Young Master, come and possess me! - Chapter 43

 

[Chapter 42]  [Index]     [Chapter 44]

Young Master, Come and Possess Me!   

Chapter 43: The dark mist that haunts the backyard of Li’s manor

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Chaos ensued back at Li’s Manor during the few days when Fox and Tang Cheng Cheng had disappeared into the thin air.

The whole family scrambled up and down to find the eldest young master of the Li family. They had even reported the alarming incident to the authorities, but so far no one was able to relay any news about him at all. The worried Madam Li spent her days lying on the bed, not being able to get up to perform her other duties. She even started to babble sadly in her dreams,

"My son, ah, my precious baby..."

That very afternoon, Concubine Wei came to the main house to visit Madam Li while she carried her three-year-old son.

"Is Madam better now?" Concubine Wei pretended to be concerned, but her poisonous heart kept cursing her so that Madam Li would meet her death sooner.

Madam Li's personal maid, Qi'er, shook her head with a heavy expression.

"If young master doesn’t reach out to us that he is safe, I’m afraid that madam’s situation may not get better at all."

"I guess that grief must have ailed Madam’s heart severely now, that is why I brought my Dian'er here today to comfort Madam." Concubine Wei's tone was gentle.

"But..." Qi Er didn't think that Madam Li's mood would improve one bit when she saw the concubine now.

"Take this ginseng and boil it for Madam to drink later. This is the best ginseng harvested in the deep regions of Changbai Mountain. The old master gifted this to me but I could never bear to drink it at all. Go and boil it now." Concubine Wei sent Qi Er, who wanted to stop her, far away so she couldn't meddle in her affairs.

"Yes, Mistress Wei." 

Qi Er then signaled Chang'er with a stern look, telling her with her eyes to practice extreme caution with the concubine around. She was the only other maid who served Madam Li while she was confined to the bed.

Although the three wife and concubines of the Li family looked like they lived together amicably on the surface, each of them harbored so much hatred for the other two women that they constantly cursed each other to disappear from their sights. They held no patience nor consideration for each other and all of them wished that the other two women would just pass away out of the blue like Concubine Ye 5 years ago. Concubine Ye had just entered the Li Household for less than half a year before her soul extinguished like smoke in the clear skies.

Concubine Wei was now the most favored partner of the master of the manor. Thus she became increasingly arrogant as she tried to wield her power among the other inhabitants living in that household. Although she acted as if she was gentle and polite to Madam Li on the surface, but every word that came out of her seemingly docile mouth was often filled with provoking thorns, and this angered Madam Li to no end.

Concubine Cao on the other hand, only managed to give birth to one daughter, Li Hai Mo. Furthermore, Li Hai Mo died unexpectedly not long ago, so now Concubine Cao had no real backing in the Li family and it was also a long time since the master had last entered her room too.

"Elder sister, little sister is here to see you."

Concubine Wei pushed aside the beaded curtain that separated the inner and outer rooms, and walked demurely to Madam Li's bed,

"Dian’er, greet mother."

"Mother." Li Hai Dian obediently shouted.

Madam Li opened her eyes just to see Li Hai Dian, who had a cherubic chubby face in front of her. He was well-behaved and was charming in other people's eyes but Madam Li’s heart was now only filled with anger.

"I'm still not feeling well, so take Dian'er away." Madam Li waved her hand dismissively then closed her eyes.

"Elder sister, I brought Dian'er here so that he could relieve your worries." Concubine Wei insinuated with her fake kindness.

She deliberately brought Li Hai Dian here so that his presence could enrage Madam Li. This was so that her anger could boil uncontrollably and push her towards her death faster.

"You must be the happiest person now since Hai Jiao had disappeared all of a sudden, isn’t that so? Right now, only Dian'er is the only rightful male heir in the Li family. Don’t think it’s so easy to just upgrade your status through your son now!” Madam Li bellowed at her.

"Sister, I wasn't the one to cause Hai Jiao to disappear. Why are you accusing me of something so cruel?" Concubine Wei acted as if she was aggrieved by her words.

"From what I can see, you must be the mastermind behind everything!"

Madam Li half propped herself up and shouted at her angrily,

"Last time, Hai Jiao suddenly fell into the water and thankfully he was still alive after he was rescued successfully. Tell me, how did you attack him this time?"

"Sister, you say those words as if I was his murderer!" Concubine Wei retorted out against the injustice.

"It's you! You are the one who killed my son!" Madam Li pointed accusingly at Concubine Wei in her rage.

Li Hai Dian was frightened by Madam Li's vicious appearance and began to cry.

Concubine Wei gave Madam Li a bitter scoff while she comforted her son then said,

"Hai Jiao has been in poor health since he was a child. I think his lifespan could have been short originally and was probably destined to die early. Sister had done him a great service, caring for him so well that he was able to pull through to his twenties.

"It's really you!" Madam Li pounced at her angrily, but Concubine Wei stepped to the side at the right time, leaving her to swipe futilely at the air.

Chang'er quickly went forward to stabilize Madam Li so she didn’t shame herself by falling forward, but Madam Li just waved her assistance away. She then shouted at Concubine Wei,

"Get out! Scram!"

"Sister, you might have to prepare for the mourning ceremony soon. From the way I see it, I think there is a high chance that Hai Jiao might have met his demise more than being fortunate enough to keep his life this time around."

Concubine Wei kept on stoking the anger of Madam Li.

"You are spouting nonsense! Get out of here!" Madam Li grabbed Chang'er's sleeve and said, "Go to the authorities, tell them that she was the one who killed the eldest young master. Ask them to arrest her so that they could take her to the government office for questioning."

"Sister, you don't have any evidence to prove that I actually did anything, you shouldn't accuse innocent citizens like me!" Concubine Wei's tone was cold, as her poisonous soul only yearned to anger Madam Li to no end.

"It's you, you..." Madam Li let out an "AHH" before vomiting out a mouthful of black blood.

"Madam!" Chang'er held Madam Li's shoulder and instructed the other girls, "Go and call the doctor."

"Humph." Concubine Wei strutted out like a proud peacock.

Concubine Wei was walking halfway to the door, when a maid hurried in and almost ran head first into her.

"Be careful! If you hit the young master, ten of you won't be enough to pay for his injuries!" Concubine Wei raised her hand and slapped her.

"I'm sorry, Mistress!" The maid who was slapped kneeled partially over as she haphazardly bent her knees in a servile manner, yet she did not dare to stop her footsteps forward, "Madam, madam, the young master is back!"

Concubine Wei turned to look back at her in astonishment.

Madam Li, whose lips was still stained with blood, finally raised the corners of her lips into a smile of relief.

Translation corner:

[1] Mistress Wei is the concubine of Li Hai Jiao’s father

[..] Another translation that might have you scratching your head in the first place might be the use of Er 儿 at the back of a person’s name. 儿 means child, so it’s just a suffix to refer to a younger child/person back in ancient China. In today’s context, Li Hai Dian might be called Dian Dian or Little Dian (小滇) instead. Only elderly people might still use the suffix Er to refer to a child nowadays.

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