No sooner had she poisoned the supporting female character's face than the old matriarch found her increasingly familiar
The next morning, the cold rain stopped, replaced by a biting, chilly wind that kept seeping into the cracks in the roof of the Marquis's mansion.
Pine and Crane Hall is the main house of the Marquis's residence, and the underground heating system is very strong.
Marquis Mei Hongye and his wife, along with the heir apparent who commands the army, are not currently in Luoyang.
Of all the people in the mansion, only Mei Zhongjun, this jackal who was pretending to be lame, was wandering around the inner quarters.
Gu Moli heard this clearly in the rumors that Qingwu brought back last night.
Several brass incense burners with auspicious beast designs stood at the base of the wall, emitting wisps of Canaan incense that smelled suffocating.
The old lady lay reclining on the daybed, a gray satin vest with dark gold longevity characters draped over her shoulders, her withered hands gently tapping the string of glossy sandalwood prayer beads.
At the lower end of the table, in a row of huanghuali armchairs, sat several daughters-in-law and favored granddaughters, none of them uttering a sound.
Gu Moli stood on the blue brick floor below, having changed into a plain blue cloth dress without any embroidery.
Holding half a scroll of the Scripture of Salvation, he stood there motionless, his head bowed low.
It was meticulously crafted, perfectly measured, and flawless; there wasn't a single fault to be found.
The old lady lifted her eyelids and scanned the woman's frail figure twice through the prayer beads.
The rosary beads were moved to the base of the thumb, then suddenly stopped for a moment.
picture.
Wow, they look so alike.
Years ago, she accompanied the Marquis to the palace to express her gratitude, and caught glimpses of the favored Noble Consort Chen from afar twice in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.
She stood there with her head bowed and eyes downcast, without making a single movement, yet a chilling aura emanated from beneath her eyelashes.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when she pinched herself awake.
How could a destitute orphan girl with nowhere to turn possibly be worthy of someone from the highest heavens?
Well, it's probably just a case of looking alike.
"He knows the rules."
The sutra was handed to the old nanny beside her, and the old lady weighed the remaining half of the admonition in her hand.
"The second son is a scoundrel; he dares to drag any Tom, Dick, or Harry into the mansion."
However... since the scriptures have already been copied, I appreciate this filial piety...
He had only spoken halfway through his sentence.
A bloodcurdling scream erupted from the courtyard.
Her voice was so shrill it could pierce your ears, and the birds under the porch fluttered about wildly.
"It hurts... my face! It hurts so much!"
The thick felt curtain was suddenly ripped askew, and the brass hook scraped against the door frame with two sharp, grating sounds.
Lu Xuerou, who should have been dressed neatly to pay her respects, had her hair mostly disheveled and stumbled into the main room.
The gold-embroidered satin jacket and skirt had half of the collar torn open, and the woman rolled back and forth on the blue brick ground.
That once delicate face and neck were now covered in a dense patch of blood-red poisonous spots.
Blisters appear on the spots, and the blisters rupture and drain pus.
It was both itchy and painful; all my former refined manners had been wasted.
He dug his ten fingers into his face, grabbed a handful, and the crevices under his fingernails were filled with powder and blood.
"Help... Grandma, help me! It's so itchy!"
She pressed herself against the brick wall, desperately trying to move forward. Her sleeves were already smeared with black blood. With a haphazard scrawl, she overturned a bowl of boiling ginseng tea on the table.
The yellowish-brown tea soup, mixed with tea leaves, was poured over his bruised face, and a piercing scream almost lifted the roof beam.
A large group of people suddenly stood up from the armchairs on both sides, their skirts sweeping over the small footstools.
The two younger children clutched their handkerchiefs and hid behind them, their stomachs churning.
Just then, the sound of wheelchair wheels rolled over the threshold.
Mei Zhongjun had specially changed into a brand-new royal blue brocade robe today, and had come to the old lady in a hurry to ask for someone back, but instead he ran into this bloody and mangled living ghost.
"Cousin! Second cousin, save me! That woman you brought back is a ghost! She's ruined me!"
Upon hearing the sound of the wheelchair, Lu Xuerou lunged forward as if grasping at a straw, her hands covered in pus and blood.
"Get out of here!"
Mei Zhongjun's narrow eyes almost popped out of their sockets, his usual shamelessness vanished completely, and he shrank back into his wheelchair.
With both hands gripping the wheelchair armrests, she pulled back with all her might, while the "paralyzed leg" beneath the fox fur twitched honestly, as if it wished it could sprout wings and leap out.
"Get out of here... stop her! Stop her right now! Don't let her touch my robe!"
He shouted in a high-pitched voice.
Two guards with knives rushed forward, swung their scabbards horizontally across her shoulder blades, and slammed her onto the brick floor.
The old lady slammed the sandalwood prayer beads in her hand onto the kang table with a clatter, propped herself up with a pillow, and her fingers trembled with anger.
"What kind of outrageous behavior is this... In broad daylight, what kind of ghost have we encountered?!"
"Tie her up! Gag her! Drag her to the woodshed at the west corner gate! Take my invitation and fetch the doctor from Hall of Preserving Harmony. No one is allowed to come near her!"
Several burly, rough-looking women pounced on him, wrapped thick hemp rope tightly around his mouth, stuffed a rag into his mouth, and dragged him out the side door like a dead dog.
A glaring trail of blood was left on the blue brick.
The main room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the slow, gentle waft of the incense.
Gu Moli stood two steps away from the pool of blood, her skirt remaining perfectly still.
He rubbed his fingertip on the remaining ink in the hidden pocket of his sleeve.
Only after the maid wiped away the pool of blood with ashes did she slowly take half a step forward.
"Please calm down, Madam... I saw Miss Biao's symptoms when I was a merchant in the south."
He was so enraged that he was exposed to the miasma of the southern barbarians, and that's how this happened.
She paused.
"My family has a traditional remedy for cooling and relieving pain passed down through generations: Phellodendron bark, Dictamnus root bark, and with the addition of Cnidium fruit, boil it down and apply it to the affected area. It should at least suppress the intense itching and prevent Miss from scratching her face raw."
His voice was soft and his tone unhurried.
She managed to calm down the restless, fishy smell in the room little by little.
The old lady leaned back on the daybed, her old eyes fixed on her, not looking away.
The sandalwood beads made a soft, resonant sound when tapped together.
She could list thirty or fifty of the underhanded and ruthless methods used to torment people within the inner quarters of high-ranking families, even with her eyes closed.
Lu Xuerou cherishes her face more than her life. She had just made things difficult for this new maid last night, and she's furious this morning.
She didn't believe it was a coincidence.
But this seemingly frail girl was able to use his own methods against him.
Finally, they can casually hand over a prescription as a favor.
That's a tough approach.
"It's so kind of you to put your heart into this."
She plucked a bead from the rosary, the sound of which betrayed neither hot nor cold.
Gu Moli lowered her body accordingly.
"My fate is inherently cold, and I was just frightened like this. I know I have little fortune..."
Fearing it might bring bad luck to the Marquis's mansion, I humbly beg the Old Madam for her grace to set up a quiet room in Fallen Plum Studio and erect a small Buddhist shrine there.
I am willing to eat vegetarian food and copy scriptures to pray for the old lady and the Marquis's mansion.
Without the Old Madam's summons, I will not step out of Fallen Plum Studio, lest those unclean things outside disturb my quiet cultivation.
Before he could finish speaking...
The person in the wheelchair got anxious first.
"So you're going off to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist prayers? Didn't I say yesterday..."
"Shut up!"
The old lady lifted her eyelids, and a cold glare swept across her, forcibly silencing Mei Zhongjun's next words.
The old lady knew it perfectly well.
This girl is using a feigned retreat as a pretext to ask Lu Xuerou for a protective charm.
Knowing to avoid that mad dog, the second son, is better than those lowly sluts who desperately try to climb into their master's bed.
However, the more I look at this face, the more it resembles that person, which makes me feel a little uneasy...
[Thanks to: Little Pig's Character Summoning, Cheng Shi, Orchid's Inspiration Capsule, Dan Tong's 2 likes + update reminder charm, Yi Zi's Milk Tea, General's update reminder charm + like, 1458's Love Letter, Shang Xin, Mu Yun's update reminder charm, Rou Rou, Angel's Flower, Qing Cheng's Flower + like, and everyone else for their love and support!]