Reborn: Revenge of the Concubine’s Daughter

Chapter 43 A siren who brought a curse to the family
Luo Baiqian went up to Madam Luo to give a salute and said with a smile, “Grandma, it’s a shame that I forgot to visit you because I helped my father to check the accounts these days. You are in a hurry to get me here. Did I make any mistakes?”

Madam Luo cheerfully asked Gan Cao to bring him a chair with brocade to sit on and said, “You are wanted here by your Second Aunt. Hearing your mother had a headache and your wife was busy, she asked you here since she met you by chance and knew you are free today. You are here to represent the First Branch of our family. Your aunt mysteriously said she would make an announcement. But I don’t know what it is. Anyway, I haven’t seen you for days and I really miss you—Ouch, Qian! Come here and let me see. There is a plaster on your neck. What’s wrong with you?”

Luo Baiqian explained in detail, “I stayed up late to study yesterday and fell asleep in the yard outside the mansion. I didn’t expect there were mosquitoes in autumn. And I’m not used to the smell of insect-killing incense, so I went to sleep without using any incense. This morning, I found that I had bitten by mosquitoes. Don’t worry. I’ve already taken the Baiyu Qingdu Powder. It will be fine in a day or two.” After a few words, he glanced at Second Mistress Luo two or three times, and found that there was always a smile on her face with no abnormality, so he relieved gradually.

Madam Luo asked him a few more questions about his diet and living conditions. Then she looked back at Second Mistress Luo and said slowly, “Mei, according to your request, the representatives of the three branches have already gathered here. Qian represents the First Branch and Mei Qiao represents the Third Branch. If you have anything to say, please let me know! You have been mysterious and hesitant since just now, which makes us worried!”

Second Mistress Luo took back her smile, stood up and walked to the center of the room. Suddenly, she knelt down and kowtowed to Madam Luo. Then she kneeled there still.

“Mei, what are you doing?” Madam Luo was shocked. She pushed Deng Cao who was massaging her legs, and said, “Get her up! Hurry!”

Second Mistress Luo shook her head and pushed Deng Cao away. She said firmly, “For the sake of the safety of everyone in Luo’s Family, I have to say one thing!”

“What is so serious? Get up and say it!” Madam Luo was so anxious that she beat the soft couch with an enamel silver Ruyi, “I can’t stand the fright. No matter what it is, you should stand up and say it. If you have any grievances, I will support you!”

Second Mistress Luo wiped away her tears with a silk handkerchief, stood up with the help of Deng Cao, and calmed down after a while. She said, “Madam, the daughter of Chuanxiong is a born siren, and she can’t be allowed to come back!”

Madam Luo’s face changed a lot. She scratched the texture of the silver Ruyi with her fingernails and shouted in a low voice, “You are talking nonsense. You are Yi’s Second Aunt. How can you say her like that?”

Second Mistress Luo shook her head, “I’m not talking nonsense. I heard that my elder sister-in-law also mentioned this to you, but it didn’t attract your attention. Yesterday, a rockery had collapsed in the north yard, and the falling rock killed a passing crane. After I heard that, I went to the north yard immediately to check and found that the scene was in a mess. The crane was smashed to the ground and then eaten by the vultures! Madam Luo, the crane is the symbol of auspiciousness. There are only 8 in our garden. Now one died for no reason. This is a signal—He Danggui is a siren. We can’t get her back in our mansion!”

Madam Luo frowned, tidied her clothes, and then sat up straight and said, “Mei, I know there were some conflicts between you and Yi’s mother in the past. But Yi is only a 10-year-old kid. She is so pitiful that there are no family members protecting her when she is in such a young age. Now, Chuanxiong stands aloof from worldly success. She only has this only daughter. How can you drive Yi out of the mansion again? How much space does she occupy? How much food does she eat? You’d better put up with it, and give some of your love on Miss Qiong to others. Don’t forget that you are the wife in charge of the family.”

“Madam, you really misunderstand me!” Second Mistress Luo wept over her grievance, “Because of your trust, I have been in charge of the family for more than a decade, so how can I have conflicts with her, a junior? As for her mother Chuanxiong, she and I went to school and got married in the same year. We have been best friends for many years, so there are no hatreds between us. I do this for the sake of the whole family. Chuanxiong’s daughter is an unlucky girl!”

“Second Aunt, what do you mean my third sister is an unlucky girl?” Realizing what Second Mistress Luo said had nothing to do with his secret, Luo Baiqian breathed a sigh of relief. He just stood by, watching Madam Luo and Second Mistress Luo talk about Third Miss like a play. However, he was wondering why Second Mistress Luo said He Danggui was an unlucky “siren”?

“Madam, I am not the kind of person who cannot tolerate others. As the saying goes ‘Even the royal family has some poor relations’, so even if Yi comes from a poor family, we can accommodate her. Over the years, there are many poor relatives who came to us referring Lord Luo’s name, and I never let them go home empty-handed. When you asked me to arrange someone to bring Yi back, I had just returned from my brother’s funeral, and things were piling up at our home. I put everything else aside and arranged Ding Rong’s wife to bring Yi home from Shui Shang Temple, but she refused to go home!” Second Mistress Luo shouted to the outside, “Ding Rong’s wife, come in and explain this for me!”

The curtain was lifted and a thin fair woman of about 50 entered. She saluted to Madam Luo, “Good morning Madam, Second Mistress Luo, and First Master.”

Madam Luo nodded, “Ding Rong’s wife, your son is an official now. You will be an imperial mandate countess someday, and you don’t need to salute us anymore.”

Ding Rong’s wife said with the right attitude, “My husband and I are the servants of Luo’s Family. It is proper to salute the masters. I will never forget my origin.”

Madam Luo nodded again and asked, “Mistress Luo asked you to take Third Miss home and you failed, right?”

Ding Rong’s wife sighed, “Second Mistress Luo asked me to take Third Miss home. Gao Dashan’s wife and I walked all night, thinking ‘Because of the death of Third Miss, Madam Luo cannot eat for a few days. When she heard Third Miss was alive again, Madam Luo talked about how clever and sensible she is all day long, looking forward that she can go back. We want to bring Third Miss home quickly, so Madam Luo will be happy soon.’ When we arrived at Shui Shang Temple, we let a Taoist nun go in to inform Third Miss that we came to bring her home. However, we stood outside for 4 hours without seeing Third Miss or anyone going out to answer. Finally, an arrogant Taoist nun came out and told us that Third Miss won’t come back until the 17th of this month. Now she cannot go with us because it was too early!”

Concubine Mei smiled, “Really? Can’t imagine there is such a strange thing in this world! I heard that Shui Shang Temple is located in the deep mountains, and the living condition is extremely poor. If I stay at such a place, I’ll dream of being taken by my family. Did Third Miss break her head so she refused to come back?”

Second Mistress Luo glanced around the people in the house slowly, then she finally looked towards Madam Luo’s face and said seriously, “Now, there is one thing I can’t hide anymore!”

“What is it?” Several people asked in unison.

Second Mistress Luo sighed, “Last year, I found a geomancer to make a divination for our home. At that time, he pointed at the place where Yi lived and said that the person who lived there would bring disaster to the elders. Yesterday, Ding Rong’s wife told me that Yi was hiding in the Taoist temple and didn’t dare to meet anyone. After hearing this, I was afraid, so I asked someone to go to the West Avenue to invite Fortune-teller Li to make a divination for our family. Before he started the divination, I didn’t tell him anything about Yi, not even her date of birth and eight characters of a horoscope. Do you know what the result of Fortune-teller Li’s divination was?”

Madam Luo frowned, “Mei, tell us directly. Don’t keep us guessing.”

“He said that according to the divination, there was a siren in our family, who was born different from other girls. She brought curses to the elders and the whole family, and the same to her husband’s family after marriage! I asked him what her name was. He replied that the divination only showed that she was not from Luo’s Family, and she was a daughter of a concubine! Madam, there are only 5 ladies in our family. In addition to the new born daughter of First Master, Miss Ying is the daughter of my elder sister-in-law, while Qiong and Shao are my daughters. These 4 girls are all from our Luo’s Family, and they are all the legitimate daughters. Although Yi was the legitimate daughter before her parents divorced, her father married a new wife with Sanmei Liupin, and then they had a son and a daughter who were the legitimate son and daughter. According to the law, Chuanxiong is not even a concubine, which means her daughter is the daughter of the concubine. Besides, she is the only one of the 5 ladies who doesn’t have a surname of Luo…”

After hearing what Second Mistress Luo said, the silver Ruyi in Madam Luo’s hand fell on the soft couch. Concubine Mei heard this and covered her vermilion lips with her handkerchief. Luo Baiqian listened with interest and banter. He thought the whole family knew that there were conflicts between Second Mistress Luo and his youngest aunt Chuanxiong. These words sounded grandiosely, and it was for the sake of the whole family. But the truth was Second Mistress Luo wanted to drive his youngest aunt and cousin out of Luo’s Family.

“First Master, come and tell us about Zhu’s illness! Let Madam Luo make it right for him!” Second Mistress Luo stared at Luo Baiqian.

“Me?” Luo Baiqian turned the Chicken-blood Stone Ring on his thumb in surprise. He didn’t understand why he was involved. He asked nervously, “What’s wrong with Zhu’s illness? Anything…unusual?”

Second Mistress Luo also looked at him with surprise, “How can you be so forgetful, First Master? This morning you said Zhu’s illness was caused by ‘external causes’. If the external causes disappeared, Zhu would get well naturally without any herbal medicine. Don’t you mean that Yi has resurrected and she attracted the ‘external causes’ of evil spirits to our family, which scared Zhu to get a strange illness?”

Luo Baiqian was so nervous that he began to sweat. He thought to himself, “I was talking nonsense. Even the resurrection of the third sister was the story I heard yesterday.”

Seeing Luo Baiqian giving no response, Madam Luo thought he did not say anything about “external cause or internal cause”, but she didn’t want to offend Second Mistress Luo as well. Therefore, she said angrily, “Enough. Mei, don’t lure Qian into this! All that you said just reflects the fact that you still can’t treat Yi with tolerance. What if a fortune-teller said Qiong and Shao were hard-fated and destined to be alone, are you willing to give them away?”

Second Mistress Luo was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, she burst into tears and said, “Madam, Qiong and Shao are your legitimate granddaughters who are so clever and filial. How can you describe them like this? We are now sharing no relationship with He’s Family. Even if He Danggui has half-blood of He’s Family, I never speak sarcastically to her! Over these years, when she was in the farm, I didn’t owe her anything and sent her the same food my daughter ate every month. What’s more, your sister (Madam Luo’s sister) sent He Danggui to the farm and urged Chuanxiong to remarriage because your sister was afraid that Yi might influence Chuanxiong’s future. So, she sent her away. Why does this end up with me mistreating my niece? Why should I do this?”

Madam Luo heard Second Mistress Luo mentioned “her sister” again, she became more serious and said coldly, “A few days ago, when I heard Yi had revived, I invited Qi Xuanyu, the Imperial Astronomer of Qintianjian Celestial Prefecture, to divine for her. He said Yi’s date of birth and eight characters of a horoscope is very good, and she is born to be a noble. Also, she isn’t destined to be a siren with a curse. Qi Xuanyu is an able man, and he wouldn’t talk nonsense. Don’t ever talk about anything of Yi’s hard fate or family curse anymore!”

Second Mistress Luo refused to give up, wiped her tears with a silk handkerchief and said, “As a wife in charge of the family, I need to ask you for a leave if I want to go back to my natal family to attend the funeral, and I only got 3 days. Yi is quite different. Even the sedan which was sent to take her home had been at the door, she remained not coming back. I don’t think she behaved as a noble lady. Are there any rules in our family? Or is she an exception to these rules?”

Madam Luo sighed and said, “Mei, I’m not supposed to blame you anything because I know you have lost your brother recently. But it’s inappropriate to handle this matter in this way. Yesterday, Gao Dashan’s wife came back from the Taoist temple and informed us that Yi did not come home for several reasons. Firstly, she did not repeat Yi’s words clearly last time. Yi said before that she would live until the 17th of this month and then go home. So, she did not go to the sedan because she asked for leave in advance. Secondly, Yi is a young girl and hasn’t forgotten that Law of the Ladies included a rule, saying: when riding a sedan or riding a horse, remember it is improper for men and women to get close to each other. So, she sent a nun to see the sedan first, but she only learned that it was not the general sedan in Luo’s Family, and there were several rude men who stood aside. In order to avoid suspicion, she did not dare go out of the Taoist temple and had to ask someone to deliver her message. That’s why Ding Rong’s wife waited for a while.”