Chapter 258 Play a trick on Sun Meiniang
Sun Meiniang wanted to set off fireworks as she was gloating over He Danggui’ embarrassment. Suddenly, she shouted to the servants, “Come on! Tie up this siren!” The servants around her gathered immediately, and one of them was holding the rope that had just been untied from Luo Baiqiong.
Luo Baiji rushed forward to protect He Danggui, and yelled at the crowd in exasperation, “The one who hurts her will be killed!” Seeing that the servants were frightened and stopped temporarily, he turned around and said to He Danggui, “Get out of here, Third Sister. Leave Luo’s Mansion and go to find your mother! I’ll send someone to escort you, and I’m here to stop the pursuing forces!” As he spoke, he showed his weapon—a pair of silver chopsticks. He said to the servants, “Come on, you all have signed an indenture with Luo’s Family. It stated that there is no blame for life or death. Are you ready to die?”
He Danggui knew that his habitual weapon was a pair of Emei Thorns. She also knew that apart from the riding and shooting classes in the academy, he was not interested in martial arts. Since she knew his level, she was so moved by him. His courage and preference for her were more heartwarming than the effective help provided by those who had ability to save her.
Feng Yang also walked over, shook his fan and said, “Third Sister is as soft as a flower. She will not fly away like a bird, nor will she scratch other’s face like Second Miss. Why are you tying her up? Calm down. I don’t believe she will use witchcraft.” Qingyi was intelligent and rational. Even if she was at odds with Second Mistress Luo, how could she pin her hope of killing the enemy on a doll? On the other hand, why did the Lord do that? Even if he heard a movement after the curtain, there was no need to expose it! His beloved lady was right in front of him. How could he remain indifferent like a wooden stake? He just gave the chance to save a beauty to others.
Madam Luo made her way through the crowd surrounding He Danggui. She stared at He Danggui’s face, and slowly said in pain, “Yi, you are clever and well-behaved. I always treat you well, but you let me down. Why do you carry witchcraft dolls with you? When did you start getting these things?” Was it true that, as Sun Meiniang said, He Danggui had a sudden change in her temperament for staying in Shui Shang Temple for a month?
“Witchcraft dolls?” He Danggui raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I don’t know what the witchcraft dolls look like, but my doll is definitely not like those. My doll is called ‘Sunny Doll’, and it is for blessing.”
“Sunny Doll?” Madam Luo frowned. “What’s that?” She looked at the doll on the ground carefully. The head of the doll was rounded, and a black “Sunny” was embroidered on the doll’s forehead, with a long stick tied on top of its head. The body of the doll was made of long white silk ribbons, and it didn’t look like a lucky thing in any way.
Sun Meiniang sneered, “I have never heard that the suspect confessed himself. Most people wouldn’t admit their guilt without punishment. As long as the torture is moderately exerted, the truth will naturally come to light. And now there is so much hard evidence that a trial is not needed. Inappropriate use of witchcraft is a capital offense among felony, and setting fire to the ancestral hall is a felony that must be permanently removed from the genealogy. Whether according to family rules or national laws, she must be killed unless she kowtows to the whole family to confess her guilt and is hit on her back as punishment.”
He Danggui said slowly, “Madam Luo, I have been wronged. Since that day, I have been ill, and I felt dopey and drowsy. If I hadn’t dreamed of my grandfather, and he hadn’t complained to me, how could I struggle to come to the ancestral hall where the souls of our ancestors gathered at midnight?”
“How dare you!” Sun Meiniang suddenly popped her eyes and shouted, “The elders and guests are present, but you are hiding your face with white gauze. Could you be more polite? You hide in the bluish curtain sneakily. You are guilty, aren’t you?”
He Danggui lowered her eyes and said, “Well, Second Aunt, I am sick and looked pale. I am afraid that it will be unlucky for you to see my pale face in New Year, so I put on the veil. I am not intentionally disrespectful to you. Just now, I was scared by the noise in the yard, so I was flustered for a while and hid behind the curtain. I have never done anything wrong, so how can I feel guilty? I saw that there is indeed a ‘sneaky’ person described by you in this room. I don’t know if they are guilty. And there are two suspects of setting fire in the ancestral hall.”
She looked no one with her eyelashes lowered, nor did she point the person she implied, but everyone immediately found the sneakiest person in the room—Luo Baiqiong. The crowd just focused on He Danggui and Luo Baiji, so no one paid much attention to Luo Baiqiong. But now, they saw her neck curled, her eyes looked straight to one side, and her head trembled slightly. She pulled the corner of Sun Meiniang’s clothes to block the eyes from all around, and looked very strange.
Sun Meiniang turned around and hugged her daughter pityingly. After a few soft words, she explained to the crowd, “Baiqiong had a cold from the day before yesterday. She was bedridden and couldn’t be in a draught. Just now, she was startled by the cold wind and rain, and she became sick with typhoid fever! Madam Luo, don’t believe He Danggui’s nonsense. Her words are ridiculous. Baiqiong is a sheltered and good child who can’t even use flint. Will she have something to do with the fire in the ancestral hall?”
“So, you mean that if Second Sister could use flint, she would have something to do with the fire in the ancestral hall.” He Danggui chuckled silently under the veil, “Madam Luo, guests from afar, and all the people from four branches in the East Yard are here. Second Aunt, as the wife in charge of the family, you have always been well-known for your fair and impartial conduct. Now, the ancestral hall is on fire, and people have caught two suspects at the scene. As one of the suspects, I have finished defending myself. I don’t know anything about the fire. Second Sister is the other suspect. To be fair, can she say something?”
Sun Meiniang didn’t believe that her daughter had anything to do with the fire. Luo Baiqiong just happened to pass by in time. She loved cleanliness and beauty. When she caught the smell of burnt dishes, she would frown as if she was drinking a bowl of bitter medicine. If she would set a fire, Sun Meiniang would probably have a poisonous snake to bite others. The first one to bite must be He Danggui!
Sun Meiniang pulled her daughter out of her arms, and said softly, “Baiqiong, don’t bother yourself arguing with the villain. Tell them, what are you doing in the ancestral hall?” Sun Meiniang asked her inductively, “Did you miss your grandfather? So, you came to see him specially, right?”
Originally, Luo Baiqiong just needed to answer “yes” or nodded. However, for some reason, she popped her eyes. Besides, her mouth was wide open, and her small tongue was stiff. After a while, she said two words vaguely. Although her words were not clear enough, many people recognize the two words as “set fire”!
Everyone was shocked when they heard her words. Luo Baiqiong also showed panic on her face. She shook her head and waved her hands, with a remorse expression that she wanted to take those two words back. Sun Meiniang was slack-jawed for a moment, and after returning to her senses, she immediately complained to Madam Luo, “Help! Catch that little siren!” Raising her hand to point at He Danggui, she sternly said, “Baiqiong must be bewitched by her. That’s why she became like this. When I went to see Baiqiong this afternoon, she was fine, and was throwing sachets and kicking shuttlecocks with the maids!”
“Oh?” Qi Chuan interjected with a smile, “Who just said that Second Sister had a cold and was already bedridden?”
He Danggui stood by with folded arms, and her eyelids drooped. She frowned in a grievance and sighed, “I said that I didn’t set the fire, but Second Aunt didn’t believe me and wanted to convict me. Second Sister said clearly that she ‘set fire’, while Second Aunt accused me of bewitching her. For the sake of the conscience of heaven and earth, how could you say such nonsense? Second Aunt is my elder, I dare not criticize her. However, there are so many judges present today, so I won’t say anything.”
Sun Meiniang was furious and gritted her teeth, “Look at her, Madam Luo. No wonder that everyone said that there is a female storyteller in our family. No one can match with her with a silver tongue! But there is hard evidence and she can’t be forgiven. Compare the witchcraft dolls, burning papers, charms, human bones and corpses found in my yard with the dolls that fell out of He Danggui’s baggage. Then we will know the truth. She can’t get out of the crime even if she has a silver tongue.”
He Danggui took two steps forward and picked up the white doll on the ground. Then she patted the dust on it and walked to the front of the corridor. At this time, Sun Meiniang said, “She’s going to escape!” And also, Luo Baiji said, “Sister, run away!” However, He Danggui carried her skirt and stepped on the steps. Then she hung the white doll on a small wind chime hanging from the roof of the corridor. Next, she closed her eyes and bowed silently for a moment.
As if she had discovered the new world, Sun Meiniang pointed at He Danggui and said to everyone, “Look, she’s cursing again. She’s cursing us all!”
However, He Danggui went back down the steps, turned back indoors, and chose a corner far away from Ning Yuan to stand. She looked at Madam Luo and said, “Madam Luo, I don’t know the witchcraft dolls and other things mentioned by Second Aunt. What does they have to do with me? My knowledge of witchcraft is not as good as that of Second Aunt. The matter of Concubine Hua is not so long ago, and now nobody wants to make trouble at the New Year’s Day. If someone avenges a personal wrong in the name of public interests, they will turn the facts upside down. They hid unclean things to frame others, but on the contrary, the evil spirit of the things will harm their own family... Madam Luo, now you can no longer connive in such behavior in front of the ancestors.”
“Bad girl, you are basically bullshitting!” Sun Meiniang’s face was clouded over with anger, and before Madam Luo said something, she ordered the servants waiting outside the ancestral hall, “Bring in all the things dug up in Bao Qin Ge and let everyone have a look. Luo Chuanxiong has only learned these ghostly tricks after staying in the Taoist temple these years, and passed them on to her daughter!”
After a short while, people filed in, and after presenting the exhibits, they retired neatly. The witchcraft dolls, charms, burning papers, and human bones were all placed in the holy ancestral hall. Only the “corpse” was too fake, so Sun Meiniang left it there when she checked the evidence. The other four pieces of evidence were enough to prove Luo Chuanxiong and He Danggui’s crime. The witchcraft dolls were more than ten years old, and the charms were five years ago. Besides, there were the brand-new burning papers, as well as the shocking breast ribs and thigh bones of the dead, which were enough to confirm their crime.
He Danggui approached and bent over to study these things for a moment. Suddenly, she laughed, “Second Aunt, these things are full of flaws. Maybe you drank too much New Year wine and was hallucinated. This is the paper money to be sacrificed to the ancestors in two days. You actually take it as evidence.” She pointed to the paper money as she said. Hearing that, Feng Yang and Luo Baiji came up to have a look. They both gave out a low voice and chuckled.
Sun Meiniang rushed forward, followed the direction He Danggui pointed, and shouted, “You trick me! You are deliberately tricking me!”
He Danggui flickered her long eyelashes innocently. Heh, why bother to trick her? People like Sun Meiniang were easily to trick without deliberate scheming, just because they had too many desires. In the final analysis, Sun Meiniang just hurt herself by her own doing, which was nothing to do with others.
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