Chapter 23 Fail to find a scapegoat
As time went by, the Taoist nuns gathered to whisper and took quick glances at those 4 tall and handsome men from time to time.
Most people were pleased inwardly. In this way, He Danggui would get in trouble. How could she, just a little girl, capture the fancy of officials and be protected by them! Bah! And she even wanted to compete with them for men! Naive! Although they got internal conflict with Huai Xin, without Tai Chen’s protection, they could easily deal with her later. But He Danggui was known as “the daughter of the official”. Bullshit! She was no nobler than them from head to toe. They couldn’t bully her at ordinary times, but this time, they wouldn’t let the chance escape easily.
Duan Xiaolou and Liao Zhiyuan stood under a poplar in the alley while Lu Jiangbei and Gao Jue closed their eyes for a rest.
Liao Zhiyuan rolled his cat-like eyes with his arm rounded Gao Jue, “Hey, Master Cool Face, are you still in that philter’s effect? How does the philter feel like? Do your legs still feel weak?”
Gao Jue opened his eyes in anger and gritted his teeth, “Get out of my face.”
Liao Zhiyuan touched his nose boringly and turned his back to Gao Jue, “I’m not asking this on purpose. You can’t even afford a joke.”
Lu Jiangbei smile slightly, “If it wasn’t for Miss He’s superb medical skill, Gao Jue had to go to the brothel to recover. If his wife knew this, their marriage would be affected terribly.”
Liao Zhiyuan rounded Lu Jiangbei’s shoulder, “If you hadn’t got her prescription, what would you do then?”
Lu Jiangbei punched him on his underbelly and scolded him with a smile, “Why don’t you drop dead? It’s all your fault to let us stay in the medicated bath all night and lose 3 out of 10 of Zhenqi. After we fully recover in a few days, I’ll ask you to pay for this!”
Duan Xiaolou looked at Lu Jiangbei angrily, “Your savior is in trouble now, yet you’re still in the mood for playing.”
Lu Jiangbei and Liao Zhiyuan laughed at him together, “Don’t pretend to be serious. She is definitely not the one who will take a beating, but–”
“Master, Miss He is here!” Zhen Ming came running, out of breath, and pointed at her back, “But she lost her gold lock. You don’t know. When I got to the East Wing-room…”
All the people turned round simultaneously, looking at the girl whose hairstyle looked like black cicada’s wings coming here slowly with elegant steps.
When she came closer, Tai Shan smirked, “Miss He, I heard from Zhen Ming you didn’t bring your gold lock. It is involved in a big case now. Why don’t you bring it to show us? Do you have any secret?” Tai Shan decided to ask her overwhelming questions first, then let her be the scapegoat.
He Danggui’s face was pale. Her tearful eyes were full of confusion. She kept silent for a moment, then frowned and said slightly, “I heard the Taoist Temple was on fire, and I feel so sympathetic. But I haven’t gone to the kitchen since I lived here. I’m confused about how the pattern on my gold lock appeared here.”
Tai Shan smiled coldly, “That’s so weird. You mean that gold lock came here and brought some charcoal ashes to the wall by itself, huh?”
He Danggui seemed to want to say something but didn’t know where to start. She just lowered her head and sighed in the end, “I was going to ask you for help about this tomorrow. But now the temple has been burned and the loss is serious, so I don’t want to bother you with my own affairs. Maybe it’s my destiny.” Everyone was confused about what she said. He Danggui looked around and soon found the black mark on the wall. She was surprised, “It does look like the pattern on my gold lock, but are you sure this pattern was printed tonight? And Master, why are you so sure that this is left by the arsonist?”
“It’s sure that the pattern appeared tonight!” Huai Xin cried, and her sharp voice echoed through the alley, “I remember clearly that the wall was clean when I finished cooking and left!”
“Yes, she is right.” A young Taoist nun of 15 or 16 came out to testify for her, “I didn’t see that black mark when I passed by tonight, either.”
A tall and thin Taoist nun stepped forward and said, “Neither did I! Everyone knows I have the best memory here, and I am always the fastest person to memorize scriptures. I’m pretty sure this black mark was formed tonight. It was probably left by the arsonist accidentally!”
“Looks like it was printed with charcoal ashes. Did the arsonist accidentally hit the wall while carrying the charcoal?”
“Ah, you remind me that the yard in East Wing-room piled up a lot of charcoal several days ago. Those charcoal were enough to light a fire so many times. Maybe next time It will be our living place that is on fire.”
“No, don’t frighten me! We have no enmity with her. Why would she burn our Taoist Temple?”
“Ask her. How do I know that? As an exalted lady who used to live an extravagant life, she probably set the fire in the kitchen because she was disgusted with our food!”
“...”
Duan Xiaolou was so angry at this that he wanted to smash a hole in the wall. While Liao Zhiyuan and Lu Jiangbei felt angry and amused.
They used to think it was an exaggeration to say that a house full of women was a battlefield without smoke. They thought those delicate girls just bicker with each other and were jealous of each other, but they would never cause big troubles.
However, what they saw and heard tonight totally changed their minds. These monastic women were just like other ordinary women. More than 70 of them spoke at the same time were noisier than tens of thousands of ducks. They kept talking and every word they said was aiming at He Danggui. They branded her as an “arsonist” without even giving her a chance to argue.
If Duan, Liao, Lu and Gao hadn’t used Huo Zhe Zi (a tight roll of rough paper keeping in an airtight tube box, which could be carried around and was easy to rekindle once it was exposed into the air again) to light the fire in person, they might have believed what these Taoist nuns had said. So, the “arsonist” was not the one in front of these Taoist nuns, but Duan Xiaolou and his partners.
Gao Jue suddenly pulled out his broadsword and raised his arm to split the blackened cooking bench into four pieces. Word after word, his voice was like coming from hell.
“You are really noisy, shut up.”
The Taoist nuns had only seen those minstrels who faked the show called “smashing stones on one’s chest”. All of them including Tai Shan squatted down in fear for seeing this scene.
He Danggui’s timid voice broke the artificial silence, “Master Tai Shan, and every master in here, I can understand your anxiety because of the fire. But my gold lock has been lost before the fire, so the person who set the fire is not me for sure. Hope you can have a further investigation.”
Tai Shan crouched with her head in her arms and pretended to say aggressively, “It is quite strange. We just found out that your stuff is the same as that left by the arsonist, and then you lost yours.” No matter what the little girl explained, everyone had thought that she was the arsonist. She was born to bear all this for the Taoist Temple!
“Master, you are wrong,” He Danggui said gently and her voice was like a feather, scratching everyone’s heart slightly, “The fire set in the temple happened tonight, but I lost my gold lock in the daytime. Because this gold lock is my favorite thing and I was very anxious after I lost it, so I also had submitted a report to the official. The 3 shift of yamen runners in Tu’er Town is searching in the Taoist Temple openly and secretly. So, there’s evidence to prove that I lost my gold lock.”
Zhen Ming confirmed in a low voice, “I just said it, Master, but… you didn’t hear me. When I went to the East Wing-room, I saw Miss He’s room was turned upside down. It seemed that it was stolen indeed!”
Tai Shan felt embarrassed and other Taoist nuns also felt disappointed. After all, He Danggui could not be charged with the arson under such a situation.
He Danggui went on unhurriedly, “Please, everyone. First, I have a stove in my room and I could boil water and make soup in there. Second, I have called several yamen runners to help me find my gold lock. How could I deliberately set the fire in front of them? Therefore, even if someone is really dissatisfied and intends to set the fire to burn the imperial guard and rescue the prisoner Tai Chen, that person is definitely not me. Oh, it’s said that Tai Chen had lived in the Taoist Temple for nearly 30 years. She has made many friends and is deeply respected and loved by others. While I only lived in here less than 7 days. I only met her once and barely talked to her. Every Master’s connection with Tai Chen must be deeper than mine.”
Tai Shan became nervous. She was regret for neglecting their relationship. If Huai Xin had just been charged with “kindling the fire negligently”, this matter could have been solved. Even if the imperial guard did not let it go, the punishment would not be serious. They would be asked to shut the door and reflect on their misdeeds, and stop receiving pilgrims. However, Tai Shan wanted to take this opportunity to kill Huai Xin, so she casually gave Huai Xin an accusation of “rescuing Tai Chen”. Later, she found a better scapegoat, He Danggui, and gave the accusation of “setting fire to hurt the officials” for her.
Now, He Danggui got rid of her own suspicion easily, but returned the two accusations to them. Tai Shan never expected that the girl who looked weak was not only smart, but also had a silver tongue! This time she shot herself in the foot!
Tai Shan looked at He Danggui resentfully, but she saw He Danggui staring at her as well. He Danggui’s eyes were cold and faint, as seen from the ancient well in the cold winter with a chilly air. Although Tai Shan was sophisticate, she still felt sacred. Tai Shan lowered her head in self-defense, wondering why she was so afraid of the eyes of a 10-year-old girl. She wanted to look up and confirm it again, but she couldn’t explain the strong voice in her heart, advising her not to look up, not to look up!
Duan Xiaolou frowned, looked at He Danggui and blamed, “It’s so cold. Why don’t you put on one more cloak? What if you catch a cold?” He Danggui looked down and smiled. While Liao Zhiyuan looked up and rolled his eyes at the moon.
Lu Jiangbei looked at those squatting on the ground, stepped forward and said ruthlessly, “Taoist Temples are the places of cultivation, but there’s been burglary here. How can guests feel safe to stay here? This case must be thoroughly investigated, and what the girl lost must be found!” Tai Shan kowtowed twice again.
Gao Jue yawned and said, “I’m tired. Look for it by yourselves. If you got the arsonist, call me before the fire execution!” After he finished, the tall black figure suddenly disappeared. Tai Shan and others all opened their eyes unbelievably. Pieces of shingles fell from the roofs of 2 or 3 burned-out houses. A man just disappeared. Tai Shan and others were thrilled. Was he a man or a ghost?
How uncanny his arts of lightness was! He Danggui’s eyebrows also beat. She knew that kongfu. It was...
He Danggui suddenly chilled, and Duan Xiaolou wanted to give her another piece of clothing. However, because of the action tonight, they all wore tight-fitting clothes. Even if he wanted to take off his clothes, he couldn’t do it in front of so many Taoist nuns. Duan Xiaolou touched his forehead and said, “I’ll be right back.” Then he skyrocketed, stepping on the head of Liao Zhiyuan.
Liao Zhiyuan screamed with pain. He Danggui looked at him and asked tentatively, “That evening, I saw Childe Duan fought against Childe Gao. Their moves were similar, like they were taught by the same master. But why do they share totally different arts of lightness?”
Liao Zhiyuan touched his chin unconcernedly, and explained to her, “Gao Jue used to stay in Nihon for 3 years. After he came back, his arts of lightness made a great progress, almost ranking the best among the 8 of us. Because his kongfu stems from Dun Shu (a kind of kongfu that is unique and popular in Nihon, specializing on escaping or attacking others with the fully use of the surroundings materials) ...”
Lu Jiangbei pushed Liao Zhiyuan away. He got closed to He Danggui and said with a smile, “Hey, why do you ask about these kinds of violent things? You’re just a little girl.”
He Danggui winked wittily and sighed, “When I see your arts accomplishments, of course I envy you. And I say to myself that if I can learn from a master, I will be able to protect myself, also I wish I have a skill in the future so that I won’t lose my mother’s gift when I was one-month old.”
Tai Shan explained hastily, “Miss He, although you claim that you lost it at our temple, it doesn’t mean the thief is among the nuns here! Maybe you don’t know that Shui Shang Temple has attracted numerous pilgrims. There are also countless people coming in and out. What’s more, the mountain gate of temple opens from morning till night. Those who send rice, firewood and charcoal had gone some places or rooms. We couldn’t watch every one of them even if we want to! Miss He lost it by accident, now where shall we find it for her?”
He Danggui snickered. As she was going to answer, Duan Xiaolou appeared from high in the air in front of her all of a sudden.