The 64th

  After Taisheng escorted the old lady away, Minglan was still immersed in the sorrow of parting. Like Orchid suddenly rushed to the twilight study and saw Minglan lying on the soft couch with a big pillow, staring blankly. She went forward and patted Minglan's cheek: "Hey, wake up, are you still sad? You're the only filial granddaughter, we're all heartless!"

  Minglan didn't have the energy to argue with her, and only weakly said: "Where, where, sisters are sad in their hearts, younger sister's upbringing is not enough, that's why they're sad on their faces."

  Like a fist hitting cotton, she had nothing to say, and went straight to the topic: "Uh, that... Pinlan sent another letter, hurry up and tell me, how is Sun Xiuzai doing now?"

  Ming Lan rolled her eyes on the rooftop.

  The series of letters from Pinlan basically only had two themes, one was 'the record of the decline and fall of a family that abandoned its wife and children', and the other was 'the record of the revival of the noble and virtuous lady Lan in her prime state after being wrongly treated'. Since Minglan accidentally mentioned it once, Lan became a loyal listener to this serialized story.

  It is said that in those days, Sun Zhi Gao used a divorce paper to get half of the dowry and immediately moved the dancer who was not stained by the mud into the main house. Shu Lan was sent away by her family to the village where Gui Jie got married, where the people were rich and simple, and since Gui Jie's father-in-law was the local head, no one gossiped about it.

  There was no more Shulan to restrain him, nor was there anyone to supervise him. Sun Zhi Gao indulged in a life of luxury and extravagance every day, frequently hosting grand banquets at wine houses, inviting a group of elegant scholars to recite poetry and drink with courtesans. He was truly having the time of his life. However, when the Educational Commissioner found out about this behavior, he became enraged. During an examination for local scholars, in front of everyone, he coldly rebuked Sun Zhi Gao as "having no integrity and no virtue", calling him a "disgrace to the literary world". Sun Zhi Gao was deeply humiliated and returned home, whereupon he became even more reckless and extravagant.

  Mrs. Sun's ears were soft, holding a large sum of silver money and not knowing how to spend it well, decided to learn from others to invest, sometimes it was a cosmetics shop, sometimes it was a rice store, and sometimes even lending money with interest, the industries were vastly different, but the result was very consistent, losing money; Minglan seriously suspected that Sheng Wei's uncle had secretly added fuel to the fire.

  It wasn't until the birth of a child to that mysterious woman in the brothel that the Sun family's fortunes began to decline. However, Sun Zhi Gao was concerned with saving face and continued to put on a show of wealth, selling off their assets one by one in order to maintain his life of luxury. His mother had advised him to be more frugal, but all he would say was "wait until I graduate from university..."

  However, the young woman from the brothel apparently couldn't wait any longer. One day, when Sun's mother and son went out to a banquet and returned late at night, after drinking a bowl of hangover soup, both of them fell into a deep sleep. When they woke up, they found that all their valuables and silver tickets were gone, leaving behind only a long letter from the young woman and Sun's nephew, expressing their deepest gratitude.

  It is said that the two had known each other for a long time, and the son she gave birth to was also her nephew's. The two have been in love for a long time, their true feelings can be felt by heaven and earth. Alas, fate did not bring them together, and they could not be reunited despite their deep affection. After struggling through these days, they finally could no longer deceive their own emotions, so they decided to elope; please ask the "kind and merciful" grandmother Sun and the "noble and great" grandson Zhi Gao to understand their feelings; oh, also please understand their behavior of taking away valuables.

  After the news spread, Sun's mother and son immediately became a laughing stock in Yangdu. The loving couple hastily left without selling their house but sold all their land, farms, and valuable furniture. As a result, Sun Zhi Gao's life became difficult overnight. The restaurants and wine shops in town no longer allowed him to run up debts, and the bookstores and paper shops came to collect debts one after another. Looking at the thin porridge and salted vegetables on their table, Sun's mother and son finally remembered the good things about Shu Lan and went to find her in Cang Xiang. At first, Sun Zhi Gao still wanted to put on airs, indicating that he was willing to lower himself to marry Shu Lan back; however, when they arrived, they found out that not only had Shu Lan married someone else, but she was also heavily pregnant.

  Shulan's husband's family was a wealthy household in the neighboring village, with both houses and fields. The new son-in-law was a kind and honest man. This time, Sheng Wei and Li Shi carefully examined his character and also took sufficient precautions, and happily married off their daughter.

  Mrs. Sun and her son stared at Shulan's bulging belly in shock, Sun Zhi Gao said some unpleasant words after his anger, but Shulan was no longer the Wu Xiaoming of those years, she coldly ridiculed them severely, Gui Jie was even more ruthless, directly pointing out Sun Zhi Gao's fatal problem - 'Maybe you can't have children, go see a doctor, don't delay this good girl's marriage'.

  Sun Zhi Gao was so ashamed that he almost died, at this time the rough and honest countrymen rushed over, they didn't waste words, directly wielding their carrying poles to shout, beating Sun Zhi Gao severely and driving him away.

  The latest news is that Shulan gave birth to twins, and Sun Zhi Gao became a regular customer of the pawnshop.

  Yu Lan left a table of melon seed shells, very dissatisfied with this ending, and also expressed dissatisfaction with Minglan's unenthusiastic explanation method. Minglan was also unhappy, picked up the account book left by the old lady for herself and looked at it carefully.

  One mu of medium dry land is worth about five taels of silver, while paddy fields are double that. Top-grade paddy fields can even sell for up to twenty taels. If she has one thousand taels of silver, how should she invest it?

  It depends on the situation and policy.

  The family originally had ten servant households, after three generations of the host family, the servants multiplied and became numerous, still relying on seniority to take a large share, but unable to use them, and the household expenses gradually increased, how to reduce?

  The best plan is birth control, take good care of them; the middle plan is let them go; and the worst plan is sell them away.

  Question 3: At home, there are many people, but the men do not work and produce nothing. The monthly expenses exceed the income, what to do?

  Divide the family property and live separately.

  The mother-in-law is stubborn and favors the other branch of the family, refusing to divide the property. The sister-in-law is greedy for wealth and the uncle is lustful. The father has lost a large sum of money, the man favors his concubine over his wife, and the maternal family is indifferent to their plight. There is no way out in heaven or on earth.

  Answer: ...Reincarnate again then.

  What is reflected in the account is not only a problem of income and expenditure, but also complex interpersonal relationships, close and distant relationships, which are finally mixed together into a mess. Minglan looked at it for a whole day, feeling only a splitting headache. A big family is just a hassle, each household has its own plans, some problems are simply unsolvable, they can only be slowly worn down, waiting for the daughter-in-law to become a mother-in-law and then pass on the baton to the next generation, continuing to wear them down.

  "Miss." Dan Ju struck the beaded curtain and came in, smiling as she announced, "The maid from the mistress's quarters has come to say that new spring clothes and hair ornaments have arrived, and invites a few misses to go and choose some."

  Minglan stepped down from the couch and had Danju tidy up her clothes and hair while asking, "How have things been in the courtyard these past few days?"

  Danju hesitated for a moment and replied in a low voice: "It's not as good as when the old lady was around; there are some young maids who have been gossiping."

  Minglan smiled slightly and instructed, "You don't have to deliberately scold him, just look at him more." Danju was puzzled, Minglan's mouth curved slightly, "The people in the inner courtyard are all easy to be rich and noble, but difficult to suffer together; let's take a look."

  In the past, the old lady was very particular about Lin Daiyu's diet to regulate her body. During the day, she would have delicate snacks such as buttered, creamy, and steamed buns in rotation. At night, she would have desserts like rock sugar swallow's nest congee, golden silk red date soup, and other fine dishes. As a result, Lin Daiyu became plump and fair-skinned with a rosy glow, and even the little maid benefited from this treatment. Now, however, everything has to be done according to the rules of the public kitchen.

  Tangerine listened clearly, her face solemn: "In the past, the young lady treated them with great kindness. If there was any difference, they would have grievances and it would be a crime! Young lady, I will take care of it."

  Xiao Tao supported Minglan as they entered the Wang's quarters, where they saw Madame Wang leaning against a rosewood couch, chatting and laughing with Liu Kun's wife. In between them were two square tables pushed together, on top of which were neatly folded new silk clothes, embroidered and woven with bright colors that caught the eye. Mo Lan and Ruolan were standing beside the table, examining these things with their eyes, and when they saw Minglan arrive, they both gave her a stern look.

  Madam Wang knew that Minglan was always a beat slow, and it was okay to be late in greeting her, but every time she divided things, she came late and only took what was left over. This way, everyone had nothing to say; Madam Wang put down the tea bowl, picked up a small black lacquer wooden spiral box from the small table, asked Liu Kun's wife to pass it over, smiled and said: "This is the new style of Cuibaozhai, your elder sister ordered it last year, she thought it was bright and sent it over. You sisters choose for yourselves."

  Liu Kun's family had already opened the box and placed it on the table next to the silk fabric. Inside, a dazzling array of pearls and jade sparkled with golden light. Ming Lan looked up and saw that the box contained three hair ornaments, lined up in a row: one was a crystal-encrusted swan-shaped hairpin with flowing tassels, one was a bat-patterned South Pearl tremble branch gold hairpin, and one was a honey-colored crystal hair clip. They were indeed novel in style and radiant with clarity.

  The three girls looked at each other, and Orchid said with a flat mouth: "Fourth sister chooses first, Father often says that the order of age is important."

  Mo Lan smiled faintly and walked straight up, looking left and right, finally taking the most dazzling golden pearl hairpin. Suddenly, she laughed lightly and turned to Ming Lan: "Sixth sister, do you think in 'Kong Rong lets the pear', is it the older brother letting the younger brother or the younger brother letting the older brother?"

  Minglan replied with a bitter smile: "Fourth sister, don't you know how much ink is in my belly? Don't make things difficult for me."

  Ruolan glanced at her and turned to Moolan, "Father often praises fourth sister for being the most learned among us sisters, what does fourth sister say?"

  Mo Lan's face turned red with embarrassment, and she forced a smile: "If you like this branch, just say so, why bring up some old story? We're sisters, can't I give it to my younger sister?"

  Yu Lan slowly and elegantly said: "It doesn't matter which one is wrong, but sister wants to learn from elder sister."

  "Then you go first!" Mo Lan put down the golden hairpin, her eyes cast downward in indignation.

  "Big sister has already chosen, how can little sister take what others love, and then father will scold again."

  Minglan saw that Rulan was being stubborn and unyielding, she slightly furrowed her brow, raised her eyes to look at Wang Shi, only to see her engrossed in conversation with Liu Kun's family, not even glancing this way, seemingly oblivious. Minglan lowered her head, understanding dawned on her.

  This time the old emperor's amnesty examination, Sheng Hong's colleagues and classmates all had children going to take the exam, but only Chang Feng didn't even pass the provincial exam, and could only watch as the rare opportunity slipped away. Recently, Sheng Hong looked at Chang Feng with eyes that were not eyes, a nose that was not a nose. The day before yesterday, when the examination began, half of the officials in the Ducha Yuan were discussing their children who had gone to take the exam, and Sheng Hong listened with great displeasure, his face darkening as he returned home, whereupon he went straight to Chang Feng's study, intending to give his son a good scolding, determined that next autumn he would pass the imperial examination, and the year after that come in first.

  Who would have thought that as soon as they reached the door, they heard the sound of men and women laughing inside. Sheng Hong kicked open the door and went in, only to see his own son smiling with a jade pen in hand, writing bold and beautiful poetry on the inner arms of a slender and beautiful maid, who was lifting her sleeves, revealing two snowy white and tender forearms.

  His eyes were sharp, and at a glance he saw that the words written above were "Ice muscles and jade bones reveal rich fragrance, unfasten your belt and wait for you to taste" The fiery words made him furious, and with a loud roar, he tied Chang Feng up tightly, then served family law, and a stick came down, beating this elegant young man until he cried out for his father and mother. Lin Niangniang rushed over to beg for mercy, kneeling on the ground and pleading bitterly.

  Sheng Hong was furious, and in front of everyone in the mansion, he pointed at the mother and son duo and scolded them loudly, saying "A rotten mud cannot be used to build a wall".

  Lin's aunt was also very wronged, she had always wanted to take good care of her son, but after all, she was just an aunt, not the legitimate mother, and her words carried no weight. Her son didn't listen much to her teachings either, and she feared that if she were too strict, it would damage their mother-son relationship, and in the second half of her life, she still had to rely on him.

  Sheng Hongyi didn't do things halfway, so he thoroughly searched Long Feng's study from top to bottom. After searching, he unexpectedly found over a dozen books of erotic novels and poetry collections, with yellowed pages that clearly showed signs of frequent reading.

  Sheng Hong was furious, personally took up the stick and beat Chang Feng again, then put him under house arrest. He then found the external accountant's room and strictly ordered that Chang Feng would no longer be allowed to freely withdraw silver money, and any amount exceeding five taels had to be reported.

  Lin's aunt's prosperity was not just because of her own favor, but also because her son was highly valued by Sheng Zong. Now that her favor has waned and her son has been discarded, the servants in the mansion are all loyal to Wang Shi, so they temporarily shifted their allegiance to Wang Shi.

  "What does she want?" Mo Lan sneered, she had never been ridiculed like this before.

  "I don't care." Rulan slowly flipped through the clothes beside her, deliberately saying, "But since sister asked me to choose first, isn't that going against father's intentions? We need a reason; we're sisters, can't have one being more noble than the other?"

  She drew out her words, provokingly staring at Mo Lan.

  Mo Lan bit her lip, she knew that Yu Lan was trying to force her to say the four words "different treatment for sons and daughters", in the early years when Lin's mother-in-law was favored, she had not hesitated to use "sons and daughters" as a pretext, and had received so much sympathy and affection from Sheng Hong.

  Although times are different from the past, she still wouldn't put down her face. As soon as she saw Minglan standing with her head lowered beside her, she thought for a moment and smiled: "Fifth sister is right, Kong Rong giving pears to his younger brother is also about letting the older give in to the younger. In that case, let's have Sixth sister pick first."

  Minglan glanced at Mo Lan, okay, the little bit of sympathy that had just risen up immediately dissipated. Seeing Mo Lan walk over to pull her away, Minglan lightly turned around and dodged Mo Lan's hand. She had already thought of what to say, but just as she was about to speak, a sudden shout came from outside: "The old master is back."

  King looked at the play with a sideways glance, and after looking at the leaky pot beside him, he said, "It's still early, not even time for the morning court session yet?"

  Liu Kun's family was relatively alert, and they immediately helped Wang Shi get up to welcome Sheng Hong. Just then, Sheng Hong walked in wearing official attire and a winged hat, his face seeming to show some unease, with a few strands of his whiskers disheveled. He walked straight to the main seat's taishi chair and sat down properly. Wang Shi hastily ordered tea to be served and went over smiling: "Master has returned, why is it so early today?"

  Sheng Hong carefully removed his official hat and casually said, "Today's Enke ceremony has come to an end, even the Left Supervisor of the Imperial Censorate has left early. Only a few of us are left, so we can also go back now." It's not good for officials to be too different from others; as long as it doesn't involve matters of principle or great harm, it's better to just follow the crowd.

  The three Langs stood upright in a dignified manner and paid their respects to Sheng Xiang.

  Sheng Hong saw that the three girls were all there, nodded slightly, and then saw a table of clothes, hairpins, and combs. He frowned and said: "Didn't Hua'er send these over yesterday? Why are you only distributing them to them today?"

  Wang's face stiffened, and she covered it up by saying: "In a few days, the Zhongqin Duke's estate will be celebrating Hualan's brother's full moon birthday. I thought that Miss shouldn't be too plain, so I added some more clothing fabrics, which is why they were distributed today."

  Sheng Hong nodded, and suddenly remembered that when he came in earlier, he caught a glimpse of Mo Lan and Ming Lan standing at the side, while only Rong Lan was standing by the table. He also saw an open jewelry box on the table. He looked at Wang Shi and felt displeased, saying: "Why is only Rong Er choosing? Have Mo Er and Ming Ya already received their shares?"

  Mo Lanshan walked up to Sheng Hong and smiled: "Please let Fifth Sister choose first."

  Sheng Hong knew that Rulan and Wang's family had a similar temperament, neither of them was generous. Thinking that Wang might be pinching the poor daughter-in-law, she immediately gave Rulan a sideways glance, and Rulan's face turned pale.

  Minglan hastily stepped forward, tugging at her father's sleeve and said with a smile: "Father, please make a decision for us; just now Fifth Sister said that the order of age should be followed, so Fourth Sister should pick first; but Fourth Sister said she wanted to 'yield the pear', and insisted that I pick first. I thought about it, no matter how many times, either Fourth Sister or I would get to pick, and Fifth Sister wouldn't get a turn, which is really unfair to her. So this time, let's ask her to pick first, Father, what do you think?"

  Sheng Hong had always liked Minglan, seeing her bright and lovely. After hearing her childish words, he smiled at the three sisters and said: "Good, you know sisterly love, it's comforting for your father."

  Mo Lan gritted her teeth secretly, not daring to refute, and could only force a smile in response. As for Lan, she also let out a sigh of relief. Wang Shi saw the opportunity and immediately said: "I'll send the things over later, you can choose them yourselves, your father needs to rest."

  The three Langs retreated respectfully.

  Sheng Hong watched as his three daughters walked out, then stood up and followed Wang Shi into the inner room. He opened his arms to let Wang Shi remove his clothes and loosen his belt, saying: "Is Quan Ge'er doing well? Is my daughter-in-law doing well?"

  Mr. Wang thought of his chubby grandson, beaming with joy: "Great, all great! The child is still young and can't bear to see the wind, otherwise he would take him out to show Grandpa, oh, that little guy, his arms and legs are so strong!"

  Sheng Hong also burst out laughing, repeatedly saying: "Just look at that child's face, and you can tell he's a lucky one! So energetic, so energetic!" They say the eldest son and grandson are the most favored by heaven, and seeing his grandson waving his chubby little arm, Sheng Hong's heart melted, constantly instructing Wang Shi to take good care of him.

  "Not only is Quan Ge's son handsome, but Hua Lan's real son is also good-looking. I went to see him last time and he can already smile. Oh, when he smiles, it's so sweet! He looks just like Hua Yan's appearance when she was a child!" Wang Shi exclaimed with joy, "Now things are looking up, Hua Lan can finally hold her head high and won't have to always look at her mother-in-law's face!"

  Sheng Hong actually doted on his eldest daughter. Among the many children in the family, only Hua Lan had been carried and fed by him when she was young. As an official who shouldn't speak ill of others, Sheng Hong couldn't help but say: "Zhongqin's father is a good person, it's just that his wife... has also improved a lot now."

  "Wang snorted coldly: 'Hmph, if I hadn't gone to talk to her, she would have thought that just setting up two tables of wine for the full moon banquet was enough. Both are her own sons, one had a 50-table feast, and the other is like this, isn't she afraid of being laughed at for being biased? The son-in-law is foolishly filial, only pitying Hua Yatou, who knows how much dowry has been calculated; this time, Old Master and Bo Ge'er have risen to office, so she's finally calmed down a bit. Hmph, doesn't she think that back then, their family was in decline, and it was already a blessing for Hualan to marry into their family?'"

  Sheng Hong hesitated for a moment before saying, "That day I mentioned it briefly to Old Master, he will restrain his wife."

  At this point, Sheng Hong suddenly thought of something and asked: "What about... Mo Ya's marriage?"

  Wang's family folded the official robe, frowned and sighed: "I'm not that I haven't searched everywhere, but the masters are not happy. Bai Er is a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, you think it's too poor, I asked someone to ask, you also think there's no foundation, if it's a big family, then there's only a younger brother; honestly speaking, it's not that there aren't good ones, but when we're looking for a son-in-law, others are also looking for a daughter-in-law, Mo Yaotou, a younger brother, how can he have great prospects? How to search?"

  Sheng Hong felt uncomfortable in his heart, actually he also thought those objects were enough, but he couldn't bear Lin Niang's dead crying and begging. In the face of reality, Lin Niang had to bow her head, only then did she discover that He Hongwen's conditions were really not bad.

  "It can be said that in a few months, Mo Lan will be coming of age; if she continues to be so picky, I won't bother with her anymore. However, she can afford to drag things out, but Yatou and Mingyatou cannot, at that time, don't blame me for not waiting for her to become the older sister!" Wang Shi preemptively strikes a preventive blow in front of Sheng Hong.

  "Old Lady mentioned to me before, last time she went to Yu Yang, saw the niece's son of my sister-in-law, called Yu Ge Er, studying hard and making progress, family background is also good, listening to it seems not bad, let's see if he can pass the exam next year."

  He still trusted the old lady's vision, and when she mentioned it at the time, she said with a smile that the young man was quite similar to himself in his youth. Thinking of this, Sheng Hong's mood improved a lot, if he was like himself, then he must be a talented and handsome young man!

  Very good, very good, if things go well, Mo Lan will be blessed.

  The author has something to say:

  1. Now that everyone has the ability to guess, I'm being forced to spill the beans. Why don't I just reveal the male lead first? To avoid endless guessing from everyone.

  2. The family I set up is basically typical, with a spoiled eldest daughter and an unspoiled eldest daughter, a spoiled concubine-born daughter and an unspoiled concubine-born daughter. The rules are somewhat strict but not very strict. The madam has a mother-in-law who is basically equivalent to non-existent. There are favored concubines who are no longer greatly favored. The old master wants to rise through the ranks and get rich, but he doesn't have an overly strong desire for wealth and power.

  What's special about this family is that they are on the rise, and after encountering a change, their promotion accelerated, so their original ideas will slowly change with the improvement of the family status. For example, Hualan, she was married to Yuan Wenshao as a high-ranking official at first, but now it's basically equal.

  I enjoy this kind of writing pleasure and also hope readers like it.

  3. The third and fourth volumes may be longer than the first two, so you can skip through them if you want.