NOVEL NEXT Proofread by DragonRider
Returning back home, Minglan immediately confessed to Old Madam Sheng about the mud incident. Old Madam was lying on the Luohan bed, silent. Minglan was a little worried, asking, “Grandma, do you think I was wrong?”
Old Madam shook her head, stroked Minglan’s soft hair, and said slowly, “You didn’t do wrong and your fourth sister won’t report to your father with a fanfare, yet…” Minglan held her breath, waiting for Old Madam to continue, “I’m afraid it’s easy to fight an open war but difficult to escape from backstabbing.”
Minglan understood what Old Madam meant after thinking for a while. She looked up, “Daddy will take a rest the day after tomorrow and I’ll send him the new shoes I made for him. Grandmother, please pretend that you don’t know this incident.”
Old Madam nodded.
On this day, it was Sheng Hong’s off-day. After urging Changfeng and Changdong to work hard in the morning, Sheng Hong, in casual clothing, started to practice calligraphy and read a few lines in the study room of inner mansion in order to demonstrate his maintenance of scholarly cultivation regardless of years of being an official.
At this time, Minglan came in wearing a lovely smile on her face. Sheng Hong frowned a bit, his face looked somewhat icy, yet Minglan seemed to not notice that at all and took out the new shoes she had made to hand over to her father while ordering servants to help him put them on. Then, she stood to one side, smiling and waiting for praise.
The moment Sheng Hong slipped his feet into these thick-fur shoes, he felt soft and comfortable. Stretching his feet to fit in the shoes well, he couldn’t help feeling warm mentally and was reminded of all the staff that Minglan had made for him and how filial she had been since she was a little girl. He praised, “My daughter is so sweet.”
Little Minglan ran over, elated, and pulled Sheng Hong’s sleeve to tell him this and that, chirping about funny things happened to her. Minglan was eloquent and when she told a story in a funny way, even Sheng Hong couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
Minglan said with a bitter face, “…Needle is no easier thing than writing brush. When I hold it well, it’s never obedient, but if I put a hard thimble against it, it turns nice! Hem, I finally get to know that a needle can also be a bully!”
Then she spread out a pair of pair chubby hands to show to Sheng Hong the many needle holes on a few fingers.
Sheng Hong felt both amused and moved and pointed to Minglan to laugh at her. Minglan looked really adorable when she played cute. Looking at the lovable look of his little daughter, Sheng Hong pulled his lips and finally asked, “A few days ago when you went to Guangji Temple, why threw mud at your fourth sister?”
Minglan lost her breath for a second. Finally!
Then she stretched her eyes wide open, looking at loss and staring at Sheng Hong with shock, “This is…what fourth elder sister said?”
Sheng Hong couldn’t answer for a time. That night when he went to Concubine Lin’s place for rest, Molan showed up crying to accuse of Minglan’s deed. Concubine Lin also cried heartbrokenly, so Sheng Hong hit the roof and just as he was about to reprimand Minglan, he was stopped by Concubine Lin with seemingly good intention for him, “…My master, sixth young lady is the apple of Old Madam’s eyes. If you punished her for Molan, then Molan would be disliked by Old Madam! Then how could my daughter and I live a peaceful life here in the future? My master, as long as you’re pitiful to us for what we’ve suffered, I’m gratified. Just let the incident stop here.”
As she spoke, she even kept kowtowing, begging Sheng Hong not to mention this again and continuously emphasizing how Minglan took advantage of Old Madam’s love to look down upon Molan and bullied her and so on, offering Sheng Hong more than enough to be irritated. At that time Sheng Hong, though furious, promised Concubine Lin, but he got really dissatisfied with Minglan and the anger got greater the longer he held it back. However, today what Minglan impressed him was an innocent filial girl who he liked very much, so he spat it out naturally.
“Don’t ask who said that! Just tell me yes or no.” Sheng Hong persuaded her in a gentle way, “It’s nothing more than bickering between sisters. If you did something wrong, just apologize to your fourth elder sister.”
To his surprise, Minglan didn’t say anything but just dropped pearl-like tears one after another, biting hard her lips to remain silent. With a pair of big wet eyes, she sobbed, “Daddy, do you really think of me as an unreasonable person like that?”
Sheng Hong recalled what Minglan had done these years were all proper and satisfying, so he doubted, “Is there anything I don’t know?”
What Minglan feared was Molan’s backstabbing which could kill her before she knew it. Therefore, now that everything was put on table, she was greatly relieved.
She looked up and said with a loving voice, “Father, please call up fourth elder sister here; no matter what, it’d be better not to talk behind her back.”
Sheng Hong thought for a while and waved to order servants to call Molan. Soon, Molan came in. She had been writing in the House of Mountain Moon, so knowing that Sheng Hong wanted her, she picked a few of satisfying ones to let her father take a look. To her surprise, upon entering the study room, what she saw was Minglan whose eyes were red with crying and Sheng Hong who was comforting her. Sheng Hong wasn’t upset with Minglan at all seeing her crying so sad, but just took her as a naïve child, persuading her, “Don’t cry my poor child. It was just a slump of mud. Even if you were wrong, your sister is sure to forgive you…”
Hearing this, Molan felt suddenly caught by chill.
No matter what Sheng Hong said, Minglan just stayed silent and sobering. At the sight of Molan, she stood up immediately, with tears in her eyes, she questioned her elder sister, “Daddy said that I threw mud at you a few days ago. Did you say so?”
Molan immediately raised her eyes to look at Sheng Hong as if accusing “Why didn’t father keep your words?” Sheng Hong at once felt embarrassed, so he put on airs as a father, “Now, both of you are here, just make it clear!”
Minglan stepped forward and seized Molan’s sleeve, slightly shaking it and crying, “Answer it; answer it. If you really couldn’t get over it, just educate me as your younger sister. Why did you tell daddy behind me yet say nothing now?”
Molan was persecuted by Sheng Hong’s gaze, biting her teeth she said, “Right. You threw that at me, didn’t you?”
Minglan gently wiped away her tears and asked, “Alright! Then, sister, could you tell daddy what we bickered over that made me behave so brutal as to throw mud at you?”
Molan’s face turned red and she said vaguely, “Just something.” When being asked what things in specific, she couldn’t answer.
Minglan turned around to look at Sheng Hong and complained, “For these years, I never bickered with fourth elder sister. Even if something happened, we get along the next day. Daddy, please think about it. Why must I embarrass my sister in public?”
Molan’s look made Sheng Hong suspect and thinking of the constant bickering between Rulan and Molan, he scolded, “Did you defame your younger sister?”
Being shouted at, Molan was more nervous, so she, remained silent, wiped her eyes in a hurry in order to buy some time. However, surprisingly, Minglan talked, “No, father. I did throw mud at sister, but I don’t think I did wrong.”
Sheng Hong got even more confused by her words. Minglan looked calm and depicted what had happened on that day with a few sentences in a clear and logical way. As she spoke, Molan’s face got redder and redder while Sheng Hong more and more ferocious. Finally, he thumped hard on the table and cursed, “You undisciplined thing! Don’t you know how many men were there in the plum forest? How dare you crush in! Why are you so shameless?!”
Molan felt her knees became weak and kneeled down at once, crying and defending herself, “…I didn’t. I just saw the exquisite Nine-Dragon Wall and wanted to see all of it, but sisters criticized me too straightforward, so I was so angry that I insisted on going further.”
Seeing Molan crying so hard, Minglan hurriedly kneeled down too. Pulling Molan’s sleeve, she looked sad, “My sister, you didn’t think straight. No matter how exquisite the Nine-Dragon Wall is, could it be more important than father’s fame? How cautious father has acted as an official? We daughters, even if couldn’t share his concerns, shouldn’t find troubles for him! In the plum forest were a bunch of famous young lords in the capital, if you were seen by them, then, then….”
Minglan had difficulty talking on as her voice stumbled. She turned around to cry behind her hands. Sheng Hong was so upset that he slapped over a teacup with one wave. The porcelain pieces scattered all over the ground. His face was in purple and hands were shaking out of control. He shouted at Molan, “Stop crying! You’re elder but not mature than your younger sister! Where did you learn those things? Do you take all others as fools? You shameless thing! How could you tell on your sister!”
This was the first time that Molan was scolded by Sheng Hong like this, so she cried even harder.
Minglan didn’t keep quiet either. She moved forward on her knees to Sheng Hong, pulled his sleeve with tears in her eyes, and said earnestly, “I thought sister was just thoughtless for the moment. I was afraid that grandma might blame sister, so I kept it all to myself. I even didn’t tell grandma because I thought we were sisters with blood bonds and even if something unpleasant happened, we would get over the next day, but I didn’t expect…didn’t expect that sister should badmouth me behind my back!”
Minglan looked heartbroken, and her crying was distressful. She turned around to look at Molan, questioning in a soft tone, “Fourth elder sister, fourth elder sister, why did you do this to me?” She looked devastated for being betrayed by blood-bond siblings.
Molan was a bit dumbfounded. To be honest, in terms of crying and acting poor, she and her mother had never failed. At a time when they had no rivals, she was confronted with an unprecedented challenge.
Minglan fell onto the ground near Sheng Hong’s feet, so mournful and pitiful that Sheng Hong was almost heartbroken. He pulled Minglan up to sit on the chair and then turned around, pointing at Molan, cursed with harsh words, “You black sheep! How much I loved you and how could you do such a nasty thing? Your younger sister dissuaded you for the sake of our whole family, but you should hate her for this and take revenge against her! You’re so young but so relentless. Why should I keep you in the family? Come and call up Madam!”
Wang shi was teaching Rulan to read fish-scale account. Rulan was impatient and wanted to give up after making two mistakes. Wang shi was upset and about to curse her daughter when the good news dropped from heaven. She rushed to the study room in a hurry and found that her black-faced husband was desperately cursing Molan and Concubine Lin, kneeling down, was crying next to her.
In a few words, Wang shi got the whole story and was overjoyed. Seeing Minglan almost passed out from crying, she immediately put on the face of a loving mother and ordered servants to take Minglan back for rest.
Minglan didn’t witness what happened later because she was ‘too sad’. In the evening, Rulan, with excitement, came to tell her everything. Molan was beaten by discipline-ruler 30 times on each hand, which swelled up high later, she was then grounded for half a year, and forbidden from reading poems and line but to copy Female Rules and Commandments for a hundred times.
Wang shi had wanted to drag in Concubine Lin into this incident, but Molan was tough enough to insist that Concubine Lin was also cheated from the truth, so finally Concubine Lin was only punished with 50 times ruler-beating and being grounded for three months.
……
“You knew this long before?” Sheng Hong snorted in the bed, his rare day-off spent being furious.
Wang shi sat in front of the mirror, carefully applying cream to her face, and answered in a relaxed voice, “Yes. Rulan told me right afterwards.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Sheng Hong thumped on the bed with rage.
Wang shi was in great mood and specially changed a piece of brand-new silk red pajama embroidered with yellowish lotus leaves with cute insects on them. In the exquisite gown, she turned around and smiled, “How dare I make comments on them? You’ve always criticized me for being narrow-minded and disliking fourth girl. Why should I bother to tell you! It’s not just me that didn’t want to tell you, even Rulan told me not to let you know, otherwise you might blame me again.”
Her voice was dragged long as if teasing him.
Sheng Hong choked on the words. Wang shi elegantly stood up and sat down on the bed, smiling, “This time I bet you know how hard fourth girl is. It’s fair to say that in terms of scheming, ten Rulan will be defeated by half Molan. Unfortunately, the ability wasn’t used in a good way.”
Sheng Hong was also angry but on a second thought, he asked, “Old Madam didn’t know this either?”
Wang shi burst into laughter, “Old Madam was intolerant to that kind of things. If she knew it, could nothing happen until now? … Alas, sixth girl is so sweet to hide it from Old Madam just to protect fourth girl’s face. Yet, the kindness wasn’t appreciated but hated instead!”
While satirizing, Wang shi felt really delighted.
Sheng Hong also sighed, shaking his head, “Thanks to Old Madam’s teaching, Minglan turns out to be a filial and upright girl who knows maintaining harmony among siblings.” Speaking of it, he suddenly sat up and resented, “Don’t let fourth girl meet Lin shi again. Do not let her learn evil tricks!”
He wasn’t unaware of Concubine Lin’s tricks, yet because of their relationship, he had been tolerant as much as possible. For those that couldn’t be tolerated, he just scolded and disciplined her to obey rules. He had thought that a concubine living in the inner mansion couldn’t result in serious consequence. However, he was dissatisfied about his daughter’s behavior, so he immediately decided to separate the daughter from her mother.
……
“Stop crying! I know you feel terrible. It’s fourth elder sister’s fault. Let’s just ignore her!”
Rulan spent no effort but watched for free the scene that she had been dreaming of for long. Witnessing Molan being beaten up and crying and being cursed by Sheng Hong in a hating tone, Rulan’s happiness generated patience to comfort Minglan the credit-owner. Yet, after long persuading, Minglan still kept crying, so Rulan complained, “Why are you still crying!”
Minglan lowered her head and kept wiping her eyes with a handkerchief: Shit. The Osmanthus oil was too effective! Even better than what the commercial claimed!