Reborn: Revenge of the Concubine’s Daughter

He Danggui was sleeping in a daze but was suddenly woken up by He Fu, whose eyes were so bright as if two flames in them. That was so weird and made her suffocating.

Ever since He Danggui had moved into this new mansion, even if she had her own mother by her side, she never felt peaceful in mind like she did in the countryside. She still remembered that when she lived in the countryside, everyone had to work themselves to make a living no matter they were at the age of 4 or 70. If a family had an able-bodied man to farm, the old people and children of the family could do some less tired work such as husking and drying grain; if not, even a 4-year old kid needed to farm. Unfortunately, Qian Laowu’s home where He Danggui had lived was the latter.

Actually, the whole countryside belonged to Luo’s Family. When He Danggui was sent here that year, her identity was hidden. So, no one knew that girl who scratched mud in the farm was their landlord’s young lady. At that time, although He Danggui worked all day sweating like rain, she knew no grief and could eat chaff and vegetables happily for all of these were gained from her labor.

Living in this “He’s Mansion” owned by her mother, He Danggui lived in a standard lady’s chamber. Pearls and jade, rouge and face powder were placed on her dresser. And her room was full of colorful artifacts and decorations. They were so beautiful. And she could drink scented tea every day and smell fragrant wood burning in the bronze censer. This kind of life was so luxury that she couldn’t feel at home. Besides, about those “dad”, “grandma”, “aunt”, and “uncle”, every gaze in their eyes made her anxious.

So, when she suddenly saw her “dad” whose eyes were so bright at midnight, her first response was screaming.

He Fu was startled by her screaming. When he was about to take some actions, the lights in a room opposite the yard were on and a flash of light reflected on the beautiful paper-cut, which was He Danggui’s window decoration. He Fu hesitated in an instant, finally he glanced at He Danggui, and then jumped over the side window that he came from and ran away. After a while, a maid came to ask He Danggui what had happened, He Danggui was in confusion, so she only forced herself to say something barely reasonable to drive the maid away.

Suffering a sleepless night, when He Danggui got up in the early morning, she heard her mother was angrily rebuking servants in the main hall. She went closer and listened for a while, and then learnt that when her mother got up early, He Fu had gone away with his luggage that he had packed these days. And she asked dozens of servants, but no one saw him leaving. So, she just abreacted her anger on those servants by using a ruler to hit them on their backs one by one. After a short while, her fingers like white jade got hurt, so she threw that ruler and sat on the threshold to daze, then she started to cry.

Seeing her mother was so sad, He Danggui felt angry, so she went forward and persuaded her that she was not supposed to be sad about him because he didn’t worth this. She wanted to say this a long time ago that all the people in his family were disgusting.

Hearing this, her mother was in a rage again. She turned the pain of losing her husband on He Danggui, pointing her nose to rebuke, “You don’t look like a lady from an influential family at all. You bear no rules in your mind. You got little etiquette you should know. And you know nothing about respecting your elders!”, and something like these. The servants at the main hall were brought here from Luo’s Family when her mother got married, so the content of the rebuke was spread when they were back to Luo’s Family. And Luo Baishao got the message, too, so she told the female teacher that He Danggui had enmity toward her father and she was not her father’s sib daughter.

Her mother didn’t believe that her husband left without saying anything. After all, she treated him with softness and did everything he wanted her to do. She was just like a model of a good wife. Although she couldn’t deliver a baby for him, she had promised that he could marry concubines later. Also, he liked her daughter Yi, didn’t he?

So, her mother waited for her husband at the mansion for 2 months, but she didn’t even receive a letter from the capital. The servants gave her advice all the time. The first one said she should send a person to the capital to inquire the situation. Then the second one added that if he did marry someone else in the capital, he would be accused of bigamy, and then she could get the 1,000 liang silver he had defrauded from her. The third one said that Lord Luo Shuisheng, Senior Lord Luo’s nephew, was serving in Shuntian Prefecture of Northern Zhili. And his son-in-law, Master Nian was a high official in the capital, so they could ask Master Nian for help. In this way, He Fu would be punished easily…

Her mother read lots of books about theories of changing and fortune-telling during these 2 months. Gradually, she thought all of these were her fate. Maybe she was doomed to have no husband spending a lifetime with her, and she should accept it. So, she mortgaged the mansion and went back to Luo’s Family.

When she came home, the first thing she did was to ask Madam Luo, a faithful follower of Taoism, which Taoist temple nearby was blessed by the Immortals and which allowed pilgrims to live in. Madam Luo recommended to her Sanqing Temple that Luo’s Family supported to build long ago, saying that although the temple was far away from home, it was a good place to divert oneself from depression with an enchanting and secluded environment and comfortable condition. Madam Luo also said she had lived there for half a year. If Luo Chuanxiong couldn’t get used to vegetarian meal, she could bring two cooks to make meals at the kitchenette. Then He Danggui’s mother settled He Danggui at West Lateral court and rushed to Sanqing Temple to pursue peace of mind.

During the year He Danggui lived with her mother, she practiced the instrument hard and her skills could almost compare to those ladies who learned it since their childhoods. Even her dance and singing could also show in public to amuse the audience. If the female teacher tested her about these, she could show her study efforts in that year. But now the female teacher asked her and Luo Baishao to face the wall and introspect their faults for 2 hours. Also, they should hand in a composition about “father’s love” with no less than 1,000 characters.

When they were facing the wall, He Danggui was worried about the essay, while Luo Baishao wasn’t bothered at all. So, she asked her about that female teacher’s personality and what the consequence would be if she couldn’t hand in the homework. Luo Baishao glanced at her, suddenly took out a black pill from her waist with grinning, “That female teacher is ferocious. If one can’t finish homework, she will scratch one’s face. But if you eat the sugar, I will help you do your homework. I’m not lying. We can hook up fingers and make a pull in token of evidence.”

He Danggui swallowed the “sugar” that tasted bitter confusedly, hooked up fingers and made a pull with Luo Baishao. After she went back to West Lateral court after school, she didn’t feel free from anxiety, but she couldn’t work that homework out indeed. So, she had no choice but not to think about it.

When she got up the next morning, a maid asked her which clothes she wanted to wear to school. But when she was about to answer, her voice was like a broken gong that fizzed. She tried several times but couldn’t say a complete sentence at all, which made her feel quite suspicious.

When she arrived at the study in muddle, the female teacher ran out with tears, throwing pieces of papers at her feet, and then she questioned He Danggui, “I haven’t offended you. Why do you write me like this? Didn’t your family teach you to respect your teacher? I’m not capable of teaching a student like you! I don’t want your greeting gift like this! I’m leaving now!” Then she left with anger, leaving He Danggui there confusedly. He Danggui looked down to the daylily papers with neat handwriting next to her feet, but she couldn’t recognize even one word to figure out the situation.

In the study, Luo Baishao held Luo Baiqiong’s arm with a smile, “I didn’t expect it to be true that the female teacher gave birth to a baby before marriage. Hum! I have hated her for a long time. It’s so good that she could leave.” Luo Baiqiong cast a contemptuous eye at her, and spoke in a sweet voice, “Don’t pull my cloud veil-made shawl. It’s a Suzhou Embroidery. It took me a long time to look in the mirror and finally made it this way. And I want to show it in front of our elder male cousin tonight.”

As half a day passed, the event about Third Miss pissed a female teacher off to leave after two days’ classes was spread all over the East Yard. Madam Luo also got angry because the female teacher was a famous teacher she had been choosing for a long time. Within several months, the teacher had already improved Qiong and Shao’s poem class scores a lot, but Yi made her mad and leave! Mammy Tang immediately asked Gan Cao to serve plum tea and comforted Madam Luo for a long time to mollify her anger. Thinking of Luo Chuanxiong leaving Yi to her, Madam Luo sighed, “After all, she is not brought up in our family. Although she has a wild temper, she has a good-looking face. Let’s teach her gradually later.”

He Danggui could speak after 7 or 8 days. Originally, she wanted to tell on the fourth sister before Madam Luo. She wanted to say it was the fourth sister’s mischief by writing an essay on her name to piss the female teacher off and leave. But on second thought, only the fourth sister, the second sister and she knew about the homework assigned by the female teacher. If they didn’t admit it, Madam Luo would definitely trust her granddaughters by blood rather than her. Then she would get no justice but offend the fourth sister… So, she spared it in silence.

After that, something like this kind of mischief would happen 2 or 3 times every month. He Danggui who was “stupid” in Luo Baiqian’s description became cleverer than before thanks to Luo Baishao’s “training”, and she could avoid falling into the sister’s traps for many times. But Luo Baishao, the active girl, had treated her new third sister as a new toy. If her tricks worked successfully, she would definitely dance for joy; but if her cunning third sister avoided the tricks, she wouldn’t be upset but showed more interest in her third sister, trying to design more weird tricks to make her suffer.

In a word, if He Danggui fell into her traps, she would be so happy to eat another bowl of meal; but if He Danggui didn’t fall into her traps, she would be happier to enjoy a table of dishes, and then design tricks with energy to make He Danggui suffer. And she never felt tired and bored. Besides, according to Madam Luo, since He Danggui, an interesting toy, had left, Luo Baishao always complained that staying at the study was too boring, so she didn’t go there for months.

“Shao is a cute and active girl. She likes you so much that she scattered those things on your clothes. But she never meant to hurt you.” Madam Luo looked so kind as if an idol at a hall and persuaded He Danggui, “Maybe your fourth sister didn’t know what Diaoshanyao Powder was, and it must be given by the bad servants around her! You’re a good girl. Don’t take it to your heart. I will change all the servants in her yard. And when we get home, I will let your fourth sister pour tea to apologize to you. Is it okay?”

He Danggui beamed with joy and waved her hands, “It’s unnecessary. I know the fourth sister just played games with me. It’s too formal for her to apologize. She is very kind to me. She used to deliver some delicious food to me, so I am so grateful to her…”

“No, it’s not true!” Seeing He Danggui’s “stupid” behavior, Mammy Tang couldn’t help interrupting her and said in fairness, “Madam Luo, this time I can’t pretend not to know and hide the truth for Fourth Miss! In my opinion, Four Miss tried to harm Third Miss and ruin her good reputation on purpose! Madam Luo, Fourth Miss is adept at plotting at such a young age. It’s not a good sign. So, I earnestly request you to be determined to punish her this time!”