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Chapter 54 - A child without a mother was like the grass
Chapter 54 - A child without a mother was like the grass
Chapter 54 A child without a mother was like the grass
He Danggui explained to her patiently, “Once they eat something bad, even if they just have diarrhea for one or two days, it will be very difficult for our family to explain to other big families. After all, those Misses and Childes are treasures of their own families. Even when they sneeze or lose some hairs, their elders would be sad for they couldn’t replace them to suffer the pain. If they catch any disease in East Yard, even though everyone knows that it is an accident, no one will forgive us! Mammy Tang, do you remember that half a year ago, the Second Sister came back to her grandpa’s family, Sun’s Family, for a few days but got a headache after catching a cold because she fell into the water while boating on the lake. Although Sun’s Family is Second Aunt’s natal family, and Second Aunt has a good relation with them, she still got mad about this and aggressively came to Ms. Wang who is in charge of Sun’s Family to ask for an explanation.”
Mammy Tang nodded and said, “Yes, I have an impression of it. Ms. Wang is Second Mistress Luo’s sister-in-law. She is also a competitive person. At that time, she had conflicts with Second Mistress Luo and said that Second Miss fell into the water when she went for a row alone and no one pushed her. How could Second Mistress Luo blame the Sun’s family? Later, it took a month for the incident to subside. Because of this accident, Second Mistress Luo paid a lot of money to hire a female bodyguard who had been trained. I heard that she used to be a heroine in Jianghu.”
He Danggui sighed, “Mammy Tang, there is something you don’t know. I often heard squeaks of rats in the East Wing-room these days. Every time I heard this voice, I would think of the West Lateral court where I used to live... Nephew Wei’s 4 or 5 little pets are likely to increase to 400 or 500 now. Although I have been used to seeing rats in the farm and I can live with them in the same place. I’m really afraid that they will go out of the West Lateral court and run to other yards. If they hurt people, others would say that I keep poisonous insects and rats, and I intend to use them to harm people. Mammy, give me an idea. What should I do?”
Mammy Tang shook her head and sighed. She couldn’t help blaming He Danggui, “Third Miss, even if you are thrifty, it’s not good to save money in such a way. Didn’t Wang Qi’s wife give you the monthly food expenses of 62 liang silver at the end of each month? If you have saved it for half a year, you should have nearly 400 liang silver. Even if Second Mistress Luo was too busy to take care of you and didn’t send lime powder and rat poisons to you, you could give some silver to a servant and ask him to go to the herbal medicine shop to buy some arsenic! You tell me that matter until the situation is so bad now. Even if your experience is pitiful, you can’t blame Wei or Second Mistress Luo for the plague. You can only blame yourself!”
He Danggui covered her mouth and the tears came out of her eyes. She said with a low voice, “How could this happen! I cannot bear it, Mammy!”
Mammy Tang felt pity for her, but she could only tell her the truth, “Firstly, Wei is only 3.5 years old now. It’s common for a child to be naughty. Madam Luo can’t bear to scold him, so do you! Secondly, half a year ago, Wei’s mother was pregnant for five months. She stayed in the room to prevent abortion. So, she was not responsible for this thing. Now, she gave birth to a lovely daughter for the First Master Baiqian and became the number one meritorious person of Luo’s Family. She can’t be blamed for anything. Thirdly, Second Mistress Luo didn’t give you lime powder at that time just because she cared for Wei. After that, it is very possible that she was too busy to forget it. Third Miss, you are the master of the West Lateral court. No matter what the cause was at first, the result is that the plague occurred in your place. How can you not be blamed?”
He Danggui wiped her tears and nodded, “Mammy, you are right. I admit it’s my fault. But what kind of punishment will I deserve?”
“Now we have to come back to the mansion and report to Madam Luo. Just wait for her decisions.” Mammy Tang looked at the teary girl with pity and comforted, “Don’t worry. I must intercede with Madam Luo for you. You know how much she loves you.”
“Thank you so much. If so, I would appreciate it a lot.” He Danggui sobbed and said disjointedly, “If I had money to buy the rat poisons, I couldn’t let the maids and mammies starve with me but didn’t use the kitchenette… Actually, I had visited my Second Aunt a few times but couldn’t get the rat poisons. Although Aunt Wang said she would send the food expenses to me, I didn’t get any. My monthly allowance is 1.2 liang silver and I had given all my allowance to 10 maids as the dinner subsidy. Even so, I still felt sorry for them… Then I intently waited for my mother who will come back from the Taoist temple so that I can ask her for money to buy rat poisons. In this way, the matter is delayed…”
Mammy Tang said in amazement with her eyes wide open, “What? Wang Qi’s wife gave you no money? It’s impossible! Food expense is public money and should be sent to kitchen to buy ingredients at the first or second day of every month. Wang Qi’s wife is a decent person. How could she embezzle public money openly? In addition, it is a rule that every Miss’s monthly allowance is 14 liang silver, and 1.2 liang silver is the monthly allowance for a first-class maid. Third Miss, since your money wasn’t right, why didn’t you tell Madam Luo?”
He Danggui was about to answer, but she subconsciously shivered her shoulders. Her hands started to scratch hard, so she apologized with embarrassment, “Pardon me for getting a bad itch. Mammy Tang, you must be exhausted for the long travel, but I talked to you for long time. Forgive my impoliteness. I even didn’t have tea to serve you. I’m just so nervous… Chan Yi!”
“My lady, what’s your order?”
Mammy Tang saw that a girl in blue, at Third Miss’s age and with a round face ran to the doorway and replied.
He Danggui smiled, “Mammy Tang is our honored guest, but we have nothing good to treat her. I just remember that we have some haws which were dried in the sun on the sill. Heat up a kettle of water to make one cup of Hawthorn tea for Mammy Tang.” The round-faced girl answered and left. He Danggui smiled at Mammy Tang, “The Hawthorn tea is sour, sweet and appetizing. You take a rest and drink a cup of tea first, and then I will let Chan Yi to lead you to have meal.”
Seeing that round-faced girl was so lively, Mammy Tang liked her very much and asked, “Is that your maid? I haven’t seen her before. Was she sent to you in your funeral procession?”
He Danggui rubbed the back of her hands while looking at the blue figure outside and smiled, “She was a little Taoist nun with the religious name of ‘Zhen Jing’ in the Taoist temple. We get along well with each other, so I decided to take her home with me as company.” Noticing that Mammy Tang was in confusion, He Danggui added, “Don’t worry, Mammy. Chan Yi is a lovely and obedient girl. She will not bring any trouble. And she can be counted as my closest maid who doesn’t get monthly allowance as other maids. She also eats with me and doesn’t need the public food. Mammy, please, just take her in.”
Mammy Tang thought that girl was cute indeed. Why not just helped Third Miss? It was an easy favor. But her words came out differently, “Well, it’s not difficult for me to help you with that. But you should tell me first. Why didn’t you get your monthly allowance? Was it true that Wang Qi’s wife kept your money to herself?”
He Danggui signed, “I’ve experienced death. What else could bother me? Aunt Wang was a master in cooking and she has contributed a lot. When my Elder Sister-in-law got pregnant, it was Aunt Wang who took care of her daily diet all and Aunt Wang even cooked cubilose for her. Their relationship is touching. If my Elder Sister-in-law is the person who contributed most to Luo’s Family, Aunt Wang is number two. How could I say something against her?”
Mammy Tang thought for a moment and said while shaking her head, “No, these two things are completely different. Not to mention you need money very much. Even if you don’t need the money, Wang Qi’s wife should deliver the silver to you and then you can reward her in turn.”
He Danggui rose her eyebrows, “What’s the difference? Mammy, let’s not talk about this anymore. I knew I was responsible for the plague. Please say something good about me in front of my Grandma!”
Mammy Tang nodded seriously, “There’s a huge difference! Third Miss, the mansion has given you enough monthly allowance, but you didn’t get your food or your money. You’re too kind and don’t want to blame others. But it’s my responsibility to report this to Madam Luo. 400 liang silver is not much, but it’s a big problem that someone should take the public money to herself. And Luo’s Family will never tolerate a slave who climbed on the head of her master!”
He Danggui said nothing and showed hesitation in her eyes, but she remained silent.
Mammy Tang saw He Danggui was hesitant, so she continued to persuade her, “I said Third Miss was responsible for the plague of rats because I thought you should have the ability to solve the problem of plague by yourself. But now it seems that there is a tricky servant deducting your money so that you are in hunger and poverty and still troubled deeply by the plague. If it can be proved that Wang Qi’s wife stole the public money, you will become a victim and won’t be punished by Madam Luo. Also, you’ll not need me to help you plead anymore.”
“Really?” There was a flash of light in He Danggui’s clear eyes, “As long as I tell the truth, I won’t be punished, right?”
Seeing the back of He Danggui’s snow-white hands which were scratched to red, Mammy Tang was so sad. A child with a mother was the treasure and a child without a mother was like the grass. Even Luo’s Family which was a literary family should obey this truth. Now it seemed that Third Miss suffered a lot for half a year in Luo’s Family without her mother’s company. When her mother took her and left He’s Family, she was doomed to face her embarrassing identity. She was an endearing and good kid, but was isolated in the East Yard of Luo’s Family. How pitiful she was.
Thinking of this, Mammy Tang comforted He Danggui gently, “You will not be punished. In addition, because 400 liang silver is yours, when finding out the account, Madam Luo will make the decision and pay you the money back.”
“Now that Mammy has said that, I will not hide anymore.” He Danggui looked at the distance, showing an expression of recalling, “The first month when the kitchen didn’t send the supper, a total of 16 maids and mammies of West Lateral court all complained so much. I felt sorry but didn’t know how to compensate them. Since there were so many people, my monthly allowance of just 1.2 liang silver couldn’t solve the problem. At the end of the month, the money which Aunt Wang promised us wasn’t sent here. Although I was unwilling, I felt sorry when more than thirty eyes were looking at me, so I just went to the kitchen to see Aunt Wang in person.”
Mammy Tang frowned and asked, “You didn’t get the money even when you went in person?”
He Danggui lowered her head and said sadly, “I don’t know why. I didn’t see Aunt Wang though I went there for 7 or 8 times. I heard that Aunt Wang always cooked some dishes of every day’s dinner by herself in the mansion, so I waited outside the kitchen at the time for dinner. But those days that I went there were not the days when Aunt Wang cooked. And I asked many people who usually walked in and out of the kitchen, but they all ignored me without any reason. I didn’t know how to do but could only wait there. When I went there again in the seventh day, people working in the kitchen not only didn’t light a lamp, but also closed the door. It was dark outside. When I walked to the place which I usually stood and waited, I slipped carelessly and my palms were cut by stones. Then I found that place was flooded with tung oil.