Do you know? Do you know? It should be Green Fat Red Thin Chapter 16

  Only then did Lin's wife walk to the center, first giving a bow to Sheng Fu, and then softly and politely said to her mother-in-law: "Please don't blame me, originally there was no place for me to speak here, but I have been feeling guilty in my heart, and I must say something; today's affair, after all, is caused by Mo Er being unreasonable, she is the root of it all, especially Sixth Miss, at such a young age she has been dragged into this and beaten, my heart really can't bear it, why not let Mo Er take those ten slaps for Sixth Miss instead..."

  Mrs. Lin looked weak and fragile, now she had tears in her eyes, her tone was apologetic, sincerely looking at Sheng Hong, Sheng Hong was somewhat moved; turned his head to look at Mo Lan. Mo Lan was young after all, for a moment didn't understand, stared at Mrs. Lin in surprise, but Hua Lan stretched out her neck and loudly said: "I am the elder sister, if my younger sisters did something wrong it's also my fault, I'll take the blame for Sixth Sister's punishment."

  Minglan secretly sighed and firmly refused, "No, no, big sister still has to embroider the dowry, I'll take the punishment myself..." Hualan looked at her with emotion. At this time, Molan finally reacted and hurriedly said, "I'll do it instead, I'll..."

  Getting beaten up for Minglan became a popular profession for a while.

  Seeing the girls like this, Sheng Hong felt a bit more at ease and admired Kong Yiniang's methods even more. He nodded his head in gratitude towards her again. Kong Yiniang nodded slightly in response but remained unmoved: "Lin Niangniang is wrong about this. I punished all of them together precisely to make up for the sisterly affection they lacked. Now that they've all been scolded together, they can start anew from today onwards. If I were to favor one over the other, wouldn't that create even more discord? Lin Niangniang has good intentions but lacks a bit of principle."

  Lin Yiniang's hands were tightly clenched on her handkerchief, and there seemed to be a hint of tears in her eyes. She said sorrowfully: "What Concubine Kong said is true, I was ignorant. Today, several sisters were punished, and I really can't bear it. It's all because I didn't teach Mo Er well. Why not punish me together with them? That would be a slight consolation."

  Sheng Hong saw her weak and moving, was even more moved, but unexpectedly, before he could finish being moved, he heard Kong Yiniang's cold laugh.

  "Looks like Lin Niang is the one who needs to learn some discipline, speaking more and more inappropriately; Niang said that she should be punished for not teaching Mo Jie well, but Hua Jie and Ru Jie were raised by their mother, and Ming Jie was even by Old Madam's side. Is Lin Niang implying that she wants to punish the mistress and Old Madam together?! As for me, this nanny, I'm also guilty! Is this what Lin Niang means?"

  Lin's aunt's face turned pale, and she trembled with fear, saying: "No, no... I didn't mean that... How dare I? It was my ignorance..."

  Sheng Hong hastily waved his hand: "Auntie, what are you talking about......" In his heart, he was greatly puzzled that Lin Niang had offended someone.

  Madam Kong did not get angry, but said seriously: "Aunt Lin, I'll tell you something today. You should know that a person is valuable because of their self-awareness. Today, you have two things you don't understand. Firstly, you should know what your identity is. The old master and mistress were just talking about this, and you shouldn't have interrupted like that. Fortunately, I have an old relationship with the old mistress, if it were someone else, wouldn't they laugh at Rong Fu for having no rules?"

  Every word is like a knife and every sentence is like a sword, Sheng Hong couldn't help but glare at Lin Niang.

  "Secondly, you repeatedly make mistakes. You said yourself that you shouldn't have spoken up, but you still did. You kept saying that you're ignorant, yet you still dared to chime in on the young lady's upbringing. It's clear that you know everything, yet you've committed every mistake possible - isn't this a case of knowing the law and breaking it, which is an even greater offense? Are you relying on having raised sons and daughters to think that you're superior to everyone else?"

  As she spoke, she glanced at Sheng Hong with a hint of subtle reprimand in her eyes.

  Sheng Hong felt ashamed, knowing that Kong Yiniang was rebuking him for being overly indulgent towards Lin Niangniang. He also thought that Kong Yiniang's words were reasonable and recalled Mo Jie'er's behavior, deeply feeling that Lin Niangniang had not been properly educated and had poor vision. In the end, he sternly shouted: "You just stand there and watch, I'm here with my wife and Kong Yiniang, what right do you have to speak?"

  The Wang family had long stopped crying, and with eyes shining brightly, they stared at Granny Kong. Lin's face turned red and white in succession; since marrying into the Sheng family, she had never been so humiliated before. Gnashing her teeth in hatred, but not revealing any sound on her face, she quietly sobbed as she stood to one side. Seeing Lin's anger causing her to tremble lightly, Hua Lan felt greatly relieved and thought that even if she were beaten ten more times, it would be worth it. Minglan almost wanted to ask Granny Kong for an autograph.

  The majestic Auntie Kong said to the crowd of sisters: "It's good that you sisters are willing to yield to each other, I think you've already understood, but knowing one's mistakes and correcting them is one thing, punishment is another. Alright, put out your left hands!"

  Sheng Hong stood up and spoke sternly: "All of you, kneel down properly, bring out your left hands, take the boards, and then copy the books again."

  The girls all knelt in a row, pitifully looking at the ruler. Suddenly, Granny Kong let out a soft shout, and with a series of rapid-fire slapping sounds, the four rulers flew up and down. Minglan immediately felt her palm burning with pain, while Molan let out a sharp cry. Rulan wailed even louder, as if crying would bring down the sky. The thin, elastic bamboo ruler struck their palms, causing a pain that seemed to separate skin from flesh. Even Hualan, who was normally tough, couldn't bear it. By the sixth or seventh strike, Minglan was already in so much pain she could only gasp for air.

  Madam Wang's heart ached as she looked on, unable to hold back her tears. The maids and servant girls around her all had faces that couldn't bear the sight. Sheng Hong also turned his head away, not looking. Before long, the caning was over. Lin Niangniang, who usually had a lot of self-control, couldn't help but throw herself onto Mo Lan's body and start crying softly. Madam Wang didn't care about appearances anymore either, embracing Hua Lan as if she were her own flesh and blood, refusing to let go.

  Sheng Hong saw Minglan sitting alone on a cushion, her small body trembling with pain, her face pale and sweaty, looking pitiful and helpless. There was no one around to comfort her. Only today did Sheng Hong understand the meaning of Old Madam's words that day. He steeled himself not to look at his other daughters, first sending off Kong Yiniang with respect, then walking over to gently pick up Minglan, coldly ordering everyone to leave, and carrying Minglan towards Shou'An Hall.

  That day was a big commotion, and several girls were already exhausted. As soon as things were over, Lan'er fell asleep in her mother's arms, Hua Lan was also supported by the wet nurse to go rest, Ming Lan was extremely tired, and when she was carried out by Sheng Zhi, she still didn't forget to instruct Xiao Tao, who was waiting at the outer door, to tidy up and bring away her small book basket.

  Sheng Hong couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that I didn't hit you hard enough, and you still have the energy to think about things."

  Minglan knelt for half a day, was beaten with a board, and copied books for an afternoon. At this moment, the cold wind outside blew, her head was not very clear, she rubbed her small hands, and said stupidly: "Just now that 'Nü Ze' I have already copied more than half of it, wait a while and copy some more, naturally have to bring it, otherwise how can I see Kong Yiniang tomorrow?"

  He looked at his young daughter, and saw that she had the same features as her mother, Wei's wife. Her eyes were like dots of paint, and her nose was slightly upturned, just like his own when he was young. He remembered how he used to hold her and love her when she was first born, but after Wei's wife died tragically and all those things happened, he felt guilty and pitied this daughter, so he didn't want to see her much; he only remembered to take care of her living expenses, but didn't love her as much as Hua Lan and Mo Lan.

  At this time, he felt another pang of tenderness and smiled warmly: "Auntie Kong hit you, aren't you angry with her? Yet you still go to find fault and take the blame?"

  Minglan let out a small sigh: "All my sisters have been beaten, how can I be the only one to get off scot-free? When one woman does something wrong, all women must take responsibility together. But it's also good this way, next time my sisters won't dare to quarrel again, ah——"

  Sheng Hong laughed loudly and gently stroked Minglan's small nose: "Little girl, you're talking nonsense, yet you sigh like a grown-up! Do you know what 'guilt by association' means?" As he spoke, he freed one hand to hold onto Minglan's left hand, feeling it was hot and swollen. Sheng Hong felt sorry for his little daughter's suffering and asked warmly: "Does it hurt?"

  Minglan sniffled, her voice trembling as she cried out: "It hurts." She paused for a moment, feeling wronged in her heart, and before she knew it, tears began to fall, her voice cracking as she wailed, "It hurts so much!"

  Sheng Hong tightly hugged his little daughter in his arms and coaxed, "Next time when your sisters quarrel again, you secretly come to tell Father. If Father is not at home, you hide far away or go find Grandma. We Minglan are good children, don't mind them, okay?"

  Minglan buried her small face in her father's neck, the night wind was cold and desolate, but leaning against him felt warm, with a familiar scent of her father that reminded her of when she was little and her father would often carry her on his back as he rode a big horse. She wrapped her short arms around Sheng Hong's neck and nodded vigorously: "Mmm!"