YM778.TV Chapter 42 - A hickey on his neck
Chapter 42 A hickey on his neck
“Meow- – meow!” There was a big tabby cat in the rockery, which frightened Second Mistress Luo a lot. She almost slipped for stepping backward at a moss-covered cobblestone pavement.
Luo Baiqian stepped forward swiftly to support her.
Second Mistress Luo placed her hands upon her heart, looking very pale. She was now full of feminine delicacy. Luo Baiqian let go of her and asked, “Second Aunt, are you hurt? Did the brute cat stretch you?” Second Mistress Luo shook her head softly, looking frightened.
Luo Baiqian was so close to Second Mistress Luo that he saw the dark circles under her eyes and tiredness on her beautiful face, even though she covered it with thick foundation. Looking down, there was a layer of white silk collar peering out from the collar of the skirt, which was decorated with various flowers and silver threads. It occurred to Luo Baiqian that maybe Second Mistress Luo got upset for her brother’s death. However, she had already married into Luo’s Family, so she couldn’t be in mourning openly but dress in mourning dress under the skirt to honor her brother.
Luo Baiqian comforted her, “Second Aunt, not only everybody in Sun’s Mansion is sorrowful to hear about your brother’s death, but everybody in Luo’s Mansion. We should have comforted you, but we are afraid of making you feel sadder. You are in charge of all the household affairs now. Luo’s Mansion couldn’t go on without you. Please don’t indulge yourself in your sorrow and take care.”
Second Mistress Luo shook her head with sadness and said incoherently, “I couldn’t help thinking about this. Jing was so clever. I just don’t know why he was gone suddenly… Last time, he asked me for my gold hairpin, but I refused. Now, he passed away when I heard him again… Jing was only 9 years old. He was my father’s favorite son with a bright future…My father used to say that Jing would inherit all the merchant ships of Sun’s Family on the Great Canal after he grows up. And my mother regarded him as her life…”
Luo Baiqian didn’t know how to comfort her but sighed.
After a long time, Second Mistress Luo heaved a sigh of relief, “Sorry I couldn’t control my feelings. It seems that you are in a hurry, I’m sorry for talking too much with you and troubling you.”
With handsome face and gentleness, Luo Baiqian said, “We feel and reason the same way about this. It’s my great pleasure to listen to your heartfelt words.”
Second Mistress Luo was moved, “Even your uncle is unwilling to listen to my grievance. Qian, it’s very sweet of you.” Second Mistress Luo paused for a moment and asked unwittingly, “I heard Zhu have been ill these days, and your wife is also upset about it. Did the doctor have any idea what the cause is?”
Luo Baiqian always went outside of the mansion those days. He just heard his son’s illness from other people. How could he know the cause? Therefore, he said vaguely, “My son is not really ill. He got ill mainly because of a lot of other external causes. He will be healed if those causes disappear.”
Hearing his last sentence, Second Mistress Luo asked excitedly, “You mean you also think those “external factors” caused his illness?”
Luo Baiqian was a little confused about Second Mistress Luo’s excitement. So, he nodded and prepared to leave, “I have to see my father for the issues of school, so I’m leaving.” Actually, he was afraid that talking too much would expose the truth that he knew nothing about the illness of his son.
“Wait a minute!” Beaming, Second Mistress Luo looked at his eyes and asked, “Qian, you said you are going to…see your father?”
“Yeah, that’s right! Second Aunt!” Luo Baiqian was uncomfortable for her look, so he just said, “I will share what I learned last night with my father for his correction.”
Second Mistress Luo just smiled, holding a silk handkerchief, and shook her head, “You’d better not go see your father, even your wife.”
“Why?” Luo Baiqian asked guiltily.
Second Mistress Luo puckered her lips, and took off a jade brocade agate sachet from her waist. She took out a glass mirror as big as a pigeon egg and handed it to Luo Baiqian. She said smilingly, “There’s something on your neck that they shouldn’t see.”
Luo Baiqian’s eyelids twitched, and he took the mirror in a panic. He said awkwardly, “Oh.” He took out a handkerchief to wipe it, but the red mark on his neck was the bruise sucked by Qi Sanniang last night. It couldn’t be wiped out. Luo Baiqian rubbed and rubbed, and he rubbed the neck all reddened, but that hickeys still stayed there conspicuously. So, he had to pull up his collar to cover it.
He returned the mirror to Second Mistress Luo. Seeing she was still smiling, Luo Baiqian got nervous. Therefore, he grabbed her sleeve and shook it, begging in a low voice, “Aunt, please help me this time. Don’t tell this to my father, or he will beat me to death. I beg of you!”
She struggled her sleeve, and then said angrily, “Qian, you are a 22-year-old adult. You shouldn’t do something excessively. Fortunately, it’s me you encounter today. No one else would hide it for you. What’s wrong with your wife? The year before last, she gave birth to the twins, and this year she gave birth to a lovely daughter. We all envy you. You, instead, don’t want to live a good life with her, but go out to find other women and have no idea how to deal with it properly afterwards.”
He listened to her words. Although her tone was reproachful, he still could tell from her eyes that she was joking. He felt relieved and asked immediately, “Aunt, are you willing to hide this for me?”
“We are a family meeting with each other frequently. If I want your father to punish you, I wouldn’t have reminded you just now.” Second Mistress Luo glanced at him, “Men like you would never be satisfied…OK, I’m still in a hurry to discuss something with Madam Luo. I won’t tell you more about those universal truth. Get yourself an empty room to deal with it.”
Luo Baiqian thanked her again and again, then took a path hurriedly and ran into Qi Lu Yard. He got into an empty room and grabbed a copper mirror from the dressing table.
“Fortunately, I met her. Otherwise, I would rather say I went to the brothel than expose my relationship with Qi Sanniang...” He relaxed eventually. Then it occurred to him that he had talked with Xiong Huang this morning for a long time, but Xiong Huang didn’t find such obvious red mark and didn’t say anything to remind him. He was very angry.
Luo Baiqian took up the White powder and Xiangyu Cream from the dresser, then put them on his neck for a long time. He couldn’t cover the trace naturally, but rubbed the whole skin red.
“Fine, forgot it!” Luo Baiqian lay on the bed and said angrily, “It’s not a big deal. I just need to stay here today. I am very sleepy, and it’s better to sleep all day.” So, he didn’t even take off his outermost robe, only loosened the waistband (decorated with gem circles) in his waist and took off his boots. Then he pulled the quilt and began to sleep. This room was behind the small warehouse of Qi Lu Yard. Usually, no one would get close to it. Knowing that his confidant Xiong Huang was the only one who knew he often slept here, he slept more steadily.
“Master, master…master!” There was a voice in his dream, “Please wake up. Madam Luo has sent someone to find you! She needs you there now!”
Luo Baiqian woke up and saw Xiong Huang calling him anxiously. Luo Baiqian was in a hurry and choked by his saliva, coughing out of breath. Xiong Huang was so scared that he patted him on the chest to make him feel better. But Luo Baiqian clapped the clumsy hand away and shouted angrily, “I’m sleeping soundly. What are you shouting for! When Madam Luo asked for me, why didn’t you tell her that I’m not in the mansion? Has your brain been kicked by a donkey?”
“Oh, my goodness!” Xiong Huang knew that the Master always got up on the wrong side of the bed and he would get angry with no reason. It would be terrible when he was angry, so he explained cautiously, “Have you met Second Mistress Luo this morning? She is at Madam Luo’s place now. It was she who told Madam Luo that you are in the mansion.”
At this time, Luo Baiqian sobered completely. He sat up and asked, “Who did Grandma send here? Have you figured out what she revealed? What did she say to Madam Luo?” Did she complain to Madam Luo about him? Or the relationship between him and Qi Sanniang was exposed?
Xiong Huang said with a doleful face, “Madam Luo sent Shi Liu here. She is just a 14-year-old girl and doesn’t know anything. Whatever I asked, she only nodded or shook her head. But she said Madam Luo not only called you there, but also asked Gan Cao to call Concubine Mei of the Third Branch. Second Mistress Luo said there was a whole family business. You will discuss it after all the branches get together.”
Cold sweats appeared on Luo Baiqian’s forehead when he heard this. Xiong Huang stared at his face fascinatedly. He thought that if a man born with this appearance, maybe women would feel diffident. No wonder Qi Sanniang chose Luo Baiqian instead of the First Lord of West Yard of Luo’s Family, and do the nasty things with him at the risk of death.
Xiong Huang persuaded him, “Master, as the old saying goes, what must be must be. You should go there and have a look anyway. We are always careful and didn’t leave any evidence. It’s not a big deal. You can say that you’ve been studying too much lately, and your friends urged you to the brothel for fun. You can’t resist it, so you went with them. You are the eldest grandson of Luo’s Mansion. Madam Luo always prefers you, and I think she won’t blame you.”
Hearing this, Luo Baiqian relieved. His face was not as pale as before. Xiong Huang continued, “In any case, even if the affair between you and Concubine Qi was exposed, Luo’s Family would conceal this no matter what. They won’t let it well-known to all. At that time, you only need to eat humble pie and you will still be the eldest grandson of Luo’s Mansion. And things will go as usual. Concubine Qi is willing to share a bed with you. She surely knows what the result will be after things are exposed. It’s her own bad luck.”
Luo Baiqian signed, “I’m not so heartless to her. If I see her die…I hope things won’t come that bad...”
Xiong Huang took a clean silver green robe out and put it on for Luo Baiqian, then served him washing and combing. Then he thought of another thing. He hesitated a while and then said, “Master, the beggar that we hit in front of the gate has woken up. He said he can’t remember anything, not even his name. How do you think we should deal with this silly beggar?”
Luo Baiqian yelled to Xiong Huang, “Are you serious? How could you mention this stuff at this time? Handle it yourself! Shit! You are such a fool! You put my socks inside out!”
After a long time, he dressed up and became the charming and pretty master of Luo’s Mansion again. Shi Liu guided him to Fu Shou Yard of Madam Luo. He felt uneasy and didn’t know what Second Mistress Luo wanted to do.
She once reminded him kindly that there was a hickey on his neck, and cared about the condition of his son. It seemed that she wanted to draw him to her side. She never was warmhearted to him either in public or in person. After all, he was just a concubine’s son. And his wife Ms. Dong was jealous that Second Mistress Luo ruled the roost and didn’t give her a chance to show her talent. But he had no conflict of interest with Second Mistress Luo, and he always respected her. She had no reason to frame him!
Thinking of this, Luo Baiqian had arrived at Fu Shou Yard. A maid came out and told him that Madam Luo was waiting for him at the main hall. He took a deep breath and came in. After a glance around, he found that in addition to Madam Luo and Second Mistress Luo, there was also his Third Uncle’s concubine, Concubine Mei.