Chapter 330 Since first met the beauty
It was a starry night.
He Danggui walked towards the man in white with heart beating fast, staring at him, and then asked, “Who are you? Turn around!”
The man then turned around, recognized the masked woman in black as He Danggui, and smiled at her in surprise. “Hey, lady, are you coming for me?” He said. The man had a strange but handsome face. His voice and eyes were very familiar to her. Just by making eye contact, He Danggui realized he was Bai Yangbai.
He Danggui tilted her head to look at him in surprise, and asked, “Why are you everywhere? What do you want by dressing up so nicely?”
Bai Yangbai smiled and raised his head, “Well, I want to...” After tidying his clothes, he gave He Danggui an incomplete salute and looked up at her, “Nice to meet you, lady. My name is Bai Yang. It has been more than two months since I moved to Yangzhou City from the north to keep away from the plague. I haven’t forgotten you since we met each other at Chengxu Academy. There’s no such a more beautiful lady than you in the world. Although I’m not a native, my family is running a business and is relatively rich. Thus, I can afford tens of thousands liang silver for bride-price, and I can also buy a house in suburbs for you. What do you think?”
He Danggui looked at him and said, “You look decent, but you have been kicked out. So there is no need to propose marriage. You might as well continue to be a Taoist priest and perform the religious ritual for the Luo’s ancestral hall tomorrow. If you earn money, don’t forget to return to me 10 liang silver you stole from me before. In addition, you should make a tribute to me, no less than 100 liang silver with no ceiling.”
“I was kicked out?” Bai Yangbai stared at her in amazement, and said, “Are you sure? It still had leeway this morning. But only half a day passed, you change your mind so quickly. What happened?”
He Danggui didn’t expect him to be so keen. She thought her attitude didn’t change. Then she coughed to cover the embarrassment, unveiled to show him her gorgeous face, and said proudly, “Look, this is the marvelous effect of Beautifying Soup and Yingying Powder. It’s amazing! I’m about to marry and can’t play games with you anymore. Your skincare skill is unbelievable. Why not do it for me once a month? I’ll invite you to the gambling house, okay?”
What a gorgeous face. Bai Yangbai blinked his eyes, and asked, “Are you really going to marry someone or just pretending to marry? Who is that man? Do I know him?”
He Danggui hadn’t meant to tell him at that moment her relationship with Meng Xuan, but unconsciously, she told him in a flaunting tone, “It’s Meng Xuan, Seventh Childe of Meng’s Family. He turns out to be my Mr. Right. I will get married soon. After that, you have to go to Meng’s Mansion in the capital if you want to see me.”
Bai Yangbai scratched his chin, stayed silent for a moment, and looked at her for a while, then slowly said, “You both are shrewd and well-matched. You are foxier than him, and he is more ruthless than you. You definitely are a good killer couple…Congratulations.”
He Danggui accepted his compliments and corrected, “I will be his concubine, not his wife.”
Bai Yangbai was silent again, and then took out turtle shell, Hongwu Tongbao copper cash, and astrocompass, and seriously said to He Danggui, “It’s good to know you. I like your temper and character very much. Since you’re going to marry Meng Xuan to be his concubine, you won’t lack money. So I’d like to have a fortunetelling for you. You haven’t done the fortunetelling on marriage in the past fourteen years, right?”
He Danggui showed a great interest in it, as Bai Yangbai was a great fortuneteller. It was a good idea to foresee her marriage to forget the nonsense that Qi Xuanyu’s soul had told to her that Meng Xuan and Bai Yangbai would die. She squinted her eyes and nodded, saying kindly, “Do it carefully. Recently, I have been more convinced of the divination of the Book of Changes. I think it’s very accurate. It would be great to hear a blessing from you before getting married. Please tell me how my marriage with Meng Xuan will be like, whether the living environment of Meng’s Family is better than that of Luo’s Family or not, how many years Meng Xuan and I can live respectively, and whether we can grow old together.”
“When it comes to fortunetelling, a woman as shrewd as you will become ignorant. What kind of fortunetelling can be so accurate? So silly. If you want to grow old with Meng Xuan, you both need to operate marriage attentively…” Being a little angry, Bai Yangbai murmured and walked towards the house with his fortunetelling tools.
He Danggui stopped him, and suggested, “Let’s go to the Shui Xie pavilion. It’s not far from here. This place is considered an ominous place and will have an adverse impact on the divination.”
“Nonsense.” Bai Yangbai retorted, “In my opinion, Ting Zhu Yard is the most suitable place to do the fortunetelling, as it has the strongest aura in the entire Luo’s Mansion, and even in nearly half of Yangzhou City.” Bai Yangbai turned around and saw He Danggui stopping with doubts, so he urged her and said, “Hurry up! I have to observe stars later, so I don’t have much time to do a fortunetelling for you.”
He Danggui didn’t expect that one day she had to listen to Bai Yangbai. While following him into the room, she asked with a smile, “Astrologer, so you have the habit of watching the stars at night.” She didn’t remember that he had such a normal hobby.
However, Bai Yangbai replied seriously, “Yes. Since anomalies of asterism and earthquake occurred, astrologers across the country came to Yangzhou City. There were numerous people observing stars on Zhinv Bridge tonight. I hate to observe stars in that I don’t want to foresee the suffering of people. But this time, it couldn’t be avoided anymore.”
“Why do you say that?” He Danggui asked knowingly.
“I looked up at the sky and saw stars lining up. Taibai was retrograde between Liu Tu Zhang and Gui Jin Yang, and the streamer shot Dou Mu Xie, Niu Jin Niu, and Xin Yue Hu. Do you know what this means?” Bai Yangbai opened the door and walked into the room, put fortunetelling tools on the table, and continued speaking, “It means that there will be a great turmoil all over the country in three years, and no one can stay out of it, including Quan and Meng Xuan.”
“Woah! Brilliant.” He Danggui sat down, and said slowly, “Now, please tell my fortune on marriage.”
Bai Yangbai was stunned. He thought she would be astonished hearing such great news, but he didn’t expect she was so calm and uninterested in it. He looked down at her unhappily, and snorted, “Don’t you believe it? I’m a Taoist Sage, and master of star observation!”
He Danggui held the chin with her hands, and said lazily, “It makes no difference to believe it or not. Compare the question that who will be the Emperor and the question of what to eat for dinner today, it seems that the latter is more closely related to us. So tell me if there will be any trouble in my marriage with Meng Xuan and whether his mother and wife are easy-going or not?”
Bai Yangbai sat down, lined up the copper cash, and said in a jealous tone, “We haven’t seen each other for only a few days and you have a beloved one. It seems that you are very concerned about him. When did you become so close?”
“Shh.” He Danggui raised her eyebrows and said, “Divination requires concentration, or the result won’t be accurate.” He Danggui then made a wish, to the effect that she wanted a good marriage, and lived a life of peace and joy. Meng Xuan wanted to marry her, and they were in love. He Danggui hoped that the fortunetelling would reassure her. After that, she asked Bai Yangbai, “Are the dates of birth and eight characters of a horoscope of me and Meng Xuan needed?”
Bai Yangbai squinted at her and said, “No. I know. But for the sake of accuracy, all men who have one-sided love for you or want to marry you for a purpose should be involved in the fortunetelling. I know the birthdates of Meng Xuan, Duan Xiaolou, Quan, and myself, but I don’t know the birthdates of Peng Jian and Luo Baiji. Do you know?”
He Danggui didn’t expect that Bai Yangbai included himself in the list and felt embarrassed. She waved her hand and said, “Peng Jian and my cousin are excluded.”
“Excluded?” Bai Yangbai then asked, “What about me? Am I included?”
He Danggui replied, “As you like.” She seemed to be close to Bai Yangbai in the previous life, but in fact, their relationship wasn’t that close. He liked her but he couldn’t tell her, and she was completely unaware of his love. In this life, they wouldn’t be entangled with each other. However, she couldn’t forget what Qi Xuanyu’s soul said to her. It didn’t hurt to have a fortunetelling though she didn’t believe it.
Then, Bai Yangbai began to do it. He repeatedly placed the copper cash in various ways for about 45 minutes, and finally covered the turtle shell on the copper cash, nodded, and said, “The result will show in a few minutes.”
He Danggui held her breath and waited for the result. She realized that she was so nervous about the result. He Danggui took two deep breaths and couldn’t help laughing at herself. She teased Bai Yangbai with a smile, “Your disguise skill is so proficient that it makes you look more handsome than before. If you set up a stall to do fortunetelling for others at the gate of temples, you will surely attract a large number of ladies and madams.”
Bai Yangbai began to pick his nose, and asked, “Will you be attracted by my handsome face?”
He Danggui didn’t bother to answer his question, so the two were silent. After a while, He Danggui couldn’t help but ask him questions again. After all, talking to him was better than simply waiting for the announcement of her destiny. She asked, “Why do you say Ting Zhu Yard is the best place in Luo’s Mansion? How do you know that?”
Bai Yangbai pointed towards four directions and explained to her with piles of Fengshui terms for a long time. He Danggui was confused and didn’t understand. He was so impassioned that he was spitting everywhere. He Danggui had to keep out his saliva with her veil. Finally, he said something that Danggui could understand, “I heard that Grandpa Luo lived here. I guess he must have studied Taoism and pursued immortality.”
“No way,” He Danggui denied, “His medical skills are inherited from the Yishui School. I have never heard about him refining pills or making mercury. Maybe Ting Zhu Yard just happens to have an advantageous location.”
Bai Yangbai shook his head, “The place of Xun in this yard is the most suitable place for the pill furnace, and it is by no means accidental. Instead, it must have been deliberately arranged like this. You say Luo Maitong has nothing to do with Taoism. Let me tell you. Ting Zhu Yard was built according to the specifications of a Taoist temple. You see, right into the door is the Side Palace. There is a big atrium at the turn of the corridor, but it shouldn’t be there. It feels uncomfortable, right?”
He Danggui was blushed, “Taoist Sage, I’m only fourteen years old and shallow in knowledge, so I don’t understand your harangue.”
Bai Yangbai concluded, “In short, Ting Zhu Yard is like a Taoist temple. Although I didn’t visit every room, I guess that all beds in this yard have no curtains, which not only conforms to the layout of Fengshui but also allows soul to float freely, livable for both living persons and the dead.” Bai Yangbai nodded and praised the yard.
He Danggui did know that all beds in Ting Zhu Yard were not allowed to put up curtains, as instructed by Senior Lord Luo Maitong. But his words sounded terrible. She patted Bai Yangbai on the shoulder and stopped his talking, “Don’t frighten me at midnight. I’m so scared. I can’t help beating someone when I’m scared. Time’s up. Please uncover the turtle shell and take a look at my marriage.”
Bai Yangbai looked at her deeply, uncovered the turtle shell, and muttered in surprise, “How could it be! These four men are not your husband, then who is your husband?”
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