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Chapter 25 The best gold lock

He Danggui spoke nothing, and looked at Huai Dong whose hair was disheveled. She clearly remembered Huai Dong’s face with a mole on the nose.

In the previous life, He Danggui lived in the wood house of the backyard, which was administrated by Huai Dong. At the beginning, there was no bed in the wood house. In the twelfth month of the lunar year, she slept on the damp and moldy straw, which caused eczema on her back.

After a period of time, Huai Dong suddenly became friendly to He Danggui. She formed a makeshift bed in the wood house, and prepared a used quilt for her. He Danggui was very grateful to Huai Dong. Gradually, she regarded the wood house as her home. She was afraid that her gold lock would be broken when she did menial work, so she hid it under the bed.

More than ten days later, the gold lock was lost. He Danggui was so regretful and worried, so she cried loudly. However, Huai Dong suddenly rushed in without the friendly face in the past and said, “It’s midnight. What are you crying about? Are you crazy?” She roped He Danggui, hung her upside down on the beam of the house and put moldy cotton in her mouth. Then she locked the door of the wood house, and went away without looking back.

“Now that Master Huai Dong offered to invite us to search her room, she is certainly not afraid that we search her room, so it’s not necessary to search it.” Then He Danggui added, “Actually, I’m interested in searching her.”

Everyone, including Huai Xin who accused Huai Dong, looked at He Danggui in surprise. Then, they turned to look at Huai Dong.

Huai Dong’s countenance was changed greatly. She knelt down towards Tai Shan and cried, “Younger Master, please help me! I haven’t seen that gold lock. Now, it is an insult to search me in front of these officials! She is dishonoring me! How can I survive in Shui Shang Temple in the future?” Huai Dong wailed, which seemed very piteous and pitiful.

Tai Shan had an illegitimate son named Ma Tai who was born after Tai Shan became a Taoist nun. Ma Tai was 19 years old and lived in Ershi Lipu Village at the hillside. He went to the Taoist temple several times a month, and took charge of hooping the bucket and basin with iron. Tai Shan specially arranged this job to him, and the pay was more than four times higher than other coopers. Tai Shan introduced Ma Tai to others in the Taoist temple as her nephew, her brother’s adopted son. Therefore, although Ma Tai was idiotic and dull, many Taoist nuns curried favor with him.

Ma Tai didn’t like talking to women. However, he liked talking to Huai Dong who was only averagely attractive. He often picked a handful of wild flowers from the mountain to her. No matter what the other Taoist nuns said, he would ignore them without looking up, but he would do as Huai Dong ordered. Other Taoist nuns were so envious. They satirized Huai Dong that she must use dirty tricks, so Ma Tai was willing to obey her.

Tai Shan had been worrying about her son’s marriage. Now she was very happy to see that her son finally liked a girl. Huai Dong was the fifth disciple of Tai Xi. She had been a maid in a rich family, so she was a sophisticated girl and knew how to serve a person. Tai Shan thought Huai Dong barely matched her son Ma Tai. And in fact, it was difficult to find a better wife for her son considering his conditions. Good girls also would be disgusted with him after marriage... So, if her son could find someone who was suitable for him and could wash clothes and cook for him, she would be very happy.

So Tai Shan broke the rule and assigned Huai Dong who was only 24 years old as the backyard administrator. She also let Huai Dong manage the account book and keys of the warehouse so that Huai Dong could save some money as her dowries.

Other elder Taoist nuns were so angry with Huai Dong because they couldn’t touch the key of the warehouse after more than 10 years of hard work. It was only less than three years since Huai Dong came to the temple, but she should get this good job from which she could earn a lot of money. They didn’t think she deserved it. Why did this mean maid with a young age come to the mountain and become a Taoist nun instead of a maid? She must do something wrong so she was kicked out of the rich family. As a result, many Taoist nuns pushed her aside all the time. But Tai Shan always defended Huai Dong and abused those Taoist nuns because she had taken Huai Dong as her daughter-in-law. Therefore, Huai Dong had a place in Shui Shang Temple because no one dared to oppose her openly.

Tai Shan frowned and stooped down to pick Huai Dong up. She squinted at He Danggui and sneered, “Miss He, I’ve already said I’m willing to pay you an identical gold lock. Can’t you stop all this? The lives of our ascetics are not as valuable as yours, but we are blessed! The Emperor has granted our ascetics who believe in Taoism three privileges, one of which is that the law is permissive to us. It means that if there is no evidence, all charges against our ascetics should be lenient and suspended! You may despise us, but do you also despise the Emperor?”

Duan Xiaolou and Lu Jiangbei both looked at He Danggui with worry. What Tai Shan said was right. Now that she had taken out the Emperor as a shield, He Danggui couldn’t insist on searching Huai Dong, because there were nearly fifty people looking at them. Even if the gold lock could be found on Huai Dong, no one could guarantee that these Taoist nuns would not take this matter to against He Danggui in the future.

But what Duan Xiaolou thought deeply was that if they got married in the future, she would become an imperial mandate countess. If his political enemies told the Emperor what she did today... Well, he thought too much now. But it was always good to nip in the bud.

Even if He Danggui was not an imperial mandate countess but a common person, when she was regarded as “disrespectful to the Emperor”, there would always be a knife hanging over her head. The Emperor was known for his moodiness. When he was in a good mood, he was diligent and thought about people’s sufferings, and he even ploughed the fields for his people. When he was in a bad mood, he would chop a person with a knife and even implicate the whole clan. When he lost his mind, he would tear people with his hands, make the skulls of dead people into ornaments and then give them to his officials.

All people stared at He Danggui. Some worried about her, some were nervous inwardly, some were gloating, and some were indifferent.

With inviolable pride on her face, He Danggui closed her eyes slightly and suddenly began to sing, “It uses bamboo to make shelves, and the shell made of paper can prevent the wind. It has a flame like stigma crocin in the middle. It resembles the shape of a prepared rehmannia root or something in the shape of a pinellia. It is necessary to walk or ride in a carriage. Next, it comes out green. Its color after using is yellow. It goes through hundreds of knots to make two pairs. Those who go on a long journey must leave each other. It can be replaced frequently. When I was a child, mammy sang to slaves. The girl’s fate was as bitter as the taste of coptis. Don’t marry into a large family, or your life will be dark...”

Duan Xiaolou became immersed in her soft melodies, fresh lyrics and sweet voice. After a while, he wondered why she did that? Was she going to hypnotize everyone with her song? Or, to give up the search...and to make the conclusion?

Suddenly, Huai Dong screamed, “Oh! Oh! Genie!” Then she took something out of her clothes and threw it away.

“Catch it!”

He Danggui stopped singing, opened her eyes and shouted.

The nearest one, Liao Zhiyuan, leaped up and held it in his palm before it dropped on the ground. He held it up in his hand. It was a silk pouch embroidered with three white plum flowers, from which the cold fragrance could be smelled continuously.

Liao Zhiyuan raised his head to see He Danggui who smiled and nodded to him. So, he pulled the silk thread of the silk pouch and poured out the article in it.

A golden semicircle object lay in Liao Zhiyuan’s palm, stinging many people’s eyes. More people looked at He Danggui in fright. They wondered how did she force Huai Dong to hand over the gold lock by herself? In addition, Huai Dong just shouted “Genie”. What was the meaning?

He Danggui turned to look at Tai Shan and asked coldly, “What else do you want to say? In front of the imperial envoys, you openly covered up the criminal. It’s not me who disrespected the Emperor but you! You are an ascetic. You both have the immortals and the three privileges to protect you. So, are you not afraid of going to the court and being interrogated many times?”

All Taoist nuns put aside their original contempt, looking at Miss He who was only 10 years old. She wore a plain dress and a pink cloak. Her hair was tied up in a loose chignon, which was tied with green strips without any other special decorations. But her simple dress set her natural beauty off and made her picturesque.

Hearing that He Danggui was going to take her to the officials, Tai Shan angrily stared at He Danggui. He Danggui also looked back at Tai Shan with her black but bright eyes, which was as cold as the water. Others couldn’t differentiate between the joy and sorrow from her expression. Tai Shan only felt cold. What did her expression look like? It was like a chill from a ghost!

Duan Xiaolou also looked at He Danggui confusedly and asked, “What just happened?”

He Danggui smiled and explained, “Ten years ago, the first skillful craftsman of Persia, Da Jieli, came to the Central Plain. He planned to stay for only three days. My mother spent a lot of money to find out where Da Jieli lived. She went to his home with thirty bolts of brocade and asked him to forge a gold lock. After some twists and turns, he finally agreed. In order to forge the lock, he lived in the Central Plain more than two months. Moreover, although the gold lock only used 1.9 liang gold, it looked exquisite. After the lock was forged, at my one-year old banquet, a female guest also took a fancy to it. She had told my mother that she wanted to buy the lock for 800 liang silver, but my mother refused. Since then, I have been carrying it with me every moment, in order to thank my mother for the hardships she bore in bringing me up.”

Lu Jiangbei was surprised, “Da Jieli? But I heard that Princess Lin’an once gave him 300 liang pure gold to invite him, but he didn’t accept. Why did your mother buy his two-month working with only thirty bolts of brocade?”

Duan Xiaolou also felt incredible, “It is said that Persia is rich in silk and wool. What kind of brocade can attract his attention?”

He Danggui said calmly, “Then… it’s another story, and it seems that it’s not the time to change the topic leisurely since so many Masters are staring at us. Master Liao, please give me the gold lock.” Liao Zhiyuan gave it to He Danggui with a smile. She turned the gold lock with her left hand, and then a sharp embroidery needle appeared between the fingers of her right hand. When she inserted the needle at the bottom of the lock, the gold lock was opened and divided into four parts.

He Danggui held one of the small gold caskets and smiled, “The song I just sang was my mother’s favorite when she was young. At that time, she asked Da Jieli to make a wonderful “resonator” and put it into the gold lock. As soon as she sang the ballad, the gold lock would vibrate, beat and even rotate, which could make the baby in the cradle laugh. Originally, only the voice of my mother could trigger this mechanism. Fortunately, my voice is similar to my mother’s voice, and I deliberately imitated it, so the gold lock could vibrate. However, the amplitude is very slight, and only people close to it can feel it. Master Huai Dong is that person. Just now, she might think that there was something alive in the lock, so she was afraid and threw it out.”

Huai Dong fell onto the ground, biting her lips and saying nothing. The Taoist nuns around her were far away from her actively, making a large empty space around her.

Lu Jiangbei and others were amazed after listening. All the Taoist nuns had already stunned. There should be such ingenious thing in the world! Lu Jiangbei still had a question, “How did you know that the lock was on her, but not in the place where she lives, or somewhere else?”

In the previous life, Huai Dong endured for more than two months before she stole the lock. How could she put this treasure in other places?

However, He Danggui couldn’t tell them in this way, so she just smiled, “Master, maybe you don’t believe it. I have been wearing the gold lock for ten years, and I had a special feeling for it. Besides, please look at this.” She picked up another small gold casket. “I used to put perfume in it. Although there is no perfume in it now, it still smells good. How many women hate perfume? Taoist nuns are also women, so I guess the person who stole the lock would use it as a sachet.”

Duan Xiaolou couldn’t help wondering, “Why don’t you put the perfume in such a delicate box?”

He Danggui looked calm and only whispered to him, “I don’t have money. A casket of good perfume needs three or four liang silver. I can’t afford it, so I don’t use it.”

After hearing this, Duan Xiaolou felt very regretful. “Damn it! Why did I ask her this question? I had heard a few days ago that even the herbal medicine she needed was just the herbs of bad quality in Medicine Room of the temple. I should stupidly ask why she didn’t use perfume!”

He Danggui couldn’t help smiling when she saw his regretful expression, “Master Duan, never mind. Actually, there is another reason that I was too lazy to do it by myself. Whether I am at home or on the mountain, it’s easy to find scented petals or pollen. I can dry them in the sun and fill the gold lock with them. I don’t use perfume only because I am too lazy. Moreover, since I am a little girl without a job, it’s quite common that I have no money.”

After seeing her smile, Duan Xiaolou liked her more. This girl was different from the girls he had seen before... Liao Zhiyuan poked at Duan Xiaolou’s waist and said in a low voice, “Childe Duan, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but please look at there…”

Then Duan Xiaolou noticed that Tai Shan had knelt down with all the Taoist nuns across the alley, waiting for the imperial guards to sentence them. Maybe they wanted to get the sympathy from the imperial guards, so many of them groveled and sobbed. But in fact, they were just wailing without shedding tears.