Episode 128

  Because he remembered his late father, Gu Tingye didn't make any moves that night and just held Minglan tightly as they lay down together. The two of them were silent for half the night; Minglan was extremely tired that day and actually fell asleep in the man's fiery embrace. Gu Tingye gently stroked Minglan's soft black hair, and on her delicate face, a faint fatigue had already appeared. He felt a pang of heartache, thinking about Rong'er who would arrive tomorrow, as well as Chang'er who was far away. These two children he never wanted, he couldn't help but let out a sigh - actually, he wasn't a good father either.

  His palm slid down and stroked Minglan's soft belly, and he suddenly felt a surge of hope.

  On the second day, before dawn broke, Gu Ting Ye got up to wash and dress. When he came out, he saw Ming Lan struggling to get out of bed, and couldn't help but smile: "Sleep a bit more, you've been exhausted lately."

  Minglan shook her head resolutely: "If we're going, let's do it properly; that one is Chen Zheng paying his respects."

  Gu Tingyan glanced at the leaky pot and frowned: "But isn't it now the ugly hour?"

  Minglan gazed at the pillow with a lingering attachment, gritted her teeth and turned over to get out of bed. "It's rare for me to wake up early, it won't make much difference in time, I might as well do some other things; usually I can sleep late."

  These trivial matters include: accompanying Gu Tingyan for breakfast, and then sending him off with a gentle and virtuous appearance. This move brought a burst of mocking white eyes from Gu Tingyan, but Minglan pretended not to see it and continued to smile virtuously - even if she couldn't deceive Gu Tingyan, at least she could deceive the servants in the mansion and establish a good reputation.

  Then he went on to inspect the servants' quarters, overseeing the affairs of the house and how each servant was doing their job. In this surprise inspection, some diligent and hardworking ones were praised, while those who were lazy and deceitful were punished, with quite good results. By the time it was two o'clock in the afternoon, Minglan got into her sedan chair and left for Duke Ning's residence.

  The Qingyuan and Ningyuan Houfu are two households on the same street, with half of the Imperial Household Department's forest in between (the other half is inside Qingyuan). Looking down, the inner courtyard of Qingyuan and the inner courtyard of Houfu are like the two ends of a bow and arrow. If Minglan walks along the bowstring, she can pass through the small path in the forest and arrive at Houfu in about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, for some reason, Minglan can only walk along the curved line of the bow's back, first exiting the inner courtyard, then the outer courtyard to the main gate, taking a sedan chair to the main gate of Houfu, and then entering from the outer courtyard to the inner courtyard.

  When Minglan stepped into the Xiang household, which had two rows of three houses, at a good time, the gatekeeper's mother came to welcome her with a smile, but didn't invite her in. Instead, she said in the courtyard, "The second mistress said yesterday that you would come today, and the old mistress has been waiting for you since early morning."

  Minglan hesitated for a moment, her face showing a few shades of embarrassment, and apologetically said: "It's all my fault, I disturbed Madame's rest. Mother, I've just arrived, I don't know the rules, please tell me what time Madame usually gets up, so I can come at the right time."

  What's going on here? Are you saying that if she doesn't come, your master won't have to get out of bed? Don't Madam Shao and Madame Zhu need to pay their respects every day? You're trying to fool the foreigners!

  She stared at her mother for a moment, then quickly said: "Look what the second lady says, it's all because I'm talking too much. To tell you the truth, Madame is getting old, sometimes she gets up early and sometimes late, and she doesn't even have a regular sleep schedule..."

  "That's alright." Minglan gently interrupted her, "In the future, if I arrive too early, I'll just wait in the side room for a while and then go in to pay my respects after Madame is feeling better."

  "Hmph, it's best to let her wait, and if she has the guts, make her stand in the courtyard like a punishment for half a day! This trick is what Madame Yuan loves most, and Hualan has suffered a lot from it. However, this trick is easy for a biological mother to use but difficult for a stepmother. Just try it once, and rumors will spread all over the sky! How can the respected Lady of the Gu Manor still 'win people's hearts with virtue' then?"

  Thinking of this, Minglan couldn't help but secretly look forward to it - she was done for, and she realized that she had become more and more twisted.

  Forced a smile at his mother, didn't dare underestimate her again, and quickly invited Minglan into the house.

  When Minglan entered, she saw that Mrs. Shao and Zhu were already there, both sitting on the edge of the kang chatting with Old Madame. Mrs. Shao's complexion was sallow and her expression worried, while Old Madame kept consoling her: "...Rui'ge has always been lucky and blessed since childhood, this time he will surely turn bad luck into good fortune."

  "Second sister-in-law has arrived." Madam Zhu saw Minglan enter the house, stood up to greet her and smiled, "Originally, eldest sister-in-law was going to leave after paying respects to mother to take care of eldest brother, but she waited for second sister-in-law instead."

  Minglan couldn't help but glance at her mother, Xiang, with a very innocent gaze, expressing confusion: One of you says she came too early, and the other says she came too late, what's going on?

  Looked at mom with an awkward expression and lowered his head.

  Zhu's family was so clever, one look at her mother's face and she knew that what she said might not be suitable, so without waiting for Minglan to answer, she quickly pulled Minglan forward with a smile. Minglan didn't say much either, but respectfully greeted the two older women with a bow. After they sat down and were served tea, they exchanged a few pleasantries before the four older women started talking about playing mahjong together.

  "...We were just talking about your elder brother's illness." The old lady's eyebrows and eyes were kind and gentle, pointing to a plate of fresh fruit on the kang, calling the maid to pass it to Minglan, "It is said that those who are often ill live longer, I was just advising your sister-in-law."

  Minglan also consoled her for a few words, and said: "There are still several good old ginseng in my warehouse, I will send them to sister-in-law later. If you need any medicine, just let me know."

  Mrs. Shao saw Minglan's sincerity and forced a wry smile: "Thank you, sister-in-law, your elder brother's illness is just dragging on day by day."

  Old Lady lightly sighed, her face full of pity and said to Minglan: "Your sister-in-law and I have no other way, today I entrust you with this matter, when you go back tell Tingye about it. He has a wide network of connections, his elder brother is now in such a state, ask him to think of a solution, at least find a skilled doctor."

  As soon as these words came out, Mrs. Shao's lifeless eyes lit up immediately, and she looked at Minglan with a face full of pleading. Minglan's heart skipped a beat; since entering this house, she had been on high alert. After thinking for a moment, Minglan said warmly: "This is natural. However, sister-in-law might as well tell me first which doctors big brother has seen before, so that second master won't look again and make things worse."

  Madam Shao thought for a moment and then quickly counted one by one, saying as she herself became disheartened - from the few famous medical families in the capital to the well-known medical clinics in Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, and other places, from the Imperial Hospital's chief physician to the country's renowned barefoot doctors, almost all the big-name doctors had been invited over these twenty or thirty years.

  After she finished speaking, she saw Minglan's face across from her looking embarrassed, and she knew that she had put him in a difficult position.

  "I was going to look for one, but..." Minglan thought for a moment and carefully said, "As the saying goes, people gather with their own kind. Second Master has mostly met martial artists outside, so if he were to go find a doctor, it would probably be someone who treats external injuries from fights. The Old Mistress eats more salt than we eat rice, and Third Brother's wife's family is also long-time residents of the capital... why don't we all think together about any good doctors? When the time comes, Second Master can invite them over. We're a big family, thinking together will be better than one person stumbling around in the dark." Gu Tingyun may not necessarily know any extraordinary doctors, but once he finds out, he'll probably be able to use his influence to pressure people.

  Mrs. Shao understood the implication and nodded silently in agreement: "It can't be helped."

  Old Lady's eyes flashed, and she looked at Minglan for a moment before sighing: "There are three brothers in total, just hoping that Tingye will have some free time to come and visit his elder brother, maybe it'll be better."

  Minglan smiled slightly shyly: "I'll go back and tell Second Master."

  Watching her being so pleased, the others didn't have much to say. Zhu Shi couldn't help but take a closer look at this new sister-in-law. She saw Minglan sitting quietly, mostly listening to others speak, occasionally chiming in with a witty remark. Her words were few, only saying what needed to be said, and each sentence left room for interpretation, never being too direct or revealing. It seemed like she was responding, but actually, she wasn't committing to anything.

  Zhu's wife secretly smiled wryly and felt that her mother-in-law's intention was likely to be in vain.

  At this time, the maid outside reported loudly: Sister Rong has arrived. The crowd turned their heads and saw Hongniang and Qiuniang entering from left and right, followed by a slender figure in a light yellow embroidered chrysanthemum thin satin jacket - it was indeed Rong's sister, still looking frail and pale, with her head lowered and not saying a word.

  "Haven't you gone to pay your respects to your mother yet?" asked Zhu Shi with a hint of a smile.

  Rong Jie'er bowed her head and made a curtsy, but it was not very elegant. She twisted and turned, then said in a low voice: "Greetings to the madam."

  She saw her so stubborn, Autumn daughter couldn't help but let out a soft sigh, gently waved her hand, while Hongxiu stepped forward and saluted politely, saying "Greetings to the lady."

  Minglan smiled and nodded: "I heard Third Madame say that you have all packed up your trunks, so hurry up and tidy up a bit more. Today we will be returning to Qingyuan."

  Qiu Niang was overjoyed, her eyes filled with delight. Gu Hongru raised an eyebrow and glanced at Minglan, biting her lip as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. Minglan found it troublesome and decided to pretend not to notice, but Lady Zheng intervened with a gentle tone: "Second Mistress is a straightforward person, just speak your mind."

  Hong's face was flushed as she spoke in a humble tone: "I was thinking of bringing two maidservants with me, Jin Xi and Wu Er... They came with me when I married into this family, I... I don't want to leave them behind..." Her voice grew softer and softer.

  Minglan noticed that Rong's sister slightly tilted her head, quickly glanced at Gong Red Silk, and then immediately lowered her head without speaking.

  Madam heard this and smiled as she went to look at Minglan, her eyes inquiring. Minglan smiled and said: "As long as Madam and Eldest Sister agree, I naturally have no objections."

  Old Madame nodded in satisfaction, pointing at the two of them and speaking softly to Minglan: "These two aren't easy either. Tingye has been gone for so many years without a word, nobody knows anything about him, but they insist on waiting stubbornly. Alas... people's hearts are made of flesh, considering their good intentions, if they do something wrong in the future, you should be more tolerant."

  The words were full of sorrowful kindness, Hong Yu and Qiu Niang were moved at the same time, and they looked at Tai Furen with red-rimmed eyes.

  Gu Tingyan has been away from home for more than three years. The difference in treatment between the two of them over the past two years and last year is at least two stars. Now, Madame can say this with such fluency and naturalness, Minglan is deeply impressed and determined to learn from her example. She learned the true tone of Madame's speech, adding a bit of gentle rebuke, with beautiful eyebrows and eyes, smiling: "Look what you said, even if you didn't order me, I wouldn't be able to mistreat them!"

  Old Madam held Minglan's hand, with a warm and gentle smile in her eyes: "You child!"

  Zhu's lips curled up in a smile, and Madame Shao's face was filled with relief. Hong Xiu and Qiu Niang expressed their gratitude in an obedient manner, with Hong Xiu even dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief to add to the drama. The maids on either side couldn't help but giggle along, as if everyone thought this was real. Indeed, life is like a play, and a play is like life - Minglan felt that today had been truly harmonious.

  Just returned from a business trip, full of anger, next time will be more prepared.

  Kowtow.