Chapter 29 - Unveiling
Chapter 29 Unveiling
“Miss, here we are.” Yueru jumped off the carriage first, and then helped Su Muge to get down.
“Why, why haven’t you put on your veil cap today?!”
When Su Muge raised her head, she saw Su Lun staring at her three steps away. Su Lun didn’t see her until now since he had been seated in his carriage before Su Muge had arrived at their gate back at home.
She had worn her veil yesterday and he had felt everything was in normal. But now with that veil cap off and showing out her real face, it was too obvious for others to see her ugly dark red birthmark in the sun!
“Come on! Take the veil hat out and help the eldest Miss to put it on!”
The coldness and calmness in Su Muge’s eyes were not vulnerable towards the fury and dislike on Su Lun’s face. “Father, I did not take the veil hat with me.”
“You, you…”
The words were not finished when the butler of the Meng family, who had been waiting, came out and welcomed them.
Though a bit shocked at his first sight at the birthmark on Su Muge’s face. Butler Meng soon collected himself and went forward to greet them with ease.
“Lord Su, Eldest Miss Su, my greetings to both of you. The Lord and Old Lady have been waiting for you in the mansion when they heard about your coming. Please come with me.”
Su Lun glared at Su Muge. “Thank you.”
Su Muge was told by Yueru that the hometown of the Meng family was Shunyang prefecture. Decades ago, the father of Lord Meng had received a position in the palace, which was of the highest rank. Therefore, the whole Meng family moved their home to the capital. The father of Lord Meng had passed away because of some sickness a few years ago, and Old Lady Meng’s health had been in a vulnerable condition since then. This time, Meng Changde sent Old Lady Meng back to Shunyang prefecture for her recovery.
All the way in, there were maids passing by now and then. They were surprised at Su Muge’s face, yet dared not to look at her one more time. After a quick glimpse, they kept walking and avoided the eye contact with their heads down.
With the maid reporting ahead of time, when Su Muge and her father were approaching the Glory Hall, a delicate figure came outside, and it was Rumei, the maid of Old Lady Meng’s.
Rumei saw Su Muge, who was standing next to Su Lun, at her first sight. When they were together on the way back to Shunyang prefecture, Su Muge had covered her birthmark with a patch and then with a veil when she had changed back to the costume of a female. So it was the first time that Rumei saw her real face. Maybe the birthmark was too obvious in an unpleasant way, Rumen stunned for an instant when saw it.
But soon she was back to her normal face and led the two inside.
“She is the benefactor of our Meng family, so of course, as your grandson, I shall thank her in person.”
“You child…”
Just as they were outside door, they heard a cheerful voice that was reporting their arrival. When Rumei entered with the curtain pulled aide, the voice soon vanished.
“Lord Su, Eldest Miss Su, please.”
Su Muge followed Su Lun. They entered and saw a large crowd of people in the Glory Hall.
There were noises of breathing out of astonishment when Su Muge stepped in, and she could feel it clearly that the eyes which had been filled with smile were then changed into something else.
Su Muge remained calm and greeted Old Lady Meng in the hall with Su Lun.
“My greetings to you，Old Lady Meng.”
With a glance at Su Muge’s face, Old Lady Meng froze a bit, but she soon smiled amiably and asked Su Muge to get up.
“There’s no need to be too polite.”
Old Lady Meng was the Imperial Mandate Madam, which was an honorary title for a lady with the highest rank designated by the emperor. Therefore, it was indeed appropriate for Su Lun to greet her with the utmost courtesy.
“Thank you for looking after my daughter during the trip, Old Lady Meng.”
“Thank you so much, Old Lady Meng,” echoed by Su Muge, with her body bowed.
“I shall thank you instead. If it were not your treatment in time, I could be in any worse condition.”
When Old Lady Meng finished her words, a man seated in a position inferior than her stood up and bowed to Su Muge with his hands folded in front. He was in a pale bluish-white robe with a jade-decorated belt around his waist.
“Eldest Miss Su, thank you for saving my grandma’s life.”
Su Muge raised her head and set her eyes on the man. His face was born with gentleness. Even without smiling, there was tenderness in his eyes as if they were telling thousands of words of a lover’s prattle.
Su Muge, however, with only one glance, noticed the slyness flashed in his eyes. What an evil demon hiding under such a harmless sheepskin!
Su Muge lowered her eyes in calmness. She turned a little aside and did not accept his bow.
“Watch out, you scared Eldest Miss Su,” Old Lady Meng spoke just in time.
Meng Xiuwen stood up, looked at Old Lady Meng, and said gravely, “Grandma, your grandson is no wild beast, how could Eldest Lady Su be afraid of him?”
“What a clumsy mouth do I have! You won. Your father is waiting for you in the study room. Why not take Lord Su with you and then he can play chess with your father?”
Meng Xiuwen glanced at Su Muge, who still kept looking down, and nodded with a smile. “Sure.”
After Su Lun left with Meng Xiuwen, the smile on Old Lady’s face eased a bit. She asked Su Muge to sit down.
Su Muge obeyed. “Old Lady, are you feeling better?”
“I took the medicine according to your recipe last night, and had a good sleep.”
“Follow the recipe for one month, and then you may recuperate by taking special care of the food you eat.”
“Eldest Miss Su, you mean that grandma doesn’t have to take that bitter medicine ever after?”
Su Muge raised her eyes and looked to the direction of the voice. There was a girl at the age of twelve or thirteen in a light-yellow horse-face dress which was made of four pieces of cloth.
“This is my third granddaughter, Meng Tiantian. She is the naughtiest one.”
With no shyness towards such a comment at all, Meng Tiantian squeezed her nose in a lovely way.
“The imperial doctor said grandma had to take medicine for the rest of her life in order to keep her heath condition stable. But now you are saying it’ll be enough for just one month. Are you even better than an imperial doctor?”
A girl in a blue horse-face dress sitting in a position superior than Meng Tiantian asked. She did not cover the sarcasm in her words nor on her face.
Eldest Madam Meng, who was seated beside her, frowned, and looked at her with dissatisfaction.
“Shushu, what are you talking about!”
Meng Shushu snorted. Apparently, she was not afraid of Eldest Madam Meng. “Mom, I said nothing wrong. Grandma, she appears the same age as I, and how can she have such outstanding medical skills! I bet she’s lying!”
The face of Old Lady Meng went dark at once.
“Shushu, shut up!” Eldest Madam Meng scolded her.
Su Muge did not panic. She raised her eyes slowly to look at this little girl who was hostile to her. It she trusted her memory, there was a lady in the Meng Mansion that her sister had a good relation with. Then it must be this one.
It was right to come forward when a friend was in trouble. However, the time and person should be both carefully chosen. If not, horrible mistakes could happen.
“I bet you do not feel good when you have your period every time.”
It was unusual and unexpected for someone to bring up a topic like this in public. After all, it was the little secret of girls, which might offend others.
Even Old Lady Meng looked a bit unhappy with her eyebrows frowned when she turned to Su Muge.
“Shushu, come on, apologize to Eldest Miss Su!”
“Madam, it’s fine. I understand the doubt of the Second Miss. But what I’ve said just now was not nonsense. The body of the Second Miss is of the cold type, which means she can hardly sweat even during the hottest three periods in summer. And even if she does, the sweat feels cold, which implies her sickness of body coldness.”
Su Muge looked at Meng Shushu, calm and motionless. “Is it true that Second Miss dare not drink even a bit of cold water on ordinary days? And do you suffer from constant diarrhea once having any food of the cold type? And do you experience a bad headache and feel hard to breath when you are on your period?”
Meng Shushu could no longer argue with those words and her face turned pale as she heard them.
The look of Eldest Lady Meng also changed. She had only two children: Meng Xiuwen, her son, the Eldest Master of the Su Mansion; Meng Shushu, her daughter.
Meng Shushu got her first period two or three years ago, and she had been suffering from it ever after. It was like she had some serious illness every time. Eldest Lady Meng had taken her daughter to see a lot of doctors and it never worked. She was worried because any woman with a child would know that it could be very difficult to get pregnant with such a body condition.
Old Lady Meng sensed some inappropriateness. She was not in a good condition herself, and let alone to bother those of her granddaughters.
Su Muge lowered her head, took a sip of tea from the porcelain cup on the table in front of her, and said no more.
“Look at me, so slow in response. Since Eldest Miss Su comes to our mansion, I shall take her to have a walk in our garden. I’ve brought back various flowers and other plants. The young girls like them. Let Tiantian take them to have a walk in the mansion.” Eldest Madam Meng looked at Meng Tiantian, who was seated at the moment. Meng Tiantian was the third daughter of Meng Changde with a concubine. She was delicate and knew the art of conversation. Therefore, it was a life not too tough for her in the Meng Mansion.
Old Lady Meng grinned and nodded her head. “Go and play around. Take good care of Eldest Miss Su.”
“Yes.”
Meng Tiantian stepped forward and took Su Muge’s hand. “Sister Su, let’s go.”
Although feeling a bit reluctant, Meng Shushu also stood up at the harsh glance of Eldest Lady Meng. A few more girls followed and Su Muge didn’t not bother.
The size of the Meng Mansion was much larger than that of the Su Mansion. There was a waterside pavilion in the garden. The season of lotus flower was gone, but the water lily decorated the lake with great beauty.
“Sister Su, did you learn your medical skills from a teacher?” Meng Tiantian had so many questions for her. Su Muge was patient enough to cope with these, and she picked some questions of no great importance to answer.
“I’m so tired. I need to go and have a rest.” Meng Shushu was annoyed by their side when she thought of what Su Muge had just said in the hall. She took her period as a shortage. And with one’s shortage revealed like that in public, no one could be happy.
Su Muge glimpsed at her with indifference.
“Ouch!”
Suddenly, Meng Tiantian stumbled on a stone and nearly fell down.
Being grabbed up Su Muge swiftly, she still sprained her ankle.
“Uh, it hurts.” Meng Tiantian frowned and she almost cried.
“Let me have a look.” Su Muge squatted down and was about to check Meng Tiantian’s feet. The maid aside held Meng Tiantian and pulled her aside.
“It’s too much to bother you, Eldest Miss Su. We are going to take Third Miss back. Miss, please go to the waterside pavilion for a rest.”
Meng Tiantian also looked at Su Muge with her head raised. “Sister Su, I’m fine.”
Su Muge nodded. “Sure.”
Several maids helped Meng Tiantian leave.
Seeing Meng Shushu and others sitting in the waterside pavilion, Su Muge turned and went to sit on a stone bench in the garden instead.
“Eldest Miss Su, why are you here alone?”
A slim figure came out slowly from the back of a tree.