Chapter 242 Beautiful dream
He Danggui wanted to say “Lord Ning Zhu Quan”, but she held it back. She asked haltingly after some hesitation, “Old immortal, will my husband know that you summon him to my dream? Will he have any impression afterwards?”
The old immortal cackled and said, “You are such an inexperienced girl that you have so many questions which even stump me. Well, let me see... Everything you see and hear is the same as that in his dream, so it is fair to say that you will have transient joy with him.”
He Danggui immediately shook her head and waved her hands. She refused, “If so, don’t summon him. I am not ready yet, old immortal. Please leave me alone for a while.” Then she moved with great difficulty, trying to find a piece of clothing to cover her body. She thought to herself, “When I was in Luo’s Family, Fourth Sister always sprinkled itching powder on me. Although that kind of strange itch made me feel 100 times worse than the philter, I got it through. As long as I hold on a little longer, I will wake up when the internal heat in my abdomen disappears.”
The old immortal doubled up with laughter while repeating He Danggui’s words, “You are not ready? Ha-ha, you are not ready! Girl, take it easy. You do not need to prepare for this kind of thing, as long as the man is prepared!”
He seemed to have guessed what He Danggui was thinking. He kindly advised, “Girl, don’t be bashful any more. The Jinfeng Yulu Powder is a very strong philter. If you insist on holding on by yourself, it will poison your brain and make you become a fool! This kind of thing is really beyond your perseverance and self-control. I have not gained that deep concentration in my ages, so how can you bear it? Follow your heart and look for your ‘antidote’! Having transient joy can save your life, which is quite worthwhile!”
At the moment, He Danggui struggled to move to the room. She stopped crying, but tears streaked her face. She gritted her teeth and said, “I never know if I can get it through until I try it. Although I am in a dream now, I can walk and speak as when I am awake. I also have consciousness. Since I can make my own decisions, I am not going to detoxify! Old immortal, I appreciate your kindness, but I can only repay you in the next life. Please show mercy and leave me to my fate.”
He Danggui said in a more and more firm voice. It seemed that she was Wen Tianxiang who would like to sacrifice life for righteousness, and she almost said his well-known verse, “Everyone must die; let me but leave a loyal heart shining in the pages of history.”
The old immortal in the air sighed, “Girl, you should cherish your life. Do you know what a chance and a blessing it is for you to be a human being? Most souls are reincarnated seven or eight times before they have the chance to become human beings. Most of the time, they can only be a cow, a bird or a weed. In my opinion, maybe you were a cow in your last life, otherwise how can you be so stubborn? For you, death pays all debts; but for your parents, hope for the rest of their life is dashed. Are you worthy of their upbringing? Do you know how many people will cry if you die?”
The more the old immortal said, the more excited he was. In the end, he was even touched by himself. He raved, “I am a millennium old demon leading people to be good, much better than those baldies on Shaoshi Mountain! Girl, you would better surrender and make out with my Zhu Quan!”
However, the old immortal’s words not only failed to move He Danggui, but also touched her nerve. Would her mom and dad be sad for her death? Was she worthy of their upbringing? Her father gave birth to her but did not raise her. So far, she had lived for 15 years but never met him. And she lived with her mother only for two or three years.
Under the torment of the strong philter, He Danggui thought bitterly. Would anyone shed a few tears for her if she died? She guessed that she was ranked behind her stepfather, Madam Luo, and even Second Sister and Fourth Sister in terms of importance in her mother’s mind. Her mother moved into Sanqing Temple for the sake of her stepfather and left her in Luo’s Family year in year out. Every time her mother came back, her mother talked with Madam Luo in the room from day to night but said nothing to her except hello.
On one occasion, when her mother heard that Second Sister had acne on her face, she was very concerned about it. She spent a lot of money to buy precious herbs that were not available in ordinary pharmacies, such as snow lotus and borneol. She also worked in the Medicine Room in South Yard for several days and made three bottles of skin care cream in ancient records successfully. It was said that the cream was specially used to treat the acne on girls’ faces, leaving no scar after healing. He Danggui was a little envious when she heard about it, because she also had acne on her forehead as she always ate supper sent by Fourth Sister at that time.
So, she ran to her mother and asked for some skin care cream, but her mother told her that she had given all the cream to Second Sister and there were not enough raw materials left. Looking at the acne on her forehead, her mother comforted that her acne was not as serious as Second Sister’s. She could wash her face with saponin before going to bed every night. Seeing her unhappy, her mother added, “I hear that you do not have a good relationship with your Second Aunt and Second Sister. Is it right? Don’t do that. We Fourth Branch live in Luo’s Mansion and owe a lot of favor to the Second Branch, so you should be smart and tolerate your Second Sister and others. You will have to rely on your Second Aunt to prepare a dowry worth 3,000 liang when you marry.”
As He Danggui recalled these sad memories, she moved slowly to the gorgeous house. However, when she was about to reach the threshold, she was hit by a burning pain in her abdomen and fell down.
She thought bitterly that she was a burden to her father and mother, and now superfluous in the mansion. Her mother would not be sad if she died. When she lived in the countryside, her mother never asked anyone to see how she was doing. Her mother did not want to let anyone know her, treating her as an ugly scar that needed to be hidden. Besides, her mother never paid her support. Her mother could generously give 50 liang silver to Wet Nurse Jian who once insulted herself in Luo’s Family, but why couldn’t her mother secretly send 10 liang silver to improve her life?
He Danggui exhaled the last breath of warmth and came to the conclusion that she must be adopted, so nobody loved her and cared whether she was alive or dead. In that case, she chose to die. Then not only did she no longer need to be despised by others, but she might reincarnate into a normal family with the yearning for her noble and perfect husband.
“Hey!” The voice of the old immortal suddenly came from the distant sky. He patted her face anxiously, “Girl, hold on. How can you be so depressed and suicidal? If you die, your parents will be inconsolable.”
He Danggui awoke from her dream and gave him a weak look. She thought, “The immortal is really not good at comforting others. He always rubs it in.” She said dully, “You don’t know, old immortal. I must have done too much evil in the last life, so I am so unlucky in this life. Misfortune comes to me one after another, and it seems that it will never end. There is no point in living any longer. Let me die in peace. If you really want to help me, please recite Mantra of Rebirth in Pureland for me, so that I will not be the unwanted stone on the Go board in the next life.”
Bai Yangbai said angrily, “Girl, how can you be so pessimistic in your ages? You do not want to live just because of some philters? Do you know how long I have to sit in meditation in order to live longer? You are pretty, if you are an unwanted stone on the Go board, what will those ugly women be? If you do not like the cool guy in your dream, I can look for another one for you!”
He Danggui turned over in the thin quilt and found that she had put on middle clothes and socks, so she opened the quilt to look at herself.
“I dressed you with eyes closed and saw nothing!” Bai Yangbai explained, “Having traveled the world for so many years, I have made friends with heroes all over the world. I collected more than twenty heroes’ nails to make items called “Hun Yin” that can summon soul, with which I can summon anyone to my dream whenever I want to play Go with him. Some of them are romantic, and some of them are handsome. Of course, there are some middle-aged heroes that are tender and considerate. They are all very excellent. If you do not like the cool guy, how about the nice Chang Nuo?”
After He Danggui awoke from the dream, her burning feeling did not abate at all. On the contrary, she felt even more suffocated. She turned her back to the nonsense immortal, waiting for death.
Bai Yangbai happily introduced, “My little nephew Chang Nuo is enthusiastic about girls. He will never walk away like that cold guy! Do you cry suddenly and want to die in your dream because you are embarrassed? The guy is indeed so cocky that he should leave you when you are tortured by philter and come to him without clothes! Don’t take it seriously. He does not have much interest in women. Besides, he is very popular. You are not the first one to run to him without clothes. Girl, do not doubt your charm. You are only 14 or 15 years old. Although your breasts are not satisfactory now, you are a woman with great potential. You should have confidence in yourself. A girl’s breasts will grow bigger after she gets married...”
“Old man, go away!” He Danggui couldn’t stand him anymore, and interrupted, “I just want to die! Can you leave me alone?”
“Humph!” Bai Yangbai shrank his neck and said, “I touch a nerve! You do not have the courage to face the next romantic and handsome man because your breasts are small.”
He Danggui covered her head with the quilt and said, “You are so noisy. If you are kind, you should go to a coffin shop and order a coffin for me.”
Wearing a cheeky smile, Bai Yangbai clapped his hands and said, “In addition to Chang Nuo, I can also summon some childes of Meng’s Family. What kind of man do you like, girl?”
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