Episode 69

  Loyalty is easy, filial piety is difficult.

  Minglan and Molan, who had vastly different tastes and interests, rarely saw eye to eye on anything. However, the sight of this beautiful young woman with embroidered clothes and delicate eyebrows sparked a rare moment of agreement between them - they both disliked her.

  "Like a sister, the white tea you brought last time was delicious. At first, my mother thought it looked strange, with its silver-white buds looking like they were going to seep into people's skin, but who knew that when you drank it, it would be so fragrant and refreshing?" In the Tao Ran residence, several girls were drinking tea, Kang Yuan'er pulled Ru Lan's hand and spoke.

  "Smiling with pursed lips, Orchid said: 'Since you like it, I should have given you more. However, this white tea was all allocated to us by Sixth Sister, so go ask her yourself.'"

  Kang Yuan'er immediately looked at Minglan, who was lightly blowing on her tea and smiled: "It's not that great, it's just something Yanran sister sent from Yunnan. It's just rare, that's all. There wasn't much to begin with, I'm someone who can't keep things, so I gave them all away in one go."

  Kang Yuan's delicate melon-seed face fell, staring at Minglan: "It seems that Sixth Sister doesn't take me as her own sister, why didn't I get a share when dividing?" A hint of anger was already hidden between her eyebrows.

  "Hey, older sister Kang, I'm the most honest of the six sisters. With just that little bit of tea, we can exchange it among ourselves and naturally take care of our own first."

  This remark was adding fuel to the fire. Kang Yuan'er was the youngest daughter of Aunt Kang, and since she was young, she had been spoiled by her mother and was used to giving orders at home. Her older sisters didn't even dare to breathe in front of her. How could she tolerate this kind of humiliation? Hearing Mo Lan's words, she immediately sneered: "You're always talking about others, even mentioning the embroidery of my elder sister's family, but never mentioning mine! It seems that my younger sister looks down on me, I'll have to tell Aunt about it."

  Ruolan also frowned and said: "You're the same, why don't you give some to your cousin, after all, we're family."

  Minglan put down the scalding teacup in her hand, shook her hot hands, and said slowly: "Yanran sister sent two and a half catties of white tea. I gave one catty to Old Lady Yang's family as a gift, she took care of our great-grandmother there, it was really hard work; then half a catty was given to the madam, and the rest was divided among us four sisters, elder sister-in-law, and Yong'er sister. Elder sister has taken good care of me since childhood, so I also gave my share to her, that's why Wen Nian sister also got some. If cousin really likes it, I'll write a letter to Yanran sister later and ask her to send more, but the road to Yunnan is far away, we have to wait."

  In the end, Minglan's tea division was all for the Sheng family members. You, an outsider, what are you yelling about? She didn't even leave any for herself, giving it all to Hualan. Even if she were to tell Madame Wang, Minglan would have a good explanation.

  Kang Yuan'er couldn't find any fault with him, and displeased, she curled up the corner of her mouth. Immediately afterwards, she smiled and said: "I was just joking, why did you take it seriously, little sister?"

  She was originally the eldest daughter of a noble family, but due to her father's incompetence, the family's situation had declined. She couldn't compare with Hua Lan in terms of food, clothing, and living arrangements, which was tolerable. However, she always looked down on Mo Lan and Ming Lan, constantly picking on them and causing trouble. On the surface, she would smile and appear harmonious, but behind their backs, she would often speak ill of them to Hua Lan, saying how she dominated her sisters at home. Every time she came over, Hua Lan would inevitably quarrel with Mo Lan and Ming Lan for a while.

  Kang Yuan'er's eyes rolled, and she smiled: "I often hear that Sixth Sister is clever with her hands, and her needlework is quite praiseworthy. Last time I asked Sixth Sister to make two embroidered bed curtains for my mother, I wonder how they're coming along?" Minglan replied lightly: "It's too early, probably have to wait."

  Kang Yuan'er was used to scolding her own younger sisters and coldly snorted, "You're even reluctant to do some chores for your elders, yet people say that younger sisters are filial and gentle. Is this what they mean by being filial? Or is it that you look down on my mother?"

  Minglan glanced at Mo Lan, who was lowering her head to drink tea beside her, and decided to fight alone. With a difficult expression, she said: "Look at what Eldest Sister is saying, I'm not idle. A while ago when the weather was hot, I thought that children are most prone to heatstroke, so I made two quilted soft belly wraps for Shi Ge and Quan Ge. I'm clumsy and slow with my hands, it took me a lot of effort to finish making them and send them over. Kang Yimu is an elder, she will surely take care of the children."

  "Then the belly... you made two?" Minglan winked at her twice, hinting: "Yes."

  Yu Lan immediately lowered her head and stopped speaking. Every time Ming Lan made something for Hua Lan, she would make two portions, one of which was said to be Yu Lan's work. In this way, among their relatives and friends, Yu Lan could also appear to be very virtuous and gentle. Ming Lan had always been very considerate in this regard.

  Kang Yuaner saw that Rulan was not helping and became even angrier, saying: "When exactly can you finish? Don't think about delaying, my sisters at home have already finished."

  Minglan spread out her two pale and tender hands, innocently saying: "How can we compare to Cousin's family? Fifth Sister only has me as a younger sister, but Cousin's family is overflowing with people. Alas, Fifth Sister, if you had a few more younger sisters it would be great, lively and able to get things done."

  Like Orchid's face was strange, not to mention the illegitimate child, even her own sister didn't want her. Mo Lan burst out laughing and immediately covered her mouth, trembling lightly. Kang Yuan'er stomped her foot and said: "Who said that? I'm saying you're too slow!"

  Minglan said seriously: "What elder sister said is right, I will diligently practice and learn from elder sisters, at least to catch up with the needlework of the outside embroidery girls!"

  This time, even Rulan couldn't help but curve the corners of her mouth. Kang's mother was patient and bitter, often calling out to the concubines' children, marrying without a good match, and giving birth without a good match. Kang's mother had come so many times, but Minglan had only seen two of the Kang family's daughters born to concubines. They were as beautiful as flowers, but unfortunately, one was timid and couldn't appear in public, while the other tried to please everyone, flattering her stepmother and stepsisters.

  Every time she saw this scene, Minglan thanked God for letting her be born into that kind of family; otherwise, she might have turned around and sought death immediately. But to say, Kang Yuan was also a bully who feared the strong and preyed on the weak, but since he had neither a birth mother nor an older brother, he always picked soft persimmons to squeeze.

  Kang Yuan's anger was stuck in his throat, but he couldn't refute anything. Minglan never gave anyone a handle to grasp on the surface.

  At this time, there was a sudden commotion outside, with sounds of argument. Like Lan frowned and called Xi Que to take a look. After a while, Xi Que came back, smiling and said: "Miss, it's nothing serious. Xi Zhi is trying on new hairpins in the house, Xi Ye saw them and thought they were her own, but didn't know they were sent by Xi Zhi's family. They had a few words of argument; I mediated and they made up again."

  Just as Lan was about to speak, Mo Lan interrupted her, half-jokingly and half-seriously saying: "This girl is really too clueless, although they are all born in the same mansion, but Xi Zhi's parents are old master and mistress' reliable assistants, brother and sister-in-law are capable, Xi Ye has been obedient since childhood, father is a drunkard, how can they compare to Xi Zhi? Even if they want to compare, let them see if they are worthy or not?"

  Kang Yuan's face turned iron-green, and Lan felt a bit uneasy, but didn't know what to say. Mo Lan deliberately glanced at them and then said to Xi Que: "Besides, although they are all maids in the girls' courtyard, each has their own parents, surname, and ancestors, which are different from one another. Every day, they stare at other people's family affairs, and as soon as they get a bit of attention, they start acting like they're someone important."

  Kang Yuan'er slapped her hand on the table and stood up, her small hands were red from slapping, she was furious: "What do you mean?!"

  Mo Lan pretended to be surprised and said, "It's just teaching this girl two sentences, not beating or scolding her. Could it be that Eldest Sister feels uneasy? I wouldn't dare overstep my bounds. If you like to discipline the girl, go do it in your own courtyard." Mo Lan smiled sweetly at Kang Yuanyu, whose backing had never been Wang Shi. Kang Yuanyu had often ridiculed her illegitimate status, and Aunt Kang had actively advised Wang Shi not to find a good marriage for the illegitimate daughter, lest she suppress the legitimate household in the future, harboring deep resentment.

  Kang Yuan's anger reached its peak, and after saying a few more words, they parted ways unhappily.

  Minglan gazed at the leaves on the branches outside, which seemed to be fluttering and falling, then turned her head and smiled at Rulan: "The weather is going to get cold, Father's knees will hurt from the chill, why don't we make a pair of knee warmers for Father? Fifth sister, or would you rather use woolen fabric?"

  Sheng Hong was quite clear about his own daughter's weight, and it wasn't easy to pretend otherwise. However, he could still make some small talk, so Lan immediately smiled and said: "Great, I just happen to have a few good materials here, come pick them out later." In fact, even the kneading work was done by the maid, so she simply brought out some materials.

  Following the official rank system, for women in the inner house, it's nothing but not listening to opera and not having a big banquet, anyway, they can still visit relatives, do some needlework, gossip, and the days will pass.

  But the men were miserable, those sons of Beijing's powerful officials endured the first few months, and gradually exposed their true nature, some gathered at home to feast and have fun, others went to the red-light district to be happy, and still others secretly took on concubines.

  The new emperor ascended the throne, and the ministers still didn't know the emperor's temperament. When writing memorials, they couldn't help but be a bit cautious. Unexpectedly, a young and inexperienced official from the Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial that exposed the scandals of some influential people in the capital, causing the emperor to fly into a rage during the court meeting.

  It's easy to become an emperor, but for the sake of filial piety to his father, he didn't dare sleep with concubines, didn't dare hold banquets, and even dismissed the palace musicians. He lived more ascetically than a monk and more purely than mineral water. But those aristocratic sons who ate imperial salaries actually dared to set fires among the common people? When did this governor become a dead man?!

  The emperor acted quickly, first grandly rewarding the young and foolish imperial censor, praising him as "upright and loyal, not a sycophant", then immediately promoting and rewarding him. Next, he ordered the governor of Shuntian Prefecture to increase the severity of his crackdown, expanded the supervisory powers of officials, and had the Five Armies Command prepare to arrest people at any time.

  With a model, the imperial court immediately became busy. Sheng Xuan had some foundation and naturally did not want to offend too many powerful people, so he only chose some light writings. However, those young officials who were waiting for an opportunity to attack him were so scared that they almost impeached all the fresh seafood in the capital city. In ancient times, the moral requirements for men were very simple: filial piety was the first of all virtues. The new emperor claimed to be "fulfilling his filial duty to the late emperor", and no one dared to say anything. Especially since the upright officials had always looked down on the powerful families.

  In just over half a month, the emperor punished more than a dozen noble families with varying degrees of severity, including fines, demotions, and reprimands.

  There were over a dozen particularly arrogant royal relatives who refused to be controlled, insulting and scolding the officials who came to inspect them on the street. The emperor immediately dispatched the Imperial Guard to capture them and bring them into the palace for a beating. After they recovered from their injuries, they were dragged to the National Academy dormitory and locked up. Several Confucian scholars who hated evil were invited to hold a training class, focusing on studying propriety, righteousness, integrity, loyalty, filial piety, and fraternal duty.

  The emperor personally sent two university scholars to inspect regularly, randomly asked to recite, those who couldn't recite the book were not allowed to go home, those who looked down on their teachers were beaten with a board, and even if you were beaten, you still wouldn't be convinced, you little scoundrel!

  Those spoiled sons are busy fighting cocks and running dogs every day, bullying men and women, how can they have time to learn cultural knowledge? The deadline is extended again and again, the weather is getting colder, they are still struggling to eat cabbage and rice balls inside. Several particularly lawless ones were beaten until their noses were blue and their faces were swollen. Among them, the one who cried the most was the precious son of Princess Qingning, she cried all the way to the palace to beg for mercy, but unexpectedly, she was stopped outside after seeing the two empress dowagers.

  An imperial eunuch read out the edict in an icy tone: "The Emperor has passed away, the whole nation is in mourning. You are a member of the royal family by blood and have deeply received the Emperor's grace. How can you indulge in debauchery and disobedience? Such disloyal and unfilial individuals are of no use to keep."

  Princess Qingning was shocked and terrified after hearing the news. Emperor Renzong had always been kind and merciful, showing favoritism to his sons and grandsons, as well as the powerful nobles in the capital city who were related to him by blood or marriage. The princess only realized now that the emperor had changed; from then on, no one dared to enter the palace to plead for mercy. After this group of young masters graduated from their training class, they still had to go to the palace to thank the emperor, and they all claimed that their cultural level had made a qualitative leap forward. In the future, helping their families write couplets and invitations would not be a problem. A few of them, who had been traumatized during their labor reform period, could even compose two lines of crooked poetry with feeling, and their tone and rhythm were also well-matched.

  After such a blow, both inside and outside the imperial court had a clear understanding that the new emperor was not to be trifled with, whether he was wise or not. He was definitely not as easily swayed as the old emperor had been.

  "Your Majesty is establishing his authority." Sheng Hong stood in front of the desk, wearing a round-necked green robe, finishing writing a character with his brush, and then stroking his long beard under his chin, "That's right, first intimidate the capital before considering other things."

  Chang Bai stood aside for a moment and said lightly: "The emperor has already ascended the throne, is there still anyone who disobeys?"

  Sheng Hong changed to a purple brush and wrote in small characters at the corner of the page: "Naturally, there is King Jing, who was the fifth son of the previous emperor. If we consider the order of birth, he should have ascended to the throne; however, the previous emperor disliked his violent and cruel nature, so he was given a fiefdom early on and banished from the capital. After the 'Shen Chen Rebellion', the previous emperor hastily made the current empress dowager the empress, and only then did he establish this crown prince. How could King Jing be willing to submit?"

  Chang Bai nodded slightly, seeming to understand: "Now that the distinction between monarch and subject is clear, justice lies with Your Majesty. I only hope that you will be magnanimous and not dwell on the matter of King Jing; peace is hard to come by."

  Sheng Hong put down his brush, seemingly quite satisfied with the character he had just written. He set aside his brush and took up his private seal to stamp it. Turning to his son, he said: "Matters of the imperial family are not for us to get involved in; let's think more about our own household." After affixing the red seal, Sheng Hong continued: "In her letter, Old Lady said that Eldest Lady will probably pass away during this period. At that time, Wu Ge will have to observe mourning rites for a year, what a pity! His position as commander-in-chief will be vacant for another full year."

  Chang Bai said in a low voice, "It's easy to handle the matter of my elder brother. He has done his job extremely well and gets along very well with his superiors and colleagues. After nine months, we can help him get reinstated. However... yesterday, Aunt came again."

  Sheng Hong raised the banner, looked at it in the light, and frowned upon hearing the words: "It's not that we're unwilling to help your uncle, but he relies on his talent, is arrogant, speaks recklessly about right and wrong in the imperial court, and is even bold enough to try to take advantage of anyone, no matter how insignificant."

  Chang Bai didn't like Uncle Kang either, but after all, they were relatives. Auntie repeatedly asked them to come over and help out, so it wouldn't be good if they didn't take care of him at all. So she said: "Why don't we help our cousin a bit? I think he's still reliable."

  Sheng Hong put down his brush and walked back and forth a few steps before looking up and saying, "This will do."