Do you know? Do you know? It should be Green Fat Red Thin Episode 7

  "Minglan, little girl, bring me an orange, peeled." Like Orchid, the young girl sat on the swing.

  Minglan sat on the stone bench, staring at the sky, motionless. Rulan called out to her several times, but seeing that Minglan still didn't react, she picked up a small stone and tossed it over. Minglan's shoulder hurt, and she turned her head in pain, only to see Rulan, a little girl with a mischievous grin: "You silly thing, hurry up and peel an orange for me!"

  Minglan silently gazed upwards, slowly walking to the edge of a small table, picking up an orange and about to peel it when a hand stretched out from the side blocked her. The hand was delicate and beautiful, with ten slender fingertips still stained with faint red hibiscus juice.

  "Like Orchid, you're bullying Six Little Sister again! Come down here!" Hualan Big Sister stormed over, yanking Rulan off the swing. "What did Father say the other day? Among sisters, Six Little Sister is the youngest, we older sisters should be more considerate and take care of her, but you're always bullying her! Be careful or I'll tell Father!"

  "Who bullied her? I just asked her to peel an orange!" Rulan, the little girl, puffed out her chest and stuck out her small waist.

  "All the servants are dead, and you're calling for the master to peel an orange?! Or is it that your personal maid is especially precious and can't be ordered around?! Hualan's beautiful big eyes stared over, and the three or four maids who were standing by watching the commotion all lowered their heads and cowered in fear. "Do you see Sixth Young Lady about to peel an orange herself? You're all dead, won't anyone stop her?! Good-for-nothing maids, nowadays you're actually laughing at your master's jokes! Tomorrow I'll go back and tell Master and Mistress, and let you all go home, every day just watching jokes!" Hualan, the young lady, began to scold in a sharp tone.

  Yu Lan immediately became disobedient, went forward and pulled her sister's sleeve, shouting: "Big sister, you can't bully my people, I'll tell mom! You're making things difficult for your own sister because of a concubine-born fool!"

  "Go tell, go tell! I've long wanted to tell you, what's with this 'born by aunt' nonsense? Liu Mei is our sister, and besides, Father brought her here to Mother, she's our own flesh and blood sister! You dare say such rubbish about being born by an aunt again, be careful or Father will spank you!" Hua Lan poked her finger forcefully at Ru Lan's forehead.

  Like an orchid with a swollen face, she couldn't retort; Minglan lowered her head, pretending to be stupid and remained silent.

  Hua Lan and Ru Lan, although twin sisters, looked different. Hua Lan resembled Sheng Hong, with a bright and beautiful face, and an air of elegance between her eyebrows. Ru Lan resembled Wang Shi, with a round face, regular features, but somewhat ordinary looks. However, as she grew up, she might develop into a dignified beauty. The Creator had obviously not treated this pair of sisters fairly, whether in terms of appearance, talent or parental love. Ru Lan was inferior to her sister in every way. Ming Lan only hoped that Ru Lan's feelings of discontent would not worsen.

  Actually, living with the Wang family wasn't that difficult. Hua Lan and Chang Bai had their own courtyard, and Chang Dong was still in the drooling stage. Ming Lan only needed to deal with Ru Lan. Ru Lan wasn't a bad person, she just liked to throw her weight around and be flattered every day. However, she couldn't mess with her older sister and brother, nor could she mess with Lin's son and daughter. Even Chang Dong, who was still unsteady on his feet, was not fun for her to bully. So, the only one left for her to order around was the unfortunate Ming Lan.

  Every time this happens, Hua Lan would descend from the sky like the Great Sage Equaling Heaven to uphold justice. She may not particularly like Minglan, but she couldn't bear Rulan's arrogant attitude. As the favored eldest daughter, her authority in the Sheng household was second only to that of the three elders. Scolding her sister, punishing the servants, and doing it with ease and reason.

  Minglan felt deeply grateful to this beautiful and majestic older sister, who was truly a heavenly proud daughter, with a perfect appearance, family background, and talent. She sincerely hoped that this older sister would always be happy and proud in the future.

  Now every morning, Minglan is carried by her mother to pay respects to Old Madame Sheng with the Wang ladies. Before that, the concubines of each house have already paid their respects to the Wang ladies. Lin's interval for paying respects is very regular, about three days of paying respects and two days of asking for leave, the reason is always the same - physical discomfort. If Sheng Hong spent the night in her room the previous evening, she would hold her waist and say that her body was tired; if Sheng Hong did not go to her room, she would hold her chest and say that her heart was tired. Every time Lin came to pay respects, Wang had to mentally prepare herself for half a day, lest she burst into rage and slap Lin's delicate face, posing an extreme challenge to Wang's self-cultivation.

  Looking at Xiaoming Lan, she was only five or six years old and didn't have a doting mother. She was young and dull, so Wang Shi didn't need to bully her, nor would she go out of her way to take care of her. Anyway, they ate and slept together with Rulan, but careful people could still see the difference.

  Every meal was laid out with Rulan's favorite dishes, Minglan followed to eat, without the right to pick and choose; Rulan's clothes were all new, Minglan wore the leftovers, although they were also 90% new. If there were any fresh fruits or pastries, of course, Rulan would eat first, and the leftovers would be given to Minglan. As for gold, silver, jade locks, chains, and other jewelry, Minglan had never seen them before, but every time she went out, Wang Shi would still put some things on her neck and head to make a show.

  Minglan's career planning route is that when it's time to pretend to be stupid, she pretends to be stupid, and when it's time to file a complaint, she files a complaint. Yingchun's experience tells us that it's not possible to enjoy peace by just enduring and holding one's breath. A concubine with no backing, if she doesn't stand up for herself, who will? As the saying goes, "Heaven helps those who help themselves."

  The mother beside Minglan is a lazy and sloppy woman, who always grumbles when asked to do something, and often complains in a low voice that can be heard by Minglan, saying things like "It's all about left and right, it never ends, really exhausting", "What kind of mistress is she, thinking she's some kind of noble lady, but actually just the daughter of a concubine", "Better to stop bothering with her soon, who has the patience to serve her" and so on.

  Minglan didn't utter a word, pretending she hadn't heard anything, and continued to do her chores. Because Sheng Huan still wasn't completely at ease with Wang Shi, he would occasionally go check on Minglan. At this time, Minglan would bluntly say: "I was thirsty at night, but Mother wouldn't give me water to drink... Did you bring me the osmanthus cake last time? I didn't see any of it... The pastries that Madame gave me? Mother said her grandson liked them, so she took them away... Mother said that when she's free, she'll mend this hole in my clothes."

  Sheng Hong's face immediately fell, and Wang Shi was also embarrassed. She had been busy with Hua Lan's hairpin ceremony recently, and didn't have the energy to deal with Ming Lan. In a fit of anger, she punished all the maids who had lost face in front of her. At first, the maids were disobedient and still gave Ming Lan small shoes to wear. Ming Lan didn't take it seriously and continued to report them. However, after two times, the servants became honest, and Ming Lan's days also became better.

  Actually, tattling is a skillful job. In both modern workplaces and ancient wealthy families, telling well can improve one's life, while telling poorly will have the opposite effect. There are tricks to this.

  Firstly, the target of tattling must be accurate. Minglan knew from the start that Wang Shi didn't take her seriously, as long as she was kept alive, it was enough. Sheng Hong still remembered Wei Niang's kindness and felt guilty for her early death, so Minglan's target was Sheng Hong.

  Secondly, the goal of tattling must be clear. Minglan only told on the maidservant, but didn't mention Wang Shi at all, instead often saying that Wang Shi gave this or that, it was just the servants being lazy and deceitful, Wang Shi listened to it and thought it was okay.

  Lastly, and most importantly, one must pretend to be stupid. Minglan started acting silly from the moment she woke up, speaking incoherently, reacting slowly, completely without any schemes or tricks, which made her safe.

  As summer approached, the sun was scorching hot, and the sweltering heat was burning people's skin. On this day, Minglan was taking a nap in the inner room, while two little maids on duty were chatting idly in the outer hall.

  "The young lady's coming-of-age ceremony was truly impressive, with the madam inviting all the respectable ladies from Dengzhou. The sedan chairs were lined up in two rows at the entrance, and to avoid overheating, the madam even bought dozens of carts of ice to cool things down, sending in bowls of iced water at a rapid pace. The old master also returned to the mansion specifically to attend the ceremony." A young maid around ten years old.

  "Madam specially ordered a set of headdresses from Cuibaozhai, mom said that's the number one jade store in Beijing, don't know how much silver was spent, and also the underskirt on big sister's body, mom said the embroidery on it is Liu Xiang embroidery, when you move every thread on it seems to be moving, that was given by madam's mother when she was little, big sister really has a good life, Little Mei, what do you think our girl will be like in the future..." A round-faced 7 or 8-year-old little girl said.

  "Hey, how can our girl compare? The young lady is a legitimate daughter..."

  Minglan lay in the inner room listening to the conversation of the two little maidservants, Wang's family had assigned to her as personal attendants. The older one was called Autumn Rain and the younger one was called Little Peach. The former was originally a third-class maid in Wang's quarters, while the latter had just been promoted from the nursery - it was said that she was close in age to Sixth Miss and got along well with her. Thinking of this, Minglan couldn't help but pout.

  Because of the need to rectify the internal affairs of the Sheng household, Sheng Hong was eager to replace all the servants, except for a few madams and Lin's trusted confidantes. Almost all the second- and third-rate maids were replaced, and then new ones were selected from the family's birthplace to supplement them. Those who looked clever were first given to the older young masters and misses, and by the time it was Minglan's turn, only this silly little Tao remained.

  However... it's fine, Minglan flipped her small body over on Ronghua.

  Sheng Hualan's hairpinning ceremony Minglan didn't see, but can imagine the scene, she wasn't particularly envious or jealous, just in a daze while sleeping would think, Sheng Hualan's background is what a transmigrated girl should have been born into.

  After completing the hairpinning ceremony, Mrs. Wang immediately threw herself into the work of finding a husband for her eldest daughter with infinite enthusiasm, often exchanging opinions with Sheng Huan and Old Lady Sheng. Every time this happened, Hualan would cover her face with a blush and retreat back to her room. Minglan couldn't help but sigh that society had indeed made progress - she remembered how in the past, when Mother Yao showed Yayi photos of potential suitors, Yayi had participated fully and had the final say. But here, even someone as favored as Hualan was not allowed to have a hand in her own marriage arrangements. Minglan was seeing for the first time what it meant to obey one's parents and listen to the words of matchmakers.

  After a period of negotiation, Sheng Hong and his wife narrowed down the candidates to two finalists: the fifth grandson of the Duke of Guo and the second son of the Marquis of Zhongqin. Before they could make a decision, however, Qi Jing, the then Magistrate of Kaifeng, came to propose a marriage for his own son.

  "Originally, our daughter Hua was just coming of age and we weren't in a hurry to choose a son-in-law. But now that Lord Qiu has proposed this marriage, we can't delay any longer. We either have to accept the proposal from the Qiu family or come up with a reason for declining." Madame Wang sat beside a blackwood desk adorned with bat-shaped cloud patterns, several large red wedding invitations piled in front of her, the tassels on her dragon and phoenix hairpin quivering constantly.

  "Qiu brother is my contemporary, our two families originally knew each other well, and it was not impossible to form this marriage, but... " Sheng Hou held a yellow sandalwood folding fan in his hand, walking back and forth in the room.

  "What is it? Tell me quickly, sir." Wang Shi urged.

  Sheng Hong sat down opposite Wang Shi, picked up the white porcelain tea cup on the table and took a sip, saying: "That Qiu Er Gongzi I have seen before, his appearance and character are both suitable for Hua'er. Originally, I didn't like Hua'er marrying into the Wang Gongfu, although it's rich and noble, but in the end, it's still a deep and locked door, and Hua'er is also proud and arrogant, even if she really married into that place, she might not be happy. We are on equal terms with the Qiu family, so I'm not afraid that Hua'er will be bullied, but this time when I went to Beijing, it didn't seem right."

  When Wang heard about the difficulties of Hualan marrying into a noble family, she nodded repeatedly. When she finished, she took out the fan in her hand and gently fanned Sheng Zong. Sheng Zong slowed down, leaned over, and whispered: "The current empress has no children, so it's impossible to be the eldest son. The next most senior and noble ones are the three princes and four princes born by De Fei and Shu Fei. The emperor hasn't established a crown prince yet because the third prince is weak and over 40 years old without any children, while the fourth prince who has children was born half a day late. Now that the emperor's body is still strong, in case something happens to him in the future, those officials close to the princes might have some ideas."

  Wang was completely in the dark about the matter at court and said vaguely, "What does this have to do with Da Ya's marriage? Qiu Jing is an outsider, after all."

  "Ke Qiu Jing's elder brother is actually the third king's lecturer!" Xing Yun was disgruntled, he also wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with his wife, but her thoughts were always out of sync with his. Lin Niang, on the other hand, was very in tune with him, but unfortunately, she was just a concubine.

  Wang thought for a moment and was shocked: "Master, this is indeed not good. Regardless of whether the emperor wants to establish the third prince as the crown prince or not, if the third prince does not have any children, the throne will eventually go to someone else! I heard that the fourth prince is not someone to be trifled with."

  His wife finally understood, and Sheng Hong nodded, then sighed: "I often advised Qi Jing to make friends with some officials in the capital, but never get involved in the matter of succession. There are so many noble families in the capital, all with their own interests, how can we not be careful? When the previous emperor ascended to the throne, it was relatively smooth, but he still took away several titles from those who were not favored and dismissed countless high-ranking officials. I advised Qi Jing several times, but he wouldn't listen, instead becoming even closer to his older brother, the third prince. I know the third prince is kind-hearted and virtuous, but...but..."

  "But he has no son!" Mrs. Wang added in a timely manner, "Without a son, the Third King would be useless even if he were virtuous, and Lord Qiu is too muddled. The struggle for the throne is not something to be taken lightly. I think the Fourth King will surely ascend to the throne."

  "That's not necessarily true." Sheng Hong suddenly turned around, "Brother Qiu and the officials beside the Third Prince are not all foolish, they know that if the Third Prince didn't have an heir problem, he would have already established a successor, so they came up with an idea."

  "What's the idea?"

  Sheng Hong lowered his voice even further: "This is no secret, they have instigated several ministers outside to advocate for emulating the story of Song Yingzong."

  Wang's wife twisted her handkerchief, indignantly scolding: "Don't try to be clever with me, old man. I don't even recognize a single character, how would I know the story of Song Yingzhong?"

  Sheng Hong hesitated and explained: "That is to say, if the third prince ascends to the throne but still has no children, let him adopt a son from his brothers. The emperor's sons are not just these two princes, do the younger princes below not have children? Anyway, they are all the emperor's grandsons."

  Wang smiled and clapped his hands, saying: "This is a good idea. Those few young princes are of humble origin, not to mention that the emperor doesn't care much about them, so they have no chance at the throne. Adopting their son would be the most suitable solution; but... can this work? Will the Fourth Prince agree?"

  "Who says it's not? Now, those who have been boasting about the succession of the throne have already become thorns in the eyes and flesh of the Fourth Prince. It's not that I'm afraid of ten thousand, but rather one in ten thousand. If the Fourth Prince were to ascend to the throne in the future, what would happen to the Qiu family..." Sheng Hong didn't continue, but Wang Shi already understood completely.

  "This is just a gamble, if we win, the Qiu family will rise to great heights, but if we lose, the Qiu family will be completely defeated. Why do we need to gamble when the Qiu family already has both wealth and honor?" Sheng Xuan sighed.

  "——Master, we can't agree to the marriage with the Qiu family. They're willing to gamble, but we can't use Hua as a stake. If things go wrong, our whole family will be implicated." Wang's thoughts suddenly cleared up, and she took out another red handkerchief with embroidered sunflowers from her waist and gently pressed it against her forehead. Suddenly, she looked up and asked again: "Master has always been kind and generous in his official career, often getting along well with others. Now, isn't there a single one who can form an alliance through marriage?"

  Sheng Hong said: "Not that there aren't any. Even when I was in Quanzhou, I carefully considered my fellow students and friends from the same year and field of study, but none of them were suitable."

  "None of them is suitable?" Mr. Wang wondered.

  "What did you say about choosing a son-in-law that day?" Sheng Hong looked at her and slowly said in Wang's tone: "It is necessary to have a good family background, a thick foundation, simple family members, and a good relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The most important thing is that the young man from the other family must be capable, either with a good academic record, or able to manage the household, or having a business, or having martial arts skills. I have been friends with scholars for many years, and those who are of the same age and rank as me, but have high official positions, are not many. Those who have good reputations and high positions, but come from poor families, have already been arranged by their elders long ago. The younger brother of the Liu family in the Temple of Great Wisdom is suitable, but his eldest son is still young, maybe he can be introduced to Rulan in the future... Alas..."

  Wang's expression was somewhat awkward, and he smiled embarrassingly: "Sir, don't worry, there are other families, I think the Guo Gong Fu is very good. Although they were demoted to a lower rank, it has only been three generations since our great ancestor was granted the title. The Zhongqin Bo Fu is an original hereditary title, but their current situation is not good and they have already been abandoned by the emperor. It's better not to consider them; the Guo Gong Fu is powerful and prosperous, with a glorious family history, and it's also very flourishing."

  “…That's not necessarily true.” Sheng Hong slowly opened his fan and waved it gently: “When I was young, I lived with my grandparents in the capital city and studied at the Guo Gong Fu family school with Wei Da Gege. I didn't think much of that family; on the surface, they looked impressive, but inside, they were filthy. The school was also very dirty, and I only studied there for half a year before leaving. This time when I came to the capital to take care of some business, I heard that the Guo Gong Fu had become even more unbearable. There were many people in the household, with masters and servants above and below, enjoying wealth and honor. The several young masters were about the same age as Zhang Bai, but there were over 20 concubines and maids serving them inside the house. They were so extravagant and wasteful, with no restraint in their spending, and their income was far less than their expenses. Their inner treasury had been empty for a long time. I only slightly mentioned to Geng Shu Shu that Hua Er and Ji were about to get married, and they came to talk to me, revealing their intention of forming an alliance through marriage.”

  Wang's eyes widened in surprise: "You mean, they've set their sights on Dabao's dowry?"

  "It's hard to say, let alone they've embezzled the bride price many times before." Sheng Hong sneered.

  Wang said hesitantly: "But after all, it's the Guo Gongfu, such a grand and prosperous family. If they weren't in trouble now, we wouldn't even have a chance to get close to them."

  Sheng Hong sneered, "If it were just a matter of lacking silver, I wouldn't be so angry. But that family's descendants are truly unworthy. In such a large household, there isn't even half a person who can read books, practice martial arts, or make plans. The old national preceptor and his wife are still okay, but their sons... Hmph! The eldest son is arrogant and indulgent, with a reputation for being dissolute. As for the second son, oh, it's that house that came to propose marriage, he's already at an advanced age but still won't stop taking in young concubines, and has even slept with all the maidservants in his household. I heard while I was in the capital that he even took the personal maid of his daughter-in-law to sleep with him. It's truly shameful, a complete degenerate!"

  Wang's soul was frightened: "I said that a dignified national duke's mansion would come to our sixth-grade governor's house in a hurry to propose marriage, I'm afraid that the respectable families in the capital wouldn't dare to marry their daughters off to them?"

  "Madam is right this time." Sheng Hong put away his fan and shook his head.

  "That can't be the Zhongqin Bo Mansion either, the Yuan family's gate is now desolate." Wang said angrily.

  "This is not the case." Sheng Hong finally came to his senses, eagerly saying "I specifically went to visit the Zhongqinbo Mansion this time, saw several young masters of Old Master Zhong, the eldest son was already engaged to the daughter of Mei Dajun from the Imperial Academy, the second son I think is quite good, steady and polite, majestic and powerful, at a young age he has already secured a position in the Five Cities Military Command, I also specifically went to ask Commander Dou about his character and talent, that old Dou you also know, has always been arrogant, but he also praised Yuan Wenshao, sighing and saying that the young man was affected by his family background, ordinary official families did not dare to marry into their family, while those with lower social status they looked down upon, a good young man was dragged on until almost twenty years old and still unmarried, I suppose it was because I showed intention in front of Commander Dou, the next day, the Yuan family sent someone to propose."

  Wang shook his head, still covering his face: "You also said that ordinary official families don't dare to marry them, they have no power or money now, why should we rush to go!"

  "Nonsense! If it weren't for their current difficulties, we wouldn't even be considered." Sheng Hong retorted with Wang's words, "Their family is also unlucky. During the previous emperor's reign, they were unfortunately implicated in the Yi Wang rebellion case and had their titles stripped along with several other noble families. They fell on hard times for a few years. Later, when the current emperor ascended to the throne and granted amnesty to all under heaven, upon re-examining old cases, it was discovered that several ducal houses, including the Zhongqin Duke's estate, were indeed wronged and had been implicated by association. As a result, four or five families were reinstated, and theirs was among them. However, they were still rebuked for being careless in their handling of affairs and were stripped of their silver, grain, and official salaries for ten years, causing them to fall out of favor."

  "Since Old Master has spoken reasonably, why must we still form an alliance with his family?" Madam Wang pouted.

  "What do you know? Those aristocratic families with titles, most of them are stupid and incompetent. Because their ancestors had privileges, they didn't think about studying or practicing martial arts, and didn't strive to make progress. After two or three generations, they would become useless. But the Yuan family was different because they had suffered hardships. Their descendants were more capable and sensible than ordinary people. Having experienced hardship makes one appreciate the difficulty of establishing a career. I think Yuan Wenshao is very good."

  Madam Wang still looked displeased, turning her head away without speaking. Sheng Hua walked over and grasped Madam Wang's shoulder, saying in a soft voice: "Hua'er is our eldest daughter, how could I possibly mistreat her? Remember when she was born, I was just a minor candidate for office, assigned to that desolate and cold place. We couldn't even find a decent wet nurse for Hua'er at the time. You took care of the household and served me and my mother while I studied and worked, and Hua'er was so well-behaved, never crying or causing trouble. As she grew older, she could even help you with things. To be honest, among all our children, I love Hua'er the most."

  Wang thought of the difficult days at the beginning, and his eyes turned red. Sheng Hong's voice also trembled slightly: "At that time, I just wanted to wrong anyone, but not Huahua. I didn't expect to use Huahua to climb up the social ladder, I just hoped she could marry a responsible man, live in harmony with her husband, and have a smooth life after giving birth to children."

  With a warm and affectionate tone, Wang's words touched the heart of King Shi. He could no longer hold back his tears, and hastily wiped them away with his head bowed. Xing continued, "Even if the Yuan family is not doing well, they still have their noble titles to protect them. If their official career doesn't go smoothly, at least they have a duke's manor to rely on. And if Yuan Wenshao makes a good name for himself, in the future, there will be glory and wealth waiting for Hua'er."

  The Wang family had already been moved, one hand wiping away tears with a handkerchief, and the other scolding: "Hmph! A good-for-nothing like him is being praised by you as if he's some kind of flower. Master understands things better than I do, let me make some inquiries about that Yuan Wenshao's character. He's already twenty years old, who knows how many people are in his household? If there's a shrewish wife, I won't agree to it. My Hua'er isn't someone who will suffer after marrying into their family."

  "Alright, alright, let's follow your mother's advice." Sheng Hong warmly wrapped his arms around her, "If that young man is greedy for beauty and lustful, I will be the first to disagree. We must carefully consider and find the best son-in-law for Hua'er."