Chapter 297 Jiu Cao Soup
Madam Luo was shocked when she heard the words. She stared at He Danggui and asked, “Who told you that?”
“All servants said so, and I can’t remember who was the first. They said that Bao Qin Ge is a poison storehouse with countless harmful things and torturing instruments.” He Danggui learned the trick of “rumors” from Sun Meiniang. At least, she didn’t wrong Sun Meiniang. Moreover, it was done to eliminate the villain of Luo’s Family. Without the vermin Sun Meiniang, the whole family could be refreshed.
He Danggui smiled and said, “The proudest medicine of Second Aunt is called ‘Jiu Cao Soup’. Whoever drinks it would be sterilized. No one would even notice it.”
“Jiu Cao Soup?” Madam Luo was pale, “What is that?”
He Danggui explained, “It is a medicine soup made from nine kinds of non-toxic herbs with contradictory medicinal properties. Though the soup is tested non-toxic, it will cause terrible consequences once it gets into the stomach. Second Aunt got the soup’s formula from Sun’s Family, and the principal wives of Sun’s Family usually use it on the concubines.”
“How could that be? Why have I never heard of it?” Madam Luo asked with trembling lips, “That is to say, my son’s concubines have all drunk that soup, right? Why didn’t they complain to me!” Madam Luo didn’t want to believe it, but her second son was healthy and concupiscent. No other reasons could explain why he didn’t have a son. The fact made her suspicion towards Sun Meiniang even deeper.
He Danggui returned to the bed and sat down, “For one thing, not all of them could detect it. Many of them only realized something was wrong after drinking the soup, but they were already powerless. How dared them to come to you? Without fertility, no matter how beautiful they are, they have no value at all. In addition, they are not sure of whom would you believe, your daughter-in-law or them? If you don’t help them, they would have no way to live.”
Observing the face of Madam Luo, He Danggui further explained, “Don’t you feel weird? Even if Second Aunt is so generous, there is no need to find concubines for Second Uncle from the brothel! We have so many maids in our house. Most of them are the daughters of domestic servants, but Second Aunt never picks up concubines among them, and she prefers to buy concubines outside the house. Madam, do you know the reason?”
“No. Why?” Madam Luo was led by the nose.
“Because all the servants in our family know her evil nature, and they refuse to contribute their daughters. For another, Second Aunt does not want to find a girl having parents and brothers here. Once she pisses them off, they may cause trouble to her. People with nothing to lose are the most horrible creatures. Therefore, Second Uncle’s concubines must be the women without relatives from other places. Some of them are even maids from Sun’s Family and Guan’s Family. None of them are from our family.”
Madam Luo was silent for a while. Then, she narrowed her eyes and glanced at He Danggui’s face with suspicion, “All the servants know it? Impossible! I am not deaf nor blind. Though Sun Meiniang is in charge of the house, they should know who is the most honorable person! How dare them to help Sun Meiniang deceive me?”
“Interesting.” He Danggui chuckled, “Madam, they are not helping Second Aunt but helping themselves. Now she is in full swing, who would dare to confront her? When someday the situation changes, they will naturally rush to report it to you. Of course, this is just my opinion. I dare to say so because of your approval. Time will approve the truth sooner or later.”
Seeing that Madam Luo was still full of doubts, He Danggui sighed softly. Her sorrowful voice was blown to Madam Luo’s heart directly. “Madam, do you still think those servants know who the ‘honorable person’ is? Last night, a lot of them from the outer courtyard rushed in with knives and forks. Under the command of Ding Rong’s wife, they instantly tried to kill Biddy Wen under your eyes. I wondered at the time that maybe they were blinded by the darkness so that they did not recognize you. Otherwise, why did they listen to Ding Rong’s wife instead of you?”
“That bunch of reckless people,” Madam Luo frowned and said, “maybe they didn’t understand the rules.”
“Tut-tut.” He Danggui curled her lips. “Fortunately, they all had clean backgrounds. Otherwise, the inner courtyard is full of gold and silver...” Looking at Madam Luo’s opened mouth, she slowly added, “If they were mingled in with a few rapists, how could the women who only knew to cry do? The consequences might be unimaginable! Madam, Yangzhou City is not as peaceful as in the past. I can still remember the case of my cousin’s concubines, which makes me shudder…”
Madam Luo was scared. She reprimanded He Danggui in a low voice, “Stop it! This is the ancestral temple. Ancestors don’t like that.”
He Danggui sorted out the corners of the veil and said, “If you don’t see it, you will not be upset. However, you have witnessed what happened yesterday. Everybody saw that! Second Aunt no longer took you seriously. The more you called to stop, the fiercer she let her servants beat. Somebody may feel that she was venting the anger for my second sister. But, for somebody else, this was a signal for transmitting powers. Those servants who bullied my second sister were all Second Aunt’s people. If she killed them all in her yard, no one would even know it. Why did she bother to do that in front of the whole family and the guests?”
The corner of Madam Luo’s left eye twitched. Before she could say something, Miss Ji came in from the outside and said, “Yesterday, Deng Cao saw that a girl from Bao Qin Ge gave Fortune-teller Li a stuffed bag and talked to him for a long time. I thought that Fortune-teller Li is unreliable, so I didn’t go to him. Instead, I called two other Taoist priests. After somebody teaches them rules, I will let them check the charms.”
In fact, the bribery of Bao Qin Ge was not something special. Sun Meiniang heard that Fortune-teller Li had some powers, so she wanted to ask him to cast a spell to help her pregnancy. But, just now, Fortune-teller Li guessed Miss Ji’s secret, which made her worried. As a result, she didn’t want this man to have more conversations with Madam Luo. So, she found this reason to change him.
However, that aroused Madam Luo’s suspicion. Yesterday, Sun Meiniang said that the charms were brought home by Luo Chuanxiong from the temple five years ago and were buried in the courtyard of Bao Qin Ge. She also said Fortune-teller Li had identified them. Now that someone saw Sun Meiniang tried to bribe Fortune-teller Li, what was she plotting? Apart from sterilizing those concubines, how many evil things did she do?
Was there even a poison storehouse in Bao Qin Ge? Even the vicious poisons of Luo Baishao were taken from there? At that time, Luo Baishao was young and didn’t know the function of itching powder and Mute Drug. And as the head of the house, Sun Meiniang had to manage the money and food. Her works had been done well and no one in the family had opinions on her. However, she still collected those poisons. What did she want?
Madam Luo thought that her second son was now close to his 40s, and he had achieved nothing. For worse, he didn’t even have a son who could inherit the family’s name. It turned out to be Sun Meiniang! This damn vicious woman! She couldn’t get pregnant, and she even prevented others from giving birth. The Luo’s Family’s business, together with the famous San Qing Tang, was likely to pass to the Second Branch. Sun Meiniang wanted to let her own child be the inheritor and make her husband obedient to her. In this case, she wanted to turn San Qing Tang into her private property!
He Danggui noticed Madam Luo’s bad expression. She mentioned the Jiu Cao Soup again, “Second Aunt has been preventing the concubines from pregnant, but some of them still wants to fight against her. Concubine Hua was an ambitious person. She thought that as long as she gave birth to a son, her status would be greatly different in the future. So, she concealed her pregnancy a few months ago until the fetus became stable. At this time, even if Second Aunt wanted to do something, she would face difficulties. Everyone in this family is staring at Concubine Hua’s belly.”
Miss Ji had just returned home from the suburbs and had not heard of this case. But she still knew a little bit about Concubine Hua’s story. After hearing He Danggui’s words, she couldn’t help telling Madam Luo what she knew, “I have also heard about this. They also bet how many months Concubine Hua could keep her child. Most people said that she would not only fail to give birth but also get herself killed. I was angry about their comments, so I went to argue with them. However, all of them looked mysterious as if they were holding some unbelievable secrets, and I was the only fool who didn’t know that.”
Madam Luo immediately thought that the secret must be the sterilization with Jiu Cao Soup of all concubines of the Second Branch. They knew everything, but none of them came to tell her! Therefore, she could imagine how deep Sun Meiniang’s authority had accumulated in past years! Sun Meiniang had even already climbed onto her head!
He Danggui nodded, “Not only the servants paid attention to Concubine Hua, but even you and Second Uncle both paid attention to her. So, Second Aunt was uneasy. Considering the current situation, once Concubine Hua gave birth to a son, she thought the child would threaten her status.” He Danggui preached vividly as if she had seen the scene in flesh. “That was why Second Aunt did something to the antiabortifacient secretly but she blamed me for it. Of course, Concubine Hua wisely avoided the antiabortifacient as she did to the Jiu Cao Soup last time. What’s more, she even bought doctor Ma to lie for her, saying that the fetus in her belly was affected by the poison and turned into a fool.”
Madam Luo’s heart was heavy. She even didn’t feel strange about how He Danggui knew the whole story that Concubine Hua bribed Doctor Ma. After all, the secret of bribe came from the secret interrogation of Doctor Ma.
He Danggui’s story was composed of some truth and most conjecture, and the story was full of bad points against Sun Meiniang, “Second Aunt was deceived by Concubine Hua, thinking that the baby was no longer a threat to her. So, she wanted to blame this on me. She threatened Concubine Hua that she has committed a felony to get pregnant without permission. If she wanted to be safe with her idiot kid, she must cooperate with her to frame me. Then, they reached an agreement to conduct the next events. They have arranged all the shreds of evidence and the witnesses.”
Madam Luo suddenly asked, “Why did she insist on framing you?” She found this granddaughter was too smart these days. She knew so many things, including Sun Meiniang’s dead fetus and secret abortion. Why did she keep silent until today?
“...” He Danggui was stunned. She soon continued, “I am a child. How can I know the thoughts of the adults? Madam, you are the most honorable person in this family, and you know everything and everyone of this house. I also see everything in my eyes. If you don’t understand her thought, whom should I ask?” He Danggui lowered her head, “I am also confused about why she hates me so much and why she always wants to frame me.”
Miss Ji added, “That’s true. Madam, how could you blame her? When she was still in the cradle, knowing nothing about the world, Second Mistress wanted to cut her fingers.”
Madam Luo remembered that and nodded, “Sun Meiniang is really a vicious woman. No wonder her daughter is so nasty. I am pissed off. Concubine Hua is also a fool. If it wasn’t for the boy in her belly, I will not spare her!”
He Danggui laughed silently under the veil. As her ages grew up, Madam Luo became more convincible than a few years ago. Everyone could move her. In the past, Sun Meiniang could easily wrong her. Now, it was Sun Meiniang’s turn to taste it. Sun Meiniang, together with her pair of good daughters, would embrace the sour fruit this time.
According to Bai Yangbai, the weird celestial phenomenon in the 27th year of the Hongwu Period in Yangzhou City was a sign of turbulent days. However, from her perspective, it was also a turning point between the old and the new.
Sun Meiniang was old, and she should go to the well to rest. If Luo’s Family met a crisis which Grandpa Luo couldn’t handle, how would a wife in charge of the family like Sun Meiniang control the situation? Instead of being scared to run away overnight, she should better take the burden off now and let the capable ones take it.
The new head of the family? What an interesting replacement!
“Concubine Hua wronged me to protect herself and the child in her belly. Although I was annoyed, I could also understand her. After all, she needed to suck up to Second Aunt to survive.” He Danggui said sternly, “But now, you must call her out to reveal her crime.”
“But, isn’t Concubine Hua insane?” Madam Luo asked strangely.
“Is she?” He Danggui asked.
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