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Chapter 20 - Clothes from Duan Xiaolou
Chapter 20 - Clothes from Duan Xiaolou
Chapter 20 Clothes from Duan Xiaolou
Zhen Zhu stared at He Danggui as if she was sent by the immortals to help her, then she stunned for a moment and got out of the mountain road.
She walked towards He Danggui and held her hands, appreciating her for what she had done for the nuns. Although Zhen Shu and another 6 nuns usually behaved badly and always quarreled with Zhen Zhu. The oldest people among them was only 19 years old. They were brought up by Master Tai Chen, and it was easy for them to learn her bad temper. If they could become maids in a decent family for several years, they would develop a tempered personality. Then there might be a bright future for them.
Biddy Cheng and Biddy Wu put the silvers in place, and then they left away with smile. Zhen Zhu held He Danggui’s hands firmly. She wanted to thank her but didn’t know how to speak.
Last night, Shui Shang Temple was in great trouble. Everyone inside was nearly wiped out. At that time, Zhen Zhu remembered that Childe Duan was a member of the imperial guards. If He Danggui pleaded for him to forgive those of the temple, Childe Duan might show a little mercy because he had special feelings for He Danggui. Therefore, Zhen Zhu sent Huai Wen to find He Danggui, but she had not much hope of stopping the imperial guard. To her surprise, He Danggui had succeeded in convincing them. The imperial guards only arrested Tai Chen and 2 of her disciples, leaving other innocent people survived. He Danggui had influenced the working style of the imperial guard. Today, He Danggui was willing to speak up for several unknown Taoist nuns, and even paid 50 liang sliver for them.
He Danggui blinked her eyes and said with a smile, “You shouldn’t be grateful to me. First, I am not as kind as you, and I only want to help you. Second, the sliver was given by Childe Duan. I’m just being generous in his name. Childe Duan, please come out!”
As soon as she finished, Duan Xiaolou jumped down from the tree on the right. He looked at He Danggui with a smile and asked, “Are you getting better now, Miss He? Do you think this cloak fits well?”
He Danggui looked down and answered, “It fits me quite well. Thank you for your concern.”
When the sky was still dark in the morning. He Danggui woke up from dream. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Duan Xiaolou standing with a bulging baggage in the middle of the courtyard from the slit of window.
After making-up in a hurry, He Danggui went out and asked Duan Xiaolou what he wanted to do. Duan Xiaolou opened his baggage and took out some cloaks, wool capes and dresses with same color. He wanted to redeem the black cape of Gao Jue with these stuffs. He Danggui found that the clothes were fit well with her and the color was also appropriate.
Although she didn’t want to accept these without reason, she couldn’t bear to give him a refusal when she saw his imploring eyes and frozen nose. So, she accepted the baggage without saying anything. In her opinion, they shared different worlds. Probably Duan Xiaolou gave her these clothes out of sympathy.
After Duan Xiaolou left. He Danggui put on a dress and a cloak, heading for Ku Qiao Yard to discuss something with Tai Xi. But she saw Zhen Zhu sneaking down the mountain right after she went out, and then she saw Biddy Cheng trying to extort money from Zhen Zhu. When she tried to figure out a method to help Zhen Zhu, she felt someone patting her from behind. Turning around, she found it was Duan Xiaolou. He followed her here when he saw her following behind Zhen Zhu.
Zhen Zhu was grateful for his help, “Childe Duan, thank you very much for your kindness, but I dare not let you pay the money. Consider it the money I borrowed from you and I will return it later. Please don’t refuse my suggestion.”
Before Duan Xiaolou could say a word, He Danggui laughed and said, “Wait a second, no one has to waste money on this.”
Zhen Zhu and Duan Xiaolou looked at He Danggui with curiousness. The latter looked at Duan Xiaolou with gleam in her eyes and said, “Childe Duan, we need you to do us a favor.”
???
As soon as He Danggui and Zhen Zhu entered the temple, Huai Wen came to them and said anxiously, “Sister Zhen Zhu, please do something. Master Tai Shan is chasing Zhen Ming and beating her with the horsetail whisk.”
Zhen Zhu frowned, “What is going on? Tell me in detail!”
“Master Tai Shan asked Zhen Ming to clean up the Medicine Room. But Zhen Ming disobeyed because the master sent Zhen Gong away. They used to be good friends. She refuted Master Tai Shan directly, ‘I don’t have the ability to do that. Go and find someone else who’s capable of doing that.’ Master Tai Shan was very furious and she said she would kill those who would betray her!”
He Danggui counseled, “Take it easy. The imperial guards lived in her backyard. She didn’t dare to kill people but only attempt to scare them. Let’s go to check out the situation first.”
Zhen Zhu nodded. Then she said to He Danggui after thinking, “Miss He, you may go back to the East Wing-room first, and I am going to persuade Master Tai Shan.” Master Tai Shan was too reckless and impulsive. Once she was angry, she didn’t care about anyone and beat people randomly without hesitation. Zhen Zhu was afraid that He Danggui would be scared, so she asked her to go back first.
He Danggui smiled, “Be careful, Sister Zhen Zhu. I am leaving now.” He Danggui didn’t go back to the East Wing-room, but walked outside the temple.
Zhen Zhu felt curious, but she didn’t think much of it and rushed to the front yard. As soon as she entered, she heard crying and saw Zhen Ming sitting on the ground with her hands protecting her head. Her palms were bloody hit by the horsetail whisk with copper-made handle.
Zhen Zhu grabbed Tai Shan’s sleeve firmly and tried to persuade her, “Master, please don’t argue with a child. Take care of your body. I heard you had a back pain again. Why bother yourself with such a heavy horsetail whisk? If there is something wrong with Zhen Ming, let me punish her for you!”
Tai Shan put her hands on the waist, then sneered, “Guess you hate me inside as well. Because you thought I’m too cruel to treat Zhen Gong and others like that.”
Zhen Zhu faked a smile and said, “Master, don’t get me wrong. Today is your first day in charge of the temple. I think if you are kind to the disciples, they will be obedient to you and more careful to finish their work.”
Tai Shan became more furious to hear this, “Do you mean nobody is obedient to me at present?”
Zhen Zhu was very nervous and wanted to justify herself. Suddenly they heard a commotion from outside, and many Taoist nuns hurried into the house from the courtyard. Tai Shan asked them, “What happened this time?” Tai Shan was wondering if the imperial guards found something and came here to arrest someone again.
A nun answered in shock, “A group of crows came just now and pecked our clothes!”
“Crows?” Tai Shan frowned, “Crows always look for food in the wild forest. Why do they attack people for no reason?”
The Taoist nuns couldn’t answer, so they showed the stains, burrs, and threads on their clothes. After the disturbance, Master Tai Shan was not angry anymore. Moreover, their noise might attract the notice of the imperial guards, and she might be arrested directly by then.
Zhen Zhu found that Tai Shan wanted to calm the crowd, so she rushed to the corner and shouted to Zhen Ming, “The master is generous and doesn’t want to dispute with you. You may leave and do your own business. Behave yourself next time!”
Zhen Ming glanced at Tai Shan. Seeing that Tai Shan didn’t intend to refute Zhen Zhu, she got up and left quickly. Zhen Zhu let the Taoist nuns wait in the side room, then she turned around and served Tai Shan a bowl of grape juice.
Tai Shan finished the juice in one gulp. Then she put down the bowl and glared at Zhen Zhu, saying grumpily, “I am in charge of the Medicine Room and the Pill Room now. To prevent the scandals from happening again, I decided to reorganize the Medicine Room. But when I got there just now, the place was messy and many herbs were mixed up together. I wanted some nuns to find the broken medical book and then classify the herbs into the medicine cabinet based on it. But the imperial guards torn the book up when they were finding the account book. And now we need more than 10 days to put the book together, but we have no time. What do we do now?”
Zhen Zhu thought for a moment and said, “We can find some apprentices who were familiar with herbs from some Medicine Pavilions down the mountain. Then we can hire them for half a month to help us in the Medicine Room.”
Tai Shan stared at Zhen Zhu and said, “Who would pay for it? You? Our temple was fined for stopping doing business for half a year, and we can’t accept the donating money at the same time. We can’t even continue the usury business, and all the nuns will suffer rough days in the next 6 months. How can we have spare money to hire some apprentices? Damn, Tai Chen is really a bitch. Besides, since you hired the chef Liu Laojiu, he always screws with some Taoist nuns in the kitchen. Does he think I am blind? If Liu Laojiu stayed here a few months longer, half of the nuns would be pregnant. As I said before, everyone in Shui Shang Temple is a female, so a male inside would definitely become a disaster!”
Zhen Zhu lowered her head and didn’t dare to say a word. After thinking for a while, she suggested, “In fact, there is one who might help us with this. But I am not sure...”
“Be frank. Just tell me.” Tai Shan urged her anxiously.
Zhen Zhu said, “Miss He in East Wing-room. She was born in a medical family. I talked with her a few days ago and found that she knows medicine well, especially herbs. It would be better for us to ask her to give a hand. There is nothing we can do without her help. After all, the medicines are not as safe as food. If someone eat the medicine with the wrong ingredients, they may die.”
Tai Shan was immediately convinced, but she thought for a while and shook her head again, “We can’t except her to do these chores. She is a great benefactor to our Taoist Temple now. Besides, the handsome imperial guard has a crush on her, and he always accompanies with her all day. If I asked Miss He to do these chores, the imperial guard would feel unpleasant and thought I was bullying Miss He. I will have to bear all the consequences by then.”
“Do not worry too much, Master. Miss He is very enthusiastic, and she would definitely be willing to help us.” Zhen Zhu suggested, “Also, Tai Chen didn’t fill the prescription for her in time and she was not fully recuperating till now. How about we tell others that we allow Miss He to use the herbs in the Medicine Room, and then ask her to classify the herbs for us?”
Finally, Tai Shan smiled with satisfaction and nodded, “That’s great, she can also get benefit from us! You should tell her the advantages in person. Then she can work for us with gratitude.” Zhen Zhu nodded and left the room, then she saw He Danggui standing in the yard.
“The crows in winter know nothing about human being’s sadness, but learn from the prodigals to play with beauties.” He Danggui raised her eyebrows, “Did your master release her anger?”
Zhen Zhu smiled and said, “The crows came coincidentally. Turns out you are the one who helped me in time. But I am very curious. How were the crows willing to help? They can’t understand our language after all!”
He Danggui said slightly, “I gave them some food to buy them off, so they helped me. Where are you going, sister?” Zhen Zhu told her the plan of Tai Shan. He Danggui laughed and accepted, “Now that Master Tai Shan have already ordered, how can I be against her? It’s not difficult for me to classify the herbs. Besides, I really need some medicine now. Thank you for giving me such a good opportunity.”
Zhen Zhu patted her head and signed, “You are a very clever girl, and everybody loves your kind. Instead, I should thank you for helping me. By the way, has Childe Duan come back?”
“Not yet.” He Danggui answered and consoled her, “It’s just a piece of cake for him. You don’t need to worry. He would be absolutely safe.”
Zhen Zhu laughed at her, “So, you are quite familiar with each other by now?”
He Danggui didn’t answer the question directly and said, “Let’s go to the Medicine Room and take a look… Let’s do it this way. I only need Zhen Jing to classify the herbs with me in the first 2 days. Because too many people would only make things worse. Then you can send several nuns to clean the Medicine Room with us on the third day. After the Medicine Room is restored to its origin, I’ll leave the room to the temple. I have works to do as well.”
Zhen Zhu felt a little weird and asked, “What is wrong? Is there anything I can help?”
He Danggui raised her forefinger and said mysteriously, “That’s for sure that I will need your help, sister. But you don’t need to worry about it. All you need to do is to cooperate with me by then.” Zhen Zhu wanted to ask again, but He Danggui refused to say anything more.