Chapter 322 Who carry on a clandestine love affair
Meng Xuan took a look at the silver flake that had turned into light gray, and then said calmly, “This is not the usual poison but the cold poison derived from icy Zhenqi. Don’t worry, Xiaoyi. I will be fine soon. Don’t you forget that I was hit by He He Qi Ri Qing three years ago? After taking the antidote, I am not afraid of poisons. Rest assured.”
How could He Danggui feel at ease? She retorted, “Who told you that? If so, those imperial guards would be invincible and He He Qi Ri Qing would be the most precious vaccine in the world. Meng Xuan, tell me how do you feel. Are you uncomfortable?”
However, Meng Xuan frightened her again, “I read it from a book. He He Qi Ri Qing is the most poisonous in the world and can restrain other poisons. It can’t be wrong.” After a pause, he shamelessly said, “As for the uncomfortable place, it’s the low part of my body where you just held. Xiaoyi, your acupuncture is really effective. I am still uncomfortable. When shall we finish the last step? Tonight? Tonight! Tonight!” He was even playing cute like a child.
He Danggui patted his forehead, trying to disperse his lust. Was he really the fifty-sixth grandson of Mencius? It was hard to imagine that this lecherous man had already been a father. She angrily reminded him, “Your ancestor Mencius once said that it is better to have no book than to believe everything in the book. Will you risk your life because of a sentence in the book? How could you have two lives? What is in your head?” He Danggui had determined to find a cure for his wound.
“You.” Meng Xuan told her, “You are the only thing in my head.”
He Danggui sternly told him, “If so, you should take care of yourself for me. Without your life or a healthy body, it would be nothing. Meng Xuan, you need to understand that heroes are also afraid of being injured. Guan Yu, the famous general of Three Kingdoms, was defeated at Maicheng City because of an unhealed poisonous wound made by an arrow. You and I are a couple, and you could just tell me the truth frankly. Why did you fight with Lu Jiangbei? I need the truth to find out an antidote. Your wound won’t get better until the poison is solved.”
She painstakingly persuaded him to value it. However, Meng Xuan pretended to be deaf and kept his gibberish, “Tonight! Tonight! Tonight!”
Unable to talk to Meng Xuan, He Danggui had to temporarily use multiple gauzes to fix the wound that could not recover. She wanted to find related books in the Depositary of Buddhist Texts. There might be some book of treatments of sores, wounds and rot. Luo Tianyi, the ancestor of Luo’s Family, was a military doctor who focused on this field. If she couldn’t find a solution there, she would find other ways. Fortunately, Gao Jue was now in Yangzhou City. He must know how to deal with the poison...
Since He Danggui had made up her mind, she calmed Meng Xuan down quickly and reminded him that he should take more rest. Then, she brought everything Meng Xuan might need on the bedside table before leaving there dressed as a maid with a veil. Of course, she didn’t forget to lock the door to prevent people from seeing Meng Xuan. Because time was tight and no one was in the house, she didn’t paint the fake pimples.
No one in Tao Yao Yard was alarmed. She sneaked out quietly through a secret path, heading for the Depositary of Buddhist Texts. When she was passing by the garden, she saw Bai Yangbai who was dressed as a skinny Taoist priest and was holding a long net to fish at the pond. He was singing a weird tune, “A couple should love each other...” She felt a little speechless so she went around him.
After walking through the atrium garden and passing three more yards, she heard the groans of a man and a woman inside. She climbed up on a wall to locate the sound. Surprisingly, the man and woman who carried on a clandestine love affair were her acquaintances. Last time, she and Meng Xuan happened to hear about this couple’s affair in Su Mei Yard.
She jumped off the wall and walked around the yard. Then she found that this place was the side courtyard of Mu Jin Ge of First Madam Zhao. That man who was nearly 30 years old was an adopted son from First Madam Zhao natal family half a year ago. His real name was Zhao Ganyi. He was the son of the First Madam Zhao’s cousin, and both of his parents had died. After being adopted, his name was changed to Luo Ganyi. Originally, the First Branch had no need to adopt a son from another family because they had an heir. Not to mention the man in his 20s, the members of Luo’s Family and he were all embarrassed. However, he indeed had the courage to call these people father, mother and grandma respectively. Even Luo Baiji didn’t call Madam Luo grandma repeatedly before.
However, First Master Luo Baiqian used to be able to help First Lord deal with the affairs of San Qing Tang. Since he was haunted by Qi Chuan’s ghost, he would get sick almost every three days. When he didn’t get sick, he was also far from a normal man. After being frightened by the extermination case, he could only sleep with two quilts even in summer, and he couldn’t even get out of his yard. San Qing Tang had a lot of affairs, but all the burden fell upon First Lord Luo Chuanbai alone. Luo Chuangu of Second Branch had his own business, and Third Branch Luo Chuanpu didn’t want to pay attention to San Qing Tang that would never belong to him. He used to deal with some of the affairs two years ago, but he preferred to go to a theater for a famous actress from last year. Therefore, all the affairs were too much for First Lord Luo Chuanbai.
So, First Madam Zhao adopted a son from her natal family. Luo Baiqian was the son of the concubine and was not close to her. Her niece Dong Xinlan only respected her on the surface. In the future, after Madam Luo died, separation of the family would be an inevitable trend. Even if they would not move out, they still had to divide up the property. Luo’s Family had an unwritten rule that all the property would be allocated according to the number of people in a branch.
Luo Ganyi was a sophisticated and dutiful person. His words could always let First Madam Zhao be moved. Therefore, she thought Luo Ganyi would be the one to rely on when she was old. He was better than Luo Baiqian and Dong Xinlan. Anyway, her daughter Luo Baiying would stay single forever. Soon, she got the approval from First Lord Luo Chuanbai, and the thing was settled.
What impressed them the most was that this adopted son was a Jinshi. He was appointed to be the governor of Yizhou City years ago. But before he took the office, his parents in Zhenjiang City both died in accidents, so he went home to keep his last filial piety for three years. People said that he strictly followed the rules during mourning. He did not touch meat or alcohol, and only drank two bowls of porridge every day. Besides, he cried every morning and evening. And he chanted sutras for his parents every night.
Such a filial and unmarried talent with some property would be a great helper for Luo Chuanbai. Besides, he could help the First Branch to gain more property in the future. Moreover, more people could do things easily and bring more luck. Therefore, the First Branch accepted him first. Not long after, even Madam Luo liked this adopted grandson. She kept praising that he was a caring child, and she would help him find a good marriage.
However, Luo Ganyi was a strange person. He was nice to everything except for his marriage. He had rejected all the proposals. Later, someone even speculated whether Luo Ganyi had some congenital problems that prevented him from getting married? Maybe the members of Zhao’s Family also had this problem.
He Danggui had seen Luo Ganyi in her previous life. However, Luo Baiqian was not haunted by a ghost and Luo Ganyi was not adopted by First Madam Zhao. He only opened a stationery store in the next street. He originally wanted to buy a house near Luo’s Mansion, but after First Madam Zhao heard it, he was invited to live in Luo’s Mansion. When He Danggui was dead in the previous life, he was still living there.
In her previous life, He Danggui heard that Luo Ganyi was a vegetarian. He didn’t marry anyone until about forty years old. So, He Danggui thought that Luo Ganyi was affected by impotence, like Luo Duheng in West Yard, so he didn’t want a woman to bother him. However, just a few days ago, in Su Mei Yard, He Danggui saw that Luo Ganyi carried on a clandestine love affair. He did not have a decent and intellectual temperament like before. He Danggui couldn’t help but sigh that she couldn’t judge a book by its cover.
It was like putting a mouse in the rice jar. That woman was Concubine Mei of Third Lord. They must have maintained this relationship for a long time according to their behaviors. Maybe in the previous life, Luo Ganyi did not marry because of Concubine Mei?
As for Concubine Mei, she had dissolute history. When she first arrived at Luo’s Mansion three years ago, there was a blood-sucking zombie incident, which was unfortunately bumped into by Chan Yi. It was later confirmed that the crime was committed by the masked man who practiced the evil martial arts. At the time, there were two people who carried on a clandestine love affair in Yuan Yang Pavilion. One of them was the dead outer courtyard guard Wang Fan, and the other was Concubine Mei.
That night, Chan Yi saw the face of the woman, but Chan Yi didn’t know her name at the time. However, at a family banquet where all the members appeared, Chan Yi let out a cry because she recognized Concubine Mei. Later, He Danggui learned the fact from Chan Yi.
So, He Danggui immediately thought of one thing. Concubine Mei had a plum-inlaid hairpin, which was left at the scene of the crime. Moreover, the hairpin was picked up by Madam Luo’s maid Pu Gongying and was handed to Mammy Li in charge of lost and found.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢