With a pale complexion, Huai Dong crawled towards Duan Xiaolou and He Danggui, kowtowed to them three times and cried, "Spare me. Spare me, please! Although I had stolen the gold lock, I really did not set the fire! Master, with your penetrating judgement, I kept the gold lock in my clothes and never took it out. How could it be stained with charcoal ashes and printed on the wall?"
He Danggui sneered and thought, "Of course, you hadn"t printed it, because I engraved the pattern with a turnip and let Duan Xiaolou print it on the wall. Huai Dong, I was framed by you in the previous life, and you played tricks with me again in this life. It must be fate."
Duan Xiaolou frowned at Huai Dong with disheveled hair and pale face. He couldn"t bear to see this and said in a serious voice, "The case of arson can be investigated slowly, but there are irrefutable proofs for your theft. According to the law of the imperial court, the heaviest punishment for theft is exiled in 300 miles. You are a woman and a Taoist nun. If... Miss He would be willing to forgive you, maybe it is possible to reduce the punishment based on your att.i.tude toward confession."
Huai Dong"s eyes brightened, as if she grasped a life-saving straw in the sea. She knelt and crawled forward a few steps, clutched He Danggui"s shank, and grabbed her hand, shaking it back and forth, "Miss He, please spare me! I was not intentional. I had difficulties, and I needed a lot of money, so I stole your gold lock... I am lacking in knowledge and experience, so I thought that gold lock weighing 2 liang was worth at most 20 to 30 liang silver. I didn"t know it was so valuable. Otherwise, I wouldn"t dare to steal it!"
Suddenly, He Danggui changed her expression and grabbed Huai Dong"s wrist, touching for a moment. Huai Dong was at a loss and let He Danggui feel the pulse. With tears covering her face, she looked at He Danggui hopefully.
He Danggui loosened Huai Dong"s hand, looked down for a while, and then stared at Huai Dong, asking in a very low voice, "Have you conceived for two months? Will you... give birth to the child? Can you guarantee that you will bring up this child whether it is a boy or a girl?"
Huai Dong was shocked. She didn"t expect that He Danggui could speak out her secret just after touching her wrist.
"Answer my question!" He Danggui urged Huai Dong who was prevaricated.
Taoist nuns who knelt on the ground in the distance were looking at them strangely. What were they talking about? Duan Xiaolou and Lu Jiangbei stood nearest them. They heard clearly what He Danggui said and guessed her meaning.
He Danggui persisted in saying in a low voice, "Answer my question!"
Huai Dong held He Danggui"s hand tightly in tears and begged humbly, "Miss He, please don"t tell others. Otherwise I"ll die. If I had been not hopeless, I wouldn"t have stolen from your room. Because of my child"s disappointing father, I did such a shameful thing..."
He Danggui interrupted her and asked in a low voice, "Tell me. Whether this child is a boy or a girl, and whether it has a father or not, can you swear you"ll bring it up?"
Huai Dong was stunned for a moment since she didn"t understand why He Danggui repeated this question. She just nodded and replied in an undertone, "Of course I will. All mothers want to raise their children. Actually, the reason why I stole your gold lock was just to save some money for my child. Miss He, please forgive me, please..."
He Danggui slightly breathed a sigh of relief and freed her left hand which was tightly held by Huai Dong.
She turned to look at Duan Xiaolou and said with an expressionless face, "Master Duan, I"ve found my gold lock, so I won"t report to the officials anymore. As for the arson, maybe it was just an accident. Since no one was injured, please get a lighter sentence. I felt a little tired, so I"ll leave first." Then He Danggui put her gold lock away, went through the charred kitchen and walked towards the East Wing-room.
Duan Xiaolou looked at her slender and pink figure with complexity in his heart. That girl seemed to have a lot of masks. But every mask attracted him to approach her and know her more. He guessed what was she really like under her masks again and again.
Looking at the charred kitchen, Lu Jiangbei took a deep breath.
This morning, Gao Jue and he finally got rid of the medicine effect using the medicated bath made according to He Danggui"s prescription. They went to the mountain until evening because of their weak legs. As soon as they walked into the gate, Childe Duan and Childe Liao took them aside and told them that something happened in the afternoon. A thief stole Miss He"s gold lock given by her mother from her room. She was so worried. Childe Duan and Childe Liao decided to help Miss He find her gold lock, so they asked Lu Jiangbei and Gao Jue if they wanted to help her together. Of course, Lu Jiangbei was willing to do that. But to his surprise, Gao Jue, who was never interfering normally, also agreed coolly.
Childe Duan and Childe Liao were also so surprised. They just asked Gao Jue by the way, because they knew that he wouldn"t do that without any reason. In addition, the "Lock Search Action" was about to be started tonight, and Gao Jue loved sleeping so much. But now he could sacrifice his sleep to help Miss He find the lock. Childe Duan asked Gao Jue the reason nervously and wondered whether Go Jue had improper intentions to Miss He. But he was. .h.i.t by a left hook from Gao Jue.
Lu Jiangbei looked up at the night sky. He couldn"t imagine that the mastermind of the "Lock Search Action" was an underage girl (The legal age of girls in ancient China was 15).
Lu Jiangbei suddenly felt that all the things were designed by her, and she had also taken all details into consideration. Everyone, including Childe Duan, Childe Liao, every Taoist nun in Shui Shang Temple, even himself took actions as she expected. However, when the gold lock was finally found, she said a word to plead for the thief just because the thief was pregnant.
What a mysterious girl…
He Danggui had a good sleep that was deserved to be the most peaceful one in this life.
After getting up and refres.h.i.+ng herself, He Danggui suddenly wanted to comb her hair into a Feiyan haircut. But obviously, she couldn"t do it on her own. So, she woke Zhen Jing up. Zhen Jing yawned with teary eyes. Then holding two kinds of combs and a wooden hairpin, Zhen Jing claimed confidently that she was the master of hairdressing and this morning was her show time.
After a while, He Danggui regretted. She felt that some hair was pulled out by Zhen Jing, although Zhen Jing nervously comforted that it was just her illusion.
Then after a while, He Danggui gave up and decided to keep it loose and not to comb her hair all the day. Zhen Jing took several hairs that she pulled out and the broken combs away. Then she touched the nose and mumbled guiltily, "It"s my first time to do this. Every time I tried to touch you, you just screamed. You were scaring me, so I pulled them out…"
He Danggui made a silent vow to find a maid specialized in hairdressing when she went back to Luo"s Family. She must let Zhen Jing do other things and never be close to the dresser.
Later, Huai Wen secretly sent He Danggui a note from Zhen Zhu. Then she covered her face with her sleeves and ran away.
He Danggui read it. Zhen Zhu told her that Tai Shan came back furiously last night, and first she cursed He Danggui, then Huai Xin and Huai Dong, using various dirty words in the whole night. Zhen Zhu persuaded He Danggui that it was unnecessary to neaten the Medicine Room since she had already fallen out with Tai Shan. Zhen Zhu said that if He Danggui needed any medicine, just let Zhen Jing send her the prescription. Then she would bring the medicine to He Danggui in a few days.
He Danggui smiled. Well, she had brought some useful herb medicines from Medicine Room yesterday. It was unnecessary for her to continue to work there. And she didn"t want to go out today because of her loose hair. Thinking of this, she moved her table to the window and divided her medicines into two piles at leisure.
Zhen Jing felt He Danggui was no longer mad at her, so she tried to ingratiate with her, "Xiaoyi, you know so many herbs. How learned you are." Seeing that He Danggui didn"t respond, she asked a question, "Why do you divide them into two piles?"
"This pile is used to keep me in good health and the other has a larger function." He Danggui gave Zhen Jing a mysterious wink and added, "It is a secret." Zhen Jing pouted and then went out to fetch water with a bucket.
Lu Jiangbei arrived at the doorway, seeing that a little girl in white seated by the window and lowered her head to neaten herbs.
The morning sun shone through the window and touched her side face gently, making every inch of her skin so clear. Her eyes were bright as an ocean without motes. Her small nose and pointed chin made her more lovely. Her fair skin became whiter as jade against her black hair which fell above her shoulder. Lu Jiangbei was breathless by the scene because he had never thought that a girl could be so beautiful before making up.
He Danggui was dealing with the herbs when she had a strange feeling. She lifted her head, founding that a man standing at the door was staring at her. Seeing that it was Lu Jiangbei, she was slightly shocked, so she didn"t stand up and greet at once.
Lu Jiangbei suddenly noticed that Miss He wore plain clothes rather than the coat she would wear when she went out normally. Then he realized it was impolite to stare at her like this, so he turned around and apologized hurriedly, "Sorry, I was waiting out of the East Wing-room but no one reported for me. So, I just went in by myself."
He Danggui put on a light blue sleeved over-dress (a kind of traditional clothes in ancient China) made of silk slowly. She b.u.t.toned her clothes and asked, "Master Lu, how did you have time to come here?"
Lu Jiangbei looked at the cloud in the sky and replied with hands in his back, "Miss He, I have a great news for you."
He Danggui b.u.t.toned her clothes up and sat by the window again. Then she used a blue string to tie her hair, "What good news?"
Lu Jiangbei knew she had dressed up based on the sound, so he faced to He Danggui and said, "Well, I was not supposed to tell you this directly, not to mention I"m a man. However, we are in the top of a mountain with just a few person and simple etiquette. So, special rules should be under special circ.u.mstances."
He Danggui was confused by the mysterious words of Lu Jiangbei in a blue robe, "Why are you so serious? How important the matter is on earth?"
Lu Jiangbei sat opposite her, pushed a palm-sized red box to her and smiled, "Please open it."
He Danggui took it over and the papers inside confused her more. Lu Jiangbei gave a hint to her with his eyes. So, she took a paper out which really surprised her.
It was a t.i.tle deed for the silk store called "Yu Bao Qing" in the capital.
Then she found a t.i.tle deed for "Boyuan Yard" in the capital and the t.i.tle deed for its surrounding farms.
At last, she took out a thick pile of cheques including five cheques of 500 liang each and three cheques of 25 liang each.
He Danggui looked through everything calmly, folded and put them in the box, and then put the lid on. Lu Jiangbei kept staring at her, wondering what kind of girl would react calmly to the things in the box?
He Danggui wanted to return the box but Lu Jiangbei didn"t reach out his hands, so she had to put it on the table and smiled, "Master Lu, you won"t come here in the early morning with about 6000 liang sliver just to show off to me, right? Please just tell me why you came here."
Lu Jiangbei was amused by the phrase "show off" but his joy was soon overwhelmed by the sadness. He beamed at He Danggui again, "You are so frank. Well, I will not waste time then. I came here today as a matchmaker between you and Childe Duan. He fell in love with you and wanted to marry you."