Volume 3: The Lotus Does Not Spare Its Rouge Colour, Nor Does It Wait for a Golden House to Recommend a Grand Hall Chapter 101

  After a still low-key Lantern Festival, Wang returned to Beijing with her luggage, and all the affairs in the Sheng Mansion were handled by Hai. Since Hai had been involved in many things before, the handover of the matter was quite smooth. There were one or two maids who thought they could take advantage of the situation, but Hai had a timely bout of morning sickness and then asked Ruolan, who often helped Wang with household chores, to come and assist her.

  It's either that Rulan has been influenced by her brother's great character or she really has grown up, and since she was scolded badly by Wang Shi and Sheng Hong earlier, she still had a belly full of anger with nowhere to vent it, so she simply let loose and gave those women a good scolding.

  "You blind thing! You also dare to refute my sister's words?! In the past when my mother was alive, you were also good at talking like this? It seems that you are tired of living a good life and want to move to another place now?!"

  "You are a follower of the Wang family, and the accounts of my maternal grandfather's silver money are very clear. You brought out this amount today, is this how you give face to the Wang family?!"

  "Cut the nonsense! First, get rid of your official duties! You think you're so clever, but a good thrashing will settle everything!"

  ……

  After scolding for a while, Hai's morning sickness stopped, and Yulan also felt relieved and continued to embroider her dowry with tender feelings. Minglan was stunned, and after half a moment, she couldn't help but say: "Fifth sister, you're about to get married, so be more generous, or else..."

  Minglan didn't know how to continue, but Lan spoke up smoothly: "So they won't gossip about me behind my back, right?" Minglan stared at her, if you already knew, then why...?

  She gazed at the half-embroidered "Bodhisattva playing with lotus leaves" on the handkerchief, her eyes filled with tender feelings, and suddenly said without lifting her head: "Last time you followed me to see Old Lady Wen, what do you think of her?"

  Minglan's eyes dodged away, and she stuttered: "Uh... looks like a smooth talker, quite straightforward, quite crisp..." Actually, it was very noisy, very loud, very rude, and the voice was also big; but it's not good to speak ill of her future mother-in-law in front of Rulan.

  Ruolan raised her head and gave Minglan a white look, saying straightforwardly: "That's not an easy-going mother-in-law!"

  Minglan stopped talking, but Rulan continued: "I'm not really stupid; whether you're being genuinely kind or pretending to be, I have a clear understanding in my heart. When I was young and returned to our old home in Yangzhou, I saw how the old lady from the Sun family treated Shulan's older sister, as well as that scoundrel of a scholar with the surname Sun; Sixth Sister, I've also taken to heart all those reminders you gave me later on, and I too have thought about whether Brother Jing is truly being kind to me or not?"

  Minglan looked at Rulan's solemn expression and listened quietly. Rulan's voice gradually lowered, saying: "I said that Jing Gege is good because he never hides things from his family. His mother's partiality, his brother's incompetence, and his repeated delays in getting married, he told me everything! He also told me that being the eldest daughter-in-law of their family is not easy."

  "You still..." Minglan said lightly.

  Like an orchid cutting off the conversation, she said in one sentence: "At that time, I told Brother Jing that I would be filial to my mother-in-law and treat my younger siblings well, but there was only one condition - he had to be of one mind with me. As long as that's the case, I wouldn't fear anything!"

  Minglan's heart skipped a beat, this phrase sounded very familiar to her. She had heard similar words from Hualan before. She slowly fell silent, it seemed that the past conflicts and defeats of Wangshi and Shenghui at the hands of Lin Yiniang still left deep scars in the hearts of these two daughters.

  Ru Lan suddenly laughed lightly and said, "Jing Gege promised me that if someone bullies me, he will not take sides, at most he will just run away! I was thinking, starting from now, let's practice my courage and vocal cords, so as not to lose face when the time comes!"

  Ming Lan's smile and tears are all fake, just shake her head and it's over. As for who is the pig and who is the tiger in this game of deception, that's still uncertain.

  "Eldest sister will definitely be fine!" Minglan said sincerely.

  Like Orchid rolled her eyes and came over, coldly snorted: "That's natural! You all married into high-ranking families, only I married down low, how can I also not have a good life, or else you'll laugh at me!"

  Minglan looked up at the sky speechlessly, this was the fifth young lady of the Sheng family. Every time she had a positive emotion towards Rulan, such as liking, admiring or sympathizing, it would never last for more than five minutes before turning into negative emotions.

  ……

  Days went by, and as long as Lanlan focused on embroidering some handkerchiefs for herself, her dowry was almost ready. Wangshi had prepared everything early on, but Minglan was far from it. Old Lady Shen originally planned to let Minglan get married half a year after Lanlan's wedding, but now she had to rush things up.

  A few days ago, Yu Yang sent a message saying that last year in December, Pinlan and Taisheng's elder brother had become husband and wife. The congratulatory gifts from the capital city had all been received, and everything was fine. Old Mrs. asked Yun'er, who had returned after New Year's, about Pinlan's dowry in detail, then lifted her spirits and threw herself into preparing Minglan's dowry.

  Dowry is a very important item for the young ladies of ancient official and wealthy families. In some prestigious families, those favored daughters have been accumulating dowries since they learned to speak, with their elders preparing them one by one.

  It's the same with the thickness of the dowry, and there are also two situations from complexity to simplicity. Complex ones include not only maidservants, nannies, and property managers who accompany the bride, but also furniture such as beds, tables, cabinets, and boxes, as well as seasonal clothing, and even red sandalwood toilet seats and bathtubs with golden rims; exaggeratedly speaking, some people might even prepare shrouds. Like Sheng Lao Tai Tai and Hai Shi, they have a complete set of dowry that is extremely strict and regular from head to toe.

  But this is after all a minority, many official families have to go everywhere for official business, where do they have the time to slowly accumulate, and some families are late starters, can't even prepare a complete dowry, so they came up with the most effective first trick.

  Money!

  The old lady thought for a moment, except for the antique porcelain vases that came out of the Jinling old house to be left to Changbai and passed down to the Sheng family descendants, there was nothing else that couldn't be given to Minglan; she took out the deeds of land and shops from her boxes and handed them over one by one.

  "...This estate is located in the suburbs of Beijing, near the White River, and has about 500-600 mu of good land. The head of the estate is your mother-in-law's husband, and I think they are honest people. When the time comes, everything will be given to you as dowry. Next to the estate, there is a small mountain forest, which is not big but has good feng shui. Two years ago, I bought it and asked Old Cui's sons to take care of it and plant some fruit trees." Old Lady Shen rarely spoke so much at once, and while speaking, she also asked questions, "Don't be distracted! ...Do you still remember the estate matters that your grandmother told you about?!"

  "Yes! When employing people, one must emphasize trust and frequently inspect. Even the most honest servant, if not properly supervised, will inevitably have a change of heart over time. However, one also cannot be overly suspicious, lest it chill the hearts of subordinates."

  The old lady nodded in satisfaction, and then sighed: "There was also a large piece of good land next to the Tianzhuang that was sold by the convicted official, with over 1,000 mu. Because it's too close to the imperial villa, I thought it wasn't good so I didn't buy it; if I had known you would marry like this, I... Alas!"

  "That's enough, that's enough!" Minglan hastily said. Molan only had 200 mu of paddy fields and a piece of dry land. Even if it was Hualan's dowry estate, it wouldn't be more than 700 mu. Of course, the Wang family also gave her other things.

  "What's enough?!?" Old Lady Sheng glared over, and Minglan immediately shrank her neck; she couldn't bear to look at Minglan's naive appearance, and continued on her own accord, "And the several shops in Jinling and our hometown that your uncle is taking care of, as well as the dividends from several businesses..."

  "Grandma!" Minglan finally couldn't bear it, just the silver from the fields and mountains added up to 7 or 8 thousand taels, she couldn't help but interrupt, "This amount of silver is enough for a young lady from a noble family to get married, I don't need this much!... Besides, you should also leave some for yourself, as the saying goes, 'A thousand sons and daughters are not as good as having silver by your side'... Ah!"

  Minglan was hit on the forehead by a burst of anger, she covered her head and retreated into the quilt, Old Lady Shen scolded loudly: "You're such a useless thing! Do you think life in that big family is easy? From sisters-in-law to mothers-in-law, from young aunts to servant girls, who's not a bother?! After entering the house, there's no place for you to spend your silver!"

  I know what you mean, Grandma, but I shook my head and said: "Everyone knows who I am outside, there's no need to pretend to be a big shot. When the time comes, it will be whatever it is, just calculate carefully and live on; But as for you, at your age, it's better to have more silver by your side!" What she couldn't do was pretend to be silly and confused, which was the most exquisite skill Minglan had learned since coming to this era.

  The old lady was moved in her heart, but still scolded: "I have money on my side, don't worry about it! It's because you're marrying up that I want to give more dowry!"

  Minglan thought of Hualan's situation in the Yuan manor, she didn't have money, yet lived well, it can be seen that silver and wealth cannot buy importance and love; She looked into Old Madam's eyes, with a serious expression, saying: "Grandmother, listen to me, if I'm a lucky person, naturally I won't worry about my future, if I'm an unlucky person, even more dowry would be wasted on someone else! You should keep some for yourself, your body is not well, if... there's no one to take care of you, or the servants are not diligent, what can you do with money in your hands?!"

  These are all words that cut to the heart, and there is even a hint of unfilial disobedience in them. Minglan would never dare say such things at any other time. How could Old Madame not understand? Her eyes welled up with tears as she said softly: "Don't worry, they wouldn't dare be neglectful towards me... Moreover, I think your sister-in-law is a person who understands etiquette and has been very filial to me; it's only you, this foolish child, that I worry about..."

  Minglan's eyes were moist, and she forced a smile, saying: "I heard Xiaotao say that in their village, there was an old saying, 'Marrying a Han is marrying a Han, wearing clothes and eating rice; Sun girl is considered to have married well, after all, she won't be living a difficult life!"

  The old lady couldn't help but laugh too, then immediately put on a serious face and said sternly: "Alright! Since he's gone to great lengths to get rid of you, I suppose he won't let you go hungry!"

  The old lady and her grandson talked for a long time, finally deciding that the fixed property would only be accompanied by the fields and mountains in the countryside, and at that time, they would add some silver and several large boxes of precious materials accumulated by the old lady over the years.

  Dowry is after all inanimate objects, once settled then it's settled, the people who come with the bride are the troublesome ones.

  When Hualan first got married, apart from the maidservants of Weixuan Hall, Wangshi accompanied her with a colorful hairpin, and Old Lady also gave her beloved granddaughter a jade cicada. Nearly ten years have passed, the colorful hairpin has become a concubine, giving birth to a son, and now cannot avoid Hualan's suspicion; while the jade cicada married the most capable steward of the Yuan household, becoming Hualan's most trusted right-hand man.

  Mo Lan was an exception, neither Wang nor the old lady sent anyone else, they just brought the people from Shan Yue Ju over.

  The rest were given to Rulan and Minglan, with Mrs. Wang following the example of Hualan, giving a colored girdle to Rulan and a colored ring to Minglan. The old lady gave the most mature and steady Cuiping to Rulan, while for Minglan, Xiaotao and Danguo were basically considered to be from Shou'andang, and there were also four greens who were trained by Fang's mother, plus one Cuixiu, so the old lady didn't give any more to others.

  Cai Huan was a beautiful young woman with almond-shaped eyes and rosy cheeks. The old lady took one look at her and flew into a rage, exclaiming: "What is she thinking of?!"

  Minglan quickly comforted her by saying: "In terms of beauty, she can't even compare to Rouyi, let alone me, the daughter of a family with a reputation as beautiful as a fallen fish or a descending goose!"

  The old lady almost fell over and tumbled off the kang (heated brick bed) in a somersault.

  Back in the twilight studio, Minglan's mind was still on this matter, so she asked Danju: "The old lady and I have selected the attendants for you, but you should go ask them if there is anyone who is reluctant to leave their parents or has a predestined marriage, otherwise it will be too late once we pass this village."

  Xiao Tao, who was standing beside them, hastily interjected: "Of course, Dang Ju and I will follow the young lady!"

  "Nonsense!" Minglan glared at her, "You shut up, I'm asking Danju!"

  "Who would have thought that Danju would look embarrassed, twisting her fingers, and Minglan was surprised to say: 'Could it be that you don't want to go with me? Just say so.'"

  Dan Ju was startled and shook his head repeatedly: "No, no! How could I leave the young lady? It's... Yan Cao and Ruo Mei."

  Minglan furrowed her brow and said softly, "You'd better tell me! I'm afraid there have been quite a few people coming to ask for your help these days."

  Since she settled the marriage with Gu Tingyan, her value has skyrocketed, and many maids and wives want to follow in her footsteps. So they either openly or secretly ask someone to pass on a message, but Xiaotao is notoriously stupid and straightforward, so asking her to deliver a message might just make things worse. Lvzhī is not very kind with her words, and if she doesn't get ridiculed or scolded by her, that's already good enough. Therefore, the gentle and kind Dàn Jú became the best breakthrough point.

  Tan Ju's face was difficult to look at, and he stuttered: "Rou Mei... she was bought from outside, and there's also Master Feng San... it's a matter of fact, now she only has her aunt to rely on."

  Minglan was silent, her eyebrows furrowed. She was the first person that Lady Wang wanted to eliminate, saying that she was born too well and knew how to read and write, with a proud heart and arrogant demeanor, which would inevitably lead to trouble in the future.

  "What about Yan Cao? Aren't her parents arranging a marriage for her?"

  Dan Ju's face turned even uglier, and he said in a low voice: "...... She said that she couldn't bear to part with the young lady, and wanted to serve her for a few more years."

  Now even Minglan's face turned unpleasant.

  Xiao Tao made the bed, carrying a Qinghua wrapped branch porcelain incense burner in the warm pavilion, slowly burning it. Upon hearing this, she turned her head and said: "Yan Cao's mother entered the mansion a few days ago, they hid in the house and talked for a long time, it turns out they were talking about this."

  Suddenly being told off, Dan Ju was taken aback for a moment.

  Minglan glanced over, and Danju lowered her head in embarrassment. Minglan said calmly, "You're still too soft-hearted." Danju was at a loss for words under Minglan's gaze, and she couldn't hide it anymore, so she stammered, "We grew up together, and she said we should go enjoy our good fortune, can't let down our sisters."

  Minglan's heart sank, and she remained silent for a moment before saying, "If you wear the eyebrow band, leave the swallow grass behind."

  Danju was startled, and Minglan looked at her for a moment before continuing: "...from tomorrow on, let Green Branch take over her duties, and have her prepare for marriage instead. We won't shortchange her dowry, that's for sure."

  "Miss, all these years, I've been devoted to serving you. I haven't done anything wrong." She had served Minglan for nearly ten years and knew that although Minglan appeared gentle and soft-spoken on the surface, she was actually resolute in her decisions and rarely changed her mind once it was made.

  "I know." Minglan sat in front of the dressing table, propping up a delicate and lovely white jade elbow, slowly saying, "But she had such a heart, it's not good. In that kind of noble family, even if you don't have any evil thoughts, they'll still be drawn out; let alone she was originally someone with a weak will; this way we can still preserve our love."

  She's not afraid of being deceived or betrayed. What she fears is that the people she trusts and loves will deceive and betray her.

  In early February, the cold weather had dissipated by half. On the second day after Jing Ge and Zhang Feng entered the examination hall, Wang Shi returned from Fengtian, although dusty and tired, but couldn't hide his joyful emotions, with a rosy complexion.

  "His daughter has been coughing a lot lately, so she won't come to see the two girls get married. She says that when the weather gets warmer, she'll bring your aunt and uncle with her to visit relatives!" Wang's eyebrows danced with joy, and Sheng Xiang also listened with a smile.

  Inside the house, a large round table made of Haitang stone was piled high with fluffy fur and thick down feathers, looking very valuable. There were also several boxes of ginseng tied with red thread. Wang Shi couldn't help but say: "......Nuo Nuo, this is what your paternal grandmother gave to you younger generation, pick whatever you like, it's the freshly harvested ones from last winter! Ming Yaotou, don't just stand there, your paternal grandmother remembered you, she said that there's a share for you too!" This time when she returned to her maternal home, she achieved a complete victory. Wang Lao Tai Tai was moved by her younger daughter's pleas and kneels, so she softened her heart. In the end, the mother-daughter duo hugged each other and cried bitterly, putting past grievances behind them and making amends.

  Minglan smiled and walked forward, following Rulan to inspect the thick and fluffy fur, which felt warm and soft to the touch. She praised it out loud, but in her heart, she thought that with her understanding of Wangshi, just having good things happen to herself was not enough to make her so happy. There must be someone else's misfortune that made her rejoice. Could it be that Wang Big Brother and Kang Big Sister were unhappy after marriage, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law did not get along?

  Just then, Lan quietly approached Minglan's ear and whispered: "Sixth sister, I'm afraid Kang is not having a good time at the Wang residence!"

  Minglan's heart skipped a beat as she tilted her head and leaned in, biting her ear: "Great minds think alike!"

  The author has something to say:

  In the previous chapter, many readers said that the big and white moon on New Year's Eve was a bug. But think about it, New Year's Eve is also snowy, let alone a full moon, I'm afraid there won't even be a crescent moon.

  Waaah, my cold humor was ignored...

  Regarding the anxious mood of dear readers who hope for a faster pace, I can understand it. However, this novel is originally about family and trivial matters, so every detail needs to be described thoroughly. The writing style may seem dull, but don't worry, the next chapter will be about getting married!

  Finally, about dowry.

  I vaguely remember that Wang Xifeng once mentioned to Ping'er, for Ying Chun and Tan Chun, a few maids, one million taels would be enough, and Jia Huan's marriage would require about 3,000 taels.

  Too lazy to translate the original work, everyone go check it out yourself.

  My body can't take it, my tonsils are showing signs of rebellion, and I've been taking several cephalosporin tablets in a row, hoping to suppress them.