Revenge of the Concubine’s Daughter - Chapter 130
Chapter 130 Madam Luo’s last words
Luo Baiying probably understood that Madam Luo wanted to tell her some “last words” which could not be said publicly. But she was unwilling to take a risk. If she was also taken as a hostage by the masked man, it was worthless to hear Madam Luo’s last words. Luo Baiying waited for a moment and expected the masked man to stop her from offering the tea. Since he refused He Danggui to come near, he certainly would not call her to send tea. But waiting for a long time, the masked man was still silent, so Luo Baiying had to face Madam Luo’s expectant eyes, “Grandma, I’m sorry that I don’t know how to make tea.”
Madam Luo also knew that it was dangerous to call Luo Baiying here, but she was the most stable and reliable member of Luo’s Family present. However, Madam Luo didn’t expect that the granddaughter she loved most should refuse her “last request”! Madam Luo was extremely angry, so she looked at Luo Baiqiong and ordered, “Qiong, offer me a cup of tea!” Madam Luo was glad to see that Luo Baiqiong wanted to stand up after hearing her words. She was relieved and thought that at the critical time, her biological granddaughter was the best!
However, the “best” granddaughter Luo Baiqiong had difficulty standing up, who finally cried to Madam Luo, “Grandma, I’m sorry that I can’t stand up. My leg must be broken!” In fact, she thought, “Grandma, you are a hostage now. Why do you want to drink tea?”
“I also want a cup of tea.” Geng Bingxiu suddenly said, “The woman in blue, you offer the tea, or I’ll kill her!” Then he shook Madam Luo.
Finding that the masked man suddenly looked at her direction, Luo Baiying looked around in fear. However, she found that only she was in blue, and the other maids were in green! She didn’t know whether to go or not.
Luo Baiying frowned perplexedly and thought, “The kidnapper must have known that I’m an important person and want an extra hostage, so he lets me go there. If I go there, I would die. However, he is threatening me with Madam Luo’s life. If I don’t go there, I will become an unfaithful and unfilial person once Madam Luo dies. Then I have no status in Luo’s Family… How unfair it was! I’m beautiful, but unhealthy, so I could not get married forever due to an unmentionable disease. Where could I go if I had no status in Luo’s Family?”
Seeing Luo Baiying not moving, Geng Bingxiu added, “You go to that girl first.” He pointed to He Danggui, “Let her whisper her good idea to you, and you repeat it to me. If you do well, I will not hurt you!”
Luo Baiying was shocked. She thought, “Once this devil adopts that idea, he would must immediately kill me and He Danggui, and then escape! No! I could never take a message for them!”
Meng Xuan looked at He Danggui, the calm girl, with interest. he was quite sure that the devil was so afraid of the girl that he didn’t dare to get close to her! Ho-ho, it was getting more and more interesting!
Thinking for a moment, Geng Bingxiu suddenly looked at Luo Baiying and said, “Eight days ago, you fell into the water at midnight, didn’t you? Actually, I pushed you. By the way, my palm is poisonous, and you will die with a rotted body two days later. But if you offer me the tea and take a message, I’ll give you the antidote.”
Luo Baiying almost fainted. Body rotted, and then died? Really? Why was she unaware? She had been feeling a little sick these days, but there was no sign of poisoning… Maybe he lied! Considering for a while, Luo Baiying decided to lower her head and stay at the corner silently. Anyway, here was far away from the devil and he couldn’t hurt her. As long as she stayed here, the devil would look for others to take a message. Actually, how could he kill Madam Luo? Madam Luo was his amulet. Thinking of this, Luo Baiying closed her eyes.
Madam Luo saw that none of her two granddaughters would listen to her “last words”. One couldn’t walk, and the other clearly could walk but pretended not to see and listen! Madam Luo was angry and cursed in heart, “Luo Duzhong, these are your good granddaughters, good descendants of Luo’s Family! The secret that you discovered could not be known by your descendants. It’s none of my business!”
Mammy Tang who was standing in the corner then rushed out and yelled, “Miss, I’ll offer you a cup of tea!” As if Madam Luo was dying, she wanted to give Madam Luo her blessing.
“No, you can’t!” Madam Luo stopped Mammy Tang at once. She narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment. Then she opened her eyes and looked at He Danggui, saying, “Yi, offer me a cup of Hawthorn tea.” It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Hong Jiang, but her husband had warned that the secret could only be told to descendants of Luo’s Family. Although Yi’s surname was not Luo, her name was on the family tree. She had obeyed the rules if she changed Yi’s surname to Luo before she died.
Hearing Madam Luo’s words, He Danggui came to her sense and took her white gauze handkerchief leisurely. She saluted to Madam Luo and the masked man, smiling, “Grandma, you can’t drink the Hawthorn tea.” Seeing Madam Luo looking at her in disappointment, she said again, “But I notice that there are many kinds of tea at Gan Cao’s handcart. I can make the Cloud tea for you.”
“Oh?” Meng Xuan suddenly asked before Madam Luo replied, “Why Madam Luo can’t drink the Hawthorn tea?” He bantered with He Danggui and looked at her. In fact, there was too much sugar in the tea, and there was no “right way” to make a good tea!
When the girl said that “I had written the way of making this tea down on the oiled paper which was used to pack the tea up”, she was nervous. Then, the maid said that the paper had been thrown away, so she was relieved and happy again. If he didn’t discover her uniqueness and intelligence when he played Go with her, he would not watch her carefully and discovered who she really was under her tender disposition.
He Danggui cursed Meng Xuan in heart, but smiled brighter. Then she gave him the baloney, “Childe Xuan, fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy, vinegar, and tea are our daily necessities. Tea is an indispensable part of our daily life, and tasting tea needs peace and respect. But now, in the panic, how can we drink the Hawthorn tea which is like spirits? It’s suitable to drink the Cloud tea that can soothe emotions.”
“She should make such an excuse!” Meng Xuan listened to her explanation and thought. Then he didn’t say any words. Madam Luo said in a deep voice, “OK, Danggui, please make a cup of Cloud tea! And I will tell you something.”
No one spoke in the hall. All of them looked at He Danggui who put the tea set in order on the tea table and poured the water into the reddish clay stove to boil it.
When the water boiled, He Danggui saluted to the center. Then she sat and washed the tea set with the boiling water. She took out a bit of tea with the tea spoon on the paper to divide according to the thickness. The green Cloud tea leaves with more stems were separated. In everyone’s surprised eyes, He Danggui put these tea leaves in the censer and took Huo Zhe Zi from her sleeve to ignite.
Everyone was confused. They had only heard about burning incense, not burning tea. Although tea was also a kind of grass, it couldn’t be easily ignited. How could she do it easily?
Meng Xuan stood on her left side and looked at her, seeing her clear and peaceful eyes which were just like a pool. She was different from the one who had just glared at and cursed him… Which was the real one, or neither?
At this time, everybody was afraid and worried. They were different from the calm girl standing in the center. She was easygoing.
She took out a stick of grass and stirred the censer. A green smoke was floating up. She dispersed the smoke with her finger, letting the green smoke diffuse. The smell of the smoke was incredibly diffused into the whole hall. Everyone became cheerful and breathed a sign after smelling it. In the corner, Luo Baiying and the others who were supporting each other could almost stand up as usual.
Suddenly, a draught blew in Xin Rong Hall from windows in four corners and took away the smell of the green smoke. Then people could smell another fragrance.
When everyone was addicted to this fragrance, He Danggui poured water and tea fluently, and made a pot of Cloud tea. She smiled, “Knight, this tea includes four cups. You’d better taste it nearby. Why don’t you and Grandma come over here?”
Everyone thought that the tough masked man would refuse, but he was very obedient to escort Madam Luo and go slowly down the steps, coming to the tea table and sitting down. He Danggui and Meng Xuan sat on the left side, and Madam Luo and the masked man sat on the right. All the three people were staring at He Danggui. Meng Xuan thought that in the close distance, he could save Madam Luo. “Should I save her or wait for a while? Maybe my father would be here soon.”
Geng Bingxiu asked, “Girl, what are the four cups of tea?”
He Danggui poured out the first cup of tea, and walked lightly to Madam Luo. When Geng Bingxiu saw that, he put more weight on Madam Luo’s shoulder. However, He Danggui bypassed Madam Luo, offered the tea to Geng Bingxiu and smiled, “Knight, this first cup is for you. Please have a try.” Geng Bingxiu smelled the tea but didn’t taste because he wore a mask and he couldn’t drink it.
He Danggui wanted to say something, but Madam Luo suddenly drew He Danggui close to her and whispered. Although Geng Bingxiu was dissatisfied, he didn’t stop. After a while, He Danggui patted Madam Luo’s shoulder and stood up, and then poured the second cup of tea. She poured more than a half of the white cup and offered to Madam Luo, saying softly, “Don’t worry, Grandma. Things change constantly. This cup of tea is for you. Please have a try.”
Madam Luo had said her secret last words, so she only felt relaxed. She received the tea with her hands to smell, which made her feel that there was no trouble at all. Then she tasted for a while and said, “I haven’t tasted such a good tea for many years.” The comfort in her words made others more interested in the tea.
