Chapter 47: Drawing a Line
“Little brother, do you think that since Tao Jushi had already agreed to accept these huge lanterns, would she still care about the additional spices? If you go in and ask, wouldn’t it just annoy your master? Just Take it.”
The servant of Ji Chang Bo immediately stuffed the exquisite wooden box into the arms of the gatekeepers and called out to the three people behind him to hand over the lanterns to the servants of the Tao Manor properly.
After following the gatekeeper’s instructions, the eight servants of the Tao Manor, who had been doing their own thing, came to the door from all over the place and let out a small gasp when they saw the beautiful lanterns.
As if suddenly realizing that the people who brought the gift were still there, everyone soon regained their composure and carefully took these festive gifts into the backyard, but the joy of holding the fine objects was as substantial as it was diffused in the air.
The light from outside the Tao Manor gradually drifted into the wall, and the subordinates of Ji Chang Bo Mansion turned around and disappeared into the night.
Gu Ningxi stiffly put down the carriage curtain, slumped down on his seat, and let his upper body lean against the carriage wall.
After a long time, two erratic words came out from his mouth,
“Let’s go.”
The carriage of the Gu mansion left, and the gatekeepers were somewhat disturbed, and they murmured to each other,
“So Gu Sicheng has been here all along.”
“He’s been hiding quietly in the dark. I thought he left earlier.”
❖
Tao Xinhe felt the pain and discomfort in her abdomen, so she sent Qingfang to check the lanterns sent by Ji Chang Bo, she herself roughly washed up and lay down.
She hid her body inside the soft and comfortable silk quilt, wrapping herself tightly from head to toe.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, with her hands folded around her belly, while waiting for sleep in silence.
Tonight, Tao Xinhe was exhausted from dealing with those two men’s requests to meet and give gifts one after another, and her thoughts were quite disturbed.
Since she’s finally alone, without the company of others.
It seems like a barrier has been opened suddenly, all kinds of emotions spread overwhelmingly, she told herself, that no one knows, you can indulge a little bit, just for a short while, just think about Gu Ningxi.
After the separation, he had been quiet, and she never inquired about it.
Tao Xinhe kept admonishing herself, treating everything about him as someone she had been with in the previous life, so she can just leave the memories behind and move forward.
Tao Xinhe thought that she had already done a pretty good job.
But until two quarters of an hour ago, she suddenly heard that this person was not far away from the gate of the mansion.
She wanted to see him for a very brief moment.
She wanted to meet Gu Ningxi, to see him who had probably been with other women for five days.
Fortunately, Qingfang didn’t hold back her strength, and accidentally hit her, which woke her up from her stupor.
She was the one who initiated the separation, and it was she who left him the message ‘The sea is wide, the sky is clear and the rain is gone.’, and it was she who forced him to complete the proceedings within two hours after receiving the separation letter.
Everything is for the sake of cutting ties, and for the sake of separation.
It was all for her to have a fresh start, without any more scruples.
Now that the matter had already reached this point, why does Gu Ningxi’s actions still affect her deepest emotions?
Sooner or later, he will take a concubine and protect Mo Qiqi under his wings.
This is what he said himself.
Could it be that she will not be able to completely let go until that day really comes?
No, no, no, it’s not like this, Tao Xinhe thinks that she is just healing her wounds, digging out the leftover decay in her heart, and growing new flesh to fill it.
It will always hurt, it’s like the mysterious ‘Phantom pain’ that the doctors have said, like the decay of the flesh.
She only hopes that this painful phase can be shorter, and shorter.
The pain in her lower abdomen woke Tao Xinhe up. It turned out that she fell asleep thinking about all those things.
At this moment, Tao Xinhe felt a familiar feeling of wetness from under her body, and she called out softly,
“Qingfang, Qingfang?”
Qingfang was indeed on duty for her.
She was on the Luohan couch in the corner of the room.
She immediately woke up after hearing the command of her master,
“Light up a small lamp for me.”
Qingfang followed her instructions, approached Tao Xinhe with her coat on, and covered the faint flame on the lampshade with one hand, then asked her softly,
“Where do you need to look?”
Tao Xinhe sat up, took the lamp in silence, lifted the corner of the quilt on the inside with one hand, and looked away.
As expected, it was bright red, like the color of rotten meat.
The first thought that came to her mind was that she really had nothing to do with Gu Ningxi anymore.
She smiled openly, breathed a long sigh of relief, handed back the lamp to Qingfang, and said word by word,
“My ‘Little days’ are here.”
(T/N: ‘Little Days’ means Period.)
Qingfang, who was quick on her feet, immediately helped Tao Xinhe change her clothes, change the quilts, take her menstrual belt, have her eat some porridge, and then assisted her mistress back to her bed.
She couldn’t help but say,
“Now, we can all be happy.”
Tao Xinhe was gently turning her head and twisting around to find a relatively comfortable position, when she heard the words Qingfang said, She paused a little and felt that timing is really the most mysterious thing on earth.
Not long ago, when Gu Ningxi was still her husband, the two of them talked about the old Gu Mansion, and about having a child, Gu Ningxi unintentionally mentioned,
‘Mother’s birthday is coming up, if my wife is pregnant then, it will be the perfect time for us to pray, and tell her the good news. Grandmother must also be very happy, and it will be a great joy for the family.’
Less than 20 days after those words came out, the great joy that they thought that everyone was looking forward to, had turned into something that they wished wouldn’t happen.
‘Okay, I just missed him for a while, so I thought about him before going to bed. Whether it’s because Qingfang accidentally repeated Gu Ningxi’s words in front of me or not, I can’t think about this person anymore.’
Tao Xinhe responded to Qingfang vaguely, and said in a low tone,
“Go to sleep.”
She doesn’t know whether she’s telling that to Qingfang or herself.
❖
When she woke up the next day, the sky was already bright, and Tao Xinhe missed the usual time for breakfast.
It’s the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, and by the most lenient standards, the New Year festival is over, and it’s time to spend her days normally.
She knew that she should get up quickly, take care of the housework, and order the servants.
She should also go to check on her sister-in-law and care about her situation.
She also needs to go to her father’s study to check if he stayed up late overnight again.
More importantly, she must reprimand Qiangniang and talk to her.
She actually went home late last night, and it’s really inappropriate for an unmarried lady to do so.
However, her intestines seemed to be clamoring again, they wriggled all night, and had already exhausted their nutrients, and now they urgently need food from their owner.
The long-awaited ‘little days’ brought a rare dreamless night to her.
Tao Xinhe felt her whole body was lazy, and she didn’t even want to move her fingertips or hair, as if all she wanted was to enter the land of darkness and sweetness again.
There was a soft sound of the door opening, and the sound of footsteps.
It’s probably Qingfang coming in from the outside, and her rustling movements gradually approached the bedroom.
Tao Xinhe narrowed her eyes, twisted her neck, and said,
“Qingfang, is that you? I’m awake now.”
“Sister, I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for a long time, why did you sleep for so long?”
Qiangniang’s energetic chirping came from outside the bed curtain.
The next moment, the curtain was opened carelessly, and Tao Xinqiang poked her pretty pink face in, urging her sister to get up.
The bright sunlight outside rushed in, encroaching into this quiet little world that belonged exclusively to Tao Xinhe.
What could she do about it?
While muttering about her sister’s lack of discipline, she raised her chin resignedly and signaled Qingfang, who was two steps behind her sister, to come over and help her get dressed.
Tao Xinqiang circled around Tao Xinhe like a little bee, trying to figure out how to match her clothes and jewelry.
After a long while, she finally got to the point,
“Sister, Ji Chang Bo sent so many lanterns last night, did you know?”
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s also a box of submerged spices inside it, I gently opened a corner and smelled it, the fragrance has no impurities at all, it’s so pure, it must be very precious?”
After listening to the first half of her story, Tao Xinhe was still facing the bronze mirror.
She was busy comparing the tourmaline earrings or red gold earrings, and placing them on her ears one after another.
She was trying to decide which one was more suitable for her purple taro dress.
It should be said that Ji Chang Bo must have been in seclusion for too long, and had taken herself as a desirable friend to get along with each other warmly, but after hearing her sister’s words, The two earrings in her hands fell at the same time, and the tourmaline earrings was cracked, while the soft gold earrings were scratched.
“Submerged spices?”
Tao Xinhe asked in a startled voice.
❖
This is not right.
She and Ji Chang Bo have only known each other for less than ten days, and he had already given gifts so many times before, but they are not considered expensive, the rare thing lies in their delicate choice of gifts.
However, the delivery of the lantern was already an accident after she refused it, and the beautiful woman’s revolving lantern was even more ostentatious.
Tao Xinhe’s thoughts are clear now, and when she thinks back to last night, if she hadn’t heard the news about Gu Ningxi’s visit, some emotions might not have been aroused in her heart, maybe she wouldn’t have thought of believing the words of a man who was almost a stranger to her to ‘Let things go’.
She wouldn’t have considered accepting the gift of courtesy.
She only accepted it to give Ji Chang Bo some face.
It’s the reason why she agreed to accept them, and at the same time, she even thought about what gift to give back to the Ji Chang Bo’s Mansion the next day.
Did her family’s servants make their own decisions?
Or did the servant’s of Ji Chang Bo Mansion omit some words?
No matter how unwilling Tao Xinhe was to accept such precious spices from others, and no matter how uncomfortable she was, she had to order people to prepare a carriage and horses to have these things returned to the Ji Chang Bo mansion.
She also needs to think of an explanation.
It would be best to find out what kind of medicine is sold in Ji Chang Bo’s gourd, and why does he put on a chasing attitude?
Tao Xinqiang yelled that she wanted to go to the Ji Chang Bo mansion together with her to check and see.
Tao Xinhe sipped the jujube soup and glared at her from the side of the bowl,
“You reflect and stay in the mansion, Ning Niang and Cheng Jia are unmarried couples, and the elders of the two families had acquiesced for them to go to watch the lanterns together last night, why did you go there, and join in the fun?”
Tao Xinqiang became cowardly, and said in a half-concealed and half-truthful way,
“Sister, can… Can you help me find… A husband like Cheng Jia?”
With a bang, Tao Xinhe slapped the small porcelain bowl on the table, and threw out two heavy words,
“Nonsense!”
Xinqiang, who was sobbing, and crying was immediately sent away, and Tao Xinhe felt her head ache, her stomach ached, and her heart ached as well.
Everything just ached, and she didn’t know how to alleviate it.
After thinking about it, she decided to go to the Gu family second household’s mansion first.
She will then inform them that she’s going to resign herself from being the woman’s representative, and she can no longer help preside over Gu Runing’s marriage.
She will do her best to discuss everything that has been settled, and hand over everything she’s done so far.
She also planned to ask Second Aunt Gu to accompany her to the Ji Chang Bo’s mansion, to reject any strange ideas from him.
After that, she decided that once she returns to the manor later, she will spend a lot of time trying to correct her little sister’s silly thoughts.
❖
“Miss Mo, please sit here for a while, they are going to inform the master.”
Mo Qiqi thanked the gatekeeper of the Gu mansion, then tugged at the hem of her dress.
She sat tremblingly inside the side room near the gate of the Gu Mansion.
She leaned closer to the servants around her, who seemed to be having a good time.
The warm stove in front slowly warmed her hands.
An hour ago, in the early morning of the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the rising sun was rising slightly, and there was a rosy glow in the sky.
Mo Qiqi asked the neighbors who just came back to their courtyard last night to help look at the small courtyard of the Mo house for a while.
She then rushed out before the monks could even start chanting the sutras.
Mo Qiqi led Liu Guang and Zhuiyun to eat a bowl of wontons at the wonton stall that opened early at the entrance of the alley.
Hot wontons with diced mustard greens and meat are squeezed together in a simple brown stoneware bowl, and when the spoon is gently stirred, the small oil blossoms and fine onion on the clear soup bottom give way to the bulging wontons.
The wontons finally made their appearance, and the aroma started rolling out to the noses of the hungry girls in front.
After seeing the other two eating in great vigour, Liu Guang suddenly thought,
‘Is this the wonton stall where the madam said she saw the master and Miss Mo bidding each other goodbye affectionately?’
It’s probably around this time, and in the same place where it all happened.
The Madam had already withdrawn herself out of the whole ordeal, but based on what Liu Guang can see, her master and the girl Mo, will only be entangled if both of them decide to shave their heads.
Liu Guang couldn’t understand why Ms. Mo couldn’t understand the various hints from her master these days, such as him saying that a righteous sister is forever a family, while a concubine’s freedom is restricted, and so on.
She’s also uneducated like Miss Mo, but she can still guess that the master had already regretted the matter of deciding to take a concubine from the bottom of his heart.
And what about Miss Mo?
After waiting for her elder brother’s funeral to end, she was already thinking of carrying herself into the Gu’s mansion in a small sedan chair, and wholeheartedly wanting to serve the master and his wife.
She simply wanted to seek shelter for the rest of his life.
These days, during her free time, she’s been making embroidered handkerchiefs, excitedly waiting to deliver all of it to Madam Gu.
No one told Mo Qiqi that there is no Madam in the Gu family anymore, and that Tao Xinhe had already divorced the master.
After finally getting through Mo Qi’s first seven days of mourning, Mo Qiqi could no longer bear the anxiety in her heart.
She feared that Tao Xinhe was against Gu Ningxi taking her as a concubine, this is why her ‘Brother Xi’ had become indifferent towards her lately.
So on the early morning of the 16th day of the first lunar month, Mo Qiqi urged the servant girls to accompany her to the Gu Mansion and beg to see the madam.
She wanted to take advantage of the fact that Gu Ningxi should still be in the mansion, and had not yet left for the Ministry of Rites.
Mo Qiqi thought that since Lady Tao had a kind heart in her previous life, her human nature in this life will not change greatly.
As long as she kneels down and begs her to take her in, with Brother Xi’s help, she should be able to agree to have her enter the mansion early the next morning.
Once she thought about this matter seriously, She finally felt at ease.
Therefore, she came early, and Liu Guang and Zhuiyun sat in the side room with her, waiting for the summons from the master.
