Chapter 12: 10.1: 10.1

The room fell silent, and a dozen pairs of eyes stared at Dong Erniang. 

A servant from the palace looked at Dong Erniang with suspicion, and suddenly said: “I remember that a few days ago, when the prince was going out, the carriage of the Dong Ming’s mansion appeared several times. Earlier when the prince took the detour from the bamboo forest to the Moon Lantern Pavilion, the carriage of the Dong family also followed behind. If it weren’t for the fact that the prince set up a tent outside the bamboo forest, one would not know how long the Dong family would have followed. Lady Dong, what are you trying to do? Why did you follow the prince?” 

Duan Ningyuan did not know that there were such twists and turns, and after being shocked, his expression became very ugly. 

Jue Sheng slapped his forehead: “I know, senior brother. This pair of master and servant, one had to pretend to be poisoned, and the other tried with every way possible to ask for Liuyuan Dan. If Lady Teng had given them the medicine or senior brother had not set up the Wuzang formation, wouldn’t Liuyuan Dan be successfully taken away by them?”  

Dong Erniang’s eyes were frenetic1frenetic = fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way, but she still refused to speak. 

Lin Chengyou sneered: “Is it that you haven’t prepared a good lie yet? No worries, it just so happens that I also don’t have the patience either. According to the law of this dynasty, ‘whoever steals more than fifty rolls of silk shall be banished three thousand miles away’. One can never steal again, and will have to become a disciple for two years. You two, master and servant, worked together to steal Liuyuan Dan, and with the value of Liuyuan Dan, it is enough to be whipped fifty times, and be sent to become a disciple for two years. With such a felony, there is no need to bother with a trial with Wannian County. Somebody come and take this pair of master and servant directly to Jingzhao mansion.”

Dong Erniang’s face suddenly became ghostly white, and subconsciously looked at Duan Ningyuan. There was a faint hint of disgust in the eyes of Duan Wenying. She silently blocked in front of Duan Ningyuan. Fortunately, Duan Ningyuan only fixed his gaze on Dong Erniang, and did not have the impulsiveness to be muddle-headed again. 

Just when the servants from the palace were about to surround Dong Erniang, Dong Erniang’s eyes gushed out a thin mist of water, and suddenly said: “wait——” 

She looked at Lin Chengyou tearfully, and slowly fell to the ground: “I did not deliberately want to steal the prince’s Liuyuan Dan. It’s just that I want to save my mother.” 

“Your mother?!” Everyone was astonished. 

Dong Erniang nodded her head silently, and wanted to open her mouth, but her body suddenly shook uncontrollably. She did not know what kind of sorcery the prince used on her. She felt so itchy that she could not resist it. 

“My mother started to get sick at the beginning of the year” She was hot for a moment, then cold for a moment, but she forced herself to open her mouth to speak, “My father searched for famous doctors everywhere. Divination acupuncture has been tried, and after using countless types of medicine, my mother’s health did not improve at all. Maybe what comes to mind during the day is what you dream about at night (idiom), but one day, my father went to the Ci’en temple to offer incense, and that night, he had a dream. In that dream, a Buddha told my father that if he wanted to save his wife’s life, he could ask Prince Cheng for the medicine. When my father woke up, he went to inquire about it, knowing that Prince Cheng always carries this strange medicine with him. He decided this was an instruction from the heavens, and the next day, he took my elder brother to King Cheng’s mansion to pay respects. Unfortunately, King Cheng and his wife went out of the capital for a long trip, and the prince was also not in Chang’an. Father searched for a month endlessly, but in the end, he did not even see the prince’s face.” 

She was born extremely beautiful. When speaking, her shoulders slightly trembled, and in addition, tears started to roll down her face. With a pair of peach blossom eyes filled with tears which emphasized her soft and graceful appearance.   

“After that, my mother’s illness got a lot worse, and my father also started to get sick after rushing back and forth endlessly for days. A few days ago, my elder brother and I heard that Prince Cheng had returned. With a glimmer of hope, we went to King Cheng’s mansion to wait outside, but maybe because fate was unfavorable, don’t even mention about asking for medicine, even our visit notice was never delivered to the prince. I told my father who was on the sickbed, about this. Father signed sadly, everything was up to Dharma2Dharma = an individual’s duty fulfilled by observance of custom or law. For several days, he entrusted his colleagues to help him with this, and everyone said that they could not help. Qing Xuzi, the Taoist suffered a lot in order to refine Liuyuan Dan. Although the medicine was given to Prince Cheng, because the prince cherished his master’s painstaking efforts, he would never give this medicine to others.” 

Everyone in the room secretly thought that this might be the truth. Liuyuan Dan is comparable to a treasure. In the capital, one did not know how many people had their eyes on it. Last year, Wei Shangshu’s wife was critically ill, and Wei Shangshu also wanted to beg on the behalf of his wife for Liuyuan Dan. First he looked for the prince, and then Qing Xuzi, but it was all in vain. Later, he could only go find his Majesty, and after the king’s intercession, only then was he able to get a pill. 

Not long after, Qing Xuzi spoke in public, that Prince Cheng’s life is peculiar and prominent, and needs to keep this medicine for self-defense. Unless dealing with revolt of a great demon or in a situation that is critical, it must not be given to others. Otherwise, the prince’s life would be at risk. As soon as these words were heard, only then did it completely break the wishful thoughts of the people in the capital. 

Dong Erniang said sadly: “My father has said that there are many seriously ill people in Chang’an. If everyone ran to Prince Cheng to ask for the medicine, would the prince give it or not? The words that were spoken by Qing Xuzi, the Taoist priest, seemed to be impersonal, but in fact, saved lots of trouble for the prince. Forget it, forget it, there is no hope in asking for the medicine. If mother can not be saved due to this, then it can be considered fate.” 

“Since then, my father and elder brother dismissed the idea of going to pay a formal visit to Prince Cheng. Mother’s illness has never gotten better. Because I was always taking care of my mother, my elder brother told me that I looked thin and pallid, so he forced me to come out during the Double Third festival and attend the feast to relax myself. I was originally planning on going to the riverbank to pray for my mother and father, but halfway there, I saw Prince Cheng and his servants passing by on horseback…” 

She glimpsed at Duan Ningyuan out of the corner of her eyes, and seeing that he did not move at all, her chest tightened. She lowered her head in embarrassment and said: “I did not have time to go back to the city to tell father and elder brother, so I took it upon myself to order the steward to follow behind. Who knew that Prince Cheng became aware of this, and once again, I was blocked out of the bamboo forest.” 

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“At the time, I was discouraged, and I had to take another detour. When I was halfway there, something heavy seemed to have fallen from the top of the carriage. When I lifted the curtains, I happened to see a large black creature passing by. I was frightened out of my mind, and fainted on the spot…” 

Suddenly remembering Lin Chengyou’s warning just now, she was cold all over, and hurriedly modified her previous remark: “only, I only fainted for a little bit. When I woke up, I heard people talking outside, and they seemed to have heard the news that someone was attacked by an evil spirit in the bamboo forest. At present, there were many people injured, and they were planning on going to the Moon Lantern Pavilion to discuss it with the prince, so I just, I just——” 

“So at the moment, you thought of the idea to pretend to be poisoned by an evil spirit?” 

Dong Erniang shedded tears and said: “At the time, I thought that since there were many people injured, with one more person, it would not be a big deal. The prince is considered half a Taoist, and now that a demon has appeared, he ought to take Liuyuan Dan out to save people. If I could take this opportunity to see Prince Cheng, I might have been able to get Liuyuan Dan for my mother. At that moment, I changed my mind, and slept in the carriage all the way. I planned all of this alone, and my ru niang3Ru Niang = nursing mother knew nothing of it.” 

The steward shook her head as if her life depended on it, only hating that her mouth had been stuffed with a pair of socks.

“It can only be blamed that I was muddle-headed,” Dong Erniang cried, “My mother right now is like a candle in the wind4life hanging on a piece of thread. As her child, I was anxiously worried day and night. I only made this decision because I really did not have any other solution to save my mother.” 

She choked in tears and started to lose her voice. Her expression was very moving and sad. Two madams had softer hearts and sighed: “It’s so pitiful. It turns out that this was all for her mother.” 

Duan Ningyuan’s face was originally cold as frost, but seeing this expression, only then did he look a little bit relieved. 

Who would have known that at this time, someone would cough lightly. Dong Erniang heard it and recognized that it was Teng Yuyi’s voice. Thinking of what happened tonight, she knew at heart that this woman’s methods are exceptional. She pretended to wipe her tears with her sleeves, but secretly it was like facing a great enemy. As expected, Madam Du said: “Even if you want to save your mother, you can’t just repeatedly harm others. In the beginning, it was whatever, and it can just be taken that you were muddled, but later on when the prince announced in front of everyone that there was no more Liuyuan Dan, why did you still pretend to be unconscious behind the curtain? It is obvious that you were unharmed, but still let your subordinate make such a fuss, causing Yu’er to be insulted for no reason. What exactly did you intend to do?” 

Dong Erniang’s heart was secretly filled with hatred, but on the face, she looked anxious: “I did not know in advance that there was not enough Liuyuan Dan, and also did not know that being poisoned by the evil spirit would be this dangerous. I also did not expect that the evil spirit would chase all the way to the Ziyun building. Although I wanted to get the Liuyuan Dan, I never wanted to implicate the life of others. Later, when the medicine was all distributed, I knew in my heart that it was fate, but as long as I thought of my mother passing away, I would feel a burning pain in my heart. I waited and waited, only hoping that the prince could come up with another method.”

“It’s a lot of filial piety.” Lin Chengyou applauded. “In the name of being filial piety, yet everything that you planned had harmed others. If this medicine were to fall in your hands, there are bound to be people who are actually poisoned, yet had to die because there was no more medicine. If the last pill had been given to you, the male servant of the Teng family would be dead by now.” 

Dong Erniang’s pink tears condensed, biting her red lips, and shaking her head desperately. 

Lin Chengyou glanced at her contemptuously: “First, you tried to steal Liuyuan Dan, and then you harmed me when I was capturing the spirit. If you hadn’t pretended to be poisoned and caused me to set up the Wuzang formation, the evil spirit would not have almost escaped from the Ziyun building. This spirit was about to become a demon, and if the tiger was to really get released out of the cage5The parable of letting go of powerful enemies is an endless source of trouble, the number of injured victims would not just be these four to five people. With everything added up together, it is not excessive to have you be bludgeoned.”6bludgeoned = beat one repeatedly with a heavy stick or other heavy object, corporal punishment

Dong Erniang opened her mouth to refute, and glanced over at the blood stains on Lin Chengyou’s robe. Her heart became frantic, as it turns out that Lin Chengyou was seriously injured. She originally wanted to pretend to be unconscious for a while, then find a suitable opportunity to wake up. The harming methods of the evil spirit are always changing endlessly, so it is reasonable to wake up from a coma. Who knew that she would miss out on calculating these Taoist’s principles. Lin Chengyou is not just any ordinary noble. If the news that he was injured spread into the royal palace, the king and queen will definitely hold it accountable. At the time, one would be afraid that even father would be implicated. 

Her complexion was ashy. She shot a glance at Duan Ningyuan again, and Duan Ningyuan’s expression looked complicated, but he did not avoid her gaze. A glimmer of hope vaguely lit up in her heart. It was heard that Duke Zhen and Jingzhao mansion have a very good relationship with each other. As long as Duan Ningyuan is willing to step forward, there still might be room to turn things around.  

Lin Chengyou knew it clearly, and sneered in his heart. He took out a packet of medicine powder from his arms and handed it to the servant next to him: “Tie her and that old thing up, and send them to Jingzhao mansion. She has a poisonous bug on her, so all of you take the antidote first before taking action.” 

Hi, Thank you everyone for the support! I will try to finish and post the next part of the chapter in a day or two!

1frenetic = fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way2Dharma = an individual’s duty fulfilled by observance of custom or law3Ru Niang = nursing mother4life hanging on a piece of thread5The parable of letting go of powerful enemies is an endless source of trouble6bludgeoned = beat one repeatedly with a heavy stick or other heavy object, corporal punishment

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