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Chapter 127 - A secret mistress of Childe Duan
Chapter 127 - A secret mistress of Childe Duan
Chapter 127 A secret mistress of Childe Duan
“Don’t bother.” A hoarse voice came from the door, “It’s me.” Along with this voice, a young woman in blue stepped into the palace slowly. It was Luo Baiying. She glanced at Luo Baiqiong coldly and scolded, “You are nervous and shouting when you encounter something unexpected. You are not calm at all. Is this how Luo’s Family’s daughter should be? Don’t make yourself a joke.”
Luo Baiqiong pointed to He Danggui and said aggressively, “Why do you blame me? She started this. She said that someone was eavesdropping on the roof. It was going to be dark, and there were officers and soldiers outside to search the mansion and confiscate our possessions. I was scared at the moment.”
Luo Baiying didn’t look at He Danggui. She still squinted Luo Baiqiong and said, “I’m talking about being the daughter of Luo’s Family. Since you are a family, listen to me carefully and bear what I said in your mind. Why bother to care about others? Haven’t you heard of the story that the rumor might be regarded as something true once it was spread repeatedly. Someone in the street called for the tiger to come, so you run without even asking?”
He Danggui lowered her head a little bit, and she had the last little crunchy sugar in her mouth. It was funny. Luo Baiying had lived for more than ten years. She was more self-contained than Luo Baiqiong, but she was still scolding He Danggui for “talking nonsense and cheating others” actually. But just now she did see that half of a person’s face was peeping down on the transom window, but no one else saw this.
“I saw it, too.” Meng Xuan said suddenly, “A figure flashed by, and I heard the man fled through the roof over there.” He pointed to the roof on the left.
So, Duan Xiaolou rose again and flew out to investigate the situation. Later, he came back with a piece of light blue glazed tile and showed it to the public. There was a clear black footprint on it. The Third Miss of Guan’s Family, Guan Yun, took over the glazed tiles and said, “It should be a man’s footprint, and the man is at least 1.8 meters. The pattern of the footprint is checkered. It’s totally different from the pattern of the sole of Xiaolou’s boots. We can assure that you didn’t leave your footstep there accidentally. There was a heavy rain in Yangzhou City three days ago. If the roof of Xin Rong Palace has not been repaired in Luo’s Mansion in the last three days, it is the footprint left by the eavesdropper.”
Guan Yun’s voice was elegant and reasonable, so everyone nodded and agreed with her. However, Guan Bai was most concerned about another question, “Third Sister, how did you know the pattern of Childe Duan’s sole?”
“I give the boots to him!” Guan Yun said naturally.
“Oh.” Madam Luo and Peng Jian replied in unison. So, Third Miss Guan and Shizi of Earl Ruting Mansion were close enough to give away boots!
Although Peng Shi and Peng Jian were not Duan Xiaolou’s friends to be exact, they were at least acquaintances. Peng Jian stabbed Duan Xiaolou in the waist with his elbow and whispered, “Hey, congratulations. You are finally out of the ranks of bachelors. Seized your chance, huh!” But the “whisper” was judged from Peng Jian’s point of view. However, his duck voice was too hard not to be noticed, so all the people heard it. Peng Shi coughed, then reached out and pulled his brother back. He scolded in a low voice, “Be quiet. We all heard you speak too loudly.” He made Guan Yun and Duan Xiaolou shy successfully.
Meng Xuan continued to analyze, “Third Miss in Luo’s Family called out when she saw the man just now, and the eldest legitimate son in Duan’s Family rushed out to find that man. However, he still didn’t see anyone. It can be told that the man is a Wulin master with excellent arts of lightness skill.”
“Nie Chun?” Madam Luo and Mammy Tang guessed in unison. He was the most qualified person in Luo’s Mansion, and unless Madam Luo summoned him, he never appeared. Would he have been on standby on the roof just now, and Third Miss screamed as she looking up and saw him. People liked Nie Chun was not willing to comment on strangers or explain more, which would cause such a misunderstanding? Thinking of it, Madam Luo looked up to the sky and said, “Nie Chun! Nie Chun? Nie Chun!”
Madam Luo and Mammy Tang looked at each other suspiciously after shouting three times today without a response. Madam Luo remembered that she had never seen Nie Chun since the last time she suffered itch powder in the Ting Zhu Yard. Even if she didn’t call Nie Chun, he would appear in front of her every now and then. But thought about it carefully, she hasn’t seen Nie Chun for 7 or 8 days. What was the matter?
“It’s not Uncle Nie.” He Danggui said suddenly, “The pattern on the sole of his boots is totally different from that on the glazed tiles.”
“Well?” Madam Luo, Mammy Tang, Peng Jian and Duan Xiaolou asked in unison, “How do you know that?” Were his boots also you…
He Danggui broke their imagination and explained, “On the one hand, when we were in the tearoom of Ting Zhu Yard last time, I saw Uncle Nie’s sole as he crossed his legs. That was a kind of threaded pattern with short nails on the sole of his feet. On the other hand, I heard from my mother that Uncle Nie is very famous in the Jianghu. He was called ‘mysterious swift-footed walker’. When he was walking, he must wear shoes with short nails at the bottom to better play his Phantom Footwork. And there is no scratch left by sharp objects on the glazed tiles. It must not have been stepped by Uncle Nie.”
Luo Baiqiong was surprised to hear He Danggui’s long speech. She could hardly believe her ears, because it was the longest speech she had ever heard from “Savage He Danggui”. If Luo Baiqiong’s memory was correct, the former He Danggui not only had few words, but also was timid and coward. She dared not speak most of the time. When she had to speak in public, she would have a short breath and a shaking voice. And she couldn’t speak two sentences, because she was too nervous to speak. The reason why Luo Baiqiong and her sister bullied her so recklessly was that they believed that she was a little white rabbit who could not speak no matter how they bullied her. How had the little white rabbit become different now?
Duan Xiaolou pondered and said, “The man has left now, it’s hard to trace him again. It’s more urgent because the officers and soldiers has already surrounded the mansion. Everyone stays here. Don’t act separately. I’ll go out and ask the leader of officers and soldiers about their intention to surround the Luo’s Mansion, and try to persuade them to retreat first. We will deal with them afterwards.”
Madam Luo looked at Duan Xiaolou with gratitude and nodded, “Shizi, thank you!”
After Duan Xiaolou left, everyone went back to their original positions and sat down. He Danggui sat at the table with crunchy sugar on Luo Baiqiong’s left side and continued to eat sugar. At the same time, she tried to analyze the real intention of the officers and soldiers. Since they are not intended to search the mansion and confiscate possessions. But considering their number, were they here to arrest someone?
Of course, there were no such figures among the members of Luo’s Mansion, but there were many outsiders here tonight. In the main hall, there were Meng Shan, Earl Baoding, the No.1 big figure among them; next him was Duan Xiaolou, but both of them were royalists. Unless Zhu Yuanzhang were died, the sky would not fall on them, so they were both excluded. Secondly, there were unknown mysterious figures. Ning Yuan and that fake Feng Yang were the same group. The blood sucking master who was suspected to be hiding in the Bitter Bamboo Grove was the second group, and the arts of lightness skill masters who just hid on the roof to eavesdrop was the third group. Of course, these three groups might actually be two, or even the same person – Ning Yuan.
Ning Yuan’s identify was very mysterious. He was proficient in disguise skill and change of voice skill. He was a guest in Luo’s Mansion with fake identity, name, face and voice. Even if He Danggui provoked him and satirized his poor change of voice that night deliberately, he wasn’t angry, neither said a word with his true voice. He was very shrewd. It was unbelievable that he was only a 15-year-old boy. There was such a watertight person in the world. He Danggui had two arguments with him. Although she hadn’t suffered any loss because of him, she was often very scared by his bossy style. It was just like the present Emperor. Was Ning Yuan the son or grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang?
Although He Danggui couldn’t test how powerful his kung fu was, the arts of lightness that Ning Yuan used to catch her and kill her was a level higher than Duan Xiaolou’s. He Danggui once took Duan Xiaolou’s “hitchhike” twice, so she had a personal experience. No matter the speed of kung fu or the frequency of stepping on the ground, Ning Yuan’s arts of lightness was slightly better than Duan Xiaolou’s. Among all the people He Danggui had seen, probably only Gao Jue’s arts of lightness of Dun Shu was better than Ning Yuan. So, if the person who just overheard was Ning Yuan, it wasn’t surprising that Duan Xiaolou couldn’t catch up with him.
As He Danggui was eating and thinking, her little hand had been touching the sugar and she kept chewing it. She found that the small plate in front of her had been eaten up, and then she looked around. She found that most of the people in the hall were staring at her. Some were curious, and some were sarcastic, so she changed her expression and showed a submissive little daughter-in-law. In order to reduce people’s attention to her.
At this time, Earl Baoding stood up and said, “I’m going to change my clothes. Is there anyone going with me? It’s safer to go together.”
Earl Baoding was a fierce general in the battlefield. He must be very skilled in kung fu. It must be safe to go to the East toilet with him, but only men could go with him. Luo Baiqiong and Guan Yun just had eaten and drunk a lot. Now they both wanted to go to the toilet. As soon as Earl Baoding left, they looked at each other and stood up at the same time, and then they walked to the side hall. It was dark at the moment. The East toilet was opposite the garden. They dared not go to the toilet on the premise that there were “Unidentified flying seniors” outside. However, there was a special toilet in the side hall. Luo Baiqiong knew that, clearly, so did Guan Yun, who was a regular visitor of Luo’s Mansion, and they were both heading for the side hall at the moment.
When Guan Bai saw his sister leave the banquet, he was a little worried. So, he followed them from afar to protect their safety.
At this time, in addition to a group of maids and mammies, only Madam Luo, Luo Baiying, He Danggui, Meng Xuan Peng Shi and Peng Jian were left in the Palace. Madam Luo saw that Luo Baiying was wearing thin clothes, so she asked her if she felt cold, whether she had dinner or not, and whether the wind was cold or not. Luo Baiying answered one by one as she looked at the roof beams without any expression. Meng Xuan seemed to be sleepy again. He supported his cheek with his hand and began to catnap.
When Peng Jian saw He Danggui being glad to eat sugar, he thought she had not eaten enough at the banquet, and assumed that she would not join their table. So, Peng Jian found a clean bowl and a pair of chopsticks, and made the best part of their table full of bowl, such as a large piece of crab roe in crab roe with fresh mushrooms, kidneys in cucumber with kidneys, and the shrimps in Steamed Fresh Shrimp Dumplings. Under his brother’s slightly dissatisfied gaze, Peng Jian took the bowl of vegetables in his hands and ran to flatter He Danggui.
He Danggui ate too much sugar and had no appetite at the moment. Seeing such a bowl of good things, she couldn’t help thinking, was there any chance for her to take these things back to Tao Yao Yard quietly? They would heat these things in their small kitchen, and it could be the top food of Chan Yi and Huai Hua…
When she was thinking, a figure fell from above and fell beside Madam Luo suddenly. The man, dressed in grey, with a yellow mask on his face, buttoned up Madam Luo’s throat and shouted in a hoarse voice, “No one is allowed to move, or I will kill her!”
In the event of such an accident, all the people in the hall were in a panic. He Danggui sat on the seat safely. But when she saw the mask on his face, she widened her beautiful eyes and shouted suddenly, “Hey! Where’s your facial mask from?!”