Episode 115

  After sending off the three mothers-in-law, it was already the beginning of Shen time. Minglan didn't want to sleep anymore, so she went back to her room to change her clothes. Xiaotao brought a bowl of warm Sanxian cat ear soup, and Minglan ate while slowly flipping through the newly arrived servant files.

  "I see that the lady likes this kind of food." Cai Hong followed Xiao Tao to the kitchen to collect dishes, laughing and saying "You're quite skilled at cooking."

  Xiao Tao bent down to pick up the scattered clothes that had just been dried at noon, folding them one by one: "As for this, it's still our original housekeeper Qiu Mama who did it best. The way she ironed those ears was just right, I only learned some superficial skills."

  "I still have a lot to learn." Cai Huan brought over the focus of adding good charcoal fire, "Do you want to try it here?"

  "No, let's go out." Xiaotao lowered her voice and carried a large pile of clothes out quietly, stopping only when they reached the ear room.

  "It's not good for Madame to be alone in there now that we've all come out," said Caihuan.

  Xiao Tao picked up a silk camisole and smoothed it out slowly: "This is our girl's rule, unless there are guests around, otherwise when she is alone in the house, she doesn't like others to walk back and forth."

  "What if she wants tea or something?"

  Xiao Tao took over the iron and began to iron her clothes, saying: "So normally, one of us stays in the next room, if you want something, just call us; we'll finish ironing quickly and go to the attic."

  Cai Huan hesitated for a moment and felt that this was somewhat strange: "Then... what does Master want?"

  Xiao Tao raised her head in a rather strange manner: "What does Master want? What's it got to do with us?"

  Cai Huan was pushed up a bit, and he smiled awkwardly: "That's right, we were first the lady's servants, and then the people of this mansion."

  It was almost evening, when suddenly dark clouds rolled in, and the sky turned dark on one side. Then a loud clap of thunder boomed from afar, followed by big raindrops pouring down from the sky like a deluge, drumming against the ground with a deafening roar, instantly soaking the earth.

  Looking out at the rain pouring down, Minglan turned her head and patted Xiaotao's shoulder, praising her repeatedly: "Fortunately, you put away your clothes in the afternoon, indeed, you are wise beyond your years." Xiaotao didn't know how to be modest and actually nodded, saying: "This servant thinks Madam is absolutely right."

  Minglan patiently taught her: "No, you should say 'this is all thanks to your good teaching'."

  Xiao Tao was very impressed and cited another example: "It's all because of Madame's good teaching, mainly because Madame is so insightful!"

  Minglan smiled and nodded in approval.

  "Did you expect your husband would get rained on?"

  A jesting male voice sounded at the door, and the master and servant turned their heads together. They saw Gu Tingyan standing at the door, drenched from head to toe, with his crimson silk brocade changfu still dripping with water, wetting a patch on the ground.

  Minglan was startled, and looked the wet man up and down, exclaiming in surprise: "I knew it, I knew it! I felt suffocated at noon today, so I had Xiaoshunzi bring an umbrella over." She thought she was being very considerate.

  Gu Tingyan's face darkened by half, staring at her for a while before muttering: "...... I rode my horse to the imperial court."

  Minglan blinked her eyes, turned her head around in a circle, and only then thought that riding a horse was not like riding a bicycle. It wasn't fashionable to hold the reins with one hand and an umbrella with the other. She looked embarrassed, muttered a low "oh", and kindly suggested: "Or... next time, why don't you just take a sedan chair instead? We won't be afraid of wind or rain."

  Gu Tingyan's face turned dark after hearing this, and the remaining half of his face also turned black.

  He stopped talking and stepped into the inner room. Minglan immediately ordered, "Xiaotao, go call Xiahe..." Gu Tingyan turned around with a black face, grabbed Minglan and said, "Can't your own husband serve you? What's all this calling about? Come in!" As he spoke, he dragged Minglan into the inner room.

  Ming Lan was tongue-tied and could only hurriedly turn her head to say, "Xiao Tao, prepare the hot soup for bathing, and also, go bring the ginger soup over!"

  After entering the house, Gu Ting Ye stood behind the screen with his hands open, waiting. Ming Lan touched her nose and walked over to unbutton him, taking off his outer garments to reveal a robust and upright physique. He took the long gown handed to him by Ming Lan and put it on, then went to take a bath in the clean room; the sound of water was loud, but soon he came out wearing a crisp white silk undergarment, sitting properly on the edge of the bed with his slender fingers resting on his knees, as still as a mountain, silently gazing at Ming Lan with an icy stare.

  Minglan, unaware of the past, stared blankly for a moment before her instincts to avoid danger finally awakened. She fetched a dry handkerchief and carefully wiped his thick, wet hair. The fragrance of orchids and musk wafted from Gu Tingye's nose, clean and refreshing. He wrapped his arms around his slender wife's waist and pressed his half-wet face against hers, feeling a wave of comfort and warmth in his heart.

  "Don't be angry." Minglan gently stroked his hair through the thin blanket.

  Gu Tingyan wrapped his arms around Minglan's waist, letting her sit on his lap, his thick and long arms encircling her in his embrace, a pair of dark eyes gazing at her: "Tell me, why am I not pleased?"

  Minglan ventured cautiously: "I should have someone drive a carriage to meet you, shouldn't I?"

  Gu Tingyan looked at Minglan's dazed eyes and let out a faint sigh: "Forget it, getting rained on won't kill you; how are you today? Is everything all right in the manor?"

  The annoying topic ended, Minglan let out a sigh of relief and quickly picked up a stack of papers from the desk, handed them to Gu Tingye, and said: "Look at this, isn't it good? Am I clever?"

  Gu Tingyan flipped through a few pages and couldn't help but laugh: "You've really thought of it." He looked up at Minglan, finding her quite amusing.

  Minglan knew he was secretly laughing at her, and with a flat mouth, she argued: "I don't like to order people who are unclear about their roots."

  Gu Tingyan flipped through the top few pages, laughing: "Haha, our household is indeed hiding dragons and tigers. We even have the procurement and craftsmen from the previous head of the national duke's mansion? Oh, these few cooks are a bit inferior, they're all second-rate... Lai Mama's sons have already broken free from their apprenticeships? Hua Mama has become more and more... Fourth Aunt is very generous, sending over Tian Pozi's whole family..."

  After reading several, Gu Tingyan gradually couldn't smile anymore, and had to admit that Minglan's approach was very targeted. A simple resume can reflect many things: origin, reward and punishment status, the whereabouts of family members, and past grievances. Brief and concise, yet with profound implications, many things on and off stage have surfaced.

  "This method is good!" He said briefly, his eyes dark and fierce. "The house must be cleaned up, no more messy, dirty hands and feet, you can punish or beat or sell, it doesn't matter! If someone gossips, just push them all to me! I'll see who dares to plot against my household!"

  Minglan sensed something unusual in his tone and knew that there might be some trouble at the imperial court today, but she didn't dare ask more questions. She just nodded repeatedly and asked softly: "Is someone... going to plot against you?" Just give me a heads up.

  Gu Tingyan furrowed his brow, slightly dissatisfied with Minglan's last words. He composed his face and said, "If you're not careful, the things you say on the first night will be spread out by the second day. Now that there are many things happening outside, we can't afford to have a fire in our own backyard."

  Minglan watched him with great interest, but in fact, her greatest gain today was not the details of these servants, but the behavior pattern of this man. Hmm, very interesting.

  It has been several days since Minglan felt that the internal affairs of the Gu mansion were quite disorganized, with personnel being mixed up, servants being lazy, and management being very disorderly. After a round of investigation by Minglan, it was found that the problem lay not with the servants, but rather with Gu Tingye himself.

  He has been in charge of the mansion for over a year, and it seems that he doesn't even bother to take care of the affairs within the mansion. He only appointed a few managers to handle daily operations, then transferred a team of personal soldiers from the military camp to strictly guard the gates of the mansion, treating all the servants as if they were prisoners. As long as they didn't make mistakes, cause trouble, or show any suspicious behavior, he wouldn't care about anything else, including their food, clothing, and living conditions.

  Several heavy locks were pressed on the warehouse gate, and although there were mountains of treasures and boxes full of pearls inside, he didn't even bother to take them out; The mansion was decorated in a simple and shabby manner, as if it were a dilapidated house. Gong Sun's small courtyard was tightly guarded, with someone watching at the door day and night, only two secret signals short of being set up. It was harder to enter the outer study than to visit a prisoner in jail, and one had to be searched twice before entering or leaving.

  Minglan pondered for half a day and suddenly thought of her elder brother Changbai.

  Chang Bai's cautiousness seemed to be innate, without needing any reminders, and he would naturally be careful in his actions. Yang Hao had served him for over a decade and was very familiar with him, but as soon as there was even the slightest movement of documents, Chang Bai would immediately know. This was probably a required course for successful officials: meticulousness, caution. Old Master Sheng also had this kind of skill after going through a period of training in his youth.

  But Gu Tingyan was not a naturally cautious person, and many things were beyond his control, so he had to take a different approach.

  This approach seems rough, but it's actually very clever. The method is straightforward and effective, although a bit harsh. Gu Tingyan knew that his own household was not peaceful, and he also knew that someone might have planted a mole, or even that the people sent by Ningyuan Houfu were not necessarily good-hearted. However, he didn't have the energy to deal with it, nor did he feel like dealing with it, so he simply came up with this move.

  Anyway, this glorious task will eventually be taken over by others - thinking of this, Minglan felt a bit itchy.

  "Don't worry, I know what to do." Minglan leaned against the man's chest, trying to appear more calm and composed. "I'll sort out the personnel first, then assign tasks. If there's anything I don't understand, I'll ask you, okay?"

  Gu Tingye nodded slightly, observing Minglan's behavior over the past few days, and he also knew she was a trustworthy person. Initially, when he observed the situation at the Sheng manor, the household management was in order, and the family reputation was quite good. The eldest daughter of the Sheng family, who married into the Yuan family, also had some ability to manage the household. Minglan should not be able to find any fault with him either; if it really didn't work out, he would still be there anyway.

  At this time, Xiaotao came with a tea tray, and Minglan quickly got up to hand over the ginger soup to Gu Tingyan: "Hurry up and drink it, dispel the cold air!"

  Gu Tingyan picked up the cup and took a sip, immediately tasting that this ginger soup was absolutely made with red sugar and ginger ingredients, and the fire was just right. The entrance was thick and rich, and after entering the abdomen, the whole body felt like it was lightly roasted over low heat, warm and comfortable in the abdomen. He couldn't help but praise: "This ginger soup is really powerful!"

  Minglan smiled and said, "Of course, I personally watched the medicine being made, it was simmered for a full two hours! You should drink two large bowls of it, and it would be best if you could sweat some out. The guards who accompanied us today have also been sent away by me, so don't worry."

  Looking at Minglan's delicate and gentle appearance, she seemed like a busy little mother hen, and the room was filled with warmth. Gu Tingye raised his bowl to his lips, took a sip, and wiped his mouth with his left wrist. He suddenly wanted to ask, "Do you know that you should miss me, or do you really miss me?" But he felt that he was being foolish today, having such childish feelings, and it was quite laughable.