Chapter 236 The dessert of Sister Qingyi
The string in He Danggui’s mind snapped. The terms of “My Lord” and “wife” reverberated in her ears repeatedly. She realized that Zhu Quan must be in Qi Lu Yard. Although she couldn’t connect “Zhu Quan” and “Luo Baiqian’s residence”, she sealed her 13 channels with silver needles immediately to minimize her pulse, breath and vital signs.
She really wanted to eavesdrop on the conversation of the people inside, but she was afraid of making any noise. In fact, with her current level of internal force, her breath had grown to a completely silent level, so she could sneak in the dark to eavesdrop on the conversation of various seniors without being found. However, if this one was Zhu Quan, she should be too careful.
After sealing the channels, she carefully floated into a bush without touching the ground while the leaves made a lot of rustle in a gust of wind. In the past, she couldn’t even do such a half degree of difficult movements, but today she almost perfectly finished it before the rustle of leaves ended. Now she made such a success largely due to the environment, though she had just collected a large amount of Zhenqi from Zhoushi and practiced for a few days.
While she hated Zhu Quan, she was very afraid of him. She really wanted to know how much Zhu Quan knew about her secret and what he was going to do with her.
Last time, she inquired with Zhu Quan’s trusted subordinate Zhoushi, fake Feng Yang, but she didn’t hear much useful information. Zhoushi just told Zhu Quan’s deep love repeatedly, describing him as a lovestruck man. But she never believed it. She could only say that unless Zhu Quan was not Zhu Quan, he was an ambitious schemer and would not love anyone. Everything he did smelled of intrigue that she could smell it from 10 miles away.
The energy of He Danggui was operated on her ears, so her listening became better than ever that she could hear 3 people’s breathing and heartbeat clearly. For the question just now, He Danggui felt slightly disappointed by Zhu Quan’s silence. At the same time, she continued to hold her breath and listen attentively.
After a burst of tea pouring, a strange man’s voice rang out. The voice was warm and magnetic. It was the one that just asked, “My Lord, He Danggui is so strange. Do you really want her to be your wife?” He Danggui carefully identified that the voice did not belong to Luo Baiqian, Zhoushi or Zhu Quan. It was a strange voice she had never heard.
The strange man said, “My Lord, this is not my first time to Luo’s Mansion. I came here once 3 years ago and have lived in Luo’s Mansion for nearly a month. At that time, I have contacted with He Danggui.”
“Oh?”
Although it was just a monotonous and low “Oh”, this voice was familiar to He Danggui. It was Zhu Quan’s voice. 3 years ago, Ning Yuan was in the period of changing sound, and he also covered up the real voice, so that He Danggui didn’t recognize the part of Zhu Quan’s voice for a long time. Now hearing Zhu Quan’s voice without covering up, she couldn’t help squatting deeper into the bush to better hide herself.
At the same time, she was very confused. The strange man said that he had dealt with her. How was that possible? She had never heard of that person’s voice. The outsiders she had met in Luo’s Mansion 3 years ago were Ning Yuan, fake Feng Yang, Meng Xuan, Peng Shi, Peng Jian and the masked assassin. Except them, were there any other outsiders?
Then, Zhu Quan’s voice sounded again. “Well, when did you live in Luo’s Mansion?”
The strange man said, “As early as 4 years ago, I met Senior Lord Luo Maitong of Luo’s Family in the mountains of Lingnan. He absorbed wind and dew there and devoted himself to the pursuit of the longevity skill. I’ve always been fascinated by him. After all, we are both doctors. Although I don’t approve that he is “the best master in the world” and I don’t think I am inferior to him, I don’t deny that he is really outstanding. So, I catered to his pleasures and talked a lot about health preservation of Taoist. Then I won his favor and made friends with him. Then, 3 years ago, I came to Yangzhou City to discuss affairs with Feng Yang on your order. Originally, I intended to live on the flower boat of the Grand Canal and enjoy the tenderness of Jiangnan women. But on the night when I arrived in Yangzhou City, I saw a dark blue thorn star in the northmost sky when watching astronomical phenomena on the Zhinv Bridge.”
“Thorn star?” Zhu Quan was confused and asked, “Is the thorn star called ‘the source of troubled times’ by astrologers of different dynasties?”
“Yes,” said the strange man, “Here begins our tale. The empire, long divided, must unite, and that long united must divide. According to the records of famous astrologers in the past dynasties, there were more than 1 thorn star respectively in the late Shang Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Period, the late Qin Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms Period and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Imperial Family Zhao was unable to protect the Central Plains and threw the great rivers and mountains to the Mongols, there were 2 thorn stars. These can be found in historical materials, and I have read them in my father’s copy. According to his conjecture, the Ming Dynasty will soon usher in its first thorn star since its founding.”
There was a moment of silence in the yard, and then suddenly a rattling sound came out. “Brother, My Lord, why don’t you eat this almond cake? This is from Zhu, Luo Baiqian’s son. My Lord, it is from Sister Qingyi’s yard. Don’t you try it?”
He Danggui drooped her eyes. She wouldn’t mistake the young voice of Luo Baiqian. But he said that Zhu, Luo Baiqian’s son. The implication was that he did not regard himself as Luo Baiqian. Although He Danggui knew that Luo Baiqian’s “Dissociative identity disorder” attacked again, she still felt very strange, and a chill passed on her back. What was the situation? Luo Baiqian’s second personality, a little monk Qi Chuan, was entertaining his “brother” and Lord Ning Zhu Quan at his home?
He Danggui had treated Luo Baiqian for 3 years, and sometimes she was forced to dress, feed, wash, comb and shave Luo Baiqian, who became a child after his illness, so she was very familiar with his face. If she hadn’t done those things, she would have suspected that Luo Baiqian was a fake just like Feng Yang. But for the care and treatment of Luo Baiqian in the past 3 years, He Danggui could be absolutely sure that this Luo Baiqian was real Luo Baiqian. At least, his face did not wear any human skin mask, which was the real face of Luo Baiqian.
Therefore, for this situation, He Danggui could only temporarily understand that Luo Baiqian’s body was “invaded” by evil and foreign objects. It was because she also affirmed that Luo Baiqian had no friendship with Zhu Quan in his previous life.
A thing that impressed her most was that once she came back to Luo’s Mansion from Lord Ning’s Mansion for a short stay in her pervious life. The next night, Zhu Quan suddenly appeared in her room. She was surprised and happy. And she asked him why he came. He said he missed her and wanted to enjoy the moon with her. So, they went to the garden to watch the moon. When Luo Baiqian came back awkwardly because of drinking, he bumped into Zhu Quan and yelled at him, which made her so scared. It could be seen that Luo Baiqian, who was not suffering from “Dissociative identity disorder”, did not know Zhu Quan, Lord Ning, at all.
Why did Luo Baiqian and Zhu Quan become familiar that they could sit together to drink tea and eat desserts after his illness? Young Luo Baiqian also called the man who talked about the thorn star “brother”. What kind of confused relationship was this?
In the silent Qi Lu Yard, there was a sound of drinking tea and eating desserts. Then, the innocent voice of Luo Baiqian, which made He Danggui get goose bumps, sounded again, “What’s the matter, My Lord? Is the dessert made in Sister Qingyi’s kitchen delicious? Is it better than the food in the Imperial Kitchen of the Imperial Palace?”
Zhu Quan snorted and asked, “Xuanyu, you said that you saw the thorn star in Yangzhou City 3 years ago. Do you mean there will be unrest in the Ming Dynasty? But I asked Mr. Bai several times if there was any chance according to the astronomical phenomena. He told me that in the next 20 years, the world would not change hands, and it would smoothly usher in the second prosperous era after the founding. Was Mr. Bai lying to me?”
Xuanyu? He Danggui suddenly realized. Zhoushi had told her that he would take her to visit Qi Xuanyu, a master whose medical skills were not under Senior Lord Luo Maitong. It turned out that Qi Xuanyu was also under Zhu Quan’s hands. No wonder Qi Xuanyu was a loose official that he was absent for 8 months in a year, he had gone to work for Zhu Quan. Zhu Quan used to win over the people’s support. He won over Bai Yangbai, Zhoushi, Meng Ying and Qi Xuanyu, the Emperor’s favorite minister! They all were talented people, especially Bai Yangbai and Qi Xuanyu. Couldn’t they see the true face of Zhu Quan? Why did they work for him?
Luo Baiqian’s “second personality” was Qi Chuan, a young monk. His surname was Qi, and he called Qi Xuanyu brother. What was the matter? Was not Qi Xuanyu the only son of Royal Prophet Qi Jing? Where did he get a younger brother? What did he want his brother to do in Luo’s Mansion? It couldn’t be understood.
Moreover, a medicine family with no official future like Luo’s Mansion and a dandy who lacked in both learning and skill like Luo Baiqian couldn’t compete with high-level figures like Zhu Quan and Qi Xuanyu, and had no value in use. It made no sense that Zhu Quan found a man who looked exactly like Luo Baiqian and took him in Luo’s Mansion. What happened every day here was nothing to Zhu Quan’s great cause. Even if Zhu Quan wanted to set eyes on her, he did not need to change Luo Baiqian. He just needed to send some maids and manservants to Tao Yao Yard. Besides, why did Zhu Quan send spies to her? She still couldn’t figure it out.
He Danggui, who was full of doubts, continued to listen attentively. Qi Xuanyu said, “Bai Yangbai reaches a deep state in practicing Taoism, and even my father can’t match him. Therefore, I’m not qualified to deny what he said. I just tell the facts I have seen and known. I saw with my own eyes a dark blue thorn star rising in the northmost sky. In less than an hour, it moved around half the sky and finally fell to the southwest of Zhinv Bridge. What I know is that the star is a sign of troubled times, and the blue thorn star is one of the most dangerous of the 18 colors. My Lord, the thorn star fell in the southwest, where Luo’s Mansion is.”
Zhu Quan was silent for a moment and asked, “How dangerous is the blue thorn star?”
Qi Xuanyu replied, “As far as I know, the last time the blue thorn star appeared was when the Shang Dynasty destroyed according to historical data, and several astrologers all said that the blue thorn star came out when enchantress Daji came.”
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