He Danggui didn"t understand what Gao Jue was saying after a few seconds, and thought he also liked gossips. After a while, she told him, "Because our magnetic fields are not the same, and we"ll get hurt if we stay together for too long."
"Magnetic field?" Gao Jue turned around, wrinkled his bushy eyebrows and asked, "What does that mean?"
"It means... Childe Duan is a good man, but I am a wicked girl who can"t give him what he wants. Also, he can"t give me what I want." He Danggui also went to see the sparrow pecking at the side of the road and smiled gently, "There is a kind of man that women want to be his matchmaker when they see him instead of keeping him for themselves. Master Gao, what do you think the reason is?"
"Why?" Gao Jue asked in perfect coordination.
He Danggui waved her hands to Zhen Jing who was behind her and smiled at Gao Jue, "Please forgive me, Master. We are both hungry because we did not eat enough food for several days. So, I"ll tell you the answer when we"re full. Let"s go!"
As soon as Gao Jue was about to speak, suddenly his face turned cold and his left ear turned back. He looked over the sky in the southeast. He Danggui followed his eyes and saw the thick crown of a banyan tree at the end of the street swaying back and forth, but other trees around remained motionless. This was—
He Danggui was about to ask what Gao Jue was looking, and then saw a person falling from the shaking tree crown. It turned to be a pet.i.te woman.
Gao Jue frowned his eyebrows, took a few steps forward and reproached loudly, "What are you doing here? Any subordinates? When did you arrive?"
The woman seemed to have fallen hard, and it took her 2 or 3 times to crawl up. Then she staggered this way, wiped away her tears as she ran and said, "You always scold me. Didn"t you see me fall down? You just scold me as soon as you met me. I"ll tell my sister about that after I get back..."
He Danggui squinted at Gao Jue and saw his tight lip and impatient complexion, as if it was going to rain. At this time, the woman was running closer and she was actually a young girl, looking like 14 or 15 years old in appearance. She was half a head higher than He Danggui and wore a large red s.h.i.+rt with a flying swallow silver bow on her back.
He Danggui and the girl were observing each other at the same time. The girl"s eyes were like hidden knives, sharp enough to make people feel uncomfortable.
"Hey, who are you?" The girl in red asked, and a dimple appeared on her cheek.
"An irrelevant person." He Danggui thought and answered.
"What do you mean?" The girl in red frowned with her curved eyebrows and her innocent eyes. The tip of her nose was slightly c.o.c.ked up. She owned a beautiful appearance, but could not cover the childishness hidden inside.
He Danggui tilted her head and said, "You and I, we are pa.s.sersby who meet by chance on a street. Is it necessary to exchange names?"
The girl in red looked at her again with disapproval and asked, "Brother-in-law, who is she? A new maid you bought?"
Gao Jue repeated the question coldly, "Tell me! When and why did you come here? Are the guards coming with you?"
The girl in red pouted and refuted in injured tone, "I come here for Xiaolou. Why are you so angry?! Are you being mad because I saw you buy a beautiful maid? Don"t worry, brother-in-law, I sneaked out alone. You don"t expose me and I won"t either..."
Gao Jue interrupted her angrily, "Don"t talk nonsense, just answer my question! Speak now, why do you know we"re in Tu"er Town? We imperial guards came here secretly. How did you know that?"
The girl in red said with her twinkling eyes, "I eavesdropped from my sister."
Gao Jue denied sternly, "That"s impossible. She didn"t know that I came to Yangzhou City. Don"t blame others, tell me the truth! Otherwise I"ll bind you home and inquire you!" The girl in red looked down and sniffed, then she suddenly burst into tears. But she didn"t completely gain Gao Jue"s sympathy because she was just pretending.
He Danggui watched them from the sidelines, and saw Gao Jue really take out a coiled rope. She couldn"t help sighing that the poker face—Gao Jue was worthy of being a ruthless imperial guard. Not only did he take the rope to tie people all the time, but also treated his sister-in-law with unkind ways. He Danggui"s eyes settled on the girl in red opposite her. The girl"s back, that"s...
Gao Jue held up the rope and approached the girl in red. When the girl saw Gao Jue be about to tie her up, she was scared and turned to escape.
"Stop!" He Danggui suddenly shouted and went forward to stand between them, which made them look at her together. He Danggui t.i.tled her head and said to the girl in red with a low voice, "Watch the back of your dress."
The girl"s face turned white. She backed her hand to touch and suddenly her face turned red. Looking at He Danggui, she stammered out, "What, what to do now? My... Help me!"
He Danggui thought for a moment and said, "What about borrowing the cloak from Master Gao and then buying new clothes to wear? I remember there is a tailor shop in the next street. Maybe there are ready-to-wear clothes." He Danggui pointed at the small alley behind her, "Turn from here, then you can find it."
After hearing this, the girl in red looked at Gao Jue immediately, longingly staring at his cloak, "Brother-in-law..."
Gao Jue looked at the girl in red and didn"t see the situation of her back. But hearing the conversation between them and seeing her red face, he thought her dress was broken for the falling just now. So, Gao Jue gave her the cloak and hummed, "This isn"t over. If you dare to run, hum, you can try how far you can run! Get back soon!"
The girl in red received the clock like she got some treasure and took a glance at He Danggui, then said to Gao Jue, "I want her to lead the way." It was clear that she mistook He Danggui as a servant Gao Jue just bought, because He Danggui"s clothes was worse than that of a maid in a wealthy family.
Leading the way was no big deal. He Danggui was going to see if the tailor shop had clothes for sale anyway. So, before Gao Jue said anything, she took out a silver out of a bulging bag filled with silver and gave it to Zhen Jing, "I just saw a breakfast shop selling delicious spring rolls and fried glutinous rice b.a.l.l.s with sesame. Why don"t you try some of those with Master Gao? Besides, order me a bowl of spicy soup with bean vermicelli so that I can enjoy it after I come back. Go on!"
Zhen Jing received the silver and glanced at Gao Jue fearfully, then ran towards the breakfast shop hurriedly. Gao Jue was not satisfied with the bossing-around att.i.tude his sister-in-law had toward He Danggui. The girl was his wife"s sister, the most beloved one in his wife"s family, but also a spoiled and naughty liar. Since He Danggui was willing to lead the way, he got nothing to say then. After a deep stare at He Danggui"s white face, he went toward the breakfast shop as well.
The girl in red looked at Gao Jue"s back in slight shock, and then turned to look at He Danggui because she couldn"t believe what happened, "Hey, who are you and why did he just do as you asked so submissively? What"s the relations.h.i.+p between you two?"
He Danggui was confused why she reacted like this. It was just a meal of breakfast. Even if she didn"t treat them herself, Gao Jue got to eat food. It was not like he was a sculpture in the temple.
He Danggui answered her, "We are just pa.s.sersby." Then she walked straight ahead the tailor shop. She happened to need some menswear and clothes suited for night walks. Even if she didn"t get any internal force now, she would practice from the basic step: Mabu.
In her previous life, she didn"t start to learn martial arts until 19 and it was way beyond the proper age. In spite of this, she still managed to master some real martial arts, with the cost of blood blister and callus on both hands. Now with a body of 10 years old, if she wasted the following years not to practice basic training, she would be sorry for the one she used to be in the previous life. The one who could suffer the pain to hold a broadsword weighing 60 jin. Besides, the internal force she possessed in this life had exceeded the most powerful period in her previous life. And thanked to that poker face, she could spend less effort on practicing martial arts…
The girl in red followed her and asked again, "Are you the new servant my brother-in-law bought? What"s your name?" Seeing He Danggui was wandering her thoughts and didn"t pay attention to her, she took a fast step and jumped in front of He Danggui, saying with a scaring expression, "This is called arts of lightness. Impressed? My sister is more powerful than me. She had even killed people! Tell me honestly, what"s your rank in my brother-in-law"s concubines?"
He Danggui yawned, then asked with concern, "Girl, the back of your outermost dress has already gotten dirty. It really doesn"t matter if you get your brother-in-law"s cloak stained?"
The girl in red was transfixed first, then glared at He Danggui, "I"ll get even with you later!" Then she ran quickly to the tailor shop far from here.
He Danggui focused attention on her ears, founding she could hear clear footsteps, conversations and sounds of cooking and eating. And she noticed the girl in red"s footsteps were much lighter than others, maybe she had learned martial arts. He Danggui thought to herself, "Her footsteps are louder than mine, so that means my internal force is stronger than hers?"
He Danggui thought about this while walked into the tailor shop, but didn"t see the girl in red who came in first. Maybe she went to change her clothes in the back house. So, He Danggui started to pick some clothes she needed and asked the shopkeeper to take some menswear that suited her. But those robes with round collars and long robes were not the style she wanted. She wanted some short and narrow garments that were easy to move.
"If you tailor and customize for me right now, how many days do I have to wait for the finished clothes?" He Danggui asked.
The shopkeeper of the tailor shop was confused for the pretty girl was buying menswear, so he smiled, "I"m sorry. The fellows in the shop went back to country sides for autumn harvest, so we don"t have enough workers until half a month later. You"re beautiful, and women"s wear match you better. Menswear are too loose for you. How about these floral dresses we just made?"
He Danggui shook her head and asked, "Do you have any black thick silks without patterns?"
As the shopkeeper was about to answer, the left portiere was raised, and the girl in red ran out with a new red gauzy dress. She was in good mood for not worrying about her dress, so she condescended to He Danggui, "How dare you challenge me so many times just now! Now my brother-in-law is not here, I"ll see who got your back!"
He Danggui turned to the shopkeeper, "I"ll be right back. Please find some black and simple silks for me. If you can"t find any, the blue ones are okay."
The girl in red took a silver ingot from her pocket and threw it on the counter, "Keep the change!" The shopkeeper was rejoicing with the words of thanks, "Thank you very much. Good luck to you. Please take care!" The girl in red rolled her eyes and took another silver ingot, throwing it to He Danggui, "Here, the award to you for leading the way!"
He Danggui caught it and found it was a plum blossom silver ingot, weighing 25 grams, just like the money given by Grandma Luo during lunar New Year in her previous life.