Chapter 15 Prelude to the banquet

Glancing at He Danggui who was calm, Tai Chen thought He Danggui seemed to get along well with those guests. Maybe she could learn something from He Danggui. Thinking of this, Tai Chen couldn’t help smiling, and asked in a softer voice, “Miss He, what kinds of herbal medicines do you usually take at home? I can prepare for you.” Hearing her words, He Danggui looked at her and smiled, “Master Tai Chen, you don’t have to do that for me. I’ll get my herbal medicines tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.” Although Tai Chen didn’t understand He Danggui’s meaning, she didn’t think about it more because she just wanted to be polite to He Danggui. If He Danggui really asked her for herbal medicines, she wouldn’t give her easily. So, Tai Chen asked tentatively, “They left in a hurry. What are they going to do?” He Danggui showed a thoughtful look and said intermittently, “They seemed to say something like ‘patrolling the mountain’, but maybe I misheard. There are many good herbal medicines in the capital. Why did they find herbs at the remote place?” He Danggui covered her mouth quickly and smiled nervously, “I was just talking to myself. Master Tai Chen, please forget what I said just now.” Though Tai Chen tried to restrain herself, she showed a frisson of excitement. She hesitated for a second and asked, “The guests chatted with you yesterday. So, did they mention what they do for a living?” He Danggui shook her head, “They were just curious about my experience and asked me a few questions. They said nothing about themselves. But…” “What?” Tai Chen asked eagerly. He Danggui bowed her head and frowned, with her dewy eyes shining. Then she murmured, “I only heard a few words, so I don’t dare to spread a rumor casually. But as I left the door with Master Tai Shan, I did hear that one of them mentioned ‘knockout drugs’. Therefore, I don’t dare to accept the pills of Childe Duan today…” Tai Chen’s eyes became amazingly bright. She paced back and forth for a while and said with a smile, “Miss He, I have some business to do in the backyard, so I have to go. I’ll dispense a prescription for you another day.” He Danggui looked at her and said sincerely, “Take care of yourself, Master Tai Chen.” Watching Tai Chen’s figure, He Danggui sneered. The old saying that cleverness might overreach itself was a perfect description of Tai Chen. Looking thoughtfully at the Sanqing Immortals, He Danggui smiled again. Tai Chen left in a hurry because of excitement and forgot to take her snack. After tonight, she wouldn’t want to fetch this snack. He Danggui thought it was better to take it back to treat Zhen Jing. ※※※ In autumn, the weather was gradually blazing after the noon, greedily steaming away the moisture from the ground. “Zhen Wei, come here!” Tai Chen beckoned to Zhen Wei in the courtyard. A tall and thin Taoist nun about 20 years old ran over and asked politely, “Master, Biddy Lei had come here. Had we asked her to bring wine and meat?” Tai Chen waved her hand impatiently, “Okay, don’t ask me about such a trifle thing. Don’t you see how keen-witted and capable Tai Shan’s first disciple is? Learn from her!” Zhen Wei held back her anger. Tai Chen took a silver ingot, and then took one string of 1000 qian after thinking. She stared at Zhen Wei and said seriously, “Now I assign an important task to you. If you can handle it smoothly, I’ll admit that you are more capable than Zhen Zhu, and I’ll let you gain advantages in the future.” Zhen Wei glanced at the silver ingot in Tai Chen’s hand excitedly and nodded vigorously, “Master, just tell me what to do. I’ve already wanted to show my ability.” Tai Chen looked around, and then whispered, “Listen, go to find a few nuns who were collecting firewood and ask them whether they saw the guests in the mountain. If the nuns say they’ve met them in the mountain before, go to the kitchen, give the silver ingot to the new chef, and tell him to make a sumptuous meal. The standard of the meal should be higher than that of Tai Shan. Do you understand?” Zhen Wei nodded hesitantly. Although she didn’t remember all the words, she didn’t dare to ask questions. Seeing her puzzled look, Tai Chen cursed her angrily and retold the words. Until Zhen Wei could repeat it, Tai Chen nodded and let her leave. “It was said that fancy finding by sheer luck what one has searched for far and wide.” Tai Chen stood alone in the yard and burst into laughter. She was extremely excited. He Danggui, who was separated from Tai Chen by a wall, smiled too, holding a package of snack. He Danggui walked back to the East Wing-room and didn’t meet others on her way back. Before she entered into the gate of the yard, she heard a man’s voice. It sounded like Duan Xiaolou and other guests. He Danggui frowned slightly, and walked towards them slowly. Then she saw Zhen Zhu, Zhen Jing, Duan Xiaolou, and Liao Zhiyuan standing at the porch and laughed, as if they were talking about something happy. Liao Zhiyuan wore a blue robe and Duan Xiaolou wore a scarlet robe. Both of them had excellent hearings, so they could hear He Danggui’s steps when she walked into the yard quietly, although they turned their back to the gate. Then they looked back together. Liao Zhiyuan greeted with a smile, “Miss He, how are you doing? Why do you walk so slowly? Duan Xiaolou and I can go back and forth for twenty times.” Duan Xiaolou smiled beside him. He Danggui smiled, “I saw you at noon, and even in the afternoon. We meet a lot today.” Liao Zhiyuan put his hand on Duan Xiaolou’s shoulder and sighed, “My silly friend had offended you unwittingly. So, when we were busy with our tasks, he had been in a daze. As the saying goes, it’s better for the doer to undo what he has done. So, I bring him here to apologize to you.” Duan Xiaolou punched Liao Zhiyuan angrily, “What are you talking about? It was you who said that you wanted to find clues here, and you needed me to accompany you.” Zhen Zhu burst into laughter and said to He Danggui, “Sister, I have an urgent thing but I didn’t find appropriate people to do that. I’m glad that the two childes are willing to help me. I just mentioned it casually, but they said that they’d be happy to help us. That’s great!” Seeing He Danggui’s confused look, Zhen Zhu explained, “When you are in good condition, your mother must be very happy. Although someone of Luo’s Family would inform her, I think we’d better inform her in advance by delivering her a letter from you.” He Danggui felt sad at the mention of her mother. She hoped to see her mother soon. Since she came back to life that night, the person she missed most was her mother. However, if she couldn’t gain a foothold in Luo’s Family, even if she picked her mother up from the Sanqing Temple, both her mother and she would be excluded. So, if she could write to her mother and comfort her, she could make an appointment with her about…Thinking of this, He Danggui’s eyes were moist. She looked at Duan Xiaolou and Liao Zhiyuan, asking urgently, “It’s 600 miles from here to the Mount Yurong. Are you really willing to help me?” Looking at the pitiful face in front of them, both Duan Xiaolou and Liao Zhiyuan nodded and promised, “You can rest assured. We have sunstreakers for sending letters at the foot of the mountain. They can deliver your letter tonight at the latest.” The sunstreaker was the name of a person and a horse. A horse could travel 800 miles a day and a person could travel 200 miles a day. The speed of a sunstreaker was only slower than that of runners of the imperial court. Regardless of waterways, mountain roads, high cliffs or deep valleys, the sunstreaker could deliver the letter to the destination. He Danggui felt excited and said, “Please wait a moment, I’ll write a letter right now!” Then she rushed into the room, even forgetting to thank them. Compared with the girl in the reserved look, she, with the true disposition, seemed to be lovelier in others’ eyes. So, Duan Xiaolou and Liao Zhiyuan didn’t think she was impolite, but smiled in unison. Seeing this, Zhen Zhu also smiled and brought a basket of red berries and green pears, “We don’t have good tea, but the fruits here are fresh. Why not eating fruits while waiting?” Duan Xiaolou and Liao Zhiyuan didn’t refuse. They sat down on the stone steps in front of the door, took the fruits and then began to eat. Zhen Jing ran into the room with He Danggui and laughed, “I didn’t expect that they are so nice! They are totally different from the officials I’ve seen before. That day…” Zhen Jing couldn’t help mentioning the first time she met them in the mountain. Worrying that she might say something about ‘fugitive’, He Danggui quickly covered her mouth. Both Duan Xiaolou and Liao Zhiyuan were seniors who were very observant. So, eavesdropping on people was a piece of cake for them. Zhen Jing suddenly realized that she had nearly made a mistake, so she bent over the table to watch He Danggui writing. Zhen Zhu brought the writing brushes, ink, paper, ink stones and an envelope this morning. He Danggui was thankful for Zhen Zhu. She thought, “Zhen Zhu was considerate towards me. It was a pity for such a good woman to stay in the Taoist temple all her life. Even if she didn’t want to remarry, in fact, she could also live a better life.” Thinking of this, He Danggui had written a two-page letter. Finally, she put a mark at the end of the letter. “Is that…a pig?” Zhen Jing tilted her head and thought, “Although I don’t recognize the words, I can understand the picture. Why do you draw a pig for your mother? Although it’s cute…” He Danggui made a face, “This is my zodiac sign.” Zhen Jing understood it all at once. After carefully drying the ink and packing the letter, He Danggui went to the door and handed it to Duan Xiaolou. She said sincerely, “Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.” The sunstreaker was a kind of messenger that ordinary people couldn’t hire even by money. Except the government, only the wealthy and influential families could hire the sunstreaker. Originally, He Danggui had planned to earn money first after going down the mountain, and then hire someone to deliver a letter to Mount Yurong. She was really pleased that now she sent the letter at least ten days earlier than she expected. Duan Xiaolou put the letter into his sleeves and laughed, “Never mind. I’ll go down the mountain and give the letter to the sunstreaker. Goodbye!” Then he rose into the air and flew away by stepping on the roofs. He Danggui and others were stunned. Liao Zhiyuan was choked by the pear core, “Ahem! Ahem! Wait for me!” Liao Zhiyuan beat his chest and finally swallowed the pear core. He looked at He Danggui and smiled helplessly, “I’ve worked with him for many years, but I haven’t seen him do anything like this. Miss He, you open my eyes now.” He Danggui smiled, “This time I owe you two a big favor. I’ll keep that in my mind and requite this.” Liao Zhiyuan waved his hand to say goodbye. After a flash of silver shot out from the sleeve, he leaped up the wall with the silver light and disappeared. Since it all happened in an instant, it seemed that he disappeared suddenly. Seeing the confusion of Zhen Jing and Zhen Zhu, He Danggui explained, “He may wind a thin steel cable around his wrist, with the other end of the steel cable attaching to a flying claw. When he used the tool, he made the flying flaw fixed on the other side of the wall and then flew away with the force of the steel cable.” Zhen Jing and Zhen Zhu tumbled to it and nodded suddenly. Zhen Zhu was very surprised, “How can you have such a wide range of knowledge at a young age? It’s the first time for me to see such a senior at my age.” He Danggui laughed, “Sister Zhen Zhu, you’re just 28 years old. Why do you say in a tone like Madam Luo of my family? But in fact, they could go down the mountain faster by walking through the main entrance of the Taoist temple. It’s strange. Why did they leap onto the roofs?” Zhen Jing rolled her eyes, “To show you how cool they are. Even a fool can understand it.” ※※※ Zhen Wei went to the Fu Mian Yard, and found Tai Chen in the courtyard. She was panting and said, “Master, according to your instructions, I asked Huai Tu and other nuns who collect firewood on the mountain every day…They said that they had seen the guests walking around the mountain many times as if they were looking for something. So, I went to find the new chef called Liu Laojiu. I gave him five liang silver and asked him to make a sumptuous meal for us. However, he said that he could only make a sumptuous meal including six delicious dishes with the best ingredients. So, three liang was totally enough. He wondered whether it was okay.” Tai Chen stared at Zhen Wei and asked nervously, “What did Huai Tu say? Think about it. Don’t miss a word!” Zhen Wei replied carefully, “They said that they had seen the guests walking around the mountain many times as if they were looking for something. They also asked the guests if they were lost and whether they needed their help in leading the way. But the guests said they just wandered around.” Tai Chen was excited as she thought. Then she took a silver about the size of a broad bean from her sleeve, and said, “Go to the kitchen again. Give this to Liu Laojiu, and tell him to make two tables of sumptuous meal. The extra one liang sliver is his wage. Let him cook the meals carefully.” Zhen Wei took the money and left. Tai Chen shouted in the courtyard again, “Zhen Gong, come here!” Hearing Tai Chen’s voice, Zhen Gong put down the herbs that she was about to dry in the yard, rushed towards her Master and asked happily, “Master, can I help you?” Seeing Zhen Wei running errands for Master Tai Chen and doing something important, she was very jealous. Tai Chen looked at Zhen Gong and said, “Put on clean clothes and stand in front of the mountain gate. When those guests come back, tell them that I’m going to invite them to dinner in the Fu Mian Yard tonight and please come to the dinner.” Looking at Zhen Gong who was excited, Tai Chen frowned, “Be calm and polite…If you didn’t invite them here, beware of being skinned!” Zhen Gong answered and then went to put on clean clothes. On reflection, Tai Chen summoned Zhen Ping, Zhen Jue and some other nuns, asking them to clean the rooms and the courtyard. Then she asked them to burn the most expensive agilawood in the censer, take out all precious decorations in the box and put them in conspicuous places. After a flurry, all people of the Taoist temple knew the dinner thing within two hours. Tai Chen was a famous skinflint in the Taoist temple. At ordinary times, if the low-ranking Taoist nuns asked her for herbal medicines as they got sick, Tai Chen would request them to offer 9 cashes to the immortals. What was more, one could only take the medicine for three days at a time. If you couldn’t recuperate within three days, you had to offer another 9 cashes to the immortals to get another three days’ medicines. Therefore, Tai Chen used the public Medicine Room as a mean of collecting money. So, all people were stunned by Tai Chen’s act tonight. She should entertain those strangers with sumptuous meals and paid out of her own pocket. Then, it was widely rumored that the banquet Tai Chen prepared and paid was much better than Tai Shan’s banquet paid with the money of the temple. All Taoist nuns praised Tai Chen for being generous. However, Tai Shan was furious at this and was comforted by Zhen Zhu who just came back from the East Wing-room.