Chapter 258 Play a trick on Sun iniang
Sun iniang wanted to set off fireworks as she was gloating over He Danggui’ embarrassnt. Suddenly, she shouted to the servants, “Co on! Tie up this siren!” The servants around her gathered imdiately, and one of them was holding the rope that had just been untied from Luo Baiqiong.
Luo Baiji rushed forward to protect He Danggui, and yelled at the crowd in exasperation, “The one who hurts her will be killed!” Seeing that the servants were frightened and stopped temporarily, he turned around and said to He Danggui, “Get out of here, Third Sister. Leave Luo’s Mansion and go to find your mother! I’ll send soone to escort you, and I’m here to stop the pursuing forces!” As he spoke, he showed his weapon—a pair of silver chopsticks. He said to the servants, “Co on, you all have signed an indenture with Luo’s Family. It stated that there is no bla for life or death. Are you ready to die?”
He Danggui knew that his habitual weapon was a pair of Ei Thorns. She also knew that apart from the riding and shooting classes in the academy, he was not interested in martial arts. Since she knew his level, she was so moved by him. His courage and preference for her were more heartwarming than the effective help provided by those who had ability to save her.
Feng Yang also walked over, shook his fan and said, “Third Sister is as soft as a flower. She will not fly away like a bird, nor will she scratch other’s face like Second Miss. Why are you tying her up? Calm down. I don’t believe she will use witchcraft.” Qingyi was intelligent and rational. Even if she was at odds with Second Mistress Luo, how could she pin her hope of killing the enemy on a doll? On the other hand, why did the Lord do that? Even if he heard a movent after the curtain, there was no need to expose it! His beloved lady was right in front of him. How could he remain indifferent like a wooden stake? He just gave the chance to save a beauty to others.
Madam Luo made her way through the crowd surrounding He Danggui. She stared at He Danggui’s face, and slowly said in pain, “Yi, you are clever and well-behaved. I always treat you well, but you let down. Why do you carry witchcraft dolls with you? When did you start getting these things?” Was it true that, as Sun iniang said, He Danggui had a sudden change in her temperant for staying in Shui Shang Temple for a month?
“Witchcraft dolls?” He Danggui raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I don’t know what the witchcraft dolls look like, but my doll is definitely not like those. My doll is called ‘Sunny Doll’, and it is for blessing.”
“Sunny Doll?” Madam Luo frowned. “What’s that?” She looked at the doll on the ground carefully. The head of the doll was rounded, and a black “Sunny” was embroidered on the doll’s forehead, with a long stick tied on top of its head. The body of the doll was made of long white silk ribbons, and it didn’t look like a lucky thing in any way.
Sun iniang sneered, “I have never heard that the suspect confessed himself. Most people wouldn’t admit their guilt without punishnt. As long as the torture is moderately exerted, the truth will naturally co to light. And now there is so much hard evidence that a trial is not needed. Inappropriate use of witchcraft is a capital offense among felony, and setting fire to the ancestral hall is a felony that must be permanently removed from the genealogy. Whether according to family rules or national laws, she must be killed unless she kowtows to the whole family to confess her guilt and is hit on her back as punishnt.”
He Danggui said slowly, “Madam Luo, I have been wronged. Since that day, I have been ill, and I felt dopey and drowsy. If I hadn’t dread of my grandfather, and he hadn’t complained to , how could I struggle to co to the ancestral hall where the souls of our ancestors gathered at midnight?”
“How dare you!” Sun iniang suddenly popped her eyes and shouted, “The elders and guests are present, but you are hiding your face with white gauze. Could you be more polite? You hide in the bluish curtain sneakily. You are guilty, aren’t you?”
He Danggui lowered her eyes and said, “Well, Second Aunt, I am sick and looked pale. I am afraid that it will be unlucky for you to see my pale face in New Year, so I put on the veil. I am not intentionally disrespectful to you. Just now, I was scared by the noise in the yard, so I was flustered for a while and hid behind the curtain. I have never done anything wrong, so how can I feel guilty? I saw that there is indeed a ‘sneaky’ person described by you in this room. I don’t know if they are guilty. And there are two suspects of setting fire in the ancestral hall.”
She looked no one with her eyelashes lowered, nor did she point the person she implied, but everyone imdiately found the sneakiest person in the room—Luo Baiqiong. The crowd just focused on He Danggui and Luo Baiji, so no one paid much attention to Luo Baiqiong. But now, they saw her neck curled, her eyes looked straight to one side, and her head trembled slightly. She pulled the corner of Sun iniang’s clothes to block the eyes from all around, and looked very strange.
Sun iniang turned around and hugged her daughter pityingly. After a few soft words, she explained to the crowd, “Baiqiong had a cold from the day before yesterday. She was bedridden and couldn’t be in a draught. Just now, she was startled by the cold wind and rain, and she beca sick with typhoid fever! Madam Luo, don’t believe He Danggui’s nonsense. Her words are ridiculous. Baiqiong is a sheltered and good child who can’t even use flint. Will she have sothing to do with the fire in the ancestral hall?”
“So, you an that if Second Sister could use flint, she would have sothing to do with the fire in the ancestral hall.” He Danggui chuckled silently under the veil, “Madam Luo, guests from afar, and all the people from four branches in the East Yard are here. Second Aunt, as the wife in charge of the family, you have always been well-known for your fair and impartial conduct. Now, the ancestral hall is on fire, and people have caught two suspects at the scene. As one of the suspects, I have finished defending myself. I don’t know anything about the fire. Second Sister is the other suspect. To be fair, can she say sothing?”
Sun iniang didn’t believe that her daughter had anything to do with the fire. Luo Baiqiong just happened to pass by in ti. She loved cleanliness and beauty. When she caught the sll of burnt dishes, she would frown as if she was drinking a bowl of bitter dicine. If she would set a fire, Sun iniang would probably have a poisonous snake to bite others. The first one to bite must be He Danggui!
Sun iniang pulled her daughter out of her arms, and said softly, “Baiqiong, don’t bother yourself arguing with the villain. Tell them, what are you doing in the ancestral hall?” Sun iniang asked her inductively, “Did you miss your grandfather? So, you ca to see him specially, right?”
Originally, Luo Baiqiong just needed to answer “yes” or nodded. However, for so reason, she popped her eyes. Besides, her mouth was wide open, and her small tongue was stiff. After a while, she said two words vaguely. Although her words were not clear enough, many people recognize the two words as “set fire”!
Everyone was shocked when they heard her words. Luo Baiqiong also showed panic on her face. She shook her head and waved her hands, with a remorse expression that she wanted to take those two words back. Sun iniang was slack-jawed for a mont, and after returning to her senses, she imdiately complained to Madam Luo, “Help! Catch that little siren!” Raising her hand to point at He Danggui, she sternly said, “Baiqiong must be bewitched by her. That’s why she beca like this. When I went to see Baiqiong this afternoon, she was fine, and was throwing sachets and kicking shuttlecocks with the maids!”
“Oh?” Qi Chuan interjected with a smile, “Who just said that Second Sister had a cold and was already bedridden?”
He Danggui stood by with folded arms, and her eyelids drooped. She frowned in a grievance and sighed, “I said that I didn’t set the fire, but Second Aunt didn’t believe and wanted to convict . Second Sister said clearly that she ‘set fire’, while Second Aunt accused of bewitching her. For the sake of the conscience of heaven and earth, how could you say such nonsense? Second Aunt is my elder, I dare not criticize her. However, there are so many judges present today, so I won’t say anything.”
Sun iniang was furious and gritted her teeth, “Look at her, Madam Luo. No wonder that everyone said that there is a female storyteller in our family. No one can match with her with a silver tongue! But there is hard evidence and she can’t be forgiven. Compare the witchcraft dolls, burning papers, charms, human bones and corpses found in my yard with the dolls that fell out of He Danggui’s baggage. Then we will know the truth. She can’t get out of the cri even if she has a silver tongue.”
He Danggui took two steps forward and picked up the white doll on the ground. Then she patted the dust on it and walked to the front of the corridor. At this ti, Sun iniang said, “She’s going to escape!” And also, Luo Baiji said, “Sister, run away!” However, He Danggui carried her skirt and stepped on the steps. Then she hung the white doll on a small wind chi hanging from the roof of the corridor. Next, she closed her eyes and bowed silently for a mont.
As if she had discovered the new world, Sun iniang pointed at He Danggui and said to everyone, “Look, she’s cursing again. She’s cursing us all!”
However, He Danggui went back down the steps, turned back indoors, and chose a corner far away from Ning Yuan to stand. She looked at Madam Luo and said, “Madam Luo, I don’t know the witchcraft dolls and other things ntioned by Second Aunt. What does they have to do with ? My knowledge of witchcraft is not as good as that of Second Aunt. The matter of Concubine Hua is not so long ago, and now nobody wants to make trouble at the New Year’s Day. If soone avenges a personal wrong in the na of public interests, they will turn the facts upside down. They hid unclean things to fra others, but on the contrary, the evil spirit of the things will harm their own family... Madam Luo, now you can no longer connive in such behavior in front of the ancestors.”
“Bad girl, you are basically bullshitting!” Sun iniang’s face was clouded over with anger, and before Madam Luo said sothing, she ordered the servants waiting outside the ancestral hall, “Bring in all the things dug up in Bao Qin Ge and let everyone have a look. Luo Chuanxiong has only learned these ghostly tricks after staying in the Taoist temple these years, and passed them on to her daughter!”
After a short while, people filed in, and after presenting the exhibits, they retired neatly. The witchcraft dolls, charms, burning papers, and human bones were all placed in the holy ancestral hall. Only the “corpse” was too fake, so Sun iniang left it there when she checked the evidence. The other four pieces of evidence were enough to prove Luo Chuanxiong and He Danggui’s cri. The witchcraft dolls were more than ten years old, and the charms were five years ago. Besides, there were the brand-new burning papers, as well as the shocking breast ribs and thigh bones of the dead, which were enough to confirm their cri.
He Danggui approached and bent over to study these things for a mont. Suddenly, she laughed, “Second Aunt, these things are full of flaws. Maybe you drank too much New Year wine and was hallucinated. This is the paper money to be sacrificed to the ancestors in two days. You actually take it as evidence.” She pointed to the paper money as she said. Hearing that, Feng Yang and Luo Baiji ca up to have a look. They both gave out a low voice and chuckled.
Sun iniang rushed forward, followed the direction He Danggui pointed, and shouted, “You trick ! You are deliberately tricking !”
He Danggui flickered her long eyelashes innocently. Heh, why bother to trick her? People like Sun iniang were easily to trick without deliberate scheming, just because they had too many desires. In the final analysis, Sun iniang just hurt herself by her own doing, which was nothing to do with others.
Reviews
All reviews (0)