Chapter 23
Chapter 23 I’ll Drug You Anyway
But she was cool-headed, much more calculating than the third concubine. Her daughter Hua Mengshi smiled and tried to please Madam Hua, “Grandma, sister Qiyue is so filial, and you are so lucky.”
Madam Cheng agreed with a smile. “My Madam, Mengshi is right. Qiyue is finally sensible now. It indeed benefits our Hua family, especially you, my dear old Madam. Now we are sorry for the misunderstanding of Qiyue.”
The old Madam Hua felt happier to hear these words and asked Hua Qiyue and Tianci to sit beside her. At the same time, she ignored Madam Cheng’s complaints about Qiyue’s hiding of rare medicinal herbs.
She sat on the white jade couch curved with dragon and phoenix. This long couch made people feel cooler than other couches did in the muggy June.
Tianci sat down beside her with some timidity. At the sight of his scarred hands, she couldn’t help expressing her sympathy for him. “So evil! I can’t believe that there are so hard-hearted people abusing a child. Tianci, you can stay here and enjoy your days from now on. Hua family will take good care of you.”
Tianci got her and gently nodded his head after timidly glancing at Qiyue.
“My child, you have been suffered for years… alas, but that you bring luck to our family is beyond my expectation.” The old Madam Hua took Tianci’s hand in one hand and Qiyue’s in the other.
Hua Qiyue slightly smiled: The secret monk had given her the seed which could bear much more Long Reds and the old Madam Hua was clever enough to think of it.
She must have known how much she had got from the Long Reds.
“Good boy, this watermelon is very fresh and tasty.” Seeing Tianci’s devouring eyes on the watermelon, the old Madam Hua looked over him with affection and stroked his head with a smile.
“That’s right. Mengshi had it sent out from the Sky City, a thousand miles away from here. The soil here is poor and the land is poorly farmed, so it is difficult for people to get sweet watermelon.” Madam Cheng smiled and said.
It was the watermelon that Mengshi had sent from the south and though Chang Jin was in the south, generally speaking, only the soil in the Sky City was rich enough to bear big and sweet watermelon.
“No soil around Chang Jin, the capital, is better than that of the Sky City.” Hua Mengshi thought.
Then she smiled softly and Madam Hua looked at her with some praise.
Lv Xin and You Shui looked at each, both confused: Was what happened to the third concubine and her daughter Hua Xiaoyi the play my lady Qiyue told us?
However, what happened to Hua Xiaoyi indeed made sense. It was reasonable to punish her for her offending words.
But given my lady’s character, critical things would soon be happening.
Now Hua Qiyue looked tender and was feeding Tianci with watermelon. He happily bit into it and fixed his black eyes on her.
Then he turned his big clear eyes at the old Madam Hua and opened his mouth, trying to speak, however, no one word.
A mist quickly swept over Hua Qiyue’s eyes: How could it be possible for her son, who had been poisoned to mute, to speak out?
“My child, don’t be sad. Now he meets you, his godmother; his good days are coming,” said the old Madam Hua. She felt really comfortable to see the look on Hua Qiyue’s face.
Hua Qiyue used to be too weak and timid to be touched by or involved in affairs nothing to do with herself; however, she was mature now and even met the right people who helped her, which indeed made her happy.
Hua Qiyue nodded her head silently, which made the old Madam Hua in a good mind and give Qiyue a piece of watermelon.
Seeing this, Hua Mengshi was angry almost hematemesis; however she couldn’t abuse people in public to release her anger, so she had to suppress it to herself.
When Hua Qiyue was enjoying the rare watermelon, Mr. Wang, the housekeeper was coming. He asked the old Madam Hua whether she would take part in the activity held by the Mercy Temple.
The Mercy Temple was funded by the rich people in the capital to enable the monks to adapt some orphans and sick children, which even got attention and praise from the emperor.
Every year the temple would hold a charity event. And as one of the rich families, Hua’s Mansion had participated it every year.
“Of course! How could we resist this good activity? To benefit people is to benefit our future generation. Mr. Wang, I decided to donate 5000 ounces of silver this year.”
The old Madam Hua became more generous when she was in a good mind. But the face of Madam Cheng who sat away from her looked terrible.
This decision also surprised Mr. Wang, because Madam Hua used to donate just 1,000 ounces of silver. It was very generous to donate 5,000 ounces of silver this year.
“Grandma, when I plant more Long Reds, we will get more money. How about donating 10,000 ounces of silver this year? And I’ll pay 5,000 ounces of silver.”
Looking at those dark eyes, as clear as the blue sky, the old Madam Hua was stunned despite herself.
How assertive this granddaughter was.
“Great! Great! Qiyue, you indeed become mature now. Master Xuanji was right. Once you adapt to a son, you could know more about human nature. Mr. Wang, now you take orders from Lady Qiyue and donate 10,000 ounces of silver. ”
Mr. Wang smiled at Madam Cheng and said, “My Madam, please give me 10,000 ounces of silver as soon as possible, because the donation activity will start tomorrow; that is to say, we have to set off this afternoon.”
On hearing the words, Madam Cheng changed her face. She had taken charge of the account books and money for years, because she bore a boy for Hua’s Mansion; and considering her cleverness and shrewdness, the old Madam Hua acquiesced in her charge of the account books and money since the death of Hua Qiyue’s mother.
Hua’s Mansion had always been paid tribute; besides, it also ran a cloth shop which earned money every day. Therefore, Madam Cheng became arrogant and audacious enough to give a great deal of money to her parents’ family from time to time in private.
By the way, her parents’ family was troublesome. If Madam Cheng refused to give them money, her young brother would absolutely expose her to Hua’s Mansion.
Because in order to help her daughter Hua Mengshi and her son Hua Qianming improve their ability of air controlling, she had always embezzled money from the treasury to buy drugs to strengthen their bodies.
Though she had pocketed the 5,000 ounces of silver from selling Long Reds, there were only 3,000 ounces of silver in the treasury, which was far from the old Madam Hua’s donation.
“Could you spare me some more time to arrange it?” Madam Cheng said quickly with a smile. She was thinking of pawning her jewelry.
On hearing that, the old Madam Hua became unhappy.
In her opinion, a donation was a very important event, because money may go and come back quickly, but virtue, luck, and reputation of a family come slowly, just a little at a time.
And once the reputation was ruined, it was very difficult to win it back again.
“Madam Cheng, what’s wrong with you? 10,000 ounces of silver is not a big number. Besides, we could get more money after Qiyue selling her Long Reds. We should accumulate merits, so don’t be mean with the money. We can earn more of it.” The old Madam Hua’s voice sounded unsatisfied.
Hua Qiyue cleaned the watermelon juice around Tianci’s mouth, undisturbed and adept. Tianci looked around and then lay down on the couch to play with the Buddha beads given by Hua Qiyue.
Hua Qiyue stood up and offered the old Madam Hua half a cup of scented tea in a respectful way. “Grandma, please don’t be so angry and enjoy half a cup of scented tea. By the way, the doctor must have told you that old people should not drink too much tea, because it is not good for health.” She said softly.
The old Madam Hua was dazed by her words. It was Hua Mengshi who had sent people to buy this rose tea for her.
Since Hua Qiyue gave the old Madam Hua a Long Red, she deserved to win her good graces. And her words had influence now and made the old Madam Hua’s face look worse.
Madam Cheng deeply knew that she could no longer hide the fact, so she knelt on the ground with a flop. “It is all my fault. It is my responsibility to keep the account books and money, but due to my misconduct, there are only 3000 ounces of silver in the treasury. In order to help Qianming and Mengshi strengthen their bodies and improve their ability of air control, I… I always embezzle some money from the treasury.”
The old Madam Hua’s face changed thoroughly. She cast a cold eye on Madam Cheng who was kneeling on the ground.
Hua Mengshi quickly knelt down to intercede with the old Madam Hua for her mother.
At the sight of this, all the servants shook with fear. They had never thought that Lady Qiyue’s behavior could easily involve such things… Lady Qiyue was totally different now.
Mr. Wang also knelt down, and said, “My Madam, I’m guilty too…”
Hua Qiyue’s cold face emerged in his mind. A moment ago Lady Qiyue invited him to go into her Cuihua Court and what she said still rang in his ears.
“Mr. Wang, if you play by my rule, there will be more money for you, otherwise, you will be charged with stealing money. You Know, I have Long Reds and Grandma believe my words now.”
“How dare you embezzle money from the treasury without the permission of your master and me! Madam Cheng, this is unfair to both Qiyue and Xiaoyi. They’re both children of Hua’s Mansion, why can’t they buy medicine like you? Am I dead to you or something?” Old Madame thumped on the desk. Tianci jumped, startled. Hua Qiyue quickly grabbed him into her arms. Tianci was so afraid that he could not even breathe.
Hua Qiyue patted gently on his back to comfort him.
Lv Xin and Youshui were delighted. It turned out that this was the show that First Miss had been talking about.
It was indeed such a show!
Back in those days, they had always been bullying by Second Concubine. The miss was always bruised as well. However, no one dared to speak a word in front of Old Madame!
Madam Cheng knelt down and cried in front of the old Madam Hua, which was like kneeling down and crying in front of the old Madam Hua. It was really comfortable to see such situation.
“My Madam, please spare my life… For my love for my children, please forgive me, My Madam!” Madam Cheng was frightened and her bowels had turned to water. Hua Mengshi’s eyes turned red and begged for mercy.
“Dear grandma, please don’t be so angry. My mother was possessed and lost her head for the moment…” Hua Mengshi implored in low voice, looking at her Grandma who was high above her with tears. She noticed Hua Qiyue sitting there calmly. She was patting Tianci’s back gently, and her eyes were so cold that Hua Mengshi even shivered.
“Your mother may be possessed. But do you also lose your head for the moment? Don’t you know how much it takes to buy drugs? Qi Art requires time and experience to make gradual progress. Seeking a quick success is like seeking a quick death. You two disappointed me so much!”
The old Madam Hua shouted strictly. She was not a Qi Artist herself, but she still knew some about Qi Art.
Qi Artists spend time improving their ability. If one must depend on drugs, the body’s rejection of drug will harm one’s meridian, triggering pain, even paralysis or death at worst.
“My Madam, please don’t blame Mengshi. It is all my fault… I lost my head. My Madam, please punish me severely.”