Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan 知否知否 应是绿肥红瘦

C109. Minglan's Good Mood (1)

The next morning, Minglan sat in front of the washstand, a big cotton towel wrapped around her chest, while Yancao was helping her wash her face. Dangju walked into the room gingerly, leaned over and whispered in Minglan's ear, "In the third quarter of Yin (3:30-3:45), Concubine Lin was tied up and carried out of our mansion. I hear that she is sent to a village estate belonging to Old Madam Sheng." If she was sent to Wang shi's village estates, she would die within three months.

Minglan gave no indication and asked leisurely, "I heard the sound of crying and cursing from the Forested Pavilion all night. What happened?"

Dangju blushed at once. She cast a glance at Yancao and replied under her breath, "Last night after Old Madam punished Concubine Lin, Liu Mama brought Jufang a bowl of liquid herbal medicine...After taking it... she got a violent bellyache and cursed Concubine Lin the whole night. She was in continual pain... until she gave birth to the stillborn baby at daybreak."

Minglan felt sad about Jufang's unfortunate experience and fell silent.

When Minglan went to give her greetings to Old Madam Sheng and Wang shi, she didn't saw Hai shi because the young madam was busy dealing with the servants of the Forested Pavilion. Hai shi punished all the servants including stewards, old female servants, young maids and manservants. Some of them were sold and the rest were driven out of Sheng Mansion. Concubine Lin's trusted servants, Xia Xian and his family, who had made a great contribution to the success of Molan seducing Liang Han, became a thorn in the flesh of Hai shi. So she searched their house thoroughly and confiscated their property.

In the following days, Hai shi wore a cold smile and began to clean up the whole Sheng Mansion. All the servants related to Concubine Lin, including the maids of the House of Mountain Moon and the kitchen purchaser, were given the severe penalties. Finally, Concubine Lin's influence having lasted for 20 years in Sheng Mansion completely disappeared. It was considered improper to talk about elders' mistakes. Afraid that his son would be an immoral person like Molan, Changbai often stared at his one-year-old son, Quan, with a straight face and thought about what he could do to educate Quan and guide him to be an all-rounder. Quan was sensitive. So he grinned at the sight of Changbai's serious face to show that he was a well-behaved boy.

Sheng Hong went to Hall of Peaceful Ages three times a day and pretended to be a filial son in front of Old Madam Sheng, chatting with his legal mother with an obsequious smile. After leaving Hall of Peaceful Ages, he usually went to scold Changfeng to relieve his tight facial muscles resulting from smiling for a long time. Wang shi became a grumbler like Xiang Lin's wife whose pet phrase was "my poor Mao". Different from Xiang Lin's wife, Wang shi's opening sentence was "my poor Rulan". She said this more than ten times a day.

T/N note:

Xiang Lin's wife: a poor woman in Lu Xun's short story, the new year's sacrifice.

Every time the ladies went to the main house and greeted their legal mother, Wang shi always took Rulan's hands, stared at her with sad eyes and sobbed for a long while. Minglan stood by and draw a conclusion: Wang shi was extremely grieved as if she was in a memorial meeting held for a distinguished leader.

Two days later, Rulan ran out of her patience. She shook Wangshi's hands off and roared, "I'm not dead yet!" Then she left straight away.

Wang shi turned to Minglan with a handkerchief covering her eyes and said in sorrow, "Good girl. Please go to visit your fifth sister as often as possible and advise her not to worry too much... Keep her away from needles and scissors..."

Minglan nodded obediently and felt that Wang shi was not familiar with her daughter's character at all. If Rulan held a sharp weapon in her hands, she must want to kill Molan instead of herself.