Chapter 16 Tai Chen was tied up by the officials

When it was getting dark, Zhen Jing came back after fetching the water. She said with a smile, “Xiaoyi, I heard that the two ‘chivalrous men’ and other guests came back together. But as soon as they were about to step in the gate, they were respectfully invited by Zhen Gong to Fu Mian Yard of Younger Master Tai Chen.” He Danggui smiled and opened the oil-paper bag on the table, saying to Zhen Jing, “Come here, dear. I have some delicious food!” Zhen Jing turned her head and suddenly widened her big eyes in surprise, “This…Where did you get this?” He Danggui blinked mysteriously. She pulled Zhen Jing closer, pressed her on the stool, laughed and said, “The ‘Dream Goddess’ gave us this by the same way as that pot of wine. You can eat it. Don’t worry.” He Danggui picked up a dried meat slice and put it into Zhen Jing’s hands, “This is a famous snack of Fengyang City, ‘Crispy Dried Meat Slice with Sesames’. Have a taste. I have to eat the congee for some days before I can eat meat. You enjoy it first. Remember to eat slowly.” Zhen Jing stood up quickly and said, “Let me make congee for you first.” He Danggui pushed her back to the stool. She rolled up her sleeves and said, “We just have some red berries, brown sugar and wolfberries. Let me make a bowl of ‘Three Red Soup’ that can tonify vital energy and blood. It will cure your sickness and help you keep healthy!” Zhen Jing grinned, “These words were most popular among quack doctors.” Then, Zhen Jing was surprised by He Danggui who was very skilled in making a fire. She was more sophisticated than Zhen Jing. When the water was boiling, He Danggui turned the fire down. Then she slowly melted the brown sugar in the water and poured the hand-made rice puree into the pot. When the “Three Red Soup” was just finished, with the whole room pervaded by its fragrance, He Danggui and Zhen Jing suddenly heard a noise from Fu Mian Yard in the north. He Danggui bent over to stir the soup. After hearing that noise, she smiled, “it’s done.” Zhen Jing’s little mouth was stuffed with the dried pork slices and beef jerky. She asked vaguely, “What happened in Fu Mian Yard? It’s so noisy.” He Danggui filled two bowls with “Three Red Soup” and put two snow-white spoons beside the bowls. She replied with a smile, “Maybe someone was roaring drunk. Leave them alone and taste our soup.” Zhen Jing grabbed the spoon and scooped a spoon of soup up. After blowing on the soup, she couldn’t help tasting it casually. She murmured, “Ha-ha! I have never drunk such delicious soup…” He Danggui laughed at her, “Come on, be careful. Don’t burn your mouth.” She thought, “The show has just begun. It’ll be a pity if we don’t have a look.” A tall and thin Taoist nun stumbled out of Fu Mian Yard. She ran a few steps and paused, and then ran straightly toward Ku Qiao Yard, where the Master Tai Xi lived. A lot of cooking liquor was on her Taoist robe and cloth shoes. Zhen Wei recalled Master Tai Chen’s words, “Be quick! Go and ask Master Tai Xi to intercede for me! Don’t call the despicable Tai Shan. She would only add insult to my injury!” Then, Zhen Wei quickened her pace. However, when she arrived at Ku Qiao Yard, she found that it was bright inside and almost all Taoist nuns were there, including Master Tai Shan. Master Tai Xi wore a dark black Taoist robe with a tight chignon. She grabbed Zhen Wei hurriedly as soon as Zhen Wei came in, and asked anxiously, “Speak quickly! What happened over there?” Tai Shan also gloated and said, “Yes, all of us were suddenly awakened. What happened there? Tell us quickly!” Zhen Wei wept and said to Tai Xi, “Bad News! those guests… My Master ran out of the room, and somebody threw a wine glass at her. Then she suddenly couldn’t move a little… Another guest tied my Master up…” “Tied her up?” Tai Xi and Tai Shan questioned at the same time. Both of them were incredulous. Tai Xi didn’t know about the guests. Although Tai Shan knew that those guests were officials, she didn’t understand why they tied Tai Chen up. Tai Shan thought that the noise might be made from the guests who used their broadswords to cut the table because the Taoist nuns led by Tai Chen made mistakes and annoyed them during the dinner. But now, Tai Chen was actually tied up by the officials. This could be a serious or minor matter, which meant that it could be either Tai Chen’s fault or the whole Taoist temple’s fault. Tai Shan was panic too. She had lent out more than 200 liang sliver in the name of Shui Shang Temple as usury, which was originally prepared to ensure her life when she was old! What could she do if the borrowers ran away without paying her money back after the temple was closed? Thinking of this, Tai Shan began to beat her brains out to find a way to protect the Taoist temple. “Protect the Taoist temple… Yes, there is!” Tai Shan quickly instructed the little Taoist nun Zhen Ming beside her, “Go to the East Wing-room as fast as you can! Told Miss He… Oh no, invite her to come over!” Seeing the confusion of Tai Xi, Tai Shan said, “I don’t know why Miss He gets along well with the guests, and they are very kind to her.” Tai Xi was like grasping a life-saving straw, repeatedly saying “Bless you”. She was idealess and not good at speaking, especially when talking to men. So, she asked Tai Shan to explain on her behalf when they arrived there after a while. Tai Shan glanced at Tai Xi contemptuously and agreed. Tai Shan let Zhen Wei talk about the causes and effects of the incident, but Zhen Wei perplexedly said that she was not serving inside, so she didn’t know what happened. She only saw Master Tai Chen suddenly ran out and screamed for help. Tai Shan frowned and thought that she could only go there and see what happened. She turned her head and saw that many Taoist nuns had picked up tools like hoes, hatchets, brooms, hossu, spoons and shovels in their hands. Tai Shan was extremely angered, “Did you want to use these bad tools to fight with the officials?” Then she scolded them all to put the tools down immediately. Thereafter, Tai Xi, Tai Shan and all Taoist nuns went to Fu Mian Yard together. When they arrived, they saw two of the guests standing outside the door, as if they were waiting for them. With a big smile on the face, Tai Shan ran forward in small steps and said flatteringly, “All right, all right, please calm down! How did the mad woman Tai Chen offend you? If you want to catch her, then just catch her only. This had nothing to do with us!” The two officials did not speak, and only made a gesture to invite them in. But when Tai Shan and other followers entered the yard, the two officials quickly followed them and then closed and locked the door. All the Taoist nuns were terrified for a time. Some of them cried, some of them screamed, some of them begged for mercy and the rests pounded on the door… ※※※ Zhen Ming ran into the East Wing-room in a flurry. She could only see darkness since there wasn’t any light. There were over 20 rooms. She didn’t know which room Miss He lived in. “Miss He, Miss He!” Zhen Ming took two steps forward tremblingly. Zhen Ming had nyctalopia. As long as there was no light at night, she could not even see her fingers. “Miss He, Miss He, Miss He…” Zhen Ming called continuously. After taking more steps, Zhen Ming didn’t dare to go inside further. Since she went to steal the sacrifices that night and saw the scene that He Danggui sat up from the coffin, she had a specific fear of her. Zhen Ming would steer by the East Wing-room when she passed it, not to mention the midnight. She shouted again in the yard, but no one answered. Then, Zhen Ming left after hesitating a while. A moment later, a room was suddenly bright, and two slender shadows were reflected on the new window paper. “Xiaoyi, why did Zhen Ming come to you? Why didn’t we answer her?” Zhen Jing looked at He Danggui curiously. She always felt that He Danggui knew lots of stratagems like the “female scholar” in the drama. He Danggui raised the bowl with a smile and said, “Give me another bowl of soup. Then I might tell you.” Zhen Ming walked out of the East Wing-room, hesitated for a while and then ran to the Fu Mian Yard where everyone was. As she passed the bamboo grove, a dark shadow jumped out and hit her. Zhen Ming was so frightened that she backed a few steps and fell to the side of the road. Zhen Ming found that the shadow was Huai Wen, so she cursed angrily, “Are you rushing to reincarnate!” Huai Wen was crying out of breath. She shook her head and said, “It’s over. It’s over… Our Taoist temple was about to be closed!” Zhen Ming was scared and angry. She asked Huai Wen, “What’s wrong? Are you crazy?” Huai Wen shook her head and wailed, “Those guests said that they came from the imperial palace… They are the imperial guards! They have found ‘bribes’, ‘banned medicine’ or something else in Master Tai Chen’s yard. I didn’t listen it clearly. Their general meaning is that our Shui Shang Temple is now a nest of bribes. The Masters and all Taoist nuns were detained in Fu Mian Yard… Shui Shang Temple will be closed!” Zhen Ming was so scared with her lips trembling. She asked repeatedly, “The imperial guards? Are they that kind of officials who are working for the Emperor? Are they going to kill all of us? Hide! We must hide somewhere safe. But where is safe for us?” Huai Wen twitched and said, “Since Sister Zhen Zhu held me behind the crowd, we didn’t enter Fu Mian Yard. As soon as everyone entered the yard, the two imperial guards locked the door. Thereafter, we hid behind the rockery to eavesdrop. Sister Zhen Zhu felt the situation was bad, so she let me find Miss He. She said that Miss He can save the Taoist temple. Sister Zhen Zhu is still observing the situation behind the rockery. Oh! She also said that I should lead Miss He to the Medicine Room. She heard that imperial guards were going to the Medicine Room to search for bribes.” Zhen Ming said perplexedly, “I’ve been to the East Wing-room just now. It was horrible and cold, and there’s no light and no one answered me, no matter how many times I shouted. It was really frightening…” Huai Wen wiped away her tears and said, “Sister Zhen Zhu won’t be wrong. She asked me to find Miss He and said that Miss He can save us. So, we must find Miss He! Let’s go!” Then Huai Wen ran towards the East Wing-room. Zhen Ming caught up in a harry. After only a few steps, they saw He Danggui and Zhen Jing walking slowly towards them. Huai Wen ran forward and was surprised, “Miss He, I finally find you! Sister Zhen Zhu asked me to find you and she said that you can save the Taoist temple!” He Danggui nodded and replied, “I have just fallen asleep, but I heard that the northern yard was very clamant. So, I’m going to have a look. Where should I go?” “The Medicine Room! You don’t know that the guests in Fu Mian Yard were suddenly…” Huai Wen cried again when she mentioned the incident. He Danggui took the lead towards the Medicine Room and said calmly, “Tell me while walking.” Zhen Jing and Huai Wen both kept up with He Danggui, while Zhen Ming followed far behind them after a short hesitation. Zhen Ming felt a little insecure. She heard that the entire Taoist temple had treated He Danggui harshly since she came back to life. They refused to give her food or drink for several days. All of them still cursed her for dying early and blamed her for blocking their being rich. Was He Danggui really willing to save the Taoist temple? And most importantly, did she have the ability to save the Taoist temple? On the way, Huai Wen told the whole incident to He Danggui while crying. He Danggui walked slowly and bowed her head while thinking. Zhen Jing was scared after hearing the whole incident, so she poked at He Danggui and whispered, “Hey, what can we do after arriving there? Those people are imperial guards! Investigation is their specialty, we…” As Zhen Jing was saying, they had seen the Medicine Room far away. It was bright, and the men’s voice could be heard faintly. He Danggui smiled at Zhen Jing and said softly, “Don’t worry. First, I’m not the Taoist nun, and I came here soon. This incident was none of my business. Second, the evidences were prerequisites for the imperial guards in investigating the case. They would never arrest anyone without the evidence. All of you, wait for me in that boscage. Don’t run around. I’ll go inside and ask about the case, and find out something more from them.” Seeing that they had gone, He Danggui turned around and walked to the Medicine Room. She stood by the door and knocked. The sound inside the room stopped immediately, and then the door was opened. A strong and tall body stood at the door, almost blocking the entire door and looking absolutely oppressive against the lights. Gao Jue frowned and stared at the little girl in front of him. He asked coldly, “Why are you here? It is not where you can be! Get away!” When He Danggui was about to say something, she saw that the tall man in front of her shook violently, and suddenly flew sideways, hitting on the left wall. Duan Xiaolou appeared at the door. He made a posture to let her in and said, “The frost and dew are heavy at night. You are weak now! Come in and warm yourself.” Liao Zhiyuan was laughing inside, “Miss He, Come in please. Only half a day haven’t seen you, but I feel that I have passed one and a half years…” He Danggui felt they were funny. The imperial guards were the synonyms of coldness and ruthlessness, but why the words and deeds of Duan Xiaolou and Liao Zhiyuan were so different from other imperial guards she had seen before. He Danggui didn’t refuse them and walked in. She saw that the room was in a mess, as if it was robbed. She couldn’t help raising her eyebrows gently, thinking about what happened.