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Chapter 78 Hiding a man’s belt

Luo Baiqian who had already been very angry stopped at last and looked at the only twin left. His heart suddenly softened. The furious and violent man who wanted to kill people a moment ago disappeared in an instant and then took out his handkerchief to wipe the tears of his son, Wei. Although he would have 4 kids, the twins were his elder sons who shared same faces and identical black eyes. Although the annoying woman gave birth to them, he still loved the 2 sons. Now there was only one left. How could he not be more pitiful for him?

“Where is the wet nurse? Where are the others in Liu Li Tang? Are you all dead?” Luo Baiqian shouted towards the inner hall, “Come on. Take Wei into the house!”

Just now, when the servants of Liu Li Tang saw that Dong Xinlan and Luo Baiqian were quarreling more and more fiercely, most of them escaped to hide outside the courtyard. Seeing Luo Baiqian win the fight, the only 4 or 5 people who stayed in the back hall of the yard finally ran out with a sigh of relief. They wiped Wei’s tears and hands, touched his head and clapped his bottom.

No one dared interrupt the fight between Dong Xinlan and Luo Baiqian in Liu Li Tang. Because everyone remembered clearly what happened to Qin, Dong Xinlan’s maid that accompanied her to her husband’s house when she got married. Qin had once gone up to persuade Dong Xinlan not to fight, but finally ended up miserably.

At that time, only because of Qin’s articulate and soft voice, Luo Baiqian stopped arguing with Dong Xinlan, turned his eyes on Qin’s beautiful face for a while and immediately held back his anger. Then he went to Qi Lu Yard to read. At first, everyone thought that things had been solved successfully, and they praised Qin for her ability. However, after Luo Baiqian left, Dong Xinlan suddenly jumped up from the bed, raised the latch to close the door and locked Qin in the room with her. People outside listened for a long time, but didn’t hear any sound inside. After a while, Qin came out of the room with her head down and her eyes were red like a rabbit. Then she walked out of Liu Li Tang without saying anything. The next morning, someone found Qin’s dead body in the Lotus Pond behind the rockery.

Since then, the servants of Liu Li Tang had great respect for Younger Mistress Luo who spoke quietly and drank tea with beautiful orchid fingers, and no one dared be lazy under her eyes. But there were quarrels between her and Master Baiqian from time to time. Every time it happened, people who could find a reason to run out of Liu Li Tang for refuge would run out at the first time; if the quarreling place just blocked their way out, as the case run today, those skilled servants would climb the wall to escape, and those incompetent servants would slip into the tearoom in the back hall, pretending to prepare tea for the masters and they would stay there for a long time.

It was a pity that Qin lost her life for this. She was the maid that grew at Younger Mistress Luo’s home and accompanied Younger Mistress Luo to her husband’s house. She must have been her confidant for many years. Even so, she lost her life at last, just because Master Baiqian looked at her a few times. Given this history, was there any other maid in Liu Li Tang dare follow Qin’s step? Even if there were some people who had used to have fantasies about the handsome master, when they realized Younger Mistress Luo was such an intolerant person, they would not dare think about it anymore at present. They even mused that it was better to marry an honest and young manservant. At least, they wouldn’t die so tragically! It was said that when Qin was rescued, her head was swollen like a pig’s and her identity could only be roughly distinguished according to her clothes and a beauty spot on her face...

“Why is Wei here? Wasn’t he sent to First Mistress Luo (Ms. Zhao) yesterday?” Luo Baiqian asked angrily, “Where is his wet nurse?” There was no such a rule! Even a 3-year-old kid couldn’t be taken good care of. He could almost have killed Dong Xinlan, the vicious woman. But now, not only was Dong Xinlan still breathing, but also his precious son was scared. What a bad luck to have these servants!

A maid with a little courage explained to Luo Baiqian who was furious, “First Mistress Luo’s headache hasn’t been cured yet, so she locked herself in her room to avoid seeing anyone; Madam Luo and Mammy Tang went out to meet Third Miss in the Taoist temple last night; when the wet nurse saw Wei making a lot of noise in First Mistress Luo’s Mu Jin Ge, she could not send him to Madam Luo, so she had to take him back to Liu Li Tang.” Then, when the wet nurse saw Younger Mistress Luo and Master Baiqian fighting hard at the gate, she was so scared that she wanted to take Wei and ran away. But because of Wei’s refusal, the wet nurse escaped alone.

“You take Wei in quickly. Don’t stand here like a nerd!” Luo Baiqian bitterly stared at Dong Xinlan who was half-dead on the ground and said with a sneer, “Dong Xinlan, it’s not over. This man’s belt is the iron evidence of your affair. When Madam Luo comes back, I’ll take this to her and ask her to kick you out of this family. However, given that you have delivered 3 kids for my family, we will not deduct any of your dowry. Just pack your luggage and go wherever you want!”

Hearing this, Wei was in a great hurry. And he bit the hands of the maid who came up to hold him, ran to hold one of Luo Baiqian’s shoes and shook it twice, “Dad, mom didn’t betray you. It’s me! I hid that belt under the pillow!”

Luo Baiqian lifted his son from the ground, raised his eyebrows and shouted, “Don’t talk nonsense. This is a man’s belt. How can you have this thing?!” Then before Wei said anything more, he snorted at Dong Xinlan with the sarcastic voice coming out of his chest, “Dong Xinlan, you really taught your son well. He even claimed your paramour’s belongings as his. If you have any sense of shame, you should pack up and leave Luo’s Family immediately! I will not publicize your scandal and let you leave with dignity. Then, you and I would divorce with agreement. It’s over!”

Dong Xinlan’s face was covered with blood, and blood came out of her mouth when she spoke, “Poof, I am wronged, poof... Okay, Luo Baiqian, I got this! That belt is clearly brought by yourself. You meant to slander, plant it on me and want to drive me away from Luo’s Family! Luo Baiqian, you’re a bastard. Have you got a lover outside? Just waiting for me to give her my position, right? Poof, you have no conscience. You will suffer great pain in your death!”

Wei bit Luo Baiqian heavily, which made himself go because of pain. The servants looked at Wei in surprise, for he did not run to his mother, but ran to the stone steps to pick up that belt. And then he turned around and ran back to the feet of Luo Baiqian. He rubbed his little fingers inside the belt for a moment, then he took out a snow-white gauze and raised it, “Dad, mom, stop arguing. It’s really me who hid this belt under the pillow, because it’s warmer on the bed than on the ground. In there, my baby can grow up faster!” Luo Baiqian leaned over, so that Wei could hold the gauze up to Luo Baiqian’s nose.

Luo Baiqian frowned to see what his son’s “baby” was. When he looked at it carefully, he found that there were a lot of small black spots and gray spots on the bright white gauze. When he looked more carefully, these small spots were slowly creeping...

“Ah!” Luo Baiqian retreated in terror and asked in a shrill voice, “What’s that? It’s still moving, alive? Where did you get them?”

Wei cried and said, “These are my silkworms. When they grow up, they will look better. Dad, listen to me. I hide them in my mom’s room. This belt was found in my elder aunt’s house. I saw that she tossed it on the ground, so I picked it up!”

“Elder sister?!” Luo Baiqian frowned and thought about the astonishing news he just heard, “Did she throw a man’s belt?”

His legitimate sister, Luo Baiying, could be called “the first weirdo of Luo’s Family”. Because she was frigid and was not anxious to marry. Although she had turned 23 years old, she didn’t get married unlike other noble women of the whole Southern Families.

In the Ming Dynasty, in order to solve the problem that many overage men could not marry, there were strict legal restrictions on the marriage age of women, so as to urge them to marry early. According to the law, when a woman reached the age of 9, she could marry under official Sanmei Liupin, and her name could be written into the marriage contracts of both parties. Moreover, if the woman didn’t marry at the age of 26, she had to pay 3 times the head tax and also had to go to the Household Registration Office of the government every year to make a report, explaining the reason why she didn’t get married.

If that reason couldn’t be accepted by the government, it was necessary for the official matchmaker to intervene and separate the overage women and men according to their family statuses, and then force these men and women to make a match. Of course, if one of 2 sides disagreed with the other, it couldn’t be done reluctantly. But by then, it was so well known that the comments of outsiders could become a public opinion pressure for overage women to decide to marry.

For example, after meals, Zhang San would pick his teeth, point to the door of the opposite house and say, “Burp, Li Si’s younger sister is almost 30 years old, but she still refuses to marry. Does she have any hidden disease? Or is their family an unlicensed brothel? That woman actually is a prostitute and she would like to make more money before getting older, so she refuses to marry? Fuck, what kind of world is this? Every woman would rather be a prostitute than marry someone. Burp, it’s so bad that I can’t get a wife even though I’m over 40 years old!” Such words were said every day, every month, and every year. When everyone talked about it after meals, at last, if Li Si’s sister still didn’t marry, she couldn’t live in this street at all.

Mammy Tang, who had not been married in her whole life, had also suffered from this pressure of public opinion. At that time, she didn’t have such a high position and she was just a good maid of the then Second Mistress Luo, Ms. Chai (now Madam Luo). Usually, if the maids were not married when they were over the proper age to get married, they must have served the master of the family with his sleep, and the maids would stay as half concubines to serve. Otherwise, as soon as they reached the suitable age of marriage, they would be allotted by their master to manservants in the house. If they were valued by their masters, they would be allotted to Administrators and butlers.

Many years ago, Mammy Tang was almost 30 years old, but didn’t marry. After listening to others’ comments after meals, Ms. Chai found a good marriage for Mammy Tang, which was as the Second Wife to an official of eight grades. If it was another maid, she would have gone mad with joy, but Mammy Tang refused to this marriage directly. After this, people in East Yard looked at her strangely, as if she was not a person but a monster. Until later, when Ms. Chai finally became the only directly respected Madam Luo in East Yard, Mammy Tang was promoted, and she became a figure of power whom everyone pleased. At this time, Mammy Tang had become a real old woman. Those who gossiped just threw away the old topic and focused on fresher and more interesting gossips.

In a word, under such social environment, if a woman wanted to be independent, she might have to go to a temple to be a Taoist nun. But the First Miss in Luo’s Family, Luo Baiying, was the most special case.

Usually, no matter whether the Lady was in a hurry or not, her elders would be in a hurry as soon as she was suitable for marriage. Luo Baiying was a 23-year-old exalted First Miss. She was not ugly, stupid or disabled, and had learned a lot of skills like other exalted ladies. The elders of Luo’s Family, however, from Ms. Zhao, First Lord to Madam Luo, who liked to help other people with matchmaking, never mentioned the marriage of Luo Baiying. As if it was a common thing for a girl not to marry at Luo Baiying’s age. Since all the masters held the same strange attitude, the servants dared not talk about it openly or privately. They were afraid of being exposed to the masters, so that they would be in danger.

It was necessary to know that Luo Baiying’s identify was different from He Danggui’s, because He Danggui had the awkward status as a foster girl who shared a different surname in the family. Until the time when He Danggui was married in the previous life, Luo’s Family only gave her the treatment of being half Miss and half maid. So, it was also purely normal if her marriage was ignored. However, even if Luo Baiying, as the eldest legitimate daughter of First Branch in Luo’s Family, was not loved by her parents as much as Luo Baiqiong, and her relationship with her mother (Ms. Zhao) was not good, Luo Baiying’s food and clothing consumption was at least sufficient as Luo Baiqiong’s, and her position in the mansion was almost as equal as that of the “rare man”, Luo Baiqian.

As for the reason, it sounded strange. The First Miss, Luo Baiying, had been intimate with Madam Luo since she was a kid. And she was the most favored one among the young generation around Madam Luo. 1 word of hers was more effective than 10 words from others. For this reason, Second Mistress Luo had complained to Madam Luo several times, blaming Madam Luo for not being close to her sib granddaughter, but praised Luo Baiying who was not her blood. However, seeing Luo Baiying becoming an old woman day by day, Second Mistress Luo secretly gloated. She felt that Luo Baiying had no advantage to compare with her 12-year-old daughter, Qiong, who was as delicate as a lotus, so she no longer cared too much about Madam Luo’s partiality.

This was Luo Baiying, who was secretly named “the first weirdo of Luo’s Family” ... Did she throw an old belt that a man had used? Luo Baiqian frowned and asked his son doubtfully, “Wei, when did you see your elder aunt throw this belt? Don’t talk nonsense. I can check it at any time!”

Wei sobbed and shook his head, “Dad, I am not talking nonsense! On that day, the eldest aunt and a man came into the room together. After a while, they began to throw clothes on the ground and this belt flew as far as at the door. I guessed they didn’t think their clothes were good-looking, so they didn’t want them. Therefore, I picked it up and made it the house for my silkworms! Dad, don’t be angry. I’ll give the belt back to my aunt!”

Luo Baiqian’s face immediately became colorful, as if any colors could be found on his face... The unmarried elder sister, she... had illicit intercourse with a man?

“Boohoo–!” Dong Xinlan, who was lying on the ground and unable to move because of her wounds, suddenly began to cry, “My god, my grievance is deeper than Dou E’s! Now the truth comes out. The Immortals are watching, and justice naturally inhabits everyone’s heart. Now everyone knows who the real dissolute woman is. I stay at home all the time, and the Immortals know I’m innocent! Boohoo–”

Luo Baiqian’s expression became cold. Instead of apologizing for having misunderstood her, he shouted at her, “You look more like a vulgar bitch than a lady! How can you take a child’s nonsense seriously? Shut up or I’ll let you know what hell is!”

Dong Xinlan had just been wronged and badly beaten by her husband. Now the truth came out, but Luo Baiqian had no intention to admit his mistake. Dong Xinlan didn’t get the result she wanted, so she decided to abandon her dignity and insisted to let Luo Baiqian give her a promise to make up for her in the future. Under the guidance of that thought, she cried hoarsely, counting her contributions to Luo’s Family and telling her endless grievances. Then she thought of her child, Zhu, who had just died, and cried more and more bitterly.

Luo Baiqian tried to stop her but failed, so he wanted again to solve the problem by force. He grabbed Dong Xinlan’s long, tangled hair and tried to drag her into the inner hall to beat her, but Wei came to save his mom again. Luo Baiqian called the servants to take Wei away, so a crowd of servants came up from all sides and made the situation more chaotic.

“Hello, excuse me.” A man in red came into Liu Li Tang, “I’m looking for Luo Baiqian. Someone wrote him a letter.”