Reborn: Revenge of the Concubine's Daughter

He Danggui didn’t get angry and replied frankly, “Generally speaking, I’m not as capable as you. Otherwise, I will not make a deal with you. But Han Yu, one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties, said that teachers do not need to be superior to their students, and we share different advantages and disadvantages. Maybe I’m not more capable than you in many aspects. But at least, I’m more capable in one aspect. After all, you are controlled by me right now, right?”

Bai Yangbai hummed coldly, “Just some small tricks.”

He Danggui signed, “Everyone has his own ambition. Since you are reluctant, I will not force you. How time flies! I just talk with you in a few words, but the time is up. It’s time for me to make a choice for you.” Then she took a white porcelain bottle from the new pocket-bag. After smelling it, she smiled, “A friend gave me this good medicine. Since you’re so poor, I want to help you. How about taking one pill of it?”

Bai Yangbai stared at that bottle warily. He asked, “What’s that?”

He Danggui used her forefinger to shield the words “Yao Shi Tang”. She petted the bottle and answered, “Good medicine.” In fact, she didn’t lie. This tonic was from Duan Xiaolou for building up her body health.

Bai Yangbai shook his head firmly, “No, I will not take this even if you kill me. If you force me to eat, I will scream for your harassment.”

He Danggui was stunned, with regret on her face. She said softly, “You don’t want to eat? Fine, that’s okay. I’m easygoing.” Then she suddenly stood up, held Bai Yangbai’s Jianjing acupoint with her left hand, and caught his collar to tear it. Bai Yangbai was scared to beg, “Good girl, my queen, everything can be settled by discussion!”

He Danggui replied, “So, call me Master and kowtow to me!”

Bai Yangbai shook his head continually, “You’re 20 years younger than me, so you should call me Master! How about calling me Master? Then I can teach you two skills: how to make the medicine to seduce men and how to have a good sex life. I promise that your future husband will only love you!”

He Danggui exerted herself to tear his old coat. Then Bai Yangbai yelled in a low voice with his face pale, “My Master, please accept my worship. But please relieve my acupoint so that I can kowtow to you!”

He Danggui patted his Huantiao acupoint with her left hand, and still held his collar with the right hand.

Bai Yangbai felt his legs returned to normal. Then his eyes turned around and he burst into laughter, “Ha-ha! Miss, I’m an ascetic. How can you tug with me in public? it’s bad for your reputation! I’m devoted to Taoist and I have no intention of women, so please let me go!” Suddenly, many people were attracted by his yelling, including the waiter.

He Danggui knew that this foxy man wouldn’t give up easily, so she just pretended to be alarmed and yelled in a higher voice, “Oh, oh! Oh my. Priest, I see a big poisonous spider worming in your collar. Take off your coat and shake it quickly! If you are poisoned to death, people will say that you are poisoned by the dishes of the restaurant! Or you are raving here just because you have been poisoned now?”

After hearing this, the waiter was so scared that he hid behind a table and shouted, “Oh, then take off your clothes and throw them out of the window! Priest, you are an ascetic. Don’t bother our restaurant about being sued! Please take off your clothes quickly, or I’ll call the safeguard!”

Bai Yangbai didn’t expect that He Danggui should be so smart, so he conceded defeat judiciously. He knelt down, and kowtowed three times and said, “Master, please accept Qianjun’s worship!”

He Danggui knew that “Qianjun” was Bai Yangbai’s literary name. Since he had already kowtowed to her and called her Master, her goal was achieved. So, she didn’t want to embarrass him. She nodded and said, “My disciple, please get up.” She had heard from Zhu Quan in her previous life that Bai Yangbai was a descendant of the Daguomen Sect of Wuyi Mountain. The first rule of the Daguomen Sect was honouring teachers and esteeming truth. Although Zhu Quan was the Lord, he would bow when he saw Bai Yangbai. Now that Bai Yangbai had kowtowed to her, she wasn’t afraid that he would be irresponsible for his behavior. Besides, she still knew lots of his weaknesses.

When Bai Yangbai got up from the ground, he was sad like a frosted eggplant. He asked, “Master, what else do you want to say?”

He Danggui thought for a while and said, “I have nothing to say for the moment. You can leave.”

Bai Yangbai asked incredulously, “let me go? So, I am really going? You... Master, you won’t come after me, will you?” He thought, “This female devil had made great efforts to make me be her disciple. Doesn’t she want to make use of her identity to make a demand on me? Now she let me go easily. If I hide from her forever and don’t meet her, I won’t deceive teachers and destroy ancestors when I don’t listen to her. In this way, didn’t she waste her time?”

He Danggui sat back at the table. She took chopsticks with her right hand and waved her left hand as if he was a fly, saying impatiently, “Go. I will find you when I need you.”

Bai Yangbai bowed angrily, and thought that she was just a ten-year-old girl. Even the Emperor wouldn’t talk to him in such a tone! However, he was afraid that she would change her mind again, so he didn’t dare to stay more. He grabbed his signboard of “Face To Fate” and ran out of the restaurant.

Zhen Jing relaxed and finally had the chance to ask, “Xiaoyi, why do you want to be the Master of an old Taoist priest? He said that he was a charlatan!”

“It’s hard to explain.” He Danggui shrugged. “It’s hard to explain to you, a little fool.” She thought.

The waiter got out from a table in the distance and asked, “Guest, where is the poisonous spider? Where is the Taoist priest?”

He Danggui pointed at the window and told him succinctly, “They all run away. Waiter, we check out. Pack all our dishes and the 5 jin dessert I ordered.”

He Danggui and Zhen Jing went out of the restaurant with a large bag of food. They hired a carriage, and then went to the money shop to pick up the things they deposited. They drove back to the Taoist temple. In the evening of that day, He Danggui went to Ku Qiao Yard and took 5 liang of silver to exchange for the IOU of Zhen Jing’s family. When she returned to the East Wing-room, Zhen Jing had already fetched a pail of cool and sweet spring water from Medicine Room according to her orders.

He Danggui handed Zhen Jing the IOU and said with a smile, “Here you are. Tear this up. From now on, you are free and resume secular life.”

Zhen Jing took the IOU. Although she couldn’t read, she still held it, turned it around and looked at it many times. At last, she tore it to pieces carefully. Turning around, she saw that He Danggui gathered the medicinal materials she bought today and those brought from the Medicine Room together. He Danggui put them into the spring water to soak, fished them out and roasted them on the stove.

Zhen Jing asked curiously, “Xiaoyi, what do you want to do? Haven’t you recovered? Do you need to take herb medicines?”

He Danggui roasted the medicinal materials and said mystically, “These medicinal materials are not for me. They will have bigger effects. I’m counting on it. I will explain to you at the right time.”

Zhen Jing asked again, “Why do you wash and roast them? Are you afraid that the medicinal materials are dirty?”

He Danggui shook her head and explained patiently, “I’ve observed them one by one, finding that the quality of those medicinal materials is not good enough. And the efficacy of them hasn’t worked out yet. I need to wash and roast them three times, so they will take effect.” Then she ordered Zhen Jing, “Please help me. Pour some wines for me. Then wash those jujubes that I bought from dry nuts store and dip them in the wine jar.”

“You run into the dry nuts store this morning just for buying the jujubes? Do you want to make medicated wine?” After opening the bag, Zhen Jing saw the big jujubes, exclaiming, “The jujubes are so big! What kind is it?”

He Danggui soaked those dried medicinal materials in water again and introduced, “These black jujubes are called Shayu Jujube, a variety from the Western Regions. The nine jujubes cost me nearly 2 liang silver. By the way, I didn’t let you go into the dry nuts store with me just because I was afraid that you think this is too expensive and don’t allow me to buy, but I couldn’t explain it to you in a short time.”

“Those cost you 2 liang?” Zhen Jing was surprised and screamed, “You coat 2 liang just for nine jujubes? 2 liang silver! We didn’t spend 1 liang even we ate and took so much during the lunch! You can buy more than 100 jin rice by 2 liang! And you can buy 10 hens too!”

He Danggui was ready to soothe her emotion. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from the outside of East Wing-room. It seemed that someone was running fast toward them. So, she went out to have a look.

When Zhen Ming ran into the East Wing-room, she saw that He Danggui was standing at the door and looking at her. She felt panicked. With no reason, every time she saw He Danggui, she would get frightened and have an indefinable fear.

Once she lived in the countryside, she could see a white shadow hanging on the big willow tree at the gate of the village every day, until she was six or seven years old. When she pointed to it and said to others, they couldn’t see and even laugh at her. She was too afraid and cried out. Then an old woman with the surname Zhang told her that her situation was called “Yin-yang eyes”, which would show up in some kids. After they grew up, it would disappear. Later, she went to Shui Shang Temple and became a Taoist nun. Then she could not see those strange shadows gradually. But why every time she saw He Danggui, she would have the familiar fear that she had when she saw those strange shadows?

He Danggui smiled, “Master Zhen Ming, you are here. It’s cold outside. Come in and sit down.”

Zhen Ming waved her hands and refused, “No, thanks. I need to go back to prepare tisane for my Master… It’s my Master who let me come here. I… I think I’d better not go in and bother you…”

He Danggui raised her eyebrows, “Oh? Is Master Tai Shan ill?”

Zhen Ming nodded, “Yesterday morning, Master had a backache again. She remembered that last time you said you picked rhizoma atractylodes and planned to make a cushion for her to cure her backache. So, she let me come here and ask you when…”

He Danggui smiled, “Cushion? OK, I will send it to her tomorrow morning. It’s my faux pas! I remembered it before, but then I was too busy and forget it.”

Zhen Ming felt relieved. She was ready to leave, “So, I will return to respond to my Master. Miss He, please go back and have a rest.”

He Danggui smiled, “See you later.” She stared at Zhen Ming’s back, and her smile became brighter. “Tai Shan wanted to get a cushion from me to cure her backache? So, I should make it quickly.”