Reborn: Revenge of the Concubine's Daughter

Chapter 52 Diaoshanyao Powder and brothels

Mammy Tang held the little bloody hand and shouted, “How did you hurt? Where are the sharp thorns from?”

He Danggui wiped the teardrop at the corner of her eyes with her another hand and shook her head without speaking.

Mammy Tang was so anxious. Suddenly, she remembered that Third Miss was very fond of the gauze coat with magnolia flowers. Could it be that... Thinking of this, Mammy Tang suddenly grabbed the gauze coat on the table and shook it. Then, dozens of fine thorns were shaken on the table. Mammy Tang’s face turned pale. She said in a low voice, “What kind of thorns are these? Why are there many thorns in the coat?”

He Danggui raised her injured hand to her eyes and checked. Then she said, “These thorns are tough and have fine white hair on the tip. If I am not mistaken, they should be thorns of the Xifan cactus.”

“The Xifan cactus?” Mammy Tang remembered that she had seen this kind of plant with thorns in Second Miss’s yard, but why the clothes sent by Second Miss were covered with thorns in her yard? Mammy Tang’s expression kept changing, and then she apologized to He Danggui, “Damn it! Damn it! I remember that when the maid named Cui Gen passed the garden with the clothes in her hands, she fell down and the clothes were dropped on the ground. The clothes must be stained with thorns at that time! I didn’t find them out in time and let them hurt Third Miss’s hand. Damn it! Please punish me!”

Mammy Tang had a high status in Luo’s Mansion. She seemed to be a lower-level master. Even the Misses in the mansion were usually very respectful to her. Only in front of Madam Luo did she would regard herself as a servant. Now she apologized to He Danggui and treated her as a true Miss. Besides, she asked He Danggui to punish her. Thus, He Danggui certainly would not do as Mammy Tang said. After all, she knew that it had nothing to do with Mammy Tang.

He Danggui took off a handkerchief from her button, pinched the sharp thorns out of her hand, bandaged the wounds and said, “How can I blame you? Cui Gen was too careless. Did she hurt?”

Mammy Tang shook her head and replied, “No, she was fine. When I get back, I will discipline her strictly and let her get rid of the habit of being careless.”

“Well, I’m just a little pricked, so please don’t punish Cui Gen. I feel guilty when thinking that Grandma, Second Aunt and Second Sister have spent so much time in preparing for me to come back...” He Danggui said. But she suddenly looked strange and threw away her handkerchief. She scratched her right hand with her left hand and then scratched her left hand with her right hand. It seemed that she was very itchy.

Mammy Tang sweat on her forehead. She asked hurriedly, “What’s the matter with you?”

“I, I don’t know. My hands are itchy suddenly. Maybe there are mosquitoes in the room... Well, Mammy, you don’t know that there are various flowers and trees in the Taoist temple. So, it’s not strange to have a few mosquitoes in late autumn. Please forgive me for being rude.” He Danggui replied embarrassedly, but she scratched harder and harder. Finally, the backs of her white and slender hands were scratched and turned red. But she still felt itchy, so she used her hands to rub each other, making her fingers which were pricked bleed again. It looked terrible when the backs of her hands, her wrists and arms were smeared with blood. Then she scratched her shoulders. It seemed that the itch spread upward.

Mammy Tang couldn’t bear this and said, “Stop! Stop scratching! You will hurt yourself and leave scars!” Then she tried to hold He Danggui’s arm to stop her.

But this scared He Danggui. She took a few steps back and waved her hands, “Alright, I will stop! Mammy, just don’t touch me. Otherwise, you could be infected!” Then she stopped scratching but patting, using her little hands to pat her body.

“Infected?” Mammy Tang frowned, “Is it contagious? Third Miss, you just said you were bit by mosquitoes, but in my opinion, it definitely doesn’t look like mosquitoes. What really happened?”

Hearing this, He Danggui kept silence for a while. She opened her mouth but said nothing with her head lowering down and a blurry expression hiding behind her veil.

Mammy Tang considered some possibilities in her mind but signed finally, “Third Miss, Madam Luo and I know that you’ve suffered a lot this time. So, we want to help you more. But how can we help you if you keep everything to yourself? Tell me that did you…catch a strange disease? And that’s why you cover your face with a veil and feel itchy all over your body?”

“A disease?” He Danggui said in astonishment, “I don’t have any diseases. My nose doesn’t feel well.”

“But now you…” Mammy Tang stared at He Danggui’s watery eyes which could speak and reveal a mixed feeling of shock, hesitation and grievance.

He Danggui frowned and said nothing. Then she pointed at the inner clothes made of ivory silk and said with sobs, “I just touched that clothes and underwear, and then I began to feel itchy. It seemed that the itch comes directly out of my bones. The symptom is most likely the…”

“What?” Mammy Tang kept her eyes closely on He Danggui. Her dull eyes showed that she experienced the hardship of life, but also showed the sophistication and stateliness that a young woman didn’t have.

“An itching powder called Diaoshanyao Powder.” He Danggui was frightened by Mammy Tang’s eyes and said in a very low voice, “A few months ago, Fourth Sister accidentally scattered this powder on my collar and then apologized to me sadly. She told me that this itching powder is called Diaoshanyao Powder. Anyone who gets it has to suffer the itch a whole day and there’s no method to cure it… I was exactly as itchy as today. The extreme itch made me scratch my whole body very hard and therefore I left a lot of scars… Because my chest was the most painful part, so I was afraid of seeing the doctor. The itch lasted for nearly three days, so I always remember this feeling…”

“Oh my!” Mammy Tang’s face turned pale and she asked in doubt, “You mean that Fourth Miss put this powder on your clothes?” She heard about this itching powder before. It was said that this powder was frequently used in the third-class brothels in Yangzhou City!

Yangzhou City was a good place to visit in early spring. Lots of rich merchants gathered here. There were numbers of brothels, decorated pleasure boats, whores and beauties. But the brothels also had different levels. The inferior one also could be graded as third, fourth and fifth-class brothels and illicit prostitution. One of their ways to gain money was to buy good women in low price and taught them to be whores. Then the women were sold into first-class or second-class brothels with a high price and became the most popular courtesans whose prices rose many times.

One of the ways used by those procuresses in brothels to deal with the good women who tried to resist was Diaoshanyao Powder. Evil procuresses tied the good women up tightly with pieces of cloths in case they couldn’t bear the itch and scratched their soft skins or committed suicide by biting off their tongues. Then the procuresses just needed to scatter a half spoon of Diaoshaoyao Powder over them and locked them for a whole day. No matter how firm the women were, they would be obedient after such a torture.

Mammy Tang was 55 years old now, and helped Madam Luo to manage Luo’s Family in her early years. Therefore, she knew the inside information of brothels and heard about Diaoshanyao Powder, but she never saw it.

Fourth Miss was an unmarried girl. How could she get Diaoshanyao Powder and use it on her sister? That was weird. If Third Miss didn’t lie, Mammy Tang must report this to Madam Luo. She supposed that there must be at least one tricky servant around the innocent Fourth Miss to teach her bad things.

Mammy Tang became nervous. Once the thing was spread, the reputation of both Fourth Miss and Luo’s Family would be damaged! Anyway, she must let Third Miss keep this secret!

But He Danggui’s behavior surprised her. He Danggui saluted her in good manner and said, “Mammy, please don’t tell others!”

Mammy Tang immediately came to hold her elbows and said in surprise, “What’s wrong? Third Miss, I can’t afford your salute!”

He Danggui stood up with tears while continued scratching herself, “The Fourth Sister is one year younger than me and innocent, so how could she scatter the itching powder over me on purpose? I think she must sprinkle the itching powder on me by accident last time. And the thing happened months ago. Except for Fourth Sister, only the Second Sister and I knew this. Please don’t spread it out or tell Grandma! If Grandma misunderstands that Fourth Sister deliberately did this to me, she could punish her with copying Analects for Women 100 times! Then the Fourth Sister and the Second Aunt must think it is me who reports this to Grandma. And the Second Aunt will hate me more!”

“What? Second Miss was at there? Did she know the thing about Diaoshanyao Powder?” Mammy Tang was more shocked. In her impression, Second Miss was the most kind and elegant lady in the whole Luo’s Family. How could she be involved in this?

He Danggui nodded tearfully, “Listen to me, Mammy. The Fourth Sister didn’t sprinkle the itching powder deliberately. At that time, we all practiced calligraphy in the small study, and the Fourth Sister used a piece of paper to hold the powder and wanted to throw it out. Unfortunately, Second Miss also stood up and wanted to go out. When she passed the Fourth Sister, she carelessly stepped on the Fourth Sister’s dress, so the Fourth Sister sprinkled the powder out. I was just looking down and writing, so I didn’t avoid in time and was stained with the itching powder. In addition, it has been a long time and I really don’t want Grandma and others to know it. They would misunderstand that I’m so mean and I like raking up the past. They may even misunderstand that I don’t get along well with the Fourth Sister. That’s impossible! Although my Second Aunt doesn’t like me, the Fourth Sister is kind to me. Since this matter, the Fourth Sister made midnight snack using her kitchenette and sent for me almost every day. I really appreciate her very much.”

Mammy Tang was confused and asked, “Did Fourth Miss make midnight snack for you every day? Why I haven’t heard of it?”

“It’s true. I dare not lie to you!” He Danggui was afraid that Mammy Tang didn’t trust her, so she described in detail, “The Fourth Sister told me that her mother was angry with me because of the matters of dinner and tailoring the clothes. She was afraid that her mother would blame her after knowing that we had a good relationship, so she didn’t dare to use her kitchenette to cook for me in daytime. Her maid Dao He could only send the food for me until others sleep after midnight.”

Mammy Tang frowned, “Now that it has been midnight, you should not eat anything. The food will be accumulated in your belly and you can’t digest. Besides, you’re a Miss who doesn’t exercise and work. Therefore, it’s important for you to plan diet reasonably and keep fit.”

Third Miss was the daughter of the concubine and was abandoned by her father’s family. Since she didn’t gain her father’s protection but had a shameful origin, Madam Luo couldn’t help her so much although Madam Luo really loved her. When she needed to propose marriage in the future, what she could show was her beauty and figure. Once she ate food at midnight throughout the year and got out of shape, she would not marry in a good family.