He lived in our mansion twice a few years ago. At that time, he often went to Xi Chang Yard near us to play with Childe Peng. When he passed by our door, the maids in our yard were leaning against the gate and peeking at him. This time he came to Luo’s Mansion again, and I heard from others that wherever he goes, the maids in our mansion will stop their works and run to see him.”
He Danggui’s eyes were tired. She yawned and asked with closed eyes, “Are there other rumors? Why do the two childes of Meng’s Family come to Yangzhou City?”
Chan Yi shook her head, “I never heard of it, but the two childes mentioned you. They also asked to come to see you together, so Madam Luo asked Shi Liu to call you. But seeing you were having a fever, she left.”
He Danggui frowned, “Meng Xuan and Meng Ying both looked for me? Why?”
Chan Yi replied tirelessly, “According to Shi Liu, three years ago, Seventh Childe came to Luo’s Mansion as a guest. He played Go with you and drank a cup of tea brewed by you. This time, he revisits the familiar place and immediately reminds of you. Madam Luo thought that your shoulder was hurt yesterday, and it was inconvenient, so she politely declined. Seventh Childe didn’t mind that, but Third Childe has a fancy for Go, who likes to play Go with all kinds of masters. Third Childe said that most of the time he has difficulty getting a chance to win from Seventh Childe. At this moment, he heard that you have played Go with Seventh Childe. Besides, you have won once and drawn with Seventh Childe once. In any case, he must play Go with you.”
He Danggui was sleepy. She yawned again and asking vaguely, “Now that Shi Liu went back telling them that I was ill, did Madam Luo’s guests leave?”
“Yes,” Chan Yi put down the bed tent and continued, “Later, Shi Liu came back and said that after Third Childe heard that you were sick, he immediately said that he could wait for you to recover. However, Shi Liu revealed that by listening to what he meant, he didn’t believe that you are a person of genuine ability and learning. He thought that you were afraid of playing Go with him, so you pretended to be ill.”
He Danggui snorted, “This is the eldest legitimate son of Earl Baoding with bravery and wit, who was born as a cockfighter. He didn’t even see me, and how could he regard me as an imaginary enemy! Why am I scared? I am an unlearned miss, and losing to a well-educated person like him is not a shame. Well, did Seventh Childe say anything?” Then, He Danggui thought, “Why did Meng Xuan bring his brother to Luo’s Mansion? Anyway, it’s not because he specifically came to see me!”
Chan Yi replied, “Seventh Childe didn’t insist on finding you to play Go, but he turned a teacup and complained that the tea was tasteless. So, Madam Luo summoned the two masters, who teach Second Miss tea art, to re-brew a pot of tea. However, he drank the tea and was still dissatisfied. He said that the most memorable cup of tea during his last trip to Yangzhou City was the cup of tea he drank in Luo’s Mansion. It was a pity that he cannot drink it this time.”
He Danggui smiled silently and asked, “Then, the hospitable Madam Luo must couldn’t eat after listening to it, right?”
“Miss, you’re so smart.” Chan Yi’s facial expression suddenly became lively and active. Then she was tittering behind her hand and said, “They two didn’t enjoy themselves in today’s visit. Therefore, they said although they had separate courtyard in Yangzhou City, it was a long way to go shopping every day from there. So, during their stay in Yangzhou City, they wanted to stay in our mansion for two days. Madam Luo naturally agreed, lest she neglected them. Whereupon, she called someone to clean up the Senior Lord’s Ting Zhu Yard for them to live. But Seventh Childe said that he preferred Xi Chang Yard where the Peng’s Family Childe had lived. Then Madam Luo readily promised and let people to put in order.” Chan Yi seemed to have picked up gold, saying, “Miss! Xi Chang Yard is next door to our house. From now on, we can often see them! I heard that Third Childe is more beautiful than Seventh Childe!”
Chan Yi waited for a long time and couldn’t wait for He Danggui’s response. Thinking she was asleep, Chan Yi was about to light the Pacifying Fragrance and quit, but He Danggui asked suddenly, “Are there any strange people in our yard today? Or, does anyone in our yard look different from usual?”
Chan Yi was confused, “Different? Miss, you are the only one who is different. You suddenly suffer the severe illness, and even your mouth becomes swollen.”
“Huh?” Upon hearing this, He Danggui opened her eyes and stroked her lips, “What did you say? My mouth is swollen?”
Chan Yi took out the glass mirror from the bedside table and showed it to her while saying, “When Miss Qing and I came in to see you, we saw you pouting your mouth and your lips were red and swollen. Miss Qing also talked nonsense that you were kissed by someone. I told her to stop saying that, and I said you were fine before you went to bed. The swollen mouth must be due to sickness.”
In the melodic voice of Chan Yi, the sparkled mirror showed a small cherry-red mouth, which was all of a glow and swollen. If it hadn’t just been eaten a few kilos of chili, it seemed that it had been sucked before... Was it because that she ate too much barbecue, which led to the excessive internal heat? He Danggui didn’t look at the mirror for long. She put the mirror under the pillow and said, “I’m very sleepy. If there is no meteor hitting me, don’t bother me. Let me have my sleep out.” After thinking, she added, “I am not used to sleeping alone during the day. Chan Yi, be with me. And you can knit the Zhuluo (a kind of headwear) in the outer room.”
Chan Yi agreed and went to the wooden table outside. She took out the half-finished crystal Zhuluo from the bamboo basket and then started knitting. She whispered, “Miss, you flailed during sleeping. Just now I came to see you, not only was the quilt kicked, but also your sleepwear was half-open. And a window was half-open in the room. If you catch a chill accidentally, you will yell that your shoulders hurt. In winter, the winds can be quite powerful. I remembered I inserted the window bolt...” Hardly had she finished speaking, He Danggui bounced off the bed. Chan Yi was taken aback and covered her mouth to apologize, “Don’t be sullen. I’ll just shut up.”
He Danggui staggered out of the bed curtain, hurriedly put on her shoes and said, “I am going to go to the bathroom. Do your business and leave me alone.”
He Danggui stumbled into the shower room, closed the door and lowered the curtain. She looked at herself in the water mirror in her palms, and saw her red and swollen lips carefully. Then she moved the mirror to reflect other places that she couldn’t see. The water mirror stopped at the waist behind her, where there was a vague palm-shaped print. She tried to put her hand on the print. The fingers of the print were longer than hers by an inch. That was the trace left by a hand much larger than hers!
Under what conditions would others press their hands firmly on her waist?
Her mind, which was tortured by the high fever, was chilled. She quickly threw away the mirror and quickly took off her panties to take a closer look. After repeatedly confirming that she really had a period, she breathed a sigh of relief. She checked her body carefully again to make sure that apart from the handprint, there were no other similar traces. Besides, her body did not feel strange. She slowly put on her clothes. Then she returned to the embroidered couch in the inner room slowly and lay down.
He Danggui wrapped the quilt tightly around her and looked at Chan Yi who was knitting the Zhuluo through the bed curtain and many bead curtains. She secretly thought whether her brain was burned so that absurd thoughts came up. Luo’s Mansion was well protected, so how could a rapist enter? How could he come to Tao Yao Yard in the depths of the mansion smoothly? What happened between the man with the silver mask and the girl with the same appearance as her was nothing more than an erotic dream, and there was no trace after waking up from the dream. That was all. All the traces were caused by the nightmare pressing on her body. It must be like this.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢