Chapter 88 - The remarkable memory of He Danggui
Chapter 88 The remarkable memory of He Danggui
“Ho–”
“Ho! Ho! Ho–”
“Ah! Miss, look at that! There is something wrong with Madam Luo’s gharry!” Chan Yi retracted her head from the window and said fretfully, “That gharry is very fast! It’s a block far away from us!”
“Wow! Miss, see. A lot of stalls on the two sides of the street were crashed by Madam Luo’s gharry!” Huai Hua retracted her head from the window on the other side of the gharry and added in excitement, “Her gharry not only runs fast, but also runs in this way…” She gesticulated, “The gharry runs diagonally over there. There is a fork ahead. What should we do if Madam Luo’s gharry crashes other’s gharry?”
He Danggui took out a veil to put on from her dyeing cloth-wrapper, and then shouted at the driver Ren Dongteng, “Mr. Ren, stop the gharry quickly!”
Madam Luo’s gharry dashed around the street. Were the horses out of control? It was so strange. The gharry of Madam Luo matched the well-trained fine horses. Even if someone threw the lighted firecracker on their hoofs, they wouldn’t be scared and dashed around. Besides, the street was normal just now. She didn’t remember that the horses were disturbed. Now, Nie Chun was not with Madam Luo, so she had to stop the gharry by herself… If she exposed her kung fu, she had to make up another immortal, “Immortal C”, to cover it up.
“Ho–” Her gharry stopped. Ren Dongteng turned his head and asked, “Third Miss, are you going to see what happened to Madam Luo’s gharry? It’s so dangerous. It seems that the three horses of the gharry are out of control!”
“It’s OK. You just pull over and wait for me. Don’t move! I’ll be back soon!” He Danggui said.
With the door curtain opened, He Danggui leapt out of the gharry airily and rushed toward that messy street. She saw Madam Luo’s gharry turning left and disappearing from her view. Even if she ran like a deer, she couldn’t catch up it, because there were so many people and objects in the street to block her way. Therefore, she had to “fly”. In the previous life, although her internal force was poor, she could use her arts of lightness to leap on the roofs. Now, her internal force was better than that in the previous life, but she had not tried the arts of lightness. Did she need to do the “test flight” right now?
At this time, the gharry of Madam Luo almost hit a passer-by. Luckily, that person got out of the way in time.
He Danggui took two deep breaths in restlessness, and she recited the formula of the first-class arts of lightness, “Listening to the inside voice of your heat, holding your breath, closing your mouth, fixing your limbs, then meditating, thinking your way of your heart first, severing all your desires second, developing harmony of the body and the mind gradually, which is called ‘Keeping’… Damn it! What was the next?” She continued, “If you have lots of distracting thoughts, and keep thinking the trifles, the pneuma won’t gather…”
At this time, the gharry of Madam Luo knocked over a stall of tea eggs. The boiled soup, red-brown eggs, and burning charcoal splashed all over the ground.
“Oh, I’m wrong! I’m wrong! The next should be ‘Relieving the fatigue of your body, making your mind focus…’ But, these segments of the formula seemed to be not special for the arts of the lightness. Although the formula had some effects on the arts of lightness, it’s not specialized. Who knows whether I could make it or not!” Then He Danggui decided to choose a regular formula to recite. Then according to the description in the formula, she could remind that specific rhythm before she flew…
At this time, the gharry of Madam Luo had already turned left, and confronted another rushing gharry. It seemed that there would be a great crash next moment.
He Danggui scratched her neck fretfully. Oh, she remembered it. The formula of the first-class arts of lightness should be the contents in the part two of the third volume of Xiao Yao Wei Dang. Well, who could remind her? She had a remarkable memory. As long as someone told her the first sentence, she could recite the whole formula…
“Ho–”
“Ho–”
The noise on the front stopped because Madam Luo’s gharry stopped and so did the confronting gharry. The squeals on the street were also weakening.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you? You drive so fast. Are you trying to kill others?” A teenager dressed like a manservant jumped from the gharry on the opposite, pointed at Madam Luo’s gharry and cursed, “Fuck your mother! You almost killed my Young Lord! Are you mad?”
On the other side, Gui Banjiao, who drove for Madam Luo, also pointed at the manservant and cursed, “The son of tortoise! You just throw your master’s weight around. How dare you be rude to my master? I will whip you to the hell!”
“Hey, you are so ingrate. My Young Lord helped you halt the gharry. You are not grateful but curse us!” Another manservant jumped from the gharry on the opposite and spoke for the first manservant, “The son of tortoise is cursing whom?”
Gui Banjiao faced two enemies, but he had a great momentum, “The son of tortoise is cursing you!”
The two menservants looked at each other, and suddenly laughed, “Ha-ha. Ha-ha… He is the son of tortoise! Ha-ha!”
Gui Banjiao was so angry that he dashed to them to hit them. Unexpectedly, these teenagers were well-trained. The first manservant walked sideways easily to avoid Gui Banjiao’s attack. The second just lifted his feet to trip Gui Banjiao up.
Though Gui Banjiao fell down, he rose again. Getting up off the ground quickly, he grabbed his horsewhip and attacked them again. The two menservants were so excited. The first manservant rolled his sleeves, pinched his fists, and turned his neck. The second manservant made his hands circle. His motion seemed like the first gesture of Tai Chi. They were ready to have a big fight.
“Stop!” He Danggui stepped forward and shouted down Gui Banjiao, “Mr. Gui, do you want to let Madam Luo and Mammy Tang sit in the gharry and listen to your curse? Go and ask Madam Luo if she is good. Does she need to find a tea house to settle down?” She was speechless with Gui Banjiao since he could fight with others for no reason. If she wasn’t wrong, Gui Banjiao was already 49 years old now.
“Stop!” A cold male voice almost sounded at the same time with He Danggui to stop those two active menservants, “Feng Yan and Feng Yu! You two just go back into the gharry to take care of Childe Ning. We don’t have too much time. Why do you have time to have fun?”
The cold voice had a good effect on ceasing this fight, and the two menservants were about to go back to their gharry. But He Danggui’s words “Mr. Gui” was more attractive than their Young Lord. They looked at each other and laughed again, “Ha-ha. Ha-ha… His last name is ‘Gui’! Ha-ha!” (‘Gui’ was the Chinese character for tortoise.)
Gui Banjiao was infuriated again. “Shit! It was a great honor for a servant to gain a name from the master. I had this name for 30 years. No one in Luo’s Family dared to make fun of me. How dare you two brats make fun with my name!”
This time, before He Danggui said something to stop Gui Banjiao, the curtain of Madam Luo’s gharry was opened suddenly. Miss Ji leaned out and said anxiously, “Help! Madam Luo feels her chest pain, and Mammy Tang twists her ankle!” Then she immediately saw He Danggui in a veil standing at a short distance, so she asked her for help, “Third Miss, come and check for Madam Luo. She feels dizzy and chest pain. She has a terrible time!” Then He Danggui went into the gharry and checked for Madam Luo.
Gui Banjiao also gave up his fight quickly, and went back the gharry, waiting for the order from masters. However, on the opposite, two menservants were still laughing. Their Young Lord stomped angrily. Then he pulled out a folding fan to knock their heads, and wanted to rebuke them. At this time, the curtain of their gharry opened too. A comely teenager dressed like a manservant leaned out and said anxiously, “Childe Feng, something bad happened. My master feels extremely bad! We should find an inn nearby and check in quickly!”
Thereupon, they went back to their gharry and check what had happened. The dispute between the servants then ceased.
After getting on the gharry and checking Madam Luo’s body, He Danggui found that Madam Luo just got motion sickness and was frightened, so she had a relapse. Now, she was too dizzy and feeble to have strength, so she leaned on Mammy Tang’s shoulder with her eyes closed. Mammy Tang punched her legs and blamed herself, “It is all my fault. Seeing that Madam Luo has motion sickness, I let the guards who ride fast horses go back first. Now there are only two gharries left, we can’t depend on anyone!”
Thinking for a moment, He Danggui looked up and asked Mammy Tang, “Mammy, I gave you four pills for motion sickness yesterday. Do you have any left?”
Mammy Tang who looked pale nodded, “There are still four pills. I haven’t eaten yet.” Then she took off a wooden box from the pouch worn at the girdle and said worriedly, “It seems that Madam Luo has a relapse. Third Miss, are you sure that your pill could work?” Even if the Third Miss had deft fingers, she could just make tea. After all, she was an illiterate child. Were the pills she made safe? “I hope that her pills won’t make Madam Luo’s condition worse.” Mammy Tang thought.
Instead of waking up Madam Luo to take the pill, He Danggui took a pill directly and stuffed it into Madam Luo’s mouth. Seeing this, Mammy Tang was so nervous. “How was Third Miss so bold? Third Miss, please don’t poison Madam Luo by your pills. Bah! Bah! Bah! What a jinx…”
Next, Mammy Tang felt her shoulder relieved. Madam Luo who had leaned on Mammy Tang’s shoulder now sat up straight, with her eyes lighting up. She looked at He Danggui and asked, “Yi, what kind of pill is this? Where is it from?”
He Danggui blinked and asked, “Grandma, is there something wrong with you after taking the pill? If you feel bad, it is all my fault since the pill is made by me!” Mammy Tang thought angrily, “It was all your fault to feed Madam Luo on your pill. I persuaded you. People couldn’t take pill carelessly.”
Madam Luo shook her head, “No, I feel good. The first-class pill is light and silky, and it’s easy to dissolve; the second-class pill is dry and caky, so you need to chew; and the third-class pill is heavy and astringent, and you need to swallow. Your pill is the top-class pill, and it almost melts in the mouth. It gets the effect instantly. In our San Qing Tang, we could just make a pill like this by using the best skill and best tools. You said that you made it. It’s impossible. Who taught you to make pills?” Madam Luo was so surprised that her voice became loud and crisp, with a tone of interrogation.