Chapter164 Lifetime silver

Meng Xuan went up quietly. Under the surprised eyes of Bai Yangbai and He Danggui, he tore off the whole sleeve of Bai Yangbai, which was pulled by He Danggui. Bai Yangbai looked at the sleeve resignedly. It had become shorter and shorter and been separated from his clothes completely. Why did everyone take cloth from him?

He Danggui held Bai Yangbai’s sleeve and looked up at Meng Xuan coldly. She said, “Sir, what do you mean?” He was so tall that she had to look up at him. His cold and beautiful face made her suspect that she had identified the wrong person. Was he still Meng Xuan?

“I’m thinking for your reputation.” Meng Xuan looked down at her and said, “Don’t pull other men’s sleeves in the future.”

That was the reason! Bai Yangbai was stunned. When she pulled his sleeve, Meng Xuan ripped it. If she held his hand for next time, would he wring his hand off and burn it with fire? Well, he admitted that he was a little bit slow, and he didn’t realize that Meng Xuan also liked He Danggui. But he could say in a civilized way, “Let that girl go.” Was it necessary to do like this? What’s more, He Danggui couldn’t wait to drag himself out. He was also under duress.

…Now she couldn’t offend him. He Danggui was carrying this sleeve which was drifting in the wind, and told herself silently in the heart.

“I learned it.” He Danggui said quietly, “If there are no other suggestions, we will go.” Since she didn’t get an answer from Meng Xuan, she tucked one end of this sleeve into Bai Yangbai’s hand and said, “Qianjun, let’s go.” After that, she took Bai Yangbai away as if she took an animal, and passed by Meng Xuan.

Meng Xuan looked behind them for a long time, then he tore the sleeve from the middle into two pieces suddenly.

Bai Yangbai looked up at the sky silently and sighed, “Well, this time there is no way. I’m just a common Taoist Sage to sell medical sugar.”

He Danggui took a small piece of the sleeve and looked at Meng Xuan. She said, “I don’t know which taboo I have break.” This was the real Meng Xuan. He was not related to “composedness” at all. He and her imaginary husband who could respect her as a guest were nearly poles apart. Now he just a little bit liked her. Maybe he just listed her as a concubine candidate. He was so domineering that she would be his concubine in the future. Would he tie and lock her up?

Meng Xuan said frankly, “Miss He doesn’t know. Only the bridegroom and the bride can lead the two ends of the 1meter red cloth in this way. You are a virgin miss. He is a bachelor who is more than 30 years old. If you don’t want to be a couple, you can’t lead this red sleeve in this way. If you still want to leave some reputation before you get married, please don’t have any intimate behavior with Mr. Bai in the future. For example, if you want him to go with you, just call him twice. And, if he tells you that your nose is stained with ash, you should clean it immediately and don’t leave others help you clean. In addition, if you see ‘some’ men come to hug you in the future, you can’t stand still. You should dodge at the first time. If you can follow these basic defenses of men and women, even if your family background is flawed, you can marry into an aristocratic mansion in the future and get the respect of your husband.” He would let his parents allow him to marry her as his wife. Should she also do something to make him feel that his plan and painstaking efforts were worth it?

He Danggui looked at this piece of dark brown cloth called “red sleeve” by Meng Xuan in the moonlight, and then looked at Bai Yangbai who disguised as a white-haired old man beside her. Bai Yangbai was also looking at her with bright and innocent eyes, which were full of countless surprises, as if he had been treated as a “love enemy” for the first time in his life.

There were only a few friends in her previous life. Apart from Bai Yangbai, the best partner in Wuying Tower, there was only Xiaoyou. In order to please Meng Xuan, should she be careful to Bai Yangbai and Xiaoyou everywhere in the future?

She was very clear that what kind of person Bai Yangbai was. He didn’t have any sex life for decades, and he was the same as the eunuch. The first time she saw him was when she first came to the Lord’s Mansion and begged for survival, but it was the time when money was extorted by Tai Shan most.

At that time, Tai Shan heard that she had married Lord Ning, so she ran to Daning Prefecture to meet her secretly. She treated He Danggui by the old thing that she was a slave and servant in the Taoist temple as a threat. She also slandered He Danggui for misdemeanor that she often stole money. She would extort 100 liang silver from He Danggui. When He Danggui married to the Lord’s Mansion, her mother gave her a dowry of nearly 3000 liang. She thought it was a huge sum of money, because her monthly allowance in Luo’s Mansion was only one or two liang silver a month. She saved less than fifty liang after more than four years. The second month after entering the Lord’s Mansion, Princess Xie told the public that she had opened several antique shops in Ping Cui Fang and asked the public to raise money. When she got the money, everyone could earn money and all have dividends.

So, they all responded. Some of them paid 6,000 liang, and some of them paid 4,000 liang. The person who paid the least paid 3,000 liang. They said to Princess Xie with a flattering smile that the shop was opened newly, everything needed silver. And the dividend in the first year was not much, so she could buy herself some cosmetics and dressed herself, instead of giving them dividends. So, Princess Xie nodded to them with satisfaction.

At that time, He Danggui realized that the group of wife and concubines of her husband were all rich people. No wonder they all looked down on her. Everyone bullied her. It turned out that she was the poorest of these people when compared with gold and silver. Her dowry, which was less than 3,000 liang, also included the gold and silver jewelries and jadeites that her mother made for herself before her marriage. They were all fixed assets. Even though those weren’t the first and the only jewelry that her mother made for her first time, she should also wear them in the banquets of the Lord’s Mansion. Otherwise, those servants would recognize her as a maid, and she even couldn’t enter the door of banquets.

Therefore, when she took out all her cheques and a set of deeds of the house in Northern Zhili Area (areas directly administered by the capital), which were worth 18,000 liang and weighed more than a thousand jin for her, the group of women in Xianyue Tower, from Princess Xie to concubine Tian, all laughed. In the laughter of all the people, she lost the silver that her mother gave her carefully to spend her whole life in the Lord’s Mansion. The next year, she received only a few “dividends”. She was only 14 years old. In this Lord Ning’s Mansion, people needed sliver everywhere. How long was her “lifetime” left without “lifetime silver”?

Later, in the Lord’s Mansion, she had to give gifts to the concubine who gave birth to a child. As a “senior concubine”, she also should give some jewelries to the new concubine. She should compare with other concubines of the same rank, which couldn’t be higher or lower. She had no relationship or influence in the Lord’s Mansion. She couldn’t give her servants less money. Otherwise, she couldn’t get any important news, and she would become blind and deaf. She would offend Princess Xie accidentally, or wore same clothes with some consorts and concubines at the banquet. Each kind of consequence was very serious.

The most desperate thing for her was Tai Shan’s extortion. At first, she picked one of jewelries from her mother and took it to the pawnshop as a redeemable pawn. She thought that she would save money and redeem it later. Then Tai Shan asked for more and more. After bargaining, she put all her dowry into the package and took it to the pawnshop as an unredeemable pawn. However, Tai Shan still didn’t satisfy.

Finally, Tai Shan found that He Danggui really couldn’t afford money, so she set up a poisonous plan. She drank He Danggui a cup of tea with Jinfeng Yulu Powder, and took off He Danggui’s clothes. Then Tai Shan led an old man who was more than 50 years old to the Wing- room. Tai Shan closed the door and left at that time… If Bai Yangbai hadn’t appeared suddenly and saved her, her innocence and life would have been all gone.

At that time, Bai Yangbai didn’t know that she was the concubine of Lord Ning. He didn’t care about a beautiful woman who had been taken off and got the Jinfeng Yulu Powder. How could he affect her reputation?

She never regarded Bai Yangbai as a “young man”, but as a close friend. What was wrong with pulling his sleeve?

She had evolved from a weak little sheep to a fox that Princess Xie had always conceded. She could get the precious favor of her husband. All she relied on was Bai Yangbai’s advice and help. In those years when she worked for Wuying Tower, Bai Yangbai saved her life for several times. Did this kind of friendship like teacher and friend really need to draw a line as “male and female defense” from now?

Yi Tong saw that his master was nervous because of a ragged sleeve, so he went forward and said, “Childe, the woman on the ground is not in good condition. Apart from malaria, she sits up and lies down occasionally. She looks a little serious. What should I do? Let’s go to find a doctor. You can’t cure people at all, Childe. Why should you take care of such a thing? Let’s turn that woman over to others quickly!”

Meng Xuan was still determined to against with He Danggui. He continued to find fault, “Since you know that woman gets Shi Hua Poison, and that the Jiugu of Luo’s Mansion knows it, why don’t you rush back to the Luo’s Family to develop the solution at the first time, but go to have fun with others?”

He Danggui’s heart became more and more tense. She didn’t know how long she could keep such a pleasant face. She just felt that her breath and ears were burning. She couldn’t get along with Meng Xuan for another moment.

At last, she found her voice and explained to him, “The time of the attack of the Shi Hua Poison is very short, only a few hours. Even if I fly back to Luo’s Family and ask Jiugu, I can’t make an antidote or find a solution immediately. Besides the venomous insect lurking in Qian Mudan’s body for a long time, there is another kind of strange poison that catalyzes it today. I still have no idea about that kind of strange poison. I feel sorry for my ignorance. There is still a month before the next attack. I can only guarantee that before attacking, I will try my best to expel the venomous insect for Qian Mudan. It’s all up to heaven. There is only so much I can do.”

Meng Xuan was silent for a moment. Then he pointed to Bai Yangbai suddenly and said, “What about him? If Bai Yangbai got this Poison, would you do the same way to deal with it?”

Bai Yangbai cried out in his heart that it was unlucky. Why did he make such a hypothesis suddenly? Fie, fie, fie, it was so unlucky. Why didn’t he use Childe Duan to draw an analogy? He Danggui took a look at Bai Yangbai and said firmly, “If Qianjun is poisoned, I will try my best to save him naturally. I will catch all suspects who poisoned him and interrogate them to get the antidote. I will visit all the seniors who are good at antidoting in the Jianghu that I know, and develop the most effective antidote at the fastest speed.”

Meng Xuan felt sour in his heart and sneered, “Saving people is related to feelings. The Master who taught you medicine skills has good taste really. He chose a good apprentice.”

Bai Yangbai was moved in his heart, because he seldom heard that girl talked about him in such a serious way. She only bullied and satirized him usually. And what she said looked like from her heart. It was sincere. Unexpectedly, the girl was so kind to himself. She was so affectionate and righteous. Maybe next time, he could reveal half of the bathing prescription for her to keep beautiful… However, Meng Xuan looked coldly at him, as if Meng Xuan’s eyes were like knife, which could make two holes on him. His sense of touching immediately disappeared, like a frosty leaf in the autumn wind– “Atishoo! Girl! I will get sick without sleeves. What can I do? You should press the acupoints that can cure a cold for me quickly–Eh, by the way, can’t you press them for me in the future?”

However, Meng Xuan found fault with He Danggui subtly. He picked a quarrel with her, “Hey, where did you press the acupoints for him?” He was very uncomfortable. He didn’t want to quarrel with her at all. He just didn’t like being left alone, and he just wanted to talk to her more, even in the way of quarreling.

He Danggui said, “Too much to remember. Taiyang acupoint, Cuanzhu acupoint, Renzhong acupoint…” Bai Yangbai covered her mouth, and then removed his hands quickly. He laughed at them and said, “This part is passed. Let’s talk about something else.”

Yi Tong also reminded Meng Xuan, “Childe, if we go later, Third Childe will spend the night in Yangzhou Prison. I heard that it is cold and humid, and there are many snakes, insects, mice and ants…”

“Ah–sob–”

Qian Mudan lying on the ground in the distance made a shrill and long scream in the coma, interrupting Yi Tong’s words. At the beginning of the scream, it sounded like a shout. Then, it was like a melody singing, and it was made from a deeper place than the chest. It was very creepy in the dark night.

Yi Tong stamped his feet and said, “I’ll call for doctor first.” Then he ran away. However, He Danggui understood that it was because the venomous insect in Qian Mudan’s body attacked, which showed that the poison had spread to her whole body at the moment. It was useless to cut off her hand. There was the only way to save her! Just when she was about to stop Yi Tong and give him another order, Meng Xuan found a new round of provocative topic. He said, “If the person who lies there screaming is Bai Yangbai, will you still be so indifferent? And will you still look as usual?”

Bai Yangbai complained in his heart, “Why did he curse me again?” He Danggui took a look at Bai Yangbai who looked listless and replied calmly, “I will fly back to Luo’s Mansion with him on my back, and find Jiugu to help him relieve the pain. Then I will send him internal force to suppress the toxicity.”

“He is a man. You can’t carry him on your back.” Meng Xuan’s eyes were shining liked two black pearls with only luster but no emotion.

“…He is an exception. There are other ways.”

“How about Duan Xiaolou?”

“…He is the same.”

“…And Lord Ning, Zhu Quan?”

“…”

“Why do you have so many exceptions? How many men have you put in your heart? Where am I placed?”