Reborn: Revenge of the Concubine’s Daughter

Mammy Tang was stunned and shook her head quickly after a moment. “I don’t mean that, and I haven’t thought about that!” Seeing the suspicious look on Madam Luo’s face, she burst into laughter and said, “My lady, are you still groggy due to the sleep? Do you forget that we heard an interesting story that day? The Fortune-teller Li’s family had a mishap. He was shocked to know that the son of his concubine was not his biological son. Then he locked up this concubine and tortured her for inquiring who was the adulterer. But the concubine ran away with the property of 200 liang in the midnight. Since he can’t predict his own life, how can he divine for others? Qi Xuanyu, the real master of fortunetelling, has divined the life of Third Miss, saying that she is a blessed girl!”

Madam Luo relaxed and said with a sigh of relief, “Well, I have a hard time in concentrating because of Zhu’s illness.” After a pause, she helplessly looked at Mammy Tang whom she trusted the most and asked, “In your opinion, Yi dreamed of Zhu’s death in advance. Is it auspicious or not? What should we do?”

Mammy Tang replied, “When Third Miss said that, I didn’t believe her at all, so I didn’t ask her about the details. Now, I think Third Miss has been saved once by the immortal. So, she is blessed. Will an immortal protect our family this time, and save our children again through Third Miss?”

“Is it true, Hong Jiang?” Madam Luo asked with her eyes shining.

Mammy Tang couldn’t think of more words to comfort Madam Luo when she thought about her conversation with He Danggui before. She was self-condemned, “It’s my fault that I did not let the Third Miss finish speaking. Now Zhu’s life is uncertain. If there is an immortal who wants to help us but I delay the time, then I will be a sinner! What if I go back to the Shui Shang Temple this night and ask Third Miss about her dream before making plans…”

Miss Ji stood at the door and knocked on the pearwood door. She said sadly, “Madam Luo, a person from the First Branch comes to announce Zhu’s death.”

※※※

Before dawn, He Danggui took a rest at the intersection at the foot of the mountain with Chan Yi and Huai Hua. They put the prepared food on the luggage and talked about the “unwanted guest” who followed them all the way down the mountain.

“Beautiful! Its eyes are light green, and the fur is white and pure.” Chan Yi swallowed a mouthful of lotus cake and asked He Danggui, “It’s following us. Does it want our desserts?”

He Danggui shook her head and said, “I’ve heard that dogs eat pasta. How can wolves eat this? It must want meat.”

Huai Hua looked at the fluffy ball in the size of a palm, and the infinite maternal love came to her heart. She begged He Danggui, “My lady, shall we adopt it? It’s too small to find food by itself. If it starves to death, it’s pathetic! You see it’s staring at your face. It’s with human mind!”

He Danggui hurriedly put a pumpkin cake into mouth, clapped the powder on her hands and said, “Yeah, if you don’t remind me, I almost forget it!” Then she took out a small box with painted flowers on the magnetic cover from her waist, looked around and smiled, “I was afraid that the sweat would wash it away, so I thought of applying it to my face at the foot of the mountain. I remember a stream in the north. I will use it as the mirror. Eat slowly and wait for me. Besides, don’t get close to that little beast. Be careful about it. It may bite you!” Then she walked away quickly.

Huai Hua asked Chan Yi curiously, “What is she going to do? Powder her face with the mirror?”

Chan Yi just nodded, “Maybe. You’ll know it after she comes back. Hey, Huai Hua, we can play with that snow-white wolf before she comes back. Look! It is wagging its tail!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve lived in the countryside for over 10 years, but I’ve never seen a snow-white wolf. It followed us all the way, so it must be unable to find its mother and want to eat!”

With a dreamy smile on the face, two girls blinked and walked to the little white wolf that was not far away. Holding a few pieces of pastries in their hands, they approached it step by step. Originally, that little white wolf sat on the ground, watching the girls. But after seeing them moving toward, it stood up immediately, and then tilted its head and opened its mouth, as if it was smiling.

The moment they approached, the wolf, like a fluffy ball, leaped from the ground suddenly. As it leaped to the highest point, opened its mouth and bit Huai Hua’s finger.

“Ow!” Huai Hua swung her arms and backed up. “Help! My lady! Help!” Chan Yi screamed out in terror.

A green shadow flashed with the smell of grass, stretching out a hand to catch the wolf. At the same time, an elegant and gentle female voice came from far to near, but it appeared slower than that green shadow. “Girls, you’re very naughty. Didn’t I tell you not to approach it?” He Danggui held the wolf which was kicking, and said to Huai Hua, “Fortunately, it still has no teeth, or you will need its blood to remove the poison.”

Huai Hua was so scared that she started crying wildly. A seventeen-year-old tall lady was still like a child in front of He Danggui. She sobbed, “It bit me… It bit me even without teeth…”

He Danggui shook her head and blamed, “What can you expect from a wolf? Drinking blood and eating meat are its nature.” Then she threw the wolf, put a pheasant whose neck was broken in front of it, and shouted, “Get out of here. Don’t follow me again!”

Even the untamable animals would fear the strong. That wolf felt the powerful force from He Danggui, the slimmest girl among the three. With fear in its light green eyes, it bent its front legs and placed its head on the ground, as if it kowtowed to He Danggui. When Chan Yi looked at it unbelievably, the wolf pawed to stand up, carried that pheasant bigger than it and ran away.

He Danggui turned to look at the girls with a smile and said, “I happened to see a pheasant with colorful feathers in the grass, so I wanted to test my knack for hunting. Huh! It had a bad luck. I just caught it as I collect the grass…”

“Your… your face!” Huai Hua gazed at He Danggui’s face. Then she stopped crying, and asked in surprise, “What happened to your face?”

Chan Yi patted her shoulder to calm her, “Don’t worry! She just powdered her face. It is a kind of powder for holding beauty, which also was used by the consorts of Emperor Wu in Han Dynasty!”

A powder for holding beauty? Huai Hua was shocked by that sallow face. Originally, the Miss had a very delicate face, but now it became sallow. Huai Hua didn’t know whether what she saw was true or not. The Miss’s eyes looked smaller but the nose and the mouth looked bigger, and there were also a few freckles on the bridge of her nose… In a word, the Miss really became ugly!

※※※

“I’m sorry, Chief! I, I didn’t mean it!” Liao Zhiyuan held Lu Jiangbei up in a hurry. His face was full of regret as if he wanted to kill himself right now to apologize.

Lu Jiangbei waved his hands and said nothing. He just sat beside the rosewood table with Liao Zhiyuan’s help. He meditated to adjust his breath for a while. Then the natural color in his face revived, but he still looked tired. Lu Jiangbei talked to Liu Sui, “Miss, I want to eat lotus-nuts sweet soup. Could you make it for me please?” Liu Sui nodded and went to the kitchen.

Watching that Liu Sui walked away, Lu Jiangbei turned to talk to Liao Zhiyuan seriously, “Lynx, I have some issues to tell you. And you should tell Gao Jue and Childe Duan when you meet them.” Seeing Liao Zhiyuan’s serious face, Lu Jiangbei was gratified, “The first thing I will tell you is a top secret. Last time, Gao Jue asked me about it, but I didn’t tell him. But now I become… You are the most reliable man to me. Listen carefully and tell it to them. But you shouldn’t tell others from the imperial guard. Got it?”

Liao Zhiyuan hugged Lu Jiangbei hastily and said almost in tears, “Chief, I just punched you once. Indeed, it’s a little hard. But you don’t have to say your last words! Go! Lie down on the bed, and I’ll give you a treatment!”

Lu Jiangbei got rid of this man immediately and rebuked him weakly, “Stupid lynx! How could you curse me? I’m just going to meditate in the icehouse under the Baisha Mountain Villa. And I need you to do my unfinished tasks. You should say these are my last words? How dare you! Stupid lynx! When I end my meditation next month, I will come for… Eh-hem, you.” Lu Jiangbei coughed out blood.

“Don’t say anything. I treat you with my internal force!” Liao Zhiyuan was shocked and wanted to help Lu Jiangbei get into the bed to receive treatment.

Lu Jiangbei still rejected, “No, thanks. Your internal force is not helpful to me. Even if I do it by myself, it will take half month to recover 60 to 70 percent. I can recover until the end of next month. So, I sent you to do my job.”

Liao Zhiyuan persuaded in tears, “I won’t charge you, so please allow me to treat you! Now that I can hurt you, I can heal you too!”

“My injury has nothing to do with you! Your fists are softer than cotton, so how could you hurt me? In fact, I was hurt by someone else yesterday. Just now my injury recurred, so it’s not your fault.” Lu Jiangbei explained in a weak tone, “Yesterday, from 19:00 to 21:00, on the official road to the Yingtian Prefecture, I met a masked man who was called by a killer of Wuying Tower as ‘Gezhu’. So, I decided to follow him. But he was very alert and found me hiding in the wormwood. After a few words, we began to fight. His kung fu was even as superior as mine. However, I was alone, and he had eight powerful men to help him. The situation was bad for me. Finally, I used my kill shot unawares to defeat him, but I suffered serious internal injury too. I escaped under the toxic fume.”

Liao Zhiyuan was captivated by his story and stammered, “Do you know who he is?’

Lu Jiangbei nodded, “There are four people in my mind. But the most possible one is Lord Ning, Zhu Quan.”